𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐒 | ᴄ. ʜᴀᴅʟᴇʏ

See You Soon

This is an area where it is all but too easy to get distracted. However, I can no longer ignore the burning dryness in my throat. Cato and I have nearly finished the canteen of water, and have been luckily sponsored a small bottle of iodine, but we can't seem to find water sources. We've been looking for hours without luck, and so we trek as quickly as we can towards the lake. 

My tongue feels rough like sand paper, and my vision blurs with every step we take. 

"That's it," I say. "If we're going to get to the lake, we've got to finish our water supply."

"Are you sure?" Cato asks warily. If we finish it we'll really have to get to a water source, because otherwise we'll die. 

"Yes, we're not going to get anywhere if we collapse before we can." 

He nods, and I swing my backpack off of my shoulder. I dig past the container in which our last sponsor package came in carefully, treating it gently. Cato and I have opted to try and kill Thresh before he can kill us, but we're not interest in a bloody Cornucopia showdown. Inside the container we've crushed up night lock berries in efforts to make it look like some sort of medication. If he eats it he dies, no bloodshed required. 

I grab the bottle of water, and unscrew the lid quickly. Roughly a quarter of it is left, and I take a gulp before passing the rest to Cato. 

At once shapes become sharper and the pounding between my eyes relents. I sigh in pleasure, closing my eyes for a few moments. 

"Let's keep moving then," Cato says, and we're off without another thought. 

I can't begin to describe the feeling of relief when the scent of water and damp sand hit my nose, and I stumble through the last swath of bushes.

I half walk half crawl to the edge of the lake, splashing water on my face and relishing in the beads of it that drip off of me. The smell, the touch, the sight, the sound of it sends joy and frisson shooting through my body. 

"Come here," I shout to Cato, who is dragging his feet across the sand in my direction. He falls to his knees beside me, and I slap his hand when he goes to drink it.

"Gotta purify it first, remember?" I remind him.  He frowns, but agrees. I fill up the canteen and recall the required number of iodine drops to purify it. We wait for a solid half hour before risking drinking it. Cato lets me go first, and my headache fully stops. I grin, and pass him the rest. He downs the remaining half without thinking twice.

For a while we sit in the sand, battered and covered in all sorts of forest filth. While Cato begins to roll up his pant legs to wash the dirt off of his skin, I purify another bottle of water. For a blissful few minutes we sit and take turns sipping from the container, and even indulge in a few of our precious rolls. 

I wish this could have lasted longer, I really do, but as my eyes scan the lake shore I spot another figure bent down beside it. Thresh crouches at lake's edge favouring his right leg, about fifty yards away from us. 

Slowly he rises and begins to limp towards us, quickly at first but he is clearly in pain. I carefully stretch out a hand and wrap it around the handle of my axe. Cato is already grasping his sword tightly, knuckles whitening as he clutches the grip of it. 

As Thresh gets nearer I get a better look at the angry red flesh of his torn leg, ripped open in a vicious mark. I guess I got him better than I realized. He has cut off the bottom of his pant leg, and the chilly wind has brought goosebumps to his skin.

The District 11 tribute wears a scowl on his face, and Cato and I stand up. We must always be prepared to go down in a fight. 

"Are you going to leave?" Thresh asks me harshly, clutching a spear in his right hand. "This will be my final offer, you may kill us both now, or I will kill you both."

He has only been speaking for mere moments, but Cato's face is beet red with rage. Evidently without giving a lot of thought to consequences of his actions, Cato shoves Thresh's shoulder harshly and the District 11's visage darkens. Quick as a whip the two are in a full on brawl and Thresh's spear is knocked away.

Cato swings his fist, but Thresh ducks and sweeps his feet out from under him. Cato's back hits the sand with an audible thud. As the larger tribute moves to collect his spear to finish Cato off, the blond kicks Thresh in the back the the knee and sends him face planting into the shore. 

Next things I know, they're locked in combat in one of the shallower parts of the bank and trying to keep afloat. Cato is currently dunking our adversaries's head about half a foot under water, and trying to possibly knock him out. 

I grit my teeth and dart in the water carrying Thresh's spear, set on completing what I wish to be the last kill of my life. Water soaks into my shoes and socks the moment I set foot in the lake and I feel my feet squelch against the soles of my boots. 

Thresh is throwing his last efforts into pushing on Cato's chest, while the District two is submerging the other boy's head under water by holding down his shoulders. When Thresh sees me his eyes glow, an idea lighting them up. 

There is no time for me to move before he plunges his hand into the water beside him, and tears a rock out of the soaking expanse of lake.

And there is certainly no time to scream before the sharp tip of said rock is thrust clean through my stomach.

The air stops pumping to my lungs, and the last breath I have chokes me. I fall on my back into the water.

I'm under now, and I can see blood mixing with water. I cannot think it to be mine, or Thresh's, or Cato's. It is hard to think through panic and pain. My arms flap weakly, trying to free my body from the binding chains of doom. And now there is all together more blood in the water, and I am aware that it cannot all be mine. Someone else is going to die. Someone else is already dead.

More panic now, because if I am to die Cato mustn't. But then I know it isn't him because there's an arm under my back and another underneath my legs, and I'm out of the water. I cough but it hurts, and they keep coming anyway. I can sense water leave my mouth, and my head lolls around uncomfortably. Thresh is dead.

I zero in on the sky. Blue is a pretty colour, I like blue. That's right, just look at the colour. Now I'm lying on sand and Cato's face is blocking out the sky. His eyes are blue. Blue is a pretty colour. Focus on blue. 

"Cato," I force out, painfully aware of how strained I sound. "I'm glad you won."

He shakes his head vigorously, and the flurry of movement dazes me. He cradles my head in his lap, and my eyes flicker about his face. 

"No, you're not saying goodbye yet." His voice cracks, and tears are threateningly close to spilling. I start to chuckle, but I stop because it hurts even more than coughing. 

"I'm not saying goodbye," I reply. "I'm saying I'll see you soon." 

"No!" The word tears out of his throat in a broken sob. 

"Before I go," I start carefully. "I need to know. Was whatever this was real?"

He looks surprised for a moment, but then for a fraction of a second his lips are on mine. When he's pulled back his voice is quiet as the wind. "Yes."

He's crying now and I want only to stay with him, but I can already hear my father singing, and see Rue wandering about, and smell Peeta's bread, and then all at once my vision tunnels and ends. See you soon.