A Thousand More (Sequel & Clato Fan Fiction)

Chapter 8 "The Creature"

Clove’s PoV

I walk back and take a sip of the water. It refreshes me and I find Cato still leaning on the rock.

“Took you long enough.” He says while reaching out. I hand him the bottle and he drinks it.

“I had a little encounter with the Careers, a tribute and some sort of creature.” I explain what had happened just a few minutes ago.

“We need to avoid that thing until we find out what it is and does.”

“Yup, exactly what I was thinking.” I agree.

“Hungry?” Cato asks while taking another gulp of water.

“Kind of.”

“I’ll go set up some snares.” He says while walking off, quickly. I sigh heavily and wait impatiently for Cato to come back. A cannon goes off and I start panicking in silence then several other cannons go off. I realise they were for the tributes that died in the Bloodbath. I walk to where I could see the view of the night sky. Pictures of each tribute light up and fade away. I whisper as I count them, 10 left.

Cato comes back with some berries and a rabbit. “Start a fire babe.”

“What if someone sees it?” I ask anxiously.

“We can beat anyone, together.”

“That’s true.” I gather some sticks and use two rocks to start a fire. He cooks the rabbit while I eat some of the berries. Rabbit was definitely not my favourite food. I grab the backpack, take out the sleeping bag and throw it to Cato.

“I’ll keep watch, go sleep now.” I tell him. Thankfully, he doesn’t argue with me, he just yawns and sleeps in the sleeping bag. I find a pair of night vision goggles and put them on. I sat down and occasionally glance around the trees. Maybe I was dreaming but I saw those piercing golden eyes again. My skin tingling from the sight of it. I rummage through the backpack and find a flashlight. I turn it on and hold it up shakily to where I saw the eyes. They vanish, gone in a second. I lean back on the rock and close my eyes tightly.

Cato’s PoV

I watch Clove squirm in her sleep. She was probably having a bad dream. My mouth and throat felt dry so I empty the water bottle and gulp it all down in one go. I find a pack of dried beef in the backpack but I save it for later, when I was hungry. I glance at Clove who was gradually waking up. I walk over, kneel besides her and kiss her. She holds the back of my neck and then pulls away. We stare into each other’s eyes, our noses touching.

“Let’s go hunt.” I say.

“I’m not hungry though.” She replies.

“Not for food…for tributes.”

“Okay, lets go!” She giggles.

She picks up our backpack and starts running swiftly through the forest. I chase after her but suddenly she stops in the middle of nowhere. Her head keeps turning like she was looking for something. Her expression was terrified; I have never seen her like this before.

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s something or someone here. I can feel it.”

“That’s creepy Clover.” I say while smirking playfully.

“Shut up Cato and pay attention.” She scolds me. I shrug my shoulders and follow her as she continues to walk carefully. I fold my arms and look around; I couldn’t see anything around here. I could hear some kind of rumbling in the distance. It got closer and closer so I turn my head towards it. I remained calm when I saw it but on the inside I felt like running. That was what Clove was talking about; something was here, not a tribute, a monster.