Chapter 16

Right when Peeta went under the water...

Peeta

My body hits the water. I feel like I did when we jumped off that cliff back in District twelve. I assume it was a day ago but I don't have the time and I can't see the sun to tell the time.

My leg hits something sharp, I assume it to be a rock. I wince, and fall down into the dark water even further. I lost Katniss right before we hit the water.

My lungs struggle due to lack of oxygen. I'm about to black out but something makes me stay. For Katniss. I swear I hear my name above the water, but I could be hallucinating.

I kick the water, and thrash my arms around, trying to swim back to the surface. There is a strong tingling feeling coming from my foot, where the rock hit it. I'm just praying it isn't anything serious.

The top of the water grows a little closer to me. I think I feel something brush past me and I begin to panic. What is in this water?

I gasp when I get to the surface. I wait until I catch my breath. Katniss isn't up yet. "Katniss!" I yell. No answer.

I dive back under the water and open my eyes. It stings a little but I don't mind. I blow bubbles with my mouth as I start swimming down farther.

There she is. I can't tell if her eyes were open or not. She isn't really moving.

I wrap my arms around her from behind. She begins kicking and trying to scream. Although, it isn't really screaming, more like mumbling.

Bubbles dance around us. The surface is right ahead. I was going to let her swim by herself but I don't.

When we get back up to the top, Katniss turns and looks at me. Her eyes are filled with fear, but she exhales when she sees that it's just me.

I feel guilty because I must be looking at her like she's insane. She wraps her arms around me and I do the same to her.

"You didn't come back up and I was-" she wheezes.

"Shhh. . ." I reply. "I'm here. I came back up. . ."

I feel her head nod up and down on my shoulder. We swim slowly over to a landing area and I let Katniss pull herself up on the ladder. I follow her close behind.

I don't really know what else to say. I think we're both kind of processing everything that has happened. The fear we both felt when neither of us came back to the surface.

After I stand on the platform, I collapse onto the metal floor. Katniss spins around, "Peeta!" She gasps.

The pain in my foot is blinding. I didn't even noticed it before now. I try to tell Katniss that I'm ok, but it just comes out as a distressed breath of air.

My hand clenches my foot. I don't even want to look. Katniss kneels down beside me and moved my hand away carefully.

She lifts up my pant leg so it's out of the way. My leather black shoes are dirty and there is a huge tear in the side, from the rock.

Katniss takes off the sock and I wince. There is dark red blood everywhere. I gasp a little. She does too. "Peeta. . ." she whispers.

There is a long gash in the arch of my foot. Red blood is smeared everywhere. "How did this happen?" she asks.

"The water. . ." I say, clenching my teeth together. "A rock."

"A rock?" she asks. Her expression says she doesn't believe that it was a rock.

"Yes. It was pointed," I'm having trouble talking.

"Peeta, I don't think this is a from a rock," she says softly.

"What then?" I ask. I look away, and down the tunnel. There isn't much to see. It looks as though the hall shrinks down the farther you went.

"It looks like it could have been a knife. . ." she trails off. "Can you walk?"

I shake my head, no. I just tried that and fell to the ground. "Here. . ." she says, taking off her sock. She wraps it around the wound and ties the ends together. "Take off your jacket," she says, pointing to my sweatshirt.

I do and hand it to her. "You don't care that I rip it do you?" she asks, before she pulled the arm off. I shake my head. There is a sound of ripping fabric. I don't care. It's not like I can't get a new one.

She wraps the sleeve around my foot, and puts the other in her pocket to change it later. She stuffs the remains of the jacket into my big brown boot for extra cushion. "There, that should help until we get medicine," she says.

"You're just like you mom. And Prim," I say quietly. She grunts and shakes her head.

"Just because I know how to treat a cut doesn't mean I can be a doctor. I could never do that. . ." she says quietly. She stands, and leans against the wall.

I slowly slip on my boot again. I don't know if I can stand or not. If not, it would be hopeless. We don't have food and we can't get to it. There is crawling, but I really don't want to do that. It would take too long.

Katniss wraps her arms around my waist and helps me up to my feet. I hand my injured foot in the air, not wanting to take a step.

Katniss' arms are still around me. That gives me a little confidence, knowing that she'd be here if I fall.

I put my foot lightly down on the ground and take a step with the other foot. I wince a little, and take another step. I grunt a little and pull my foot back up in the air.

"How are we supposed to keep going?" she asks. I look at her, sadly. She seems to read my mind. "I'm not leaving you."

"You have to. I'll stay here, you find food and water. I'll be ok," I say, sounding confident, even though I'm not even completely sure about this plan.

"I'm not leaving you. If they find me, you'll sit here and starve. You'll die," she says.

I sit down against the wall, and Katniss sit next to me. "We have no other chance," I whisper, after a little while.

"Peeta," she says, looking into my eyes. "I'm staying here. Just like you've stayed with me. Always."

Hope you liked it!  Who's POV am I better at? (Just wondering) I really want to know because I can work on the other one ;) If its neither, still tell me. It won't hurt my feelings :P I love getting advice and suggestions! Trust me, speak your mind! I won't get mad. Be sure to vote and comment!! :)