A/n: This was the hardest chapter to write. Long action scenes are not my forte.
CHAPTER SONG: "Lacrimosa" by Immediate Music
Lartius felt his heart pounding way up in his throat. Eunia and Volumnia had died that night, so he suspected that would be the only action until morning. He felt a sense of uneasiness at the streetlights turning on. The Gamemakers were planning something.
"Do you think they're all turning on?" Rendwick asked.
"Probably," Lartius answered. "Why?"
"Get up here," Rendwick said, gesturing up the steps of the fire escape. Lartius climbed up the fire escape. "Look, the streetlight over there is on," he pointed, "but the one a block south isn't."
"I guess there's only one way to tell if all of them are turned on." Lartius looked over at the tallest building.
"What do you expect to find out from up there?" Rendwick asked.
"I don't know," Lartius replied. "I know that something's gonna happen soon. Maybe we'll get an idea of what it is."
Rendwick nodded. He climbed down the fire escape and went back into the hideout. Lartius followed him, a little confused.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Rendwick was putting on his backpack. "Well, I'm not gonna go up there unarmed. And if we're going to cross the wire to get to the tallest building, I still need to keep my spear somehow."
Lartius thought back to when he took Rendwick up there the first time and nodded. Rendwick took his spear, pulled the panel shut, and the two of them stepped onto the roof and headed uptown. Lartius followed him. Rendwick saw the trees from the park on 23rd Street and quickly moved left towards 11th Avenue. Rendwick figured if the lights were bright enough to shine through the panel in the window, they had disrupted Phox and Alto in the park as well. They were probably up and walking, wondering what was going on, just like he and Lartius were.
They took a right when they reached 11th Avenue, walking uptown towards 80th Street, right where the wire was. It was a very long walk, so they decided to make it quick and not dawdle. As they walked, Lartius saw how slowly all the streetlights were turning on. He noticed, like Rendwick had, that not all of them were being turned on. He looked around at all the streetlights, trying to see if he could distinguish a pattern. He thought that some of them were lighting up in diagonal lines, but others seemed to be curving into wide semicircles. He'd get a better look from the roof of the tallest building.
Lartius felt his nerves climb up his throat and swallowed hard. "Do you have a bad feeling about this?" he asked Rendwick in a low voice.
Rendwick nodded. "Yeah. I assumed with Eunia and Volumnia gone that'd be it for the day."
"Mhm, me too."
"What do expect to find out from the roof of the building again?" Rendwick asked.
"Well, I think I'm noticing a pattern in how the streetlights are lit. I saw some that were in diagonal lines and others that looked like they were curved. I have no idea what the whole thing looks like."
"You think there's some kind of significance to this pattern?"
"There might be. I mean, the Gamemakers never do things for no reason. There has to be some meaning behind it."
Rendwick nodded. "It seems kind of early for them to be doing things at night though, isn't it?" he asked, thinking back to past Games. "Usually they wait until there are fewer tributes, two or three."
"Yeah, either that or they wait an extra few days. The Games tend to last longer than this, but I kind of feel like they're trying to speed things up already. We're only eight days in."
"How long do the Games usually last?" Rendwick asked. "About two weeks, right?"
Lartius nodded in reply. "That's what the head trainer at the Training Center said." He shoved his fists in his pockets.
Rendwick could tell he was getting a little more nervous. Lartius could sort of map out how these Games would go based on his knowledge of past Games, and he'd worked their deal and their plan to evade the Gamemakers to the very end into that. But whatever this was could throw a wrench into their plans. Rendwick wanted to tell Lartius to calm down and put it out of his mind for now, but with the way he usually got him to calm down, that would have to wait until they got back to the hideout.
Rendwick couldn't blame Lartius for thinking ahead right now, since he began to do the same. His dad had always said, "We, as humans, fear the unknown." Rendwick racked his brains, trying to think of what the Gamemakers could have planned now. He thought back to the conversation he and Lartius had had about natural disasters. He thought of blizzards, heavy rain, hail, powerful gusting winds, hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes. He knew that the Gamemakers always wanted to preserve the arenas every year, but he kept wondering if the Gamemakers would be able to regulate something like a hurricane to ensure it didn't destroy the arena.
But with the lights turning on, the idea of a natural disaster in the arena seemed unlikely. It didn't make sense to turn on some of the streetlights just to have them go out again when the natural disaster hit. And since Lartius said the Gamemakers didn't do anything with no reason, it didn't fit. Lights turning on had nothing to do with a possible hurricane, thunderstorm, earthquake, or anything like that.
Rendwick knew that whatever it was they were planning, he and Lartius would have to get past it and, if necessary, rearrange their plan to make it work. They didn't have a plan B for both of them to make it to the end, so they had to cling onto plan A for dear life, literally.
By the time they'd reached 78th Street, they were actually three blocks ahead of all the lights. It was still nighttime in the arena so it got a little harder to see. Rendwick wasn't so comfortable crossing the wire in the dark. He thought of using his night vision glasses so he could see, but they'd left the flashlight back at the hideout, so he didn't know what Lartius would do.
Lartius saw the wire strung across the buildings and began to walk faster. He rubbed his palms together, reminding Rendwick of when he first did the rings course in the Training Center.
"Can you see okay?" Rendwick asked Lartius.
"Yeah," Lartius replied, nodding. The streetlights behind him were bright enough, and he knew it would get brighter in the arena with time.
"Are you sure?" Rendwick asked, taking out his night vision shades from the side pocket of his backpack.
Lartius nodded. "Mhm, I'm good." He jumped up and caught onto the rings, moving swiftly towards the other side.
Rendwick put on his night vision shades, swung his backpack around to his chest, and strapped his spear to the front of it. With both straps on his shoulders, Rendwick reached up for the rings and began to cross the wire.
He and Lartius were moving fairly quickly. Rendwick wanted to get this over with. He knew that whatever was about to happen wasn't going to be good. Lartius wanted to figure out what they were dealing with now, so they could come up with a plan to deal with it or get past it, whatever it was. They both had to make it to the very end alive if their big plan was going to work.
Before Lartius made it halfway down the wire, he noticed the streetlights were lighting up faster. He quickened his pace but made sure he kept his breathing even so he wouldn't tire himself out. Given how quickly the streetlights were turning on now, Lartius was starting to wonder if whatever the Gamemakers had planned for tonight was aimed specifically at him or Rendwick, or if it was just to get everyone moving because it had been so quiet the last four days. But given how bright the lights were, it would be hard to ignore them, so everyone in the arena would be up and moving. He did wonder whose bright idea it was to do this in at night, though. Lartius reached the other side of the wire and landed safely on the roof.
The lights had almost caught up to Rendwick now. He could see it from his peripheral vision. He felt like he was being chased. He quickened his pace, too. The bright lights were getting distracting with his shades on. They were made to see in the dark, not to shield light, so he found himself squinting the rest of the way there. Then, about six rings away from the building, his right hand slipped off.
Lartius' heart froze and he jumped in alarm, his eyes wide. Rendwick felt his own heart drop and his insides turn to stone. He quickly reached for the ring again and grasped it firmly, careful not to touch the underside of the wire.
"I'm okay," Rendwick said, breathlessly. "I'm okay." He took a deep breath and willed himself not to look down.
Lartius was breathing a little fast. He didn't fully relax until Rendwick reached the building and landed safely on the roof. Lartius let out a heavy breath as Rendwick took off the night vision shades and put them away.
"That was…" Rendwick began, still breathing a little heavily.
"Yeah," Lartius agreed, nodding.
He and Rendwick looked at each other for a while, as if they were silently telling each other they were okay. Then, they went to the ladder and climbed up to the roof of the tallest building.
Rendwick and Lartius took in the arena. Rendwick went straight for the highest part of the roof. Lartius' eyes scanned around, looking from streetlight to streetlight, and the pattern they formed. The combination of diagonal lines and wide semi-circles made sense to him when he looked at the whole picture from above.
"Do you see what I see?" Rendwick asked.
"It looks like," Lartius said slowly as he looked around, "a giant spider web."
Rendwick nodded. He felt his stomach tie itself into knots. The uneasiness in his throat grew. But before he could even picture what was going to happen next, the building began to shake under their feet. Alarmed, he and Lartius looked at each other.
"An earthquake?" Rendwick asked.
"No idea."
Rendwick looked around at the ground below them, then froze when he looked directly down. "Oh God."
"What?" Lartius joined him at the edge of the roof and looked down.
A giant milky white spider with orange stripes was crawling up the side of the building. Its eight legs moved so fast and erratically that it made the whole building shake.
Lartius took Rendwick by the elbow. They looked at each other for a split second, turned on their heels, and ran. They jumped down to the lower section of the roof, and Lartius went directly towards the wire.
"Don't go for the rings!" Rendwick yelled, pulling him by the arm.
"Why?"
"Too risky! Just take the long way! We'll have a better chance of getting back to the hideout in one piece!" Rendwick dragged him to the right.
They had no time to debate it. Lartius followed him as they ran from rooftop to rooftop down 12th Avenue. They felt the buildings shake as they ran, and broke into a sprint. Every time the spider traveled from one building to the next, it made a loud noise between a crash and a boom, causing Rendwick to simultaneously jump and brace himself each time. Rendwick didn't dare look behind him to see how closely the spider was chasing them. He focused on getting to the hideout. Once they got there and were inside, they would be safe from the spider and could think of a plan. Right now, their priority was getting to the hideout.
Lartius thought it was taking much longer to reach 15th Street than it should be. It was a strange and horrifying change, given how time passed very quickly outside the hideout the past several days. This was a bad time for everything to slow down. He felt a sense of panic rise up in his throat, but he swallowed hard, willing himself to keep it together. We're going to make it, he thought to himself, as they got closer to 15th Street. We have to make it.
They finally reached 15th Street and took a left, racing to Avenue F. Rendwick could sense the spider still behind them. He heard another loud crashing boom behind him. They ran past Avenue Z, and began to sprint harder. Rendwick could see the corner of 15th and Avenue F in the distance. He bit down on his lip.
They passed Avenue P. Lartius stopped trying to block out the crashing booms from behind him. Half of his mind was focused on getting to the hideout, but the other half was thinking about how insane it was to release a giant muttation spider into the arena. He thought back to the muttations from past Hunger Games, variations of mountain lions, bears, tigers, birds of prey, and even poisonous stinging fish. There had never been a mutt so out of the box as this one. He felt like it didn't fit, as though the Gamemakers had trouble coming up with something deadlier than the squirrels in the park, so they just decided to go with this.
They passed Avenue J. Rendwick's breath was tearing painfully at his lungs. He felt his heart pounding so hard he thought it would burst. They were so close to their hideout, they just had to get inside and they would be okay.
They finally reached Avenue F, jumped down to the fire escape, pushed the panel open, and went inside, quickly pushing it shut. They put their weight on it, bracing for impact in case the spider would try to penetrate it, but nothing happened. Both panting, they waited for a few seconds before Lartius let go of the panel. The building was still shaking, so he leaned against the wall instead.
Rendwick leaned his forearm against the panel, still panting heavily. "They're insane!" he wheezed. "The Gamemakers are insane!"
Lartius was too out of breath to reply. Rendwick tasted something bitter and coppery in his mouth and realized he'd bitten clean through his lip. Then, the building began to shake more violently. Lartius held onto the wall. The two of them looked at the wall opposite from the window, where they could sense the weight of the spider. They felt it climb up to the roof again before a loud, high-pitched scream rang through the air in the arena. The shaking doubled as they felt the spider crawl down the side of the building. Once the building was completely still again, they heard a cannon.
"The girl from Twelve?" Lartius asked Rendwick.
"Must be," he replied. "She's the only girl left."
Lartius opened the panel and stepped out onto the fire escape. He climbed up to the roof. "Jesus."
"What?" Rendwick shed his backpack, freed his spear from the straps, and followed him up the fire escape. Lartius was staring at a limp figure a few feet away. The dead body of the girl from Twelve. It looked like there was something rising out of it. Rendwick stepped closer. Lartius followed him cautiously.
"It looks like her body…" he kneeled down in front of it, "is smoking."
"What?" Lartius asked, bewildered.
"Look at the wounds," Rendwick said, pointing to her neck.
Lartius crouched down for a closer look. The edges of the wounds were coated with some kind of sludgy liquid that was smoking slightly.
"The spider's venom is acidic," Lartius said.
"That thing is really dangerous," Rendwick said, straightening up. He glanced around the arena and found the spider heading towards the Cornucopia. He felt Lartius tug at his sleeve. He looked at him and followed him back into the hideout.
"Okay," Lartius said, as they pushed the panel back into the frame. "Okay. Okay." He leaned his back against the chipped wall.
Adrenaline was still buzzing in Rendwick's veins. "We need a plan," he said, sucking on his lower lip a little.
Lartius looked at him. "What for?"
"We can't have that thing running around in the arena," Rendwick said. "If we're going to try and evade the Gamemakers once we're the only two left, they're going to use it against us. They could use that plus some other kind of Gamemaker-engineered weapon. They could make it stronger."
"It's from the Capitol! It's incredibly powerful! What are we supposed to do?" Lartius asked.
Rendwick didn't have an answer. How were they supposed to outlast a giant mutt spider? He looked around helplessly, hoping he'd get an idea from something. He then realized he was still holding his spear. Slowly, he looked at it.
Lartius' eyes widened. "No," he said instantly, shaking his head.
"Maybe I can try to at least wound it so it can die on its own," Rendwick said, gripping his spear a little tighter.
"Are you crazy?" Lartius said. "That thing is huge! How can you even think about trying to take it down?"
"I don't know but I have to try." He headed for the window.
"No!" Lartius grabbed Rendwick by his arm. "I'm not letting you do this!"
"I have to try!" Rendwick repeated. "It's not safe to have that thing in the arena, even if we stay hidden! It already killed the girl from Twelve! At least if it's wounded, it'll die eventually."
Lartius bit the inside of his cheek. "All right. I'm coming with you."
"No way," Rendwick said instantly.
"Rendwick-"
"Not a chance in hell," Rendwick said firmly.
"I'm not letting you go alone! I might not be able to do as much as you because you have a spear, but you can't face that thing by yourself!"
"You're not coming!"
"Why not?"
"Because I can't lose you!" Rendwick yelled, dropping his spear and taking Lartius by his shoulders. "If we fought that thing together and it did something to you, I would never forgive myself! I'm supposed to protect you, we made a deal!"
"How do you think I feel?" Lartius yelled back. "This is what we were talking about before, the Gamemakers want to separate us! We said we wouldn't leave each other's side!"
"That was for after Phox and Alto were dead, though!" Rendwick countered. "I'd say that Phox and Alto are bigger problems, we can't try to deal with them and the Gamemakers at the same time, it's too much!"
"I know, I know! We have to go at it one step at a time, first the spider, then Phox and Alto, then the Gamemakers! But we're in this together!"
"All the more reason-!" Rendwick stopped yelling. He took a deep breath. "All the more reason why I want you to stay behind," he said seriously. "I have to keep you safe. Please."
"So what, am I supposed to just watch helplessly from the sidelines?"
"Keeping you alive is my number one priority." Rendwick's hand moved up to Lartius' face. "I'm doing this, and I'll try to be as quick as I can."
Lartius knew he was fighting a losing battle over this. Rendwick reached to the back of Lartius' head and pulled him into a kiss. Lartius gripped him by the shoulders. Rendwick broke the kiss and hugged Lartius tightly, his hand still on the back of Lartius' head.
"I'll be back," Rendwick said, pulling back so he could look at Lartius. "I promise."
Lartius reached up to the back of Rendwick's head and pulled him in so their foreheads touched. Rendwick's hand trailed down to Lartius' shoulder before he bent down to pick up his spear and headed out the window, closing the panel behind him.
Lartius was breathing heavily. He rested his forearm on the panel and shut his eyes. He just wanted this to be over so he could wrap his arms around Rendwick and whisper in his ear that he'd never been so scared in his life.
Rendwick's hands were shaking as he climbed down the fire escape. He knew he was crazy to do this. Every one of his "big plans" in the arena were like that, down to stealing the spear from Phox in the middle of the night on his first day in the arena. He knew he was crazy to not only come up with, but intend to go through with, the deal with Lartius to evade the Gamemakers so they both survived. That was it. He was doing all of this for Lartius. He wanted Lartius to survive.
He jumped down onto the sidewalk, hitched his spear up in his hand, and made his way down to the Cornucopia. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't scared. He was terrified. All he had against this giant monster was his spear. The spider had its acid venom. The odds were not in Rendwick's favor. He forced himself to breathe evenly. He needed something to get him energized, so he broke into a run. He would have to rely on his adrenaline to get himself through this.
Rendwick watched the spider travel a little past the Cornucopia as he passed 10th Street. He knew the fight was going to be messy. He was probably going to get thrown around a lot. He remembered the tips he learned from his hand-to-hand combat lessons at the Training Center back home: Don't fall backwards on your palms with your arms straightened out, or you'll hyperextend your elbows. Fall on your forearms. If you land on your feet, always bend your knees to keep them from blowing out. Keep your chin to your chest when you fall backwards so your head doesn't bang on the ground.
He knew what he was getting himself into. It was a mutt from the Capitol. But he wasn't trying to kill it. He just wanted to injure it enough so it could die on its own. The problem was he didn't know how much he needed to wound it to ensure it would die eventually. Given how huge it was and that it was made by the Gamemakers, it would take a lot to wound it the way he wanted to.
Rendwick passed 5th Street. He got a better idea of just how big the spider was the closer he got to it. He didn't really get a good look at it when it was crawling up the side of the tallest building. It was a lot bigger than he thought it was. The spider's body was longer than Rendwick was tall. It stood about two feet taller than Rendwick. Once he realized just how big it was, he felt fear mix with adrenaline. He forced himself to run faster, to eradicate the fear.
He began to form a plan. The spider's body was only about four feet or so above the ground. He thought he might have a better shot at injuring it if he crouched underneath it and attacked from below. If he was able to keep attacking from beneath it, he might sufficiently wound it. He had to approach it in a way that the spider wouldn't notice him. It was crawling towards the row of buildings to the left of the Cornucopia. He approached the spider from behind, hiking his spear up in his grasp again. It would be tough to attack without getting noticed, since he knew he would end up bumping into the spider from underneath it.
Rendwick first tried to slide underneath it so he was on the ground. He was able to get in between the spider's legs to get in a good position underneath it. He sat down on the ground and was about to aim his spear when the spider started moving. He tried following the spider around, but it was tricky. He had to be careful not to knock his feet into the spider's legs by accident. Rendwick didn't even get a chance to get into position to strike.
He turned himself over on his hands and knees and tried that way. The top of his head barely grazed the spider when he was upright on his knees, so he didn't think he would be noticed. Underneath the spider, he realized the spear was too tall so stabbing the spider would be tricky. He couldn't stab directly upward, so he would have to stab from another angle. But he didn't have much mobility sitting down or on his hands and knees. The spider was moving around too much. He needed to be on his feet.
Rendwick felt himself getting a little frustrated. He had to get this done. Maybe if he tried squatting underneath it. At least he'd be on his feet. But by that point, the spider could sense Rendwick underneath it. It began to move around very quickly, Rendwick struggled a little to keep up with it. Finally, the spider shook him off by climbing up the nearest building. Rendwick tried to strike with his spear but the spider moved too quickly.
The spider quickly made a U-turn and scrambled back down the building. Rendwick quickly bolted into the alley and ran up the fire escape, climbing up to the roof. The spider turned left and right, looking for Rendwick. Rendwick back up on the roof, took off running, and jumped. He landed, sprawled, on the spider's abdomen. He frantically grabbed onto the spider to keep himself from falling off, one hand still holding onto his spear. The spider was moving quicker and quicker, trying to throw him off. The spider moved more violently, and Rendwick slid off, hitting the pavement hard. He skidded on the rough road, scraping up his arm and part of his face.
Rendwick scrambled to his feet and found himself face-to-face with the mutt. His heart began to pound faster. The spider's pincers clicked viciously at him, Rendwick could see traces of the venom. It charged at Rendwick. He immediately slashed at the spider's head with his spear. He felt the spear make contact and the spider recoiled. Rendwick went back for the alley, swinging his spear at each of the spider's legs, knocking them behind him as he ran.
Rendwick went for the nearest fire escape and raced up to the roof. The spider scuttled around the road. It was going to be a longer jump from the roof than the first time. Rendwick backed up on the roof, hiding himself from view. He knew the spider knew he was on the roof so he had to move quickly. He quickly ran off the roof, jumped, and landed on the spider's abdomen again. He held on tighter and managed to keep himself from falling off. He had landed dangerously close to the spider's head. He did his best to steady himself as he rose to his feet. He turned his spear upside down and aimed for the spider's head. However, the spider moved right before the spear made contact, causing Rendwick's aim to shift. The spear plunged into one of the spider's eyes. He yanked out his spear and saw thick, dark blood pour out of the wound. The spider let out a strangled squeal of pain and shook Rendwick off his head.
When Rendwick landed on the road again, he looked up at the spider's bloody eye socket. He had an idea. He wouldn't be able to sufficiently wound it if the spider could still see him. He would have to blind it. He quickly got to his feet, gripping his spear tightly. He had seven more eyes to get.
The spider charged straight at him. Rendwick took careful aim and stabbed another eye. The spider made another noise of pain and snapped at Rendwick with its pincers. He pulled out his spear and stabbed another eye, then another. The noises the spider was making were getting louder and louder. It snapped its pincers at Rendwick and tore off part of his jacket. Rendwick's heart stopped when he realized just how alarmingly close he was to the spider and moved back a little.
The spider started closing in on him, and Rendwick kept stabbing its eyes. When he finally got the last one, the pain seemed to be driving the spider insane. Rendwick saw more venom in its pincers as it blindly charged at him. Rendwick moved quickly, ducking and dodging, running to his left and heading up the fire escape of the building.
Rendwick was out of breath. He couldn't believe he was doing so well with this. He managed to blind a giant mutt spider and all that the spider managed to get was his jacket. But Rendwick knew he needed a better approach to this. If he attacked from above, he could stab the spider when he landed on top of it.
Still panting, Rendwick bent over, his hands on his knees. He needed time to catch his breath, but he knew he had to move quickly before the spider moved further away from the building. Rendwick straightened up, still trying to regulate his breathing. He turned his spear upside down so the blade was close to the ground.
He'd waited too long. The spider had figured out where Rendwick was and was on his tail. Rendwick ran and jumped to the nearest roof. He wasn't sure if the spider could hear him run (did spiders have ears?) or if it felt the vibrations of his feet. He needed to find a way to shake off the spider.
He knew he had to be faster than the spider in order to lose it. The spider was tailing him closely; it knew where Rendwick was, even if it couldn't see him. Rendwick zigzagged as he ran across the rooftops and sensed the spider following his path. He still couldn't tell if the spider was following the sound or the vibrations of his footsteps, and he didn't really have a way to figure it out.
Rendwick was starting to get tired. He hadn't slept at all tonight, he was running on adrenaline and determination, and he had no idea how long he'd been going at it with the spider. Don't you dare stop, he told himself. You just need a few good stabs and then you can leave it. Three stabs in its head, at the very least. He thought back to the several times he and Lartius talked about their perception of time in the arena. He wondered if the viewers were staying up late to watch this, or if this was being broadcasted during the day, and the Gamemakers had manipulated time in the arena to keep the tributes on a specific schedule.
Rendwick traveled uptown, heading towards 5th Street. He needed a way to throw the spider off. He saw the upcoming gap before the next roof. He saw the dark metal ladder leading down and knew there was a fire escape there. He wouldn't be able to climb down, since it made too much noise and the spider would be able to feel it. He wondered if he could jump down and hang off of one of the railings.
The gap was getting closer. Rendwick took a deep breath and jumped. He grabbed onto the rail at the second floor from the top and managed to hang on. He held onto the rail one-handed, since his other hand was carrying his spear. His body collided painfully and loudly with the metal bars of the fire escape. There was no way the spider didn't hear that. He looked down at the ground below him and realized what a long drop it was. He willed himself not to let go of the rail.
Rendwick watched the spider travel over his head to the next rooftop. It didn't seem like the spider noticed that Rendwick had changed direction. Once it made it all the way there, Rendwick swung his legs around and dropped down to the next level of the fire escape. He sat down, panting a little. He could probably hide in the fire escape for a while to catch his breath, since the spider was to big too get him from outside the fire escape.
Rendwick could hear that the spider had stopped moving on the next building. If the spider didn't hear him on the fire escape, it was possible the spider couldn't hear at all, and it was following Rendwick's vibrations. Rendwick banged the handle of his spear on the metal rail, but the spider didn't react. Given that the fire escape he was on was one building over, the spider didn't feel it either.
Rendwick finally allowed himself to catch his breath. He heard scuttling from the roof but didn't check out what was going on up there. He needed to refocus himself. Catch your breath then go for it, he thought to himself. The trick would be getting the spider off the building and back down into the road.
Chances are he was going to have to wait for that to happen. He couldn't let the spider chase him again, or Rendwick would never get the chance to wound it. Three stabs, he told himself again. Thinking back to how big the spider was, Rendwick suspected he would need to drive the spear as far into its head as he could each time to cause as much damage as possible. Hopefully that would be enough.
Rendwick thought of Lartius, back at the hideout. He knew Lartius was scared and he understood why Lartius wanted to come with him. In Lartius' mind, their deal started when they shook hands. That's why he wanted to be prepared and start thinking ahead to how they were going to evade the Gamemakers. But he realized that he had a similar mindset about the deal, which was why he wanted Lartius to stay behind. He didn't know what Lartius was doing in the hideout, whether he was inside the hideout unable to watch, or out on the fire escape, ready to go down if it looked like Rendwick was in trouble. He really hoped Lartius would stay there until it was over.
Rendwick looked up at the roof. There was still no movement up there. There hadn't been for a while. He could feel his eyes start to droop, so he stood up. If he moved around, he could keep himself awake. He needed more adrenaline to get him through this. He craned his neck to see what was going on up on the roof, but saw, out of the corner of his eye, that the spider was crawling down the side of the building. He had to do this now.
Rendwick climbed back onto the roof and followed the spider uptown. It was crawling a little haphazardly because it couldn't see anymore, and it couldn't feel any other vibrations since it wasn't chasing anyone. He couldn't let it get too far. He needed a way to stop it, at least for a little while. The roof on 6th Street had small stones all over it. Rendwick approached the edge of the rooftop. He picked up a handful of stones and threw them hard at the spider. It froze, then scuttled around madly, trying to figure out where they came from. Rendwick picked up another handful and dropped them on the sidewalk below him. The spider came charging in that direction. Rendwick took his chance. He didn't need to run, he just had to wait until it got close enough. Finally, he jumped down, landed on the spider, gripped his spear with both hands, and plunged the blade of his spear into the spider's abdomen.
He pierced its body, below its head. The spider let out a horrible, guttural shrieking noise. He held on tight to his spear until he found his balance. The pain was too much for the spider to keep moving. Rendwick was able to balance himself on the spider's abdomen. He managed to get in a few more stabs right into its head before the spider started to writhe violently and threw him off again.
He fell backwards, landing harder on the concrete. He winced horribly as he felt a very sharp pain around his chest. The shock of the fall caused him to drop his spear. It rolled away near the alley between two buildings. Frozen on the ground, he watched as the spider swayed, then fell down, shaking the ground. It rolled over onto its back, with it legs curled up in the air, motionless.
Rendwick stared at it, still sprawled on the ground. Blood pooled around the spider's body. This was a mutt from the Capitol. He expected it to put up a much bigger fight than this. He didn't think he'd actually destroy it with his spear.
Gingerly, he got up. He winced again and put a hand to his ribs. He couldn't feel exactly what was wrong, but he suspected that at least one of his ribs were cracked, if not broken. Other than that, he didn't seem to be that badly hurt. His arms, left cheek, and chin were skinned and bleeding from falling on the concrete so many times, but that was it.
Rendwick circled the spider widely, avoiding the still widening pool of blood. He didn't see it twitch or make any sudden movements. He didn't dare touch it though, in case it wasn't dead. He couldn't possibly have killed this thing on his own. He thought back to past Hunger Games, and how the giant mutts then always took more than one person to kill. There was no way this thing was dead.
This wasn't really an issue of self-confidence for Rendwick. It was more about being realistic. He knew he wasn't strong enough to take this thing down by himself. He knew the Gamemakers must be very, very surprised, if not shocked. He never really knew what went on wherever they were, but he suspected that some of them were trying to figure how this happened. He knew Lartius was happy it was over and that Rendwick had managed to survive with minimal injuries. Lartius knew the Games could be unpredictable, but he had confidence in him all the same. He imagined Lartius saying, "You're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for."
Rendwick wiped the sweat off his forehead and realized that the streetlights had turned off. He looked up at the sun rising in the sky. It had been a really long night and he was exhausted. He wanted to go back to the hideout and try to sleep. Lartius was waiting for him back there. Rendwick went back to retrieve his spear, but saw that it was gone. Perplexed, he looked around, trying to remember where he dropped it.
"Looking for this?"
Rendwick looked up. Phox was dangling the spear over the fire escape, Alto standing next to him. Both of them climbed over the edge of the fire escape and landed in front of Rendwick.
"Thanks for destroying that thing," Alto said, indicating the spider.
Rendwick heart rate doubled. He backed away slowly but soon backed into the wall of the adjacent building. He was cornered, unarmed, without backup, and with possibly broken ribs. Maybe he should've let Lartius come with him.
"And thanks for giving this back to me," Phox added, hitching up the spear in his grasp. "I'm gonna have a lot of fun with it."