18 DAYS

Chapter 11: The Tracker Jackers.

Pulling at the bark, the skin of his fingers was being ripped to shreds but he was not progressing. Cato was pretty sure he had started shouting at her to get down. But he couldn't hear himself, like a rabid animal drooling and violently attacking without prejudice. Falling back down and starting again to get to her by the will of his rage.

With his third fall, his felt a small hand on his shoulder pulling him back. Back to sanity perhaps.

"Cato stop." Few words not screamed, but said with unequivocal clamness. Immediatly standing in stillness, with only his chest rising up and down like his heart might come out of his mouth.

The hand then moves from his shoulder to his neck, the tip of its fingers slowly reaching the bottom of his cheek. But not quite daring to go further.

"Cato look at me." 

His eyes fall down into Clove's. Her face is torn into pure fear, usual mask of indifference completely disapeared in favor of her concern. It has the instant power to bring Cato back to his senses. Being able to look at her like no one else can see her, it's like a gift. He didn't want to make her worry, but the fact that she would only have that expression on her face because of him... It was breathtaking.

"I'm here", he whispers back at her. "I don't know what happened".

"It's okay." She audibly breathes out, obvioulsy relieved to see a presence behind his eyes.

As her hand falls down from his neck now that she can feel a steady pulse, Cato places his hand on her hip by habit. She almost doesn't notice how wrong the situation is until a commotion of branches cracking echoes being them.

Clove pulls back in a instant. "Glimmer. Your bow."

As the blond girl finally appears in front of the oak, closely followed by a Marvel soaked to the bone, they notice Katniss up in the tree. "Jesus that girl. She's going to be a pain in the ass 'till the end."

Uncomfortable as ever with her weapon, she brings it to a brace. It was pretty clear she had mostly learned how to use her charms than to fight. Cato wasn't sure how far she thought beauty would take her, he never heard anyone win the games that way. But then he couldn't deny the power the love of a woman had on people.

"Again." His incapacity to think straight had forced Clove to act as general.

As Glimmer shoots another arrow, he quickly shakes his head and forces himself to the present. "Where is Peeta?"

The moment he says that, the baker boy runs out of the trees. His inner conflict becomes instantly clear when his gaze finds Katniss's in the branches.

As Glimmer shoots another arrow that fails to reach its target, Peeta speaking up is the only thing keeping Cato from plunging it into her neck thus ending her sufurring uselessnes.

"Let her stay up there. She's not going anywhere. We'll deal with her in the morning."

Cato frowns. He wasn't a fool. It was clear the boy from 12 didn't want to kill his TV love interest, fake or not. But what he said made sense. They couldn't get to her, and the trees nearby where too appart for her to climb out of it. Not wounded at least.

"I agree. Either she'll get thirsty, or hungry. Or she'll simply fall down. Either way, let's settle for tonight and put a watch in place. "

The five teenagers put down the few stuff they dragged through the river with them. Cato pulls his sword from its sheath to settle it on the ground, next to his damp jacket he'll use as a pillow for the night.