Pieces in the game. (The Hunger Games)

Chapter 15: Food goes boom!

Lilly's POV.
It's been three days since the tracker jackers. I know now that Peeta isn't dead but Cato gets in my face every time I look anywhere that's not at him or the other careers. The boy from 3 did a good job of digging up the mines and placing them around the stock pile. He also deactivated them which I have no idea how he did it! The careers look a little worse for wear since the tracker jacker incident and Heath in particular hasn't recovered well. He seems to have gotten the most stings and I may not have told them you're supposed to get the stinger out.... Oh well! I know Peeta is still alive but I don't think he can hold out for much longer. I saw where Cato got him and it's not good. I realise I was looking towards the forest again when Cato jerks my head back to him by nearly ripping the hair off my head. He growls a bit, but I notice something behind him. Heath, who went to get water, fell to his knees halfway between here and the lake. "Cato," I say softly as he lets go of my hair and smiles softly, running his fingers down my cheek gently. I see Heath fall forward onto his face and I get to my feet, sprinting across the distance. I hear the others behind me, and even at the pace I was going I wasn't running that fast, but I still outran them all. I fall to my knees beside Heath and turn him onto his back. His breathing is slow, ragged. "Lilly," he wheezes out.

As he does I notice the blood in his mouth, coming out his ears. "Oh no!" I say. I actually liked Heath, he made me laugh and protected me from Cato at times. "Lilly, find him! Find him and win!" he says softly to me and then he closes his eyes, taking his last breath and I sit there in shock. Partly because he died and partly because he knew! I thought I had covered myself the other day but obviously not. "Find him and win?" I hear Cato growl from behind me just as Heaths cannon goes off. "So it is true! You would rather be with Loverboy!" Cato spits out. I get to my feet and turn to face Cato, who's anger is literally jumping out of his eyes. "No Cato, no! It's you I want! You I have wanted since this whole thing began!" I say softly. I cry out, feeling the burning pain in my cheek from where he just backhanded me. I turn to run, and manage to get a few steps away when he grabs my ponytail and pulls me back against him, holding me to him with his hand on my throat, squeezing hard. I struggle to breathe as he leans down to whisper in my ear; "I'm going to make sure that we win, you and I, that way as soon as we are out, I'll claim you as mine and I'll make your life a living hell!". I try to cry out. Even going so far as to kick him in the shin, but he just laughs. He lets go of me and I fall to my knees, taking deep breaths when he kicked me in the stomach. Whatever air I had just managed to pull in came whooshing out of me.

Cato threw me over his shoulder and I can't take it anymore. "I HATE YOU! PUT ME DOWN YOU ASSHOLE!" I scream only to hear Belle sigh. Just as Cato dropped me onto his sleeping bag I heard the most beautiful sound. The call of the Whaling bird, and for all the birds I have seen I have not seen a whaling bird so Katniss or Gale must be close by. Cato lays me flat out and starts to get on top of me. He had a weird glint in his eyes and I notice all the other careers have turned their backs. He gets both of my wrists in one of his hands and drags them up above my head, pinning them down. "No Cato!" I say moving around, trying to throw him off me! The people in the Capitol might enjoy this show, they know by now that I'm lying through my teeth to Cato. He knows it now too! "Why not? I should have a little taste of what's mine, don't you think?" he spits out as he bites my neck. I scream in pain and I hear Belle and Clove trying to break through Brooke and Marvel to get to us. "Please Cato! Please stop!" I whimper as he forces his way in between my legs. I scream again as he tries to undo my trousers and finally, mercifully, I get one of my hands free and punch him in the face. He sits up, shocked and I scramble away from him, in tears. When I reach Belle and Clove they take me in their arms and drag me over to the lake. They clean the blood off my neck before I even knew it was there. Clove heads back over to the group as I just sit there. If Katniss or Gale were anywhere near they would have heard that.

"Is it true? You don't like Cato?" Belle asks softly. I bring my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them. I nod my head once and I hear Belle gasp. "I can't say I'm surprised but Peeta?" she asks softly as I start to cry again. "Always!" I whisper. My throat hurts but not too badly. As we get back over to the camp Cato looks out over the forest and yells out. There's smoke, and lots of it! Why are they burning greens? Marvel Clove and Cato begin to arm themselves at once, Belle insisting she was staying with me and Brooke insisting also, though more likely to act as prison guard. The other three begin to argue about bringing the boy from 3. "He's coming. We need him in the woods, and his jobs done here anyway. No one can touch those supplies," Cato says. "What about Lover Boy?" Marvel asks staring directly at my now fully bruised self. "I keep telling you, forget about him. I know where I cut him. It's a miracle he hasn't bled to death yet. At any rate, he's in no shape to raid us," Cato says, glaring at me when I whimper, hurting for Peeta. "Come on," Cato says as he thrusts a spear at the boy. They must think it's Katniss that lit the fire because the last thing I heard Cato say was, "When we find her, I kill her in my own way, and no one interferes". About an hour passes and Brooke has fallen asleep in her chair. I tie her to it out of sheer spite. I don't like her much. Just as I'm about to go see if I can find Katniss I see movement. I freeze and look on as the red headed girl moves towards the supplies. Belle comes to stand beside me as we watch the girl navigate the mines. She grabs some food and dashes off again, not even knowing we were watching her.

I hear Belle gasp suddenly and I freeze, turning my head to her I see a knife sticking out of her chest. Someone puts their arm around me and I lose it. "NO! NO!" I scream pulling away and turning to blindly punch whoever it was! They catch my hand and I whimper until I hear him calling my name. Cautiously I open my eyes and then throw myself into Gales arms. Surprisingly, my screaming didn't wake Brooke but Belle's cannon did. She wakes up alarmed to find she can't move. I see Katniss a bit off studying the landmines and she knocks an arrow. "We need to go Lilly! Now!" Gale says as he pulls me along. We get probably halfway across when we get knocked over by the force of the explosion. Gale throws himself on top of me and I hear both Katniss and Brooke scream. Once Gale and I have regained control of our bodies we move towards where Katniss is. I just hope she's ok!

____________________________________________________________
Hey guys,

Sorry it took so long but here we go!

Love yas,
~Annacricket.