Chapter 9
The Trio kept itself busy by hunting over the next day or two. It was agonizingly boring for all. Neither Katniss nor Thresh would speak to each other, which left a very concerned Rue as the only one to make conversation.
Worse still, natural food like rats and rabbits was becoming scarce – no doubt a Gamemaker trick. There was never enough for a decent meal to keep them all fed.
This led to Katniss's announcement one morning.
"It's clear we cannot get enough food for us all – at least when we are all together. I propose we split up to cover more ground."
Thresh nearly choked on the small rabbit leg he was eating – their last set of leftovers from two days prior. She couldn't be serious. How were they supposed to split up effectively without leaving Rue on her own?
As if she read his thoughts, Katniss answered him – and made things a whole lot worse.
"We will make signal fires at various points – three should do it. Rue will stay at the very last one, while you-" she nodded to Thresh "- and I go and hunt."
Rue agreed to the plan almost instantly. Thresh wanted to throw up his hands. He was overruled. Not that either of the girls cared about his opinion, anyway.
As Rue busily gathered supplies, Thresh took Katniss aside.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, leaving her alone? This plan is bonkers!"
"She'll be fine, Thresh!" Katniss snapped, her eyes glowering at him. "The fires won't be very big – just big enough for us to see and not the Careers. Besides, we won't go far."
"Oh, really? Then what was the point of making three, then?" Thresh queried, folding his arms defiantly. Katniss scowled and Thresh almost grinned. He had outsmarted her this time. The huntress let out a huff.
"Fine. I wanted to get back down by the horn and spy on the Careers. The signal fires can help us find our way back…"
Thresh threw up his hands. "'We won't go far', huh? Katniss, we've already used that strategy twice, and it didn't get us much!" Then another thought struck him. "Oh, this is about revenge, isn't it? For Lover Boy." Katniss's glare told him all he needed to know.
"Maybe it is and maybe it isn't."
"So, what's the plan, then?" Thresh egged.
"I'm figuring it out, all right? Can you just trust me for once in your life?"
"Hey!" Thresh and Katniss stopped their bickering to glance back at Rue, who shifted uncomfortably under their hard stares. "The signal fire's ready."
Thresh lit it while Katniss took Rue aside.
"I'm going to teach you the Mockingjay whistle. Remember how you told me you could copy the birds in the fields back home?" Rue nodded. Katniss whistled a three-note tune, which mockingjays in the distance copied. Then, she made Rue copy it back to her. The mockingjays echoed again.
"That means, we're all safe and we'll be back soon," Katniss relayed. Trying not to cry, she hugged and kissed Rue goodbye. She and Thresh left her by the glowing signal fire.
The Careers were found back at the Cornucopia, as Katniss had predicted. Cato and Clove appeared to be on the cusp of scrounging for food now, and the tributes spying on them felt smug. Good. Without food, they'll be helpless….
Suddenly, Katniss noticed something was out of place. Someone was missing…. Where is Marvel?
"KATNISS! THRESH! HELP!" Katniss and Thresh shared horrified looks.
"Damn it!" Thresh swore. "I knew this wouldn't end well!"
They tore through the trees, panicked – so much so that they didn't find Rue until they had almost tripped right over the net that now caged her. Katniss quickly cut her free and both she and Thresh hugged her close.
"You're OK, you're OK…." Katniss soothed.
"LOOK OUT!" The group leapt apart as a spear from Marvel came whizzing towards them. Like lightning, Katniss drew an arrow and let it fly, right into Marvel's stomach. He stared at it dumbly before crumpling to the forest floor. BOOM.
The whole battle had been less than 30 seconds.
Katniss looked back – and she almost drained of color.
The spear tip was lodged in Rue's hip. She and Thresh almost broke the cursed thing trying to remove it. Katniss scooped the little girl up in her arms. "She's bleeding bad, Thresh!" she cried, panicked and close to tears.
Thresh thought fast. "There's a place we can hide! I saw it on the way down."
The three backtracked along Katniss and Thresh's route from earlier. Along a small stream, was a cool, mossy cave. Thresh hustled his companions inside, ripping off a piece of his shirt to fashion a makeshift tourniquet, which Katniss wrapped around Rue's hip to staunch the bleeding. It worked…. for now. Rue soon fell asleep, and the older kids fell back, exhausted. At least death would not be separating them yet.