Hunger Games Outtakes

The Final Moments

The Final Moments

The arrow just hits it mark before the boy, Cato, goes down, tumbling off the top of the Cornucopia. Peeta's balance is unsteady as Cato releases him from his hold. The bow drops to Katniss's side as she lurches forward in an attempt to grab Peeta before he too falls into the waiting pack of mutts. She manages to latch onto Peeta and pull him back away from the edge of the Cornucopia.

    The sound of Cato hitting the ground can be heard even through the cameras' audio. The mutts howl as their prey becomes more readily available to them. The sound of their claws, snarls, growls, and howls almost nearly cover the sounds of Cato fighting back and his own cries of pain as the mutts tear into him.

    He pulled a short sword from the depths of the armor covering his body, and he strikes out at the mutts advancing on him. The cameras zoom in on Cato's fight as some of the mutts go down. There's more though. There's always more. These mutts were specifically designed to leave nothing living in their path until they were called off. At times the mutts swat away Cato's blade, and it clashes against the side of the Cornucopia making a catastrophic sound of metal on metal. The cameras follow Cato's short journey around the side of the Cornucopia as he tries to escape the vicious mutts.

    Slowly, Cato's fight with the mutts goes on, and he grows weaker as they tear into him more. I am powerless virtually. I have the power to stop it, to call off the mutts, but I can't. President Snow would be most unhappy if I did, and the Capitol audience wouldn't get their desire for bloodshed. Afterall, to Capitol citizens and Snow it's only entertainment. They don't view these poor teenagers fighting to the death as people. They don't think the Tributes are innocent for all that has happened in the past. I am at the mercy of the Capitol and the mercy of Snow. I let the mutts continue to rip into Cato, and eventually he is dragged inside the Cornucopia. The cameras can no longer capture Cato as he lies in the darkness. I still can't call off the mutts. There's nothing that can be done now for him anyways. I know there is nothing that can save Cato from the extensive injuries he was incurred. The cameras that have been alternating between Cato's fight, and the two other Tributes, Katniss and Peeta, now shift to show the latter. They lie curled around each other, with blood seeping down Peeta's injured leg.

The night wears on, and the quiet moans, barely audible come from Cato as he lives his final moments. The blood from Peeta's leg is pooling across the top of the Cornucopia. The mutts still continue inside the Cornucopia, not as vicious as before. A camera slowly makes it way inside the Cornucopia so the remaining moments of Cato's life can be captured in all it's sick, twisted detail. One of the other Gamemakers must have sent it out. The camera switches back to Katniss and Peeta. Peeta now has something tightened around his leg, stemming the blood flow. They lay curled together once more, shivering as the temperature drops.

As the night wears on more, the camera continually switches back and forth. A quiet conversation is being held by Katniss and Peeta at one point, but it is too quiet for the cameras to pick up. The only thing they do pick up is the dying sounds of Cato, and Katniss's yelling of Peeta's name occasionally.

Eventually, I call off the mutts as Cato preserves through the night. The morning light just making its appearance when I call the mutts back to be destroyed as they longer serve a purpose. It's surprising Cato has made it thus far, but I still know there's no hope for him. That's why I call the mutts off, wanting him to drift off into his final moments in peace and not have mutts tearing around at him.

The camera is on Katniss and Peeta as a quick conversation occurs and the arrow twisted in makeshift tourniquet on Peeta's leg is pulled free. Katniss quickly notches the arrow into the bow, and lets it fly into the remains of Cato, silencing him and finally giving him peace. The cannon fires at last. He dies a slow and painful death at the hands of not only the mutts or Katniss's killing shot, but me. The blood of all the dead Tributes the past years are on my hands. Even the blood of the ones that have won. Their shattered mental state has been caused by my hand. The Games have ruined me, and they have ruined innocent children.