THE AGREEMENT
"Go on, then, Lover Boy," sneered Cato. "See for yourself."
Peeta glared at him, snatching the torch out of Marvel's hands. As he walked through the hanging moss and thick trees, the Careers turned to each other, speaking in hushed voices.
"Why don't we just kill him now and get it over with?" whispered Clove.
"Let him tag along. What's the harm?" replied Marvel under his breath. "And he's handy with that knife."
Clove's hand curled tightly into a fist. Did he really just say that? she thought angrily. I'm better with the knife than all of them combined. I could kill everyone in this arena. And we're keeping lover boy because he's 'handy with that knife'?
"Besides," interjected Glimmer. "He's our best chance of finding her."
"Why? You think she bought into that sappy romance stuff?"
"She might have. Seemed pretty simpleminded to me," laughed Cato quietly. "Every time I think about her spinning around in that dress, I want to puke."
"Wish we knew how she got that eleven."
"Bet you lover boy knows."
They heard heavy footsteps coming in their direction, and then the light of a torch. Peeta emerged, the injuries they gave him exaggerated in the torch's fire.
"Was she dead?" asked Cato snidely.
"No. But she is now," said Peeta dismissively. A cannon fired. "Ready to move on?"
Everyone glowered at him and nodded. While they all made their way through the forest, dawn arrived with the chatter of animals. Birdsong filled the air.
"Should we go back to camp?" Cato inquired. "Or should we keep on hunting?"
Glimmer glanced at Marvel, who shrugged and nodded. She nodded back to him, and said,
"Marvel and I think we should keep on hunting. A few Tributes might come out now that it's morning."
Clove, who was standing behind the District One Tributes and Peeta, sighed. They needed to go back to camp and rest a little bit. They'd been up for the whole day, without sleep. All of them had dark circles under their eyes already, and their pace was slowing down. But both Marvel and Glimmer said they wanted to go on. And Peeta had no say in what they did. Most likely, the majority would prevail.
That's why it surprised her when Cato looked straight at her with his cold blue eyes, eyebrows raised as if to say 'Well? What do you think?'
She gave him a tiny shake of the head, and he nodded.
Cato ran a hand through his wheat golden locks and addressed the group,
"We're going back to camp." Marvel and Glimmer, surprised at this commanding decision, began to protest, but Cato silenced them. "No. We're going back to camp."
"But why?" argued Glimmer, her pink lips sticking out in a pout. "We all want to hunt!"
"I said no!" shouted Cato angrily, hand flying to the handle of his sword. Glimmer jumped and scrambled backwards. "We're going back to camp. Now."
As they all made their way back to the Cornucopia, Clove felt slightly pleased. Obviously Cato placed her opinion over those of the others. Plus, it was fun seeing Glimmer and Marvel squirm uncomfortable under Cato's authority.
"We all need some rest," said Clove once they reached their campsite. "After we all get a little sleep we can go track more Tributes."
"I'll keep watch," offered Cato. Everyone else was too tired to volunteer. They each found a sleeping bag inside the Cornucopia, where they had all their supplies stacked up.
Marvel and Glimmer fell asleep immediately. They were not used to the amount of hours they had stayed awake during the hunting. Both of them were probably used to returning to the soft, comforting beds back in their homes. Peeta also fell asleep without trouble, his sleeping bag placed farther away from the others. Clove, on the other hand, had days of training where she didn't sleep for days. One day of not sleeping wasn't too bad. Tiring, but not too bad.
Actually, she couldn't fall asleep at all. Clove lay in her sleeping bag, sweating now that the sun was up and the sleeping bag was reflecting her body heat. She unzipped it and crawled out onto the hard soil of the ground.
"Do you want to sleep? I can take watch instead." Clove asked Cato quietly. He shook his head, and took an apple and knife out of his backpack.
"I don't feel like sleeping," he replied. He started paring his apple, the sharp blade of the knife cutting away the bright red skin of the fruit. "It's like my body's tired, but my mind isn't. Either way, you should just go get some sleep."
"I can't sleep. I've got the same mindset as you do. I just can't stop thinking."
Cato cut away at the seeds in the apple, letting them fall to the ground as they sat together in a moment of silence.
"That was impressive, back there," said Clove in a teasing voice. "Yelling at everyone. Making us come back to camp. Listening to me."
He laughed. A real laugh, one that wasn't cruel or empty.
"Well, I trust your judgment over theirs. They might've trained back in their District, but I bet all they really did was buy fabrics and watch out for the Capitol's latest fashions," jested Cato. "We actually worked hard in District Two."
"That's good to know. I trust you over them too, now that you bring it up. I'd rather just have you with me instead of having just the two of them. They're idiots."
They both laughed, knowing that all they said was true. Why would Clove want two Tributes, who despite their training were frivolous and incompetent? Why would she want them when she could have Cato, who was powerful and dominating?
"I think I might sleep now, actually," said Clove with a sigh. Cato gave one last, quiet laugh as she walked away. Laying on the ground with her sleeping bag now folded into a makeshift pillow, she slowly drifted into a slumber.
When she woke, perhaps five or six hours later, she found Cato asleep on top of his sleeping bag, which lay almost right next to her. Peeta was keeping watch now, so Clove figured after three hours Cato decided to rest and wake him up.
Clove turned onto her side, propping up her elbow and resting her face on her hand. Cato, despite being asleep, still had his hand curled tightly around the handle of his sword. She smiled sleepily to herself, thinking that it was completely in his character to be on guard even when he wasn't conscious.
After a half hour or so, Clove got up and stretched, waking up her body. She walked over to where Peeta Mellark sat.
"I'll take watch now," she commanded harshly. Peeta glowered at Clove, both fear and defiance showing in his gaze.
"Okay," muttered Peeta, getting up and walking back over to where the others lay asleep.
Clove kept watch for a few hours, maybe four or five. Soon, the sun began to set. She went over and woke everyone up. They would be looking for Tributes after nightfall. Everybody ate some food, and ran a few laps around the lake to wake themselves up.
"So," said Marvel after they all finished. "Glimmer and I were wondering…we forgot to have someone watch our stuff last night when we hunted. So tonight, we figured we should remember to do that. Why don't we just have Clove stay here and guard our supplies and the rest of us go out and hunt? We can leave lover boy here too."
Shocked at this proclamation from Marvel, Clove stomped over to him, shoving him hard. He fell to the ground, a look of surprise on his face.
"You think I'm the weak one, don't you?" hissed Clove furiously. Marvel tried getting back up but she pushed him back into the ground with her foot, the hard sole of the boot grinding against his chest. "You two just want me to stay here with that weak District Twelve boy and do nothing! Let's see how many Tributes you kill without me!"
She reached for the knives inside her jacket, but a thick arm snaked around her stomach and she was lifted into the air. Carrying Clove in a fireman's hold, he moved her away from Marvel. Clove twisted around and beat her fists against Cato's back, swearing angrily.
Once he put her down, she tried to strike Marvel but was held back by Cato once again.
"Get her away from me," Marvel said with contempt as he scuttled backwards. "She's crazy!"
"Shut up," said Cato simply but powerfully. "You're right; we did forget to have someone stay back last night. You two can go into the forest and hunt tonight. Clove and I will stay back here and watch our supplies and Peeta."
"But what if they are mutts…" began Glimmer, her face anxious. Peeta didn't exactly look joyful with the arrangements either.
"Are you saying that you two are so weak that you can't even go into the forest without me?" demanded Cato.
The two fell silent and Clove smirked arrogantly.
"Fine," spat Marvel. "We'll go ourselves."
Once the pair got their backpacks and weapons, they lit a torch and entered the forest.
"Why did you let them go off by themselves? Shouldn't it have been us hunting and them staying back?" asked Clove confusedly.
"They won't find anyone," insinuated Cato. "I just needed them out of the way. They were getting on my nerves. Glimmer can't even run a lap without complaining and Marvel was being picky when we were eating."
"Yeah," snorted Clove. "I saw him rifling through all our bags just so he could find something he liked."
The two of them circled their campsite, looking for Tributes or any predators. Cato kept Peeta by his side no matter what. Marvel and Glimmer were gone for hours. Cato and Clove had time to exercise, spar with each other, and take an inventory of their supplies. Twice.
A while after the two of them decided that one of them should sleep while the other took watch over the supplies and Peeta, the sun broke over the horizon, staining the sky with pinks and oranges. The District One Tributes still hadn't come back. Clove didn't know whether to be worried or relieved.
All of the sudden, she heard feet pounding against the ground, and frantic cries of panic. Marvel and Glimmer dashed out of the forest, shoving Clove and Peeta, who both stood up in anticipation, aside. She turned towards the direction they came out of and saw what they were running from.
Overwhelming and chaotic, tendrils of flame licked the top of the highest pine trees, eating the forest up as quickly as it could. Smoke clouded the sky, making it look like a storm was coming to.
Fire. And it was one that could only have been induced by the machines of the Capitol.
end THE AGREEMENT