Stars | Cato Hadley

Chapter Sixteen

"Dammit!" The green-eyed girl from District One yelled in frustration. "I left my bow and arrow back there."

The group of teens stood on the water bank wringing out their clothes. Wren kept her head down but cautiously glanced from the water to Peeta Mellark. The blond boy had kept quiet throughout the whole situation and it made her wonder if he had actually gotten stung.

"Peeta, don't you want to get in the water? Clean off those stings?" Wren offered to try to confirm her suspicions. His brown eyes showed a sliver of fear.

"I got lucky," he said. "I managed to get away without any stings." Clove's hazel eyes glared at him. She had been wringing the water out of her hair for the past ten minutes.

"You were five feet from Mariah. How did you not get stung?" Then it hit Clove. The girl from Two was quick to accuse. "You knew what Katniss was going to do. You had a head start and didn't wake us up. You traitor!" She snapped and held a knife ready to throw.

Cato was fast to knock the boy down. Peeta scrambled to move backward but he was too late. Cato's sword was buried deep within his thigh narrowly missing the femoral artery. With a swift yank, Cato pulled his sword out and it was covered in blood. Peeta's eyes were screwed shut as he tried to ignore the pain. Wren looked away.

"Let's go." Cato's voice was low and filled with anger towards the boy from Twelve.

Wren grabbed her bag and whips and looked back at the boy bleeding on the ground. Peeta's brown eyes made contact with her hazel ones. He mouthed something Wren couldn't make out. She shook her head in disappointment before catching up with the others. Glimmer and Marvel were chatting up a storm about the situation and Clove jumped in every so often. Cato walked at the front and remained quiet.

...

Peeta Mellark laid on the ground holding his leg and kept his mouth shut. The boy didn't want to give the Careers the satisfaction of his pain. Once they were out of sight he waited a few more minutes before whispering in agony. He glanced down at his bleeding leg and nearly threw up. His eyes scanned his surroundings as he began pulling roots and mud over his body.

"Fuck," he mumbled as he moved his leg. He tore off a chunk of his shirt and wrapped it an inch above the cut. Peeta had overheard what Wren said to the girl from District Five that day in training. He just didn't know how helpful it would be.

Once Peeta secured the poorly made tourniquet he began using mud and moss to blend into the ground. If he was going to die he'd rather not be found by another tribute. He sighed as he laid his head down beside a few rocks. As he became parallel to the sky he blended right into the ground. Peeta couldn't help but let his mind wander.

He saved Katniss, which resulted in him nearly losing his own life. Did she possibly like him back? Did he really even like Katniss that much?

The boy let out a small, weak cry as pain flared up his leg. Tears escaped quickly but he bit his lip to prevent any more sounds from surfacing. Peeta tasted a metallic sensation when he released his bottom lip from his teeth. More tears escaped when the boy thought of the face the girl from Ten made. She was completely disappointed in him. His lips formed a frown before he mumbled to himself the exact words he mouthed to Wren.

"I'm sorry; I had to."

The boy looked up at the sky briefly before closing his eyes. If he were to die then and there he'd rather his family watch him go as if he were sleeping. Peeta's eyes shut softly before he let out a long exhale.

"Haymitch. For once, please stop drinking. Send me something- anything." He whispered, "Please." Before he succumbed to sleep.

...