Chapter 8: Tracker Jackers
We had been walking for ages and found no one. It was nearing twilight when a huge wall of fire came out of nowhere and forced us to run for our lives. Glimmer was shrieking,
"This is bad for my hair. It will get overheated!"
"Is that the only thing you can think of right now idiot?" Bellowed Clove, "We are about to be burned alive and all you can think about is your hair? You're pathetic!"
I laughed. Clove was really angry, but scared. I think we all were. We had been running for a while, and then the fire slowed and stopped as we came to the river. We slowed and caught our breath. I looked around. Nearly all of us were in tatters. Soot and ash covered our faces and clothes. We reached the river with relief. We sat down and drank some water, little by little.
I stood up, only to see a person floating in the water and not just any person, Fire Girl.
"There she is!" I bellowed and everyone stood up. I didn't care if she heard me, she was dead meat anyway.
Katniss turned around, horrified to see the pack of Careers hot on her tail. We were all shouting and yelling gleefully, we knew we could get her. She led us through the forest a bit, but then came something I hadn't thought of. She climbed up a tree. It was now getting a bit harder to see now. Night was falling upon us. I gazed at the tree she climbed.
"Smart girl." I muttered. She knew that she weighed less than any of us giving her a slight advantage. She could climb higher.
"How's everything with you?" I heard her talk down to us. I was taken aback. Why would she talk to us when she knows we're going to kill her? Then it hit me, she's playing with us, just to delay time.
"Well enough," Cato replied to her call, "Yourself?"
"It's been a bit warm for my taste," She retorted back, "The air's better up here. Why don't you come on up?"
"Think I will." Cato responded. She was taunting us. She knew that we were too big to climb up the tree and catch her, even Clove and I, and we were the smallest Careers by far.
"Here, take this, Cato." Glimmer tried to shove the bow and arrows into Cato's hands. I saw a flash of envy towards Glimmer. Katniss stared at the bow with longing. I think we'd better keep it away from her.
"No!" Cato scowled, pushing the bow and Glimmer away from him, "I'll do better with my sword." I began to doubt that Cato could reach Katniss as soon as he started climbing. After a good and healthy start to the climb, it soon became obvious that the branches no longer could support his weight and he came crashing down. He fell flat on his back and gazed up for a little bit. He was winded, and most likely, badly bruised. He got up furiously.
"Fucking tree!" He yelled.
"Here Cato, I'll do it." Glimmer started to scale the tree also, but she wasn't much better. She got higher than Cato, but it soon became evident that she was stuck, so she fired an arrow in Katniss' direction, only to impale the tree about two metres from Katniss' head. She grabbed the arrow and waved it teasingly above her head. Glimmer fumed and tried to climb the tree to stop Katniss making a fool out of her, which she had clearly already done.
When Katniss was around 25 metres in the air, Glimmer grabbed a faulty branch and plummeted down. Luckily, I had enough humanity to throw myself under her so she would have a soft enough landing.
"What'd you do that for bitch?" She snarled.
"Oh, I'm sorry; I'll just let you break your back next time. Sorry for saving your butt." I snapped. She looked down, and I knew that deep inside, she knew I had saved her. I wasn't expecting an apology or anything like that, but I gave her a look, letting her know she owes me.
Suddenly, Peeta breaks the awkward silence.
"Oh, let her stay up there. It's not like she's going anywhere. We'll deal with her in the morning." I saw the sense n Peeta's words and sat down.
"Better start a fire since we have no other choice according to Lover Boy." Clove said.
"I'll collect some wood." Jazz offered.
Soon, we had a neat fire going. I was feeling relatively safe. No one would dare attack the Careers, even in their sleep, but we still wanted to keep guard. Jazz offered to do the first shift, followed by Glimmer, Cato, Cody, Peeta, and lastly me. Glimmer tried to snuggle close to Cato, but he refused. He came down and sat next to me, much to her disgust.
"What do you make of all this so far?" He said.
"About what?" I wanted more information in his question.
"The Hunger Games. What do you think of the events so far?"
"I don't know. I seriously think they want them over fast, but not too fast. They are experimenting this year. I've never seen a fire wall. It's probably to signify Fire Girl." I pointed up into the tree where Katniss was tucked away in her sleeping bag.
Cato looked at me and smiled.
"Better get some rest. Big day tomorrow." I nodded, too tired to reply. I wrapped my sleeping bag around me and was aware that Cato was doing the same. I listened to the anthem of Panem playing. No tributes had died today. I wonder what the Capitol makes of that. I felt myself drifting off into sleep.
***
I woke to a slight tickle of sawdust on my nose. My head was confused. Sawdust? I listened intently around me and heard the sound of sawing coming from above. I opened my eyes and saw Katniss sawing off a branch. I only just realised what was on it before it fell.
"Shit!" I yelled, jumping up as the Tracker Jacker nest exploded on the ground. I looked over at Glimmer who must have fallen asleep on guard and never woken up again struggle to regain her feet as the wasps swarmed around us.
"To the lake!" Cody screamed above the noise. I raced towards the lake, not daring to look back, even for Katniss.
I heard Glimmer's scream of agony above the swarm but I kept running. I saw the lake, around 50 metres ahead of me. I dove in, with Cato, Clove, Marvel, Peeta and Cody close on my heels. We stayed under for about a minute before resurfacing. I heard a cannon shot, then another and I knew, Glimmer and Jazz were dead. They were the only ones not with us.
I would've liked to stay in the water for longer, but I saw Peeta making a bee-line for the woods where we had just ran out of. I refused to believe that he was going to kill Katniss and yelled,
"Cato!" He looked at me and I surged out the lake, pointing to the ever-decreasing figure of Lover Boy.
I ran, with Cato hot on my heels, chasing Lover Boy as he ran through the trees. We eventually found him because he was yelling,
"What are you still doing here? Get up, go! Run, Katniss, run! Go, Katniss! RUN!" He yelled. I burst into the clearing as I saw Glimmer's disfigured body and Katniss running through the trees, away from us, there was no possible way we could catch her. I turned on Peeta.
"You traitor!" I abused him, "You used us. How dare you!" I raised my knife, about to sprint at him when Cato lifted his sword aloft and brought it down on Peeta. I could tell by Peeta's scream of agony that Cato had done a good job. I watched as Peeta, barely hobbling, disappeared through the trees.
"Well, that's one loss we don't really care about." Cato commented. I examined her body, wondering if Katniss had taken anything, then I realised what was missing.
"Crap! That's how she got the eleven!" I shouted. Cato turned his gaze onto me.
"How? How do you know?" I pointed to Glimmer's hand, where she should've been holding the bow
"She can shoot. The bow's gone." He nodded, not making a sound, but he and I both were fuming inside. We had let our one main competitor come into contact with her desired weapon. The one she could use dangerously.
Cato grabbed my hand and turned me around to face him.
"We'd better be more careful now. We can't have her picking us all off while she's feasting up in the trees." I smiled as he drew closer. We hadn't been able to show any real emotions to each other since Glimmer had been by his side almost the whole time. Now she was gone and it felt a whole lot better. Cato gently lifted my head and kissed me. It was just like I remembered, soft and sweet. I gently kissed back, but we had to break since we heard the others coming to find us.
They broke through the trees and spotted us.
"What happened?" Clove asked, inquisitively.
"Lover Boy helped Fire Girl." I scoffed, "We should never have trusted him."
"Where have they gone?" Cody looked around.
"I cut Lover Boy on the leg, badly. I hope he'll slowly bleed to death. Fire Girl escaped, with Glimmer's bow and arrow." He sneered, clearly not happy.
"What's so important about the bow?" Marvel asked.
"It's how she scored and eleven in training. She can shoot and probably pretty well." They all nodded, clearly not happy with the events that just unfolded.
As we walked back to the Cornucopia, I felt my body for Tracker Jacker stings. I found four. One on my elbow, knee, stomach and neck. I managed to pull those stings out of my elbow, knee and stomach, but I had to get Cato to pull it out of my neck. That was a very painful experience. I winced slightly, but tried not to show it. Everyone else followed suit pulling the Tracker Jacker stings out of the raised lumps. Cato had one on his shoulder blade which he couldn't reach, so I had to take it out for him.
It felt strange because this was the first time I had been around Cato without his shirt on. He has very broad shoulders, which is evident along his back. I gently picked the sting out of the lump on his shoulder blade. He flinched slightly, but not much. As I circled him to face him, I trailed my finger along his shoulders. He closed his eyes and smiled, enjoying my contact with him.
My hand stopped and rested on his stomach and can I say he has one rocker set of abs. I gently placed my other hand on his stomach, before he clasped his hands over mine. I glanced over his shoulder to see where everyone else was. Ethan was by the supply pile, looking carefully at it as though something might go wrong with it. Clove and Marvel were next to Ethan, laughing and, as it seemed, mimicking Glimmer. I let out a smirk, it was quite funny. I couldn't see Cody, but I knew he was somewhere safe. Cato brought me back to him by brushing his hand on my chin.
"Don't worry about what they think. Who cares what they think? I love you, and if you love me, that's all that matters."
I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him into me. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me into him. We kissed for a while until I heard Marvel.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He exclaimed, "Since from when has this been happening?" He was giving me a cocky grin, but he was giving Cato an approving look. "I must admit Cato, I like your taste."
"Shut it Marvel!" I glared at him, and then turned back to Cato, "I'd better get some medicine for the stings."
I walked over to the supplies pile, knowing that there was a gap in the mines around somewhere. I was about to step over the line of mines I knew were there when I heard,
"STOP! Don't move Alexis!" Marvel screamed.
"What?" I said, annoyed. He'd better not be playing jokes on me.
"There are mines like, right where your feet are." He explained. I scoffed.
"Sure, I know where Ethan put them, I told him where." I glared at Marvel.
"Yeah, about that. I sort of improvised." He gradually looked up into my beet-red face.
"You....Did...WHAT???" I screamed at him. He jumped back frightened. I know I can be really scary.
"Yo...You kn...know the plan I...I told you ab...bout?" He stuttered
"The one where you said to put the mines closer to the pile and closer together?" I snarled.
"Yeah, well, I...um, sort of...um...told Ethan you wanted that to be done."
"YOU DID WHAT???" I screamed, now even angrier than ever.
He again held his hands up in surrender, like he did the first time.
"I don't see what's so bad about it." He finished.
"You don't see what's so bad about it?" I said sarcastically, "If one mine gets activated, the whole entire pile will blow up. That's why the mines are about a metre apart near the plates, so they don't blow each other up!" I could see the realisation threading onto his face.
"Oh..." Marvel looked at his feet; the only word he could say escaped his lips.
"Yeah. I knew how to put them, just to protect the food. Not so it's nearly completely fool proof!"
"Sorry, I didn't know." He said, still staring at his feet.
"How do you get in?" I asked, letting my anger calm down. I felt Ethan come up behind me and pull me over to the other side. He pointed to the ground where a couple of slight scuff marks could be seen amongst the dirt. I nodded, but I was still extremely angry with Marvel. I skipped over the pattern and came to the safe point.
I searched the supplies and found the medical box. I opened it and found the Tracker Jacker sting cream. I took it out and replaced the box neatly so it wouldn't fall down and activate the mines. I skipped through the pattern again and walked over to the others. I knew everyone had stings and I knew we had to treat them as soon as possible to stop the hallucinations that hadn't occurred, yet. I saw Cody come out from inside the Cornucopia. I guess he had heard me yelling and stayed inside.
I opened up the wide container and gestured for everyone to take some. I helped Cato with his back, and he helped with my neck. I saw Marvel still gazing at his feet. I decided I had to apologize, though I was still extremely angry with his decision. I walked over to him.
"Take your shirt off. You've got a sting on your back." I could tell he was extremely nervous to be around me. He slowly took his shirt off and I saw the sting, He obviously hadn't been able to reach it to pull it out. The lump was huge. I tried not to hurt him a lot as I pulled it out, but it was so far in, I had to really dig and he was in pain, I could tell.
I managed to get the sting out, but he was light headed with pain. I gently rubbed some cream on it and the pain subsided, or I think it did since his eyes cleared a bit. He turned around and nodded his thanks.
"Look, Marvel. I'm sorry. You were only trying to help. Look, we'd better get on with the games and leave it all behind us." I held out my hand in apology. He took it and shook it.
"I'm the one who should be sorry. You knew what you were doing and I shouldn't have messed around with it. If the supplies get blown up, it's my fault." He smiled, "I'm an idiot aren't I?" He smirked at all of us.
"Definitely!" Clove responded.
"Too true mate!" Cody said with a huge grin.
"You can't get dumber." Added Cato. I just stood there and grinned. Things were back to normal, if they ever could be classified as normal in the arena.
As the day wore on, we decided that we were going to stay at camp tonight. The Capitol had had enough action today with the two girls gone. Marvel, in apology, roasted some turkey on the campfire we had made to keep warm, but the smell of roasting turkey made it even more inviting. We sat around it, contemplating what to do tomorrow.
"Who's left?" Asked Clove through a mouthful of turkey.
"Well, there's Marvel, Cato and you, Ethan, Lexi and me; that's districts 1, 2, 3 and 15." Started Cody.
"Both tributes from 11 and 12." Cato continued, "Who else?" He wondered.
"There's the boy with the crippled foot from 10." Ethan spoke up. Clove nodded.
"Including all the ones that are dead, that's 25 tributes. Who are we missing? Who's still alive?" Clove pondered the thought but couldn't come up with an answer. I had to think about it too. Who was still alive that we hadn't mentioned? Then I got it.
"The girl from 5 that kind of looks like a fox!" I shouted, a little louder than I intended.
Everyone raised their heads and gasped.
"That's the last tribute. So, 14 are dead. Let's see what tomorrow brings shall we?" Cody said. We all nodded. It was getting quite late and the stings from the Tracker Jackers were making me tired. Lucky though, the medicine stopped the hallucinations from occurring. I really didn't want to feel dizzy and sick.
Everyone pulled out their sleeping bags and rolled up tight in them, one person keeping guard at a time. Since there was less of us, each had to spend more time on guard and it was really starting to wear us out. I took first watch. I preferred watching either first or last. Getting woken up in the middle of the night is a pain. I'd rather have a whole sleep.
I gazed up into the night as the Capitol's anthem played. Glimmer and Jazz's faces appear in the sky. The Capitol insignia ended the anthem and the sky went black again. I watched as the camp fire dimmed, until only glowing coals remained. I heard a shuffle of a sleeping bag and looked over as Cato sat down beside me.
"Hey." I said.
"Hey, Lexi. How are things going tonight?" He asked.
"Pretty boring. Nothing's happened. No one's game enough to take out the Career's camp...yet." I answered his question, but I knew that wasn't what he was up for.
I placed my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. He ran his fingers through my hair, running them down the side of my face. He stopped on my chin and lifted my head up. I looked into his crystal blue eyes, full of worry. I knew what he was worried about.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." I slid my hand into his hand on his lap. His other still held my chin.
"I love you Alexis. I never want to let you go." It brought tears to my eyes.
"I love you too Cato, I've loved you all along. You know I forgive you for everything. There is nothing to stop me from loving you. One of us is going to die in the end."
"Keep breathing, because I'm not leaving you. Hold onto me and never let me go." I felt tears drip down as he spoke those words.
I crashed my lips on his. I knew that he loved me, no matter what anyone said or told me. He was the one for me. He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. I broke away and fell crying into his chest.
"I'm not ready to let you go Cato. I'm not ready for this to end."
"Lexi," He pulled my head up and looked into my eyes, "You are going to be the one to win this. I will get you through to the end. I swear on my life."
"I will do whatever I can to protect you Cato." I promised him.
He smiled and pulled me into him. His lips were shivering as it was a cold night. I placed my hands on his head, running them through his hair. I kept closer to me. I was not ready to let him go. No one was going to take him from me, not yet. He gently pulled away from me, letting his forehead rest upon mine.
"You better get some rest, Lexi. Besides, it's my turn to watch anyway." He said, but I could tell in his voice that he didn't want to let me go. I smiled and kissed him.
"Goodnight Cato." I said. I let my left hand trail down his arm as I stood up.
He grabbed my hand and placed a small, woven ring of steel on my ring finger.
"Lexi, I love you, more than you will ever know. You are the only girl in my life that has ever made me feel like this. You will stay in my mind forever, no matter what happens to me." He stood up and wrapped his arms tightly around me. I did the same. Ever since he basically proposed, I never doubted his love no matter what Alec told me. Cato was the one and only for me, now and forever.
"I will never love someone as much as I love you Cato. You are the only person I have ever loved."
He gently kissed me on the cheek.
"I love you more than you can ever comprehend. Without you, I'm nothing. I was a shell until you came along. You completed me, something no girl has ever done before." He closed his eyes as he rested his forehead on mine. We stood there for a while, listening to the slight crackle of the glowing coals.
I was now getting really tired and he could tell. He lifted me up and walked inside the Cornucopia. He placed me inside me sleeping bag.
"Sleep well beautiful." He said, kissing me on the forehead. I was too tired to reply, drifting off to sleep almost straight away.
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Two updates in one day!!! Coz I'm awesome and all you readers deserve it.
Ok, I'm sorry if any of you take offense to the profanities used in the book. Warning you now, there will be more. I mean, if you were in the Hunger Games, wouldn't you swear??? It's an intense event and you'd be under a lot of pressure.
Enough of that, I hope you annoyed this chapter and I will keep you updated!!!
Sorry if you think this story is a bit cheesy. Oh well, I don't care!! I love it!! (sorry I'm writing lyrics!!)
-MissXanderLudwig