A/N: Thanks for all the responses to my question, it seems like everyone wants me to do the whole Games, so that's what I'll do. This chapter's not quite as long as the last few have been, but I hope you enjoy it!
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ STAY ALIVE ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Chapter 14 - A Saviour's Sacrifice
Katniss's hands pry the bow away from Glimmer, and I pretend not to see the skin that flakes off the unconscious tribute's body when it is touched. Katniss hasn't noticed me yet, so she moves onto the quiver, the silver arrows inside shimmering invitingly.
I tear my eyes away from the scene as I hear the hovercraft. I have to move, I tell myself, and I do. No closer to Katniss, just off to the left, far enough away for the body to be collected. As the girl from 4 disappears into the metal body of the vehicle, I see that Katniss has turned Glimmer over and is retrieving the arrows to go with the bow. And not a moment too soon.
I sense a disturbance in the forest behind me. The other Careers must be returning, either to find me or to pick up the few supplies we left here. Katniss looks up from her place on the ground, alarm in her eyes. She must be pretty heavily poisoned because she just sits there dumbly, not even thinking of running and instead fussing with the bow in a way that I can only assume is her trying to protect herself.
There's only one thing for it. I charge out into the clearing, picking up a spear from our camp on the way, hoping to scare her into running before the Careers get here. She stays rooted in one place. The bow and arrow sit limply on her lap, forgotten. She flinches away from me as if she expects me to attack her, and the shock registers on my face as I let the weapon fall. She believes I could kill her.
"What are you still doing here?" I hiss at her, and her eyes widen with surprise that not even the venom could cloud. "Are you mad?" I turn the spear around and poke her with the handle in an attempt to get her to move. She still doesn't move, and I'm starting to panic. The heavy footsteps that I presume are Cato's are getting closer. "Get up! Get up!" Finally, she does, and I push her away as forcefully as I dare. "Run! Run!" I scream. Just as I do, Cato crashes into the clearing. Katniss, finally understanding something, darts from the clearing and out of sight. I turn to Cato and find him at the edge of the clearing, now joined by Clove and Marvel.
Now is the first time I truly fear him. He has drawn himself up in his anger, making him seen twice as large as usual, and I realise how insignificant I am. He knows it too, and is going to kill me.
He charges at me so spontaneously that I have no time to react, and before I know it I have hit the ground hard. The wind is knocked out of me and my head aches from the violent contact with the floor. Cato towers above me, his face red with fury.
"I knew we couldn't trust you. You and your stupid girlfriend! Is she out there waiting for you? Is that how this is working? Or did she just tell you to stop being a creep and leave her alone? Huh? Thanks to her, two Careers are dead! Your innocent little crush ain't so innocent anymore, 12." he shouts down at me, spraying spit over my face. He kicks the spear from my hand effortlessly and draws his sword, twirling it around in the air menacingly.
"She never was innocent, Cato." I spit back, "but that never stopped me loving her before now."
"How touching." he drawls dryly. "But I'm afraid she's going to wish you never lived when I'm finished with her. I might've spared her the pain before now, but I'm getting impatient. I want to see the agony in her eyes when I kill her. I want to hear her scream for someone to save her and beg for it to end. I might give her mercy eventually, but you can be sure that I'll be there to see the life leave her body. Not like you. You're not worth the time, Lover Boy." And with that, he slashes the length of my thigh with his sword.
For a fleeting moment, the world is impenetrable blackness. The only thing I know is pain, but that is more than enough. I must be dying, I think. My leg is on fire and soaked in something sticky and warm, but I can't see. I can't see anything, I must be dead. Maybe death would be the best thing for me now. Maybe it would hurt less. But I am not dying, because the world returns to me in patches that appear at the corners of my vision and work inwards until everything is back.
"Doesn't mean you don't deserve to suffer, though." Cato adds as he walks away. I look at my leg and almost black out. The material covering it is soaked in a deep scarlet that blooms from the wound down the centre of my thigh. The cut is clean and deep, showing me the white of the bone beneath the flesh. I quickly look away, bile rising in my throat. Cato and Clove are disappearing into the shadows that the trees cast, but Marvel is still loitering at the edge of the clearing, looking at me.
His expression is not pitiful – the Careers don't take pity on anyone – but the look is filled with understanding. He opens his mouth to speak, but nothing interrupts my harsh and shallow breaths. It doesn't matter though, because I know what he would say. I know he would have done the same for Glimmer. I manage a sharp nod, which he barely returns, and then he is gone, leaving me alone in the clearing.
My only company now is the pain.
Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! I'm loving hearing from you, so leave a review of what you think. Until next time!