(Driven)
(Katniss)
I lay in the bushes as motionless as I can manage, ignoring the throbbing in my side. I crept up here as carefully as I could from my hiding place in a cave down by the stream over an hour ago. Now, shivering in the cold air I wait, my eyes fastened on the front of the Cornucopia.
God the last several days blur through my mind. Since the first night of the Games I've seen Clove once. Of course that was when the Careers were chasing me after I barely escaped the fireball assault of the Game Makers. Once again I was up a tree by the time she came into sight but I certainly wasn't about to get down out of it this time to be with her.
I tried to keep from staring at her. I wondered how the audience was taking all this in now that they know we are lovers. Poor Haymitch. I know that the affair probably isn't playing too well back in District Twelve. We don t usually have much use for Careers. "Capitol lapdogs" we tend to call them.
Still, someone must be watching and approving. Otherwise I wouldn't have got that tub of medicine that night once darkness had nearly fallen, the one that took away the pain of my burns and overnight healed me enough to be able to climb up and cut loose the tracker-jacker nest to fall on my pursuers. In fact considering how expensive that medicine must be a number of people must have contributed to it. So maybe they approve or in the case of the Capitol citizens are at least excited by Clove and my relationship.
Maybe they've picked up on the more subtle ways we've looked out for each other. When the Careers clustered under the tree, snarling like a pack of rabid animals, Clove hung back, her eyes measuring the distance between her and her fellow hunters' backs. She must have felt she could take them all because when she lifted her eyes to meet mine she gave the tiniest nod.
Not that I pushed it. I stayed well up well Cato couldn't reach me and Glimmer couldn't get a good shot. When they finally gave up I was able to rest and when they camped Haymitch sent the medicine. During the night I would awake sometimes to see the flickering firelight reflected in a pair of familiar watching eyes.
Early in the morning while all were asleep I managed to maneuver enough to throw pieces of bark at Clove and wake her while the others still slept on. I pointed to the tracker-jacker nest I had seen the previous evening, held up the knife she had thrown to me and made a sawing motion. She nodded and while I climbed to the branch she gathered her stuff and got ready. When the nest fell she was able to get away with no more than a couple of stings; in fact fewer than I got I believe. Glimmer wasn't so lucky. I ended up with her bow.
Having to use that bow haunted me at first. Yes I dropped the tracker-jacker nest on the Careers and the multiple stings killed Glimmer, but I could disassociate myself from that, although I sort of wonder why I would bother. She would have cheerfully killed me. But when I shot Marvel, who was standing in triumph over that little girl Rue's body, I did it deliberately and intentionally and I was glad to see him fall. Of course part of that was self-preservation. Had I allowed him to recover his spear I would have been the next target.
But afterward when I looked from his sprawled body to Rue's curled up like a sleeping baby animal and back the first rush of the almost gloating satisfaction I had felt fled. I realized that they were both victims, victims of the Capitol and now I knew what anger meant. Deep in my heart I vowed that if I survive this it will just be the beginning of something to bring the corruption of the government down.
Of course I have to survive first and that's going to be quite a trick. Two days I got caught in a multi-sided battle that the Game Makers drove us into, flushing everyone out of hiding.
I had been checking snares I had set up around a hiding place I had chosen under the trailing braches of a willow tree when I had heard a deep snarl behind me. Spinning around had given me a quick glimpse of something that looked like a cross between a wild dog and something out of nightmares that gave it a huge mouthful of long razor sharp teeth and spikes like a studded collar that were growing from its neck. I hesitated not at all. I ran.
Fortunately I had enough sense that I had left nothing in my hideout. My pack was on my back and my bow was slung over my shoulder with the quiver of arrows. I had my knife in my hand but I was under no illusions as to the chances of my success at fighting the obvious Game Makers mutt hand to hand. So I ran HARD while looking for someplace I could climb to get out of its reach.
The creature nipped at my heels, staying right behind me, so close I could feel its hot breath on my skin. Twice it tore at my pack and once its teeth caught the heel of my left boot. I saw trees and even rock bluffs I could have scaled but to stop or even slow for the instant I needed to start climbing would have meant it would have me.
By the time the woods opened up I was gasping for air and reeling unsteadily as I ran. Sometime during my flight I had realized that I was being herded. As long as I went in a certain direction the mutt stayed behind me, dropping back slightly. But if I veered to either side for anything more than to avoid a tree it closed from the side and made me go back the way it wanted me to. I knew I was being driven towards other Tributes. After all, that's the fun of it, watching us kill each other.
So I wasn't surprised when I burst into the clearing to see other human forms appearing from different directions. Humans familiar and just as out of breath and near exhaustion as I was. I looked back and my pursuer was gone. The shapes that had been chasing the others disappeared as well. But it left me, Foxface, Thresh, Peeta and the boy from District Three who had originally been helping the Careers until someone blew up their food supply, leaving him just another mouth to feed at which time he wisely took off.
For a moment I was paralyzed. It was a good thing the District Three boy went for Foxface and Thresh and Peeta went for each other while I stood there slack-jawed. But I rallied, loaded my bow and covered first one tribute and then the other.
Poor Foxface. But then it could only be her own fault that this late in the game she still wasn't armed. She turned to run and the Three boy ran her through with a spear before she got more than three steps in her flight. He turned towards me and now I was glad I had the bow. He went down as fast as Marvel had with an arrow through his throat.
I certainly didn't wait to admire my shot. Good thing. I heard the footsteps coming towards me and spun around just in time to almost dodge Thresh. Or rather I dodged him but the wicked curved hook of the weapon he was wielding brushed my side, cutting my shirt.
Somehow as I fell I held on to my bow. After my last shot I had automatically loaded another arrow and fired as I rolled over. I hit Thresh in the shoulder, not a very good shot by my usual standards but enough to stagger him. I kept rolling until I came up on one knee and armed my bow again. And he was gone.
Quickly I scanned the area. Foxface was clearly dead as was the District Three boy. But Peeta was on his knees clutching his stomach. Blood was seeping from between his fingers.
I hesitated. Peeta was technically my foe after all, as was every other tribute. But still I just couldn't ignore someone from my own district. Keeping an eye on the surrounding forest I ran to him. Or rather I tried. My side spasmed in pain. When I looked at the hand I had instinctively grabbed the spot with it came away red. Thresh's weapon had cut more than just my shirt. It didn't look too, TOO bad though. It was a nasty gash but it ran along my ribs which had kept it from going too deep.
I still managed to make my way over to Peeta. As I got to him he toppled over with a groan. I settled down beside him and made myself look. His wound was just as bad as it looked. How he was still alive I couldn't imagine. Still, I tried. I cut strips from his jacket and tried to bind the gaping cut.
His hand shot to mine. "No. There's nothing you can do for me Katniss. Use them for yourself. Take anything you can use from my pack."
I wanted to insist. This was the boy who had saved my life, which meant he saved Prim's and my mother's as well. But I looked again and I knew he was right. He was fading fast and there was nothing I could do for him. I tried to make him as comfortable as possible and gave him so water. Then I waited, holding his hand. No one should have to die alone.
While I waited I ran through the statistics. I had been keeping a close watch on the dwindling number of tributes. Everyone left had been here. Everyone except Clove and Cato. Where were they?
(Clove)
I hurled a knife. The mutt toppled over, the hilt sticking out from one eye. It was dead before it hit the ground but that didn't keep it from raking the air with its claws and snapping its teeth.
I stepped back. Again. Without taking my eyes from the pile in front of us my hands quickly checked my belt. I was running low. Damned low. I could afford two more throws and then I would have one knife left for close and personal defense. I don't care for that although I am very capable at hand to hand. But all my training has been against other humans, not mutts that could rip me apart with a single stroke of their claws before I could hit a vital spot.
It's a damn good thing Cato and I had still been postponing our showdown. If we hadn't the one that would have come out on top would be dog meat by now. Or mutt meat I guess. As good as we each are neither of us could have handled this pack alone.
We had known something was happening. We had heard the howls from different places and followed the sounds as they closed on some central point. Obviously the other tributes were being driven together. But what about us?
Ask a stupid question I guess. With almost no warning at all they sprung out of the very ground at us. I have no idea how many went after the others but there were nearly a dozen ion the pack that came for us.
We didn't have time to run far. But we remembered a rock facing that we were able to reach. Cato stood slightly in front of me and demonstrated exactly how good he really is with that sword. I crouched on a shelf about a foot or so up the rock face and started throwing as soon as the mutts came in range.
It was close. The last couple of the creatures reached us. Cato was overthrown by their rush. My last two throwing knives wounded the each of the pair but weren't mortal. So I ended up diving under the one that leaped for me and stabbing it in the belly. As it died it caught my leg in its jaws. Cato's left shoulder was ripped almost all the way open by the claws of his attacker even as he pinned it to the ground with a desperate stab.
But then it was over and we were both alive albeit sorely wounded and hurting. We listened to the cannons fire. Three more gone. That meant two survived whatever happened to the others.
While I tried to clean the teeth marks deep in my leg and bandage myself and Cato's shoulder all I could only think of one thing.
"Is Katniss still alive?"
(To be continued)