Dangerous Allies // Cato Hadley

Part 14: Another One Bites the Dust

Eve paced across the entrance of the cave while Cato slept soundly on the floor, ignorant to the war going on inside her head.

She needed to leave before he woke. It would be best if he thought everything was just a dream.

Eve knew he was the only person in the arena that could kill her and that when the time came he wouldn't hesitate.

She decided the pain bound to come with the tip of his blade would sting far worse if he did it knowing about the night they shared.

A part of her knew his apology was as fake as the visions in his head, but she didn't want to know for sure. She wished someone else would take her out before he had the chance to prove once and for all that he didn't care about her. Eve wondered what Katniss did to get that 11. She decided if she died at anyone's hand, Katniss wouldn't be the worst.

Cato started to stir and she didn't wait around to see if he was waking. She stepped into the warm morning air and headed towards her past campsite.

The coals were scattered across the ground and her bag was nowhere to be found. She ran a hand through her messy hair. "Shit."

Eve hoped if anyone had it, it was Finch. She would need it if she was going to survive for much longer.

Walking through the woods with only her spear and the clothes on her back, Eve's mind wandered to the possibility of surviving until the final two.

What would she do? She had no doubt Cato would make it.

She would die.

He would snap her neck with a smile on his face.

A chill ran down her back and across her bare arms. Her jacket disappeared with the rest of her belongings and she felt exposed without the extra material covering her back.

Muffled voices came from the other side of the hill Eve was climbing and she walked quietly over the dry leaves below her boots.

The trees made good cover and she looked between them at the group that set up camp on the edge of a small lake.

The first thing she noticed was Cato's bulking body and blonde hair. He tended to his group as they tripped out on the venom they had been exposed to during the night. Eve wasn't surprised seeing him back to normal. When he was that big the poison could only do so much.

Even so, she ignored the relief she felt seeing him standing on his own two feet, telling herself she would feel the same about anyone.

She brushed their conversation from the night before out of her mind. He could apologize all he wanted. It couldn't change what he'd done.

Nothing could.

Eve counted the three remaining careers and wondered how many people were left. She hadn't paid attention to the pictures that flashed in the sky every night nor taken the time to count the booms of the canons. Now she wished she had.

Cato's eyes never stopped looking over his surroundings. He scanned the tree line, but missed the girl crouched at the top of the hill.

His memories were slowly coming back, or what he thought were his memories. He could still feel Eve below him, but he wasn't sure. When it came to her he seemed to have a very vivid imagination. He hoped it wasn't all just a dream.

He decided he would ask the others about their dreams.

Hours later, Cato did just that. His heart raced as he barely listened to the horrors they entailed. He was more focused on the outlier of the group. Eve.

Eve's body felt light as she walked back down the hill and away from the restrained careers. For the first time she felt safe in the arena.

She moseyed her way towards the river while she swung her arms by her sides.