Chapter 5: The Cold of Night

The Arena

"Let the 89th Hunger Games begin," Claudius Templesmith's voice rang out.

Peeta stood on the launch pad and watched as the other tributes struggled to strap their goggles on. Peeta took his 60 seconds to try and find his allies in the games and glancing to his left found that Johanna was nine tributes down from him. She was nodding at him before she set her sights back onto the cornucopia. Looking toward his left Peeta could see the two other District 12 tributes, and unfortunately directly beside him stood Enobaria. Peeta didn't think it was possible for her to look any scarier than she did with her filed down teeth, yet the goggles glowing under the moonlight made her even more terrifying.

Peeta glanced around to try and locate Katniss and Cato but could not see either ally. They must be on the other side of the Cornucopia, he thought. Peeta noticed that there were 24 tributes in a half-circle facing the back of the cornucopia and assumed that the other half of the tributes must have been on the other side. This already put Peeta in a disadvantage; he would have the extra 30 feet or so to walk around to the opposite side of the cornucopia.

Watching as the clock that had appeared before the cornucopia through a projection, Peeta discerned that he had 20 seconds left until the bloodshed would begin. I could be dead in less than a minute, Peeta reminded himself.

Haymitch's words ran through Peeta's memory: don't trust anyone. Peeta was never really good at making good judgments on other people's character so this was going to be a test to his abilities. Ten seconds, he noticed.

Peeta shifted his stance, preparing himself to run to the cornucopia faster than he had ran to anything in his life. He had to find Cato and Katniss…

Five seconds…

Four seconds…

Three seconds…

Peeta gulped, wiped the sweat from his palms again, and buckled down to jump off the pedestal that he had waited on for what felt like an eternity. I'm coming Cato…he said to himself.

Two seconds…

One second…

All of a sudden an explosion to his right signified that a tribute had attempted to get a head start on the rest of the competition and the mine placed underneath her launch pad had erupted into a stream of sparks. A lifeless body flew to the ground and the sound of a cannon rocked the air.

This was all enough to throw Peeta off of his game and the siren went off and before he knew it he was up and running toward the cornucopia. Looking to either side of him, Peeta noticed that both Enobaria and an unknown tribute from District 9 had kept up with him at an even pace.

Naturally, in the darkness, Enobaria tripped on a rock that even Peeta did not see in front of him. Luckily dodging the rock was an easy task for Peeta, as the rock did not cut directly into his line of step.

The tribute from District 9 to his left had kept up with Peeta for the entirety of his free run. Approaching the cornucopia he caught sight of Johanna running toward him in a collision course at the cornucopia.

Racing to the front of the cornucopia, Peeta barely dodged a sickle that swung directly over-head before the sound of multiple cannons began rocking the arena. Ducking past the tribute from District 6, Peeta made his way to the Cornucopia and caught sight of Cato only a few feet away fighting with another male tribute from District 3. Cato's steel blade easily sliced through the dark material the boy from District 3 was wearing, before an outpouring of blood and the sound of another cannon indicated the young boy's death.

Peeta acknowledged that Cato lived by the idea of "kill or be killed," and had gradually accepted this behavior as a part of him through the countless training session discrepancies that had taken place before the games.

Peeta was taken from his train of thought as a spear flew past him, embedding itself into one of the district 5 females and protruding through to another boy from District 7 who had snuck up behind her. The sound of two cannons rang out into the open air, signaling the death of both tributes. Flashing a glance toward where the spear had come from, Peeta noticed a brooding tribute with eyes directed onto him. Brutus, he recalled.

Peeta was quick-to-action, gripping a set of throwing knives and tossing several in Brutus' direction, one flying through the air and piercing Brutus in the shoulder. The other male quickly fetched for a bag of supplies before gripping Enobaria and the two beginning to challenge the remainder of the tributes who had stayed long enough to fight.

Peeta caught sight of the male tribute from District 12 and calling him over, went to turn back toward the cornucopia to grab another set of supplies when he felt a sticky, warm liquid spray across the back of his neckline. Turning around, the boy from his district fell to the ground, blood protruding from his neck as a knife had entered through the back of his neck. Boom.

Peeta had no time to mourn the young boy that he had only recently begun to know. The attacker was none other that one from Cato's district, Clove. Peeta ran toward the other side of the cornucopia where he had seen Johanna. As he turned to glance behind him, he tossed himself to the ground to avoid an arrow that flew past him, sinking itself into another male tribute. Rising to his feet, he noticed the attacker following close behind him. Edging his way to the side of the cornucopia, it took Johanna what seemed like milliseconds to divulge Peeta's fear before tossing her pickaxe into the tribute behind him.

"Thanks…" Peeta said, trailing off at the sound of more cannons. The cornucopia had become a bloodbath. The musky scent of blood mixed with warm liquids scoured the ground before them, leaving the remaining tributes standing in the thick liquid.

"Any sign of Katniss and Cato?" Johanna said, a questioning look on her face when Peeta's face drooped into a sad frown. "Hey, I'm sure he's fine. I think I saw him meet up with Katniss on the way here. They must have left after the bloodbath began and we were in the midst of it all…" her voice trailing off.

"Yeah…alright, did you get supplies?" Peeta inquired.

"Yeah, I have a water bottle, some gloves and a vile of soup. As for weapons, this is all I need," Johanna stated, tugging the axe out of her victim.

"Alright, let's go." Peeta managed a smile, and together with Johanna they walked toward the closest sector that was lined with evergreens for as far as the eye could see.

Peeta realized that he and Johanna had been walking for what seemed like miles. The darkness of the night meant that they had to walk slowly, careful of any protrusions from the ground and anything the gamemakers had set in place that might throw them off. Peeta came to realize that the tree line was getting progressively thicker the further they went into the arena. Glancing back at Johanna and seeing that she was walking at a slow pace compared to Peeta, he thought he would propose camping there for a while to rest; this would allot time for them to clean their weapons and discuss their plan for the day, now that their friends had been separated from them.

"Hey, how about we stop here for a while. We've been walking for ages, might be a good idea to rest up and plan our strategy from this point on," Peeta smiled as he spoke, seeing as the idea of resting their muscles appealed to Johanna, a twinkle in her eye and a smirk of her mouth giving her away all too easily.

"Sure, sounds like a plan." Johanna stopped dead in her tracks, before she fell to the floor in a disorganized mess, her supply bag coming up to hit her square in the jaw. "Son of a…" she started, before trailing off in a mumble that Peeta could care less to hear about.

"So, we don't know where Katniss and Cato went, but we have a pretty good guess that they're together. I'm sure Katniss will love having to deal with him for who knows how long," Peeta chimed in.

"Well, I don't even get what you see in him. Sure, he's blonde, muscular, and pretty damn sexy—"

"Be careful, Johanna, you're drooling already," Peeta said, making both of them laugh.

"It doesn't change the fact that he's a Career and has quite the temper on him. I mean, you must have noticed him during training – all the trouble he started?" Johanna inquired, a worried look on her face that told Peeta that she was a little unsure about trusting him in an alliance. Peeta thought to himself that he had better work on fixing his image before they reassembled.

"Can we just talk about what we're going to do now? We have some soup and a bottle of water, but that's barely enough for the day. I think we should look for some food and a source of water." Peeta's proposal went over well with Johanna, who seemed a little too pleased with dropping their conversation about Cato.

"Fine. I'm all rested anyways. Let's head out now." Johanna's words were cut short after two more cannons went off in the distance.

Both Peeta and Johanna adjusted their goggles once again, the forest still as dark as ever and yet they were aware of each other's every movement as the reflector's on their shoulder pads signaled their locations. The reflecting light illuminated the other figures form as clearly as the daylight did, however the darkness that consumed the rest of the forest was a constant reminder that they were in a battle for their lives right now, and there was no time for child's play.

As Peeta approached the end of the tree line, the force field surrounding the arena came into view. Its electromagnetic structure reflected itself into the goggles, revealing that the entire arena was made out like a square.

"Looks like we reached the end on this side, how about we check over there in the shrubbery for some food?" Peeta suggested. Any berries or small creatures would be perfect to settle their growling stomachs. The rumble wasn't strong, but it pierced the two tributes strongly. It had been hours since their last meal, having eaten an early breakfast before the shuttle to the arena, and now it was surely the evening.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were ordering me around," Johanna said, to which Peeta smiled, hoping that she was not offended by his constant suggestions.

After searching the grounds and having no luck and finding only a couple of strawberries, Peeta decided that they would find a place to camp for the night. Johanna quickly nodded in agreement. Both tributes had walked along one whole side of the arena; only running into a couple tributes that rushed off quickly when they realized that it was two against one.

"I think we should rest here. We have a pretty good view so it'd be hard for anyone to sneak up on us if one of us keeps watch for the night," Peeta began before offering that he would keep the first watch.

As he watched Johanna settle in and remove her goggles from her face, he began to think about how he was going to find Katniss and Cato. They must be on the northern side of the arena…they came from the northern end of the cornucopia and when they got their supplies they ran back…Peeta decided that he'd have to mention it to Johanna when it was her watch.

His watch came and went quite quickly, time passing fast as he thought about his night on the rooftop with Cato, their first kiss, and his strong arms that held him when he most needed to be sheltered from the cruelty of the games. He watched as the anthem played in the sky before the faces of 13 tributes flashed across the force field. Peeta was relieved when both Katniss and Cato's faces did not appear, thankful that they had made it through the day and were safe for now.

When Johanna woke up to take the second watch, Peeta took off his goggles so that they would not cut into his skin while he slept, and used the supply bag as a pillow for his head. The night breeze was very cold, so Peeta bundled himself into a small form to preserve his heat. Peeta thrashed back and forth throughout the night, nightmares and the bitter cold air taking its toll on him for most of the night. His longing for Cato didn't help either, and he was left feeling cold and empty. He was thankful to have Johanna with him, who had scooted closer to him throughout her watch to shelter the boy from the cold breeze that wrecked itself upon his jacket.

Peeta awoke the next morning having hardly slept most of the night, and joined Johanna who was eagerly packing their supplies and nibbling on a strawberry. It was hard to keep track of the time in the arena, but the gamemakers prepared for this by initiating that a gong would go off every morning, which allowed for the tributes to fight back without being killed during their sleep. Peeta scoffed in distaste at the realization, knowing full well that the Capitol citizens were bloodthirsty monsters and wanted a good show.

"Ready?" Johanna asked, taking a peak behind at Peeta. He was surprised by how well she looked in her black gear this morning.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess," Peeta replied, a smile crossing Johanna's face as he spoke the words.

"Is that a smile from the infamous Johanna Mason?" Peeta added, nudging her with his elbow and a growing laughter rumbling in his chest.

"Cut it out, Peeta," Johanna replied, "I've got an axe and I'm not afraid to use it."

"Calm down, calm down." Peeta laughed at the way Johanna could go from such morning bliss to undeniably edgy in such a short span of time. He guessed that it was because she was lonely and hurt by what the Capitol had done to her family. Peeta recalled the night before on their hunt that Johanna had made no attempt to talk about her life back in District 7, mentioning only that it was "tiresome and boring." Her family had been killed when they attempted to rebel against the Capitol, leaving Johanna as the only remaining member of her family.

"Hey Johanna, you're not half bad you know," Peeta mentioned, attempting a smile to tell the girl that he was speaking out of pure honesty.

"Same goes for you, Twelve" Johanna said, turning to Peeta with a grin on her face which was hastily replaced by one of complete fear. "Peeta, get down!" she screamed, pulling her axe from the side of her belt.

Peeta hit the ground with a thud before the clashing of metal on metal could even begin. Johanna grunted as she swung her axe back-and-forth which collided with the steel blade of the other tribute. Peeta noticed that it was a male tribute from District 10. More grunts pushed their way out from Johanna's throat as the male swung at her. Losing her footing, Johanna felt to the ground, looking up to see the blade swinging down at her.

Peeta recognized the male tributes stance, as he stood before Johanna ready to sink his blade through her chest. Before the blade could come into contact with Johanna's skin, Peeta swiftly grabbed his steel throwing-knives and with a flick of his wrists and a low scream edging its way from his lungs, two of Peeta's knives sank themselves into the District 10 tributes' chest. Peeta looked up into the boy's eyes as he then registered what had just happened, and dropping his blade to the ground, sunk into the grass with a powerful thud just as the boom of the cannon rang out.

Peeta was immobilized by what had just happened. One second he and Johanna were laughing and joking, and the next he was about to witness one of his only friends become another member of the dead in the arena. As Peeta stood there, a warm embrace from Johanna came to surround him. Her arms were small and just barely connected as she whispered her thanks to him. As she pulled back from him Peeta attempted to say "you're welcome" but nothing seemed suitable for what he had just done. So instead he gave her a nod, and with that the tributes pressed on further through the trees.

"So you want us to head north right?" Johanna asked after a long moments of silence.

"Uhm, yeah. I think that's best. We have to meet up with the others if we have any chance of surviving against the career pack," Peeta replied.

Several cannons sounded in the distance as Peeta and Johanna trudged on. The sound pierced their silence like a knife, a means of conversation at least, Peeta thought.

"I wonder how many that makes since the bloodbath at the cornucopia. There were a few during the night too," Peeta said simply, not taking a second glance back at Johanna.

"Yeah, there were two when you were asleep too," Johanna added, before stopping briefly and calling out to Peeta to come back. "In those shrubs there, I think I seen something move."

"Alright, let's go check it out, it could be a food source," Peeta replied. He watched as Johanna walked to the other side where he assumed another line of trees began, and both began to encircle the target. As they neared the bush, Peeta drew a small rigid knife from his jacket and tossed it toward the sound of snapping branches. Peeta waited for a cannon that never went off. Instead, almost immediately after the knife sank into its victim, Johanna called out, "Peeta! It's a rabbit!"

Together the two tributes skinned the rabbit and made sure that the creature had not been poisoned, a cruel tactic used by the gamemakers in a couple of games. Peeta recalled last year's games when a poor young girl from District 8 had taken a bite out of a snow hare that had been poisoned. Unfortunately the poison could not be cured in time by any sponsors and she later died. The games before that included another female tribute that had approached a bird that turned out to be a mutt with a screech that pierced the eardrums of anyone within a few yards. Needless to say, she could no longer hear and was killed the same day.

"We better get moving if we want to join with the others," Peeta said, eagerly awaiting his reunion with Cato.

"Alright," Johanna replied. She wasn't in much of a mood for conversation today, Peeta guessed.

The darkness had taken its toll on Peeta in the last day and a half. Both he and Johanna had suffered countless bruises from walking blind and stumbling during their treks through the woodlands. Both tributes had trouble finding a source of food and water, using their ears as a means listening to the sounds of birds trifling through the trees and a distant sound of a river. The sound of white water fumbling up against what must have been rocks in the distance carried the two tributes on, having not drank anything other than Johanna's small water bottle – hardly enough for two, Peeta recollected.

Peeta and Johanna continued on their journey north toward the sound of fresh water and to find Katniss and Cato, who seemed an eternity away. They made their way in a fast pace, only slowing for the boom of a cannon or to pick berries on their way. Johanna was exceptionally good at distinguishing the proper berries that could be digested. I should have spent more time in the plant identification section, he thought aloud, not realizing that his thoughts were being vocalized.

Their goggles picked up on the water before they did, the rushing streams bouncing off the sharp grey rocks, creating a series of reactions that reflected along the waters surface. The flowing water was then picked up by the goggles worn by the tributes, so thankfully Johanna and Peeta could distinguish what their surroundings were.

Johanna was the first to throw herself into the water, emitting a small laugh from Peeta as she danced her way across the water. She was a good swimmer for someone from District 7, but yet again all the tributes were required to train in water during the training sessions.

Peeta quickly jumped in after her, thankful that the cold water soothed his bruising muscles. "Ah…this feels amazing," Peeta started, before Johanna sent a splash in his direction.

"What was that for?" Peeta cried out, sending a small wave right back at her.

"Lighten up. We're fighting for our lives here, we might as well have some fun while we're at it," Johanna replied. I guess she had a point, Peeta told himself.

"I'm dying of thirst," Johanna said before gulping a large amount of water from the river. "It's so refreshing," she said between sips. Peeta was about to take a drink when he noticed that Johanna's laughter had died out.

"Johanna?" Peeta asked, looking at the District 7 tribute as she stared at him with wide-eyes. It wasn't until she began sinking that Peeta realized the situation. "Johanna! Johanna!" Peeta screamed, swimming over to support her.

"Peeta, I can't move!" Johanna screamed between gritted teeth, her fear spread out all over her face, which had been the only part of her body unaffected.

"I know, Johanna, it must be a toxin in the water that causes temporary paralysis in whoever drinks it! The gamemakers wanted us to drink the water, Johanna. I'm so sorry," Peeta finished, as he pulled Johanna's seemingly lifeless body from the cold water.

"Peeta, please don't leave me," Johanna pleaded.

"I would never leave you—" Peeta said, but his words were cut short as half of the career pack appeared at the waters edge. Peeta watched as Marvel, Glimmer, Clove and Finnick stumbled into the water, not having caught sight of Peeta and his injured ally yet.

"Stay down!" Peeta told her.

"Funny…" Johanna snickered.

Peeta had to think a minute before he could devise a plan that could distract the Career Pack long enough to get Johanna and himself to safety. I hope this works, Peeta whispered aloud. It was pretty simple, and if he understood the Careers well enough they would find his plan irresistable. Searching the shore for any loose rocks, Peeta grabbed hold of a couple soft stones that could be easily wrenched from the woodland shore.

Countless days of throwing flour might come in handy, Peeta chuckled to himself until he composed himself long enough to focus on saving Johanna's life. The water already distracted the Careers, washing themselves of the blood that stuck to their skin from their countless victims. Grabbing a single stone at a time, Peeta tossed them toward the southern shore, where the Careers were standing downstream. Glimmer was the first to notice the leaves on the other side of the woodland rustling. She called out to the others who quickly followed her to check out the disturbance. Cries of glee came from the mouth of Clove, whom Peeta already had a small run-in with. He made a mental note to steer clear of that tribute as best he could.

Peeta had a short amount of time between the time it would take the Careers to notice that something was amiss and the time it would take for him to carry Johanna back into the defenses of the thick woodland. Propping her up on his shoulders and grabbing hold of her thighs, Peeta walked as fast as he could manage, until he was free of the danger that presented itself in the open area near the rapids.

He had carried Johanna for as far as he possibly could before his muscles gave out on him and they were required to stop and rest. Johanna had not recovered in the slightest in the past hour or two, and Peeta was beginning to process the idea that the paralysis might last longer than a few hours.

As the anthem began to play in the night sky, Peeta counted the tributes whose faces appeared one-by-one. Faces of children, young kids whose lives were cut short too soon. He dropped his head in shame when he saw the female tribute from District 12. She was too innocent…too gentle…Peeta thought, heartbroken that he was unable to reach her in time. The games were really taking a toll on him, but he couldn't allow himself to breakdown. Johanna needed him.

Peeta counted 10 more tributes whose added total to the already deceased meant that 23 of the 48 tributes had been killed. That left 23 more tributes to be killed before the victors could be crowned. Looking down at Johanna's immobile body, he had no choice but to take watch tonight. Propping himself up against a large evergreen, Peeta attempted to hold back the tears that threatened to stream down from his burning, tired eyes.

"Oh, Cato…where are you?" Peeta whispers.

Author's Note: So here's a little present for you guys who are anxiously awaiting for more. I had some free time tonight, and considering there probably won't be a new chapter tomorrow, I thought I'd share this new instalment. I hope you all enjoy! Thank you to every one who reviews, follows, and favourites! :)