Pieces in the game. (The Hunger Games)

Chapter 16: Farewell to Rue

Lilly's POV.
Once we made it to Katniss I was relieved to see she was ok, winded and had some blood coming out of her left ear but she's fully intact. As Gale helps her away to where they were hiding I look over at the wreckage that used to be supplies. Gale comes back to me and I suddenly realise we have a strategic advantage that will throw Cato off. "Gale, we can throw Cato off his game!" I say to him in excitement. He looks at me oddly. "How?" he asks. "Pull up your hood," I say to him fast. I imagine we don't have long. "Ok so take a few steps back," I smile when he does, though his eyes are scanning all around. "When you see Cato, run up behind me and grab me! I'll scream for him, which might convince him that I like him even after earlier. It'll throw him off. I'm sorry but I'm going to struggle. It may be a bit painful. We need to run away from Kat, can she see us from here?" I asked him. He nodded and then immediately signed to Katniss to stay where she was and told her the plan. So I stayed where I was and I heard them come crashing through the trees directly across from where I was standing. I put on my best shocked expression just as Cato burst through the tree line. At first he looked relieved but then I could see the look of horror on his face. Gale chose the moment I raised my hand to tell Cato not to move to grab me. He grabbed my wrist and turned me round to face him before going low and shoving his shoulder into my stomach.

The asshole made sure he did it hard enough that all the breath was knocked out of me and I bent double. Then he stood and made a run for the trees. I started hitting his back, hard enough to make it believable. I raised my head and looked over to the terrified Careers. "CATO! HELP ME!" I screamed. The fact that my throat was still raw from earlier helped as my voice cracked in the middle of me screaming, which caused me to start crying due to the pain. Gale ran as if his life depended on it and then he dropped me at the base of a tree. "Climb, quick!" he panted. The two of us started climbing until we were high in the foliage. Just as we settled we heard the pounding of the Careers feet below us. Neither Gale nor I moved a muscle. They moved on quickly. Both Gale and I waited a few minutes before climbing back down. I could see him starting at all the bruises on my body because I'd lost my jacket somewhere. I ignored it and quickly started running back towards the camp. Gale directed me to where Katniss was and I dove at her. She pulled me close and started cataloging my bruises. I could see the anger growing in her eyes. "It's ok! I'm ok!" I whispered. I could tell she didn't believe me. "Cato got the boy from 3," she whispered to us. I closed my eyes, and then flung them back open, seeing Cato above me, that horrible look in his eyes. I shook my head to dislodge the image.

The sun was beginning to set as I washed Katniss's ear for her. "I'll take first watch, I can almost guarantee I've had more sleep than both of you!" I whispered jokingly, trying to hide the real reason for not wanting to sleep. They both seem torn but they know I'll worry if they don't sleep. Katniss hands me the night vision glasses and I settle in. Looking out over the Careers camp I find myself hoping that this isn't where Katniss and Gale were earlier. They would have had a Birdseye view of what Cato did to me. It wasn't long after that Cato and Clove appeared. Where's Marvel though? Come to think of it where's Rue? I just hope they stashed her somewhere safe before this happened. It was a pretty uneventful night however the cannons went off 8 more times.... What the hell happened there? I had to stop myself from falling asleep. It was nearing dawn when I saw Cato and Clove clear out. In fact they were coming close enough to us that I put my hand over both Gale's and Katniss's mouth and nose, effectively suffocating them, in case one of them snored. Not even five seconds after they passed us at a sprint I removed my hands. It was another while before Katniss and Gale woke. Gale immediately ripped into me for not waking them and I ignored him. We all froze as we heard a laugh however, then we turned to look out of the Careers camp.

The red headed girl from yesterday, Foxface as Katniss and Gale called her was standing in the rubble of what used to be supplies laughing. She finds a few useful items like a metal pit and a knife blade. Then I realise that she was laughing because without their supplies everyone's chances of winning have increased that much more. Katniss was knocking an arrow when she stopped. Foxface whipped her head towards the drop off, pausing before she sprints to the woods. We wait and when no one turns up we decide it's time to move out. Gale and Katniss were telling me about their plan and that we were going to find Rue. We were going to follow a stream and I decline the food they offer me. Knowing they need as much as they can have themselves. Once we get to the stream Katniss and Gale refill and purify their water and then we all wash. Once dry we begin to follow the stream uphill. I spot some fresh tracks in the mud, likely the Careers and then we decide to take off our shoes and socks and walk in the stream. It seems to lighten our mood a bit, we all seem that much more carefree. Katniss even shoots a few fish as we walk. They eat one each and I decline again. Not much of a fan of fish. As we walk throughout the day Gale and I exchange a worried glance every time we catch Katniss rubbing at her left ear. What if the blast did some permanent damage.

When we stop at a clearing I can immediately tell that Gale and Katniss are on edge. I guess Rue was supposed to be here. They decide that there's nothing to do other than wait. So I helped Katniss wash her hair while she washed her jacket out. Then when we got back to Gale he started tending to her injuries. I can tell Katniss wants to ask me about Cato and I sigh. Then I spill everything to both Gale and Katniss. They both looked livid by he time I finished. "But Peeta's still out there, likely dying! I have no idea where and my heart hurts so bad! I know I've had a crush on him for ages, but I realised something, he watched out for me. He came back for me, to make sure I was ok cause he was worried. He got me to safety and now he's dying because of me and this stupid plan," I whispered the very last bit. Two seconds later I was wrapped up in both Katniss and Gales arms. It felt like home in this hellhole! Soon after we climb up some trees to wait. Katniss and Gale huddled together and I stayed away. Happy that they were ok but worried and jealous that they could have each other. Katniss again offers me food but I decline. This time I just have no appetite.

As the day wears on Gale and Kat decided that we'd go looking for Rue at the last fire she was due to light. Before we leave though Katniss scatters a handful of mint leaves explaining that if Rue arrived she'd know we'd been there. In less than an hour we reach the place where the fire was to have been. Suddenly Gale and Katniss are on alert. Gale grabs my wrist and draws me close to him, handing me a knife. I wonder what had gone wrong and my stomach sank as I saw the pile of neatly arranged wood that hadn't been lit. Where is Rue? Then I remember the canons last night and I pray that one of them was not hers. There's no signs of struggle and we crept along. Suddenly Gale stopped. Listening to what the birds were singing. "It's her song. The mockingjays are repeating her song," Gale says. Mockingjays! I look up and see them in the trees high above us. One repeated the notes and another copies it. We follow the trail of birds, grinning. Rue had to have been singing recently to them for them to repeat it. She's ok! I start scanning the trees as Gale and Katniss look around us. The birds have stopped signing, so I did something I swore I'd never do again. I sang the four notes loud and clear. The mockingjays took it up again as Kat and Gale stared at me. Though nothing could stop me when I heard the scream.

I sprinted, being faster than both Gale and Katniss I made it to the clearing in half the time they did. It gave me enough time to sprint to Rue and fall to my knees beside her as she was covered in a net. I cut her free and she threw her arms around me. It was just as Katniss and Gale got there that it happened. Rue half turned away from me. It happened before I could stop it. For as long as I live I'll never forget the pain filled word she whispered and the pain in her eyes as she looked at me when the spear entered her body. "Lilly," she whispered stumbling back into me. I caught her, steadying her. "Oh god no!" I stated. I looked up to see Marvel grinning at me before Kat's arrow pierced his throat.

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Hey guys,

You know the drill!

Love yas,

~Anna