In chapter 23, Peeta and Katniss talk about Haymitch. They conclude that he won the Games because he outsmarted the others. When the anthem plays, Peeta watches and sees that Thresh is dead. Now there are only 4 tributes left: Peeta, Katniss, Cato, and Foxface. Katniss and Peeta go out hunting, but Peeta is really loud so they decide to split up. Katniss hunts and Peeta gathers some berries and roots. When they get back, she notices that someone has eaten some of the food. She thinks Peeta ate, but he was collecting berries down by the stream. She notices that they aren’t Ruth’s berries, but she has seen them before. She remembers her father telling her not to eat those berries. They are called nightlock and that she’d be dead before they reached her stomach. Just then, the cannon fires and a hovercraft appears a hundred yards away and picks up Foxface. Peeta thinks Cato has killed her, but Katniss tells him that he killed Foxface with the berries.
In chapter 24, Katniss explains to Peeta how Foxface stole the food from the supply pile before she blew it up and how she tried to take enough to stay alive but not enough that anyone would notice. She wouldn’t have questioned the safely of berries that they were preparing to eat. She tells him that the berries are called nightlock. He feels bad, but it’s good because they are one step closer to home. Before he gets rid of the berries, Katniss fills a leather pouch with a few handfuls. She thinks that if it fooled Foxface, then it might fool Cato as well. They make a fire, cook the meat, and eat. Then they go back to the cave. The next day, they think that it is probably going to be their last day in the arena. They find that the stream has been drained and that the Gamemakers probably want to drive them to the lake. It’s evening when they make it to the lake. They wait a little while, and then Cato smashes through the trees and runs straight for them. Katniss tries to shoot him with an arrow, but he has some sort of body armor. He runs right by them. He hasn’t been running toward them, but from something. Katniss sees the first creature leap onto the plain from the woods and as she’s turning away, she sees another half dozen join it. She runs after Cato with no thought of anything but to save herself.
In chapter 25, the creatures are mutations – huge wolves that can land and balance easily on their hind legs. One wolf waves the rest of the pack forward with its front paw as though it had a wrist. Cato has made a beeline for the Cornucopia and they follow him. The tributes climb the Cornucopia. At the top, Katniss can see the mutts up close. They have four inch and clearly razor-sharp claws. Each has a thick coat and the colors vary from jet black to blond. There is something unsettling about the mutts, but Katniss can’t put her finger on it. One of them, a good-sized mutt with silky waves of blond fur leaps onto the horn. Then Katniss figures it out. The green eyes glowering at her are unlike any dog or wolf she’s ever seen. They are unmistakably human. That revelation has barely registered when she notices the collar with the number 1 inlaid with jewels and the whole horrible thing hits her. The blonde hair, the green eyes, the number… it’s Glimmer. Katniss shrieks and shoots the mutt. She examines the pack, taking in the various sizes and colors. Peeta asks Katniss what it wrong and she tells him that it’s them, all of the other tributes. Peeta gasps in recognition. They try to shoot the mutts down and in the process they have a confrontation with Cato who has regained his strength. I can’t say anything else because I don’t want to spoil it, but Cato ends up getting mauled to death by the mutts. Finally the cannon fires. A hole opens in the plain and the remaining mutts bound into it, disappearing as the earth closes above them. They wait for the hovercraft to take Cato’s remains and for the trumpets of victory that should follow, but nothing happens. They get down from the horn and go to the lake. A hovercraft then appears and takes Cato’s body away and Katniss thinks that now they will take her and Peeta, now they can go home. But again there’s no response. Then, Claudius Templesmith’s voice booms into the arena: “Greeting to the final contestants of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games. The earlier revision has been revoked. Closer examination of the rule book has disclosed that only one winner may be allowed. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor.” Katniss stares at Peeta in disbelief as the truth sinks in. They never intended to let both of them live. It has all been devised by the Gamemakers to guarantee the most dramatic showdown in history. Peeta tells her to kill him but she won’t. He tells her that they both know that there has to be a victor and it can only be one of them. Katniss then has an epiphany. Yes, they have to have a victor. Without a victor, the whole thing would blow up in the Gamemakers’ faces. They’d have failed the Capitol – might possibly even be executed. If she and Peeta were to both die, or if the Gamemakers thought they were going to die… She gets out the pouch and tells Peeta to trust her. She then pours a few spoonfuls of berries into his palm and then into her own palm. She says, “On the count of three,” and they stand, backs pressed together with their empty hands locked tight. She tells Peeta to hold them out so everyone can see. Then they count down. On “Three!” they put the berries into their mouths and the trumpets begin to blare. The frantic voice of Claudius Templesmith shouts “Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you – the tributes of District Twelve!”
Wow, a lot happened in those 3 chapters. I’m so glad that Katniss and Peeta both won! That was a cool twist at the end with the berries. I wonder what will happen to them now. I seriously doubt that they will just be allowed to go home and live a normal life. Plus, there are two more books after this one. I thought the mutts were really disturbing. I wonder if they actually had the other tributes eyes or if they were just made to look like them.
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