He's with the Careers... I hate him. I HATE HIM! Katniss thought.
This wouldn't do. He was in love with her, supposedly, and being a jerk to him would get her nowhere. She would have to try and see reason, understand that this would help them. But she didn't want to.
They had her treed, circling every side of the tree so they could be sure she couldn't escape. Peeta, who had looked close to retching when he'd seen they'd found her, stood directly in front of the tree, polishing his spear on his shirt. Katniss glared at the ground next to him. He did not look at her.
"If you're gonna be with us you'd better start pulling your weight, Lover Boy," Cato said, pinning a square of nylon between two low branches of the tree. Peeta nodded and took a step forward, but they had already done everything. Glimmer settled down under the nylon, ankles crossed in front of her, and rummaged in the backpack next to her. Their camp was overflowing with supplies... Peeta chanced a look up and saw that Katniss had a single backpack.
Katniss swung her legs around, revealing the burn mark on her thigh. Peeta cringed, but tried to pull his face into a mask of indifference. She rested her elbow on her other leg and rested her chin on her fist, swinging her feet like a toddler from a swing. "So, how's the weather been for you guys?" Peeta thought, in a split second, that this would give the Capitol a show. Surely that was what Katniss wanted? Cato looked up at her, surprised. He shrugged after a moment, turning back to his sleeping bag. "It's been a bit warm for me," Katniss called down.
Peeta looked up at her, still rooted to the same place he'd been when Katniss had reached the top branch. He squinted up at her, trying to think. "Who wants to go hunting with Clove?" Cato asked, shaking him from his thoughts. Katniss silently raised her hand from the tree, but nobody but Peeta noticed. "I'll go," Glimmer said, brandishing a silver bow and arrow. Peeta, who was rubbing the tip of his spear with his shirt, did not have to look up to see Katniss' expression. Her mouth would open for a second, but then it would close and she would glare in the other direction, the same way she did when she saw something else she couldn't have.
"I just wanna test it out first, though," Glimmer said. She knocked an arrow to the bow, pulled the string back, held it up to Katniss, and before Peeta could even scream she released the string, sending it flying straight for Katniss' head. The arrow that Peeta had thought was going for Katniss' head was really not; the arrow missed by a mile, lodging in the tree above her head. Katniss laughed out loud, pulling the arrow from the tree. Glimmer's face burned red and she reached for another arrow. Cato came quickly behind her, stealing the tightly woven quiver away. He scowled and said, "You'd better let Clove do it, you can't shoot worth anything." Glimmer's mouth opened and she was about to protest, but Cato silenced her. "Just- just go," he demanded. She took the quiver and Clove followed her off into the woods.
Now there was one boy and Cato left, besides Peeta, and Katniss, who had tucked the silver arrow away in her backpack. She twisted around in the tree again, so that she was facing the trunk now, and leaned back, like she was in a hammock. Peeta moved a bit toward the tree, but saw that Cato had seen and moved back.
Peeta, even though his legs were aching, stayed in the same spot, staring up at Katniss, while everyone around him set up sleeping places. Cato even left a place for him, though Peeta only sat down. A small fire had been made without Peeta noticing it, but now it was the only way he could see Katniss. Only Cato was awake, though barely. "I'll be guard," Peeta offered. Cato grinned at him, rubbing his eyes. "Why?" Cato asked, sitting up against the tree. "So you can help her run away?" Peeta looked quickly up at Katniss, who was watching, then made sure Cato heard him say, "That won't help anyone."
Cato frowned a bit, but crossed his arms. "I'm still staying up," Cato insisted. Peeta shrugged. "Fine," he said, sitting on the ground. He kept his spear by his side.
"I love you, Peeta," Katniss whispered.
Peeta's head shot up, his mouth open, trying to figure out what he'd just heard. Cato was now watching him closely. Peeta gasped, then leaned forward, pushing himself with the heels of his hands. "You- you what?" Peeta whispered back. Katniss dug her fingernails into the bark, leaned forward, and repeated, bottom lip quivering, "I love you." Peeta's eyes softened and before he knew it he was crying. He wasn't sobbing, but tears were streaming down his face because he'd just heard the one thing he'd said to himself when he was alone, pretending it was her voice, the one thing he'd waited his life to hear.
"I love you too, Katniss," Peeta mumbled brokenly, wiping his face. Cato snorted softly, settling back down. Glimmer shifted in her sleep and draped an arm over his waist. "Stay awake, Lover Boy," Cato warned. Peeta nodded, then looked back up at Katniss. She leaned back in her tree so the shadows covered her face once more.
XOXOXO
"Marry me?" he asked quietly, pulling her toward him. She smiled hugely and nodded, then cupped a hand on the back of his neck, pulling his mouth toward hers. Their noses touched, and she giggled, and then she turned her head slightly to the right. Their lips were almost touching, he had almost kissed her, they were so close, he could feel her breath on his face-
Something cold and wet his cheek, and he started. He expected to recieve another slap, hear, "Get up, stupid!" and be rolled from his bed, but the wet leaves under him told him different. The jacket on him was foreign, and this was the first time he'd ever woken up under the sky. His eyes immediately found Katniss in the tree, leaning out, holding her hand up. Peeta looked around him and saw that everyone else was asleep. He stood up quickly. Katniss mouthed silently and pointed to the ground next to him, and Peeta looked over to see a spear laying on the ground. He stooped and picked it up. Katniss flashed him a thumbs up, eyes brighter than he'd ever seen them, then mimed like she was holding the spear. She lifted both hands over her head, held them there for a moment, and then brought them down swiftly. Peeta squinted and shook his head, trying to understand.
Katniss rolled her eyes exasperatedly, and Peeta would've felt stupid had they not been in the Hunger Games. Katniss dragged a thumb nail across her throat and then pointed down to Cato, who was sleeping with Glimmer curled up behind him. Peeta's eyes widened, but he knew that this was something he had to do. He started to walk toward Cato, spear held up above his head, but Katniss waved for his attention and he stopped. She rummaged in her backpack and Peeta silently willed her to go faster- the breaking sunlight would wake everyone soon-
She emerged from the backpack with the silver arrow in her hand. She made to toss it down to him but before she could Peeta flew backward. The air was forced from his lungs and the spear rolled away. Cato punched Peeta in the throat, expelling the little air he'd managed to pull in, and hissed, "I knew you would try and help her!" I knew it!" Peeta struggled against Cato's hands, but the boys he wreslted in school had nothing on Cato. He'd been fed well all his life and had been trained properly, and Peeta was street-strong. He looked up to Katniss, who was working with something on her waist, and vaguely noticed Cato reaching above him to grab the spear. Katniss gave a grunt as Cato held the spear above Peeta's head, grinning evilly down at him.
Cato wiggled his fingers on the shaft of the spear, getting a good grip, and then shrugged his shoulders in that carefree way of his. Peeta could just see his mother screaming now. Peeta looked up to the tree; he wanted Katniss to be the last thing he saw before he died, wanted her to know how much he loved her. He mouthed 'I love you' to her, except she wasn't there.
Cato's forehead crashed into Peeta's and he cried out. He held onto the spear, however, but did not have enough time to do anything with it before a silver arrow plunged through his throat, spraying Peeta's face with warm blood.
Katniss jumped off Cato and Peeta pushed him away. Katniss wrenched the spear from Cato's hand and turned around to see Clove struggling with a knife she had tucked in her sock and Glimmer trying to knock the arrow to the bow. Glimmer pulled the arrow back and pointed the tip at Katniss, but heard the cannon shot that followed Cato's death and screamed. Her hands were shaking, and so were Clove's, as she gasped, "You killed him!" Katniss held the spear silently, glaring at her. She moved in front of Peeta, protecting him, and started to move forward. Glimmer noticed and pulled the bowstring tighter, screaming, "No! I'll kill you!" Peeta's heart throbbing in his ears, he tried to swallow the lump in his throat, and then shook his head, trying to clear away the whizzing sound.
An arrow stuck in the top of Katniss' backpack, which she had been smart enough to bring down from the tree, and Katniss took this opportunity to disarm Glimmer. She rolled forward on her shoulder and covered the distance between her and Glimmer, wrenching the bow away. Katniss used her free hand to shove the spear into Glimmer's chest, then jumped up and kicked the knife away from Clove, who had been ready to drive it into Katniss' throat. Katniss jumped back in front of Peeta, pulling the arrow from her backpack and knocking it to the bow. Clove's hands flew up beside her head and her mouth opened wide, but before any pleas could come Katniss released the arrow and cut off Clove's words in her throat.
Two cannon shots puncuated their deaths, and Katniss slowly lowered the bow. She stalked forward, stole the two arrows from Clove and Glimmer's bodies, took the quiver, and turned to face Peeta. "Come help me," she said quietly, stooping beside Clove. Katniss reached for Clove's body and Peeta thought for a split second that she was going to suggest they eat her, but she only rolled her over to reveal the wicked curved knife under her. Katniss swung the backpack off from her back, unzipped it, then started quickly stuffing everything in it she could. She grabbed packs of freeze-dried food, bandages, extra socks, water bottles, a small tube of green medicine, a vial of amber golden liquid, and even a pair of sunglasses. The entire campsite was almost cleared, and Peeta hadn't done anything. Katniss noticed this, too, and turned around. "Are you gonna help?" she asked indignantly. Peeta gaped at her, staring, then said softly, "My mother was right. You are a fighter."
She rolled her eyes then tried to sound pleased when she said, "Why thank you. Now grab that backpack and stuff those sleeping bags in it." Peeta watched her for a few more moments, shook his head, then dropped to his knees beside her, rolling up the sleeping bag. They packed in silence for a few more moments, but Peeta spilled the cup of water he had poured himself when Katniss arched her back and howled in pain.
A knife with a black handle was sticking out of the back of Katniss' thigh. She fell backward so her legs were folded under her and screamed, "Peeta! Get down!" Peeta threw himself around and put his back to the tree and Katniss lunged to her left, grabbing the bow. She pulled an arrow from the bow, knocked it expertly, and pierced the scrawny boy through the heart. Katniss let the bow fall to her side again, stood up, and walked over to Peeta. She limped a bit, but other than that paid no attention to the 6 inch knife sticking out of the back of her leg. She ripped the nylon square down from the tree, shoved it in the backpack, zipped it up and then growled, "Come on, Peeta." Peeta, still paralyzed, nodded numbly and stood up, following a limping Katniss into the woods.
They walked in silence for a few moments, Katniss with an arrow ready, until Peeta couldn't stand the blood fountain any longer. "Um, shouldn't we take that out?" he asked tentatively, pointing to her leg. Katniss said through gritted teeth, "Not stopping till we find shelter."
Peeta allowed himself to appreciate as they walked how strong Katniss was. She knew so much about surviving and what could Peeta do? Make noise and get her killed and eat her food.
Katniss was almost at a run now, and every few steps she gave a grunt or moan. She almost cried in happiness when they rounded a particularly thick group of trees and found a cave. The entrance was small, but Katniss could tell that it would be huge inside. Katniss jumped through and Peeta followed. Katniss laid down on her stomach, not even bothering to lay anything down, and then gently pulled herself to one knee, so she was holding herself up with the opposite hand. "In- the orange bag- medicine-" she choked out. Peeta unzipped every pouch in the bag and dumped it out, then grabbed for the white tube. He held it up and Katniss nodded ferverently. He unscrewed the lid and squeezed a glob on his finger, but then noticed that the knife was still sticking out of her leg. The knife was buried to the hilt and bleeding more than Peeta was comfortable with.
"Take it out!" Katniss growled, shaking her head all around to distract herself. Peeta mouthed to the back of Katniss' head, "No, I can't, I-"
"TAKE IT OUT!" Katniss bellowed. Peeta reached forward, gripped the knife, and pulled it straight out. Katniss gave a great shudder, gagged a bit, then stuffed her knuckles in her mouth. She flopped down on her belly, grabbed the waist of her pants, pulled them down, and pulled the jacket down to cover her underwear. Peeta didn't have time to blush as he used a piece of clean cloth in the bag to wipe away as much blood as he could and smear the ointment all over the cut. He kept putting it on at the satisfied sounds Katniss was making. He guessed it had something numbing in it. There were no words on the tube but Peeta had a feeling it was for stab wounds. What else would a trained Career be carrying?
Katniss gasped into the floor for a moment while Peeta rubbed almost half of the tube on, then twisted around and said, "Thank you." Peeta nodded, still looking at her leg. "Bandaids," she whispered. Peeta grabbed the nearest box and tore it open, then dumped the contents out. He groaned. They were thin strip bandages, the kind you used for cuts on your finger. Katniss shook her head impatiently, then said, "Use them all, we just want to keep the dirt out."
So Peeta carefully laid the bandages in a row on the back of her leg, sealing the edges with the next bandaid up. Finally all the cut was covered, though the bandaids were soaked crimson, and then Katniss instructed, "Tear the leg off the bottom of my pants and tie it around it." Peeta reached for her pant leg, tore it off with a loud RIP and then double-knotted it around Katniss' leg. "Okay, that's all we can do for now." Katniss flipped over on her back, resting her foot in Peeta's lap.
"Roll out some sleeping bags," Katniss instructed. Peeta reached for the fluffiest one, unrolled it in one flick, and unzipped it. Katniss nodded her head toward it. Peeta noticed she was sweating. "Get in and get some sleep," Katniss said. Peeta shook his head, and Katniss sighed. "Peeta, get in."
Peeta smiled a bit and opened the bag wider. "Only if you do," he said. Katniss gestured to her leg. "I'll get blood all over you," she argued. Peeta pointed to his face and said sarcastically, "I'd rather be covered in Katniss blood than Cato blood."
She sighed impatiently, crab-walked over to the bag, and slowly slid in. Peeta got in next to her, pressing his face into her shoulder, and listened to her labored breathing. "You're gonna get out of here," Peeta whispered after a few minutes. Katniss shook her head, eyes closed and mouth wide open. Peeta nodded again, running one finger down the side of her neck. Katniss was taking shallow breaths and then heaving great ones, and Peeta tried to keep from doing the same. "If I die," Katniss said, sounding very tired, "just remember I love you."
*Ducks behind Katniss to save own life* I'm so sorry you guys! There was something wonky going on with the Doc Uploader and it wouldn't let me upload this document. I could upload any other one, but not this one. Yeah, I was pretty cheesed off. Lol. Well, school is officialy let out, so I can start the ninth grade next year! Yeah, I passed the grade. Shocking, right? Lol. Well, I hope I haven't lost all my readers.
Review, and stay fabulous. *wink*