The Hunger Games, Cato's story (Finished)

Chapter Nineteen

For the past few hours, we have been looking threw all of the packs, trying to find something for the tracker jacker stings. I am now looking threw an extreme medical equipment pack. Casts for arms, a boot for a leg, a bottle of pills labeled xillion, it says, take a pill within an hour after being diagnosed with meedle worms. Meedle worms are a mutt the Capitol created. They are large worms that fall on you from trees. They burrow down into your skin and eat you from the inside out, quickly. I hear it hurts like crazy, even when the worms move inside you, because they are the size of a pencil.

There is another bottle labeled Lithium, it says to take one if you are pregnant, but don't want a child... I don't even want to know what it does to you, even though I have a pretty good guess, and why would you need them in the arena... People are idiots! Then I pull out a large metal tube labeled bug sting antidote. This is obviously it.

"Guys! I think I found it!" I yell at them. Clove, Marvel, and Hunnu all look up instantly, and hurry over to me.

Clove looks up and smiles at me. "Can you put some on mine?" She begs. I smile and she pulls off her jacket and blouse. She has a very large one right next to her bra strap. I dip my fingers in the cream and spread it over the large bump. It looks about the size of a fist. She lets out a sound of relief. I do hers first, then Hunnu, then Marvel, then Clove helps me with mine.

As soon as it is put on, the bump it goes numb. "That feels so good Clove." I sigh.

She laughs, "Yea, I know." I lay there, on my stomach, eyes closed, letting out sighs of relief constantly. Other than Glimmer, and the girl from Four, who we passed and the tracker trackers thought she was with us, I have the most stings. Clove counts them as the puts the cream on me. I end up with eleven! The other three only had around six! How come I go so many?

When she is done we just sit there for an hour, enjoying the numb tingly feeling it sends through your whole body. It sends shots of adrenaline threw you every time you breath in. That is until the pain starts.

It feels like ten tracker jackers stinging you at once. Worse... it is a different kind of pain, it is unbearable. I cant handle it, and I am shaking within seconds of it starting. I look at the others, this will happen to them soon too, I think it was me first sense I had the most on.

I was right, because within the minute of their staring Clove starts screaming and crying. "Whats going on Cato! This hurts! Make it stop! Make it stop!"

And Marvel, "Cato! What the hell did you do to us!!??"

I start panicking myself and pick up the bottle. I look at it, and read it, but nothing is unusual. Except the little corner pealing. I pull it off, and know what is going on instantly. On the bottle is the carved words, extrenium cloinnea. I know what this is instantly. This is what all of the druggies take when they are sick of their life's and want to die with their favorite feeling in the world. They just have to deal with the pain that follows.

This means we could all die within the minute. I know the antidote, I just have to think of it. Get it out of the back of my mind, where it has been lodge back there, un-thought of. I know it! I pull my shaking body up and walk over to the lake.

It is really simple actually. Hurry to the side and scoop up mud, spreading it all over my body. "What are you doing!" Marvel screams.

"Its extrenium cloinnea!" I yell. Clove gasps and rushes to my side, copying my movements. Hunnu is done first and we all line up and put mud on each other's backs. It takes a second, but eventually draws out the pain.

By the time our skin is the sick pale color it is supposed to be when you do what we just did we decide to go hunting.

The hunting trip goes by really fast because we decide that we don't need much. That we have plenty of supplies back at the camp. We start back to camp when we notice the girl getting a drink from the stream.