Chapter 9: Endgame

Late afternoon shadows are dancing along the walls of the cave by the time I come to. I am quickly startled when the first thing I see is Peeta up and walking about.

I sit up. "You're better."

"Much better," he smiles at me gratefully. "Whatever you stuck in my leg did the trick. By around lunchtime, almost all the swelling was gone." His dancing blue eyes dim slightly and he studies me with sympathy.

"Rue didn't make it."

I turn my face away, blinking back tears. "She was speared trying to make the Run. But at least a couple others went with her. Namely Marvel and Clove."

"Marvel and Clove?" Peeta looks heartened, if also a little shocked. "What, did they turn on each other?"

I shake my head, a smile tugging at my lips. "I knifed Marvel in retaliation."

"You knifed Marvel…..?!"

I cock a ruffled eyebrow at him. "Excuse me, but who got the 10 in Training?" That shuts him up, and I laugh. "Clove nearly got me as I was making my way back out, but then Thresh intervened."

Peeta turns pale. "Then what happened?"

I shrug. "He let me go."

"That big, black boy from 11 let you go….?!" Peeta looks truly amazed.

"As a reward for avenging Rue. At least, that's what I took from it."

Peeta lets out a long breath, shuddering. "Let's not ever risk that again. Not if we can help it." He's briefly interrupted by the anthem, which now shows the faces of the three tributes who fell at the Feast.

"So: five left. Us. Cato and Thresh. And…."

"The girl from 5," I state.

Peeta sets his mouth in a grim line. "Girl from 5 is a hider, not a fighter. We might be able to outlast her…." He chuckles darkly. "I guess it's too much to hope that Cato and Thresh simultaneously destroy each other?"

I smirk. "Probably."

"Well, let's give it a day or two's rest, if the Gamemakers will allow it."

I am cheered when the Gamemakers proceed to honor Peeta's wish. Nineteen tributes have already fallen close to non-stop in the previous four days, and I bet the Capitol audience is well sated by the bloodshed.

Peeta and I spend the fifth day recuperating in the cave, during which Haymitch manages to send us a pot of soup. We drink and gulp it heartily.

On Day 6, Peeta seems strong enough for us to venture just a little ways beyond our cave, so we can forage nuts and berries. Coming upon a stream, which may or may not feed into the same stream where we narrowly avoided the Careers, Peeta and I decide to briefly split up and explore the bank down opposite directions while continuing to forage for food.

I haven't gone very far when I hear another cannon blast. BOOM. My heart drops down into my feet. I immediately turn tail and pelt back the way I came, calling Peeta's name.

I'm running so blindly, tears streaming down my face, that I nearly crash into him.

"Prim! I'm right here."

"I heard a cannon…." Then I happen to glance down and see what is in his fist. I bat it away. "That's nightlock, Peeta! It's poisonous! You'd be dead in a minute if you ingested it! Damn you all the way to hell… You scared me to death…." And I hug him around his middle, Peeta awkwardly patting my head.

"I'm sorry…. I'm sorry…. But… then who…..?"

We soon come to an answer.

"I didn't know she was following us," Peeta examines the berry-stained corpse of the girl from 5, studying the berries clumped in her hand almost guiltily.

I try to give him a reassuring smile as I gather up the berries from the other girl's cold, dead palm. When I catch Peeta eyeing me oddly, I shrug. "Maybe they'll fool someone else too."

Peeta nods eagerly, untying my sister's handkerchief from his wrist and handing it to me. "Here. Tie them off in this."

I do, and then Peeta ties the package to the end of his spear.

"Let's head back to the Cornucopia," I suggest. "Refill our canteen at least."

Peeta looks unsure. "You think Cato is guarding it?"

"I don't know. Thresh didn't stick around, and he took Cato's backpack. For all we know, Cato's trying to chase him back down."

"Let's hope they both tear each other down," Peeta says grimly.

I'm not so sure I want that to happen. Even if Peeta and I do somehow manage to outlast both Cato and Thresh (which I highly doubt), we'll be the last two alive…. and then we'll have to fight each other.

Still, Peeta and I start trekking through the woods back towards the Cornucopia, as the shadows begin to lengthen and the stars come out.

"Do you think it's getting dark earlier?" Peeta frowns. He's right, and it doesn't make sense; Panem is still at the height of summer, the sun should be setting later, not earlier.

Until you consider… "The Gamemakers probably want to end this as much as we do."

One way or another, probably before dawn, I will likely be dead, and perhaps Peeta with me. But I can't let that happen. Peeta has to get home so he can try and woo my sister. If I have to die to ensure that they have a future together, so be it. Katniss might not be able to get on without me, but at least she would have someone to hold her and love her.

"AHHHHHHH!"

The scream, followed by a cannon, makes us both jump. Through the trees, we suddenly see Thresh's face appear.

Peeta's face is as translucent as the full moon. "What was that?"

I eye him sadly. "It's the finale."

As soon as I say it, something leaps out of the foliage and charges towards us. The moonlight catches snapping jaws.

"Prim, RUN!" Peeta and I turn tail and sprint the rest of the way out of the forest. We hit the plain, spotting the Cornucopia looming up before us, but neither of us stops. Behind me, I can hear snarling and howling, and I know that the Gamemakers have once again set mutts on us.

We reach the side of the horn, and Peeta hardly slows down as he gets into a crouch.

"Climb! I'll give you a boost!"

Laden down with most of our gear, I nonetheless obey and haul myself up and over the lip of the Cornucopia. I can hear Peeta scaling behind me: he's become a much better climber than he was even mere days ago, when we were hiding up in trees.

A shout of pain makes me glance down; Peeta is clinging to the lip of the horn for dear life, a dog mutt sinking its teeth into his weaker leg. I toss my ally his sword and he stabs the thing right through the brain, forcing it to let go with a yelp. I manage to pull my friend up the rest of the way.

We barely get a moment's rest before we're on the defensive again.

Cato comes hurtling out of the dark without warning, knocking me down and locking his hands around my throat. I choke and gag, only able to stare up into Cato's enraged face.

"You…. stupid…. little…. girl….." he growls. Quite abruptly, he is yanked off and away from me, and I stagger to my feet, gulping in cool night air.

Peeta and Cato are now engaged in an all-out brawl, hacking and slicing at each other with swords. When they both end up losing their blades, the boys proceed to wrestle each other.

I circle the boys, trying to find a way to outflank the last Career. For this is the finale to the Hunger Games, and the audience expects a show.

A metal sword is glinting in the moonlight and I creep near it reaching for it, when….

I glance up to find Cato with Peeta in a chokehold. Baring my teeth, I back up and string my bow that I still don't really know how to use.

Though he has the upper hand, blood coats one side of Cato's face and he appears winded. "Go on, kid, try and shoot me. Then we both go down and the Crown goes to a little tweenie." He says this with open disdain, like he can't believe the Capitol would ever allow a twelve-year-old to actually win.

Except that's where he's so very wrong. I don't intend to win, but I also won't allow for Cato to win either. Two people are going down, all right, but what Cato fails to realize is that he's one of them. And I'm the other.

Peeta is groaning, gasping, and Cato maneuvers him into position, ready to snap his neck. "I can still do this…. I can still do this…. one more kill…. Bring pride to my district…."

Peeta is trying to mouth something to me, communicating with his hand as he taps a finger against the back of Cato's palm.

As the Career is talking, my eyes shift to the left and down, so that I spy Peeta's spear right next to my foot, my sister's handkerchief containing the nightlock berries still tied off. I return my gaze to Cato, trying to keep my aim accurate as my arrow tip follows his skull.

"Not that it matters…." he's saying.

He's tightening his grip on Peeta, and I won't let my sister lose her love, I won't, and I fire for Cato's head.

My aim is closer than I would have ever thought possible, and Cato has no choice but to duck.

"Missed me," he laughs. But then the mirth on his face completely melts away, for in the second it took him to glance down at his feet as he ducked, he missed me tossing the bow aside, kicking the spear up into my waiting hand and hurling it like a javelin…

…. Right into his hand.

I may not be able to shoot, but damn it if I don't know how to throw.

Cato is bellowing, Peeta is twisting out of our final enemy's grasp and flipping the boy from 2 over his head, hurling him over the side of the Cornucopia to the waiting mutts below. They're on him in a second, tearing out chunks of flesh and we have to listen to Cato's screams. Horrible, hideous, all too human screams.

Peeta and I hang onto each other as we wait for Cato to meet his end, realizing that if he dies, District 12 is guaranteed its third Victor.

Cato is sobbing now, begging, calling out, "Please!"

I turn to find Peeta pressing the bow into my hands. Stringing an arrow, I notch it back, taking careful aim, and letting it fly, hoping it meets its mark.

It must, for a moment later, we hear the cannon. BOOM.

The moon sets, the sun rising to take its place, and the wolf mutts disperse, taking the mangled corpse of Cato with them. All that remains in the grass is the spear with the handkerchief tied to it.

Peeta and I slide off the Cornucopia to the ground, my district partner picking up his spear and wiping off the blood.

Then, we hear Claudius Templesmith's voice echo through the arena:

"Attention, tributes, attention: congratulations on making the Top Two. We look forward to witnessing the both of you fight each other to the death. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor."

Peeta and I are gaping at each other, horrorstruck. He is the first to recover, smiling at me sadly.

"Go ahead." And he's nodding to where I'm holding the bow in one hand, and a sword (it might be Cato's) in the other.

Fighting back tears, I shake my head. "I can't…. I WON'T!" I gaze at Peeta heartbreakingly. "It's not fair! It's not fair! My sister….."

"Your sister will be thrilled to have you back. They have to have their Victor. And you know what, Prim? You deserve it."

"You do too…. and so much more," I wipe my nose noisily on my sleeve. "I don't want to go home. Not without you." And running to him, I bury my face into his chest, sobbing. Peeta hugs me back, rubbing my spine gently.

Through my tears, I see him still holding the spear erect, Katniss's green handkerchief still tied to it.

That's when I get an idea. Reaching up, I untie the handkerchief and the clump of berries it is storing and unwrap the cloth. Stepping back, I lift Peeta's free hand and pour some of the berries into it.

Peeta nods in approval, thinking I'm going to allow him to commit suicide so at least I won't have the guilt of killing him myself. So his eyes widen in surprise when I take the remaining berries and pour them into my own palm.

"Prim…."

"Do you trust me?" I ask him.

After a long moment, he nods. "Yes." We lock eyes. "Together?"

"Together. One…. Two….."

"Three," Peeta breathes.

We are just raising the berries to our lips when a Templesmith shouts out:

"Stop! STOP!... Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the Victors of the 74th Annual Hunger Games – Primrose Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you…. the tributes from District 12!"