I take point and begin hacking our way through the jungle. Finnick follows me, with Mags on his back and Katniss brings up the rear, her bow at the ready, listening for any sound of pursuit. We walk, uphill the entire way, but no one seems to be following. We come across no sign of water and in minutes we are all hot and sticky. After hacking for about mile Finnick calls for a stop. I think that he could keep going, but Mags looks like she needs a rest. Katniss decides to climb one of the trees to see if she can get a look at what is going on at the Cornucopia. I wonder how many people have already been killed.
I am still reeling from the fact that Haymitch is making us have allies, but where would we be if he hadn't? Probably stuck around the Cornucopia, maybe even dead. I slightly shake my head and look around at Mags. She is sitting on the ground looking around, maybe trying to gather her baring's as well. Finnick is leaning next to a tree, playing with one of his tridents, almost lazily, like the situation is not bothering him. As I watch him, he looks up toward where Katniss disappeared and seems to be trying to decide something. Maybe if he is going to kill us when she gets back down. Wouldn't it be easier if he killed me now? Or maybe he doesn't look at me as the kind of threat Katniss is. As we hear Katniss get closer to the ground I see him raise his trident, almost defensively. She lands lightly close to him and I see on her face that she is trying to decide if she should just go ahead and kill him.
"What's going on down there, Katniss?" he asks. "Have they all joined hands? Taken a vow of nonviolence? Tossed the weapons in the sea in defiance of the Capitol?"
"No," she answers. Of course not. These are still the Hunger Games and there will still be one victor.
"No," Finnick echoes. "Because whatever happened in the past is in the past. And no one in this arena was a victor by chance." He turns and looks at me for a moment. "Except maybe Peeta." Yes. I am a victor because of Katniss and the berries. If she hadn't found me in the last games I would have died from Cato's wound. Everyone knows that.
I see Katniss and Finnick sizing each other up. How quickly the trident can leave his hand against how quickly she can release a bow. It's probably a draw, they would both probably just end up killing the other, leaving me and Mags with what's left. This is not the way I am going to get Katniss out of here alive. I cannot stand by and watch them kill each other. I quickly walk forward and stand right in between them.
"So how many are dead?" I ask Katniss, ignoring the look she is giving me, clearly telling me to move.
"Hard to say. At least six, I think. And they're still fighting," she answers.
"Let's keep moving. We need water," I say quickly. I am getting more and more parched by the second.
"Better find some soon. We need to be undercover when the others come hunting us tonight," Finnick says and he relaxes his pose. Katniss does the same, but I know she will not let it go on very long. Finnick gets Mags and she perches on his back and we continue on. Katniss is the back, bow at the ready, Finnick with his human backpack and me at the front, slashing our way through the foliage.
Another mile up and there seems to be an end to the tree line. Katniss sees this as a good sign and I hear her say, "Maybe we'll have better luck on the other side. Find a spring or something." I continue on, panting from the heat and lack of water. I take my hand and slash my knife down through some vines. The last thing I register is hearing a kind of zipping sound.
I feel like I am floating. I cannot make sense of what is going on, where I am or where I am supposed to be. Peace fills everything in me, but it feels wrong. I want to stay, but I know am forgetting something, something extremely important. The peacefully feeling tries to overtake me, but I know I am leaving something behind. Someone behind. Someone I have to save, how can I save her if I selfishly stay here in the peace? Her. I vowed to save her. Who? Katniss. Her name is my driving force, I have to go back. I fight against the peace and can almost hear her beautiful voice.
"Peeta?" she says, her voice raw. What's wrong? What happened? Then I remember the zipping sound. I open my eyes and find her face, covered in tears, inches from mine. I find her eyes and say, "Careful. There's a force field ahead." She laughs, tears still running freely. "Must be a lot stronger than the one on the Training Center roof. I'm all right, though. Just a little shaken." Seriously, why is she so upset? So I get knocked out from a zap. I'm still here, we're still here. I even see Finnick, sweating and panting, sitting a few yards behind us and Mags a bit further back.
"You were dead! Your heart stopped!" she yells at me. What? I was dead? But, how am I here now? Before I can register much more I hear Katniss sobbing, making small choking sounds.
"Well, it seems to be working now. It's alright, Katniss," I say, trying to sound reassuring. She is still sobbing. "Katniss?"
"It's okay. It's just her hormones. From the baby," Finnick says.
"No, it's not…." Katniss begins, but the sobbing takes over and she cannot finish. She is shooting daggers at Finnick and I end up being even more confused? Which one do I owe this time? Did Katniss bring me back from the dead again, or was it Finnick? Does that explain why she is looking at him this way? Finnick seems to be confused about something, looking between me and Katniss. He shakes his head and looks over at me,
"How are you? Do you think you can move on?"
"No, he has to rest," Katniss says before I can talk. I really haven't registered how I feel yet. Mags hands Katniss a piece of moss to blow her nose and I take a quick assessment. I can feel everything, which is good. I feel like I have been running all day, but it's not unbearable. I catch Katniss look down at my chest. I follow her eyes and see that my locket has made an appearance. She reaches out and takes it in her hand. "Is this you token?" she asks, voice still weak from the pass few moments.
"Yes. Do you mind that I used your mockingjay? I wanted us to match," I answer.
She smiles, a forced smile, but answers, "No, of course I don't mind."
"So you want to make camp here, then?" Finnick asks.
I shake my head. "I don't think that's an option. Staying here. With no water. No protection. I feel all right, really. If we could just go slowly."
"Slowly would be better than not at all," Finnick says, carefully helping me to my feet. Katniss is checking over her weapons and says,
"I'll take the lead." I don't think this is a good idea. I begin to say so, but Finnick cuts me off,
"No, let her do it. You knew that force field was there, didn't you? Right at the last second? You started to give a warning." Katniss nods, looking a bit reluctant. "How did you know?" She pauses for just a second, just enough for me to know that her next words are not true.
"I don't know. It's almost as if I could hear it. Listen." What is she doing?
"I don't hear anything," I say.
"Yes. It's like when the fence around District 12 is on, only much, much quieter," she insists. I listen, but I know she is putting on. I might as well play along. "There! Can't you hear it? It's coming from right where Peeta got shocked."
"I don't hear it, either. But if you do, by all means, take the lead," Finnick says. Katniss pulls a puzzled look and begins moving her head from side to side. "That's weird. I can only hear it out of my left ear." Good save, Katniss!
"The one the doctors reconstructed?" I ask.
"Yeah," Katniss says, shrugging. "Maybe they did a better job than they thought. You know, sometimes I do hear funny things on that side. Things you wouldn't ordinarily think have a sound. Like insect wings. Or snow hitting the ground." Pretty nice cover. Mags, who has been silently watch us the whole time, nudges Katniss forward and says, "You."
So, on we go. The only difference is that since we are going slowly, Mags prefers to walk with a cane Finnick made out of a helpful branch. He hands me something that looks like a staff to walk with. I am very grateful for it too, since I really would rather just lay down and sleep. But I know we have to move on. We have to find water and a better place for cover before nightfall. Finnick takes the end and we trudge on. We walk with the force field to our left, Katniss throwing nuts randomly to make for sure we are still going against it and no one walks into it again.
Mags begins shelling some of the nuts and popping them into her mouth. She must be either really hungry or has encountered them before. Katniss takes notice too and turns just as Mags pops another one into her mouth.
"Mags! Spit that put. It could be poisonous," she says. Mags ignores her and licks her lips. Katniss looks at Finnick for some kind of help, but he just laughs a bit and says, "I guess we'll find out."
We keep walking and I cannot keep but thinking about what our next move will be. When I am a bit stronger, will we go looking for the Career group? Will we hide and try to let them take themselves out. I am mostly worried about water. Why haven't we found any by now? Surely the Gamemakers wouldn't just leave out fresh water. It will not make for good Games for us all to die of dehydration. I know it is because of the shock and my apparent death earlier, but I feel like I can already feel the effects of being dehydrated. I feel so weak, but I will not stop us. There must be a break in this force field some place.
After what seems like hours, Katniss stops. She takes one look at Mags, who is still limping along and then at my face, which is covered in sweat.
"Let's take a break. I need to get another look from above," she says. I know this must be an excuse for us to stop for a bit. I am not sure she will be able to tell anything more from looking over the trees. I watch as she climbs up the tree and then I look around at our allies. Mags is still popping nuts and Finnick is propped up against a tree and looking around us. I am still puzzled at why Haymitch has set us up with allies. I am sure that Finnick is a great guy and probably a great friend, but we are just going to have to kill him. There are so many things that do not make any sense, like, if my hunch is right, and Finnick is the one who revived me, why would he have done that? Why didn't he just let me die? It's not like he killed me and it would have been one less victor to take out. As I am going through all this in my mind, I hear Katniss descending. She hops down and looks at us sadly.
"The force field has us trapped in a circle. A done, really. I don't know how high it goes. There's the Cornucopia, the sea and then the jungle all around. Very exact. Very symmetrical. And not very large," she says.
"Did you see any water?" Finnick asks, right when I am about to.
"Only the saltwater where we started the Games," she answers.
"There must be some other source. Or we'll all be dead in a matter of days," I say, frowning and repeating what I was thinking earlier.
"Well, the foliage is thick. Maybe there are ponds or springs somewhere," Katniss says, doubtfully. "At any rate, there's no point in trying to find out what's over the edge of this hill, because the answer is nothing."
"There must be drinkable water between the force field and the wheel," I say. This means we will have to head back down toward the Cornucopia, toward the Careers.
After the break we decided to head down a little ways, only about a hundred yards or so and continue in the circle. Katniss takes lead again and still throws the little nuts every once and awhile. We never encounter anyone or the force field. We walk until it is about half way into the afternoon and I know that I will not be able to go on much longer. I look back at Mags and know the she is feeling the same way.
Finnick finally chooses a campsite, taking us back up toward the force field.
"That way," he explains, "We can use it as a weapon if need be." Finnick and Mags begin weaving mats with the tall grass and I gather some of the nuts that Mags has been chomping on all day. I throw them into the force field, frying them and pull the shells off. Katniss stands guard, but is fidgety, almost jumpy. I want to tell her to sit down and rest, but I know that she will just argue with me.
"Finnick, why don't you stand guard and I'll hunt around for more water," she finally says.
"I don't think going off on your own is such a great idea," I say, quickly. I really do not think we should be separated.
"Don't worry. I won't go far," she says, reassuringly.
"I'll go, too," I say, getting up.
She shakes her head and says, "No, I'm going to do some hunting if I can." Aha. Of course she is. We need something other than nuts to eat tonight and I walk too hard. "I won't be long." She walks off into the trees. I watch the spot where she disappeared for a while and then go back to toasting nuts.
Just a few minutes later the sound of the cannon goes off. Finally the initial fight is over. Eight shots in all. I cannot help but wonder which ones they are. The morphlings? Beetee and Wiress? Johanna? Probably not any of the Careers. I keep myself busy while we wait for Katniss to return, but really I am getting more and more worried by each passing second. We never hear any other cannons, so I know she is ok, but what if she fell? Not likely. What if she is being tortured? She said she wouldn't go far, so I am sure we would be able to hear her scream. Maybe she just found some water and is trying to bring some back to us. While she is gone Finnick and Mags make a neat make-shift hut out of woven mats and Mags even makes some bowls, a few which I fill with the nuts.
Finally Katniss comes back, some sort of rodent already skinned and gutted in her hand. I look at her hopefully, but she shakes her head, "No. No water. It's out there, though. He knew where it was." She holds the rodent up. "He'd been drinking recently when I shot him out of the tree, but I couldn't find his source. I swear, I covered every inch of ground in a thirty-yard radius."
"Can we eat him?" I ask.
"I don't know for sure. But his meat doesn't look that different from a squirrel's. He ought to be cooked…," she says. I am not sure we should start a fire, even if we could get one going here. But I have an idea. I have Katniss had me a chunk of the meat, put it on a stick and throw it into the force field. It flicks back to us, Katniss determines that even though the outside is scorched, the inside is cooked well. They all give me a round of applause, but they stop quickly because we really do not want to be ambushed right now.
We all gather in the hut as the sun begins to set. Katniss is not sure about the nuts Mags has been eating all day, but hunger gets the best of her and she finally tries them.
"So, Katniss, what would you call this little guy?" Finnick asks, holding up a scorched piece of meat.
"I don't know. He really didn't look like anything I have ever seen before. He kind of looked like a rat."
"A tree rat, then," Finnick says. "Since you found him in a tree. What was he doing before you shot him?"
"Just sniffing around. I didn't watch him very long," she answers.
"About how high up, do you think he was?" I wonder why he is so worried about it, just for new information. But I don't say anything, just listen to them discuss the little tree rat.
"Not far from the ground, actually. I mainly shot him to get a closer look," she explains.
Finnick lets the conversation go after that. As it grows dark, I take Katniss by the hand. We all look toward the sky because we know they will be showing today's dead very soon. When the Capitol's symbol and anthem begins I think about looking away. I have gotten along with most of these people and I do not want to see which ones have died. I know that they all have to die for me to achieve, my goal, but still, it's not going to be a comfortable viewing.
The male victor from District 5 comes up first, so that means all the Careers, Beetee and Wiress, have survived. The male victor from District 6 is next. I feel really bad about this one because we spend a good amount of time painting in the training room. He had a great eye for mixing colors. Both the victors from eight are dead, which means Cecelia, who has three children at home, both from nine, the female from 10 and Seeder.
We all sit in silence, all thinking of our own worries, when a silver parachute sails down. No one reaches for it and finally Katniss asks, "Whose it is, do you think?"
"No telling. Why don't we let Peeta claim it, since he died today?" Finnick says. I do not object, I just untie the cord and flatten out the cloth. There, in the center is a metal object.
"What is it?" Katniss asks. We all pass it back and forth, but we have no idea. It's a hollow tube, tapered slightly on one end and it curves down and the other end. I blow on one end to see if it makes a whistle sound, but nothing. Finnick tries it out as a weapon on his pinkie, but that's not it either. Katniss asks Mags if she could fish with it, who, I am sure, could fish with anything, but she just shakes her head. It has to be valuable, or we wouldn't have gotten it. Katniss is rolling it back and forth between her hands, trying to work out what it could be. I can see frustration etching itself on her face more and more while she looks at it. Finally she jams it in the ground and growls, "I give up. Maybe if we hook up with Beetee or Wiress they can figure it out."
She processed to stretch out on one of the mats and I begin to rub the spot between her shoulders that she seems to hold her tension. I feel her begin to relax under my touch and know that at least for this moment I can make things better for her. I have to figure out a way to get her to change her mind about who should go home. I also have to figure out how I am going to be able to kill everyone else, including myself, so I can do that.
Suddenly Katniss jumps up and says, "A spile!"
"What?" Finnick asks, clearly thinking of other things as well. She grabs the metal tube from the ground and cleans it out.
"It's a spile. Sort of like a faucet. You put it in a tree and sap comes out. Well, the right sort of tree." She is looking around at the trees.
"Sap?" Finnick asks. His is clearly out of his realm of knowledge. Of course. Didn't we buy sap to make syrup back home?
"To make syrup. But there must be something else inside these trees," I say, looking around as well. We all jump up at once, I imagine it probably looked comical on TV, but we are all so thirsty. Finnick grabs the spile and looks like he is going to hammer it into the nearest tree, but Katniss stops him.
"Wait. You might damage it. We need to drill a hole first." She must have done this in the woods with her father or Gale. Of course, we have no drill so Mags offers her awl. I stab it into the nearest tree. Finnick and I take turns working with the awl and knives to make the hole big enough to hold the spile. Katniss puts it carefully in the hole and we stand back.
Nothing happened for a few minutes, but then a single drop of water rolls down the lip and right into Mags hand. She licks it off and hands her hands out for more. Katniss wiggles and adjusts it until we receive a thin stream coming out of the tree. Thank you, Haymitch! We take turns under the water, all getting our mouths wet. Mags brings over a basket she wove earlier and we fill it with water. We pass it around, each taking giant gulps of water, finally, after such a long day, quenching our thirst. After we all get our fill, we begin to take turns splashing water on our faces. We wash away the sweat and dirt from the long day.
It's not until after we are no longer thirsty that we are able to finally realize how tired we are. Katniss pulls the spile out of the tree, puts a striped vine through it and ties it to her belt. Finnick takes first watch and Katniss and I let him. We lay down in the hut and I am soon asleep.
The next think I am aware of is Katniss yelling at us to wake up.
"Run!" she is screaming at us. I jump up, but am very disoriented. "Run!" Finnick and Mags are gone, but I can hear them running close to us. Katniss grabs my arms and pulls me through the trees.
"What it is? What is it?" I ask, not understanding what is going on.
"Some kind of fog. Poisonous gas. Hurry, Peeta!" she yells back at me. I am trying to make my feet go as fast as possible, but I am feeling the effects of my heart stopping earlier, my artificial leg doesn't want to run and I am still groggy from sleep. I trip often, taking Katniss with me a few times. I begin to get frustrated at myself. Why can't I just run? She puts her hand around mine and says quickly, "Watch my feet. Just try to step where I step." We go a bit faster, but the fog is right behind us, enough so that little droplets are burning our skin. I hear Finnick shouting at us, being an invisible guide to us to keep us moving forward. I think we are getting in a good rhythm when my artificial leg takes me down. As I am trying to get up I feel a weird sensation up my left side. I cannot seem to get any kind of control over that side of my face, or that side of my body. I look up at Katniss and I see it on her face that things have gone very badly.
"Peeta….." she looks down at her right arm and begins to try to yank me forward. This just makes me trip again and when I get up again I have no control over my legs. I want to tell her to go on without me, but I cannot make my mouth form words. I feel Finnick pulling me from the other side. Katniss gets me on one side and we try to go forward. Finnick is going very fast and we try to keep up, but he stops.
"It's no good. I'll have to carry him. Can you take Mags?" I hear Finnick ask Katniss. What? Why doesn't he just leave us to die?
"Yes," I hear her say. I know she is strong, but can she really carry another human being through this jungle? Finnick takes me by the arm and we begin through the foliage. I hear what sounds like Katniss falling a few times, but she seems to be doing ok. It's not until Finnick turns that I realize she is in trouble.
"It's no use. Can you take them both? Go on ahead, I'll catch up," she says.
"No," I hear Finnick say. "I can't carry them both. My arms aren't working." I clutch to him and his remaining trident as we all work out what to do. "I'm sorry, Mags. I can't do it," he says, tears in his voice. I feel Mags hands grab Finnick's face and she walks away, toward the fog. He abruptly turns and begins back down the slope. I hear the blast of a cannon and know that Mags has died. Killed herself.
"Finnick?" I faintly hear Katniss ask and I know she is just as confused as I am about what just happened. No one says anything, we just keep on going toward the Cornucopia. Finally I feel Finnick give out under me. We both fall to the ground and Katniss follows soon after. I think we are all about to die, but then I hear Katniss try to say something. She tries again and says, "It's stopped." I turn my head and it does look like the fog as just stopped. As we watch it the fog starts to drift upward, faster, like being sucked up. I am finally able to roll off of Finnick. After a few minutes I look up and see eyes. Two of them. Then I can finally make out shapes. Monkeys, it looks like. I remember once I saw them in a book at school.
I try to tell Katniss, but what comes out sounds more like "Mon-hees." I mouth and tongue is still swollen from the poison. I finally get myself turned over and start crawling down the slope. I just want to get out of this jungle. We reach the beach and I lay in the sand, welcoming it. I look over at Katniss and see she is putting her hand in the water. I look at the water and see a kind of milky white substance leaking out of the places the fog has hit. I strip off my suit and begin to do the same. The pain is almost unbearable at first, but then, when the milky substance comes out there is an amazing pain free sensation. It takes a few minutes, but I am finally able to get most of the control over my limbs. I hear Finnick moaning and I look up to see Katniss taking handfuls of water to him. I hurry to help her.
It is taking so long for us to go back and forth and we are really exposed out here. I quickly cut away his suit so we can get to his wounds better and I look around and unearth two shells that holds a lot more water than we can and the process goes much faster. We get his arms first and Kitniss finally says, "We've got to get more of him into the water." I nod toward his feet and we watch take one and turn him around, pulling him feet first towards the water. We take him in bit by bit, taking a few minutes between each new entry. Finnick comes around after we have everything but his head in the water.
Katniss and I smile as we watch him lift his arms out of the water. "There's just your head left, Finnick," I say. "That's the worst part, but you'll feel much better after, if you can bear it." We help him up and each hold a hand as he goes under the water. He comes up, but still cannot speak.
"I'm going to try to tap a tree," Katniss says.
"Let me make the hole first. You stay with him. You're the healer," I say. I take a knife and start toward a good looking tree. I start digging at the bark. It takes me a while and I just concentrate on the sound of the knife against the wood. Soon I hear, "Peeta. I need your help with something." Katniss is talking in a very calm voice.
"Okay," I answer, but I do not stop. I almost have a good hole made. "I think I've just about got it. Yes, there. Have you got the spile?"
"I do. But we've found something you'd better take a look at. Only move towards us quietly, so you don't startle it," she says. I stop. Startle it? I turn to them. Katniss has her bow at the ready and Finnick has his trident ready to strike as well.
"Okay," I try to say calmly and I begin to move toward them. Suddenly I feel like I am being watched. I do not stop walking toward Katniss and Finnick, but I do glance upwards. I see monkeys. Monkeys everywhere, sliding down branches and heading toward us, teeth bared and claws out. I hear Katniss scream,
"Mutts!"