Chapter nine : Surprises in confinement
Johanna and I had been left for a long time; no food or what they called food had been brought to us either and I constantly worried about her health. Johanna was becoming so thin, her breathing was laboured and painful for myself to listen to; she would lapse into unconsciousness constantly and I was envious of that, there was nothing to rescue me from this terrible reality. I spoke to her, even when she wasn't awake; I was so used to the solitary confinement that I knew if I had to go back to that, I would lose my barely there mind. So I spoke continuously, I spoke of Katniss, of my lost family, of our district that as terrible as it had been, it had been home.
"We are going to get out of here, just you wait. We will win. We were victors before, not victims – we will survive this, Katniss and the people she is with; whoever they are, will come back for us, they just have to." I said with my eyes closed, picturing Katniss bursting through the doors – her bow and arrow aimed and ready, her gorgeous long locks would be out of its normal confinement of a braid and would be hanging lose along her slender back.
"They're not coming back for us, I have no doubt Katniss will want to get you. But they won't." Johanna whispered back to me and I sighed in relief, I was lonely and worried about her so it was good to hear her voice.
"Who is she with?" I asked quietly, my jealousy getting the better of me and imagining Gale by her side, where I should be.
"She's with Plutarch and Haymitch." The shock left me speechless and reeling, the hurt was barely containable. Yes Haymitch certainly kept his promise to me over keeping Katniss safe but why wasn't I saved? Was I not as important?
"What?" I wheezed out. "Plutarch?"
"Yes, they both conspired over it. Only a few people in the Games knew about it, I was obviously one of them. They planned to get us out, to get Katniss out so she could be their spokesperson if you will, and to bring the Capitol down." Johanna whispered with a quiet sigh, I turned to face her and saw she was asleep; I turned away and closed my eyes tightly. Why didn't I know about it? Did Katniss know all along? Why would she have made me stay with Beetee? Thoughts were running through my mind too quickly for me to make sense of them but the last thought that stayed in my mind was why hadn't they came back for us?
o.o.o
Time was a blur after the Trackerjacker nest fell, from what I could tell I had managed to save Katniss from Cato and could only hope she would survive the stings that covered her body. Cato had found me and if it hadn't of been for his own stings he had received, I would have died that day. I wasn't let off lightly though, he had managed to get me pretty good; he cut my thigh deeply and time after that was fuzzy, I was losing a lot of blood and hadn't eaten or drunk anything in a very long time. I had managed somehow through sheer luck to find a small watering hole, where I drank and replenished. I then painted my face with the wet mud and dry weeds and tried my best to hide. If I were to die, I would do it peacefully. It would be on my terms. So I stayed where I was hidden with thoughts of Katniss occupying my mind and praying she would make it out of this hell hole.
I don't know how long I was left at the watering hole I was never really awake, just floating pleasantly through consciousness but I had heard something that had grounded me back to the world of the living. It was her. Katniss had found me, she was sobbing and calling my name; she had literally stopped right beside my face where I was lying so I grabbed her foot gently. She shrieked once before she was on me, dragging me from my safe haven and cradling me to her, rocking us both to and throw. "We're going home, Peeta. We can do this." I didn't know what she was saying, and I was scared that I was just delirious and that this wasn't real, that she wasn't really holding me in that firm strong grip just like her personality.
"Oh god no, Peeta!" She wrenched herself backwards and away from me and I instantly felt the lack of her warmth, I was frozen. "What happened to you?!"
I managed to whisper out Cato before darkness shrouded my eyesight and I was plunged for once against my will into unconsciousness