Just a Game

Chapter Five

"Cato," she says, sitting down beside me, dangling her bare feet into the water. "What do you want most, right now?"

I laugh. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, if you can have anything in the world, what would you want?"

I think about it for a moment. The real answer was to get back to District 2… with Clove. "Uh... maybe a nice meal," I joke, not wanting to say the truth.

Clove looks a bit disappointed. "Oh. Well, I guess that would be nice."

"What about you, Clover?"

She hesitates. "I want to go home… with you." She leans closer to me, her nose almost touching mine. I could feel her warm breath against my face. I lean closer to her.

Someone clears their throat. I growl softly.

"Guys," Glimmer says. "Maybe we should try to find more tributes."

Ariel sighs. "What's the rush, Glim? We have the weapons, and we have the -"

"The time?" Peeta asks incredulously, finally speaking up. "We don't have, 'the time'."

As much as I hate to admit it, he was right. We had to stir up some action before the Gamemakers decided to try and kill us instead. But everything seemed quiet. There hadn't been another cannon for hours. The sun was high in the sky; someone was bound to be thirsty.

So we pack up our supplies, and set off back into the woods. Nearly four hours later, we couldn't find anyone. We kill a few animals for a snack, and then go hunting for tributes again. Before we knew it, it was night again. Finding a cozy spot near the lake, the six of us placed a couple sleeping bags on the ground, and fell asleep. I volunteered to do first shift of guard-duty.

The Capitol anthem plays throughout the arena again. But this time, there was only the girl that we killed that morning. After a couple hours, I felt my eyes drooping. Not long after, I was snoring. The next morning, we eat a quick breakfast, and go to look for tributes again.

Today is just like yesterday, but we couldn't find anyone at all. Once again, we set up camp, and one by one, we fall asleep. A few hours later, the sky’s still dark, but I could see some light behind us. I get up and turn around. What I see makes me swear.

“Get up!” I scream at my snoring friends. “Get up, now!”

Their eyes fly open. By that time, my eyes are stinging from the smoke. Grabbing all of our supplies, we sprint away from the wall of fire that’s coming closer to us.

“RUN!” Clove’s voice goes up about an octave.

We sprint in a direction away from descending flames. Our feet are pounding against the ground. We can hear a couple screams from the distance. So this is what the Gamemakers were saving up for. Marvel hits his head on a few branches, and I can see the cuts on his forehead. But there’s no time to check up on him.

Ariel trips on a tree root, and Glimmer helps her up, but not before a fireball hisses over our heads, and ignites a tree next to them. Coughing, the girls continue to run. My eyes are burning like crazy, and I call for the group to stop for a moment. Luckily, we’re all pretty fast, so the wall of fire is a bit behind us now.

“Watch out!” Marvel manages to croak out, pointing to me.

I leap out of the way, just in time, as a fireball zooms over my head. Panting, I call for them to keep running. We continue to dodge the deadly fireballs, until we reach a clearing. It seems like the Gamemakers didn’t want to kill us yet. The fire disappears, and there aren’t any more fireballs.

I collapse onto the ground, coughing and retching. My eyes are hurting more than ever, and I’m exhausted. I see everyone else is just as worn out as I am. After a few minutes, a sling my backpack off of my shoulder, and take out a water bottle. I gulp down half of the bottle.

“Are you – are you guys alright?” I croak my throat still dry, despite the water.

Clove is propped up against a tree, retying her hair. Ariel is on the ground, drinking her water as well. Glimmer and Marvel are both wiping the ash and sweat off of their faces. Peeta is almost asleep.

“Yeah,” breathes Clove. I crawl over to her tree, and hand her my bottle. She smiles at me gratefully, and finishes it. “Sorry,” she says, handing the empty bottle back.

“It’s fine.”

We rest for an hour. I nearly fall asleep, but Glimmer reminds us that there are still tributes to find.

Everyone’s still coughing, and our voices are still raspy. After walking for a few hours, the sun begins to set. We think of setting up a place to sleep when Marvel calls us.

He points towards a pond. "There she is!"

Katniss, the girl on fire, was scrambling in the water, having seen us.

"Come on!" cries Clove, beginning to run towards her.

District 12 girl rushes into the trees. But she seemed to be limping a bit, which was slowing her down. So we chase her all the way to a huge tree. She swiftly climbs up it, higher and higher. We all look up at her. I’m grinning with dark glee. Holding up our weapons, the girl seems a bit nervous.

Something seems to go through her mind. She smiles. “How’s everything with you?” She calls down cheerfully.

We’re a bit confused. I’m the first to recover.

“Well enough,” I say, playing along. “Yourself?”

“It’s been a bit warm for my taste.” she says, still smiling obnoxiously. “The air’s better up here. Why don’t you come on up?”

What’s she playing at? I wonder. “Think I will,” I say.

Glimmer offers me her bow and arrows. “Here, take this, Cato.”

“No,” I say rejecting the bow. “I’ll do better with my sword.” I pull out my weapon a bit from my belt.

I hoist myself up into the tree, and Katniss begins to climb again. I climb up about fifteen feet, before I grab a branch, which breaks. I try to grab the tree, but unfortunately, I fall, with the branch still in my hand. I hit the ground hard, and my vision blurs for a second. I growl, and get back onto my feet, swearing.

“Come on, Glimmer,” calls Ariel. “Get her.”

Glimmer starts to climb up the tree until the branches begin to crack under her feet. Obviously smarter than me, she stops climbing, before she can fall. She attempts to shoot the girl, but I know that she is hopeless with a bow. One of the arrows manages to get lodged into the tree near her, and she grabs it. The girl waves it teasingly above Glimmer’s head.

“That girl,” snarls Clove. “If she wasn’t such a coward, and actually tried to fight us, I would kill her.”

Ariel’s face is twisted into a scowl. “She’s such a wimp.”

We continue to mutter mutinously amongst ourselves. But the sun is nearly set, and I was beginning to feel a bit cold. Finally Peeta interrupts us.

“Oh, let her stay up there,” he says harshly. “It’s not like she’s going anywhere. We’ll deal with her in the morning.”

Seeing his point, we find a clearing near her tree, and make a fire. After eating a bit of food, we settle down. Clove is sharpening her knives, near the fire. Once again, I’m compelled to sit next to her. But I don’t. She probably doesn’t even care about me. It’s not like both of us can win anyway. If I don’t win, I want her to.