Hunger Games - Primrose

And you need to bump faster

ʗɧɑǷƮɛƦ 25 - Ʈɧɛ ოʊƮƮʂ
Chapter 25

The night's dark sky was covering the arena when Peeta and I next heard the canon. I looked at him with shock. He was still defiantly alive, and so was I, which meant only one thing – that Cato or Tresh had just died. Deep down, I wished it was Tresh, just so I wouldn't have to attempt to kill him or he wouldn't have to attempt to kill me. I had gained a respect for Tresh ever since he didn't kill me at the Cornucopia feast. I would have no way of attempting to kill him now. But another part of me wished it was Cato just because, well… it was Cato. He was a Career. The last Career.

The thought shuddered through me knowing that soon I'd face to face either one of these beasts. It was obvious I was going to die soon. Of course, it never really sunk in until now. If only I knew this morning that today would be my last day to be alive. But I knew that I wouldn't die without a fight. I'd gotten this far and if I wasn't going to fight for myself, I was going to fight for Katniss. She was the motivation that had kept me going through these Games. I wasn't going to stop being motivated by her now.

The anthem played and the Capitol sign shone as Peeta and I kept walking through the forest to nowhere in particular. Foxface's face light up in the sky and then so did Tresh's. So, Tresh was the one who died. I thought.

"How do you think he died?" Peeta asked a few minutes after their faces disappeared.

"I don't know. Could be anything." I said bluntly. I was much too nervous to talk to Peeta, even though I knew that this could be one of the last times we would ever talk, I knew if I opened my mouth much more, I'd probably throw up. I wasn't ready to die.

All of a sudden, a deep growling and barking came from a short distance away. Peeta looked at me with his eyes full of fear. "What was that?" he asked shakily. But his question was quickly answered, as only a hundred of so metres away in the forest clearing was a dark brown wild dog looking mutt, snarling at us. Within seconds, a second mutt appeared. Then a third. And a fourth. I was paralysed with fear until the mutts began to hurtle towards us at full speed.

My legs began to run faster than they ever had before. Peeta was close to my side running just as fast. We hadn't spoken since we'd seen the mutts, but we both knew where we had to run to. The Cornucopia. It was assured to me that the Gamemakers would have set some of the mutts on Cato to drive him towards the Cornucopia just like Peeta and I in the hope to finish the Games with as much blood and drama as possible. I was not ready for this. I was not ready for this at all.

We reached the golden gleaming Cornucopia within minutes and Peeta helped me to get up onto the top of it where the mutts wouldn't be able to reach it. As soon as Peeta and I were on safely and away from the mutts, Cato joined us, running from a huge pack of mutts himself like I had suspected. I looked at Cato as he struggled to get on the top of the Cornucopia and saw that he was very injured. He had several cuts on his face alone, and his legs had a few deep cuts as well as his chest. The mutts must of caught him off guard.

When he was safely on the roof, he pulled out a spear from a belt around his trousers. It looked like the only weapon he had on him at that minute. I loaded my bow and arrow and aimed it for his heart, but neither of us used our weapons. We were there, poised, weapons ready to kill, but not moving. Peeta was stood behind me. He was holding the little knife in his hand that I had gotten a while back from the sponsors, but I knew that that the little knife wouldn't help him at all right now. He was right to be standing behind me.

"Well go on. Shoot." He said after a couple of minutes of unmoving tension between us. His mouth turned into a snarl and blood dribbled from the inside of his mouth.

"Why don't you throw?" I said. I didn't really know why I was practically asking him to kill me. I wanted him to think that I was playing a clever mind game with him, and he would be afraid. My insides were churning and I was shaking. I was sure that I was as pale as ghost right now, showing to Cato that I was fearful of him and what he may do, which just made me even more afraid.

"Putting pride to my district by killing. It's the only thing I know how to do." He said, his smile disappearing. "Hey, is that what they want, hey? Is that what they want?" He shouted up at the sky, slightly lowering his spear. I was pretty sure he was speaking to the Gamemakers.

"Yeah. That is what they want." I said bravely as I tightened my arrow on my bow string.

He looked back up at me. His eyes were dark and emotionless. "One more kill." He said, aiming his spear again. "Just one more."

And at that point, I let my arrow go and it flew straight into his gut. But before he fell off the Cornucopia to the hungry mutts below us, he threw his spear directly at me.

I waited for the intense pain of the spear entering my body, killing me within seconds, but it never came.

And that's when I noticed the boy shrivelled in front of my feet.

Peeta had jumped in front of the spear to save my life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I want to take a vote:
Do you want Peeta to die?

 

ʗɧɑǷƮɛƦ 26 - Ʈɧɛ ɛɳɖ օʄ Ʈɧɛ βɛցɪɳɳɪɳց

"PEETA!" I screamed collapsing on the Cornucopia roof next to him. He groaned as he placed his hands over his bleeding stomach where the spear was still sticking out from. I grabbed his hands and interlocked them with mine. "No. No, no, no, no, no." I said.

"Unfortunately yes." He said breathily giving a weak smirk.

"Even when you're lying here with a spear in your gut, you still find a way to make a joke," I said meeting him with the same weak smirk. I brushed my thumbs over his hands in an attempt to comfort him. Peeta groaned from the pain in his stomach. My trousers were beginning to get soaked in his blood. My face turned to stone. "You can't be dying, Peeta. No. You can't. You jumped in front of me, you're taking my death, Peeta. This can't be happening." I said. Tears struck me as I spoke and I made no effort to hide them.

"Oops." He said, laughing a little. He looked up at me with his beautiful blue eyes. I was going to miss those eyes. He lifted his hand weakly to my face and wiped away one of my tears. "Prim-"

"No!" I shouted. My sobs were getting uncontrollable now. "You're not going to say your goodbye. No. You can't. You're going to get better, Peeta, I swear. We'll get some bandages from sponsors and medicine and you'll be okay, I swear-"

And right then, I spotted the nightlock berries I had gathered a while back.

"Peeta!" I shouted, getting a little better with my crying. "The berries!"
"What good will these do?" he moaned, clutching his stomach.
"If you die and I live, I would never...be able to really live," I started, handing him a couple of the berries. "So this year, they won't have a victor."

He was hesitant at first, but then spoke up.

"On three?" he said. I nodded, sitting down next to him on top of the Cornucopia, feeling the spear brush up against my back.
"One," I said.
"Two," he said.
"Three!" we said together, popping the berries in our mouth.

"Stop! Stop! Let me present the winners of the 74th Hunger Games, Peeta Mellark and Primrose Everdeen!"

I spat out the berries, got the water skins out and gulped it down as Peeta did the same.

"Did you swallow any?" I gasped as I continued spitting out any last remains of the deadly juice.

He nodded grimly, then gave me a weak laugh and said he was joking. We hugged briefly as two ladders came down to take us back to the Capitol. The current in the ladder froze us in place, and took us to different hovercrafts.

As the nurses and doctors started doing a full body scan on me, I couldn't help but wonder how Peeta was doing. If he had made it. If he was still alive and breathing.

The next few days passed by quickly, as I was sleeping most of the time.

I got up from my bed and walked to what I was told was where Peeta stayed. As I walked in, I braced myself for the worst...

But I found the best.

"Peeta!" I cried happily, sprinting over to his hospital bed, hugging him tightly.
"You're not supposed to be here," he laughed lightly, hugging me back.
"I don't care," I dug my head into his chest, then stood up. He didn't have a shirt on, but that's not why I was perplexed. "Your stomach!"
"I can't believe it either," he laughed, rubbing his now healed stomach. "The doctors are magical here."

For the rest of the time, we just laughed and talked and cried.

A while later, it was time for the interview. It had just been basic questions, most about Rue's and my opponents' deaths, our reactions, etc.

"When you pulled those berries out," Caesar Flickerman directed a question towards me. "What were you thinking?"
"I just know...that if I had just let him die...and not tried anything to make it as painless as possible- I would have never lived with myself. I probably would've been dead by now out of sadness."
"I think I speak for everyone when I say that I'm very moved you would do that for someone you've known for such a short time," Caesar said. "Thank you both for your time, and have a wonderful life full of happiness and glory."

We said our goodbyes, and on the train, Haymitch led us to a small compartment on the train.

"Do you know what's happening?" he said. Peeta and I looked at each other with confused looks. "The moment you pulled those berries out, President Snow has you targeted as an enemy. You've lit the fire to the rebellion. You're the reason he is now worrying that he'll be out of power, or worse, dead soon."

We both gasped, then had to go back to regular emotions when we went back to the main compartment, even though the thoughts of President Snow trying to assassinate us were stuck in our heads.

As we were getting only miles away from District Twelve, I slumped down next to Peeta.

"You have to tell her," I said, looking at him. "Tell her how you really feel."
"I know," he said, scratching his silky blonde hair. "I'm just afraid she won't feel the same."
"After protecting me from the horrors of the arena...there's no way she can turn you down."

He just nodded, staring blankly at a wall.

"Let's just hope," he said, giving me a small smile.

The train came to a halt, and the doors opened, revealing probably everyone from my district.

This is only the end...of the beginning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aaaahhhh. It's over

 

Erm. There was. Until I changed the story