Raised to Fight, Born to Die: The District 2 Tributes
Unfortunately, the Seventy-Fourth Annual Hunger Games are almost over…If you haven't read my last chapter, this chapter picks up right after Cato has killed Thresh.
Please please please R if I get around 60 reviews by the time I post Chapter 13, I'll update a special bonus chapter when this story is finished. It'll have full backstories on Cato and Clove, and Marvel and Glimmer may be included.
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(Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or its characters.)
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Chapter 12: On With the Killing
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Cato
I don't hear the cannon go off. The thunderstorm is too loud.
I gather up my weapons and pack them; I put my sword in my belt, and tie my spears to my backpack. Then I head over to the dead dog's body and pull out some teeth. I dig in my backpack for a spare container or sack to store them in; they may be handy for my sure-to-come fights against Twelve and Five. After tying up the sack I found, I put it back in my backpack and head back toward the lake and the rock platforms Clove and I slept on not too long ago farther south. I don't hear the hovercraft come due to the storm, and I don't look back to check if it's there either.
As I walk, I let the rain wash off all the blood on my skin and in my hair. I let myself imagine Clove walking next to me. Together, we hunt down Twelve and kill Katniss while she's trying to protect Lover Boy, and then we go for Peeta, letting both of them bleed a slow death. Maybe we could make them watch each other die. Then, with only three left, Finch will have been drawn to the fight to see what she can get out of it. She'll most likely be after Katniss and Peeta's leftover food and supplies. Clove and me can draw her out and trap her. I doubt she can fight, that little thing, so we'll kill her quickly. But we'll probably go after Finch first and save Twelve for after. The best kills for last.
But Clove isn't here. I am woken by the sharp reality of Clove's death. Even if she survived, she would have been ruined. Her head wound was too much. I guess I could say she was doomed from the start, but that's the thing. She wasn't doomed. In fact, she was supposed to be one of the last people in the arena. She might have even won herself.
And it's all because of Katniss. And Thresh had a part in it too. But it was mostly Katniss. The Girl on Fire, who got an Eleven in Training, who killed Glimmer and maybe even Marvel as well. The one who defies all rules of the Games, all traditions. She's my enemy in this arena. She's been the one to kill all along.
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That night, it stops raining in time for the anthem. The sky clears somewhat and the Capitol seal flashes in the night sky.
Thresh's face flashes. Then it goes dark.
I want to go out and hunt, but that would be a stupid idea with only four people left. I might as well rest up now and have enough energy or whatever for tomorrow, which is sure to have some deaths.
I settle in the rock cave Clove and I visited earlier. As I open my backback and realize I forgot to look for Thresh's hideout in the fields. Two's backpack from the feast is probably stashed there.
I look up to the sky. A simple solution. Soon enough, I see a flash of silver. Then I see the whole parachute with rolls of bread and duck meat. There's sliced apples and pears, as well as a plate and silverware. I eat everything and mutter a thank-you to Brutus and Avena in between bites.
"Fire." It's the first word I've said since Thresh's death. Another parachute floats down moments later with matches. I gather some branches from the trees about fifty feet away and start a small fire in my cave. I slide off my rain jacket and rub my hands together.
I lie down, full. Tomorrow I will hunt Katniss and Lover Boy, knowing Finch is either following me or them. Someone will die tomorrow, definitely. Hopefully it'll be by my hands.
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When I wake up, I find my cave is partially flooded. My fire's gone out. I quickly gather my stuff and head out. I've gotten another parachute, so I've even got a full breakfast including fancy Capitol bread, cream cheese, and, like, a billion different types of fruits as well as a bar of chocolate.
It's not raining anymore. The rocks here stretch on for miles; I forgot just how far south the cave is. I head north, on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary.
I do see smoke far away in the sky, probably from the other side of the arena, and I study it for a moment. It can't be Finch. Her tactics are too evasive for that. It has to be Twelve, but why would the Girl on Fire be stupid enough to make a fire? Maybe she's inviting me. Maybe she's letting me know Peeta's healed.
That makes me think Peeta might have actually healed, despite his horrible odds.
Ah, I doubt it. I know where I cut him. Even with Capitol medicine, it'll take a long time to fix that mess. If only Clove were here, we'd be laughing at him for hours.
I quickly shrug Clove away from my fucked up mind. I can't think about her right now.
I hear a very distant cannon and I look up at the sun. It might be around four o'clock. My guess? The cannon is for either Finch or Lover Boy. Maybe the three finally ran into each other. Maybe Finch was following them and Katniss saw her. Either way, I hope the cannon isn't for Katniss because I want to kill her myself. I want to see the light leave her eyes when I slit her throat. Right after she watches me torture Peeta to his death. Which should be soon. Maybe even tonight.
I've changed my mind. Instead of hunting them, I'll let them come to me. I don't know what's on the other side of the arena, but I know the Cornucopia area extremely well. Why give them the advantage like I did Thresh? It'll also tire them out, especially Lover Boy with his injured leg.
A huge smirk takes over my face as I break into a run, heading north, back towards where the games all started.
Back to the Cornucopia.
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After travelling for the rest of the day, I make it back to the Cornucopia. It seems like it's been centuries since I was last here with Clove. Back when she was still alive. And the many times before that, with Glimmer and Marvel.
Back then? That was when the Games were pure fun. Just a game. Just a competition. Now, though, it's a lot more serious than that. Now, with only three people left, it's a war. It's been a war ever since Clove was murdered.
I seem to be getting more and more food now than before. I've just received another feast from my sponsors, only this time I got turkey legs and roasted potatoes instead of duck. I eat up, not saving any as usual.
It's dark by the time I finish eating. Panem's seal appears in the sky and the anthem plays. Sure enough, Finch's face shows up. Then the sky goes dark once more.
It's times like now, when I have nothing to do, when my will to kill completely consumes me. It's like some kind of virus that takes over your body. My hands are itching to pick up my sword. I can't stop it, nor do I want to.
But I'm too tired. I've been walking all day. It's best if I were rested anyway, just in case Twelve decides to show themselves. I fall asleep thinking about the next day and what it may bring.
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I wake up to yet another breakfast, courtesy of my smart sponsors. I eat bread native to District Two with cream cheese, along with the usual bowl of fruits. I also get a thermos of cold water.
After about an hour has passed since I finished breakfast, I decide to do some target practice. I untie a spear from my backpack and shrug it off. I wave the spear in the sky, and sure enough, a flock of birds take flight. They aren't too high up; they're close enough that anyone could hit them with an arrow or a knife or something. I test my hold on my spear, raise my arm and pull back. Then I throw. My weapon slices the air and hits a black bird right in the chest.
I do this for a while, taking spears out of the birds' bodies after they fall to the ground, but I get bored quickly. Obviously, I don't need practice. I've been practicing all my life.
I look up into the sky. Into the sun. Up at the clouds. It makes me wonder what else is there. Besides Panem. There's gotta be something else beyond Panem's borders that has yet to be discovered. Maybe another country. Maybe different people. People who know nothing of our lives and live by something completely different. I wonder if they know how to kill. I wonder if they know the thrill of fighting.
What about Katniss and Lover Boy? The three of us are from the same country, but yet we are from completely different worlds. I live in a world of blood, killing, and luxury. They come from a world full of fear, poverty, and grimness. How depressing that sounds. I find myself pitying them; it's not their fault they were born into District Twelve. Hell, they probably hate it there too. After all, it is one of the worst districts in the country, and that's saying something.
I put my hands in my pockets, and one of my hands closes around the small wooden cube that was my district token. I remember when my mother gave it to me in the Justice Building back in District Two. It seems like it was so long ago, but it was only a little over two weeks ago. She gave it to me to remind me how much she was betting on my coming home. I didn't say that much of a goodbye to anyone, because I knew I was going to see them in a matter of weeks anyway.
I bet everyone at home is just biding their time until my arrival. I remember Ronan and Rhea, my best friends, and my three sisters, Azalea, Dimitra, and Vanah. They didn't visit me before I left because the three of them consider it bad luck. If they visited me, they might have thought there could be a chance I wasn't coming home, so they would have wanted to come say goodbye just in case. It would be like doubting me before I even entered the arena. A lot of people in District Two think like this, but not everyone. I remember Clove saying her sister Lavender didn't visit her when we were reaped, but it never occurred to me that she might have been one of the few who have never heard of the unofficial tradition.
It's midday now. I have lunch delivered to me from my rich sponsors and dig in. I have a smaller portion now, probably because it's so late in the Games and the prices for gifts are sky-high. This time I actually put some chicken aside for later, as well as some greens and nuts, just in case.
It starts to get dark earlier than usual. It's only late afternoon. I can't tell the time anymore because the sun went down.
I decide to go into the forest for a little bit, maybe look for signs of Katniss and Lover Boy. I know for a fact they're probably tired of waiting for me to come to them, and Katniss, if not both of them, is probably smart enough to know by now I'm not looking for them; I would have caught up to them by now, what with the cannon and the fire. I take out my sword, bored, and begin jumping, somersaulting, doing tricks while slashing nearby bushes and branches. Grunts come out of my mouth with almost every movement. I pretend opponents are closing in on me, and I swing my sword every which way possible, killing all of them. I am so busy I do not notice the subtle rustling in the bushes behind me.
All of a sudden, I am shoved to the ground, dirt going in my mouth. I turn over to see this big black thing on top of me, and my first thought is, Another morticanus.
But it can't be. Those dogs live in the fields. Where Thresh was.
Then I notice the differences. The creature on top of me has dark brown eyes, not blood red. Its body is more muscular and a lot bigger. Its fur is different, too.
This is no morticanus. It's something worse. My guess? Some kind of Capitol mutt. It looks like some kind of overgrown wolf.
I curse when the wolf snaps it jaws at me. My whole head could easily fit inside its mouth with extra room to spare. The thing snaps its jaws at me, and its upper jaw rakes down the whole left side of my face, leaving me with teeth wounds that feel like they were set on fire. No matter how hard I struggle to get out form under the mutt, its fore paws are like deadweights on my shoulders and its hind legs pin my feet down. I can't move. The only thing keeping it from eating me alive is my hands holding its neck back. I spit in its face; the mutt pulls pack in disgust, and I feel the weight on my right for lessen for just a millisecond. It's all I need. I lift my right foot and knee it in its stomach and that delays the thing for a split second; it's just enough time for me to roll out from under it and grab my sword.
But when I get up, I see the wolf turn its head around. Then it howls, the sound echoing. I start to hear more rustles, and my feet subconsciously step back, step by step.
There's more of them.
I can't fight. I have to run.
I turn and start to sprint. I know I'm in no condition to run, what with my feet and shoulders feeling like they've been crushed to millions of tiny pieces and my face feeling like it's on fire. I can barely see out of my left eye. My chest feels like I haven't breathed for a million years.
I hear the wolf howl again, louder this time, and then I hear it coming after me, its heavy paws digging deep into the earth.
I break out into the Cornucopia clearing, where the Games all started. Ironic, isn't it, to be back here at the end of the Games.
But no time to think of that now.
I don't even notice the arrow that lands in my chest. It bounces right off, thanks to my handy-dandy body suit. I don't notice Katniss and Lover Boy either; in fact, I've already run right past them by the time I actually realize they are there.
My blood's rushing. Both the Girl on Fire and Lover Boy are here, and it's my chance to finish them. But I wasn't counting on the damned wolves showing up. They're after the three of us now, and I'm going to have to take the mutts into consideration when I'm fighting Katniss. If I go up the Cornucopia, they'll follow. Maybe I can push them off. Maybe I could push Katniss off and Peeta will go after her, finishing them both. I can fight them, too. I glance behind me and I realize I'm not wearing my backpack. Dammit. I can kiss my spears good-bye. At least I still have my sword, just in case.
I keep running. I get to the Cornucopia. Then I begin to climb, Katniss and Lover Boy not far behind me.
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Please review! I haven't been getting many reviews lately because I haven't been on, and it would be great if more people told me their opinions on my writing. I kinda feel like this chapter was rushed, mainly because I wanted to update already. Let me know what you think. Thanks!
If this story gets at least 60 reviews by the time I add Chapter 13 I'll update a special "bonus", if you'd like to call it, chapter where I publish the complete detailed backstories I made for both Cato and Clove. So SPREAD THE WORD people! Don't forget to check out the "Review Game" forum if you want to do me and yourself a favor!
