Through the next few days, I keep waiting for the Gamemakers to send something in to wake those tributes who are still passed out from the nightmares. Sure, they scream and writhe, trapped in some horrid place inside their minds, but the real sport of the Games is watching them fight.
But nothing comes. The stung tributes are left in the same places they passed out in. Katniss somewhere in the woods, my son by the river, and the Careers at their camp. I suppose there are enough tributes who didn't get stung to keep things interesting. There's a few fights. No deaths. Maybe the Capitol's invested in these other tributes who now get the spotlight, but all I care about is the blonde boy who's prisoner in his own brain.
Sometimes he screams and thrashes around, and sometimes he just whimpers. The muscles in his jaw work overtime, and I know he's grinding his teeth. One thing's for sure, whatever was in that venom will surely drive him to madness if he doesn't wake soon.
The only other tribute who I make sure to keep up on is Katniss. Maybe it's because she's from Twelve or maybe I just want to know what she'll do once she realizes Peeta's injured. Caesar and Claudius have been having a field day discussing the incident between Cato, Katniss, and Peeta. The star-crossed lovers putting themselves in danger to help the other and a lot of other cliches that must be opening the floodgates in the Capitol.
Katniss is the first to surface from the state. She's in a ditch, lying in the fetal position. When the venom finally relinquishes its grip on her, she's rightly confused. It takes awhile for her to get her limbs working and even then, she's slow and foggy. Still, she manages a couple kills and she's just sitting down to cook them when the little girl appears. I think she's from Eleven and she can't be more than twelve.
I'm relieved when Katniss doesn't shoot her. Such a little thing shouldn't even be in the Games. But not only does Katniss spare her life, she offers to team up. I smile a little as I start to understand who she is. Peeta's seen this in her from the beginning. A protective, almost caring part of Katniss Everdeen that's begun to show. Like when she volunteered for her sister and now allying with this young tribute.
About the time that they go to sleep in the tree is the time I stop paying attention to her for the moment. Because, in one third of the screen, I see Peeta's woken up. His face is covered in a sheen of sweat so that it practically shines in the pale light from the moon. As he sits up, he gives out a little cry of pain. The cameras find his leg. You can't see it well because his pant leg is covering it, but there's enough blood soaking through the fabric to guess how serious it is.
A quick shot of the Career's camp show us that they're still out from the stings, but for how much longer? If his wound doesn't kill him first, certainly the first thing they'll do is hunt him down.
Peeta makes a move to stand, but it must be too painful because he sinks back to the ground. His face is fighting to remain calm. He wets his cracked lips and begins to inch towards the river, leaning down to gulp some down. He splashes some on his face.
"His hands are shaking," his brother notices. "They never shake."
Looking around, Peeta seems to decide it's safe to stay by the river for awhile because he curls up on the mud bank. There are enough weeds to conceal him when the sun rises and having a water source so close is very valuable. The mud must be warm because he coats his arms in it as the night goes on.
When the sun rises in the arena, Katniss and the Eleven tribute - Rue, the announcers call her - have already eaten breakfast. There's already been a death this morning. The boy from Ten was attacked by the Careers, who must have woken up through the night. The two girls set off into the woods now, discussing a plan to eliminate the Career's food storage.
Peeta's eyes are still closed, but he seems to be in some restless state between awake and asleep. When they finally do pop open, I can see him struggling to remember the previous days events. He crawls to the river's edges and sips some water. Food would be the next step, but he doesn't have any and looks too weak to go find some. He's been eating off the Career's pyramid, where they're storing all the spoils from the Cornucopia, and hasn't had to worry about finding food in the arena. Plus, in the daylight, I'm able to see just how pale he is. The sword wound has cost him a lot of blood.
So, with nothing to eat, he lays back down among the mud and weeds. His eyes stare off into the river, watching it's endless flow. When he dozes off again, my wife breaks the silence. She orders our oldest son to check on the loaves I put in the oven this morning and switch out with his brother. We've all been taking turns working the counter because no one wants to leave for fear that when they come back, Peeta will be dead.
As my youngest son sleeps fitfully, Katniss has finalized her plan with Rue. They've built a few big bonfires and now she's headed off in the direction of the Career's camp.
"Is he muttering her name?" my wife scoffs.
"Huh?" I turn my attention back to Peeta. He's still asleep, but yes, he's moaning something.
"Katniss. Katniss, no."
"More venom?" I ask.
"No, he's just sleeping, I think. He's not thrashing or anything."
I watch his face for awhile. Compared to the healthy, glowing boy we saw the night of the interviews, this Peeta looks pale and sickly.
The other side of the screen explodes and we both start. My son, who walks in just in time to catch it, lets out a little gasp.
"What the -"
Katniss Everdeen has blown up the Career's entire stockpile of food, weapons, and goods. And she's still alive. Well, for the moment. She seems to be having trouble crawling away. Blood trickles down the side of her face and I think it's coming from her ear. Just as she makes it to crop of bushes at the tree line when the furious Careers return. Cato seems particularly upset. His rage ends in the death of a boy tribute who was acting as their guard. I don't remember his district, maybe Three? Eight?
Katniss doesn't move from her bushes. Her little ally was forced to scale a tree after the redheaded girl from Five came too near. I don't think the third bonfire was ever lit. Her District partner, the big muscular boy, settles down for the night in the field across from the Cornucopia. And, still trapped on the bank of the river (probably the viewers are getting bored of seeing him there) is my son.
He wakes up as the anthem starts playing. He's been lying down almost the entire day, sometimes dozing off, sometimes staring out at nothing. His lethargy concerns me - he's had no food and minimal water. At one point he began muttering something under his breath that the cameras couldn't pick up. He might have been delirious.
As I fall asleep myself, I can't help thinking that that mud bank might be his final resting place. If he doesn't find the strength to find food in the very near future, Katniss Everdeen will be the only tribute left in the Games from District Twelve.