Chapter 45
Beetee's point of view:
Day 5 of the Games
There had not been a death since early morning of the 2'nd day. And the Capitol audience was getting bored.
Thresh, was still waiting it out in the large field of tall grass, and gorging himself on the large quantity of edible plants that he found.
Josephine Ford, from District 5 was still stealthy and stealing from the supplies at the cornucopia behind the Careers backs.
Little Rue, had a remarkable talent for tree climbing and hopping from tree to tree. The Careers had caught sight of her a few times, but she always managed to lose them, much to the dismay of the Careers.
Katniss Everdeen, had found herself some water and now was just blindly exploring the arena.
Melvin Ducksworth, from District 10 was also blindly exploring the arena.
Luke, continued to watch the supplies for the Careers while still reprogramming the landmines.
The Gamemakers then decided that the Games had now been too quiet and boring for too long.
I watched on the screen, the Gamemakers started a huge forest fire in one section of the arena. Most of the tributes were in that section of the arena at the time, and most of them got burned. It went on for over an hour.
Josephine Ford, Luke, and Thresh, were not not in the forest fire area of the arena.
Little Rue, and Melvin Ducksworth, received minor burns, but escaped without much difficulty.
However, after just a few minutes, it was clear that the Gamemakers were herding Katniss Everdeen, in the direction of the Careers. I watched on the screen as she was lit on fire and received severe burns that I could only imagine would be unbearable. But as the Gamemakers kept shooting fireballs at her the adrenaline rush kept her moving.
Eventually after she neared the Careers and escaped the fire, she found a pond. But her respite in the cool water was short lived when she caught sight of the career pack. This time Peeta Mellark didn't have the opportunity to divert the others.
Katniss ran. But she couldn't outrun them, so after a few minutes she found a suitable tree and started to climb.
This was exciting for the Capitol audience. The Careers pinned down a tribute that can't escape, but is out of their reach!
Cato, attempted to follow but proved a very incompetent tree climber.
Glimmer, attempted to shoot her down with the bow and arrow, but had bad aim.
Katniss, took the arrow that stuck in the wood and waved it at them with a devious smile.
They exchanged a few words while The careers are unable to climb the tree and made them look foolish. Cato look like he was fuming.
"Why don't we just wait her out?" said Peeta, and the other careers looked at him. "I mean she's got to come down sooner or later. It's either that or starve to death. We'll just kill her then. It wouldn't hurt for us to just sit here and wait, we got nowhere to go. We got nothing else to do."
Cato agreed. And they then settled in for the long haul.
Katniss positioned on her tree branch more comfortably, breathing hard, obviously still feeling the pain of her burns.
While at the same time another camera in the arena nearby recorded from another angle, little Rue from District 11 was in one of the nearby trees watching the exchange.
Katniss then caught sight of little Rue, but of course they spoke no words. It seems that they exchanged some communication with body language while little Rue pointed upward to the top of the tree.
It was then that they saw what looked like a beehive.
But at closer inspection, it was Claudius Templesmith and Caesar Flickerman in the TV studio that then revealed it.
"Claudius." said Caesar Flickerman. "That looks like tracker jackers."
"Oh yes." acknowledged Claudius Templesmith. "Those things are lethal."
"For those viewers out there who don't know," said Caesar Flickerman, "tracker jackers are genetically engineered wasps whose venom targets the fear center of the brain to trigger frightening hallucinations, if it doesn't kill you first."
Katniss then looked from the tracker Jacker Nest down to the ground where the careers were waiting. Clearly the wheels in her head were turning. But then a small silver parachute landed on the tree branch nearby her.
She opened it to reveal a container of skin cream. She dabbed it with her finger and then rubbed it on her burns and sigh of relief came out of her mouth. The information on the computer screen here in the mentors control room explained that the gift in question was some specialized burn cream that sooth's and heals burns extremely quickly, though extraordinarily expensive. Though with Peeta Mellark playing up this Star-crossed lovers act, it looked like there were a lot of wealthy people around the Capitol that were pouring in funds to Katniss Everdeen.
Day 6 of the Games, 7:00 a.m. Arena time
Katniss Everdeen had gotten a good night sleep in her tree branch. But now she was hoping to make an escape from the career pack.
I watched on the screen as she signaled little Rue to get away. The camera showed little Rue hopping from tree to tree as she left the area.
Katniss climbed up to the tree branch that housed the Tracker Jacker nest. She used a serrated edge of her knife and started to saw at the tree branch. The smoke from the forest fire had sedated the tracker jackers, but now it seems that they were waking up and they made their way towards Katniss Everdeen. She gradually sawwed her way through the tree branch and was stung three times, but she didn't stop sawwing with the knife.
Finally the knife cut all the way through the tree branch and it fell and it split open like an egg on the ground below. An entire swarm tracker jackers descended on the career path and they were quick to get up and run for it. Cato, Clove, Peeta, and Marvel got only a few stings.
But unfortunately Stacy Winkler from District 4 and Glimmer, got a whopping half of the entire swarm each. They were stung hundreds of times all over. Katniss Everdeen quickly descended the tree until she got to the ground. By this time she it looked like she was beginning to feel the effects of the tracker Jacker venom as she started to stumble this way and that as though she had just downed a large quantity of alcohol.
By this time the swarm had left Stacy Winkler and Glimmer, and now began to head towards the other four as they seemed to have forgotten about Katniss.
The camera then showed that Peeta, Clove, Cato, and Marvel had made it to the lake which was only a short distance away, and after taking refuge in the water for a little while the swarm of tracker jackers lost interest.
Before Katniss got very far, she seemed to have some kind of internal struggle in her mind by the look on her face. And then a look of dawning comprehension on her face and then had a look of panic. She ran back towards Glimmer who was lying on the ground. She then took the bow and sheath of arrows from Glimmer and then began to run for it before Peeta came up behind her telling her to run.
The cannons fired to indicate the deaths of Stacy Winkler and Glimmer. Not bad for 'The Girl On Fire' if you ask me. Well, if the resistance's plan go's accourding to plan, Katniss Everdeen is going to be our National Hero.
She escaped the career pack by dropping a nest of tracker jackers on them. It is ingenious. Though the sum of the idea I think came from little Rue.
Katniss ran off into the bushes for a distance until she passed out in a place where she wouldn't be noticed without a deliberate search.
On the camera it showed Peeta drawing a knife and fighting with Cato before he received a severe cut on the leg and he began to bleed heavily, while simultaneously he had also stabbed Kato in the side and he began to limp away.
It seemed that Peeta had gotten the worst of it.
For hours, Peeta wandered until he got to the river And then he waited. Nothing more he could do, it seemed, that by blood loss he had lost almost all of his strength, but his heart continues to beat.
Cato's wound wasn't that bad, and easily treatable with the medicines at the cornucopia.
Day 7 of the Games
I was in our room in the tribute Center. I was having lunch with Sora.
"So." said Sora. "Do you think that it is going to be a District 3 Victory this year? Luke, is still in the game."
"I always hope for a District 3 Victory." I said her. "But, what chance does he really have. It is only a matter of time until he is of no further use to the careers, and then they will kill him."
She looked at me with a curious face.
"Your attitude about the whole thing seems different this year." she said.
"While I always hope for District 3 victory, I guess I have my eye on something else."
She then leaned in close.
"The plan that the resistance has to turn Katniss Everdeen into a symbol." she whispered.
"She has gained a great deal of support. Both the Capitol audience and the district audience is rooting for her."
"The trick with the Beehive is impressive, along with the image that Cinna, portrayed on her."
"The districts need to be freed from the Capitol. We must persuade the district citizens to go to war."
"Well then, let's go to the mentors control room and see how things play out."
As we watched on the screen, Katniss Everdeen was still unconscious. Scientifically, her body was attempting to sweat the tracker Jacker venom out of her system, while it also act as sedative properties to the brain.
Josephine Ford from District 5 was still very stealthy and elusive and apparently had figured out the trap of landmines around the supplies from the Cornucopia. She was always going in there to steal stuff.
Melvin Ducksworth then wandered into the large grassy field where Thresh was waiting.
As he walked through it, Thresh hid beneath the line of sight of the grass and when he came in close he grabbed hold of him and broke his neck. The cannon sounded, advancing him to the top nine.
Day 8 of the Games
It was around midday. Katniss Everdeen then came out of her tracker Jacker induced coma.
When she got to her feet She looked at the set of bows and arrows that she had with her now. Though she was still coming out of her daze, she seemed to have a new spark in her eyes she looked at the weapons.
She checked her backpack. And she checked herself out. She had clearly lost a few pounds and dehydrated a little while she was unconscious. She made her way back to the source of water that she'd found before. She hydrated herself, and then went in search of food.
It was then that she came in sight of a bunny rabbit. She fit one of the arrows into the string of the bow, pulled back the string, but as she took aim, she still seemed rather dazed, and her hand shook a little. Probably side effects of the tracker Jacker Venom. She released the string and the arrow pierced right through the bunny's body.
Nice aim. I thought. Was that just a lucky shot or was that practiced skill.
It was a short time later that she found a wild groosling, a small wild turkey. She took aim and released the string. Again the the arrow pierced right through the bird's body. Damn! That girl can shoot! Where in District 12 did she learn to do that?
She built herself a fire. She then removed all of the feathers from the bird and started to cook it. While other cameras from another angle showed that little Rue was nearby watching closely.
Then, by coincidence, Little Rue accidentally stepped on a twig and went 'SNAP!'.
In less than 2 seconds Katniss Everdeen had her bow ready and an arrow on the string.
She took aim in the direction of the snap which was behind a tree trunk, she thought that she had heard some rustling behind it.
She stood up and walked towards the tree, and then peeked around it where she then looked little Rue right in the face. She smiled.
"You know," said Katniss, "If we work together we could probably last longer."
"You want me as an ally?" said little Rue in disbelief.
"I think you would be an asset to me." said Katniss. "You're smart, you're fast, and obviously good enough to survive this long."
I could only imagine what Haymitch Abernathy was thinking at this time that his star tribute, after so many years of failures, was taking on the weak and fragile 12 year old from District 11.
So the two of them had formed an alliance, albeit a temporary one. Even Katniss and Rue of all people will turn on each other once the competition gets tight.
"Would you like something to eat?" asked Katniss on the television screen.
Little Rue looked at what looks like a small chicken cooking over the fire and she gulped, clearly her mouth is watering.
So far in the Games, the cameras have recorded that she had an extensive knowledge of all the edible plants in the arena, naturally that would be the only thing that the District 11 educational curriculum would teach the kids, for the Capitol would assume that it would be all that a District 11 citizens would need to know.
They sat down by the fire and Little Rue managed to treat Katniss's tracker Jacker stings with some medicinal plants that she had found.
Katniss then treated some of little Rue's burns with the medicine that she had received.
Katniss gave little Rue one of the chicken legs. Rue was hesitant as she bit into the meat and a large quantity of chicken grease dripped down her chin.
"Oh, I've never had a whole leg to myself before." she said with longing relish.
"Take the other." offered Katniss.
"Are you sure?" asked little Rue.
"Sure." said Katniss. "I have the means to get more." She then held up the bow. "Plus, I prefer the breast if it's all the same to you."
"Sometimes, a flock of these birds fly into the orchards in District 11, and we get a decent lunch that day." said little Rue.
"Really?" said Katniss Everdeen in disbelief. "I would have thought that you have a little bit more to eat in District 11, seeing as how you grow all the food and all."
But the moment that little Rue put on the surprised look and then began to respond to Katniss's comment, all of the sound on the camera's microphone was muted as well as the camera turning away from the two briefly. Until eventually their conversation about District 11 and the distribution of food to Citizens was over. Obviously the Gamemakers didn't want that conversation to be heard.
Day 11 of the Games
They spent the next few days planning, pooling their resources, and they apparently became very very good friends.
Elsewhere, the Careers had set up traps with nets, hoping to catch something, or someone.
Katniss and Rue, then discussed the fact of why it's the careers that usually win every year. The careers have the advantage because they have all of the supplies, but the careers don't know how to survive If they didn't have the supplies. On the years where the supplies are destroyed for whatever reason that is usually a year when someone from a different District wins.
So they set up smoke signals that would draw the careers away from the supplies. And then Katniss would find a way to destroy the supplies.
"If we can't find each other again, what should we do?" asked Katniss.
Little Rue, thought for a moment.
"We send a signal by use of the mockingjays." she answered.
"The mockingjays?" said Katniss. "How?"
Little Rue, then whistled a four note tune, and a few moments later the singing hybrid muttation birds repeated the exact four note tone right back at her. The another one did. Then another, and then another until the whole flock was singing it over and over again.
"You have mockingjays in District 11?" asked Katniss.
"Oh yes." said little Rue. "Back at home there are several that are my special friends. Since I'm always the highest up in the Orchards, I'm the one that sees the flag being raised saying that it's time to knock off for the day. So, I then whistle that four note tune to the mockingjays, and then when all the other workers hear the mockingjays singing it, they know that it's quitting time for the day. I like mockingjays. It's how I knew that I could trust you, because I saw your pin."
Katniss then looked at her golden brooch with the ring and the bird on it. The camera then zoomed in close on it. And clearly it indicated the precise word that it was. The bird on Katniss Everdeen's pin was a mockingjay.
Katniss then took off the pin and gave it to little Rue.
"You take it." said Katniss. "It means more to you."
"Oh no." said little Rue. "I like seeing it on you. Plus I got my own token."
She then revealed the necklace that she was wearing that had been carved out of wood.
"It's supposed to bring good luck." said little Rue.
"Well," said Katniss, "it seems to be working."
"Now you try whistling to the mockingjays." said Rue.
Katniss Everdeen, then whistled the four note tone. And just like with Rue, the mockingjays sang it back.
They hugged farewell, and promised to see each other for dinner.
We all watched the screens, showing Josephine Ford from District 5, heading for the cornucopia to re-supply. While Katniss reached the clearing at the same time.
Cato saw the smoke and had everyone head towards it. This time they brought Luke with them.
Katniss observed the big pile of goodies just sitting out in the open as she clearly did not know that the land around it had been mined.
But then she saw Josephine Ford from District 5 running towards the pile after it was left unguarded. She carefully maneuvered the path where there were no landmines, took some of the items, and then ran off.
Katniss Everdeen then waited until Josephine Ford was gone and then she went out into the open after examining the area around the pile for a while, though she spoke no words, the Capitol audience was, I guess, determining at the wheels in her head were turning.
She then fit one of her arrows into the string of her bow, pulled back and took very careful aim before releasing the arrow. The arrow went right through the fabric of a bag of apples. The bag split open but not enough for any to fall. She took careful aim again looking along the length of the arrow. After she'd pulled back the string for nearly an entire minute, breathing slowly, and then released the arrow, the arrow cut open the fabric and all of the apples hanging from the top of the pile of supplies landed on the ground all over the place setting off multiple landmines simultaneously. It cause secondary explosions which then cause one huge explosion.
The kinetic force of the 'BANG!' sent her flying backwards. She was disoriented, but assumes that that would alert the career pack and as I watched on the screen, she got to her feet and manage to get behind some bushes before she collapsed on the ground to rest.
The career pack returned shortly after that to observe all of their stuff completely destroyed. Then Cato went completely mad and started trying to tear his own hair out. He then turned on Luke.
"This is all your fault!" he said to him and anger.
Luke then decide to make a run for it but Cato caught him and then twisted his head around hard and one quick motion.
'CRACK!' went his neck. And the cannon sounded, advancing Cato to the top eight.
Well, that's it. District 3 is now out of the running. It seemed unlikely that Luke would win, he was only alive as long as he was useful to the careers, and it seemed that once Katniss Everdeen had sabotaged his reprogrammed landmines, his usefulness had come to an end. Katniss Everdeen then made her way away from the careers while the careers tried searching through the charred debris for anything useful, thought it didn't look like they had search very hard.
Katniss Everdeen then seemed extremely disoriented for the next few hours and eventually the sun had set and she decided to camp for the night and try and find little Rue later.
I observed on the screen that little Rue also had searched for Katniss, but Katniss had not shown up at the rendezvous point. Rue whistled the four note tune, and the flock started singing just as they had planned. but after the mockingjays stopped singing, they didn't start up again. So little Rue had to go to a different area and then hide out for the night in order to avoid the careers.
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