"Haymitch, where exactly are we going?"
Haymitch sighed at Maysilee's question, which was the only one she had been asking him since they'd became allies. During the few days of their alliance, it seemed like to him she repeated the question at least a thousand times a day.
"Just trust me." This was always his answer.
Maysilee scoffed. "You always say that. I need a real answer."
Haymitch ignored her, walking straight on through the woods. He wanted to hurry and get out quickly, afraid that they might run into a pack of those deadly squirrels. But the sun was disappearing, though, and soon they would have to stop and rest. Haymitch turned to tell Maysilee that they'd have to stop for the night, only to discover that she wasn't to his side but instead several yards behind him, standing with crossed arms.
"What are you doing?" Haymitch was beginning to get very impatient with her. He didn't mind being allies, but if this was going to continue then he'd rather just go on alone.
"I'm not going on until I get an answer," she said. "What are we doing and where are we going?"
Haymitch rolled his eyes, but decided to let her win and answer her. "I'm trying to get to the edge of the arena. It has to end somewhere, right? It can't go on forever."
Maysilee nodded, satisfied she had finally gotten her answer. She picked up her backpack full of supplies and such from the ground, and walked back to Haymitch.
"Why, though?" she asked. "What do you expect to find?"
This question threw Haymitch off for a split second. He had always thought about getting to the edge of the arena, but he never exactly thought about what would be there or what he expected to be there.
"I don't know," he admitted. "But maybe there's something that could help us, something we could use."
"Like what?"
"We'll just have to wait and see." This statement ended the conversation, and they soon settled down for the night, with Haymitch being the guard for the first half of the night.
In the morning they set off as soon as they were both awake, after eating a half slice of bread each. Their food supply was running low and Haymitch couldn't help but wish that they would run into another tribute in hopes of stealing their food. It seemed unlikely, though, since they were out so far into the arena.
They walked for over two hours in the blazing hot sun, until they reached the end of the woods and were greeted by nothing but flat and dry rocky land. Just a few feet in front of them was a deep cliff.
Haymitch grinned. He had been getting a bit discouraged since the night before, but now all of that was replaced with success. He walked on up to the edge of the cliff, looking down and discovering that it was miles deep. You could see mountains of jagged rocks far below.
"This is it?" Maysilee asked doubtedly.
"Yep," Haymitch answered, looking around the land.
"There's nothing here," she said. "Let's just go back, Haymitch."
"We came all this way. I'm not going back," he said. "I'm staying here."
She sighed. "Alright. There's not many of us left, anyway. I wouldn't want it to be down to you and me. I guess it's time to say goodbye."
"Okay," Haymitch agreed. Maysilee gave him nodded him a farewell and turned around, disappearing back into the woods.
Haymitch walks along the cliff, deep in thoughts. He was beginning to become discourage again as time went by and he discovered nothing. Maybe Maysilee was right, maybe nothing was here. He kicked a pebble in fustration and it went falling into the cliff.
He sat down, deciding to take a small break and have some water and bread. As he was opening his backpack, something small hit him in the back of his head. It turned out to be a pebble. At first, he thought it was thrown and he stood up quickly, with his hand on his knife. He then realized no one was there.
He was confused for a moment before looking back to the cliff. An idea popped into his head and he grabbed a larger rock, throwing it over the edge. Less than a minute later, the rock came flying back up, and he caught it with fascination.
He laughed with satisfication. Finally! He knew there was something to be found, and he had found it.
Haymitch's happiness didn't last long, though. Almost a minute after his discovery, he hears screaming.
It doesn't take him long to realize it's Maysilee's screams, and he starts to run back into the woods.
"Maysilee!" He yells as he follows the sounds of her screams. He feels relief when he finds her but it's quickly gone when he sees a huge pink bird take a chunk of her neck. He ran forward and stabs the bird, who was unaware of him.
He kneels next to Maysilee, taking her head into his lap and her hand into his. He knows there's nothing he can do but sit with her during her last seconds.
"It's okay," he whispered, stroking her hair. She nodded weakly before going still, her eyes closing.
The cannon fired and Haymitch got up, heading back to the cliff and leaving Maysilee's body behind.
Maysilee isn't the only one that goes that day. Two others die from fighting and the carnivorous squirrels. Soon, Haymitch and a girl from District One called RoseMarie are the only two left standing.
Haymitch avoids the girl for as long as possible. She was a Career, much bigger and stronger than him. But after two days, they meet in the woods, where Haymitch was trying to find water.
They fight, throwing knifes and spears and recieving horrible wounds.
Soon enough, a knife that Haymitch has thrown lands center into the girl's eye, she screams and falls to the ground. Haymitch is relieved, believing that the battle was over. He limped painfully with a split leg to the girl to examine her.
Suddenly she sits up, her axe still in her hand. Her eye is now gone and she screams again, this time with anger.
Haymitch starts to run as good as he can with his leg. He hears her close behind him. He expected the axe to be thrown at any moment and bury deep into his head.
To his relief, he reaches the end of the woods. He collasped right there, unable to stand any longer. He hears the axe fly above him, and it falls into the cliff.
The girl stands there, out of breath. Her hands are covering her eye socket, trying to stop the blood from flowing out. Haymitch looks up at her. She had no idea what was coming...
He hears the axe flying back up, and when it does comes over the edge her one eye widens and her mouth opens as if to scream, but she doesn't have time to. The axe hits her in the head, and she falls, 100% dead.
The cannon is fired and Haymitch smiles to himself. He could feel himself slipping into a sleep as the trumpets blows, making him the victor. He had won the Fiftieth Annual Hunger Games.