Chapter 21
Katniss is right. Each mutt resembles the tributes who have died.
"What did they do to them? You don't think... those could be their real eyes?" I ask.
Katniss is silent.
I watch in horror as a mutt jumps up and almost takes off Katniss's hand. Then I fell pain shoot out of my wounded leg. As a mutt sinks it's teeth into it. I'm pulled down, but Katniss holds me.
"Kill it, Peeta! Kill it!" she shouts.
I take the knife and stab the mutt. It lets go and falls to the ground.
Then, I'm pulled form Katniss's side, and Cato is cutting off my air. I claw at his arm, and Katniss aims her arrow at Cato.
He laughs. "Shoot me and he goes down with me." he says.
I touch my finger to my new wound on my leg and draw and 'x' on Cato's hand. And Katniss shoots right into the 'x'. I slam against him and he releases me. Both Cato and I lose our footing, and Katniss grabs me in time. Cato plummets into the mutts.
I hold onto Katniss as we wait for the cannon. We are soo close to home. I remember Cato's armor. We could be waiting for a while. All I hear are the mutts and Cato's cries. Katniss takes her jacket off and her shirt, then she puts her jacket back on.
Katniss makes me lay down and she ties the shirt around my new wound. She lays down with me. "Don't go to sleep." she says. I can tell she's scared.
"Are you cold?" I ask. I unzip my jacket and I pull my jacket around both of us.
"Cato may win this thing yet." she says.
"Don't you believe it," I say and pull Katniss's hood over her face.
Hours pass.
"Why don't they just kill him?" she asks me.
"You know why" I say and pull Katniss closer to me, protectively. I try to drift off several times but when I do Katniss won't stop yelling my name until I wake up. I point out whenever the moon moves. I think it helps Katniss.
"The sun is rising." I whisper.
Katniss open her eyes and puts her good ear on the metal of the Cornucopia.
"I think he's closer now Katniss can you shoot him?" I ask, feeling bad for Cato.
"My last arrow's in your tourniquet," she says.
"Make it count." I say and unzip the jacket. She takes the arrow out and ties the tourniquet up.
Katniss crawls to the mouth of the horn and hangs over the edge. The fear of her falling forces me to crawl to her quickly, no matter how bad my leg hurts. I breath again once I grab her. I hear the arrow fly and hit something. I pull Katniss back up quickly.
"Did you get him?" I ask. The cannon fires. "Then we won Katniss."
"Hurray for us." she says.
A hole opens in the ground and the mutts run to it. We wait for our victory to be announced.
Katniss looks up at the sky. "Hey! What's going on?" she shouts at the sky, where the hovercraft should be here to pick us up.
"Maybe it's the body. Maybe we have to move away from it." I say, unsure.
"Okay, think you can make it to the lake." she asks.
"Think I better try," I say.
We get off the Cornucopia. When we make it the the lake, Katniss gives me some water. A hovercraft appears and takes Cato. Now we can go home. But they don't take us.
"What are they waiting for?" I ask.
"I don't know." she says. She stands up and picks up the arrow, the one that bounced off Cato's armor. Claudius Templesmith's voice booms through 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."