Chapter 25 Chapter 25 Fighting

A mongrel, yes.I have never seen this kind of dog, this is no ordinary dog.This kind of dog is like a big wolf, but which wolf can easily stand on its hind legs?Which wolf seems to have wrists, waving its claws at its allies to make them charge forward?These are what I saw at a distance, and they must be more ferocious when I look closer. Cato sprinted straight for the Horn of Zeus, and there was no doubt that I would follow him.If he thinks it's safe there, who can I argue with?Besides, if I run into the woods, Peeta can't outrun them with that leg--ah, Peeta!It was only when I put my hand on the metal point at the end of the Horn of Zeus that I suddenly remembered my ally. Peeta was about fifteen feet behind me, dragging his injured leg and running as hard as he could, but the wild dog was running. Approaching him step by step.I shot an arrow at the pack of dogs, and one fell, but the others followed.

Peeta waved at the top of Zeus' Horn. "Run, Katniss, run!" He was right, on the ground, neither of us can protect either of us.I started to climb up, using both hands and feet.The Horn of Zeus is very similar to the containers we use for harvesting. The golden surface has no edges or seams, and it is impossible to grasp.After a day in the sun, the metal surface of the Horn of Zeus burned my hands. Cato was lying on his side at the very top of the Horn of Zeus, a good twenty feet above the ground.Gasping for breath while throwing up on the edge of the Horn of Zeus.Now is the time for me to finish him off.I stopped halfway up, nocked the arrow, and was about to shoot when I heard Peeta yell.I turned around and saw him running to the tail of the Horn of Zeus, with the wild dogs right behind him.

"Climb up!" I yelled.It's not only his legs that restrain Peeta, but also the knife in his hand.The first wild dog's paws were already on the metal shell of the Horn of Zeus. I shot it in the throat with an arrow. It writhed and died. took a step.Then I saw the claws of the dogs, four inches long, and extremely sharp.Peeta grabs my feet and I grab his arms and pull him up.Then I thought of Cato at the top, he was moving back and forth uneasily, his body twitching constantly, obviously more afraid of wild dogs than us.He was shouting something, I couldn't hear it, the dog was barking.

"What?" I yelled at him. "He said, 'Are they going to come up?'" Peeta said, and my attention was drawn back to the lower end of the Horn of Zeus. There are more and more wild dogs, and they all stand on their hind legs, very similar to humans.Each dog has thick fur, some straight, some curly, and eyes that range from deep black to golden yellow.These wild dogs have an indescribable feeling that makes the hair stand on end. The wild dogs sniffed and gnawed on the metal shell of the Horn of Zeus with their mouths, scratched the metal surface with their claws, and then barked sharply at each other.This must be their way of communicating with each other. After the scream, the dogs retreated to make room for a certain space. Then, a big wild dog with smooth golden hair ran over from a distance and jumped on Zeus. Horn, its hind legs must have been very powerful, and it was ten feet away from us, roaring again, pink lips parted back.For a while it stayed there, and that's when I found out why wild dogs gave me the creeps.The dingo's staring eyes are unlike any dog ​​or wolf, none of the canids I've ever seen had eyes like that, they were human eyes.My fears were further confirmed when I saw the bejeweled number "One" on the dog's collar.Yellow hair, green eyes, number...it's Glimmer.

I screamed in horror, and the bow and arrow almost slipped from my hand.I waited for the right moment to shoot, for I only had two arrows in my quiver.I waited, to see if the creatures could climb up.At this moment, the wild dog couldn't hold on to the smooth metal surface, and began to slide down, its sharp claws made a screeching sound like nails scratching a blackboard.I shot it in the throat with an arrow, and the dhole writhed and fell to the ground with a thud. "Katniss?" I felt Peeta grab my arm. "It's her!" I yelled. "Who?" Peeta asked. I looked around and looked carefully at wild dogs of different sizes and colors.Dingo with red hair, amber eyes... fox face!Over there, the grey-haired, hazel-eyed wild dog, the District 9 boy who died fighting over the backpack!Worst of all, the smallest one, a wild dog with glossy black hair, big brown eyes, and the number eleven marked with straw on the collar, showing sharp teeth of hatred.Lulu...

"What's up, Katniss?" Peeta shook my shoulder. "It's them, all of them. The others, Lulu, Foxface, and... all the 'tributes.'" I said, choking back. Peeta gasped, too. "What did they do to them? You wouldn't think...those were really their eyes. I'm not worried about their eyes, but what about their brains? Are there any real memories of the other 'tributes'? Their brains were Implant special memories to hate us because we survived and they were brutally killed? Do the people we kill feel like they are avenging their own death?"

Before I could speak, the wild dogs launched a new round of attacks.They were divided into two groups, lined up on both sides, and rushed towards us with their strong hind legs.A dog leaped up, its teeth inches from my hand, and I heard Peeta barking, and I felt someone jerk his body, the weight of a boy plus the weight of a dog. Press against the side of my body.If it wasn't for grabbing my arm, Peeta would have fallen to the ground, and I'm doing everything in my power to keep us both from slipping around the bend in Zeus' Horn.More wild dogs swooped on. "Kill it, Peeta! Kill it!" I yelled.Even though I can't see it, I know Peeta must have stabbed the dog because the pull down is less.I pulled him up again, and we climbed towards the top, where another evil enemy awaited us.

Cato hadn't stood up yet, his breathing was still weak, and I knew he'd recover soon enough to rush at us and kill us.I nocked the arrow, but it shot at a wild dog that swooped up behind us.This must be Tharish, who else can jump so high?By this time we had climbed out of the reach of wild dogs, and I was relieved.I was about to turn to deal with Cato, but Peeta was pulled away from me, blood splattered my face, and I thought he must have been bitten by a wild dog this time. That's when I see Cato standing on the edge of the Horn of Zeus, right in front of me, holding Peeta's head under his armpit, pinching him out of breath.Peeta desperately scratched Cato's arm, but was powerless.Peeta was terrified, not knowing whether to break free from Cato first, or to block his bleeding calf after being bitten by a dog.

With the last two arrows left, I aimed one arrow at Cato's head. I knew the arrows couldn't hurt his limbs. From this close, I could see that Cato was wearing flesh-colored tight armor. This must be the Capitol. Advanced armor provided.Did you get this armor from the banquet backpack?Well, they should have sent him a face armor.Cato laughed wildly, "You shoot me, he will fall with him." Yeah, if I shoot Cato he'll fall into the pack of wild dogs and Peeta will die.We froze there for a moment.If I shoot Cato, I'll kill Peeta, and if he kills Peeta, he'll get an arrow himself.We stood still like statues, both of us trying to figure out what to do.

My muscles tensed and my teeth shook so badly that I couldn't hold on any longer.The wild dogs fell silent, and I could hear my veins thumping in my good ears. Peeta's lips were getting purple, and if I didn't act fast, he'd suffocate, I'd lose him, and Cato would use his bulk against me.In fact, I also knew that this was Cato's strategy. He stopped laughing wildly, and a winner's smile appeared on his face. In this critical moment, with the last of his strength, Peeta raised his hand to Cato's arm.He didn't try to break free from Cato, but deliberately made an "X" mark on the back of Cato's hand.Cato understood the sign, but it was too late.I saw the smile disappear from his face as the arrow clicked into the back of his hand.With a yell, he let go of Peeta, who threw himself back at him.In that terrible moment, I thought the two would fall together.I dashed up and grabbed Peeta, the metal shell was covered in blood, Cato slipped and fell straight to the ground.

We heard him hit the ground with a bang.Wild dogs swarmed up.Peeta and I held each other up, waiting for the gunfire, the end of the game, the final relief.But nothing happened.It should be said that it has not happened yet.Because this is the climax of the Hunger Games, the audience waits for a good show to be presented. I don't want to see it.I can hear dogs barking, people roaring, people and dogs being hurt and screaming.I didn't understand why Cato wasn't dead until I suddenly remembered the armor he was wearing.Armor protects him from neck to ankle.I realize we have a long night ahead.Cato must have had a knife or sword hidden in his clothes.From time to time, the dying howl of wild dogs can be heard, and the metallic clang of blades as they strike the Horn of Zeus.The sound of fighting spread to the side of the Horn of Zeus.I know that Cato is going to put all his eggs in one basket. He wants to go back to the tail of the Horn of Zeus, find us again, and carry out the final fight.But in the end, in spite of his great height and strength and his knack for fighting, the Dingo got the upper hand. I don't know how long it has been since Cato fell headfirst, probably about an hour.At this point we hear the sound of wild dogs dragging him, dragging him into the Horn of Zeus. "This time, they should kill him." I thought to myself.However, there was still no sound of gunfire. As night fell, the national anthem played, but there was no image of Cato, and there was a low groan in the metal shell beneath us.A gust of icy wind blows, reminding me that the Hunger Games are not over, God knows how long, and victory is still in sight. My attention turns to Peeta, whose leg is bleeding profusely.All our gear was left by the lake while fleeing from the wild dogs.I didn't have a bandage to stop the blood gushing from his calf.Although I was shivering from the cold wind, I took off my jacket and shirt and put on my jacket.I took off my clothes, and my teeth chattered from the cold. Peeta was pale in the moonlight, and I laid him down and inspected his wounds.Warm, slippery blood stained my hands.Just using a bandage to stop the bleeding is not enough.On a few occasions, I saw my mother use a tourniquet, and I followed her example to stop Peeta's bleeding.I tore off one sleeve of the shirt, wrapped it around his knee twice, and fastened the slip button.I had no stick, so I stuck the last arrow in the noose and tied it as tight as I could.It's a risk—Peeta might lose a leg—but do I have an alternative to losing my life?I wrapped his wounds in a shirt and lay down next to him. "Don't sleep." I told him.I don't know if it's medically justified to do so, but I'm afraid that once he falls asleep, he won't wake up again. "Are you cold?" he asked.He unzips and wraps me in his clothes.It's warmer this way, I'm wrapped in two jackets, and I can warm each other, and it feels a little warmer.But the night is still long and the temperature keeps dropping.The Horn of Zeus, which was hot when I first climbed up during the day, has slowly become cold now. "Gato might win," I whisper to Peeta. "Don't believe this," he said, pulling my hood up, but he was shaking harder than I was. The next few hours were the most difficult of my life.The cold was already excruciatingly painful, and the real nightmare was listening to Cato's groans, pleadings, and finally the cries of the wild dogs as they tormented him.After a while, I felt like I didn't care who he was or what he did, all I wanted was for his pain to end as quickly as possible. "Why don't they kill him?" I ask Peeta. "You know why," he said, pulling me closer to him. yes, I got it.Viewers are reluctant to move away from the TV right now.From the perspective of the contest organizers, this is the culmination of this entertainment. This pain has been going on without a break, it's mentally tormenting me, I don't think about tomorrow, I don't think about hope, I don't have the past anymore, all memory is erased, only the present is filling my brain, and it seems to me Nothing will ever change, nothing but the cold, the fear and the howling of the dying boy. Peeta starts to drift off to sleep.I yelled his name out loud over and over because if he died next to me, I'd be completely insane.He is also trying to persevere, not so much for himself, but more for me.It's hard because losing consciousness is a way out of all this pain.But the adrenaline in my body would never allow me to go with him, so I didn't let him go.I can not! Only the moon, the slow-moving star high in the sky, proves that time flows.Peeta told me the night would pass because the moon was moving; sometimes, I seemed to see a glimmer of hope, only to be swallowed up by the cold night. Finally, I heard him whisper that the sun was coming up.I opened my eyes and saw the stars fading in the morning light.I also saw how pale Peeta's face was.His time was running out.I know I'm sending him back to the Capitol. Still no cannon was heard.I put my good ear to the horn of Zeus, and faintly heard Cato's groan. "I think he's dying, Katniss, can you shoot him?" Peeta asked. If he had been near the mouth of the Horn of Zeus, I might have shot him, but it was a mercy to shoot him as it was. "My last arrow is on your tourniquet," I said. "Let it work as it should," Peeta said.He unzipped it and let me take it out. I pulled the arrow out and refastened the tourniquet as best I could with stiff fingers.I rub my hands together to get the blood flowing.I climb to the edge and look down, Peeta grabbing me from behind. It was a while before I saw Cato covered in blood in the dim light, and then I heard a little sound from the huge, one-time enemy.I know his location.I think he meant to say, "Help me." Out of pity, not revenge, I shot an arrow into his skull.Peeta pulled me back, the bow still in my hand, but no arrows. "Did you shoot him?" he asked softly. The cannon fires to answer for us. "So we win, Katniss," he said, his voice hollow. "Let's cheer," I finally said, but there was no triumph in it. The hole in the clearing was wide open, and the remaining wild dogs slipped through it, and the ground was closed. We waited for the helicopter to drag Gato's body away, and for the horn of victory to sound, but nothing happened. "Hey," I yelled at Sora, "what's going on?" The only response was the chirping of morning birds. "Maybe because of the body, we should go," Peeta said. I try my best to remember.Do you need to stay away from the corpse of the last "tribute" after the final victory.But my mind was in a mess and I couldn't be sure.If not, what other reasons are there? "Well, do you think you can walk to the lake?" I asked. "I'll try," Peeta said.Little by little we reached the edge of the Horn and tumbled to the ground.How can Peeta move if my body is so stiff?I stood up first, stretched my arms and legs, and didn't reach out to pull Peeta until I felt I could help Peeta.We made our way to the lake with difficulty.I first hold a handful of water for Peeta to drink, and then hold the water to my mouth. Tears of relief filled my eyes as a mockingbird uttered a low, long chirp and the helicopters appeared to collect Gatto's body.Now they can take us away, now we can go home.However, there was no movement again. "What are they waiting for?" Peeta said weakly.Losing the effect of the tourniquet, and coming to the lake from the horn of Zeus, his wound opened again. "I don't know," I said.Whatever their reasons for doing it, I can't watch Peeta bleed anymore.I got up to look for a stick, and soon found the arrow that had bounced off Cato.This arrow works just as well as the other.I leaned over to pick up the arrow as Claudius Templesmith's voice sounded in the arena. "Greetings to the final contestants of the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games. The originally changed rules were declared void, and after careful study of the rules of the game, it was determined that only one contestant could win. Good luck, and may opportunities always be with you. " After a few seconds of static, everything fell silent.I just stared at Peeta, unable to believe my ears.They never wanted either of us alive.It's all a gimmick designed by the contest organizers to ensure the most dramatic plot in the contest's history.But I, like a fool, bought their account. "Thinking about it, it's not too surprising." He spoke in a weak voice.I watched him struggle to stand up.Then walking towards me, as if in slow motion, he drew the knife from his waist— I subconsciously bent my bow and set an arrow, aiming at his heart.Peeta raised his eyebrows and threw the knife into the lake, where it made a splash.I dropped the bow in my hand and took a step back, my face flushed with shame. "No," he said, "shoot." Peeta limped up to me and put the bow back in my hand. "I can't," I said, "I can't." "Before they let the wild dogs out, shoot, I don't want to die like Cato," he said. "Then you shoot me." I said emotionally, and put the bow into his hand. "You shoot me and go home and live your life!" I said that knowing that death was the easier choice for both of us. "You know I can't," Peeta said, dropping the weapon. "Well, I'll always go first." He sat down and removed the bandages from his legs, removing the last barrier that kept the blood from gushing out. "No, you don't want to kill yourself like this," I said, kneeling in front of him, trying to put the bandage on his leg. "Katniss," he said, "this is what I want." "You can't leave me here alone," I said.Because he's dead, I can never go home, can't really go home.I will stay in the arena for the rest of my life, thinking about this mystery that will never be solved. "Listen," he said, pulling me up, "we both know they only want one winner, and we can only choose one of the two of us, please make a choice, for me." He confessed his love for me again. Love, how boring life is without me, but I stopped listening, the few words he said earlier echoed in my mind. "We all know they just want one winner." Yes, they must have a winner, otherwise, the competition organizers will be slapped in the face in public.All the Capitols would be disappointed and maybe executed, slowly and painfully, while the whole thing would be televised live across the country. If Peeta and I both die, or if they think we both... I reached for the leather pouch pinned to my waist and took it off.Peeta saw the leather bag and grabbed my wrist. "No, I won't let you die." "Trust me." I said softly.He stared at me blankly, and after a while, he let go of his hand.I opened the leather pouch and poured a handful of berries into his hand, and then some into my own. "Shall we count to three?" Peeta leans down, kisses me again, and says softly, "On the count of three." We stood back to back with our hands clasped tightly together. "Hands up for all to see," he said. I held up my hand, and the black berries glistened in the sun.I squeezed Peeta's hand again, as a signal, also as a farewell, and we counted, "One"—maybe I'm wrong, "Two"—maybe we're both going to die, "Three!"— — It's too late to change your mind.I put my hand to my mouth and take one last look at the world.I had just put the berries in my mouth when the horn sounded. Claudius Templesmith panicked, "Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce the winners of the seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mylark! Winner from District 12!"