Hey guys! I was going to wait to update to see how many reviews I can get but I really felt like writing today :) So here is the next chapter! I will try to update again by the end of the weekend. I think I am about over my jet lag by now so there shouldn't be a lot of mistakes but if you find some just tell me and I will fix them. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
I wake up to Cato shaking me on the shoulder, "Get up," he says gruffly.
"What is it?" I ask jumping up.
"Smoke," he says pointing to the trees. Sure enough a plume of smoke is steadily rising into the air. It doesn't look that far into the trees so we will be able to get there quickly.
"Let's go," Clove says, "We need to start hunting anyway," she says with a wicked grin.
I grab my knives and take off with the other Careers toward the forest. Cato is taking the lead with Clove right behind him. We get to the source of the smoke and what I see makes me sick. A girl in a golden yellow jacket is huddled by the fire trying to get warm. She looks about my age with light brown hair that falls in ringlets over her shoulders and large dark brown eyes. She sees us and lets out a scream. She is frozen on the ground not even trying to run.
"Please!" she screams, "I'll do anything! Please don't kill me!" she is begging and screaming and I don't know how much longer I can watch it.
Cato laughs and steps forward. I close my eyes and hear the sound of the sword plunging into the girl's body. Her screams are gone, "Let's keep moving," Cato says, pulling the sword from the girl's body. As we keep walking I notice that no cannon has gone off for the girl.
"Cato, are you sure you killed her?" I ask carefully.
"I'm sure," Cato says.
"We haven't heard a cannon," Marvel said skeptically.
"I stabbed her. She's dead." Cato snaps back.
"Then where is the cannon?" Marvel retorts then they start arguing.
Suddenly I hear a sound coming from above us. It is slight and I don't think anyone else heard it. I look up and almost scream. Katniss is hanging from the tree holding onto her sleeping bag to stay stable. She catches my eye and her eyes are pleading. I should point her out to the Careers but then I remember how Peeta feels about her. I like Peeta, I don't think I can do that to him. I decide to let him decide. I tap on his shoulder and gesture toward the tree. He looks up and his eyes get wide. So do Katniss's. I guess she wasn't expecting him to be with the Careers. I shrug my shoulders at Peeta silently asking if we should tell them. He shakes his head.
The Careers are still arguing when Peeta cuts in and says, "Guys stop! We are wasting time. Why don't I just go back and see if she's dead?"
"Fine. Go on then Loverboy," Cato says coldly.
He leaves and Glimmer says, "Why can't we just kill him?"
"No." I say immediately. The others look at me in confusion.
"We can't kill him," Cato says finally, "He's our best chance at finding her."
"Who?" I ask
"Firegirl," Cato says.
It feels like a blast of cold air just hit me. Katniss is their target. That's who they are looking for. That 11 she got in training put a target on her back. But if they let Peeta join to find her then why didn't he give her up when he saw her. I'm trying to think of an answer when Peeta comes back through the trees.
"Was she dead," Cato asks.
"No, but she is now," Peeta says. I'm surprised that Peeta killed her. He didn't strike me as the kind of person who kills easily like the other Careers, "I also found something." he says. This catches the Careers attention.
"What?" Clove asks eagerly.
"A trap." Peeta says.
Clove laughs, "So?" she asks coldly.
"Katniss set it." he says quietly. Everyone goes silent.
"So which way did she go?" Cato asks excitedly.
Peeta points west, "That way." The Careers take off again.
The sun is up and we have been walking for hours. The Careers are getting madder as time passes and we still don't find Katniss. I'm worried about Peeta. If the Careers find out that he has been leading them away from Katniss, they will make him pay.
Eventually Cato says, "We should head back. We need to restock our supplies."
We agree and begin the long trek back. When we reach the lake we all collapse in exhaustion. Cato heads into the Cornucopia for more supplies when suddenly I hear a shout. I get up and rush to the Cornucopia where I see Cato pinning a boy against the wall, his sword point at the boy's throat.
"Please, don't kill me! I'm here to help you!." the boy pleads.
"We don't need your help," Clove says coldly.
"I'm from District 3. I have an idea to help guard your supplies." the boy says desperately.
"We can just leave someone here to guard them," Cato says.
"Then you lose a man that you might need to hunt," the boy says.
"Let's at least hear him out." I say rationally.
Cato looks at me for a second then drops the boy to the floor. He explains his plan to us which I think is pretty ingenius. He plans to dig up the land mines around the starting plates and reactivate them around our supplies. I've never heard of anyone doing that before but if anyone can pull it off it would be this boy. He is from District 3 which is where most of Panem's technology comes from. Everyone there is a genius. After he is finished explaining the plan we go eat lunch by the lake while he sets up the trap. When he is done, he calls us over to demonstrate the trap. He did a good job, I can't even see where he placed the land mines.
"Wait," Marvel says, "If the mines blow up, won't it just blow up the supplies?" I didn't even think about that but it's a good question.
The boy shakes his head, "It's designed so that if one mine blows up, it won't set off the others, therefore protecting the supplies."
"Well how do we get to supplies without getting blown up?" I ask.
"I left a specific path for people to follow to get to the supplies. That's why I called you over, so I could show you the path." the boy says smartly.
For the next hour the boy teaches us the path to the supplies until we have all mastered it. In return for the boy's help Cato is letting him live but he has to stay at the camp at all times. By the time we go to sleep, I feel a lot more secure about the safety of our camp.
We have been in the arena for four days now. After a little bit, I lost track of time. The only way I know how many days have passed is because of the anthem every night. Every day we go out to hunt the tributes. I haven't killed anyone since the bloodbath and I plan on keeping it that way. I hated the feeling I got after that. The horrible knowledge that you just ended an innocent life. I never want to feel that way again.
On the fourth day, we are hunting in the woods when we hear a stream flowing nearby and decide to stop there to get a drink and take a rest. However when we reach the stream we something that changes our course completely. Katniss. She is washing her face and hands in the river. Cato sees her first and all the Careers take off running towards her and I have no choice but to follow. She spots us quickly and takes off. She doesn't have much of head start but she is fast. And the little time she has allows her to start climbing a nearby tree. By the time we reach the base of the tree, she is 20 feet up.
Cato tries to climb up after her, the other Careers cheering him on. He gets about 10 feet up before the branches break under his weight and he crashes to the ground. For a minute I'm worried he broke something but then he staggers to his feet, swearing. Clove tries to climb it next but when the branches begin to crack under her weight she jumps back down. Glimmer tries to shoot her with the bow and arrows she brought but has such bad aim the arrow sticks about five feet above Katniss's head. Katniss grabs the arrow and hangs above her, tauntingly. I chuckle but stop when Glmmer shoots me a glare.
"What do we do?" Marvel asks.
"Let's just wait her out." Peeta says, "It's not like she can go anywhere." I look at Peeta questioningly but he just shakes his head as if to say Not now.
The Careers nod in ascent and sit down under the tree. Cato puts Glimmer on guard duty, which I think is stupid then lays down to sleep. The rest of us do the same. I lay down next to Peeta and slowly drift off to sleep.
I wake to a sharp pain in my arm. I open my eyes and see Peeta standing over me, "We have to move! Come on!" he yells.
I get up quickly and see that Katniss has dropped a nest of tracker jackers on us. I take off running to the lake as fast as I can. Tracker jackers are wasps, genetically engineered by the Capitol. A sting from them can cause powerful hallucinations, serious pain, and possible death. My arm is throbbing and when I look down I see a stinger protruding from my arm. That it explains the sharp pain when I woke up. I rip it out, throw it to the ground and keep running. I still feel the sharp pain so I know there are other stings, but I don't have time to stop and locate them.
I am getting dizzy and the world is starting to shake. Trees pop up out of nowhere. I slam into one and fall to the ground. I don't have the energy to get up but Cato grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet, "Keep going!" he yells over the buzz of the tracker jackers, "We're almost there!"
I push through the pain and keep running. I see fireballs raining down from the sky. Some of them hit me but I don't feel anything burning. I see Max in front of me reaching out a hand to help me but when I grab it, he dissipates into smoke that floats away through the air. I see the lake ahead through my blurred vision.
When I get there I collapse into the water in relief, allowing it to draw the pain out of the stings. I crawl out of the water feebly and lay motionless on the ground letting unconsciousness take over my body.
Another chapter done! I hope you guys liked it. I proofread it a lot so there shouldn't be a lot of mistakes. As you can probably tell, I am changing some things that happen in the Games. Don't worry, everything is for a reason. It will all make sense in the end :) Hopefully you liked this chapter. Don't forget to review! Remember, if I get enough reviews, I will do individual review responses at the end of the chapters. And don't forget to check out my other fanfics Real or Not Real and Moving On!