Are The Odds In Our Favor? ~Cato~

13. Day Three

I squint, trying to see the faces of the people.

"Hello there," a girl's voice says.

Oh no.

It's the careers.

I back away quickly but hit my head on the tree behind me.

I try to scramble to my feet and run away but the girl grabs me firmly by my arm.

"Not so fast," she says.

The boy next to her grabs me by my other arm, and I wince at the pain in my wrist.

"So, what to do with you? As much as I'd love to kill you, I think it wouldn't hurt if we took a little trip to see your boyfriend," she jeers.

"Yeah, that could be interesting," the boy smirks.

I kick her in the leg hoping she would let go, but she doesn't. She just punches me in the gut in return.

"You be nice and I won't hurt you. Be happy that we didn't kill you in your sleep," she snaps at me.

"Well, let's go," the boy announces.

They start walking, dragging me behind them.

"So, where is Cato anyway?" I ask.

"He's probably still sleeping, he was awake all night," the boy answers.

"Oh," I reply.

We walk in silence, just sometimes I grunt in pain as the boy tugs on my arm.

It's about half an hour until we are back on the meadow where the cornucopia is. I must've been going in circles, because it took me several hours before I reached my tree.
The careers have set up camp next to a huge pile of supplies. I see Cato eating an apple.

"Hey, Cato!" the girl yells. "Look who we found!"

He looks up and his eyes widen.
He stares at me while we walk towards him.

They push me and I fall to the ground.
I yelp in pain as I stop the fall with my hurt hand. I get up again and shoot the girl a glare, dusting myself off.

"So, what are we supposed to do with her? Can I kill her?" she asks.

There's a pause before he starts talking. "...No."

"What do you mean 'no'?" she says angrily.

"I mean no, Clove!" he yells.

"So what, are we supposed to dump her back in the forest?" she asks.

"No... She'll stay with us. She got a nine, so I guess she could be useful," he replies, rubbing his forehead.

The girl sighs. "Whatever you say."

"Now go, I want to talk to her, alone," he gestures with his head back to the camp. They both leave and I'm left alone standing with Cato.

"Why don't you kill me? You'd get rid of me and it would be a lot easier,"
I say.

"You know why," he answers.

"I thought we agreed on something. That we'd forget everything and act like it never happened," I say.

"I know, but it's... it's complicated."

He takes my hand and I wince at the pain, pulling it away quickly.

"Are you hurt?" he asks worryingly.

"Um, yeah. I broke my wrist."

"Oh," he sighs, "Is there anything I could do?"