And here you go. The chapter that you have all been waiting for.
I awake to the sound of a canon. It's the middle of the day and both Cato and I had still been asleep when the canon went off. We both sit up quickly, looking around, as if the canon could have been for the other.
"District 5." I say.
"It must be." Cato replies, "There's no way District 12 would split up and District 5 wouldn't have had a chance fighting them together."
"You think it was a fight?" I start, "She looked really small at the feast. I think she starved to death." Cato ignores this comment, as his mind is clearly elsewhere.
"Get your pack. We have to go find District 12."
"What?" I say, confused at the sudden change in topic.
"Clove, it's the final four. There are no other tributes. It's the final showdown. Let's go now and find them before we're driven together."
"But we have no idea where they are." Cato counters, saying.
"They're probably on the move." He's right. From what I know about Peeta and his lover girl, they aren't dumb. They are probably thinking along the same lines as we are. Cato hands me the smaller body armor and I slip it on under my clothes. The body armor feels heavy on my small stature and it takes some time to get used to. We load up our packs with the last bit of food and I restock my jacket full of knives. As Cato and I fill our canteens at the lake, we discuss strategy.
"Cato, I get the girl. You know I have to." Cato agrees with me, but I can tell he would rather be the one who finishes the Girl on Fire. It should be an easy fight in theory. We have armor and years of training to our advantage. What use will District 12's arrows be when they bounce off of us? I don't think either of them are strong enough to kill with their bare hands. Cato and I take to the woods for our final hunt. We head up and down the small stream a dozen time with no luck. The anthem confirms our suspicions that District 5 was killed today as we keep looking for the other two tributes in vain. It's the early hours of the morning when, defeated, I can barely remain standing.
"It's no use, Cato. They aren't here." I say. "I need to rest if I'm to be any help in a fight." Cato looks pretty run down as well, but continues his search, over to my left.
"I can just sense that we are close." He says. I keep going, cursing Cato and his stamina under my breath, but can only keep it up for so long. As the sun starts to rise, I plop down on the ground and lay on my side.
"Cato, please. We need to sleep so we can be our best when we meet them." Cato finally obliges and walks over to me, laying down on my right.
"I just want this to be over." He says. I understand his need to end this whole thing, but I can't keep my eyes open for much longer. My restless sleep fills me with the horrors of the arena. In my dream, I'm back at the cornucopia, Thresh towering over me, rock in hand. I try to scream for Cato, but no sound comes out of my mouth. I'm completely helpless. I hear a mangled yell in my nightmare. It's Cato.
Something wakes me up and my eyes fly open to, again, see the image of Thresh standing in front of me. But this time I'm not dreaming. As clear as day I am looking into Thresh's eyes. Cato has waken up as well and yells again as he brings his sword down on the creature in front of him. It had really been Cato yelling in my dream. Cato is to his feet now, sword in hand.
"Clove, move!" He yells, as I lay there, transfixed by the animal inches away from my face. It's a mutt. The grand finale. The creature has short dark fur and razor sharp claws. Its muzzle is barred in a menacing snarl. It resembles a wolf, but is at least three times my size. While I know that this is a Capitol creation that could kill me in a second, I can't help but feel a stang of pity. Had the gamemakers taken Thresh's eyes? Pulled them out of his dead body just to make a better show? Would his family back home open his box just to find empty eye sockets?
"Clove!" I snap back to my senses as Cato's hand grips my wrist and pulls me to my feet.
"Run." It's the only thing that makes sense. Cato keeps his firm grip on my hand as he leads us through the trees, back to the lake and cornucopia. Once I've recovered from the initial shock, he lets go of me so we can both run faster. It seems as if we have been running for days. Fatigue rushes over me as every muscle in my body begs me to stop. I thank God for all the training Lawrence made us do that involved endurance sprinting. We must have been running for a good two hours, sweat pouring off our backs, with the mutts on our heels before I could see the cornucopia.
Out of no where, an arrow hits Cato square in the chest. I call out to him, thinking he has been injured, before I realize he is still racing ahead, the arrow on the ground. Out body armor! I had almost forgotten. Looking ahead, I see District 12 standing in front of the cornucopia, poised to fight. They must think we are running towards them to attack. Can they not see the muttations behind us? Cato and I rush by them and I understand what Cato is doing. He runs over to the side of the cornucopia, preparing to scale the metal horn to avoid the wolfs. He stops at the cornucopia, then grabs me and gives me a boost so I can get to safety. Once on top, I reach my hand out for him to grab onto, but he doesn't need it, as he quickly climbs on top of the golden horn. We both hold onto the hot, metal horn and each other for dear life as we pant, trying to get our breath back. We are both lying on our sides at the very top of the horn, 20 feet above the ground. Cato's face is purple as he gags over the edge. I assume my face is a similar color as I throw up over the side of the cornucopia.
District 12 has finally joined is on top of the cornucopia now. The girl is yelling as she shoots the mutts while Peeta gets to the top. I know I should be rushing towards her and jabbing my knife into her skull, but I'm doubled over with cramps from running. Cato regains his ability to speak and coughs out,
"Can they climb it?" as he watches the mutts below.
"What?" Fire Girl shouts at him. Stupid girl, he wasn't talking to you.
"He said, 'can they climb it?'" Peeta tells her. I watch as she shoots at a blonde mutt: Glimmer.
"Katniss?" Peeta grabs onto Fire Girl's arm. Katniss. So that's her name. How had Cato and I not known it this entire time? It seems a bit anticlimactic. I was expecting her name to be that of some epic warrior.
"It's her!" She replies to Peeta, realizing what Cato and I already knew.
"Who?" Peeta asks, "What is it, Katniss?"
"It's them." She stammers, "It's all of them. The others. Rue and Foxface and... all of the other tributes." Peeta, always the slow one, gasps.
"What did they do to them? You don't think... those could be their real eyes?" Yes. I'm sure they must be. It seems like just the thing the Capitol would do. His partner doesn't answer him though. Suddenly, Peeta cries out as a mutt yanks him over the side. Katniss has a grip on his arm as he dangles off the side, Katniss struggling to keep them both on top.
"Kill it, Peeta! Kill it!" She shouts. Cato and I are still on our sides, but I notice that his breathing is slowing. We should recover enough to kill them soon. Peeta stabs the mutt and Katniss hauls him back onto the horn. The girl shoots another muttation as Cato nudges me and gets to his feet. It's time to end this. He pulls me up and sneaks over behind Peeta while I go around to the other side to creep up on Katniss. Distracted, the Girl on Fire doesn't notice us until Cato grabs an injured Peeta in a headlock and leads him over to the lip of the horn. Completely preoccupied with what just happened to her little boyfriend, Katniss doesn't even realize I am right behind her. She loads her bow, aiming an arrow at Cato. She only has one remaining arrow in her quiver. I slide it out and throw it over the edge so she is out of ammunition. Cato laughs at Katniss.
"Shoot me and he goes down with me." I slide a knife out of my jacket, ready to make my presence known.
"Besides, I'd be more worried about Clove if I were you." Cato tells Katniss. She spins around to face me as I put my knife to her throat. I knock the bow out of her hand and she knows she's lost. Not quite ready to give up yet, she lunges at me, knocking me onto my back. She doesn't stay on top of me for long as we roll on top of the cornucopia, punching and kicking until I have the advantage. I hear yells from where Cato and Peeta are, along with the clanging sound of Cato's sword colliding with Peeta's knife. I raise my own knife, no longer caring about giving the audience a good show. I don't want to torture her as I did at the feast, I just want her canon to go off. Katniss manages to kick me off of her and crawls over to her bow and last arrow. We both return to our feet as she grabs her loaded bow. I back her up against the curved tail of the cornucopia as she aims her bow at my face. I lunge at her with my knife. She turns to the side, thinking I am trying to slit her throat, not knowing she fell into my trap. Her bow exposed, I slash my knife through the sting, rendering her weapon useless.
At the same moment a death scream is heard. Simultaneously, we both turn our heads in the direction of the boys as a cannon sounds. Cato stands over a very bloodied and clearly dead Peeta. Katniss makes an un-human noise of despair as she sees him on the ground. In a fit of revenge, she finds the strength to pick me up and throw me against the tail of the horn. I smack the hot golden surface and fall to the floor, crying out in pain. Katniss rushes over to Peeta and throws herself on top of him, covering herself in his blood. As pain shoots through my back, I ready my knife and aim for the back of her neck. I let the knife fly and watch in slow motion as it makes contact. The blade sinks into her skin as the Girl on Fire's flames are finally put out. The cannon fires and Cato runs over to me, triumphant. We did it. There is nothing standing in our way anymore. We get to go home. I struggle to push myself back to my feet as Cato approaches me. Katniss had thrown me really hard against the metal and I could certainly feel it all over. I put one hand on the metal surface to steady myself and place my free hand on my back. Cato's face falls as he sees me, clearly injured.
"I'm fine." I tell him. "They'll fix me up once we get back to the Capitol." But Cato doesn't seem relieved at my comment. In fact, he looks even more scared as he looks me over more closely. His eyes are down-turned towards my thighs and I look down at myself. Blood is seeping through my pants at an alarming rate. The entire crotch is a dark red and the liquid is spreading down my legs and even dripping onto the ground. Yes, Katniss had done quite a bit of damage as she slammed me onto the cornucopia in her final act. Shocked by the blood and what it clearly meant, I fall down to my knees, clutching my stomach. Cato drops down next to me and pulls my head and upper-body onto his lap.
"You're ok, Clove." He says, "Just hang on. They'll sound the victory trumpets any minute and the doctors will help you." Instead of trumpets though, Claudius Templesmith's voice booms into the arena.
"Greetings to the final contestants of the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games. The earlier revision has been revoked. Closer examination of the rule book has disclosed that only one winner may be allowed. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor." Cato and I remain still as we process what was just said. The entire arena is silent. I should have known. Why would the Capitol ever allow for a happy ending? I look up at Cato, who's face is void of emotion. I can feel tears rolling down my face, though I am unsure if they are from pain or sadness.
"Do it." I say gently. "Please. I'm dying anyway. Just make it fast. Put me out of my misery. You were always the one who was supposed to win." Cato shakes his head.
"I'm not leaving here without you. Not like this." He tilts his head back, addressing the gamemakers as he speaks.
"Please." He says, "You can't do this. I'm not going to kill her. I can't do it. This is sick. You expect me to kill the girl I love and our child?" Cato looks down at me and I'm sure my face is drained of all color. I can't even bare to look down and witness the blood loss.
"You're getting out of here, Clove," He tells me forcefully. "I love you." He says as he grabs one of my knives from my jacket. I know what he is going to do, but I am too weak to stop it. He takes off his body armor as I can do nothing but gaze at him. I watch as stars start to go off as Cato turns the knife towards himself. "I'm sorry." he says as he plunges the knife into his torso and the lights go out. My final cry never escaping my lips.
I am so sorry for yet another cliffhanger. I couldn't help myself. Well actually, I just felt like it would be a good place to end the chapter. This is not the end. I will write at least one more chapter and an epilogue. Thank you all so much for being the best readers ever. Your kind reviews are what has kept me with this story for so long. I will be quite sad when I am all done. Please review, I would love to know what you thin of this chapter or the story in general. You do not need an account to review this story but I can only reply to you if you do have a fanfiction account. Until next week.
Attention: I will not be updating this or next weekend. I am sick and I need to study for my AP tests. I am really sorry, but school has to come before fanfiction.