Hunger Games 1

Chapter 36 New Allies (1)
I quickly covered my mouth, but the words were out of my mouth, the sky fell into darkness again, and groups of frogs croaked. "Stupid!" I said to myself, "how stupid!" I froze and waited for the attacker to appear in the woods, but there was no sound around me, and it occurred to me that there were not many of us left.

Peeta has been badly injured, and he's my ally now.Whatever suspicions I had about him had to be put aside, because either of us would be cast aside in District [-] no matter who killed the other.In fact, if I were a spectator, I'd also hate people who don't unite with their own players.Besides, it pays to protect each other.In any case, as two star lovers from District [-], it is impossible to get any sympathetic patronage without helping each other.

Star lovers... Peeta has definitely been playing this angel role.Otherwise, why would the contest organizers change the rules?Just to allow both players to appear at the same time when they win.Our romance is sure to spread among the audience; to curse it is to threaten the success of the contest.Don't thank me, all I did was try to avoid killing Peeta; but he did everything to convince the audience that it was all about keeping me alive.He shakes his head when I'm about to run for the Horn of Zeus; he fights Cato to make me escape; he even hangs out with the pros to protect me.As it turned out, Peeta was never a threat to me.

Thinking of this, I smiled.I put my hands down and turned my face up to the moon so the camera could catch me.

So, which of the rest should be the one to be afraid of?Fox face?The boy from their area was dead, and she was alone at night, and her current strategy should be to avoid, not attack.I think, even if she hears my voice now, she doesn't want someone to kill me.

Then there's Sarrish, well, he's a serious threat, but I haven't seen him since the game started, not once.I remembered that Foxface immediately became alert when she heard the sound after the explosion, but instead of running into the jungle, she ran in the opposite direction, toward the arena in a direction I was not familiar with, and I felt pretty sure that the person she was hiding from was Salish, and that was his domain, where he would never hear me, and even if he did, I climbed so high that no man of his stature could climb up.

So, that leaves Cato and the girls from District [-], they must be celebrating the new rules, they are the players who benefit from the new rules besides Peeta and me.Afraid that if they hear me calling Peeta's name, should I run away from them? "No," I thought, "let them come." Let them wear night-vision goggles and drag their heavy, branch-breaking bodies, right within range of my bow.But I know they won't. If they don't see the fire during the day, they won't take the risk because they are afraid of falling into a trap at night.Therefore, even if they come, it is entirely their own decision, not that I have exposed my whereabouts.

"Stay here and sleep for a while, Katniss." I ordered myself, in fact, I hoped to track down Peeta's whereabouts at this time. "Tomorrow, you will find him."

I am asleep.When I wake up in the morning, I am more cautious.If the others won't attack me in the trees, they can set up an ambush on the ground.I make sure I'm ready for the day's fight, eat my breakfast, check my pack, and get my weapon ready before I descend the tree.But the ground seemed to be quiet and everything was safe.

I must be extremely careful today.The pros will know that I'm looking for Peeta, and they'll wait for the moment when I do.If Peeta is seriously injured as Cato said, then I'm going to protect the two of us without any help.How did Peeta survive if he was badly injured?How can I find him?
I tried to recall what Peeta said that night, to find any clues about Peeta's hiding place, but there were no clues.So I flashed back to him yelling "Run" at me in the sun with the glistening water dripping all over his face.Peeta finished talking to me, and then Cato showed up with a knife in his hand, and he stabbed Peeta after I ran away.How did Peeta escape?Maybe he was better off than Cato after being stung by a wasp, maybe he just escaped by luck, but he was stung too, how far could he go with the sting and the venom in his body? ?How did he manage to survive the many days that followed?If his wounds and bee venom hadn't killed him, he must have been dying of thirst.

Thinking of this, I found the first clue.He couldn't survive without water, and neither could I for the first few days.He must be hiding near a water source.It's by the lake, but then I thought it was impossible, because it would be too close to the pro players' camp.Otherwise, there are a few springs in the arena, which is tantamount to waiting to die.Then there is only the creek, the one that passes through the habitat of Lulu and me, flows by the lake, and runs to the distance.If he stays near the stream, he will always be near the water, and he can keep changing his position.He can walk in streams without leaving any marks, and he can even catch some fish to eat.

Well, anyway, you can start here.

In order to confuse my opponents, I lit a fire with twigs to create a thick smoke.Even if they think this is a trap, I hope they will deduce from this that I am not far from the fire.And actually, I'm going to find Peeta.

The scorching sun quickly dispelled the morning fog, and I knew it must be hotter than usual today.I walked down the stream in the stream, the stream water submerged my feet, it felt cool and comfortable.I started to think about calling Peeta's name, but it didn't feel right.I'll find him with eyes and a good ear, or he will find me.But he should know I'm looking for him, right?He won't underestimate me, thinking that I ignore the new rules and only play wisely to protect myself, right?His mind is quite difficult to guess. Normally, guessing his mind is very interesting, but now it is not easy to find him if he guesses wrong.

I soon reached the branch off the stream to the pro camp, but there was no sign of Peeta, which was to be expected.I've been back and forth on this road three times since the wasp sting.If he's around, I'll feel it.The stream flows to the left towards a woodland that I am not familiar with. There are many intertwined aquatic plants growing on the slippery and muddy bank. There is a big stone along the river bank. The further you go, the bigger the stone is. The road ahead seems to be blocked. Now, escape from this direction of the stream, there are many rocks, and it must be difficult to guard against the attacks of Cato and Salish. It is impossible for a wounded person to take this route. I think the direction must be wrong. But when I saw blood on the corner of the boulder.The bloodstain had already dried up, and judging from the blurred marks, someone had tried to wipe off the bloodstain on the ground when the brain was not completely obeying the control.

Around the stone, I followed the bloodstains looking for Peeta, and I saw more bloodstains, some thread of cloth clinging to a pool of blood, but no sign of Peeta.I keep walking, whispering Peeta's name. "Peta! Peeta!"

A mockingbird landed on a bush and started to mimic my voice, and I had to stop.I gave up searching and crawled back to the creek, thinking: "He must have walked forward, far away."

I had hardly set foot in the stream when I heard someone say, "Are you here to kill me, dear?"

I hurriedly turned around, the voice was coming from the left side, I couldn't hear it clearly, the voice was hoarse and weak, it must be Peeta, otherwise, who would call me "honey" in the arena?I squinted my eyes and looked towards the bank. There was no one there, just mud and plants and stones.

"Peeta," I whispered, "where are you?" There was no answer.Am I delusional?No, I'm sure I heard the voice and it was very close. "Peeta?" I tiptoed along the river bank.

"Hey, don't step on me."

I jumped back a step, his voice was coming from under my feet, but I still couldn't see anything.Then he opened his eyes, his blue eyes clearly visible between the tawny dirt and the green leaves, and I gasped as he smiled, showing a bit of his white teeth.

He must have learned this in the personal disguise course arranged by the organizers of the final contest, and he could disguise himself as a tree, or a stone, or a muddy river bank overgrown with weeds.

"Close your eyes again." I ordered.He closed his eyes and mouth before disappearing completely.I judged that most of his body was actually hidden under a layer of mud and weeds, his face and arms were neatly hidden from view, and I knelt beside him. "It's good to put in effort to decorate the cake, huh?"

Peeta smiled. "Yeah, Frosting, this is the dying man's last act of self-preservation."

"You are not dying," I told him firmly.

"Who said that?" His voice was hoarse.

"I said, we're in a trench now, you know that," I told him.

He opened his eyes wide, "I've heard that too, you're so kind, you found me when I was in such a mess."

I took out the water bottle and let him drink some water.

"Did Cato stab you?" I asked.

"Left leg, heel," he replied.

"Go to the stream and wash the wound, and I'll see how it's hurting!" I said.

"Bend down first, I have something to tell you." I leaned over and put my good ear to his mouth, and his ear was itchy when he spoke.

"Remember, we're madly in love, so you can kiss me anytime you want."

I raised my head and laughed, "Thanks, I'll remember." At least, he was still able to joke.But when I tried to help him to the stream, his lightheartedness disappeared suddenly.After all, how hard can it be to walk to the creek only two feet away?But when I knew he couldn't move an inch, I realized how difficult it was.He is so weak that the only thing he can do is obey me.I tried to pull him, but despite his best efforts, he screamed in pain.The dirt and weeds seemed to entangle him, and it took all my strength to pull him out.There he lay, jaw clenched, tears stained on his mud-stained face.He was still two feet from the stream.

"Look, Peeta. I'm going to roll you in the water, it's shallow here, okay?" I said.

"Great," he said.

I knelt down beside him and said to myself, no matter what, don't stop until he rolls into the water. "I'll count to three," I said, "one, two, three!" I only rolled him once, and had to stop when I heard his horrific cry.Now he was almost at the water's edge.Maybe it's better this way.

"Okay, change the plan now, I'm not going to roll you all in." I said to him.Plus, I'm going to roll him in and god knows if I'll ever get him out.

"Aren't you leaving?" he asked.

(End of this chapter)