Just Another Games....

Chapter Twenty

Peeta wakes me up again around what I guess to be two, and he snuggles into the sleeping bag. As he is falling asleep, I think, It would be really nice if we had another sleeping bag. The thought startles me. Where did that come from? The thought worries me. I try to think about what Gale could be up to but then I think about how he is probably with Johanna Mason, and I get mad.

You know where I should be right now? I should be with Gale. Peeta is loud, and even though he somehow managed to win last year, all he is just a dead weight. I don't know where these thoughts are coming from, but I don't try to stop them from coming. I would be better off without him. I wonder how that would play out in the Capitol, what the people in Twelve would think. I would have to stage it well. If I go home, I would be an outcast. Letting Peeta die, that is to cold. If we run into someone though...

"No. I will not think like that." I say out loud. Snap! I lift my bow up and wait. Snap! It is closer now. It could be an animal. I hear footsteps. Why would someone be wandering around at two in the morning? It has to be a nocturnal animal. Nobody is that dumb. Unless they are the Career Victors. That worries me.

I creep toward the entrance to the cave, careful to stay hidden in the shadows. The moon is way too bright to be real.   I see something brown and, with a quick glance at Peeta, I climb out and up into a tree next to our camp. I climb about twenty feet up, perched on a branch like a bird. It is kind of hard to see through the thick foliage, but  I count on it to cover me.

The flash of brown walks into the clearing. It is a deer. A buck. The antlers on it are huge. Something about it looks off, and before I have time to place it Peeta pokes his head out in between the rocks. Before either of us has any time to react, the deer is going after Peeta.

He starts to scream and I send an arrow at it. Somehow it knows and dodges it. I climb down as quickly as I can and send another one at it, hitting it in the neck. I send two more into similar spots for good measure. Making sure that it isn't moving, I run to Peeta. He is in the alcove, trying not to scream.  

"Peeta, look at me." He is facing away from me.

He only has time to turn around and say "Love you," before the cannon goes off.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You can't be gone. Peeta," The tears come hot and fast, each sob racking my body.  The blood is pooling around his head and I quickly grab my backpack, the sleeping bag, and the knife Peeta had, and leave, only to run into the deer carcass. I brush the tears away and lock up my feelings. After several deep breaths, I manage to calm myself enough to deal with the deer.

Up close, you can see that it isn't a normal deer. There is a line of blood red dots on its back, and the eyes are black.  

I quickly pack up my sleeping bag and put Peeta's knife in my pocket. I take my  other knife and slice the belly open. I need to see what's inside.. A ton of blood and organs fall out and get on my shoes. Blood covers my hands and wrists. Barely concealing a shriek, I run to the stream.  I scrub my hands and take my shoes off, trying to clean myself. I know I am easy prey, not really trying to be quiet or splash around so much.  I just want all of this to be gone,  and then Gale is there holding me tight and telling me it is going to be okay.

It takes me a minute to process this. "Gale?" I shriek.

"Shhh, its okay Katniss. You don't have to worry about anything. Here, lets wash you up."  I let him lead me into the stream and slowly was away all the blood. After, he gets me to lay down.

"Oh come on. Get up and get over it, you whiney baby." I turn startled to see Johanna standing over us. In her hand is an ax. Of course, she is from the lumber district. Probably been playing with axes since she could walk.

"Johanna." Gale says sharply. I nod and  wipe my tears away. Try to get up.

"She is right." I say. Gale pulls me back down so I am resting on his arm.

"Katniss, not right now. Sleep. We can deal in the morning."

I somehow manage to fall asleep in Gale's arms.  

I wake up, the sun shining bright in my face. I quickly get up and look around, bewildered All my stuff is next to me, and I am laying next to the creek. It is roughly nine.

Was that just a dream? Were Gale and Johanna really here? What happened last night comes back and hits hard.  I am now alone. Peeta gone, and Gale, whatever happened to him. Did Johanna convince him to leave me?  I check my pack and notice that nothing was taken. All arrows accounted for, except for the three that were in the deer.

I stand up and raise the three middle fingers of my left hand to my mouth. I kiss them and fully extend my arm up and out in the direction of Peeta.  I can feel the tears, hot on my face.

"You will always be in my heart. Thank you for everything." The three finger salute means a few things, thanks, admiration, and good-bye to a loved one. Thanks for being there when I needed him, admiration at his ability to get out of anything, and to say goodbye. I don't know if I truly loved Peeta, but I know I liked him. Even if it was just a little bit.

I start walking deeper into the woods, the stream at my back. the woods, the stream at my back. I will wander around in the forest until noonish and if Gale or Johanna don't make an appearance, I'm going. I will walk away from the stream, away from Peeta, Finnick, and Paylor. I will keep walking until I hit the other side. I won't stop.

I walk with my bow high, on red alert.  I follow the stream at a small decline. How many of those deer could there be? I've been on this island two days, and I haven't seen any before. I haven't seen any deer at all. I need food too. I have some of my Katniss roots, but those won't last me super long.

At ten-ish I stop to rest and drink some of my water.  I have a bottle and a fourth left.  A half hour later I have an animal that resembles a groosling. It is slightly larger than normal and has dark blue feathers. I skin it and clean it, making a small fire. I eat some of that and some tubers then stomp the fire out and flee.

I turn and head back the other way. I will walk for another hour or so until I get back to where I was last night, make a fire, then hide in a tree for a half hour. If nothing, then I will head out.

When I reach what I think to be the same spot, I grab a bunch of dry leaves and dead wood.  I quickly replenish my water and set on lighting the fire. I use one of my matches and manage to light it, and the fire. The fire isn't so big where it will set everything on fire, but it will be noticeable. Smell it, or see the smoke. Whatever.

I climb a pine tree, and about thirty five feet up I find a fork and get comfortable. I put some mint leaves in my mouth I found on the way here. It will give me something to do.