"Peeta?" My voice is hoarse. "Peeta!" I am almost hysterical now. I am shouting his name. I crash through the underbrush and slam into him. I hold onto him. "Don't ever leave me again." I whisper into his chest. I look down and see who the cannon was for. The girl from 5. The one with the red hair. Her mouth is stained with berries. Night lock.
"Peeta! That's night lock. You'd be killed instantly." The thought of losing him scares me.
As we head back to the cave, it starts to rain. We look up at the same time as it starts to pour. I try to run, but my side is killing me. Peeta ends up carrying me back to the cave.
"I almost forgot." I say. "I have something for your burn." I hand him the cream and his reaction is like mine. The sun goes down and we see the girls from District 3 and District 5 through the rain.
"How many left?" I ask Peeta. "Cato, Clove and the huge boy from 11."
It is freezing that night and I am glad that I have Peeta and a sleeping bag. I curl up close to him.
He whispers in my ear, "I changed the plan." "Why" I whisper back. "Because...of this." And then he kisses me. It warms me from the inside out. I fall asleep in his arms.
When I wake up the next morning it is still raining.
I look at Peeta, glad to have him here. There is a loud crack of thunder and I scream.
"Sorry," I say, embarrassed. We have the rest of the soup and some nuts we found. My neck is almost completely healed and my side is tons better. That evening just before the anthem we hear 2 cannons.
"What?" Peeta is in disbelief. I take deep breaths. In, out. In, out. "I wonder who is left?" he says. "We'd have the best chance if it is Clove - the girl from 2. " He adds and I agree.
The anthem blares through the arena and I clutch onto Peeta's hand for dear life. We see Clove and the boy from 11 in the sky. Of course. It all leads up to this. I'm scared. I am so close to going home. To seeing my family. It's not likely now.
Peeta senses my apprehension. He reaches over and gives my shoulder a squeeze. "There's 2 of us and only 1 of him."
"It's just like at the reaping." I blurt out. Oops. He smiles. "Yes. You looked so nervous. And then you made this terrible sound and I wanted to give you some reassurance."
"So we'll go tomorrow." I say. I don't even have to say what. "Yes." We finish what's left of our food and settle down for the evening. I feel Peeta's arm around me. I smile in the shadows.