Chapter 21

When I awake it's to find that I've been unconscious for around 12 hours. I sit up gingerly. My back stretches so uncomfortably tight that it's all I can do not to cry on camera. Peeta, unsure where is safe to touch me, pats my knee while he fills me in on what I missed.

He carried us into the forest that hadn't been touched by the fire and found us some protection so he could let me sleep off some of the pain. He washed my back off and covered it in the leaves that Rue had used. He had found the correct leaf, thankfully and my back burns seems to be healing much faster than the burns I'd see back home heal. I guess the plants that Rue favored accelerated the healing process. They aren't a tree that I am familiar with from District 12.

No medicine has been sent so while Peeta catches a few hours of sleep, I plan how to get some food into us. It seems that my bow string got too hot in the fire yesterday. I took the string off the fishing pole to restring my bow but didn't get very far because pulling the string tight enough to string caused my back to feel like the skin would break open again. Instead, I medicated the back of my calf and watched Peeta sleep. He was nice enough not to mention Rue's face in the sky last night. He also glanced over the face that Thresh must have been found by either a Tribute or a Gamemaker. I feel like crying. It wasn't my fault but I feel like I owe it to Rue to root for her district partner.

3. That is the number of Tributes left until Peeta and I can go home. I sift my fingers through his hair. It's amazing that neither one of us has had a proper bath in over a week and yet his hair is still soft to the touch and clean feeling. I can almost feel the grease in my braid and my skin starts crawling for a bath. District 12 may not be the cleanest place in Panem but we do at least wash up regularly.

Peeta wakes up a few hours later and we are able to scavenge a few berries and some edible plants. It's not fulfilling and we are still hungry but it's the best that can be done. Haymitch must be planning something. After his stunt with the wedding present we should have money from Sponsors. Haymitch, the idiot that he is, offered himself back up to Snow on a silver platter. He admitted to Snow that I mean something to him. He has eluded Snow for years by not caring about anyone or anything. Now he has given Snow leverage. I hate him for this because I owe Haymitch for doing the only thing he could do for us, mentoring aside.

Peeta and I whisper to each other and spend the rest of our day resting. Peeta restrings my bow and I deem it as good a job as can be done but there isn't much I can do without having my back in shooting-shape.

Peeta tells me about eating stale bread for every meal growing up and how ironic it is that he still loves bread. In turn, I tell him about how I got Prim's goat by choosing one that might not live. Peeta is engrossed in hearing about how Prim and Mother healed Lady and nursed her back to health.

By nightfall, I am restless. The trumpets that come before an announcement are welcome. Claudius Templesmith's voice booms out from all around us.

"Attention Tributes. Welcome to the final five! You all deserve a reward and so you are invited to a feast at dawn. The feast will take place at the Cornucopia and will include a special gift for each of you. That is all."

Peeta looks at my back and sighs. I swallow. I can't shoot well with a burned back. I can shoot, though.

"Let's get going," I say to Peeta. I stand and brush the dirt off of me. I go to put my clothes on for the first time in a day.

"Are you crazy?" Peeta whispers furiously. He stands up quickly and grips the front of my shoulders, the only part that didn't get burned. I jerk my shoulders away from him and try to jerk my shirt over my head only to regret it. I stop my actions as a tear makes it's way down my cheek. I turn away from Peeta and gingerly try to slip my shirt on.

I hear Peeta sigh. His hand appears in front of me, the palm of it is facing me and the fingers of it are curling up, motioning for me to hand him my shirt.

Instead of relenting, I turn around and face him. He raises an eyebrow when I step closer to him. I reach toward his belt and in one motion pull the knife from the loop he had it secured in.

Peeta jumps back away from me with his hands up in surrender mode. I raise an eyebrow at him but say nothing. It hurts that he thought I stole his knife to hurt him with it. If I were to say something I couldn't ensure that voice wouldn't betray the pain I feel from his actions even though I know it was just a survival instinct.

I gather the front of my shirt in one hand and use the knife to slice a line down the front of the shirt. I cut a few more horizontal lines before I thread one arm through. Peeta doesn't ask if I want his help this time. Instead he simply take the other arm from me and stretches it so I can get my other arm in without having to pull the skin on my upper back trying to make it happen. Once I get the shirt on, I use the string I cut to tie the fronts of my shirt together.

"What do you think we're going to be able to do at the feast?" Peeta asks cautiously.

"I think I am going to find a good tree to climb and spend the night in it. When the sun comes up, I will be just waiting for one of the other three Tributes to show their face. I just need to be able to draw my bow back three times. If I can only get one or two shots, you'll have to be sure to protect me and or get the medicine that they are likely to send us."

With his fingers, Peeta strokes his chin and I notice that he hasn't grown any stubble since we've been here. Not that he normally seems to have any scruff on his face. Not that I'd ever noticed.

"I have a knife and I can throw somewhat decently." Peeta says all of this slowly, as if he is still trying to figure out his plan. "You could cover me while I ran to get our stuff. What if I got all the stuff and we ran? We can run with the stuff and bring the others to a place where we can ambush them."

"I can't get down from the tree fast enough to keep ahead of them and I'm not following behind them because that would make you bait."

Peeta looks as if he would like to argue the point but since it puts me in danger, he concedes.

"How about that be plan b?" I suggest this knowing that we won't use his plan.

"If Cato, Clove and Marvel have no more food or weapons because of the explosion, then they likely don't have as many sponsors. They must be weak and hungry. Cato is severely unhinged. The way he acted when he found out that Clove had left her post was crazy. I doubt if Clove wants to face him."

I remember how she took off and hide in the forest near the edge that bordered the tall grasses where Cato, Marvel and Trode were supposed to be. Smart. Then she could see him and evade his anger.

I see Peeta nod in agreement. "I suppose Cato and Marvel are about the only two we're likely to find at the feast."

"Clove will be watching from the edge of the forest. She probably watched us after the fire sent us to the lake. She must be injured or without a weapon if she didn't come after us."

This time Peeta shakes his head in disagreement. "She and Cato could be working together. It could be a ruse."

"She didn't see us after we blew up the supplies so why would she know that we saw her take off from Cato?"

"The same way we know she saw us by the lake." Peeta says.

"We're back where we started," I growl with frustration. "Let's go now and stake out a spot. We can watch and listen for the others. As soon as I see someone, I can maybe start trying to get a shot on them. If I can get one, we're one closer. That leaves it two on two. That's good odds."

"Your back Katniss….shoot a straight shot at the tree over there," Peeta waves at a tree about fifty yards away, "and if you can shoot it without falling out of a tree we'll do it your way."

I look around for the right tree to climb and make my way up. Reaching up over my head is agony. I'm lucky Peeta can't see me grimacing. I only climb up about twenty feet since this is only for a demonstration. I notch an arrow and pull back. A gasp escapes me as I feel my back pull in half. I aim quickly and let the arrow fly as quickly as I can ensure a good shot. My aim was off a full three inches but it still would have pierced a heart or brain. I don't care to hit the Tributes in the eye at this point. Any quick death will do.

I take my time climbing down. My upper back is on fire. I look at Peeta and note that he seems to have broken a sweat just watching me climb in pain. He carefully pulls up my shirt and tells me that I have started bleeding in a few places.

Before we head back to the Cornucopia, we gather some nuts, berries and leaves. Tons of leaves. Peeta chews them up a grinds them until he has a thick paste. He carefully plasters my back with these leaves and stuffs my pockets with more since I'll be up a tree by myself all night.

We divide up the possessions. Peeta keeps most of it with him since I couldn't care much with my back being what it is. I end up with the sleeping bag and Peeta ends up with my jacket since it's too rough for my sensitive back.

The walk back is a hunting trip ruined. If I had felt that my back could take a shot at an animal, I would have no luck since Peeta scares away anything that can see, smell or hear. I try everything I can to teach him how to tread easier but not much of it takes. I try not to let it set me on edge and I purposely slow our pace down so that I have a longer moment to notice any noise or motions from another Tribute who might be in our range. If Peeta alerts them to our presence then I need to be prepared.

We reach the last fifty yard of the forest just as the sun is starting it descent behind the mountains. We pick a spot just to the south of the lake. The Cornucopia is in full view and so is the lake. The range will be within distance for me to make a head shot. Picking my tree is tougher since I want to be on the very edge of the forest but not in view of anyone on the other side of the lake watching the tree line for Tributes.

I wind up picking a tree that has two branches decent enough to serve my purpose. One branch faces away from the lake where I can hide. The other one is perfect for archery. I'll just have to climb it before the sun rises. It's higher up that what a normal person would climb so I think once I get up there I will be hidden from the naked eye.

Peeta camps out a few trees away from me. He makes himself comfortable at the base of a tree and stares up at me on my tree branch. I have a few small rocks in my hand that I can toss at him if I need his attention. He will simply have to shake my tree to wake me up for my shift.

As use the rope to tie my waist to the branch below I see Peeta motion to his neck. My hand flies to my own neck and finds his token. I nod my head. I smile and hope he will understand my gesture. He smiles back and leans against his tree.

I fall asleep on my stomach looking at the ground below me, hoping that tomorrow the odds might be in our favor.