Fiery Payback

Chapter 42

Peeta's P.O.V

I sit down under a big, oak tree. I lean my head back, so it rests on the trunk. I close my eyes and listen to my surroundings. It is both relaxing and dangerous. You want to watch your surroundings.

I hear a rustling come from my right. I quickly open my eyes and grab a knife from my belt. The rustling noise gets closer and closer. Then, a bunny comes into view.

I relax a little. I lower my knife, but I don't put it away. This is a smart idea.

A another rustling comes from my left. This time, the noise is quicker to get to me. I get up from my spot and position myself.

Finnick comes into view. He stops right in front of me. We look at each other and then we bro-hug each other. Without saying a word, we both just start walking with no place in mind. There isn't anywhere to go.

"Glad to see a familiar face." Finnick says.

"Yeah." I say. "This arena looks familiar."

"Too familiar." This arena is a mixture between the 74th and the 75th Hunger Games. I can tell. Of course the gamemakers would combine two of the most talked about games.

"Have you seen the group?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "No. We need to find them."

"Yeah. I hope our families are okay." I say.

"Yeah. I hope so too." He says. We continue to walk. Then, the cannons start to fire.

Each cannon represents a dead tribute. I count in my head how many cannons are set off. Eighteen. Eighteen tributes are dead. But a lot more are alive.

Finnick and I look at each other. "You don't think..." He starts to say, but trails off.

"They couldn't be. They are too strong to die this early." I say.

"We should keep moving. Hopefully, we will run into them." He says. I nod my head, and we continue to walk.

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It is almost sunset when Finnick and I stop to set up camp for the night. If you would even call it camp. We don't have any sleeping bags, which seems bad right now. The temperature is dropping really quickly.

We take down a couple of rabbits. We quickly start a fire. This is a risk, but sometimes you have to take risks. We cook our rabbits and put out the fire once they're cooked.

I eat my rabbit while watching the sun go down. I keep thinking about my first two Hunger Games. I don't want to be reminded of those two games. And here I am, in an arena that was inspired by those two games. Great.

Once the sun is completely down and it gets really dark out, the anthem starts to play. All of the fallen tributes' picture will be shown and their district number is shown below the picture.

No one is dead from districts 1 and 2. Two are dead from District 3. Finnick's family is all alive. One is dead from District 5. Three tributes from District 6 are dead. Everyone but Johanna is dead from District 7. All of the tributes from District 8 are dead. Two are dead from District 9. One tribute from District 10 is dead. And two from District 11 are dead. My family survived.

The anthem ends with a flourish, and then the sounds of the forest can be heard again. "I'll take the first watch." Finnick says.

I look at him. "You sure?" I ask.

"Yeah. I'll wake you up around one."

I don't object. I lay down and prepare for a dreamless sleep.