Peetas pov hunger games

Ch. 8

The fire is intense, so intense, so bright, so vast that we all just stare at it in awe for minutes. The first one to break out of this daze is, of course, Cato. "It's all the way over there, so let's get a move on." We split into our appropriate groups, and we're searching the mazes of wheat-Kyra told me that's what it was- and I honestly am not really even searching. I'm worried about Katniss. I can protect her from the careers for awhile, and I she can kill anything she needs to, but nothing can protect her from fire. Not me, not a bow and arrow, though she doesn't have one. The wall of fire recedes, and I hear no cannons, which reassure me. Maybe she got to a water source and drenched herself. That's what you're supposed to do. If you can't go all the way under the water, you're supposed to drench yourself. At least, that's what my dad told me.

My fear is reignited when I see balls of fire being shot in every direction, not just the forest. I look into the sky the same time Kyra does, and we see flaming fireballs heading towards us. Immediately we look at each other, then I whisper, "Run!" I can't get much else out other than a whisper, I'm so terrified. I hate fire. I've always been super paranoid about fire or being burnt. The other careers have the same idea we do. We're all sprinting, towards the lake, and our camp. When we see them, I notice that they've been at least grazed. Clove's face looks red, and even if fire didn't hit it, it probably came close enough to give her some kind of burn similar to a sunburn. Glimmer's hair on one side has frayed off, and her ear is inflamed and bleeding. Marvel's holding his left arm. Cato looks fine. Luckily, Kyra and I haven't been hit.

By the time we get to the lake, the fireballs stop, but we don't get the chance to rest. The girl from district 3, the one that we were looking for, is stealing from our supply. "Hey!" Glimmer shouts. "Stop her!" Clove orders. They run towards her, and we follow. The six of us chase her through the forest, to a small creek. This girl is quick, I mean, she's quicker than anyone I've ever seen. She's not small, either. She's pretty tall, and average sized, but can breeze through the forest like a ten year old weakling. By the time we hit the creek, we've lost her. To our left, we see a silhouette sitting in the water, soaking. There's no way she could have escaped us, then went swimming, it doesn't make much sense. Still, it is another tribute, so we take off after them.

I did not expect this tribute to be Katniss. I am relieved she got away from the fire, but it charred up her leg pretty bad. She was soaking it in the cool water, the second best thing to do for a burn after medicine, which she didn't have. I thought Cato would stop when he noticed it was her- that was part of the deal. When he didn't stop, I realized he was going to kill her, then me, to get us out of the way. I had to somehow signal her to look behind her so she'd see them charging her, but Kyra sensed my panic and helped me. She pretended to fall, then let out a small shriek. It was small enough to be believable, but big enough for Katniss to hear. She got out of the water and ran to the forest. To no surprise, the careers chased her in.

By the time we got to the tree she climbed, she was already at least fifty feet in the air. I thought she'd be terrified, but she acts like she is not afraid, which I admire. She even jokes about the whole situation. "How's everything with you?" She calls down. Cato smirks. "Well enough. Yourself?" He is playing along. "It's been a bit warm for my taste." I want to laugh, but I stop myself. "The air's better up here, why don't you come on up?" Ah, so a joke, and a dare. That's her, alright. "Think I will," says Cato. No you won't. I'm behind Cato and I've got a knife in my hand. I could kill him right here, right now if I wanted to. But I know there is no way in hell he'll ever make it up that tree. Still, he tries, and fails, horribly. Glimmer tries next, but she's much heavier than Katniss is, and though Glimmer gets up a lot farther in the tree than Cato did, the branches are brittle, and Glimmer gets down before they snap under her weight. Before any more feeble attempts are made, I tell them, "Oh, let her stay up there. It's not like she's going anywhere. We'll deal with her in the morning." I say this extra loud as a signal to her. Katniss is a hunter; she could climb down that tree and walk out of here, stepping directly over us, and still not make any noise. I'm hoping she'll get the signal and sneak away before morning arrives. "Why the change of heart lover boy?" Clove asks. She must be suspicious of me not confronting Cato over his trying to kill her. "So you all broke the deal. So what? Frankly, I'm tired of these games. The sooner you kill her, the sooner you kill me." I tried to sound as indifferent as possible, and it must have worked, none of them kept their attention on me.