Just a Game

Chapter Eleven

A/N: I think this will be the second last chapter... the next one will be when... you know *whispers* he dies.

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I don't sleep that night. The rain had stopped suddenly, less than a half hour after I killed Thresh. Its morning now and I'm waiting behind some tall grasses and bushes. I hear Katniss and Peeta some distance away, and wait for them to come closer. Katniss and Peeta separate, and I see my chance to attack. Katniss comes my way, and I hold my spear out. I'm about to pounce when she whistles a tune that I've heard before. I don't know where, but it was sometime in the arena.

Katniss panics, apparently looking for a return call from Peeta. When receiving none, she sprints off back to where they started off. I follow her quietly, ducking behind the trees. Even when I step on a branch and it snaps in half, she doesn't notice. I trip over a rock and I land near a bush, crushing some leaves beneath me.

"Peeta!" she calls out. "Peeta!" She turns to the rustle of a brush... but it's not in my direction. She nearly sends an arrow through Peeta. He jumps back and flings some berries into my hiding spot.

"What are you doing? You're supposed to be here, not running around in the woods!" Her voice gets loud, but I can hear a hint of worry.

"I found some berries down by the stream," he says.

"I whistled. Why didn't you whistle back?" Katniss snaps at him.

"I didn't hear. The water's too loud, I guess," Peeta says. He puts his hands on her shoulders, as if to calm her.

"I thought Cato killed you!" she almost shouts.

"No, I'm fine." Peeta wraps his arms around her. "Katniss?"

I don't know why, but I haven't attacked them yet. If Clove were still here, we would have already killed them. But something inside of me won't let me go. The two reminded me of Clove and I, or what we could have been.

Is this passion, Cato? I think to myself. No. You can't let compassion overrule your instinct to win. You can't.

I know that I must be going crazy, because I hear a cannon fire. I realize that it wasn't just in my imagination because Katniss whips around, and Peeta looks confused. I look over and see a body and a glint of red hair being lifted into the air.

Peeta grabs Katniss by the arm and pushes her toward a tree. "Climb. He'll be here in a second. We'll stand a better chance fighting him from above."

Katniss stops, her expression calm. "No, Peeta, she's your kill, not Cato's."

She's smarter than I gave her credit for.

"What? I haven't even seen her since the first day," Peeta says. "How could I have killed her?" He's dumber than I gave him credit for.

In answer, Katniss holds out a handful of dark berries.

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I leave. I don't know what made me do it, but I left them alone. I hiked back up to the lake, splashing my face with the cool water. After getting rehydrated and rested, a few hours later, when I wake up, I regret leaving Peeta and Katniss. I realize that I should have killed them when I had the chance.

It's now dark, and the anthem begins to play. A picture of the girl who died, from District 5, appeared. Katniss, Peeta and I are the only ones left. I have to kill them, or they'll win. I can't let those two win because they don't deserve it. They aren't as strong as I am. I don't understand how Katniss could have gotten a higher score than I did.