Chapter 10

                                    

                                          

                          
All it took was one peak at it and suddenly his arms were around me. He released me and held it up in the air -- as if in triumph -- to show the cameras; and I knew by then that I must've still been pregnant. He smiled happily and hugged me again.
                          
I lifted up my shirt -- not caring to show my stomach since everyone had seen the test and knew this was real -- and let Peeta rub my stomach as he continued to smile. My teeth shined brighter than usual as I joined him.
                          
We snuggled down together in the sand for the night. We'd not been lying there very long before it started. Some buzzing noise, like bugs of some sort, and blood curdling screams that seemed never ending.
                          
When they eventually did stop, the anthem blared as it had every night. That was the first time I really decided to pay attention to the deaths.
                          
Seven different faces were projected into the sky. Why had we not heard the cannons? Who knew. I recognized only one of the faces: Beetee. I couldn't help but wonder if his back injury had gotten to him.
                          
I thought for a second. Peeta had said there were twelve of us left. Seven dead meant five left. Johanna and Finnick, me and Peeta, and one other tribute. I'm not sure who.
                          
"I hope he's strong enough to kill them." Peeta looked to me in confusion. "It's not just that they were our allies, they both saved one of our lives." Peeta nodded to let me know he understood what I meant. "I don't know if I'd be able to kill them."
                          
After that, we were both silent until I fell asleep and Peeta put himself in charge of keeping watch. And just like that, we were on our own. Finnick and Johanna must have know by then that we weren't coming back.
                          
Three people left. I thought to myself before I drifted off into sleep. And then I'll have to die.
                          
That night I dreamt of something impossible yet happy. I don't remember everything that happened in that dream, but I do remember the brightness, happiness of it. Me and Peeta with a small baby wrapped in bundles of cloth. Nothing bad in the world, no Games, everything perfect. It was an amazing feeling.
                          
That feeling was shattered when I awoke the next morning from sickness, vomiting everywhere. When it was over, I had the most disturbing taste in my mouth. So I turned to get a drink of water. But what I saw made me freeze in my tracks.
                          
Peeta was gone. 
                          
"What the -- Peeta? Peeta!" I screamed his name repeatedly as I ran into the jungle. I searched for him frantically, running in every direction, in result getting myself lost. My heart just about stopped when I heard the cannon.