… and a force did hit her, but it was not the smoldering fireball that exploded several feet away. Katniss fell to the ground hard. She wasn't hurt, but she was disoriented. She looked up to see a figure sitting a few feet next her with…gold? eyes, who fell themselves by the force of just pushing Katniss out of the way. The smog fog made it difficult for Katniss to see who it was. She wanted to thank them and see who it was, but before she could investigate, the figure stumbled away into the smoky forest.
Katniss heard more cracking, and turned around in time to see a burning tree falling almost on top of her. She rolled just out of the way of being crushed, but not far enough away from being trapped. The branches surrounded her and now she was pinned—a sitting duck! Everywhere she looked, fire and smoke surrounded her still. She managed to move her limbs, but it was torture to move her calf. She had to move. She had to! Do this! she thought to herself. She pushed the tree off of her as best she could whilst trying to pull her legs forward. Then, she would try her best to support the branch with her leg whilst pushing her body forward. The work was extraneous, and the lack of oxygen only exacerbated the problem, but she was determined to get loose before the Gamemakers shot at her again. Why aren't they shooting at me? A few more hand holds and she was free and ran in the direction of the figure.
Then, she saw it—one of the rivers was a few meters out of this zone and, above all, it was water. She ran to the river and splashed and sloshed her way in. To say it soothed her calf tremendously would be an understatement. Katniss closed her eyes and sighed, wanting to swim here forever, wanting to drink here forever, wanting to slip under the surface and never come up again. Swimming was like flying, the closest she'd ever come to it. It wouldn't matter if it didn't rain for twenty years—so long as she could stay here and fly, but she couldn't, not when she heard them.
She looked up to see none other than the Career Clan whooping and hollering like the arrogant bunch they were. "Hey look! There she is!" said the skinny boy. Katniss panicked to get away. In her haste, she thrashed about in the water as she climbed out and they heard her. That was when Katniss saw Clove. They both froze. Then Peeta saw her and froze. The Careers kept running, and it didn't escape Katniss' notice that they weren't moving as quickly as they used to. Maybe they were caught up in the fire, too, she thought as she ran. She didn't move quickly either. Now that she was out of the water, pain came rushing back into her leg, reminding her that she wouldn't be able to get far. She looked back—they were closer, now. "We're coming to get you!" Glimmer's shrill voice sang out. Out of all of them Cato was the closest. Unlike the other Careers, who all seemed playful but still arrogant, Katniss saw that Cato was all business, and he came barreling at her as though he could run for weeks. She looked forward again, in enough time to see she ran almost smack into a tree, which she ducked. I have to get out of here!
"Haha! Where are you going?" a girl shouted after her.
"Where you going Girl on Fire?!" the skinny boy said again. After a few turns, Katniss saw that she was trapped: A ledge stopped her from going further. She had but one choice—climb. She looked around none of these trees were pine but she'd have to make it work. "Where you going, baby? Where you going?" she heard Marvel laugh. She made her choice and climbed as fast as she could, dragging her injured leg. Cato was closer now, only a few meters away after she'd climbed ten feet. Don't stop, don't ever stop! Never! she thought as she climbed. It was torture on her leg, but it was life or death. The rest of the Careers came into the clearing. She kept climbing and didn't look down until she felt comfortable atop a sturdy branch to rest.
"Whoo! Yes!"
"Got her."
"Where you going, Miss Everdeen?"
"That's not gonna help you up there, Katniss!"
She heard Marvel cackling as though this was the funniest thing he'd ever seen whilst the Careers circled their prey like vultures. Clove was among them, joking and laughing and taunting Katniss. Only Peeta and Cato seemed not to join in on the action. Katniss was almost furious when she saw Clove acting like… a Career. She might have been playing a part, and she might have been a traitor to Katniss.
"Going somewhere?" Clove asked, smirking.
Katniss held onto the tree. "Well, how are you?" Katniss responded.
"We're well, and yourself?" Cato replied.
"It's been too hot for my taste."
"Has it, now?" Clove said.
Katniss could hear the Capitol's laughter. For what, she wasn't sure—this pointless conversation, or the happiness of the Careers' fans? Katniss realized all might not be lost. Sure, the Careers were bigger and more powerful, but they were, no doubt, heavier too. She had gravity on her side. The realization made Katniss smile. "It's much clearer up here," she announced. "Why don't you come up?"
"I think I will," said Cato decidedly. He approached the base of the tree.
"Take this, Cato," Glimmer offered, presenting a bow and arrows. Katniss' bow and arrows! The very thing she should have either gotten or died for after the countdown. But no, she ran! Now this blonde chick has what should have been hers! Katniss was, again furious. Furious. There must be a way for her to get them back, and she would, no matter what.
"No," Cato refused. "I'll do better with a sword." He began to climb; the tree shook horrifically struggling to support his weight. Katniss held tighter to the tree for fear of falling as she climbed higher away from him. The Careers cheered Cato on.
"Go, Cato, get up there Cato!"
"Come on, Cato!"
"Kill her, Cato, come on, kill her, Cato! Just kill her!"
And Peeta looked at all of them with disgust.
He hasn't fallen yet, Katniss thought nervously. She climbed higher still, careful not to be shaken out of the tree by Cato's weight. Why hasn't he fallen? That's when she heard the snapping. She looked down, almost too hopefully. He was close, he would fall! She stooped climbing and waited. Cato looked up. "I'm coming for you," he said, but it was too late—CRACK!—and down went the branch, Cato, and all. Katniss tried her best to suppress the cackle she held in her throat, but failed miserably. She hoped he'd broken something, but Cato stood and ranted.
Glimmer scoffed, irritated. "I'll do it myself," she declared. She began to climb. It took her longer as she complained the whole time of her difficulty, so Katniss stayed where she was, and waited until Glimmer was ten feet under her. Snap! Glimmer gasped, looking down. She looked up again at a smirking Katniss and scowled. Glimmer was smart; she wasn't going down like Cato. She climbed down and loaded and arrow on the bow, raised it and shot at her. To say she missed would be a sugar-coated understatement. The arrow went up… and came back down. Katniss caught it between her fingers. She waved it above their heads. Glimmer growled and stamped her foot.
"Give me that," Cato spat, snatching the bow from Glimmer.
"Hit her," Clove and Glimmer said. "Hit her."
He loaded an arrow and shot. The arrow embedded itself in the tree a few feet below Katniss. Glimmer groaned. Marvel, for once, was silent.
"Maybe you should throw the sword," came Katniss' taunting words.
Cato looked at Clove. "Throw something," he ordered. Everyone looked at her.
Clove scoffed. "And loose a perfectly good knife? She already lost two arrows," she answered. She sat down protestantly.
Marvel looked back up the tree and scowled. "Maybe you should bring yourself down here, and we'll settle this the old-fashioned way," Marvel countered Katniss.
"We'll see just what that eleven means then!" Clove added.
"Yeah, you bitch!" Glimmer said, joining in on the assault. "You think you're so much better than us, Twelve? Why don't you come down here and fight like a real winner? What did you... do to… to deserve that eleven? What did you do, huh?" Glimmer paused, waiting for an answer. Katniss didn't answer. What would she say—"It's confidential"? She didn't feel like she'd deserved it either. She ran from the Cornucopia when she should have fought for the right of those arrows. She ignored perfectly good advice and did whatever she felt like. She lied to her sister, telling her she'd come home when she knew she wouldn't. All she did was piss off a room full of Gamemakers. And if Glimmer knew about her leg, she would have, literally, added insult to injury. She hung her head in defeat and let Glimmer continue to slander her viciously with her harangue. "You didn't do anything!" She continued. Glimmer showed no mercy. "Not to deserve it! You can't fight—'cause you don't know how—you have no weapon, and in case you didn't notice, you're trapped up there. You're just a silly girl who wore silly costumes and a big pretty dress. Face it: there's nothing special about you, nothing eleven-worthy. Nothing! So, what did you do? Did you beg, or did you strip down and do more than just twirl for Seneca Crane?!"
"What did you do, Princess of Cheats?!" Marvel agreed.
The Careers shouted obscenities and made gestures at Katniss degradingly while Cato watched his allies with disgust. Fighting was a waste of energy, and he knew that. No, he just stood back and let them spit empty insults at Katniss, while trying to think of a plan. Thankfully, Peeta beat him to it. "Hey," he said. "Hey! HEYYY!" The Careers all spun around bewildered to face him. Hadn't Peeta always been… the quiet guy? "Let's just wait her out," he suggested. "She's gotta come down sometime. It's either that, or starve to death," he said logically.
Everyone looked to Cato while pondered this. He had no other options: He couldn't climb; he knew the others probably couldn't either; they could light the tree on fire, or cut it down, but Katniss would figure out a way to get to another tree before she came to any real danger. Mighty Cato sighed, defeated. "Okay," he said, shoving the bow and arrows back into a frowning Glimmer's arms. He went to go find food. "Somebody make a fire." And he stalked away.
Clove stared up to Katniss in the tree, glaring with the rest of the Careers. Katniss glared back down at her and demanded an explanation, silently, of course, because, unfortunately, now wasn't the time. Clove reminded her of this as she walked away with the rest of the Careers. She was trapped, and she had only so much time until they figured out a way to get her down. Her loyalty to Clove started to shift. Did she not laugh at her with the others, insult her with the others? It was true that she didn't attack Katniss, but it hurt her that she let them and joined them in repudiating and disgracing her. She could have been like Peeta, held back and said nothing like Peeta. She didn't have to join in. Glimmer's words even began to settle in. They embedded themselves into her mind like daggers, but nothing hurt more than knowing she was right. How was she going to get out of this one, especially with that leg? Katniss began to cry quietly. She didn't mean to, but she couldn't help it: Her leg was on fire and her mind was swimming. She took her water bottle out of her bag and tried to pour the last drops of water on the injury, trying to recreate the feeling of when she swam in the river. It worsened extremely, intensifying the pain as opposed to suppressing it. Katniss suppressed a scream, biting her jacket as an alternative. The pain wasn't as bad as the Careers assault, but it was pain, nonetheless. The Careers reassembled below her. "Scum of the Games," she heard Glimmer slur at her as she lit a fire. She looked down in time to see Glimmer spit at the base of the tree. Katniss choked back a sob as more traitor tears slipped from her eyes and slid down her face. She knew she'd never hear the end of their laughter if they heard her crying. Katniss pulled herself on to the branch and tied herself in. She put her empty bottle away and cried herself to sleep as the Careers began to relax. The last image her mind gave her was of Clove laughing at her. No mercy or shame as she cried.
