Part 27
The claw comes and takes Rue away. I can't help but cry, even though sponsors will notice that kind of thing. I hold back as many tears as I can. I grab my backpack, and head toward the lake where Peeta should be fishing. How am I going to tell him Rue just died? That I killed ANOTHER tribute? He promised to take care of the rest, but I don't think he has killed even one. I break through the bushes and find him spearing a fish. He already has another pole filled with at least a dozen. Ironic, it's called The Hunger Games, yet we haven't gone hungry yet. "Peeta." I say in a whisper. He looks up and sees me. "Hey, where is Rue." I try my best, but I start crying again. "Oh no." I hear him say between sobs. He comes over and puts an arm around me and holds me tight. I calm down relatively fast, but I cried a lot before I found him. "It was horrible. We were walking to come find you. I smelled something cooking and thought maybe you were cooking the fish or something. I peeked around the bush and saw Cato with Clove. Rue almost walked in their view, but I tackled her into a bush. They started looking for us and almost went away, then her foot slipped. It hit some leaves or something and they came over. Clove was the one that opened that bush and I shot her in the heart. Cato threw a spear and hit her in the stomach. I sang to her until she died, she asked me to. I covered her with primroses and covered the wound as well. I whistled a four note whistle she taught me and saluted her with three fingers on my left hand. Then the claw got her and she was gone. I did shoot Cato a few times, but it only wounded him." I keep back my tears again, but Peeta has one running down his cheek. He is trying to be strong for me and I know it. "Peeta, can we go back to the tree?" I whisper. "Of course." He says. We stand up, roast a fish for each of us, put out the fire, and eat our fish walking back. We take a detour so we don't have to go back to where Rue died. When we get to the tree, I ask him to hunt. "No, it's too dangerous. We have fish, we can wait on meat." I guess he is right. I don't want to actually do much more killing anyways. I just want to be alone a bit longer. I climb up in the tree and take a nap on Peeta's branch. I sleep way to long though. And when I wake up, it's to the sound of the anthem playing. It should just be Rue and Clove tonight. That's why I'm shocked to see the girl from 5. Peeta is beside me as the night turns black again. I look at him and he reads my mind "She came to close. She wasn't going to attack, but I knew I needed to get her out as soon as possible. I think they Games are going to fast though. The game makers will probably let us have tomorrow off, give everyone some time to bet." He tells me. Even though I'm late, I just realize it. "Peeta, I can't believe we made it to the final 8! No tribute from 12 has done that in a long time, and now there are two of us!" I exclaim to him. His eyes spark with happiness, than die out. "What's wrong?" I ask him. He looks like he wants to cry, but doesn't. "I just wish we could both go home." He whispers to me. Darn. I knew this was coming. I wish I wasn't in this situation. He is going to have to die, but I can't kill him. If it comes down to just us, then I am really stuck. I could never pull an arrow on him. I know my expression is depressed, but I try to make it grateful. "Thank you, for choosing me." I say. "Have you slept yet?" She shakes his head no. "Well, I slept a lot longer than I thought I thought I would, so I can keep watch. Go to sleep." He smiles and grabs a pillow. He turns over and within a minute is snoring. No one will come tonight, this much I know. It's probably about 11:30 p.m. right now, and I'm to awake. I have to do something. I grab my bow and arrows, and climb down the tree.