Hello and thank you for continuing to read my story, it means a lot! Any comments you may have are always welcomed and appreciated!
I do not own the Hunger Games nor its characters.
Chapter Forty-Two
The next morning Peeta awakes just long enough to cover himself in more mud and moss before dropping off back to sleep. I debate whether I should send him something but he's done okay on his own so far and seeing as Katniss is the one actively participating in the Games it's more likely she's going to need my help soon.
She and Rue spend most of the morning discussing the Careers and how they're guarding their supplies whilst hunting and gathering. They're forming a very close bond and it both saddens and frustrates me.
By the afternoon they've formed a plan; Rue will light three fires that they've set up in a bid to draw the Careers away from their supplies which, somehow, Katniss will destroy. I'm willing them to change their minds because everyone watching knows that boy from 3 has set up mines around the supplies.
They decide on a three note signal using the mockingjays in the arena so that they can tell each they're okay before Rue throws her arms around Katniss. As they embrace the anxiety builds in my chest.
They part ways and it isn't long before Katniss has reached the Cornucopia and is hiding in the trees, surveying the Careers. They notice the smoke from Rue's first fire and they all jump into action, telling the boy from 3 to come, too.
"What about Lover Boy?" Shouts Marvel.
"I keep telling you, forget about him," replies Cato, "I know where I cut him. It's a miracle he hasn't bled to death yet. At any rate, he's in no shape to raid us."
The camera swings on to Katniss who has a look of hard concentration on her face. She knows Peeta's injured but I'm guessing she's still confused as to why he acted the way he did.
"When we find her, I kill her in my own way, and no one interferes," says Cato beforethey all head out. Clearly he doesn't know how Katniss works at all because she would never be stupid enough to draw attention to herself by lighting such a large fire. He has no idea that she's playing him!
Katniss doesn't move for a while, still looking at the supplies and figuring out a way to get rid of them. Just as she's about to move the red headed girl from 5 creeps out and does some sort of dance, she's obviously figured out that the supplies are mined. She almost falls over but recovers before stealing some food and disappearing, again, in to the woods.
"It's mined," whispers Katniss. I'm sure she's said more for herself than for the cameras but at least the audience knows what she's thinking. She carefully moves so that she can get a clearer look and loads her bow. She shoots an arrow that opens a bag of apples but only slightly. Her second widens it and the third rips it wide open.
The explosion knocks her back and it takes her a while before she can get to her feet and, even then, it's clear how dizzy she is. Her left ear is bloody, which has us both worried, and she only has minutes to hide before the Careers return.
My eyes are fixed to the screen as Cato shouts in rage but I ask Chaff if Rue is okay, I have to.
"She's alive," is all he says. I could use my extra screen to zoom in on Rue but Katniss is my priority right now.
Cato kills the boy from 3 now that his job is done and Katniss is scaring me senseless by not moving. She needs to get out of there but it's nightfall before anything happens.
The Careers light their torches and go hunting after it's revealed that two tributes died today and there are now only eight left. This whole thing could be over very soon.
I allow myself to look for Rue while Katniss gathers her things and moves away from her hideout. The little tribute is safely hidden in a tree, sitting in Katniss' sleeping bag. I don't know if I should be relieved that she's alive or not, if she were dead I know it would make things a lot easier for Katniss.
Both of my tributes are now fast asleep so I settle down in my chair. I haven't slept in a bed for a week now and my whole body aches but I can't bear to be away from the screen.
"NO!" A booming voice jerks me awake and it takes me a few seconds to identify whose it is. Chaff is standing up, almost shaking the screen.
My head turns to my station and I can see that Rue is hanging in a net with Marvel smirking at her, spear in hand. I can see that Katniss is close but it's difficult to say if she'll get there in time to save her ally.
"Katniss! Katniss!" Rue screams.
"Rue! Rue! I'm coming!" Yells Katniss and just as she enters the clearing, armed with her bow, to see Marvel send a spear through Rue's body.
Katniss immediately turns and her arrow flies in to the boy's neck. This is the first time she's directly killed someone and it has all the emotion and bloodshed that the Capitol will love but I know that it's going to haunt her for the rest of her life. However long that may be.
"Are there more? Are there more?" Katniss frantically asks and after Rue assures her that there's not she cuts her free from the net and lies her on the ground.
"You blew up the food?" Asks Rue.
"Every last bit."
"You have to win."
"I'm going to. Going to win for both of us now." The cannon for Marvel sounds but neither girl cares.
"Don't go," says Rue but Katniss would never do that. Instead, she places Rue's head on her lap and brushes her hair.
"I can't watch this," says Chaff and leaves the room. When I look back at the screen Katniss is singing a very old song from 12 that we learn in school. I've heard that her father was an incredible singer and she's not too bad herself, only there's a sadness tinging her voice. The cannon sounds when she's finished and she gently lies Rue's head down before taking Marvel and Rue's supplies.
Just as she's about to clear out she turns back and does something amazing and rebellious in equal measure. She collects nearby flowers and decorates Rue's tiny body in them, making it look like she's just sleeping in a meadow. She gives her our three finger salute and leaves.
I should be glad but I'm not. Katniss is now free to win but at the expense of a little girl. I do the only thing that comes naturally to me and find myself a bottle of white liquor. When I return to my station I'm surprised to find that Chaff is sitting there.
"I'm sorry," I say to him.
"Thanks. I've had some calls from home and they want to send Katniss some bread to say thank you."
I've never heard of one district giving a gift to another but maybe this just shows that things are changing out there. Maybe there is a ripple of unrest slowly trickling through the districts.
Chaff gives me back my seat and I can see that Katniss' sponsorship money has increased so I immediately send her in the official bread of district eleven, hoping that she knows where it's from.
She opens up the parcel and I can tell that she's both happy and surprised. She looks up and says, "My thanks to the people of District Eleven." Take that, President Snow!
Effie appears with tears in her eyes, twittering on about how sad it all is and how sweet Katniss behaved, much to her surprise. I'm not sure if that's because Katniss can be so stubborn or because she's from 12, it's hard to tell how Effie's brain works a lot of the time.
"Anyway," she says, "You need to sleep in a proper bed and I'm not taking no for an answer!"
I don't argue and slope off to my room to find Cinna sitting in the living room. I didn't expect to see him until the Games were over.
"Plutarch sent me," he says as if reading my mind. "He said he's very impressed with our little mockingjay."
"And so he should be."
"Have you been out much? Have you heard how mad everyone is?"
"Cinna, I've been locked in that horrible Control Room for a week, what do you think?"
He smirks, "Well, this star-crossed lovers angle has been incredible, the whole Capitol is in uproar, most of them are calling for a rule change."
"If only," I say before telling him that as lovely as it is to see him, again, I really could do with some rest.
When I wake up, it's late morning, I obviously needed to rest more than I thought. I should be annoyed that I've slept so much but as much as Effie drives me crazy I know she would have sent for me if anything had happened.
I switch on the television for an update but all they're showing are interviews with the remaining tributes' families. Katniss' little sister, Prim, appears on screen with a sweet smile but all she can talk about is how desperate she is for Katniss to come home. They also interview Peeta's father, who is pleasant enough but doesn't have the same charisma that his son has. How can they expect him to be happy when his son is currently involved in national death match?
When I reach the Control Room Effie has been replaced by Finnick, not that I'm surprised. Her hair probably needed rearranging or something.
"Shouldn't you be off gallivanting somewhere?" I say.
"When I could be enjoying the delights of your company, Haymitch? Never!"
I smack him across the head and let out a laugh. I'm in a fairly good mood today, it's amazing what a decent night's sleep can do.
Finnick informs me that Peeta has managed to drink from the stream before falling back to sleep and whispering "Katniss" repeatedly. I honestly don't know how he's still alive.
Katniss, meanwhile, is wandering aimlessly through the arena, which is slightly alarming.
I spend most of the afternoon quizzing Finnick about what he knows is going on the Capitol and he only reiterates Cinna's comments. Everyone has completely fallen in love with the tributes from 12.
It turns out that Finnick does indeed have to go off gallivanting so we say goodbye and I stare mindlessly at the screen until the evening.
After the anthem a fanfare of trumpets erupts in to the arena and I'm suddenly very alert. Trumpets usually mean an announcement, mostly a feast, which Katniss would not need to go to. She can get food by herself, no problem.
"Congratulations to our final six tributes!" Claudius Templesmith's voice booms, "I have an announcement for you all, there has been a rule change." A rule change? Since when were there any rules?! "This year both tributes from the same district will be declared the winner if they are the last two alive."
I'm stunned. I didn't think the rumours and upset would be enough to actually bully the Gamemakers in to declaring two winners. Templesmith has to repeat the news as the tributes seem to be confused but once the news sinks in Katniss is calling out Peeta's name and a huge grin is forming across my face.
Yes, sweetheart! That's what we want!