Together Or Not At All

How She Left

The next morning we go in search of food, we find lots of animals but scare them off and are unable to catch any. On the way we find lots of berry bushes and pick some that we are completely sure we know what they are but keep we'll clear of the ones we don't recognise. We collect water from the river as well before cooling off in the river.

Then there is an announcement, "the final six tributes all need something desperately so we have a feast at the cornucopia. It will be there by dawn, don't be late"

Both me and Cato look at each other, he has a big grin on his face and I know what he is thinking. We will win. We are well stocked in food, water, weapons and warmth so the only thing that could be at the feast for us would be armour. Protective clothing, so no one can kill us. We will be unbeatable. I smile at him, I can't help it. We will go home, back to my parents, back to my home however ruined. Back to my childhood. Back to comfort. Where I don't have to look behind me ever five seconds. Back to peace however small. We both climb out of the cool water and start to pack up our supplies. When we have we head to the trees around the edge of the clearing, the cornucopia standing lone in the middle of it. We pick a tall tree, well hidden with leaves and branches and get our sleeping bags out of our backpacks and i strap in, Cato however does not.

"Cato are you going to sleep?"

"No Clove, I'll take first watch... after all you watched last night"

I know that he has other reasons Katniss being one of them so I try to make him sleep, "Cato, no one will come by and if they do they won't be able to spot us. We are too high up and hidden"

"He gives a small shrug and says, "Yes but what if they do see us, what if they try to kill us and we are not prepared and i cant protect you. What if the person is Katniss?"

There he has caught me,not that we will get found and then killed, I'm surprised that we didn't last night because... after all, i fell asleep not half an hour after Cato. But that it could be Katniss who brings us to our demise. She doesn't know what i want to do with her. She doesn't trust me. I lay down in defeat and close my eyes. I hear Cato shuffle around in the tree as I collapse into unconsciousness.

"Clove, Clove wake up," its Cato and he is whispering in my ear shaking me a little bit.

My mind is groggy and doesn't process where i am, why is Cato in my room? Then I remember. Im not at home, this is the hunger games. I open my eyes to the harsh reality and its dark, i can hardly see and i wonder if I'm still dreaming but as my eyes adjust i can half make out Cato, he is handing me a pair of glasses and as i put them on my vision is suddenly bright. Night vision goggles.

"Thanks," i say my voice rasping a bit, "what time is it?"

"Almost dawn i'd say, should we get down and go see if the bags are at the cornucopia?"

"Yeah"

So we get out of our sleeping bags, undoing our belts before putting the sleeping bags in our backpacks, eating an apple each and climbing down the tree, weapons at the ready but we don't need them. There is no one around. We're make out way to a better vantage point, just a couple of feet away from our tree we can clearly see the cornucopia. There is nothing. No movement, no bags. Then the bottom of the cornucopia opens and out comes a table. There are 4 bags, each marked with a number. Our numbers. There is 12, 11, 5 and 2. Katniss, the boy from 11 the girl from 5 and us.

As quickly as the bags came out a red head comes out from behind the cornucopia, snatching the bag marked with 5 and sprints off into the woods.

"Dam." Cato says before turning to me and placing a hand on my shoulder, "I'm going to go see if anyone is hiding in the woods are you good to guard the stuff here?"

"Yeah of course, meet back here." I reply

"Yes. One more thing, if you find Katniss, give the audience a good show alright"

I nod and Cato drops his backpack from his shoulders before giving me a kiss on the cheek and running of into the woods. I hope that it won't come to that. Katniss can't die and she most certainly won't die at my hands. I turn around to the cornucopia and see the object of my nightmares. Katniss, she is sprinting to the cornucopia a little way down from me. I chase her, sending a knife past her ear, i hope i didn't knick it. She turns around, bow raised and shoots straight at my heart, i try to move out of the way but the arrow in beds itself into my forearm. I scream in pain and Katniss continues running to the bags. I pull out the arrow and drop it to the ground still sprinting after Katniss. I throw another arrow but in my hoist i forget that its Katniss I'm shooting at and she turns around just as it passes her, a long deep gash opens on her forehead and it starts bleeding, she stumbles and with a hole in my heart i get her to the ground. She gets our from under me and tries to run but I grab her and pin her to the ground.

"Where's lover boy" i tease, breaking my heart more, "guess he doesn't know your here"

Then she screams, "PEETAAAAAAAA, PEETAAAAAAA"

I jam my fist into her mouth a bit harder then i intended but it shuts her up, "guess lover boys not coming." I drawl, "Cato told me i could give the audience a good show if i found you."

She squirms under me and begrudgingly i tighten my grip until she goes still. It kills me to hurt her like this and i hope that someone will come and kill me before i can kill Katniss since she will probably kill her if i don't explain myself. But i can't. The capitol would kill me.

"How quick will you go, your little friend didn't last long. What was her name? Rue was it, well she's dead now and so will you be very-"

I am pulled of Katniss and in less then a second i am dangling in the air my feet dangling half a foot from the ground.

"Did you kill Rue?" Its the district 11 boy and i don't answer. Its perfect, I can't kill Katniss now, "DID YOU KILL HER!"

Then i break, "CATO, CATO"

The boy raises a hand and i can see he has a rock, i try to duck but am to slow, he bashes my head in then drops me to the ground, my ears ringing and vision dancing i raise a hand to my head, feel the dent the rock made. Dropping my hand to the ground i know i will die. My end is nearing. Every second bringing me closer to my death. Even if my whole life has been just leading up to this moment now it feels real. Maybe ill ask everyone i will surly meet soon if they feel the same as i do. Finally realising that they would die and then dying. I lay there and am sure i hear groaning although I'm not sure if thats me or if thats people talking. The buzzing is getting louder and my vision is getting more hazy. Then in a moment of clarity i realise. I cant start a rebelling with Katniss now. I can't get married to Cato. I can't say good bye. To any of my loved ones. As my body starts to shut down images flash past my eyes, Cato, Katniss, my parents, my brother, my friends. Then Cato is beside me or i think it's him. The only thing i can hear is buzzing and my vision is just a haze of clouds that are fading fast. I feel my limp hand being lifted and somethings soft and warm being placed on the top of my hand. Then the same softness is placed on my forehead. Cato's goodbye to me, his soft warm lips pressed into my dented skull before i am gone. Gone from the world. And not going back.

Please forgive me, you and Cato are the only people I fully trust in this god forsaken place we call home. Together or not at all right,

Clove