Rise From the Ashes

Chapter Nineteen

Cato sucks in a breath as he sees what I see. I pull back another arrow and take out a tribute mutt. I'm pulling back an arrow as Cato slams into me.  Clove must've leapt onto him and knocked him into me. Cato scrambles to his feet and I quickly get my arrow ready.

They're struggling to win. They're very well matched and it's not surprising seeing where they're from and how long they've trained. I can't shoot because they're a tangle of bodies right now. They slide toward the edge and fall into the mutts below.

"Cato!" Bursts out of my mouth before I can help it. I release my arrow into the mutts and start quickly pulling and releasing arrows. Soon I'm running low on arrows and mutts to shoot at. There is a growing pile of bodies around them. Gale is the last mutt and I pull back an arrow. "I'm sorry Gale." I whisper. I release the arrow and buries itself in his skull.

Cato and Clove are still fighting. I slide down the cornucopia and keep my bow trained on the fighting pair. Don't let the good ones slip away. That's what my dad always said.

I'm eleven. My dad and I are alone in the woods. Katniss and her dad are running late because Prim is sick. Nothing to worry about but Mr Everdeen wanted to make sure Prim was okay.

"Now Phoenix. My ashy bear." My dad brushes a piece of hair from my eyes. "Someday you're gonna end up with that mayors daughter. Or maybe you'll end up with someone else. But just remember. Don't let the good ones slip away."

"I won't dad." I smile. "But it's not like that with Madge. I just think she's really pretty, smart, and nice."

"Yeah that's what I said about your mom. Now look at us." My dad tugs on a braid. "And now I'm very happily married with three amazing daughters."

"You have to say that. You're my dad." I answer.

"Come on. Not only can you shoot, you know plants, plus you're the best healer we have in our covey." He says.

"Yeah." I smile. Katniss and Mr Everdeen hurry over to us and Katniss tackles me into a hug. "Hi!"

"Hi! Prim is okay. Mom gave her some medicine and she should be fine tomorrow."  Katniss says.

"Good. Where would be without our little duck." I smile.

Don't lose the good ones. I already lost my parents, I lost Terra. I can't lose Cato. My arrow is trained on the dark hair of Clove but most of the time it's spinning around with Cato. I can't shoot if he's not out of the way. I can't risk loosing him.

Cato rises up and Clove scrambles to her feet. Cato is blocking my shot and I have no way to shoot over him. All I know is that he's unprotected. She's got a knife but she's not trying to hurt him. She's trying to kill me. She just needs to get him out of the way.

"Cato do you trust me?" I ask. Cato nods and I shoot into the sky. There's a flash of the sun and then the arrow comes shooting back down towards Clove.

Clove notices the arrow and throws her knife. She must be hoping to take both of us out before it can hit her. The arrow buries itself in her skull and two canons go off. Cato sways for a second and then falls backwards towards me. I step to the side and catch him.

"No!" I whisper but as I look down at the knife I know it's futile. He can't be saved. Not even by the fancy doctors in the Capitol. He's already gone. The light is gone from his eyes. "No!" The raw scream burst from my mouth as I grip onto his jacket.

"The victor of the 74th annual Hunger Games. Ash Rooker District Twelve." They announce. I barely catch it. It means he's really gone. He left me.

"You promised me we'd win!" I beg. "Wake up! Please god wake up! You can't leave me! I can't lose you. You're supposed to come back to twelve with me. We're supposed to get married. You can't leave me!"

I know it must sound like the hysterical screaming of a teenage girl to everyone but he left me. He promised we'd get out of this together. I'm struggling to breath and I press my hands against the wound even though I know he's gone. I've seen the look in too many tributes. A ladder falls down to join me and I ignore it. I can't leave without him. If I do then he'll be gone forever. He'll really have left me. He'll have left me alone to deal with the Capitol.

Another ladder descends and Haymitch steps off. He gently pulls my hands off Cato and helps me take off my quiver and backpack. He helps me up and pulls me into a hug.

"It's okay sweetheart." He says softly. He leads me to the ladder and helps me on. It freezes us and we're lifted up. But we're leaving Cato. He's still on the ground. They must be picking him up after us.

We're taken into a hovercraft and I'm led away. Away from Cato and Haymitch. Away to be made beautiful. Maybe they'll fix my ear. It's still dead.  Someone hands me a glass of orange juice and I stare at it. It's too pretty to be in my hands. I just now realize that they're dirty and covered in blood. I set it down, I don't want to hurt it. After all I've become a killer already. I just want to be home. There's nothing left for me here. Nothing left for me to say or do. No one left to talk to. I just want to be home so I can finally be free from how haunted the Capitol has become for me. Some must've snuck up behind me because I feel a pinch and the world slowly goes black.