Chapter 24 Chapter 24 Threats

I took some time to explain the situation to Peeta.How Foxface stole the food before I blew up the supplies, how she just took enough to keep herself alive without being noticed, and how she didn't suspect the berries we were going to eat. "I wonder how she found us? Guess it's my fault, if only I walked more lightly," Peeta said. Is it difficult to track us?It's about the same difficulty as tracking a herd of cattle, but I don't want to irritate Peeta with harsh words, "She's smart, Peeta, well, I should say she used to be smart, but you're smarter than her."

"I didn't mean it, it didn't seem fair, I mean, if she hadn't eaten the berry first, maybe we both would have died." Then he corrected himself, "Oh, no, of course we wouldn't, you Recognize the berry, right?" I nod. "We call this fruit the Suo Ming Guo." "The name alone sounds scary enough," he said. "I'm sorry, Katniss, but I really thought it was the kind of fruit you picked." "Stop apologizing, we're one step closer to going home, right?" I asked. "I threw the rest away," Peeta said.He picked up the blue plastic sheet, carefully wrapped the berries inside, and was about to throw them away in the woods.

"Wait a minute," I yelled.I found the leather bag of the boy in District 1 and put some berries from the plastic cloth in it. "If that fools Foxface, it might fool Cato too. If he's after us, we'll pretend we've lost the leather pouch, and maybe he'll eat it—" "That way, we can say, 'Hi District 12,'" Peeta said. "That's right." I said, pinning the leather bag on my waist. "He's probably figured out where we are now," Peeta said. "If he's around and sees the helicopter, he'll know we killed her and come after us."

Peeta was right, this might be the moment Cato had been waiting for.Even if we run now and don't light the fire, he will know our whereabouts. "Let's light the fire, now." I started to gather firewood. "Are you ready to fight him?" Peeta asked. "I'm ready to eat, and I'd better roast the meat while we still have the chance. If he knows we're here, let him know. But he also knows we're two, and maybe he thinks we're here." Chasing Foxface, which means that you have recovered; the fire shows that we are not hiding and are waiting for him to come. At this time, it is you, do you dare to show your face?"

"Maybe not," he said. Peeta is an expert at starting fires, slowly lighting the flames with wet wood.After a while, our rabbit meat and squirrel meat were roasted, and the plant roots were wrapped in leaves and roasted over charcoal fire.We took turns picking weeds, keeping an eye out for Cato.As I expected, he didn't dare to show his face. After the food was cooked, I wrapped more than half of it, leaving only one rabbit leg, and the two of us ate while walking. I intend to go deep into the forest, find a big tree to hide, and prepare to spend the night there.But Peeta was adamantly against it. "I can't climb trees like you, and I don't have good legs, and I don't want to fall fifty feet in my sleep."

"It's not safe on the ground, Peeta," I say. "Can't we go back to the cave?" he asked, "It's close to the water source, and it's good for defense." I sigh.We'd walk for hours in the woods, or rather, we'd have to clatter all the way back through the branches and leaves, stay overnight and hunt the next day.But Peeta's request is not too much, he obeys my command all day long, and in turn, he would not ask me to spend the night in a tree.Reflecting on myself, I wasn't too kind to Peeta today.Nagging him too loudly, making a lot of noise because he couldn't find him.The romance we had in the cave was lost in the wild, in the hot sun, in the menace of Cato.Haymitch must be blaming me again, and the audience...

I stood on tiptoe and kissed him, and said, "Of course, let's go back to the cave." He was very happy, and his hanging heart was relieved, "Okay, that's great." I pulled the arrow from the oak, taking great care with the shaft lest I break it.With these arrows we can get food and safety, and we can keep our lives. We threw another bundle of wood into the fire so that the smoke would linger for a few more hours, though I doubt Cato would have acted upon seeing it.By the time we got back to the stream, the water level had dropped considerably, but the stream was still flowing as slowly as ever.I suggest that the two still walk in the stream.Peeta is happy to follow my advice so that his voice is much quieter than on land.But this may not be a very good idea. Even if we go down the stream, there will be rabbit meat to replenish our energy, but it will take much longer to return to the cave.Both of us were very tired and did not eat enough.Arrows were always on my bow in case of Cato's attack, but I couldn't catch any fish.But strangely, there seemed to be no living things in the creek.

By the time we reached our destination, our legs were sore and weak, and the sun was about to set.We filled the bottles with water and walked over a small hill to the cave.Although this stone cave is inconspicuous, it is the place most like "home" in the vast wilderness. In addition, it is warmer than the trees here, which finally gave us a little shelter. At this time, the cold wind was blowing slowly from the west.I set up my delicious dinner and Peeta started to doze off halfway through.He has been inactive for many days, and he is tired enough to go hunting today.I ordered him to sleep in his sleeping bag and save the rest of his food to eat when he woke up.He was fast asleep and I pulled the sleeping bag under his chin and kissed his forehead.It's not for the audience, it's for me, because I'm grateful that he's alive and well, not lying by the stream like I thought, and I'm glad I don't have to face Cato alone.

Cato, a cruel, bloody fellow, he can break a man's neck with a single blow of his arm, he can beat Saresh, he's been on my side since the beginning, maybe when I pass him in training , already hated me.A boy like Peeta would laugh it off.I have a feeling my good grades are distracting him too.I remember when I blew up their supplies and the others just felt uneasy, but he seemed to go crazy, and I wonder if Cato is completely sane now. The national emblem appeared in the sky, and the image of the fox's face flashed in the air, and then disappeared completely from this world.Even though Peeta didn't say it, I think he must have felt bad about her death, even if it had to be.I can't pretend I miss her, but I admire her, too.I think if you test everyone, she must be the smartest one.If the poisonous berry is a trap we deliberately set, she will definitely feel it and won't eat it.It's because Peeta didn't know it that she died.I keep reminding myself not to underestimate my opponents, but I forget that it is just as dangerous to overestimate them.

My thoughts went back to Cato.I have a certain judgment on Foxface, who she is, and how she will act, but I don't have this judgment on Cato.He's strong and trained, but is he smart?I have no idea.Doesn't look as smart as Foxface, and doesn't have her control at all.I think Cato loses his judgment completely after a tantrum, at least I don't think he has supernatural ability in this area.I think of the arrow I shot at the apple in the pig's mouth when I was angry, and maybe I know more about Cato than I think. Although I am tired and exhausted, my mind is still clear.It's past our shift time, but I want Peeta to get some sleep.It was daylight when I shook him awake.He was surprised when he woke up. "I slept through the night, it's not fair, Katniss, you should wake me up."

I got into my sleeping bag and lay down, "I'm going to sleep now, don't forget to wake me up if you have something interesting to do." Apparently nothing interesting happened while I was sleeping, and I awoke in the afternoon with the hot sun shining through the cracks in the rocks. "Any sign of our friend?" I asked. Peeta shook his head, "No, he's quite low-key, which makes people feel uneasy." "How much longer do you think the contest organizers will drive us together?" I asked. "Well, Foxface died about a day ago, so plenty of time to bet and get bored. I think it could be anytime," Peeta said. "Yes, I think it's possible today." I said, sitting up, looking out at the peaceful field. "I don't know what they will do?" Peeta said nothing.In fact, this question is not easy to answer. "Then there's no point in wasting hunting time until they make a move. Let's eat as much as we can now, just in case something happens," I said. Peeta puts our gear together and I lay out the food, rabbit, roots, wild vegetables, omelets with a last drizzle of cheese.I just keep the apples and squirrels. When we were done eating, all that was left was a pile of rabbit bones.My hands were covered in rabbit grease and it made me feel dirty.Maybe we don't shower every day in the Seam, but it's cleaner than I have been these days.But at home, my feet would be covered with coal dust, but here, because I have been walking in the creek, it is quite clean. Leaving the cave has the feeling that the finale is imminent, dead or alive, whatever the outcome, I don't think I'll be staying a second night in the arena.I also feel like I can get away with it today.I patted the rock to say goodbye, and walked toward the stream to wash it off.My skin craves the cool water, I can wash my hair and braid it wet, and I can even wash my clothes.But when we came to the creek, we found that the river bed had dried up, so I touched it with my hand. "Not even an iota of moisture, it seems the water was sucked away while we were sleeping," I said.The dread of chapped lips, aches all over, dizziness and dizziness from dehydration hit me again.Our water bottles are quite full, and our bodies are not short of water, but two people need to drink water, and the sun is very poisonous, so we can't last long. "The lake," Peeta said, "they want us to go there." "Maybe there's still water in the pond," I said, hoping to find water. "We can go and see," he said.I knew he was teasing me, and I was teasing myself, because I knew what I was going to see when I returned to the pond where I soaked my legs, a big hole full of dust and holes.But let's go there anyway to make sure. "You're right, they're driving us toward the lake," I said. They made no secret of it, doing everything they could to bring about a bloody, desperate fight, and nothing could stop them from watching. "Do you want to go directly, or wait until the water runs out?" "Go now, we're fed and rested. Let's get this over with," he said. I nod.It's funny, I feel like I'm back on day one of the Hunger Games, I'm in the same position, and now twenty one is dead and I'm going to end up with Cato. Yeah, isn't he killing people all the time?From the looks of it now, the other players seem to be just small obstacles. After clearing them, the real game begins, the fighting game between me and Gato. No, there was the boy next to me, and I felt his firm arms wrap around me. "Two-to-one, little fun," he said. "The next time we eat, we'll be in the Capitol," I said. "Certainly," he said. We hugged each other and stood there, basking in the sun, feeling each other's strength, the leaves rustling beside us.Then, we let go and walked towards the lake. I no longer care about the sound of Peeta's heavy footsteps scaring Asuka away, we are going to fight Cato, no matter here or in the wilderness, I will rush up without hesitation, if the organizer of the competition wants us to be in the open space, Well then, the fight started in the open space. We stopped when we got to the tree where the pros got stuck.The hive has been weathered and turned into an empty shell, and here it is, yes.I kicked the hive with the toe of my shoe, and it was instantly reduced to ashes and carried away by the wind.I couldn't help but look at the tree that Lulu climbed, and it was in this tree that she figured out this way to save my life.Tracker bees, Glimmer's dead body, horrible hallucinations... "Let's go." I said, hoping to escape from this dark place as soon as possible.Peeta doesn't object. We started late this morning, and it was nearly dusk when we arrived at the lake.There was no shadow of Cato, except for the horn of Zeus shining in the setting sun, there was no movement at all.To prevent Cato's surprise attack, we walked around the Horn of Zeus to make sure no one was there.Afterwards, still seemingly following Haymitch's orders, we both went down to the lake to fill it up. As the sun went down, I frowned and said, "We don't want to fight him after dark, just a pair of night vision goggles." Peeta carefully drops the iodine in the water. "Maybe he is waiting for the dark, what do you want? Go back to the cave?" "Either go back, or find a tree, we'll wait for him for another half an hour, and then we'll hide," I replied. I sat by the lake with no concealment at all.There is no need to hide now.In the woods next to the clearing, I saw mockingjays flying, singing cheerfully at each other like brightly colored balls, and I opened my mouth to sing Lulu's four-note tune, and they stopped, first to mine. Curious about the sound, I continued to listen, and I sang a few more times, and then a bird followed my tune and sang, and another bird sang, and the woods were filled with cheerful birdsong. "You're like your daddy," Peeta said. I stroked the golden bird on the shirt with my hand. "That's Lulu's song. I think they remember it," I said. The beautiful tune played by the bird's song spread farther and farther, and I thought this little tune was very nice.When the birdsong overlaps, it forms a wonderful harmony, which is so harmonious and beautiful.Thanks to Lulu, she used this wonderful voice to send the hard-working orchard workers in District 11 to sleep.Now that she's gone, I'm wondering, would anyone consider it a closing song? For a while, I closed my eyes and listened quietly, reveling in this beautiful melody.But something interrupted the music, the sound of running, running along a crooked course, dissonant sounds mingled with the melody, and finally the mockingjay's voice became a screeching siren. We're on our feet, Peeta has his knife in hand, and I'm nodding my bow, ready to shoot.At this moment Cato burst out of the woods and came running towards us.He had no spear in his hand, in fact, empty-handed, and came running straight at us.My first arrow hit his chest, but for some reason, it snapped and fell aside. "He's got armor!" I yell at Peeta. In an instant, Cato had already run in front of us. I cheered up and prepared to fight, but he ran past us like flying, without stopping at all.He looked flustered, sweating profusely, and flushed. It could be seen that he had been running for a long time, but he didn't run towards us. Why did he run?What do you want to avoid? I looked towards the woods just in time to see the first animal leap into the clearing, and I turned and ran, and then saw the other six, and I ran behind Cato without thinking, with one thought in mind, to run for my life.