promises • cato the hunger games

Twenty-Four

Her eyes haunt me in my sleep that night. After trailing around the rest of the day, failing to find anyone else, we found another cave to stay in.

Cato said I should get as much sleep as possible, but I couldn't stop seeing her eyes, hurt and scared, so I refused to sleep again. I let Cato sleep through the entire night, though he was mad at me when he woke up. He said I should have woken him up got some sleep too.

"I'm not killing anyone else, Cato. I just can't," I tell him as we're sitting on some rock, eating the last apples. We should really be saving them, but I'm too hungry.

Hopefully we'll be out of here today. There's only Thresh, and the two tributes from Twelve left. It has to end soon, with some grand finale most probably.

Cato just nods at me, and hands me the bottle of water. "Don't have too much, that's the last of it."

After I've taken a few sips, we set off walking again. We walk all day. Again.

The water runs out about midday, and I stay to feel dizzy, and I get a headache. I know Cato must be feeling dehydrated too, because he starts to sway to the sides every now and then, and he keeps rubbing his forehead.

We need find some water soon. There must be a stream somewhere. There has to be.

Me and Cato talk and talk, trying to distract each other from the pounding headaches.

It doesn't really work, and the sky seems to fall on top of my head, and I fall the ground. Right in the mud.

Mud.

"Penny, are you okay?" Cato asks, trying to help me up.

"Yeah, look. It's mud," I say, smiling.

"Er, yeah," he says, probably thinking I'm delirious.

"No, you don't understand. There must be water somewhere here. We just need to go down hill," I gabble, and stand up and walk shakily down the slope.

"Penny, are you okay?"

I sigh and keep walking. "Yes, there's water around here somewhere, there must be. How else would there be mud?"

The ground gets muddier and muddier the further we go down the slope, and I grow even more hopeful. Sure enough, I see a shiny blue pond about ten metres away.

"Told you!" I say smugly.

"All right, all right," says Cato, and kneels next to the pond, and starts to drink it.

I know that we're supposed to sterile it, but we don't have any iodine, and I'm sure not waiting around for a sponsor to maybe send us some.

I lie next to Cato and gulp it straight from the pond. It tastes a bit funny but it's still cool and refreshing, and I must drink about two litres in about two minutes. Then I refill both our bottles for later.

I start to feel much better. My head stops hurting and the ground stops moving. Cato stops rubbing his forehead and we set off again.

I'm sick of walking.

~

"What was that?" I ask.

"What was what?"

"Never mind. I'm probably just being paranoid," I say, but I'm sure I heard something. I was right about the ginger, so I could be right about this.

I look wildly around the trees, trying to see something, or someone, but I don't. Maybe Cato's right this time.

I try to concentrate on walking. Cato wants to go to the Cornucopia. He thinks there'll be someone there, and even if there's not, he reckons everyone'll have to appear sooner or later, at the end at least.

I still keep thinking there's someone following us.

"Stop turning round," says Cato.

"Sorry," I say, and turn back round to face him. And that's when I see her.

Katniss. Holding her bow. Loaded. And aimed right at...

"CATO! MOVE!" I yell, and use all my strength to push him out of the way.

I don't even realize she's shot me instead until I'm on the ground.