第64章

  somewhere in my befuddled mind one thought
  connects to another and i’m on my feet, teetering through the
  trees back to glimmer. the bow. the arrows. i must get them.
  i haven’t heard the cannons fire yet, so perhaps glimmer is in
  some sort of coma, her heart still struggling against the wasp
  190
  venom. but once it stops and the cannon signals her death, a
  hovercraft will move in and retrieve her body, taking the only
  bow and sheath of arrows i’ve seen out of the games for good.
  and i refuse to let them slip through my fingers again!
  i reach glimmer just as the cannon fires. the tracker jack-
  ers have vanished. this girl, so breathtakingly beautiful in her
  golden dress the night of the interviews, is unrecognizable.
  her features eradicated, her limbs three times their normal
  size. the stinger lumps have begun to explode, spewing putrid
  green liquid around her. i have to break several of what used
  to be her fingers with a stone to free the bow. the sheath of
  arrows is pinned under her back. i try to roll over her body by
  pulling on one arm, but the flesh disintegrates in my hands
  and i fall back on the ground.
  is this real? or have the hallucinations begun? i squeeze my
  eyes tight and try to breathe through my mouth, ordering my-
  self not to become sick. breakfast must stay down, it might be
  days before i can hunt again. a second cannon fires and i’m
  guessing the girl from district 4 has just died. i hear the birds
  fall silent and then one give the warning call, which means a
  hovercraft is about to appear. confused, i think it’s for glim-
  mer, although this doesn’t quite make sense because i’m still
  in the picture, still fighting for the arrows. i lurch back onto
  my knees and the trees around me begin to spin in circles. in
  the middle of the sky, i spot the hovercraft. i throw myself
  over glimmer’s body as if to protect it but then i see the girl
  from district 4 being lifted into the air and vanishing.
  191
  “do this!” i command myself. clenching my jaw, i dig my
  hands under glimmer’s body, get a hold on what must be her
  rib cage, and force her onto her stomach. i can’t help it, i’m
  hyperventilating now, the whole thing is so nightmarish and
  i’m losing my grasp on what’s real. i tug on the silver sheath of
  arrows, but it’s caught on something, her shoulder blade,
  something, and finally yank it free. i’ve just encircled the
  sheath with my arms when i hear the footsteps, several pairs,
  coming through the underbrush, and i realize the careers
  have come back. they’ve come back to kill me or get their
  weapons or both.
  but it’s too late to run. i pull a slimy arrow from the sheath
  and try to position it on the bowstring but instead of one
  string i see three and the stench from the stings is so repulsive
  i can’t do it. i can’t do it. i can’t do it.
  i’m helpless as the first hunter crashes through the trees,
  spear lifted, poised to throw. the shock on peeta’s face makes
  no sense to me. i wait for the blow. instead his arm drops to
  his side.
  “what are you still doing here?” he hisses at me. i stare un-
  comprehendingly as a trickle of water drips off a sting under
  his ear. his whole body starts sparkling as if he’s been dipped
  in dew. “are you mad?” he’s prodding me with the shaft of the
  spear now. “get up! get up!” i rise, but he’s still pushing at me.
  what? what is going on? he shoves me away from him hard.
  “run!”