Chapter 21: A Change of Target
Cato POV
"No. We can do this. You just have to hold on for a little longer" I'm pleading. No, begging.
"Come on, it was always going to end this way" My hands find the source of her bleeding and try to block it. The blood simply running out between my fingers.
"I shouldn't have left. If I was faster I could have…"
"Cato. This isn't your fault" She interrupts me as she gurgles. Red liquid erupts from her mouth. It's the one time I feel utterly helpless.
"It's not that bad. I can get to the others. I can get you home"
"We both know why you can't do that. Listen to me, you have to find her. I was selfish for trying to keep you from her"
(The Day Earlier)
Ira POV
I flinch as the sword slices into the tough tree bark. He moves so quickly all I see is the glint of metal and a scattering of bark flying through the air. Another hard swipe and the tree loses a branch. I can't help but picture it as one of my trembling limbs. I've never seen him so mad. Even the glimpse of him at the bloodbath was minor compared to this. And all of his fury is directed at one person.
"She's alive!" Cato barks out between clenched teeth. At least he's stopped trying to destroy things.
"I'm sorry. I thought…"
"You thought what? That I would magically fall into your pathetic arms because I thought my district partner was dead"
He looks me up and down as if I am the most disgusting thing he's ever seen. I don't blame him. I've kept him from the one piece of home he had here. I made him alone.
"If you knew she was alive there would be nothing to stop you from leaving me" My voice is shaky and I'm trembling all over. I barely get out the sentence when Cato launches forward. One large arm pushes into my windpipe and my back slams against a tree. He holds me so my boot tips are just scraping the ground.
"You used me". I want to tell him it's not true. I would never do that to him but the pressure on my neck is too great. I splutter out his name, my fingers desperately trying to pry his arm away.
"Cato, please" His eyes widen and he quickly steps back. I drop to the ground, gasping for air.
"You know Clove warned me about you. She said that you would mess with my head"
"That's not what I was doing" I say as he turns his back on me. The tree loses another branch. Cato is pacing back and forth now. I was less scared when he standing still. He rakes a hand through his hair before pointing his sword at me, shaking it slightly.
"This is something you cooked up with your mentor, isn't it?"
"No" I say and shake my head. My neck is tender and seizes the movement.
"Don't lie to me" He all but whispers as he couches down beside me, "Do you know where she is?"
"I don't. I'm so sorry" I feel tears run down my cheeks. Would it be such bad thing if he were to kill me now? Would anyone care?
"How did it feel when you lost the boy?" Cato says louder this time. I try to ignore him when he brings up Dany but it's no use, once the tears start they don't stop. That comment was designed to hurt. I can see the battle within him. I don't know whether he's going to stay or leave. He stands up, leaving me on the ground. I realise now that I'm lucky. If you could call this luck.
"Well Ira, you got your wish. No one is ever going to forget you"
With those words Cato walks away, takes a final swipe at some plants and simply disappears. I listen to his heavy footsteps but the sound doesn't last long. I pull my knees into my chest and bury my head. I let the tears take over.
Cato POV
My hand tightens around my sword on instinct. The trees are starting to thin out meaning I'm getting closer to the cornucopia. In the distance I'm sure I can see the glint of its golden surface in the sun. By the end of the day this place will be swarming with the remaining tributes. Let them come. Anyone foolish enough to form an attack on me will be dead in minutes. If only they knew what I'm capable of at the moment.
She made me look weak. The one thing no one has ever managed to do. I couldn't control myself. It took every ounce of my willpower not to hurt her. But I still did. I know her district partner is a sore spot. That something inside me that I can't control, which I've been hiding is bubbling with anger.
I still count myself as lucky though. Two victors. There can be two victors and Clove is still alive. The odds are definitely in my favour now. I wonder briefly what would have happened if Clove actually had died. The voice in the back of my head tells me I would have gone to the end with Ira. She's not as weak as she makes out. She would make a great victor. Even so, she lied, Clove didn't die but strangely a part of me still wants to turn around.
I pause and throw my sword into the ground. The Games are supposed to be about the physical side of things not the mental. It's all a game. I smash the urge to go back to her. The games don't end when the victor is crowned. If I could overlook the lies, what would it look like if I were to choose her over my own district partner? I would be crucified by everyone I ever knew.
I let out a frustrated growl and promptly slam my fist into a tree. The pain barely registers.
"Enjoy your vacation?" My sword is in my hand without hesitation. I spin around at the sound but I'm greeted with someone I wasn't expecting.
"Clove"
"You look terrible" She says but I can safely say she looks a lot worse than me. Not that I would tell her unless I wanted a knife in my back. Her hair is hanging in tatters around her face, hiding a lopsided grin. Dry blood makes patterns down her arms and seeps into her chest piece. Of course her knives look brand new.
"What happened to you?" I ask and she keeps walking, indicating our direction. I notice she walks with a slight hobble. She keeps talking as if I nothing has changed. I suppose it hasn't.
"I could ask you the same. I've searched every square inch of this place looking for you. I was starting to think you didn't want to be found"
"I got attacked" I leave out the details. I leave out the fact that another tribute nursed me back to health and I've spent the entire time with her. Clove begins to laugh.
"Me too. More than once. I tell you what, this is not turning out the way I expected"
"That makes two of us"
"You know we can take one good thing out of this. Those idiot tributes got rid of Sparkles for us. I would have done it myself but the way her face blew up", her laughs increase but I'm still processing her words, "Definitely worth the two days I spent unconscious"
"Tributes?" I ask with narrowed eyes and come to a stop. We were attacked by tracker jackers.
"What? Don't tell me you honestly didn't know. You thought the Gamemakers did that? To us?"
"Clove" I'm getting impatient.
"The assholes from eight. Skinny rat girl and the dumbass. They dropped a fucking tracker jacker nest on us! They're everywhere in here", she pauses to look around the tree tops before turning back to me, "And then they have the nerve to try to hunt me down. I only got a hundred metres before collapsing in some rotten tree trunk. Marvel wasn't so lucky. And when I wake up I have to deal with Eleven"
I groan at the realisation that we're not the only big players anymore. Even worse the threats are coming from the lower districts. I briefly consider the possible threat but I'm not the only one I'm thinking about.
"Where are they now?"
"I'll show you. They're right up there" My eyes follow her arm until I'm looking straight in the direction of the cornucopia. The glint of it in the midday sun is unmistakeable. My day just got a whole lot worse. Clove must be looking at my downcast face because she says my thoughts exactly.
"Yep. They have all the weapons"
Ira POV
The afternoon sky has turned into a harsh fiery orange when I finally drag myself onto two legs. I'm unsteady from sitting down too long and almost fall flat on my backside. Wishing I could stay curled up on the ground for the remainder of the games, I feel a cold wind hit my face reminding me that I can't. If I stay here I freeze to death.
My movements are off balance and stiff when I get going. My progress is slow but at least I know where I'm headed. I walk a few metres in the direction that Cato had left before deviating. In the growing darkness I can just make out the rocky outcrop. Behind it the ledge of rock I slept under before I caused all this mess.
I find that the real reason I'm not moving faster is because I don't really want to leave. There's still hope that Cato might come back. If I move to far away he might not be able to find me. Stepping closer to my target, I shake my head. Why would he come back to me?
The ledge isn't as big as I remembered nor is it as desirable as I made it out to be. It's cold, cramped and slimy with some type of moss. My arms quickly get covered in green streaks. I think that I haven't done much at all in these games. Not to help myself. I've lost Dany, all of my supplies and I caused Cato to leave. Just when I admitted I wanted him to stay. The worse thing is that now two victors can win. It isn't as good as it sounds. The tributes are going to pair up, if not already, and hunt down the rest of us. The only ones without partners at the moment is Thresh and I. That's not going to happen.
The absence of my tarp is undoubtedly noticed when the wind changes direction. If Dany was still alive we could have won this together. I keep replaying the whole thing and one thing jumps out at me.
'Go get them wonder woman'
He knew I had it in me. Dany knew that there was more to me. Even if it's the last thing I do, I have to do this. I am going to go get them.