第80章

  out of all he might have chosen
  from. to me, this is a sign of extreme arrogance. why bother
  to carry food when you have such a bounty back at camp?
  when you will kill your enemies so quickly you鈥檒l be home be-
  fore you鈥檙e hungry? i can only hope the other careers traveled
  so lightly when it came to food and now find themselves with
  nothing.
  speaking of which, my own supply is running low. i finish
  off the loaf from district 11 and the last of the rabbit. how
  237
  quickly the food disappears. all i have left are rue鈥檚 roots and
  nuts, the boy鈥檚 dried fruit, and one strip of beef. now you have
  to hunt, katniss, i tell myself.
  i obediently consolidate the supplies i want into my pack.
  after i climb down the tree, i conceal the boy鈥檚 knives and
  spearheads in a pile of rocks so that no one else can use them.
  i鈥檝e lost my bearings what with all the wandering around i did
  yesterday evening, but i try and head back in the general di-
  rection of the stream. i know i鈥檓 on course when i come
  across rue鈥檚 third, unlit fire. shortly thereafter, i discover a
  flock of grooslings perched in the trees and take out three be-
  fore they know what hit them. i return to rue鈥檚 signal fire and
  start it up, not caring about the excessive smoke. where are
  you, cato? i think as i roast the birds and rue鈥檚 roots. i鈥檓 wait-
  ing right here.
  who knows where the careers are now? either too far to
  reach me or too sure this is a trick or ... is it possible? too
  scared of me? they know i have the bow and arrows, of
  course, cato saw me take them from glimmer鈥檚 body, but have
  they put two and two together yet? figured out i blew up the
  supplies and killed their fellow career? possibly they think
  thresh did this. wouldn鈥檛 he be more likely to revenge rue鈥檚
  death than i would? being from the same district? not that he
  ever took any interest in her.
  and what about foxface? did she hang around to watch me
  blow up the supplies? no. when i caught her laughing in the
  ashes the next morning, it was as if someone had given her a
  lovely surprise.
  238
  i doubt they think peeta has lit this signal fire. cato鈥檚 sure
  he鈥檚 as good as dead. i find myself wishing i could tell peeta
  about the flowers i put on rue. that i now understand what
  he was trying to say on the roof. perhaps if he wins the games,
  he鈥檒l see me on victor鈥檚 night, when they replay the highlights
  of the games on a screen over the stage where we did our in-
  terviews. the winner sits in a place of honor on the platform,
  surrounded by their support crew.
  but i told rue i鈥檇 be there. for both of us. and somehow
  that seems even more important than the vow i gave prim.
  i really think i stand a chance of doing it now. winning. it鈥檚
  not just having the arrows or outsmarting the careers a few
  times, although those things help. something happened when
  i was holding rue鈥檚 hand, watching the life drain out of her.
  now i am determined to revenge her, to make her loss unfor-
  gettable, and i can only do that by winning and thereby mak-
  ing myself unforgettable.
  i overcook the birds hoping someone will show up to shoot,
  but no one does. maybe the other tributes are out there beat-
  ing one another senseless. which would be fine, ever since the
  bloodbath, i鈥檝e been featured on screens most than i care.
  eventually, i wrap up my food and go back to the stream to
  replenish my water and gather some. but the heaviness from
  the morning drapes back over me and even though it鈥檚 only
  early evening, i climb a tree and settle in for the night. my
  brain begins to replay the events from yesterday. i keep see-
  ing rue speared, my arrow piercing the boy鈥檚 neck. i don鈥檛
  know why i should even care about the boy.
  239
  then i realize . . . he was my first kill.
  along with other statistics they report to help people place
  their bets, every tribute has a list of kills. i guess technically
  i鈥檇 get credited for glimmer and the girl from district 4, too,
  for dumping that nest on them. but the boy from district 1
  was the first person i knew would die because of my actions.
  numerous animals have lost their lives at my hands, but only
  one human. i hear gale saying, 鈥淗ow different can it be, real-
  ly?鈥