Needing the Impossible (A Clato Fanfic)

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Cato's POV

I see another flash of movement and a long, dark braid disappears behind a tree to my right. I shoot forward with a burst of speed, following the movement. The sound of frantic footsteps crashing through the underbrush ahead of me alerts me to her every move. I laugh in satisfaction; she's all mine. There's a loud crash as she trips over an unseen obstacle and falls to the forest floor. I leap over a log and into a small clearing. Katniss is lying there on the ground, cowering beneath me. She doesn't plead, doesn't beg, just stares up at me, trying to hide her fear. I smirk with satisfaction. I finally have her. I never found out why she got that eleven, but now it doesn't matter. She'll be dead in a matter of moments. My blade swings down on her bare neck and her blood splatters up onto my face.

Only it's not blood. It can't be. Blood is supposed to be warm. Why does it feel cold, then? This isn't right.

I open my eyes to see Clove dumping water on the smoldering remains of last night's fire. The water splashes back up and little droplets land on my exposed skin. “What the hell, Clove?” I protest groggily.

“Morning, sunshine,” she sneers in response.

I reflect back on the dream, longing for it to become a reality. I have to kill her: the girl who upstaged me. Why did she get that eleven anyway? It's bothered me for days now and I still can't figure it out. Did she do something particularly impressive? Or did she just flaunt her intelligence? Either way, it won't do to have her stealing my sponsors. The sooner she dies, the better.

I prop myself up on my elbows and take in the sights of the morning. Peeta appears to be rearranging the food supply, sorting it into different packs or something. Must be a baker thing, his obsession with food that is. Marvel and Glimmer are nowhere to be seen, but Amber is strolling back from the direction of the lake. She walks right past me and grabs several packs of supplies. She then turns back towards the lake and strolls off in no particular hurry.

I jump to my feet to stop her. “What do you think you're doing?” I demand.

“Moving camp. What's it look like brainless?” she mutters, sliding past me.

“Yeah, and why exactly?” I insist, grabbing her shoulder.

She doesn't answer me, just shrugs out of my grasp and continues towards the lake.

“Because I told them to,” Clove answers from behind me. I turn to face her. Her arms are crossed in defiance, but her expression is unreadable.

“Why?” I growl, though somewhat calmed by the fact that this is Clove's idea, not Marvel's.

“The cornucopia is too exposed,” she replies bluntly. “And besides, camp by the lake, and we not only control the food supply, but the largest water supply as well.” She then reaches for a sack of apples and follows Amber to the lake.

I'm not crazy about the progress we're making, but this is a start. She has a point about the water thing, and once we find a way to safeguard the supplies, we'll have it made. Glimmer and Marvel are appearing over the crest of the hill now, and I finally set myself to work. Grabbing an armful of supplies, I walk off in the direction I saw Amber and Clove disappear to seconds ago.

I force myself to swallow another hand full of dried fruit. This has got to be the crappiest meal I've ever eaten. “Damn,” I exclaim after downing the shriveled food. “I am so sick of this crap! If I don't get a bite of meat sometime soon- Hey baker boy!” I call, turning to Peeta. He looks up from whatever it is he's doing.

“Yeah?”

“You don't know how to hunt do you?”

Glimmer laughs her high pitched giggle. “Please! Lover boy? Hunting?” She laughs some more, leaning all over me and looking up at me like I'm the funniest person in the world. I want nothing more than to shove her off me, but I know I've been too rude to her lately. I have to keep her loyal to me, after all. So I settle for smirking in satisfaction, but otherwise ignore her. Clove watches us in disgust.