Thirteen

When Katniss's head fell forward for the second time, she realized she was drifting off without meaning to. She couldn't afford to rest more than she was already doing, sitting against the tree, she couldn't even afford to close her eyes. She rubbed them hard and decided that, even if she were more exposed down there, she would at least stay focused and alert. She climbed down from the tree, holding onto the trunk and then jumped. Katniss waited after, just in case Cato was there to find her, though there was no sound at all around, not even a single bird flying away at the sound of her. She wasn't sure where she should head to. All she knew was that Thresh was dead, she had heard the cannon that afternoon, so it was just the two of them now. She could try to try to kill Cato from afar, if she were lucky enough, without having to actually fight, though it didn't seem probable. That boy meant nothing but trouble.

Katniss headed towards the Cornucopia, slowly, her bow always ready. Cato was most likely taking refuge there. It was best to catch him off guard, but what if he somehow managed to defend himself? What if he had more bombs or his sponsors had sent him some gift that would be useful to kill her? Her assumptions ceased to matter when a roar broke the deep silence. Katniss stood where she was, feeling a chill run down her spine. It didn't sound like any animal she could recognize, but she wasn't going to stick around to find out if she was right or not. She started to run immediately, though after a few minutes when the roars just kept getting louder, another figure came out of the trees. Katniss froze and got ready to shoot. It was Cato, running as if someone, or something, was going to catching. It was her chance. She thought nothing of it as she drew the arrow and fired, but her stomach dropped as she saw that even though she hit his chest squarely, the arrow bounced off like it was nothing.

Katniss didn't have any time to get angry, as Cato kept running in front of her and if she didn't stop him, they would end up hitting each other. The crash never happened because the creature chasing him jumped out onto the plain next to the Cornucopia. Katniss broke into a run again, Cato ahead of her. He was wearing some kind of armor that protected him, repelling her arrows, and now, on top of that, a herd of strange beings was chasing her too. She only looked back once, that was enough to see the horrible creatures that surely the Capitol had invented to torment them specifically.

They were some kind of huge wolves, mixed with some other animal, and eyes so strange they almost glowed. Katniss didn't turn around again, nor did she think about shooting Cato, she just wanted to stay alive a bit longer, but there was nowhere to take cover on the plain and the beasts would stop for nothing. As she tried to keep breathing, she thought she wouldn't last much longer. She had already been burned, attacked, stung and terrorized with the deaths of her friends. Either she died or she lived, but she wanted it to end now.

One of the beings quickened its pace so fast that Katniss felt their wild breaths almost on the back of her neck, so close that the animal bit the bottom of her pants. Luckily, the boots were too thick and Katniss picked up her pace as well to avoid the bite. She was afraid of losing the bow in her run, but the fear of dying was greater. Perhaps that was what helped her get to the Cornucopia. Just seconds before, Cato had started climbing it and was almost at the top. Her throat closed with fear as she climbed. It would be better to face him than those beasts she didn't want to look at.

She didn't even have time to get to her feet on the roof of the Cornucopia when Cato lunged at her. She had one advantage, her weapon, for Cato was empty-handed. Even so, he was much stronger. With a single push he left her on the ground and they both rolled several times later until he managed to get on top of her. His body crushed her, and he did even more when he wrapped his hands around her neck. The only thing she could think of then was that if he continued like this he would easily suffocate her. She had already been through too much to lose now, like this, so agonizingly. She couldn't save her sister and then never come home. In a last burst of strength, Katniss managed to free one of her legs to hit him and lift his foot, hard enough for him to let go for a moment. She then pushed him forward. The first time she just tossed him aside, though when she caught her breath, she saw one of the mutts coming dangerously close to the edge where they stood. Katniss saw her opportunity arise. She rose, gasping for air, and pushed Cato, who was already up, over the edge.

Shaking with fear and due to how weak Cato had left her, almost breathless, Katniss leaned out to look across the meadow. The mutts kept scratching at the surface of the Cornucopia, though some of them were taking their toll on the boy. His piercing screams made her cover her ears. Katniss sat down on the surface, closing her eyes and covering her head, trying to suppress the noise, but it was impossible. When she came out of the shock she realized she only had two arrows left. The mutts would kill Cato, but she could end such a horrible death right now. The first arrow hit one of the beasts. The second hit his head. When the cannon blared it was as if time stood still, Katniss slumped against the metal, her braid all but undone and her pulse soaring. She couldn't even breathe, she just closed her eyes and heard the voice announce loudly:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the winner of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games: Katniss Everdeen!"

By the time the hovercraft picked her up, Katniss had already passed out. When she woke up, she didn't know how long after, the ceiling glowed with a soft bluish light. She had a pair of tubes attached to her arms and even though she was wearing nothing but a nightgown she wasn't cold at all. She felt clean, and even smelled good for the first time in weeks. Raising her head, she noticed she was in a half-empty room, on top of a stretcher.

"Calm down," she suddenly heard.

The voice made her sit up, though she calmed down when she saw that it was just Haymitch.

"I know you're in shock. You don't need to say anything."

Katniss sat up and watched the smile her mentor was beginning to crack. Had she really won? Was she really coming home? Tears threatened to cloud her eyes, as she ripped the tubes from her arms.

"I told you, sweetheart. You are a survivor and survivors always find the way to win."

Though he only held her shoulder affectionately, Katniss leaned in and gave her something similar to a hug.

"Thanks for the water," she murmured, feeling her voice still fail her. "And everything else… the bow…"

Haymitch nodded silently, as if he knew full well she didn't just have him to thank.

"Do you want to get up?"

Katniss took his arm and carefully stood up. As she walked she felt stronger, even though they immediately stopped in front of a mirror. When she looked at herself she was impressed with how changed she looked despite having been in the Arena for she didn't know how long.

"How many days was I there?" she asked Haymitch.

"Almost twenty."

Twenty. Twenty days that had seemed to last for a lifetime. Having Haymitch in front of her again made her think nothing had happened, but it certainly had. 23 boys had died, 2 she had killed herself, and as many people who could have been her friends would never grow old. Only her. She swallowed and continued to observe her current condition. Her leg wound had been properly healed, she hardly had any noticeable marks around her neck or any bites, not even bruises. However, when she put her hand to her ear she noticed there was something inside it.

"What's this?"

It was a small device, tiny, but inside her ear all the same.

"A hearing aid," Haymitch explained. "It seems you lost your hearing in the explosion. They couldn't reconstructed your ear anymore, it was too long ago, sorry."

Well, that was better than being without it. At the moment, she didn't even notice she was hearing better than before. She had a bit of a headache, but otherwise she was almost perfect, at least physically. As for what she felt… that was another story. She should be glad to be home, and she was, but she had this horrible feeling her life would never be the same, whether she wanted it to or not. What was she going to do now? Become a mentor and travel back to the Capitol with Haymitch every year? Would she endure what she had done to win? Would they see her in the same way at District 12? After all, she was the only one coming back.

"Haymitch… Alder, how did it happen?,"she asked, turning around. "I didn't even see him inside."

Her mentor sat down a few meters next to her and took a deep breath.

"He ran as I told him and found the river quite soon. He hid for a few days, he didn't do as bad as I thought," he admitted. "When he heard the professionals arrive that day…he got nervous, tried to escape and was unable to. Cato threw a knife at him as soon as he saw him and although he tried to get up and run... he fell into the river."

"Where was he stabbed?"

Haymitch made a face, as if he thought that was enough detail for her to hear. The damage was already done, so Katniss didn't care, she just wanted to know.

"In the stomach," he finally answered.

"So he drowned?"

That was worse, she imagined the anguish he would have gone through not being able to defend himself, not being able to do anything while he sank and continued hurting. His mentor seemed to give up.

"No, he didn't drown. He was already dead shortly after falling into the water. And you, how the hell can you swim?"

Katniss gave a little shrug, then reconsidered. If she asked him, it was because no one was listening.

"There's a lake in the woods," she murmured, just in case.

"At least you hid it well."

Katniss sat back on the stretcher and gave a tiny smile. She felt proud. She had listened to Haymitch, more or less, and this was a result of his job too. Meanwhile, Prim was still safe. That was all that mattered.

"And now what? What do we do?"

"Tomorrow is the party in your honor. Get ready to be the nicest girl on the planet. Then we'll all go home."

Not all of them, Katniss thought, but she would do everything possible so that the memory of those they had lost never died like they had.