No Hope Left-A Mockingjay Story

Chapter 7

Hadrius drags me out of the cell, one hand dragging me by my hair and the other pulling my left shoulder. I fight back and kick Hadrius' kneecap. The guard howls and punches me in the face. The commotion brings two more guards running. They seize me and drag me through the doors. I cease to struggle and the guards let me walk by myself.

"That's a lesson for ya to never struggle," Hadrius spits. Another one laughs.

"I think it taught you not to treat prisoners roughly," he comments. Instead of heading to the elevator, the guards steer me to the left. We enter a brightly lit room full of medical equipement.

"Hadrius, Marus, you can go," the guard that had spoken before says."I'll go talk to Dr.Cornelius."

Hadrius and Marus walk out while the guard walks over to a man in a lab coat holding a syringe. They exchange a few words that are too quiet for me to hear. The guard shakes his head and the doctor shushes him. Before the conversation continues, the door opens and President Snow walks in.

"Oh, Peeta. How nice to see you," the President says. I just glare at him.

"Doctor?," the President continues. "Is it ready?"

"Well, sir, I was just telling Vince that I have just finished my final preparations and the venom is ready."

The word "venom" rings alarm bells. Will they torture me with venom?

"Excellent," Snow says. "Let's begin."

The guard named Vince grabs me by the shoulders and guides me to a chair in the middle of the room. He straps me onto the chair, and I become increasingly nervous. What is going on? Snow notices my expression and smiles.

"Now, now, Peeta. Stay calm," he chides. His words mean nothing to me. I kick at the bonds with growing desperation.

"Stop," I hear Vince whisper behind me. "Trust me."

I freeze. What does that mean? Is this just a trick? Before I can react,I see Dr.Cornelius come up to me with the syringe and insert it into my arm. My mind fills with pain. I recognize this feeling from my first Games. It is Tracker Jacker Venom, used to make people hallucinate. My vision becomes blurry, and it get's darker and darker until I see nothing.

I am in my first Hunger Games. It is nighttime as I watch Katniss sleep. I have to stay awake and make sure that she is alright. I glance around at the sleeping Careers. I feel bad for Thomas,the boy from District Three. He joined the Careers because he did not want to die. He was just another piece in the Games. Soon the sun rose and one by one,the Careers got up.

"Tough night?," Thomas asks quietly. I shrug in response. Katniss is already up and watching us. Cato eyes her evilly, fingering his sword at the same time. Glimmer is toying with Katniss' arrows and looking bored. She has a crush on Cato, I can tell.

"Cato,we should move on," Marvel says. He seems a little fed up with waiting.

"We have all day," Cato responds.

"But there are so many more tributes!" Marvel argues.

"None of them are as pretty as this one," Cato jokes, looking at me. I pretend not to notice and sharpen my spear that Marvel gave me.

"Fine, fine," Marvel sighs, throwing his hands up in the air. It happens so suddenly. A nest of Tracker Jackers falls on the ground, and the Jackers swarm out of their hive, angry. Glimmer screams as one stings her.

"Run!" Marvel yells. Without thinking, I sprint to the pond of water nearby. I feel a Jacker sting my arm and my ear. I jump into the pond and swim deeper in. Thomas, surprisingly, is right behind me, struggling with his lame leg. Clove dives in and submerges under water. Suddenly, a thought hits me.

Katniss!

I start swimming back towards the camp. I hear Cato calling out my name. I wad out of the pond and sprint towards the camp. I see Katniss slinging the arrows over her shoulder. What is she doing!? She should be running!

"Katniss!" I cry. She spins around, nocks an arrow and points it at me. She seems...shiny.

"What are you doing here?Go!" I urge her. Instead, she looses an arrow. I feel it tear through my skin on my left arm. I look at her shiny image, confused.

"Peeta!" Cato yells. I spin around to see him running towards us. Katniss runs off into the forest just before Cato's sword makes contact with my leg...

I sit up in the chair, panicking. What did I just see? Was it a dream? It seemed so real...Katniss tried to kill me. It makes no sense, because then she tries to help me after I got hurt. I see Snow and Cornelius watching me intently.

"How do you feel, Peeta?" Snow asks.I shake my head, not wanting to answer the question. Dr.Cornelius steps forwards with a clipboard.

"Peeta, I'm going to asks you some questions,and you will tell me if they are true or false."

I don't answer him,and he takes my silence as an answer.

"Your name is Peeta Mellark."

"True," I say, surprised at the hoarsenes of my voice.

"You are seventeen years old."

"True."

"You are from District Twelve."

"True."

"You are in love with Katniss Everdeen."

"True," I say, satisfied with Snow's grimace.

"The Capitol knows what is right."

"False."

Snow is about to say something when Cornelius continues.

"Katniss Everdeen tried to kill you in your first Games."

"...False," I conclude. Despite the realness of the dream, there was something not right about it. Maybe it was Katniss' shiny image.

Snow shook his head in dissapointment.

"That's enough for today," Cornelius says. Vince unstraps me from the seat and leads me out of the room. In the hallway, we meet Hadrius, who grabs me roughly and drags me away from Vince.

"I can walk, you know," I say. Hadrius hits me in the stomach and drags me along. He shoves me through the doors and and pushes me into my cell, closing the door with a loud CLANG! I gasp at the pain in my stomach. It is coated with bruises,no doubt.

"What happened to you?" Brett asks. I look at him to see that he has a black eye and a deep cut along his forearm. Neil has a busted lip and a jagged line on his shin, and his pant leg is shredded from it. Darius looks even worse,with multiple bruises and bleeding wounds.

"The better question would be what happend to you," I reply. Brett shrugs.

"We were interrogated," he explains. "They were very demanding."

I look at Johanna and notice that she is very angry.

"Um...are you okay?" I venture. That is when I see that next to Johanna, the cell is no longer empty. Enobaria has joined our tortured little group.