The Hunger Games- What If's (Fan Fiction)

Chapter Ten

    I didn't understand, either. Why was Thresh saying these things to me? HE was the one who played me! I told him such. "Thresh, you played me and we both know it. Besides, the Games aren't about love or relationships. They're  about surviving. And if you don't give me that package, Peeta won't survive. Please, give it to me."

   I took a few steps forward, my hand out in front of me, waiting for Thresh to put the little package in my hand. Thresh countered me and took several steps back, whacking my hand out of the way. Fine then. I'll win this, no doubt about it. I took my bow from my back and drew an arrow from the sheith. I set it in the bow, and saw fear in Thresh's eyes. He put his hands up in an 'I surrender' motion, and I shot.

   My arrow hit its target perfectly. The package flew back out of Thresh's hand and into the trunk of a tree behind him. Thresh's eyes are still tight shut, so I ran behind him and grabbed the package. Thresh, realizing that I didn't aim to hit him, spins me around.

   "Katniss, no. . . ." Thresh let go of me, his arms dropping to his side. "Fine. You wanna play that way? No problem, I can kill you, right? You don't like me anyway, and we can't be together. So I'll just kill you."

   "Wh-what? N-no, Thresh. Hold on a second. Let me do one more thing first, please. Please, just let me give this to Peeta first. Please," I begged him.

   Thresh's eyes hardened. "Fine. But I swear, if you run . . . just, don't run," I nodded my head and then I was off, but I was suddenly stopped by an arm pulling me back. "Don't. Run."

   "But, if I don't, he could . . ." I trailed off.

   "Listen Katniss, I don't care. Walk."

   And so I did. It felt like ages of walking, nothing but walking. When we made it to where Peeta used to be, he wasn't there. He wasn't sitting against the rock. But I didn't let that show on my face. I just knelt next to the rock and stroked it tenderly.

   "What are you doing, exactly?"  Thresh asked me.

   "He used to be here," I said, with that blank mask still on my face.

   "Well, he's obviously not here now. So, what are we going t-"

   Thresh was cut off by the sound of a cannon firing.

   "Where did that come from? No one died, did they?!" I asked so quickly that the words slurred together.

   Thresh simply smirked at me. I quickly spun around and saw a hovercraft coming closer and closer to where I stood. Please let it be Foxface, please let it be Foxface... I thought as my feet raced towards where the hovercraft was heading. And there I saw him. Peeta was lying on the ground, unmoving.

   I cried out and threw myself over him. I cried and clasped his face in my hands, willing him to open his eyes. I kissed him, but he didn't kiss me back. I called his name out, he didn't reply. I shook him hard, he never moved.

   I stood up as the hovercraft circled around us slowly, covering my mouth with my hand. It was okay to cry now, it was okay for everyone to see. It'll make a good farewell for the audience, right? I hoped so.

   As I watched Peeta being lifted into the sky, I noticed something moving in the trees. A pair of eyes that were just the opposite of Rue's stared back at me, but in the same tree. It was Foxface. As soon as she saw me looking at her, she darted away.

   I opened the small package with the number '12' on it. I peeled away the plastic covering to find that it had been Peeta's medicine. I threw it on the ground, hard, and stomped on it. I continiued jumping on it until the pieces dug themselves into both the damp ground and the soles of my boots.

   I heard footsteps approaching from behind me. I turned around slowly, loading my bow all the while. I saw it was Thresh; he was smiling widly at the sky where the hovercraft was heading, out of sight. He then let his gaze wander to where I stood and saw my bow and arrow.

   "I thought we had a deal," Thresh said as the smile slid ffrom his face, being replaced with an expressionless mask much like my own.

   "We did. But now Peeta's dead. So the deal is off. You didn't honestly thing that I would willingly give myself up to be killed to the person who killed Peeta," I watched the anger flash in Thresh's eyes before they became clouded over.

   "I never killed Peeta. You know that. You were with me when the cannon fired!" Thresh yelled as he took a step away from me.

   "Sure, you didn't physically kill him. But it just so happens that you were the one to distract me long enough so that Foxface could go and find Peeta, then kill him. You know you did that much, at least."

   "I don't know a Foxface," Thresh said simply.

   "The girl from District 5. What's her name?" I replied, just as simply.

   "Her name is Elvira. Elvira Meed."

   "So then you distracted me so Elvira could go kill Peeta. Isn't that right? You'll feel better if you admit it," I looked into Thresh's eyes and saw that he was in a mental battle with himself. With a sigh, he opened his mouth to reply to me.

   "Yes. I caught Elvira and was going to kill her when she told me that she could help me. I had no real reason to believe or not believe her, so we came up with the plan for the feast. Luckily enough, it worked. We're no longer allies, though. As soon as that cannon went off, that pact was forgotten," Thresh's voice sounded as though he was trembling, but he wasn't.

   I noticed that during his re-account of the situation, I had let my bow drop slightly and Thresh was just a bit closer than before. I raised my arrow again, causing him to take another step back.

   "I appreciate all that information and whatnot, but this is still the Hunger Games. And I the should still kill you," I thought about what came out of my mouth for a moment. "But I won't. Don't say anything, don't try and make an alliance with me, just get out of my sight. You saved me once, so I'll return the favor. I don't like being in debt of someone else. Go. Now."

   Thresh looked slightly stunned, but after a moments' pause, he turned and walked away.

   As soon as he disappeared over the horizon, I dropped my bow and let myself cry.

   I cried because of Peeta, I cried because it was my fault, I cried becasue I was in the Hunger Games. I cried because life is sad and death is real. I cried because I felt empty. Just empty.