BREAKING THE ARENA

Chapter 4 - The Aftermath

***CATO POV***

"Cato wake up time to get ready"

"Cato get up"

"Cato! We're going to be late"

"Cato wake up!"

"CATO!"

I shot up like a bullet from my sleep. Damn those voice! I thought.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale I heard a voice say. After catching my breath I tried to blink the sleepiness from my eyes. To my surprise it worked. I stop moving and I look around.

I first noticed my hands, for some reason, are tied up. Upon first glance I don't know where I am. It looks like a tree canopy. The leaves on the tree don't cover me. It let a large spotlight of sunlight through. I can feel that my throat is dry. I'd definitely been asleep for a long time. When I passed out it was midday. It's now the afternoon. Probably of a new day.

I groan as I tried to rub my back with my thumbs. Furrowing my eyebrows while I glance behind me. The sunlight hurts my eyes, I just try to ignore it. I start mumbling a few confused words while giving the rope a sharp tug. I definitely underestimated how strong the rope is. After another tug it still won't get loose. I tug one more time.

"Ah shit!!" I hissed. Rope burn. It hurt like hell. I give up for now and I keep looking around. I try to remember what happened earlier. All I could come up with is waking up after hearing massive explosions, a tracker-jacker nest falling out of no where, grabbing Clove's arm, running, getting stung at least 1 million times, feeling as if I jumped into water, being dragged out by someone, and then passing out. My headache isn't helping me.

I try at the rope again. I do a really sharp tug.

"Ow! Fucking hell!"

As the wave of pain rippled up to my elbows, I began to hear the sound of leaves and twigs snapping, growing nearer to me, a sound he had begun to associate with footsteps due to the past few days in the arena. I felt his heart rate rise as my body began to shift to try and get to my feet, my fight or flight reflex I'd been trained to use kicking in. My vision blurred as I made my way to hide behind a tree, waiting to assess the situation. Almost instantly I felt how much dehydration was hindering me and my usual perfect skill performance. Ironic memories of him mocking one of his teachers at the academy for how much they warned them about the dangers of dehydration came back and taunted me like a cruel joke. I pressed my back to the tree and tried to focus on the sound coming closer and closer, quickly realizing it was two sets of footsteps and not just one. Great, not only was I below his regular performance and unable to use my arms, but now I was outnumbered. Being vulnerable and essentially prey in this situation was not my forte. Now realizing the severity of my disadvantage, I started devising a means of defense or escape from my prone situation. Suddenly in the midst of my pondering, a voice called out to me.

***THIRD PERSON POV***

    "Cato?"

    The voice was a male and it was familiar. Cato's eyes widened in shock as his body gave away its tension before calling back.

   "Marvel?"

     Cato left his hiding spot and stumbled slightly as he began leaning on the tree for support. He peered back into the clearing and attempted to focus his vision on the two figures who approached him. One was lanky and loose in its movement, seeming more bouncy than the other who was shorter and seemed to be more determined in their strong steps. The taller of the two jogged over to him, allowing his vision to come into one cohesive picture. The mess of brown hair and stupid smile put him at ease as he registered Marvel's face.