Disclaimer - The characters and the universe in which they live belong entirely to the brilliant Suzanne Collins; not me.
Maysilee
She stares down the abyss and sighs heavily. All this way for nothing. Maysilee then turns her attention to her ally.
"That's all there is, Haymitch. Let's go back," she suggests out loud. Still with his back towards her, he continues looking down the cliff but manages to shake his head.
"No, I'm staying here," Haymitch tells her.
Maysilee feels her heart sink. She's not a stupid person. She knew this was bound to happen sooner or later. There is no way she can kill him. Deep down she hopes he can't bring himself to kill her either. With the number now dwindling, that might be just what they'll have to face. Unless she does something about it right now.
"All right," she all but sighs. "There's only five of us left. May as well say goodbye now, anyway." She pauses briefly before adding, "I don't want it to come down to you and me."
Immediately, Haymitch whips his head around to look at her. His mouth is slightly opened as he continues gaping at his ally.
Maysilee turns and is about to walk away when she is suddenly stopped.
She stares down at her wrist which is held tightly in Haymitch's grasp. He looks as shocked as she is to find himself stopping her from leaving but quickly recovers.
"Stay," is his quiet and simple request.
This shocks Maysilee to her very core. She had expected him to want this alliance to end as much as she did. There was no way they could risk being the final two. She had even expected him to give a distracted 'Okay' without even so much as looking at her. Certainly, she was not expecting this.
She shakes her head sadly.
"I can't. We shouldn-"
"Just for tonight, then," Haymitch almost pleads.
As if he realises how vulnerable this makes him look, he drops his grip on her and tries to act as casual as possible. "If you want to, that is."
Maysilee could almost laugh out loud but settles for a small smile. "Okay," she agrees heavily. Consequences be damned!
Haymitch gives a genuine smile before turning back towards the cliff. "Nothing down there," he mutters. Distractedly, he begins pacing the edge of the cliff. Maysilee sees this and has to refrain from calling out for him to be careful. No need to mother him.
She watches her ally accidently dislodge a pebble. Haymitch suddenly sits where he stood as the pebble falls into the chasm below.
Maysilee walks right to the edge of the cliff and shrugs to herself. "If there's nothing else to see here, maybe we should go."
Before Haymitch can answer, a zap sound fills the air. Seconds later and something flies through the air before falling down and landing near Haymitch.
Maysilee and her fellow District 12 tribute examine the mysterious object before looking down the cliff. Then they look at each other.
"Force field," she voices out loud.
Nodding once, Haymitch looks around for another, bigger rock to toss down the cliff. To confirm their speculation.
Half a minute later and it comes right back up, landing in his hand. She sees him give a half-smile as he stares at it.
The silence between them is suddenly broken by the sound of a piercing scream. Maysilee jumps in unexpected fright and goosebumps form on her arms. She snaps her head in the direction of the scream and can vaguely make out the light flutter of wings in the distance. A cannon sounds immediately afterwards.
There are only four of us left, she realises numbly.
"Maybe I should go," she announces to Haymitch.
Like her, he'd been staring in the direction of the scream but is now looking up at her. He frowns slightly, his lower lip partly covered by the upper in an inverse sort of pout. "You said we'll split up tomorrow."
"I know," she agrees, "but that was before there were four of us left."
"That shouldn't change anything," he practically snaps, getting back on his feet. He takes several steps towards her, until they are a breaths length away. "Don't you trust me?" Haymitch tilts his head slightly, tying to catch her eye when she won't meet his gaze.
"You know I do," Maysilee replies, finally looking at him.
"Then stay."
She sighs and runs her fingers through her hair. She knows she shouldn't. She also knows she shouldn't want to stay with him as much as she does.
You shouldn't have this much effect on me.
"Just one more night," he nearly begs.
With some reluctance, Maysilee finally nods. She sees Haymitch visibly relax at that small motion. She manages a weak smile, feeling like she had just made the dumbest decision of her entire life.
"Let's stay here for the night," Maysilee suggests. "With any luck no one will notice the small hole in the hedge that we made."
He nods his consent.
Maysilee's stomach decides to choose this time to announce its hunger. Her cheeks turn warm as Haymitch chuckles softly. "Let's eat first," he proposes. So it was that the two surviving tributes from District 12 lean with their backs against the hedge and eat a meagre lunch.
Once done, Maysilee watches as Haymitch stands up and shoulders his pack. "Where are you going?" she asks of him.
"Hunting," he replies easily. "This food won't last us much longer."
Maysilee stands up and puts on her own bag. "Okay, but we're coming back here for the night."
"Of course," Haymitch answers before crawling through the hole they created using that blowtorch they got from the pack of that dead Career tribute.
Crawling after him, Maysilee makes it through to the other side where he is already waiting for her. He reaches down and offers her a hand. She takes it gratefully and gets back on her feet.
Haymitch looks around before deciding on the direction. Much like most of their entire journey through the woods to the end of the arena, Haymitch leads the way with Maysilee tailing close behind.
They trek along beside the hedge for awhile before heading back into the woods.
Maysilee estimates that they couldn't have been in the woods for more than three minutes when a scream, followed by savage growling, fills the once quiet air. Haymitch and Maysilee freeze as the screams continue. Eventually they stop and the sound of a cannon quickly replaces it.
Before she can even do so much as open her mouth, Maysilee is cut off by the unexpected sound of another cannon. This one in the complete opposite direction. Neither sounded as though they were particularly close to where she and Haymitch were currently standing.
Maysilee's head swims as she processes the fact that they are the only ones left now.
Haymitch turns towards her, his expression unreadable.
They stand like that for awhile, not saying anything, not doing anything other than stare at each other. Then Haymitch finally breaks the silence, causing Maysilee's heart to speed up in anticipation and shock.
"Funny how quickly those two just died in such a short span of time."
What is he getting at? How could he possibly be thinking about them at a critical time like this?
It takes her a moment but maybe, just maybe, she finally understands. The Gamemakers rigged it so that it would have to come down to the two of them. An epic finale to an extraordinary Games.
The Capitolites will be on the edge of their seats as they watch a strong alliance fall apart and unravel. These sick freaks get a real kick out of messing with kids and pushing them to the edge. And for what? For the chance to watch as one lucky person desperately and brutally murders other innocent kids and emerge victorious?
Then a new idea halts Maysilee of her own angry thoughts.
What if one year they didn't have a victor? If we could just make it seem like we wanted to kill ourselves.
It would certainly be a slap in the face. And that'll teach the Capitol for trying to manipulate them.
Now if she could somehow share her thoughts with Haymitch. If she could somehow convince him to go along with her plan...
But first things first.
"Haymitch, I have an idea."
This intrigues him enough to listen. "What?"
"First, hand over your backpack." He gives her a sceptical look. "Just do it."
He does so reluctantly. Maysilee rummages around it until she finds the parachute they rigged into a trap. She opens it and pours half its content into her hand. Then she turns to Haymitch. Waiting.
When he finally realises what her plan is, he wordlessly holds out his hand. She pours the rest of the harmless-looking berries into it.
"On the count of three," Maysilee tells him. When Haymitch looks a little unsure, she continues. "You asked me to trust you once. So now I'm asking the same of you; just trust me."
He nods once with determination in his grey eyes.
"One... Two... Three."
Heart pounding, Maysilee lifts the poisoned berries to her mouth. From her peripheral vision, she sees Haymitch do the same.
Seeing as the Gamemakers had rigged it so essentially everything in this very arena is poisoned, Maysilee is sure they will get the message loud and clear. She hopes her and Haymitch's stunt will make them look stupid.
"Wait! Stop!" a voice suddenly booms from the hidden speakers placed throughout the arena. Claudius Templesmith, the announcer for the Hunger Games, sounds flustered; almost out of breath. "Ladies and gentlemen, due to unforeseeable events the Games will have a rule change this year. Under this new rule, tributes from the same district will be declared winners if they are the last survivors."
Immediately Maysilee throw away the berries and spit a couple of times despite the berries just barely grazing her lips. She checks on Haymitch who had also thrown away his berries and is now wiping his lips with the back of his hand.
"I am pleased to present to you, ladies and gentlemen, the victors of the Fiftieth Hunger Games, Haymitch Abernathy and Maysilee Donner! I give to you - the tributes of District Twelve!"