Clove POV:
It's dark but still light enough to see. The forest has gone completely quiet. I grip the knife in my hand to reassure myself. I walk next to Katniss and scan the bushes around me watching for Cato. I frown when I hear a strange grunting noise to my left.
I turn raising my knife ready to throw it. Katniss turns to her right, covering my back. I squint at the bush when I hear the grunting again. I hold my breath as my heart hammers in my chest. This isn't Cato. This is the extra element the gamemakers have decided to throw at us for a more interesting finale.
Suddenly a huge dog-like creature bursts out of the bush I throw my knife and it hits it in the heart. I feel Katniss grabbing my arm and dragging me away. We run as fast as we can towards the cornucopia. I can hear snarling and barking behind me. I risk a glance behind me and see the 4 of the creatures are chasing us.
I look into the eyes of the first one and my heart stop when I recognise those eyes. Marvel? No it's not Marvel, just a mutt that the Capitol has made, using his eyes. I feel sick and increase my speed, dragging Katniss behind me.
We reach the cornucopia and I give Katniss a leg up onto the top, she reaches down and pulls me up as the mutts snap at my legs. I yelp as they're teeth sink into my leg. Once on top of the cornucopia I look down. There's' 21 mutts around us. I assume each mutt has the eyes of a tribute. I spot the smallest mutt with Rue's eyes and a light coloured one with Glimmer's eyes.
"Clove…Their eyes." Katniss says and I nod, squeezing her hand gently. I look at her and see she feels just as sick as I do. Suddenly arms are pulling me back, I can't breath. "Clove!" Katniss screams as she nocks an arrow.
I wrestle with the person holding me that I know to be Cato but he's too strong. I hear him laugh and I take his distraction to kick him away from me, the movement causing my injured leg to give away and I find myself kneeing. I grab a knife and throw it at him but he rolls away. He lunges at me and I see an arrow fly over his shoulder. We wrestle on the ground until he hits me on the head.
He laughs as I stagger away from him seeing stars. I turn dizzily and see him holding Katniss down by the neck, her head over the edge as mutts jump up, trying to bite her. I throw a knife aiming for his head but due to my dizziness only hit him in the shoulder.
He screams and lunges at me, knocking me down. I see Katniss pull herself up, gasping for breath. She grabs her bow and nocks an arrow. Cato holds me by the neck in a position I know he can easily break my neck with just a slight movement of his hands.
I see Katniss standing on the other side of the Cornucopia, An arrow pointing at Cato's head. Her eyes find mine, she looks absolutely terrified, I struggle for a moment against Cato's grip but I know there's nothing I can do. "Go on, shoot, then we both go down and you win." Cato says mockingly. I realise we're standing on the edge of the cornucopia, mutts snap eagerly at the bottom, waiting for us to fall.
Katniss lowers her bow, I try to tell her to shoot and just let me die so she can live but I can't get anything out beside a gargling sound as Cato restricts my breathing. She looks down and Cato laughs he moves to snap my neck and she raises the bow one more. "Oh, still got some fight in you then?" He mocks. I clench my jaw and try to pull away from him.
I see Katniss staring at me hopelessly. An idea springs to mind, Katniss has a clear shot of Cato's hand. My eyes meet hers and I tap his hand with my finger. She looks at me, her eyes widening and I repeat the act. She pulls back the bowstring and releases the arrow.
It hits its mark and Cato yelps, loosening his grip. I'm able to pulls away from him and I throw a knife at his throat. He falls backwards, clutching his neck as he splutters. The cannon sounds, indicating he's dead before he hits the ground. I hear the mutts rip him to shreds before they wander off into the forest.
I turn to Katniss who's looking at me with wide eyes. I walk over to her, holding my arms out to her, she melts into them and releases a sigh. "I thought I was going to lose you." She whispers, I pull away and place a kiss on her lips which she returns eagerly.
"We did it!" I say as realisation dawns on me. "We're the last two, we've won." Katniss stares at me and a grin slowly spreads across her face. She hugs me tightly and I return the hug.
"I love you." She whispers when she pulls away, she gives me that goofy grin that I've come to love and I kiss her. We climb down from the cornucopia, watching the sky. A hovercraft should be on its way to take us away from the arena.
Trumpets sound and Katniss jumps nocking an arrow anxiously. I grab a knife, not sure if I should be ready for a fight. "Attention tributes, the previous rule change allowing two tributes to win the games has been revoked, there may be only one victor, may the odds be ever in your favour."
I drop my knife, looking down. I feel like I've been stabbed. How dare they? We've already won, this just isn't fair. I turn to Katniss who's staring at me her bow still in her hands, the arrow pointing to the ground. I hold my arms out, giving her a clear shot of my chest and throat.
"Go ahead, you need to go home." I say, her eyes widen and she shakes her head frantically. She glances as the bow in her hands and scowls at it before throwing it across the clearing.
"I'm not going to kill you Clove." She says, looking me directly in the eyes. I shake my head.
"You have to. You have to go home, you have to live and to do that I must die." I clench my teeth at the pitiful sound of my voice, Katniss shakes her head.
"Clove, I can't live without you…I….Please…Just make it quick." She raises her head giving me a clear shot of her throat. I shake my head and pull my knife vest off, throwing it over towards her bow.
"I'm not going to kill you Katniss." I snarl. I look away, hating the Capitol for doing this. I am not going to hurt the girl I love in any way. When I look back at Katniss I can see the lost look in her eyes. She reaches into her pocket and pulls something out.
"If…If you won't kill me…" She looks up from her hand and takes a deep breath, "Then I will!" She opens her hand and I instantly recognise the berries in her hand.
"No!" I scream as she lifts them to her lips. I pounce on her wrestling her to the ground. She struggles against me. We wrestle on the ground for what seems like eternity until I manage to pin her underneath me. I hold her hand down with my foot. Keeping the berries away from her mouth. My injured leg protests at its movements but I ignore it, Katniss is more important than my comfort.
Our eyes meet, Tears trickle down her beautiful face and I resist the urge to wipe them away, I need to keep my hands on her. I won't let her kill herself. "Please Clove, let me go." She begs and I shake my head.
"Never!" I say harshly. "You're not going to kill yourself, I love you too much to allow that! I can't live without you." Katniss gulps as more tears fall from her eyes. This is killing me inside. I just want to hold her in my arms. But I'm scared of what she'll do if I release my grip on her.
"I have to! Clove, I can't live without you, I love you too much to live without you." She shrieks, I place a kiss on her lips, desperately hoping to comfort her. She kisses me back and when I pull back she's sobbing uncontrollably.
"Get off me." She whispers once she's calmed down, I shake my head. "Please, I won't kill myself, I just, I want to be in your arms, properly." She whispers and I nod, my heart aching as I clamber off of her, she sits up, allowing the berries to fall to the floor and scoots over to me.
I wrap my arms around her holding her gently as she cries. Once she's stopped crying she looks at me for a long time. "What are we going to do?" I ask, one of us has to die and neither of us want the other to do so.
Katniss's eyes drift over to the berries and I tighten my hold on her, not wanting her to try to eat them again. "Who says there should have a victor." She snarls suddenly, she looks at me, her eyes glistening with tears and anger. She pulls away from me and gathers up the berries.
"Katniss no!" I say, rushing to her side, I'm about to wrestles her to the ground again but she stops me. She gently reaches for my hands and pulls it towards her, carefully placing half of the berries into it. I stare at them dumbfounded.
"Who says there should be a victor!" She repeats, "I can't live without you and you can't live without me. Who says one of us should live?" She asks and a small smile touches my lips and I nod in understanding. Since we can't live together then we shall die together.
"Together?" I ask and she nods.
"Together." She says and I place a kiss on her lips.
"I love you Katniss." I whisper causing her to smile.
"I love you too Clove." She whispers back. "On 3?" She asks and I nod.
"1." I say not taking my eyes of hers, wanting her to be the last thing I see.
"2." Katniss says, she reaches for my free hand and holds it tightly.
"3." I say finally, after a moment's hesitation we both raise the berries to our lips. I don't take my eyes of her or remove my hand from her grip as I open my mouth.
"Stop!" The sudden sound makes me jump and I see that Katniss is just as shocked as I am. We look around searching for the source of the voice before realising it is coming from the sky above us.
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the winners of the 74th Annual Hunger Games." The voice sounds flustered and I allow the berries in my hand to drop to the floor, Katniss does the same and Suddenly I find myself in her arms, she's kissing me and I can't help but grin as the implication of the words settles on me.
"We've won." I whisper. Katniss holds me tighter and I can only wrap my arms around her, enjoying the feeling of her being so close to me, of both of us being alive. A hovercraft appears above us and I rope ladder falls down for us to climb up but I refuse to let go of Katniss.
Eventually Katniss releases her hold on me and I indicate that she should climb up first. She climbs a little way up and I join her. The ladder is pulled up and I'm glad I don't have to climb the ladder with my leg.
As soon as I'm in the hovercraft doctors start to drag me away, wanting to see to my leg. I try to squirm out of their hands but they only hold me tighter. I try to elbow them in the gut hating them for daring to touch me, only Katniss is allowed to touch me. I reach for Katniss wanting to stay with her. She runs towards me but peacekeepers grabs her, holding her back. "Clove!" She calls as I'm dragged through a doorway.
The door is closed and I can no longer see her. I fight against the hands holding me, desperately wanting to get to Katniss, to make sure she's ok and hating the feel of their hands on me. "Get off me!" I snarl, wishing I had my knife vest on so I could fight them off more effectively.
I start to panic when they don't let go, "Get off!" I scream. I manage to get my arm free and frantically start to punch the other people holding me. I'm not in the hovercraft anymore, I'm at home, my father trying to punish me for one thing or another.
I'm hyperventilating, I need to get away, to get back to Katniss, I feel a sharp prick in the side of my neck and suddenly my breathing slows. The room around me sways and my eyes roll back as I slip to the floor. Hands grab me before my head hits the floor and I find I can't move to fight them. Fear shoots through me before I black out.