Clato

chapter forty-three

The gamemakers dried up all the ponds and rivers, so everyone would have to go to the lake for water. They were proud of the mutations they had made. They put them in play in the forest.
They were designed to scare, and they were doing well.
Cato ran, panting. He tripped a few times but got back up. The mutts were getting closer, and he was scared.
The gamemakers brought the sun up. It was time for the final day.
Cato crashed through tree branches. He thought that maybe he could climb a tree, but he slowly put that out of his mind as he remembered the last time he tried to climb a tree.
The mutts chased him further, not tiring.
The arena got darker after a few hours.
Cato was getting exhausted, he spotted the lake and ran along side it. Crashing through the brush, he felt something hit him, the sound of metal hitting metal, and then bounced right off.
It was then that Katniss and Peeta realised that Cato was wearing the body armour. Katniss yelled it to Peeta. They had been standing by the lake for quite some time.
Then they saw the mutts and trailed after Cato in shock.
* * *
Cato was heading right for the cornucopia, unarmed. He had thrown away his remaining weapons, they weighed too much. He stumbled a few times. He reached the golden horn and he begun to climb.
Peeta couldn't run fast enough and Katniss looked back. Peeta urged her on. Katniss climbed up and shot down a mutt as she helped Peeta up.
Cato rolled onto his back and panted, catching his breath.
Katniss and Peeta watched the mutts.
"Can they climb it?" Cato choked out.
"What?" Katniss shouted back.
"He said, 'Can they climb it?'" Peeta replied.
The mutts assembled and stood on their hind legs, trying to find a way up. Some sniffed, some licked and some scratched at the metal. They called to each other. They told the blonde one to jump.
* * *
Cato groaned as he sat up, wiping sweat away from his forehead. He slowly stood up after calming himself.
Katniss shrieked.
"Katniss?"
"It's her!" Katniss exclaimed.
"Who?" Peeta asked. "What is it, Katniss?"
"It's them. It's all of them. The others. Rue and Foxface and... all of the other tributes. "
Cato looked at the mutts, he spotted one with gorgeous eyes, so familiar and so..
The mutt looked back at him. She had dark fur and the number '2' on her collar. She remembered seeing videos of what her masters had called 'her identity'. They had programmed her to be the wolf version of her, and instructed her to do so. She remembered the boy. Her identity had always been so sweet towards him. She backed off a little bit.