Chapter 8

Finding the survivors of the tracker jacker attack was easy enough for the Trio; they intuitively knew the group would go directly back to the freshwater lake to regroup and nurse their stings.

The first thing Katniss and Thresh noticed was that Peeta was no longer with the others. Neither had seen where he had gone in the confusion of the day before. Katniss was satisfied by this development, but Thresh was puzzled. Didn't Peeta betray us? he thought. Or is he acting as some kind of double agent? Irrationality on the black boy's part was hoping the former still held true.

The remainder of the pack consisted of Marvel, Cato, Clove and the boy from District 3 as a tag-along. When Katniss suggested they continue tailing the band after Gamemakers cut off food supplies, Thresh agreed.

The Trio thus followed the Career Quartet through the trees. By mid-afternoon the next day, the bunch had stopped by a riverbank, with the Trio observing from some underbrush. As the boy from 3 knelt by the river to take a drink, he suddenly let out a yelp.

Something – a hand – shot out from seemingly nowhere and twisted the boy's ankle. He fell backwards…. and hit his head at just the wrong angle on some rocks. Blood oozed from his temple and a cannon sounded. He was dead.

Before the hand could disappear from wherever it had emerged, Cato had whirled around and seized it. There was a scuffle, followed by a familiar scream – and then another cannon.

Katniss stared as Cato stood above his fallen adversary. The surprise attacker had been Peeta. He had camaflouged himself by the riverbank. Whether to hide or surprise, Katniss was not sure. Perhaps it was both. In any event, her district partner was gone. The remaining Careers took off into the trees. Instantly, Katniss made to go after them. Just as she leapt forward, she felt Thresh grab her arm and she struggled.

"Katniss, it's not worth it! It's too risky!"

"They killed Peeta! Get off of me!"

But Thresh wrestled her back into a tree trunk and pinned her there. Dark-skinned boy and white-skinned girl stared into each other's eyes, breathing hard.

"It's over, Katniss," Thresh wheezed as gently as he could. "He can't be saved, and we might be killed too."

There was a long moment as the pair regarded each other. Finally, Katniss shook her head.

"Thresh, don't look at me like that."

Thresh cocked his head to one side and stared at her. "Why not?"

"It makes me feel uncomfortable," she replied flatly, and sidestepped away from him.

Out just beyond them, Peeta's body lay only feet from the District 3 boy's. Katniss cautiously stepped out of the trees. Rustling told her Thresh meant to follow, and she waved him off.

"Stay back! Stay with Rue. I don't want her to see this."

Thresh obeyed. Katniss cautiously approached Peeta's body and bent over him. He was most certainly dead. Without even knowing why, she began to sob. She never believed he was truly helping the Careers – he must have taken the nest attack as his chance to get away! Maybe he really had loved her! And she was never kind to him!

Remorse filled her heart as she realized there was no way to repay him the way she should have, now that he was gone.

Or maybe there was a way….

Glancing back to see that Thresh and Rue were well hidden, Katniss began to pull Peeta from his hiding place and clean him in the river. When that was done, she stripped off his clothes and washed them. The dead boy now lay naked before her, and she could not help but blush at seeing…. everything. His body was even still warm….

Suddenly, Katniss became like a woman possessed. She began to tear off her own clothes from the waist down and curled up tightly next to him, using her body heat to keep him from freezing. But that wouldn't nearly be enough to repay him. She knew what she had to do. Bestriding Peeta so that she now lay on top of him, Katniss kissed him lovingly as she took his penis in her hand and guided it to her center. Shaking off her knickers, she then pressed his member into her folds, which instantly became wet. She groaned from the pain into Peeta's mouth, nearly choking on her tears, but continued, burying him into her core. Once pleasure had replaced initial agony, she began to move her hips in a rhythm, grinding herself up against him. She was overjoyed when she felt Peeta's body involuntarily respond, his lower half bucking into her.

She moved faster, almost flopping against Peeta's body now, as she thrust his member into her harder, again and again. Her vision clouded, her eyes rolled into the back of her head, her mouth stayed open in a small "o" - out of which came her sobs, now mixed with gasps of pleasure, short breaths, even whimpers and small cries. In between these, she would cover his mouth with hers – even forcing Peeta's mouth open to breathe hot air inside, as if that might revive him, even if it was hopeless. All the while, she could feel Peeta's body staying warm alongside her own.

Suddenly, Katniss felt a rush of liquid pour into her; Peeta had orgasmed inside of her. She paused briefly, before continuing. She still had to cum, and that was an excuse to keep up the warmth. A few minutes later, she did, all over him.

Exhausted, Katniss rolled off of Peeta, her legs and center painfully sore. She distracted herself by cleaning her body, then Peeta's, siphoning of their juices before dressing them both again. She beat back a tornado of shame that threatened to destroy her. Yes, she felt like a slut, but she did not care. There had been no other way to feel better about her actions towards the Boy with the Bread.

All of this had taken place within full view of Thresh, who was barely able to keep himself from shaking with rage. How dare Katniss debase herself like that! She had never even told him she intended to do such a thing to Peeta – he had been forced to think fast and avert Rue's eyes so she didn't see. He just hoped the little girl hadn't heard anything, despite his hands also completely over her ears. But, that was really beside the point. He could barely contain his jealousy. If he had not suspected such a thing already, this right there proved it beyond all reasonable doubt. She had lied to him about her emotions. Now, the question was: could Thresh ever trust Katniss again?