Chapter 11:
Day six of the Hunger Games. 11 tributes still alive, 13 dead. No deaths since day two.
"I'm tired of hunting!" Rue complained as they trekked through the seemingly endless forest. She fell into the dirt covered ground, waving her arms in the air, "that's all we've been doing and we've found nothing! Nothing!"
"Thanks for the reminder, small fry" Cato said sarcastically and sat down next to her.
Katniss sat down as well. "We haven't seen anyone in, like, four days" Katniss commented.
"Yeah, and we won't unless we keep going" Clove said, crossing her arms across her chest, defiantly.
"A break won't kill us, Clove" Katniss shrugged. She knew how badly Clove wanted these games to end and she felt the same but the lack of sleep and stress of the arena seemed to be affecting all of them, excluding her.
"C'mon, I wanna go home! Get married," she said he's turning to Cato, "meet my day" she added gesturing to Katniss, "give Rue an awkward talk about sex" she finished.
"What?"
"Was the last part necessary?"
"That was unexpected"
"Let's get up and kill some people!" Clove yelled, excitedly as if she was giving her team a pep talk.
"I think she's lost her marbles" Rue whispered to Katniss.
"Babe, I think you just need to sit down and take a break" Cato said, hearing Rue's comment and agreeing completely with the dark skinned girl.
"No, I don't want to sit down, I want to finish this damn game and go home!" Clove yelled.
"Calm down" Cato tried to calm his fiancé but she didn't budge. Katniss leaned back, closing her eyes and not paying attention to their conversation. She took a deep breath through her nose, relaxing. She took another and inhaled the unmistakable sent of smoke.
She bolted upright and asked, "do you guys smell that?" She broke apart the couple's argument and her allies sniffed the air.
"Some idiot lit a fire" Cato noted, getting onto his feet and pulling Ruben up with him. The younger boy and been there the whole time, he was simply to scared to speak.
"Idiot is a mean word" Rue said as she scrambled to her feet and Cato scowled at her.
"There." Clove pointed at the tree line and the billowing pillars of smoke and the took off, finding a pile of burning wood in less that five minutes only to find it deserted. "Damn it!" Clove cursed, kicking the scorching the pile of twigs and almost burning herself in the process.
"There's another!" Ruben pointed out, proud of himself for doing something right.
"And another over there!" Rue said, pointing the opposite direction.
Cato pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Katniss and Rue go that way. Ruben and Clove follow me" he ordered and ran in one direction.
Cato, Ruben and Clove reached the fire to see the boy from ten, throwing more twigs onto the fire. Cato snuck up behind him and placed the point of his sword against the boy's back. "Please, make it quick" he begged and Clove threw her knife into the boys back, the cannon sounded, signalling his death.
The body slumped to the ground, thankfully not catching on fire. "Who do you think was setting up the other fires?" Ruben asked.
"Maybe he teamed up with the girl from 8 or the fox faced girl. Who ever it is Katniss and Rue can handle them" Clove said.
"Except if he teamed up with Marvel or Thresh" Cato added.
"Thresh is in the fields. He had a camp set up and everything when I ran into him after the bloodbath" Ruben said, shuddering as he remembered his run in with the district eleven tribute.
"Fucker got a tent" Clove said, kicking a rock.
"Then Katniss and Rue might be fighting Marvel right now. We have to help 'em" Cato said, turning to run in the direction they came from but the ground shook beneath their feet before they could take one step. "Is everyone ok?" Cato asked after the deafening boom faded into a steady hum in their ears.
"Yeah" Clove said and gasped when she saw the amount of smoke rising from where their camp is. "The supplies" she murmured. Clove and Cato took of running, Ruben fumbling not far behind them.
They ran into the clearing and saw their tents were unharmed but smoke was spilling out of the mouth of the golden horn. Most of their supplies have been destroyed. Cato pulled out his hair, kicking at the green grass under his feet all the while saying profanities under his breath. He paced for a few seconds before his eyes landed on the genius that re-wired the mines.
"You!" Cato yelled, his usual blue eyes a darker blue, almost black, and his finger pointing at the shaking boy from district three. "This is your fault!"
"No, no. I-I-I couldn't have known, I-" Ruben started but was cut off by Cato's hands wrapping around his neck and jerking it to the side, efficiently snapping his neck. The cannon sounded and Cato turned around, his blue eyes softening when they landed on Clove.
"We should go find Katniss and Rue" Cato growled, still pissed. He knew not to trust the boy but he made the stupid decision to, against his gut instinct. And where did it get him? With half their original supply pile and his allies somewhere in the woods.
"They'll be fine, Cato. We should stay here, let you cool off a bit" she said. She stepped towards him, placing her hand on his arm.
"Yeah" Cato breathed.
Katniss and Rue arrived at the fire after the explosion to see it still burning steadily but with no one in sight. "The fire has barely been brining for five minutes. The lighter couldn't have gotten far" Katniss commented. "Maybe we should split up."
"Ok" Rue said. "We should have a signal, though. To tell the other we're ok."
"How would we hear it?"
"The Mockingjays" Rue said and Katniss smiled, recalling when her father had taken her hunting and shown her the singing birds. "I used to sing this tune when it was quitting time since I was the only one who could see the quitting flag" she said and went on to whistle the four note tune.
"Ok, that'll work. I'll go this way and you go that way" Katniss said and the two girls split up.
Katniss walked through the forest, whistling the four note melody every once in a while and hearing the Mokingjays sing it back to her. She would have called her walk peaceful if the threat of someone jumping out of the foliage and killing her didn't keep her on edge. She was brought out if her thoughts by a scream breaking the silence.
"Katniss! Katniss!"
Katniss whipped around, not wasting a moment before running in the direction she came, yelling Rue's name as she went. She arrived at the burning fire in no time, but it was not soon enough as she saw the silver spear plunge into the younger girl's heart.
Without a moments hesitation she grabbed an arrow and sent it flying into Marvel's chest. She kneeled down next to the girl trapped in the net, her tears falling onto Rue's dark skin. "You'll be ok, Rue. You'll be ok" she reassured the dying girl, but she already knew she was gone.
"Sing to me" Rue asked, her voice hoarse and quiet.
Katniss nodded and recalled a song her mot- Ravine had song to Prim when she was little. "Deep in the meadow, under the willow, a bed of grass, a soft green pillow. Lay down your head, close your tired ey-" Katniss sang but was cut off by the sounding of two cannons, seconds apart.
Katniss looked down at her now dead ally, tears blurring her vision. Her eyes were closed and she looked so peaceful. She could have been asleep if it wasn't for the spear protruding from her chest.
She hastily got up, picking nearby flowers and placing them around the girl's body and around the dead Marvel's spear. After she was done, she stood and gave the three finger salute she was awarded with at her reaping. It means thanks, admiration, and goodbye to a loved one.
She walked back in the direction towards the Cornucopia, finally managing to control her tears. This was the Hunger Games, everyone dies one way or another. She had to remind herself.
She didn't feel any better when she arrived at the golden horns and only found Cato and Clove rummaging through the debris of what used to be their supplies. Cato's face fell when he saw the brunette's blood shot eyes and no Rue. "Where's Rue?" He asked, already knowing the answer but having trouble believing it.
"Marvel" was all she said before sulking into the tent she used to share with the now deceased tribute.
However, Cato and Clove stayed outside. Not many words were exchanged until the anthem blared and the fallen's face were projected in the sky. The first face was Marvel, than Ruben. The real surprise was the girl from 8. They only heard four cannons throughout the day and no one had seen her since the beginning of the games.
"Maybe she's the one who triggered the mines" Clove suggested, "we wouldn't have heard her cannon during the explosion."
Cato nodded in agreement and the boy from 10's face lit up the screen. Both Careers couldn't look when they showed Rue's face. It was only confirmation that the beloved girl was dead and that was to much for the young couple. The anthem ended soon after and left the arena in total darkness.
A/N: sorry I had to kill Rue. Feel free to hate me and all that shit. But something good scores ur of killing her... PEETA! He's going to be in the next chapter and a lot of you were complaining that he wasn't really in the story so your welcome.
