I crumble back to the ground in a heap of exhaustion and pain. I lay like this for a few minutes until I get the strength to walk over to the lake and clean the wound on the back of my head. I soak a cloth in cold water and rest it on my head to take away some of the throbbing. It is still only early afternoon, but I feel like it has been days since I have rested. So much has happened since dawn this morning. My stomach is still empty and growling uncontrollable. Between the pain in my head and stomach the only thing I can think of doing right now is going back to sleep.
When my eyes open again, I know I have been asleep for a long time. The rain is pouring down around me. I am nice and dry under my canopy but the air is much cooler. It feels like early morning again. That means I slept for the rest of yesterday and all through the night. My head feels a lot better, and all that is left is a huge bump. I walk down to the lake to get some water, but am overcome by dizziness. I can't last much longer without food. My stomach feels small and hollow. It has been days since I have had a real meal. I spend a few minutes fantasizing about what could be in my backpack that Thresh took…fresh bread, fruit, or even soup. My mouth waters with the thoughts. My daydreams are interrupted with a thud a few feet away. I walk over and find a silver parachute attached to a little black bag. I eagerly rip open the top and see three loaves of warm, fresh bread. I let out a sigh of relief and break off a big chunk. Before I eat, I make sure to look up and mouth "thank you" to my Sponsors. I am relieved they still have confidence in my ability to win this alone, without Clove. No doubt, this bread was supposed to be for both of us. I stuff piece after piece into my mouth, savoring every single bite. I eat a whole loaf and then wrap the other two up in my bag for later when I am looking for Thresh. I immediately feel revived and awake with energy again. It is amazing how different you can feel with a full stomach. I walk back over to my shelter and sit down, contemplating my next move.
This weather is going to make it harder to track down Thresh. But, I want that body armor and two loaves of bread may not last until the end of the competition. An even stronger urge to go is the urge I have to kill Thresh. Not even a tornado could keep me from wanting to do that. I only waste a few more minutes before I decide to go after him. I pack up a few weapons and a couple days' supply of water and put it all in the bag along with the bread. I take a deep breath, and begin walking towards the tall grass where he disappeared to with my backpack.
The rain is coming down so hard that it's almost impossible to see where I'm going. Along with that, the thunder and lightning it hard to hear anything, even my own thoughts. Then suddenly, I'm facing the dark luminous grass spread out before me for as far as I can see. It's light brown, almost like some sort of wheat. I briefly wonder if the tall grass can be eaten, or if there are trees growing bread somewhere in there. There has to be some explanation for why Thresh looks even bigger and better fed than he did when we entered the arena. He is the only one would dare to brave the unknown tall grass, but maybe the rest of us should have ventured in when there was no food left. Without thinking, I step into the grass, cutting it with my sword to make as a path for me to walk through. It's even taller than me and the ground is unstable and mushy, like I'm walking on top of a lake covered with grass. I jump up and down as hard as I can to see if the ground will give out. It shakes and moves a little bit, but nothing major happens so I consider it safe enough to continue.
The work of cutting the grass and clearing a path is probably the hardest thing I've ever done. It's not long before I'm drenched, exhausted, and surrounded by bugs. This is insane. Why would he go in here? I mean, I can admit its pretty genius. Who would go through all this work to go after someone hiding in here? It's worked up until now for him, but his luck is ending very soon. I spend the next few hours contemplating how I'm going to kill him. I'm debating about whether or not I'm going to use my sword or knife on him when a flash of lightning 5 feet from my body startles me out of my thoughts. The storm has not let up at all and it's taking all my strength not to give up and turn around. I decide to take a few minutes to rest, drink some water, and catch my breath.
I pull my shirt up and use it as a cloth to wipe all the water off of my face. It doesn't do much though because my shirt, like the rest of my clothes, is soaked through. I want to go home. The thought flashes across my mind and then it's gone. There's nothing for me in District 2. Everything I need, everyone I want, is here in this arena. When the memory of us wrapped around each other at my camp enters my head, the pain in my chest spreads all over my body, and the aching is so bad it hurts. I didn't even know it was possible to feel sadness so strong that it turns to pain. My heart is beyond missing her, there's a deep longing for her that hurts in every way possible. I still don't know how these Games will end, or who will come out alive or dead in a matter of days. But, I do know that our moments together are very limited. There's so much I never got to experience with her, and probably never will. She's the one I could have spent the rest of my life with, the only one I would have ever wanted to. Haha, if anyone from District 2 knew all this they would never believe it. Cato, the cold blooded killer who shows no emotion, falls in love with the one girl he can never have.
I let myself become absorbed in the sadness that threatens to overcome me, and I lay down in the soft, wet grass, letting the rain poor down on me. After a few minutes, I drift off into a deep sleep. My dream begins and I'm at my house in District 2 practicing my sword fighting against my dad. He's yelling at me to be faster, and quicker. He throws his sword down and grabs mine from my hand screaming, "pathetic! This is pathetic! You think you're tough? You think you're going to make me proud someday? You're weak!" I cower down in fear and embarrassment, and barely manage to utter, "I'm trying dad. I'm practicing every day. It'll get better, just wait and see." He grabs my face, forcing me to look at him, "I'm glad you're leaving for the Academy next week, cause frankly I don't want to call you my son right now. You'll never win anything." It was just another typical day of training with him. They always ended with me getting yelled and cursed at. I was never good enough for him, though. The images in the dream blur into a different picture. It's a similar scene, this time it is a few months before the reaping, after returning from the Academy. I'm showing him all the skills I learned, and how ruthless and strong I had become since the last time we fought. I moved from instrument to instrument, flawlessly throwing a spear, hitting bull's eyes on targets with my knife. When I finished showed him everything I learned, I looked up at him grinning, waiting for his approval. He shakes his head and sighs. "Dad, what's wrong? What did I do wrong?" I ask in confusion. He pauses then says, "Son, seeing who you have become does not make me any more proud of you than I was when you left." My expression turns to shock, "I don't get it. I was the best in my class. I'm the best killer the Academy has ever produced." He raises his voice in anger, "Exactly! When I said you were weak I didn't mean I wanted you to become a cold blooded murderer. I wanted you to become confident and self-assured without anger and cruelty. This is never what I wanted for you." I clench my teeth, ball up my fists, and spit out, "Too bad this is me and I've never felt better. I'm going to prove myself to you some day very soon, and I'll really show you what I've become." I throw my knife down and confidently walk out of the room, deciding at that moment to volunteer for the Games.
My dream changes again, and this time I'm lying in my bed. Katniss enters the room and walks up the bed, lifts up the covers, and sneaks under them next to me. I smile and begin to kiss her. Her legs wrap around me, tighter, and tighter. The tightness moves up my legs towards my stomach. Her legs continue to bend around my body unnaturally, squeezing even harder until I have trouble breathing. I'm gasping for breath, the air slowly being forced out of my lungs, and then they aren't her legs anymore. I wake up suddenly and the dream becomes a reality. I'm fighting for air, with the tightness suffocating my legs and chest. It's a snake, a huge boa constrictor. It's wrapped around my legs and chest, getting closer and closer to covering my face and killing me. I try to grab my knife. It's lying next to me just out of reach. I'm beginning to get light headed and the world is spinning as I'm fighting to stay alive. My hands begin to inch closer and closer to the knife, until I finally manage to clasp my fingers around the cool metal. With my last ounce of strength I bring the knife towards me and plunge in down into the snake. It immediately recoils and the cool air quickly enters my lungs. I cough over and over again, desperate after the lack of air for so long. The snake is still alive so I take my sword and cut it in half in multiple places just to make sure it doesn't come after me again. Man that was close. Too close. I'm pretty shaken up thinking of how I just about died. I can't even imagine if I couldn't have gotten to my knife. I would not have lasted much longer.
Eventually I fall back asleep after hours of tossing and turning, paranoid the whole time that another snake might come after me. When daylight breaks I'm disappointed to feel that the rain has still not let up. I'm wet, cold, and growing weaker from lack of sleep and proper nutrients. The thought crosses my mind that the Games are almost over. This neither excites me nor makes me sad. It only reminds me that my time with Katniss is slowly reaching its end. It is ending before it got the chance to start.
