Peeta's Story- The Hunger Games

Chapter 50

Her hair swishes against her back as she scampers up the Cornucopia, and all of a sudden, everything seems to be in slow motion. Somewhere in the back of my head, I know that I'm still stumbling blindly, hands outstretched, towards safety. However, all I see is Katniss- her brown hair swinging with every agile step she takes, her lithe body scaling the Cornucopia effortlessly. Seconds turn into minutes as I memorize every detail about her. When I close my eyes, her image is pressed against my eyelids, and I can almost hear her voice singing in my ear, urging me to collapse and let go.

I crash into the Cornucopia, the hot metal instantly blistering my outstretched hands, and I cry in surprise, surprised that I have made it this far. When I look above me, Katniss is standing, nocking an arrow. When she chances a glance at me, her grey eyes open wide in surprise.

“Peeta, climb!” She shrieks.

Her voice is shrill, and there is a wild fury is in her eyes as she shoots her first arrow. I hear the arrow whiz by me, so fast that it is a nearly invisible blur, but its flight is cut short right behind me, too close for comfort. My eyes widen as I belatedly realize that I'm doomed- the mutations are at my heels.

“CLIMB!” Katniss yells again, spitting hair out of her mouth. She sends two arrows simultaneously into the pack of animals as I launch myself onto the Cornucopia.

The metal scalds my skin, but I grit my teeth and squeeze my eyes shut, My right hand, slippery with sweat, cannot get a good grip on the slippery metal, and my left is still clutching the knife. I debate throwing the knife into the mutations snapping at my heels, but then decide that it will take too much time. Besides, I'll need all the help I can get to finish off Cato. Assuming I survive this onslaught, of course. My bad leg throbs and feels heavier than ever, like a dead weight insistent on pulling me down to my death. My breathing is laboured, and my heart seems to be beating faster than ever as I painstakingly pull myself up.

Right hand, left leg, push up. Right hand, left leg, push up. I repeat this mantra as I look up at Katniss. Right now, she, the vengeful goddess, is all that keeps me going. The thought of losing her drives me on.

And now I'm getting closer- just a few more inches, just a few more steps until I can reach her, but those few inches seem to stretch out into miles. My muscles ache and burn with fire I have never felt before, and my fingers are sore from clumsily grabbing at the scorching hot metal. My throat burns as I pant, like a dog starving for oxygen, and then I'm finally there, finally at the ledge.

Katniss takes the time to shoot one more arrow into the throng right under me before hoisting me up next to her. Her brow glistens with sweat and her hair is tangled into knots, blown furiously by the unrelenting wind.

From behind us, someone mutters “Can they climb it?”, and I jump in surprise, nearly losing my footing and falling off.

When I turn around, it's to see Cato doubled over, his face pale, as if all the blood has gone from it.

“What?” Katniss shouts, her eyes flashing with some unknown emotion.

“He said, 'Can they climb it?'” I translate.

Katniss turns back to look at the mutations, horror in her eyes, as I follow her gaze. The wolves are climbing on each other, forming a pyramid. However, it isn't this that scares me, it's the intelligence they seem to possess. Now that I finally get to look at them closely, I see a spark of sagacity, of human intellect, glinting in their ferocious eyes. Somehow, I know that if I ever manage to live past this, their eyes will always haunt me in my sleep.

As they dissemble from their pyramid, one lets out an unearthly howl. It has thick blonde hair, with eyes as green as grass. It rears on its hind legs and Katniss gasps, grabbing wildly for her arrows. The monster then backs up before running and leaping onto the Cornucopia, landing so close I can read its tag. There is no name on it, no form of identification, save a single number- 1.

Katniss gasps again and stumbles. “Oh- oh my god.” She whispers.

I hold out my hand to steady her. “Katniss? Are you okay?”

Below us, the blonde mutation has lost its foothold. It slides slowly down the Cornucopia, wildly clawing at the metal. A piercing and nauseating sounds fills the air- the sound of claws sliding down metal. It finally falls to the ground, landing with a deafening thump and Katniss shudders.

“Katniss?” I ask again, quietly.

“It's her,” she whispers, her eyes scanning the pack frantically.

“What?” I ask. Her head snaps back and forth, terror written all over the face. “Katniss, KATNISS! What is it?”

“It's them,” she whispers. “All of them! Rue and Foxface and-” Her voice gets higher and higher, tinged with hysteria. “It's all the other tributes!”

I frown, thinking she is delusional, but then I begin to see it. The blonde wolf, with her District 1 dog tag- that must have been Glimmer. A large mutt with glossy dark fur and eyes that look like dark tunnels growls at me. Underneath his muzzle swings a tiny golden tag with the number 11. Thresh.

All over the place, I'm recognizing the other tributes. Some of them I knew personally, but many of them I can only recognize by sight. As I'm staring at them, they all make eye contact with me, chilling me to the bone with the humanity in their eyes. “What did they do to them?” I ask Katniss, my voice shaky. “Do you think those are their real eyes?”

She doesn't respond, instead choosing to scan the mutations tersely. They have apparently changed strategy now as one of them howls and they separate into two groups and leap into the air.

Suddenly, before I can blink, something grabs ahold of my leg, sinking into it. The pain is blinding and I scream, my voice hoarse. My arms flail and I grab the closest thing to me, which tugs me back towards the Cornucopia.

It feels like I'm being ripped apart as Katniss hangs onto me. A mutation still has its fangs sunken deep into my leg, slowly tearing my flesh apart. Somewhere in the distance, I hear Katniss screaming.

“Kill it, Peeta! Kill it!”

The pain is blinding as gravity pulls the animal to the ground. My leg is being ripped apart. Somehow through all the pain, I hurl my free hand towards my hurt leg, stabbing the animal blindly with the knife in my hand. Finally, after eons of pain, the weight on my leg lessons and the mutation falls to the ground.

Katniss pulls me up to the ledge again and looks around frantically. “Come on, let's go,” she pants, half dragging me towards the top.

I can't feel my leg anymore, so I hobble on it, desperate to reach higher ground, where it'll be safer, but I never get there. I let out a shrill scream as something grabs me from behind and my hand slips out of Katniss's grasp.

Then something is choking me, strong arms wrapped around my neck, not allowing me to move. Cato twists my leg painfully and I let out a choked sound, clawing at his face. I can't breathe anymore and all the effort is too much exertion for my oxygen-deprived brain. I grab weakly for Cato's face a few more times, but he just bats me away like a fly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Katniss, rage in her eyes, as she lifts her bow and points in menacingly at Cato. “Let. Him. Go.” She spits. She aims the arrow at his face to prove her point.

Instead of letting me go, Cato just laughs. “Shoot me and he goes down with me.”

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remember to vote if you liked it! (i sound so pathetic, asking for votes :P)

also, just wondering, has anyone read I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore? I feel like that'd be good fanfic material :)