I do not own 'The Hunger Games' or anything related.
I was a bit concerned when she didn't notice the parachute, but once she did, she sprung after it, yanked it out of water, and tore the fabric with the enthusiasm of a child tearing off wrapping paper of a present, eagerly wanting to see what's inside. She found the vial. From the way she was looking at it, I had a feeling she thought this was the medicine. Then I saw the doubt ripple across her face, before opening the vial and taking a sniff. I saw the joy on her face being replaced with disappointment, and then she placed a drop on her tongue to check it was sleep syrup. I screamed "NO!" at the screen as she was about to hurl it away when she stopped. I sighed relief, knowing that she now knew what to do with it.
Mixing the syrup with some nearby berries and adding mint leaves for good measure, the girl offered it to the boy. He became somewhat suspicious of the sugary taste and its familiarity, although the girl did her best to convince him they're sugar berries only found in the wild.
"They're as sweet as syrup," He said, taking the last spoonful when he said "Syrup."
And that was when he realised, but before he could spit it out, the girl clasped her hand over his mouth and nose, making him swallow it. He tried to vomit, but it was too late. That look he gave her as he lost consciousness, a look that should have been really directed at me, as I was the one who gave it to her. Well you can complain all you want about being alive afterwards!
Sitting back on her heels, the girl looked at him with a mixture of sadness and satisfaction, sad that she had to betray him like that, but satisfied what she had done in order to save him. It's what I felt as well. Covering the entrance with rocks (Save for one gap that she could fit through), the girl lay next to the boy in the sleeping bag, likely trying to absorb as much heat as she could. After the broadcast appeared, and there were no deaths, Effie reminded me that I should go to sleep, but this time, I felt like I needed to stay awake, just like the girl was. It was a few hours before dawn when she decided to make a move. Leaving the boy with supplies, before she left the girl gave the boy a long, lingering kiss. I could just imagine a number of the capitol citizens crying at this image. Brushing away what must have been a tear (although I was certain it was an imaginary one), the girl set off. You could see how cold it was with the visible breath the girl made, wearing the night vision goggles. Eventually she made it to the cornucopia, wriggling into an underbush. As we waited for the promised feast to appear, and I worried if Katniss would be able to get the medicine without any trouble, I also looked forward to the moment when Peeta would be healed, and they would be able to help each other. Not just help each other, but be close, and not just for the cameras, but for their sake as well. I thought back to a moment I had with Maysilee, the evening when I gave her what remained of my share of the energy bar we took from the 9.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I could go for some chocolate right about now."
"You don't like chocolate?" I asked.
Chocolate was one of the things I tasted after being chosen. Now that I thought about it, Maysilee seemed to avoid sweet tasting food if she could, often turning down desert if she could and when she didn't only taking small pieces of fruit. I chuckled.
"Then again, working at a sweet shop, I probably would have thought you'd have all the chocolate and the sweets you could possibly have, until you got sick!"
Maybe that was it.
"Oh, we certainly had enough chocolate and sweets. But we couldn't afford to get sick from it. But we only had it after it gone stale."
"You ate stale sweets?" I asked in disbelief, "Why? Was it some sort of punishment?"
"What? No. It's just - there's not much for our family to eat."
I didn't understand.
"I always thought that the merchants had enough to eat."
And were well off enough to eat food like beef and chicken and horse (Although later on, I would mention this to Effie, and from her horrified reaction I learnt that horse meat was not exactly considered to be something you ate if you were well off enough).
"Oh we certainly have enough to eat. It's just that a lot of that stuff happened to be the leftovers that nobody bought."
"But - why? I don't understand! Surely you make enough money so that you could buy whatever you like!"
Maysilee laughed.
"You really think that merchant families live it up, don't you? I'm mean sure, we make enough money, but where does that money go? Most of it to rents and taxes and maintaining the shop and home, we barely have enough for nice clothes and necessities like food and hygiene! Mind you, some genius in my family thought well for food, why don't we eat what's left in the shop rather than let it go to waste?"
I had no idea.
"But you can't possibly live on sweets alone! Besides, all that confectionery can't be good for you! Especially your teeth!"
"Which is why we brush on a regular basis. Another thing that we spend money on. I mean sure we're able to get into our diet food like bread and fruit and vegetables, but our meals' main staple is stale sweets."
"What about meat?"
"Meat is only eaten on special occasions."
I had no idea. I had no idea the merchants had it that bad. I mean sure they've never starved like the miners, but there was something depressing about eating all that sweet tasting food when it had gone stale, and expected to eat it. It was like a child's dream twisted into a nightmare.
"It's my mother who's the most strict about it. I still remember being small and complaining about eating the stale chocolate, to which she replied "Just be grateful you have something on your plate and that you don't spend the day having no food at all!" I bet she is thinking I told you so right about now! So no, maybe I don't know what it's like to go without eating anything at all on a day, but it's not like I've been able to eat what I like. Course, maybe that's not so much to complain about, especially to you. I can't imagine what it's like to go without food, even with tesserae. It must be hard, for you and your family."
I was about to nod, until I realised what she was trying to do. She was trying to get me to open up! Take off my mask and reveal my feelings and thoughts other than what I showed! On any other day that would be bad enough, but in front of the whole nation watching, including those at home? It was like being told to strip down for everyone to see.
"Oh, I'm sorry?" I stood up, "Is that what you expected an alliance would be like? That we'd share sob stories and thoughts and feelings and darkest secrets? Maybe that's what you merchant girls do, but not us seam kids!"
"Haymitch-"
"Get this through your head, Maysilee. We are not friends! You're a merchant girl and I'm a seam good for nothing! We're allies! If you want to talk about using resources, or shifts, or strategies, or how to take down the other tributes, that's fine! But don't expect me to talk about my personal life to you! We're not friends! We're never going to be friends! I don't want you as a friend! I don't want anyone as a friend here! I don't want to lose a friend in the arena!"
I probably lost a bit of control there. For a moment, Maysilee just stared at me.
"You're right. You're right, I'm sorry. Well, I'd better go on watch. You get enough sleep."
Getting up, she turned away from me. She wiped her face with her hand.
Instinctively I raised my hand, but then thought better of it, grabbing it, turning away, getting into the sleeping bag and pulling it over my head.
I probably was a little harsh there. I was harsh. But I was right. We were allies, not friends. We could never be friends. Because I didn't want to lose a friend.
But it would be different for the kids. They could both live, they didn't have to shut each other out.
Just then the ground in front of the cornucopia split in two, and rising was a table, with the packages. The District 5 tribute, who was hiding in the cornucopia, darted out, grabbed her package and headed for the woods. Realising that it was now or never, the girl made a dash for it, followed by the female District 2 tribute. The 2 hurled her knife at the girl, and it's lucky that she threw it to her right (As I was certain that the explosion days earlier had permanently damaged her left ear). The girl deflected the knife with her bow and shot an arrow at the 2, who dodged the projectile but not enough so that it hit her in the arm. Unfortunately, that wasn't her throwing arm. The girl had only just slung the package on her arm when the second knife hit her across the forehead, blood pouring down her right eye and filling her mouth. She shot another arrow. I was no marksman, but even I knew that she would miss. The 2 slammed her into the ground, pinning her shoulders with her knees.
What had I done? I gambled with the girl's life, after promising to do whatever it took to save her, just to save the boy's life, and now it looked like I was going to lose them both! My worst nightmare was about to come true, at least one of my worst nightmares. The 2 asked the girl where her 'boyfriend' was, and, as if coming to the conclusion that she was alive as long as they were talking, lied that the boy was out there hunting her partner, screaming out his name. The 2 jammed her fist into the girl's windpipe, but I could see from her terrified look that she thought it must be true. When no Peeta came, she realised that the girl lied, and that the boy was hanging by a thread. Opening her jacket, she took out several knives.
"I promised Cato if he let me have you, I'd put on a good show."
And once again, I wanted nothing more than to be there, to take out my own knife and stab the 2 repeatedly. And no, I don't care if she was a girl, the arena had bred out of me any notion I might have had that girls were as fragile or as helpless as children. You know what I mean!
The girl struggled against her, but she was too heavy. The 2 told her it was pointless, and then she started mocking Rue. I could feel my first tighten. Wiping the blood from her face, the 2 examined the girl's face as if it was a block of wood. The girl attempted to bite her hand, but she yanked her hair so that her head was back to the ground.
"I think we'll start with your mouth."
I should look away. I didn't want to look at this, but I felt like I had to watch. The girl didn't close her eyes, didn't look away from what was happening, so neither would I.
Then I noticed another figure appear on the scene. But it wasn't the other 2.
It was the remaining 11.
He looked different from the start of the games. Usually as the games pass, you could see an obvious loss of weight and muscle from the tributes, even the careers if they had lost their food source. But this boy, as strange as it sounded, seemed to have gained weight from what he ate in the field, putting his knowledge of agriculture that he learnt from his district to good use.
But he wasn't walking towards the table with the packages.
He was walking towards the girls.
At first, I was wondering what he was doing. Surely he should be going after the package, what was he doing going after the girls?
Perhaps he was going to take his chance to finish the female 2 off, while she was distracted. If so, then he was likely going to kill the girl when he had a chance, too. Though, if she was going to die, I'd rather it was at his hand than at either of the careers. Looking up from the booth, I caught Chaff and Seeder's eyes.
It's ok. I won't hold it against you.
Although a part of me wondered if I would.
Chaff and Seeder gave me a confused look, as if they didn't understand why I was looking at them.
"Yes, I don't think you'll be needing those lips anymore," The 2 continued to taunt the girl, "Want to blow lover boy one more kiss?"
Once again, my fist tightened, but for different reasons. Boy, she doesn't know what's coming for her.
The girl spat blood in the 2's face, making her furious.
"Alright, let's start."
She had barely made a cut on the girl's face when the 11 grabbed her and yanked her off. She screamed, like a rag doll in the 11's arms. Her screams were like music to my ears.
I know what you're thinking. You're disgusted, aren't you? That I took pleasure in the suffering of a girl at the hands of a much larger boy, a psychopathic girl who was big herself (even though the 11 was bigger) who threatened to cut someone I cared about? Well, I hate to disappoint you, but as I mentioned before thanks to the arena I learnt that girls were just as deadly and cruel as boys. It wouldn't matter to me if she was a boy, her screams would sound just as sweet.
I made a fist pump as the 11 flung her into the ground.
"What did you do to that girl?" The 11 demanded, "Did you kill her, just like you were about to kill this girl?"
He seemed to share the same anger as I had. The 2 was probably regretting ever mentioning Rue, even taking pleasure in her death. The 2 pleaded that it wasn't her, but her pleas fell on the 11's deaf ears, as it did on mine. Yes, not so nice when it's you scrambling for life, is it? She looked at the rock in the 11's hand, and she knew she was a goner.
"CATO! CATO!" She screamed.
"Clove! I'm coming!" He yelled back, but I had a feeling he wouldn't make it in time.
The 11 raised the rock and brought it down into the 2's head.
There wasn't any bleeding, but there was a large dent in her head.
Whatever pleasure I had in her imminent death had been bashed out by that rock as well.
She was still alive, but despite the rapid rise and fall of her chest and the low moan she made I knew she was a goner.
The 11 now turned to the girl, and I knew just as she probably did that she was a goner too. The 11 asked her what the 2 meant about Rue being her ally, and she explained that they were, about how they blew up the careers' supplies, about how she tried to save her and even though she couldn't, she avenged her death by killing the 1 that killed her. How she sang her to death, how she decorated her body with flowers, how in gratitude District 11 gave her bread. In tears, she asked the 11 (Whose name was Thresh), to make it quick. I could see the conflict on the boy's face, but I shouldn't have been surprised by his following actions.
"Just this once, 12. For Rue."
Yes. He understood what his district had done for this girl, and what he should do.
You know, District 11 has always been my favourite district.
I looked up again from my booth to look at Chaff and Seeder. They likely knew that this was going to happen. I felt ashamed, as I should have known better from 11.
"Clove!" The remaining 2 shouted, coming closer to them.
"You'd better run, fire-girl," Thresh told her.
She didn't need to be told twice, as she got out of there, with Thresh taking not just his package, but the 2's as well. Between that and the fact that he was responsible for the female 2's death, the other 2 would likely chase the 11 rather than the girl. I wanted to send something to Chaff and Seeder, in gratitude for what Thresh had done. But I knew they wouldn't accept. And I had a feeling the boy wouldn't want it, either. The debt had already been paid.
As she ran, the girl wiped the still flowing blood from her face. I was worried that she wasn't going to make it in time, that she would die of blood loss before she managed to get back to Peeta. But made it back she did, scrambling through the entrance to the cave, tearing open the package and jamming the syringe into the boy's arm. Her job done, she collapsed. With the blood from her forehead continuing to pour.
