Peeta's Story- The Hunger Games

Chapter 46

The first thing I do is blink. I stare down at her palm in confusion as the small berry comes into focus, plump and centered perfectly in the center of my hand. I blink again and frown, crinkling my eyebrows. “Pardon me?” My lips twitch into a smile and I shake my head, convinced that she's finally lost it.

Her eyes bore into mine as she raises an eyebrow delicately. “These berries,” she shakes her hand for emphasis, “are poisonous. Nightlock, we call them. She must have been following us the whole time.” She throws the deceiving berries on the ground, a disgusted expression on her face. “I should have known. How did I not guess?” she frowns, pulling at her hair a little in frustration.

This leaves me utterly confused. I can barely follow what she's trying to tell me- that the berries I gathered were poisonous- so I have no clue why she's getting so upset with herself.

In response to my questioning look, she sighs and plops down on the ground, moodily pulling at a half-concealed root. “When I tried to blow up the Careers' food supply, I saw Foxface. She somehow found a way to steal their food without setting off the bombs. She's so sneaky and conniving, I should have known that she'd latch onto us once we were out in the open. Good thing she placed a little too much trust in us, or else she'd still be alive,” she says drily.

The emotions course through me so quickly I can barely acknowledge them- surprise, relief, confusion, and for a split second, joy. The shock of the moment is wearing off now, but everything is still too difficult to comprehend. I feel as if I'm receiving Katniss's explanation from a hundred miles away as the words take an infinite amount of time to register in my brain.

There's no time to mull over anything now, though, since Cato is probably hunting us at this moment. However, I can't help wondering how Foxface tracked us down. “I wonder how she found us. Maybe I was being too loud...” I suggest, trailing off at the end and enveloping myself in my thoughts.

“No,” Katniss mutters halfheartedly. I can tell her mind is somewhere else. “You weren't that loud. She's also very clever. Or at least she was, until you out-foxed her,” she says in a soothing manner, as if trying to placate a little child.

As she says this, I feel a bit of guilt stab at my heart for ending a life, but there is nothing I can do about it. Vaguely, I register that even just a week ago, I would probably be delirious with sorrow and regret, but all that I feel now is a hazy numbness with a twinge of happiness. After all, one person down means that we're one step closer to home, right?

As soon as I think this, I push away my treacherous thoughts. What have the Games done to me? They've turned me into an animal, and it feels as if I'm not longer capable of feeling human emotions. What kind of sick being must I be to feel happy- elated even- at the thought of someone's death? You have not entirely lost your humanity, I tell myself, acknowledging the guilt gnawing at my stomach, but even the guilt I feel for taking her life cannot eclipse the fact that for a brief second, I felt overwhelming joy at someone's death.

Then, a more pressing issue comes to mind, one that makes my heart drop into my stomach. Here I am, trying to protect Katniss, but instead of protecting her, I could have killed her. If it weren't for Foxface, we could both be dead by now. “I'm sorry, Katniss,” I mumble, crushing a leaf between my fingers. She looks up, a frown etched into her face. “I didn't know they were deadly. I could've killed you!” I scramble up quickly and begin collecting the berries. “Here, I'll go throw them away.”

She sighs, a weary sound that should belong to an old lady, not a youthful girl like Katniss, but then she gives a reluctant smile. “Don't apologize. It only means one down, one to go.” She gives a strained smile at me before stopping me from throwing the berries into the woods. “Wait!”

I look back at her curiously.

She fumbles around before showing me a small leather pouch, grinning. She grabs a handful of the berries and stuffs it into the pouch before looking up to meet my inquiring eyes. “Who knows? If they tricked Foxface, they might trick Cato,” she says, a light gleaming in her eyes. “If he's chasing us, we can just pretend to accidentally drop the pouch. If he thinks we meant to eat them, he'll eat them and then-”

“Hello District 12,” I finish for her. She nods up at my happily, obviously excited at her idea. She looks so happy, however, that I can't bring myself to remind her that Cato probably would not stop in the middle of a chase to pick up a small pouch that we drop. It's felt like so long- too long- since I've seen a genuine smile like this light up her face, and I want to try and keep it there as long as possible. It makes her look so radiant and full of life that you barely notice how thin she's become or the scars that line her face. Her smile fills me with renewed hope, and I set out energetically pacing back and forth in the clearing. “So what do we do now?” I ask. “Cato must have heard the cannon, so he'll be hunting us by now.”

Instead of scouting out places to hide, Katniss surprises me by collecting some twigs and throwing them in a pile on the ground. “Let's start a fire.”

I cock my eyebrow at her. Has she gone mental? “Are you sure you're ready to face him already?” I ask slowly. My eyes dart around the trees, but Cato is nowhere to be seen.

“I'm ready to eat,” she replies confidently. “Besides, if he knows we're here, he also knows that you've recovered. By starting a fire, it would almost be like we were inviting him to attack. Would you show up if you were him?” she asks.

“Probably not,” I reply. She makes sense: If Cato is smart, he would avoid attacking us, at least for the moment.

I finally register that she's made good use of the hunting day; we have a pile of small game lodged up against a tree trunk. When Katniss bends down and begins preparing the meat, I pick up two twigs and rub them against each other patiently until a small fire appears. When the fire is finally big enough, Katniss brings over the meat, wrapped in leaves, and sets them on sticks to roast.

We sit back down quietly, watching the flickering flames that mirror the color of the sun. Now there is nothing left to do but wait.

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hey guys, it's been awhile. APs are finally over...yay! and so is my piano performance :D so i know this isn't the most exciting chapter, but i hope to be able to upload another better one in a few days or so.

also, i reread the hunger games during exams and i realized that there are MANY wrong things with my story, so if you see something that doesn't correspond at ALL with THG, please let me know! don't think it's rude, because after i'm done with this, i plan to edit it and make it pretty, so it'll help so much. blegh. it just frustrates me that this story is LALSDJHLSFH LASJD LK

yeah.... thanks for reading! and thanks for fanning :D xox amanda