Chapter 9

"So this is the stuff you said smokes like crazy," Peeta asked, holding up a branch later the following day.

"Yeah," I said, looking up at it, "Just lay that one over the top of the pile, alright? We want that to catch quickly but we want a real fire burning underneath as well."

"Sure," Peeta said, draping the green branch across the top of our pile of dry wood, leaves and branches.

We were going to light a fire, drawing Clove and Cato towards the smoke where we would be sitting, cooking the last squirrel I had caught earlier on in the day. They would kill us without hesitation, maybe we would get one of them and the hopefully Thresh would step up to eliminate the final Career and go home as a victor.

"You ready?" I asked him as I pulled out the last match from my pack with trembling fingers.

"I'm ready," he said, looking at me closely.

I was just raising my fingers to strike the match when the sound of trumpets came echoing through the trees. I glanced at Peeta confused.

"It's the Gamemakers," he said, "When they make announcements," he said, "I saw it a couple of years ago."

I nodded to show I understood as Claudius Templesmith's voice came through the trees.

"Attention tributes," he said, tone jovial, "Congratulations on making it to the final five," he said, "In previous years, there has only been one victor, the final tribute standing, but this year, we have a slight rule change," he said.

I looked at Peeta who was looking up at the sky expectantly.

"This year," Claudius' voice said, booming through the trees, "Should there be two tributes from the same district left alive at the end, they will both be crowned as victors. That is all." The trumpets sounded and then fell silent.

Peeta turned his gaze to me. "Katniss," he gasped out.

"Peeta!" I exclaimed, "We can both win!"

He was on his feet in moments and at my side just after that, wrapping his arms around my body and pulling me close. "Katniss," he said in my ear, "We can both go home!"

I pressed my lips to his in celebration and he held my head in place as his lips worked affectionately over mine. A strange warmth spread through my body, spreading from my lips down my limbs. Peeta leaned away first, a smile crossing his handsome face.

I felt flushed as I caught my breath. "So," I said, looking down at the match that was still clutched between my fingers.

"So," he repeated, "Why let this go to waste?" he asked, gesturing the tinder pile.

"Try to draw them into an ambush?" I asked.

"Exactly," he said, "It's worth a shot, isn't it?"

"Exactly," I repeated, delivering a neat peck on his lips, "So I think I will be in the tree here," I said, pointing, "You can stay in this shrubbery here. And then when Cato and Clove come in, we get rid of them. And then it's only Thresh?"

"Okay," Peeta agreed.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

Peeta let out a giddy laugh. "As ever," he said.

I raised the match in my fingers and lit it easily, strategically lighting the handfuls of dried leaves in various spots in the pile before I threw the match in the centre and hurried towards the tree I was set to climb.

Peeta winked at me as I hurried past and I scampered up the tree, finding a sturdy branch to pause on before I pulled an arrow from my quiver and got ready.

A few minutes later, I heard the sound of footfalls, crunching through leaves and underbrush. When Clove and Cato immerged from the trees several minutes later, I held my breath, not wanting to tip them off to my location.

"Where are they?" Cato asked in a whisper.

I eyed where Peeta was crouched, waiting, mere feet from where Cato and Clove stood, weapons drawn and suddenly wished that Peeta was up in a tree as well.

"It must be a trap," Clove whispered, looking around cautiously, "Cato, we need to go," she said urgently.

Cato looked around carefully, his gaze focused just past where Peeta was hidden. I chewed on my bottom lip, hoping, praying that he wouldn't find him. I drew back the arrow, getting ready to shoot it.

Suddenly, Cato spun, sword extended as he sprang through the shrubs where Peeta was hiding.

My heart pounded in my chest as Peeta's cry of pain was mixed with Cato's shout of triumph. I fired my arrow towards Cato and it lodged into his sword arm. He let out a shout of pain, reaching for the arrow as Clove looked around for me. I jumped down from the tree when her back was turned and landed hard on my feet, hearing a crack as pain jolted through my body, blinding me.

I shot another arrow at Cato and it hit him in the back of his right hand, causing him to drop the sword.

He spun to look at me as I strung another arrow.

Clove let out a cry and I turned just in time to see a knife flying directly for my face. I ducked in time and it only caught one corner of my forehead.

I rolled over and shot an arrow at her. She ducked and dove for me, her hands closing around my throat.

I struggled, grasping at her hands, distantly aware of Cato's yell of anger, Peeta's grunts of exertion and Clove's condescending voice in my ear. "A real shame about the little girl," she said, "Rue, from district 11. I was impressed that she made it as far as she did. But I guess it's amazing what you can do when you ride coattails. Your lover boy would know, wouldn't he District 12?" she hissed in my ear, slamming my head back onto the ground.

Black spots started to invade my vision and my lungs started to scream for air.

"But we killed her," she said, "And now, we're going to kill you," her grip tightened further and I desperately clawed at her hands.

Suddenly, she was being pulled back off of me, her hands freeing my neck as she was lifted clear off of the ground.

I rolled onto my front and brought myself up on my hands and knees as I heaved into the dirt, struggling to gasp in a breath.

"Help!" shrieked Clove from behind me, "Cato! Help!"

I managed to gasp in a breath and I turned slowly to see Thresh holding her in the air by the back of her jacket and t-shirt. Thresh slammed her back against a hard oak tree. "You killed the little girl?" he yelled, "Rue, did you kill her?"

"No!" Clove shrieked, "No, I didn't! Cato!"

"You were talking about how you had killed her!" Thresh spat at her.

"I didn't kill her!" Clove gasped out, "Please, I didn't!"

Thresh slammed her back into the oak tree again and she hit her head hard and slid down, her body motionless.

I glanced over at Peeta who was throwing punches at Cato, both of their weapons too far out of their reach. And then I looked back up at Thresh, terrified. My neck and throat were aching and my stomach was rolling uncomfortably. My head was splitting in pain and pain was travelling up from my ankle. "Just do it," I whispered, shaking my head, voice raw, looking up at him, my eyes pleading.

"I saw what you did for Rue," he said, his voice deep and soothing somehow, "Thank you."

I nodded silently.

"I'm really sorry I have to do this," Thresh said, raising the bat that he held in his hand.

I nodded again, closing my eyes tightly, bracing myself.

But the blow didn't come.

I looked up just in time to see Thresh fall forward, flat on his face in front of me, a knife sticking out of his back.

My eyes shot up behind him to see Clove, eyes wild, a victorious smirk on her face. She pulled herself to her feet unsteadily as Thresh's cannon sounded. I struggled to reach for my bow and reached for my quiver to pull an arrow out but I froze when there were no arrows left. I looked up at Clove who was still laughing.

I crawled backwards hurriedly, trying to pull myself to my feet, but my legs weren't cooperating.

Clove reached forward and her hands closed around my neck once again. I struggled against her strong hands, clawing at her skin with my nails. Black dots were invading my vision again just as a cannon sounded.

Clove's hands loosened from my neck as she spun to look at where Cato and Peeta had just been fighting. I struggled to follow her gaze, hoping that it wasn't Peeta who had been killed.

Clove let out a gasp just as I saw that Cato had been speared to a tree with his own sword through his heart. Peeta was bleeding heavily from a wound to his leg, staring at Cato.

Clove let out a vicious shriek and turned to me, her hands closing around my throat tightly. And then just as quickly as they were wrapped around my throat, they were gone again, Clove letting out a cry of pain.

I saw Peeta standing over me with Thresh's bat in his hands before I began to choke.

He crouched down and helped me roll over, his eyes still on Clove as I vomited into the dirt, clutching my throat, tears stinging my eyes.

"Katniss," he said urgently, "Are you-"

"Her cannon didn't go," I struggled to spit out and I felt Peeta shift behind me, his attention back on Clove. I pushed myself back so that I was sitting on my knees, turning to look at Clove.

And then suddenly there was a loud growl from the forest a short ways away.

"What was that?" Peeta croaked.

"Nothing good," I gasped out as I pushed myself to my feet. I winced at the shooting pain in my ankle, but grabbed Peeta's arm and pulled him to his feet. "We need to go," I said.

He nodded and we stumbled through the forest away from Clove and the growling forest. As I passed Cato, I grabbed the arrow from his arm and shoved it into my quiver as I stumbled away from the scene. We were just hurrying into a clearing when I glanced over my shoulder to see the first dog-like muttation appeared out of the forest.

Clove struggled to her feet and started to run after us, three more mutts appearing after her.

"Peeta," I gasped out, pushing him ahead, limping on my ankle, pain running through my body, "Get to the Cornucopia," I said.

We reached the field in moments and Peeta and I stumbled across the field towards the golden Cornucopia. When we reached the side, Peeta gave me a boost and pushed me up onto the top. I leaned over the edge to grab at his hand and we managed to get him on the top as well just in time to see Clove entering the field, six mutts running after her, shrieking desperately.

"Help!" she screamed as she approached the Cornucopia, her eyes wild, her voice desperate. She reached the edge and was struggling to claw her way up. "Katniss, help me!" she shrieked, her eyes meeting mine, pleading.

I hesitated and then hurried to the edge, leaning over to grip her hand. I struggled to reach further to grab more of her arm, trying to lift her up onto the top as the first mutt caught up, his jaw snapping down on Clove's leg and yanking her back firmly.

"I'm sorry!" I gasped out, trying to release her hand, but she held tight, her eyes suddenly savage again. I felt myself beginning to slip over the edge. "Peeta!" I shrieked, struggling to grab onto something, anything.

And then his strong arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me back hard. Clove's hand slipped from mine and Peeta and I fell back onto the Cornucopia while Clove fell back to the mutts.

The cannon echoed through the air as I heard the snapping of the jaws of the mutts from below.

AN: Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know your thoughts!