lethal
011 ─── bloodbath .

" you don't know until you live "

rowan's view

𝔄s soon as the gong went off, I broke into a run without hesitation, the choice already made up in my mind. I sprinted towards the Cornucopia with more urgency than that time that Gale and I had to run from a hungry mountain lion, my feat flying through the air and beating against the ground. My eyes didn't dare waver from the knives that I wanted, the knives that I had to have.

I desperately kept my momentum when I finally reached the Cornucopia so I could slide down on my knees, snatching the belt of knives and turn on my heel.

The first thing I saw was the chaos. Chaos everywhere. Peeta and Blye had immediately fled the scene, their blond and red hair noticeably absent from the Bloodbath. The Careers, Marvel, Glimmer and Cato, were mercilessly slaughtering the younger, weaker Tributes with their bare hands and whatever weapons they had time to get their hands on, blood splattering over the bright green grass.

Marvel was hacking into a Tribute relentlessly with a blade, even though the Tribute, or what was left of them, was long dead. My stomach twisted. But it wasn't nearly as horrifying as Cato, who banged the heads of two Tributes together, and with his intense strength, they both died on impact, falling to the ground, limp. Anger boiled in my stomach as I watched the nice, kind guy I talked to on the roof top be replaced by a monster, and it's all their fault. All of this is their fault.

The Capitol. The President. Snow.

Glimmer was slicing into another Tribute with a similar blade to Marvel's, a sadistic grin on her face that made me nauseous. I would be the one to kill her. Clove, on the other hand, after finishing killing a Tribute, had turned right towards me, vengeance on her face, her eyes on the knife belt in my hands.

I shot up, all of my muscles tensed, and my eyes just had a second to widen before I turned on my heel and sprinted quicker than I ever had before. I ran towards the backpack, one of the last ones in the meadow, and grabbed it, slinging it over my shoulder.

But just as I grabbed the backpack, a force that resembled that of a hovertrain slammed into me, making me fall forwards onto the ground. I turned around and scrambled away, my eyes landing on the boy from 8 standing over me with a large, curved, cruel blade in his hands. He grinned maliciously at me, making my stomach turn.

I reached for one of my knives, my eyes moving behind the boy from 8, where Clove had been distracted by another pack of knives and had forgotten about me. That wasn't going to help me in the slightest.

I looked back up to the boy, who was advancing on me slowly, like a lion playing with its meal. I moved backwards as fast as I could, my legs turning to gelatin and my hand somehow unable to through that damned knife. It was easier when it was animals, but this was a person, with a family and a future. Or, as much of one as he could have in this Arena.

As soon as I realized that, and that if it wasn't me, someone else was going to kill him, I gripped the knife in my hand, winding up. The boy could see what I was doing, because his eyes widened in horror, right before...

Right before a sword went straight through his chest from behind, sticking out of his sternum, blood dripping off of the tip. The boy's mouth opened in shock, blood pouring over his lips as he let out a strangled, hoarse gasp. Whoever had killed him withdrew the sword, and the boy tumbled to the ground, dead.

I stared at the body in shock before looking up and gripping the knife again. My eyes widened when I saw the blue eyed boy from 2, staring down at me with an unreadable expression. I let out a shocked gasp, gripping the knife so tight that it sliced into my hand, a small gash appearing on my palm.

"Go," Cato said simply, his voice low and urgent, but I was so stunned by the simple yet unexplainable word that I didn't move, my muscles frozen.

"Go!" Cato yelled again, with more force, swinging the blade around in his hand. The sudden motion made me let out a shaky nod, and I pulled myself up, turning and breaking into a harsh run as I made for the woods.

I didn't stop until I ran into the sudden line of thick trees, the backpack bouncing on my back in time with my steps. I glanced around frantically, looking for any sign of another Tribute as my legs kept me going. I made sure to avoid the sticks and rocks that littered the ground, much like the forest in 12. But I was so focused on not tripping that I didn't notice when something came from the side and smacked into me.

I was sent to the ground, knocked to the side. I immediately whipped out a knife, pulling myself up, and my eyes landed on a terrified Blye Spectral, her eyes wide and her muscles tense. I crouched carefully, my muscles tense and ready to pounce if I needed to, but I hesitated.

After a moment of neither of us moving, I nodded slightly, smiling. She nodded back before tearing off in the opposite direction, one second there, one second gone.

I slide the knife belt around my waist and put the knife in my hand back in my belt, slinging my backpack over my shoulders before standing up and jogging away. I paced myself as I took off into the woods, farther away from the Cornucopia. Farther away from the Bloodbath.

Farther away from Cato.

𝔛

After jogging for a good while, the sun set, faster than it normally would have. I suspected the Gamemakers, but there wasn't much I could do about it. My nerves spiked a little when I remembered a Hunger Games where it was always night time, never day.

Nothing surrounded me but calming greens and mellow browns, the resemblance to the forest outside of the Seam putting me at ease. I couldn't be more grateful for the choice of Arena, it really was perfect. I knew how to hunt in this setting. I knew how to survive.

Suddenly, a cannon shot echoed through the Arena, making me almost jump out of my skin. I leaned against a nearby tree, looking up, immediately begin to count. I was going to need this information for later.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven.

The cannon shots stopped after that, telling me that there were thirteen of us left. I couldn't help but feel anticipation to see who died, hope blooming in my stomach that no one I knew died. Peeta didn't die.

I glanced around my surroundings, taking in the blossomed flowers and lively bushes before my eyes landed on an oak tree that went straight up and disappeared into the canopy of leaves. Perfect.

I heaved a sigh, swinging the backpack around my shoulder before walking up to the tree. I gripped the first branch I saw and started to pull myself up, gathering just enough momentum to climb with the added weight of the knives and the pack.

Gale was the one who taught me to climb a tree, while my father focused more on the hunting aspect of things. Gale taught me to make snares, and climb, more of the basic things that my father never dwelled on. Gale learned to climb from his father, who died in the same mining accident as our father. After the funeral, which was a sad and half-hearted affair, Gale and I bonded over being older siblings suddenly faced with the hard reality that we had to support our families on our own. It was our responsibility.

As soon as I reached the first large branch, which was about halfway up the large oak tree, I swung my leg over the wood, shifting a little before I leaned against the trunk, my legs stretching out on the branch. I secured my knife belt and shifted around once more before finally relaxing, my muscles going limp.

I grabbed my backpack and swung it onto my lap, opening the large zipper so I could assess its contents, something I wanted to do earlier but decided to neglect until I found a safe hiding place.

My eyes lit up when the first thing I saw was a large, bundled up sleeping bag in the backpack, with a warm, insulating center. I took it out, unrolling it and spreading it over my like a blanket, being careful not to drop anything. I knew that if I got into the sleeping bag, it would be hard to run, so spreading it over me was a smarter move.

I felt warmth spread through me almost immediately, making me let out a relieved sigh before looking back into the backpack. I reached in and pulled out the first thing I could find, grinning when I saw it. Rope, and it was a long piece of rope from the looks of it. I unwound it carefully before swinging it around and tying myself to the tree, securing my blanket. I tied a tight knot, securing myself before looking back to the backpack.

I reached into the bag again, my stomach grumbling when I pulled out a package carrying strips of what looked like dehydrated meat and crackers. I'd save it for when I absolutely needed it, but since I hadn't had time to hunt yet, I pulled out a strip of meat and chewed on it. I should've gone hunting before, but I didn't, so I was going to have to do with the meat strip.

I put the bag of food back into the backpack and pulled out the next thing, revealing a tiny plastic bottle, labeled with nothing other than the words IODINE SUPPLEMENTS in bold font. I knew that iodine was medicine for infections, which was going to be very useful.

My eyes lit up when my hand fastened around an unknown object, metal and cool. I pulled it out of the bag, clutching it when I realized what it is. A water bottle. After shaking it I determined it was empty, but a water bottle all the same. This would be useful.

I almost jumped out of the tree when I heard the Capitol anthem blast through the Arena, louder than I had ever heard it, louder than it needed to be. It was time for the Fallen. I looked up to the sky, grateful for the patch of leaves that let me see the Capitol seal in the sky.

I had never hated that seal more. I had never despised that anthem as much as I did in that moment.

The Capitol seal played for a few more moments before the first face showed in the sky. The girl from District 3, which told me that all of the Careers were alive. I couldn't decide whether I was relieved or disappointed.

The boy from District 4, the boy from District 5, the boy from District 6, both the girl and the boy from District 7, the boy from District 8, both the girl and the boy from District 9, and the boy and the girl from District 10.

The anthem stopped and the projection disappeared, causing me to let out a breath and close my eyes, comfort flowing through my veins like golden ichor. Peeta was still alive. He had survived. I had been so worried, so wrecked, but I found sudden solace in the reassurance that he was out there somewhere, and I wasn't alone.

It took me a while to recover from seeing the faces of the dead Tributes in the sky, the children who had been taken from their families just to be slaughtered within the first hour of the Hunger Games. As soon as I finally banished the sight of Glimmer hacking up that poor girl, I looked back into my backpack, seeing two more items at the bottom.

I pulled the first thing out, frowning when I recognized sunglasses. It hadn't been particularly sunny today, which made me wonder what the Gamemakers were planning for the rest of the Games. I turned them around in my hands before finally placing them on, tucking them behind my ears. My eyes widened a little when I realized that I was seeing the world in an odd green tint, but everything was visible. They were night vision glasses.

I let out a small gasp of delight before taking them off and putting them back in the bag, grabbing the final thing; a pack of matches. Small, but they would do me a lot of good. This was better than I could've imagined. I shoved the backpack, along with all its contents, under the rope, making sure it was secure before leaning back and closing my eyes.

I had survived the Bloodbath. Not just that, but I got out with not just a survival pack, but weapons. It went straight into the Cornucopia and got out without a scratch. I had proven Haymitch wrong. I smiled imagining his face when he saw me running to the Cornucopia. He must've been muttering profanities when I grabbed the knives.

I remembered Peeta running into the woods when the gong sounded. He had barely looked back, just taken off. I couldn't tell whether what he did was smart or cowardly. Regardless, I hoped he was okay.

Marvel, Glimmer, Cato, Clove, the boy from District 3, the girl from District 4, Blye, the girl from District 6, the girl from District 8, Rue, Thresh, Peeta and me.

Taking account of who was still alive was much like counting sheep, and it wasn't long before I drifted off, the first day of hell over.

𝔛

I woke up to the sound of crackling fire, but the sky was still dark, yet strangely absent of stars. It was blackness that swallowed me whole, and the only thing that managed to drag my eyes away was the flickering orange light of the fire that had woken me up, just past the nearby trees. There was a figure huddled by the fire, with her arms wrapped around herself. She was clearly shivering, and while I felt a quick burst of sympathy, it quickly faded when I realized how stupid she was being.

I rolled my eyes and looked away, but I only had a few seconds to close my eyes before I heard the glint of a knife. I turned back just in time to hear the piercing scream, quickly followed by the cannon and the face of the girl from District 6 in the sky. 12 of us left.

I grimaced, turning away, refusing to watch the girl slaughtered like I had watched during the Bloodbath. I winced, however, when I heard a shrieking laugh echo through the forest, a shrieking laugh I knew quite well.

It was Glimmer, which meant that it was the Career pack who had killed the girl.

I silently looked to the right, watching in horror as Clove emerged from the tree line, looking back with a large grin that turned my stomach. She laughed sadistically, Marvel following close being. The shrilling laugh of Glimmer increased, and Glimmer emerged from the trees, clinging to a figure beside her. Cato.

My breath hitched as soon as my eyes landed on the boy who saved my life; for what purpose, I didn't know. The blood glinting off of his sword was still fresh, telling me that it was him who killed the girl. I flinched a little, my lips pressing into a thin line. I made sure that my breaths still came slow and quiet, even though all I wanted to do was scream.

"No! Please don't kill me! Oh no!" Glimmer cried, imitating the girl's screams as she shoved herself in Cato's face. She had not-so-subtly pulled her shirt down and unzipped her jacket, so she was drowning the world in her cleavage.

One would think Cato would be ecstatic, having Glimmer all up in his face like that. After all, she was gorgeous. But instead, he just looked sour as Glimmer climbed all over him. He had a poker face on, but his lips were pressed in a thin line, and he was avoiding Glimmer's eyes.

"That's a pretty good impression," Marvel laughed from up front, and even from way up in the tree I could see Cato roll his eyes. Marvel was clearly trying to redirect Glimmer's attention to him, but it wasn't working.

And then Cato turned around to the silent, still tree line, calling out, "Hey, lover boy!" And Peeta emerged from the trees, a blade in his hands and a breathless expression on his face.

I felt the urge to scream multiply, my throat turning hoarse and my hands clenched into fists. Peeta, the sweet boy from my District, the boy who saved my sisters and I from starvation, the boy who talked to me about not wanting the Capitol to change him. He was with the Careers.

"Are you sure she went this way?" Glimmer scoffed, narrowing her eyes at Peeta. I shifted carefully, moving closer to see what was going on. I noticed that the expressions of all the Careers, save for Cato, had shifted to guarded and sour as soon as Peeta appeared. Reluctant ally, it seemed.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Peeta nodded, glancing to the tree line opposite Clove. He looked a little stunned, but I couldn't help but preoccupy my mind with whoever they were looking for. Blye?

"You better be," Marvel scoffed, turning away, dismissing Peeta completely.

"Yeah, those were her markings back there," Peeta said, pointing in the opposite direction from where they were moving. My stomach dropped when I realized he was pointing to where I had snapped a tree branch to mark my spot, just in case. My eyes widened while Peeta started forward, the sudden urge to cry overcoming me.

"When we find her, that bitch on fire is mine," Glimmer snarled, a sadistic laugh coming onto her lips. My eyebrows raised in shock, however, when Cato just looked down at her and gave her a glare, a fiery glare accompanied with a small snarl.

He didn't say anything, though, and Glimmer shrieked a laugh one more time before marching off in the direction that Peeta seemed sure I went in, followed by Clove, Peeta and Marvel. They all left Cato, seemingly unaware that he hadn't left.

Even though Cato was still standing there, he moved towards where they disappeared to follow him, making me let out a shaky, loud breath and look down. As soon as I realized what I did, I brought up my hand and clapped it to my mouth, my eyes widening when I realized how loud the sound was. I turned my head to the side slowly...

And my eyes connected with Cato's.

We stared at each other for a few moments, my dark brown eyes clashing with his icy blue eyes even as the laughs of Glimmer faded in the distance. My muscles were tense with fear, fear that Cato would call me out and hunt me down. One word from him and all of the Careers would come running back.

But, to my astonishment, Cato didn't yell out, he didn't say anything, he didn't smirk... he just kept looking at me, and, almost imperceptibly, the corners of his mouth turned upwards in a barely visible smile. And then he turned on his heel and marched off in the direction that his allies disappeared.

It was in that tree, falling asleep again that I realized... I would not still be alive without Cato Hadley.

xxx

a u t h o r ' s n o t e:

How'd you like it? I love Rowan and Cato so much, they're adorable. More chapters coming soon!