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CATCHING FIRE -- CHAPTER 21
The fog that rolls in isn’t really fog at all, but a cloud of poison gas. Katniss awakens the group and they run off in a hurry. Katniss thinks about taking off on her own, climbing a tree, and leaving Peeta behind. She left Peeta behind in the last Hunger Games when she ran away from the muttations. This time, however, she will not let history repeat itself, and she stays close to Peeta to help him run away.
When Peeta nearly falls after tripping over some vines, Katniss notices that the gas has impacted Peeta. The cloud has hit his face, forcing his face muscles to relax and droop. She realizes that it’s nerve gas that falls upon them.
Luckily, Finnick comes to their rescue and he decides to carry Peeta which means Katniss must carry Mags. Katniss does the best she can with Mags, but eventually she drops her. She can carry her no longer. Finnick cannot carry both Mags and Peeta, especially with the way his arms are weakened by the fog; so, Mags make a decision. She kisses Finnick goodbye and walks herself right into the fog where she is immediately overtaken by its poisons.
Katniss hesitates to run, but eventually she keeps pushing forward with Finnick and Peeta up ahead. When Finnick collapses, Katniss falls right on top of him and Peeta. To their luck, the fog begins to stop rolling and instead, it is vacuumed away, disappearing entirely. The sight of living monkeys around them in the trees reassures them that they are free of the poisoned fog.
They make their way to the seawater where Katniss and Peeta use its saltiness to help them clear their skin of the fog’s poison. Finnick is in too much pain to wash the poison away himself, so Katniss and Peeta do it for him using shells to scoop up saltwater onto him. Eventually, they drag him to the water and slowly submerge him.
Katniss continues to help him, while Peeta goes off to drill a hole in a tree for drinkable water. Slowly, Finnick regains his strength and he begins swimming around with more and more skill and ability. Finally, it seems like he’s back to normal.
Unfortunately, the monkeys that once brought them hope that the fog was gone, now have gathered in the trees above them. Katniss yells out to Peeta to come back to them and he does, but not without looking up at the furry, orange creatures. His glance ignites the monkeys into an attack mode. With Katniss’ bow and arrows, Finnick’s trident, and Peeta’s knives, they fight off the deadly beasts.
Katniss watches in horror as one of the monkeys leaps towards Peeta. Peeta is trying to get to a case of arrows he’s holding for Katniss (she has just shot her last arrow), and he has no time to react with his knife. Katniss runs towards him in hopes of shielding him with her own body, but she knows the monkey will get to him first.
Luckily, out of nowhere, another tribute appears and jumps in front of Peeta to take the hit from the monkey. It’s the female tribute from District Six, one of the morphling addicts. The monkey bites into her chest just as the chapter ends.
by Suzanne Collins
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