Welcome to the Twenty Sixth chapter of the Untold Hunger Games.
Warning: this chapter has some slightly graphic imagary.
You have been warned, now onto Chapter Twenty Six of the Untold Hunger Games.
I sighed as I finished explaining what had happened while he had been passed out. His face showed barely any emotion as he listened to my entire retelling of what happened during the Feast. He moved closer to me and ran a hand over the torn sleeve of my jacket, "I don't know if I should be angry or relieved right now." He said, relieving to me that he was clenching his teeth, "You shouldn't have gone to the Feast by yourself and I'm pissed you went alone," He looked at me with tears filling his eyes, "But I'm relieved Thresh was there to fight by your side and keep you safe until you got back to me." He whispered, his finger gently stroking my injured arm over the torn fabric, "Promise me you'll never be that reckless again." He muttered, his eyes returning to my numbed arm.
"I'll try." I said, as honestly as I could. I took his hand and brought it to my lips, "I'll be careful for this day onward." I added, leaning in to kiss his cheek.
He looked satisfied with my answer and looked around, "We should probably move from this place now that my fever's broken." As per usual, he was right. Staying in this location with Cato around thirsting for blood was a recipe for disaster.
I shimmied my way out of the hollow and waited for Peeta to join me. I knew despite his look of satisfaction he was still upset with me for what I had done. I waited for him for a few minutes before I realized he wasn't leaving the hollow, "Peeta? Aren't you coming? You were the one who suggested we should leave."
I looked inside to see Peeta running his hands over his injured leg, which was worrying but not all that much. I would do that myself when I injured a part of my body, "You alright?" I asked.
He looked up from his leg, his eyes filled with fear and panic, "Does the medicine you gave me make it impossible to feel the inflicted limb?"
"What?!" My eyes went wide, "No, my injuries feel numb but I can still feel them."
He stretched out his leg, which made my own panic subside a little, he could still move his leg. But that didn't completely remove my anxiety, I knew from watching my mother heal patients that just because the leg moves doesn't mean a person is fine. I went back in and pinched his leg, "Did you feel that?" I asked, looking at him with nervousness in my eyes.
Peeta shook his leg, "I didn't feel anything." He admitted, his eyes had a look of deep dread in them, "If I can't feel my leg, how am I going to run or climb? Hell, how am I going to walk?" He asked, saying the question I had thought aloud.
I started pacing looking up to see the night was slipping away faster then before, the Gamemakers obviously wanted things to end soon, very soon. Every thought raced in my head as I ran over different solutions, but not a one of them would fix the situation we were in. The only thing that might help was giving Peeta a clutch or walking stick and praying to whoever was listening that he would eventually get feeling back in his leg, and soon.
I looked around from his spear and grabbed it. As Peeta watched without a word, I pulled out the spearhead, stuffed it into the bag and handed the shaft to Peeta, "We'll need to use this as a temporary walking stick until we can figure a more permanent solution."
Peeta seemed to think about my solution for a few seconds before he dragged himself out of the hollow and took the stick from me, "It's a start." He said with a forced smile, before getting up on one leg. He struggled for a bit to find a rhythm to walking with the stick but eventually he found his footing. He was slow at first but his walking gradually improved until he no longer needed me to help him move. I grabbed our supplies and turned to him, "The only permanent solution to fixing your leg would be ending this now. Once and for all." The finality in my voice was firm and foreign but it felt necessary considering what was happening to us at this moment.
Peeta nodded, though he looked desolate, "I agree, after all there's just you, me, Thresh, Finch and Cato left right?" He asked, obviously making sure his memory was still sharp.
"Yeah. Honestly I really don't want to fight Finch or Thresh. Cato, on the other hand, I'd gladly shoot him with an arrow or two." I admitted as we walked at a steady pace away from the hollow.
"I actually had an idea for dealing with Clove." Peeta admitted softly, a disheartened look on his face. I looked at him with a confused expression before he leaned in and whispered his plan.
My eyes widened, "You want to do what?! Peeta?! That's horrible?!" I couldn't believe he'd even suggest such a harsh plan.
He nodded, "I know but we don't have a choice, Katniss. She wouldn't feel that much pain if we do this right?" He asked, obviously trying to justify his idea with me, as if my agreement would soften the blow to his conscience.
The plan was, admittedly, an effective one. Fox was smart, sure, but she was also someone who followed the example of others. If she saw us doing something we pretended to be safe, she would do the same. Peeta's plan had some faults and was a horrible idea, but it was the only reasonable plan to deal with Fox without her suffering too much, "Alright, we'll do it." I agreed and changed direction to where I knew we needed to go.
It took some time, seeing as Peeta was moving at a slower pace than we were both used to, but we eventually made it to a bush of ripe, deadly Nightshade berries, "They just have to be ripe don't they." I muttered as I pulled out an empty container from my bag and began to fill it with the poisonous berry.
"Yup, the Gamemakers would have it no other way." Peeta remarked as he helped me pick the berries. To make the ruse more convincing for Fox we decided to also leave some of our safer food lying out. We placed the container of Nightshade berries mixed with normal blueberries and roots on a stump while Peeta and I went to fill our canteens with fresh water.
As we waited I whispered to Peeta, "Shouldn't be long, Finch has been following us for a half hour, she's obviously hungry and knows we can find safe food faster than Thresh or-" the cannon suddenly went off. Peeta and I both quickly ran to where we had left our food. I was almost praying that the cannon was for Cato, or even Thresh, but that idea was wiped from my thoughts as Peeta and I found the body of Fox on the ground with the container we had left almost completely empty.
Peeta hobbled over to Fox and leaned down, brushing his hand across her opened eyes to close them, "I'm sorry Finch, you deserved better." He whispered, then he marked her right shoulder with blood from his injured leg, "Rest in peace, Finch." he said sombrely as he rose to his feet.
I placed a hand on his shoulder, "You alright?" I asked, knowing this was hard for him. Finch wasn't Career like the tributes I had killed, she was a normal tribute just trying to survive until the end.
Peeta nodded as he turned away from Finch's corpse, "Yeah, we should go, the hovercraft will be here to pick her up soon." He reminded me, moving slowly away from the scene of Finch's demise.
We didn't talk as we walked through the thick forest, not stopping even when we heard the engine of hovercraft that came to pick up poor Finch. We were both sombre at the action we had just taken, but we both knew it had to be done for us to escape this alive.
We started walking for what felt like hours, we had no way of knowing just how long we had been going. The Gamemakers had stopped the sun for setting even the tribute to Finch had happened only a few minutes after her body had been recovered. Time seemed to be immeasurable now. Which is exactly what the Gamemakers wanted. They liked to stop time at the final strength of the Games. The final Three, or in this case Four, as we put it. These were the last moments of the Games and the Gamemakers preferred the arena to be in complete daylight to ensure everyone could see the final carnage that would eventually take place.
POV Thresh
Thresh hadn't been surprised to see the District 5 girl's face up in the bright sky. He had assumed she had starved or maybe eaten something poisonous. He wasn't too sure. He did know that he was one of the last four remaining in the arena. He had no quorums against Katniss or Peeta, in fact he was willing to admit that he liked them. If only because of their kindness to sweet, little Rue. Cato on the other hand, he was someone Thresh wouldn't hesitate to bash in with a rock or his fists. He was following the brutal guy's trail after finding Trevor's bloodied body in his path. It had been obvious Cato took a sick pleasure in killing the younger tribute. That was obvious by the condition Thresh had found Trevor's body in. It was no surprise to Thresh that he had also found Trevor's right shoulder marked with the Sunrise Symbol.
The Careers are nothing if not consistent. He had thought to himself after picking Trevor's corpse clean of any supplies he had had on him. He then climbed the closest tree and returned to following Cato's trail. Without the night to hide his approach Thresh was careful to not let Cato see him slow moving closer, jumping from tree to tree. He knew from watching him during the Training Days, that Cato relied more on instinct and trusting his senses than what his head told him. With that in mind Thresh's first attack wasn't an actual attack, instead it was a fake out meant to draw Cato's attention away from where Thresh actually was.
To do this Thresh took a small rock he had hidden in his jacket and tossed it just past Cato's head when Cato responded to attack Thresh ran over a log that had been wedged between two trees. Cato barely had enough time to block Thresh's first attack until his sword had partly slashed his side.
With a groan of pain and anger at being ambushed Cato glared at Thresh who stood catlike in front of him, "You!" Cato growled. Obviously he had known that Thresh was the one who had killed Clove, destroying their chance at being the first Distinct Two tributes to win the Games together.
Thresh wasn't one for small talk during a fight. He ran at Cato, sword slashing and jumped into the trees to hide for Cato's sight. The slash hadn't caused as much damage as Thresh would have liked and Cato's returning attack had left a gash on his shoulder.
"I will enjoy marking you with my blood!" Cato taunted, obviously he enjoyed toying with his foe, then again Thresh believed Cato considered more a prey than a foe.
Thresh waited patiently, watching as Cato looked this way and that, his guard on high alert. It was only a few moments later when his guard started to low that Thresh appeared out of the thickness of the trees, slashing at Cato's back with the brute strength he had devolved from carrying heavy baskets of fruits in his home District. The blow had been enough to knock Cato onto his feet.
Cato roared in anger, he didn't like all this slashing and hiding, "Come out and face me you killer!" He taunted, hoping to get a rouse out of Thresh. Unfortunately for Cato, Thresh wasn't one to lose his nerve under most situations and remained quiet as he waited for the opportune moment to strike.
That moment came in the strangest of ways, through a taunt from Cato. As Thresh had continued to slash and hide, tripping Cato every so often, Thresh had been leading Cato to a cliff edge that he knew about but Cato didn't. Cato's final and fatal mistake was his last taunt, he had been standing right near the cliff's edge unaware of its location and spoke the fatal words, "I wish I had been the one to kill that little brat myself. It would have been so easy!"
It was after those words that Thresh appeared and shoved Cato with all his might, not saying a word as Cato slipped off the hidden edge and fell down into the ravine below. Breaking his neck as the cannon fired.
POV Seneca Crane
The Games were progressing quite smoothly despite the rule change President Snow had implemented and the fact that a Capitol favourite had died so close to the end. Seneca was quite pleased by the show Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark were giving the viewers. Of course Seneca knew it wasn't fake, Jérémie had informed him of such in the strictest of confidences and Seneca also made a point to never break the trust of those he considered to be his allies.
Seneca watched as Thresh Gunthorn climbed down to find Cato Hadley's body, he made sure the camera picked up every detail of Thresh collecting Cato Hadley's supplies and even placing that odd mark on the young man's shoulder.
"Shall I send for the hovercraft to recover Hadley's body sir?" one of the minor Gamemakers asked him as she watched the screen with him.
Seneca thought for a bit and then nodded, "Yes, I think Gunthorn has had enough time to get what he needs." After she had sent the hovercraft off Seneca walked around the large table that showed a holographic version of the arena. Gamemakers of every skill sat at different corners of the table. Some like the young women were in charge of body recovery and gift distribution, while others worked on communications, filming and auto, terrain maintenance, announcements, and so on. The station Seneca stopped was one of his personal favourites. Muttution Control.
Underneath the arena was a variety of Muttutions specifically created for this particular arena. They had four different breeds on stand by. All to be unleashed at his or President Snow's pleasure. He liked this station because he got to see the interesting Muttutions the Gamemaker Scientists had cooked up this year.
He stood behind the head Gamemaker Scientist, a young man with electric blue hair and a mechanical eye, "I think it's time to unleash one of your creations, Domitian."
Domitian smirked and pulled up a screen of six different Muttutions, all more dangerous and bloodthirsty than the next, "We've enjoyed making these ones this year. All are perfect for hunting in forests and we have given some very special additions for this particular group," He explained pulling up two different Muttutions onto the screen, "This one is a personal favourite," He pulled up a Muttution that looked like a cross between a vulture, a wolf and a shark. It had the head and neck of a vulture, a feathery mane, the body of a wolf with talon-like paws and a furred tail that resembled a shark's tail, "I call them Screechers. They use a concussive scream to knock out their prey and then they devour them."
Seneca shuttered at the image in his head, prompting a laugh from Domitian, "Yes quite the nasty little Muttution. They also have venom coated talons in case the scream doesn't work." He explained then changed the screen to an odd dog-like Muttution.
"What's this then?" Seneca asked with a mild interest.
"You like? There are 26 of them in total. All made from DNA we extracted from each tribute. They're strong, fast and brutal killers. One of my team thought it would be clever to make their appearance more human-like, particularly the eyes. It'll really freak out the last three tributes, wouldn't you say?" Domitian asked with a pleased smiled on his face, his eye twirling as he spoke animatedly.
Seneca nodded at the remark, "Yes, yes I would. I think they both will do nicely. Send out the ones with DNA of the living tributes' kills and the District Eleven female tribute as well as two of the Screechers. I want a good finale for this year's Games." Domitian nodded with a vicious smile and contacted his team in the Muttution Lab under the arena.