第36部分(第1/7 頁)

the　exertion　will　do　to　him？

¨What　am　I　supposed　to　do？　Sit　here　and　watch　you　die？〃　I　say。　He　must　know　thatˇs　not　an　option。　That　the　audience　would　hate　me。　And　frankly；　I　would　hate　myself；　too；　if　I　didnˇt　even　try。

¨I　wonˇt　die。　I　promise。　If　you　promise　not　to　go；〃　he　says。

Weˇre　at　something　of　a　stalemate。　I　know　I　canˇt　argue　him　out　of　this　one；　so　I　donˇt　try。　I　pretend；　reluctantly；　to　go　along。　¨Then　you　have　to　do　what　I　say。　Drink　your　water；　wake　me　when　I　tell　you；　and　eat　every　bite　of　the　soup　no　matter　how　disgusting　it　is！〃　I　snap　at　him。

¨Agreed。　Is　it　ready？〃　he　asks。

¨Wait　here；〃　I　say。　The　airˇs　gone　cold　even　though　the　sunˇs　still　up。　Iˇm　right　about　the　Gamemakers　messing　with　the　temperature。　I　wonder　if　the　thing　someone　needs　desperately　is　a　good　blanket。　The　soup　is　still　nice　and　warm　in　its　iron　pot。　And　actually　doesnˇt　taste　too　bad。

Peeta　eats　without　plaint；　even　scraping　out　the　pot　to　show　his　enthusiasm。　He　rambles　on　about　how　delicious　it　is；　which　should　be　encouraging　if　you　donˇt　know　what　fever　does　to　people。　Heˇs　like　listening　to　Haymitch　before　the　alcohol　has　soaked　him　into　incoherence。　I　give　him　another　dose　of　fever　medicine　before　he　goes　off　his　head　pletely。

As　I　go　down　to　the　stream　to　wash　up；　all　I　can　think　is　that　heˇs　going　to　die　if　I　donˇt　get　to　that　feast。　Iˇll　keep　him　going　for　a　day　or　two；　and　then　the　infection　will　reach　his　heart　or　his　brain　or　his　lungs　and　heˇll　be　gone。　And　Iˇll　be　here　all　alone。　Again。　Waiting　for　the　others。

Iˇm　so　lost　in　thought　that　I　almost　miss　the　parachute；　even　though　it　floats　right　by　me。　Then　I　spring　after　it；　yanking　it　from　the　water；　tearing　off　the　silver　fabric　to　retrieve　the　vial。　Haymitch　h