Nausicaa receives a bit of food and water from whatever sponsors still have faith in her. She doesn't ration it, as she's sure every moment will be her last. She Spends the next few days not doing much with her time. She scours the entirety of the town, and manages to find a knife and some old food and water. While the food is long past expired, she takes the water.
Physically, she's recovered a bit. But every day her mentality gets worse and worse. Anytime she thinks about going back out there, going hunting, killing Virgil or Santiago, her brain shuts down. So she's stopped trying.
Two cannons fire over these days. Two tributes with families back in their districts. Friends they'll never see again. And Nausicaa doesn't even know their first names.
Her goal had been to avoid everyone from here on out. Let them kill each other and maybe she'll be able to deal with whoever's remaining. But she hears the gate to her fortress open, and the anxiety she's been trying so hard to repress comes to light. She hides, knife in hand, expecting the worst.
She deduces quickly that it's not Virgil and Santaigo, as there's a female voice accompanying a male voice. She tries to run through who's left, who it could be, but she can't. She can't.
Their presence springs her into action. She comes out of hiding and spots the male at the same time he spots her. She has the upper hand, and manages to slice him in the abdomen. He stumbles back, an axe in one hand, the other held out to protect whoever's behind him.
He swings the axe at Nausicaa, but she easily dodges. He's big, but he's clumsy. She just has to wait for her moment.
Now. Nausicaa gets beside him and shoves her knife into his back. He collapses to his knees, and his ally screams. Nausicaa pulls out the knife and raises it to strike at the girl, but she freezes.
The girl has collapsed next to her brother, the girl from District Eleven, with the uncanny resemblance to Nausicaa. The girl is sobbing, her hand wrapped around her brother's. Nausicaa lowers her arm and stumbles back, her breathing quickening.
What have I done?
"Please…don't be dead." The girl cries, completely ignoring Nausicaa's presence. Even in the face of death, the girl doesn't care about anything but her brother. Her dead brother. Gone forever, because of Nausicaa.
The cannon fires and the girl's sobs increase.
"Make it quick…" She pleads.
Nausicaa shakes her head. She leaves the fortressed town, and doesn't look back.
She doesn't know where she's going, but she doesn't stop, not when a cannon fires, not until nightfall. She ends up in a small ruined structure to the south of the cornucopia.
She almost doesn't look at the faces in the sky. She doesn't want to know.
Screw it. She looks up. As the boy's face fades, it's replaced by his sisters. Nausicaa regrets looking. She has a lot of regrets these days.
Four tributes left. Over half of them are Careers. No action for a few days. Nausicaa doesn't stay still, but she doesn't hunt. She just tries to avoid anyone.
Every time she starts to suffer the effects of hunger or dehydration, her sponsors send her a gift. Someone must have a lot of money betting on her. What a waste.
Someone in the Capitol must be getting sick of the lack of action, because they announce a feast.
Nausicaa considers not going. She doesn't think she can face her ex-allies yet. But if she doesn't go voluntarily, the Gamemakers might force her. She'd rather go on her terms while she still can.
She comes up from the south, where she knows she'll have the most coverage. As she gets closer, she realizes the feast has already started, and she sees Santiago and Virgil moving supplies into the metal structure. She sneaks in closer, remaining undetected.
"I don't think anyone's coming." She hears Virgil yell from the edge. He continues patrolling as Santiago leans against the metal structure.
Nausicaa sneaks around the other side to try and catch Virgil off guard. She's almost successful, but he sees her at the last minute.
"She's here!" He yells, rushing her with his sword. She throws her knife into him, and he dodges the fatal blow, but it buries itself in his shoulder. Virgil slows down to pull the knife out.
"How does it feel?" Weaponless and defenseless, she holds her stance. Virgil just laughs.
"I'm glad you didn't die out there. I was disappointed I didn't get the final blow. It seems the odds are in my favor this time." Virgil drops the knife and swings at her. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Santiago coming over, but there's a hesitation in his pace.
She ducks under Virgil's swing and dives to pick up her knife. She whips her head around and she sees the steel coming down at her. She rolls out of the way and Virgil's sword gets stuck in the sand.
She kicks his hand and he drops the sword. She uses her knife, stabs him in the back, then picks up the sword, all in one swift motion. Virgil collapses to his hands and knees.
"Nausicaa." Santiago's voice releases an anger Nausicaa didn't realize she had repressed. She raises her sword. A single slice, and Virgil head rolls down the sand.
BOOM.
"Why?" Nausicaa turns to face him. He has a sword, but he doesn't advance. Not even after she killed his ally.
"Why what?" Santiago spits. He takes a step forward.
"We grew up together. We…you don't betray your district partner." Nausicaa would cry if she had any tears left inside her.
"I grew up in your shadow. We all did. All day, every day, all we heard about was how fucking great you were. And how you were going to be the best the district has ever had. And you ate it up." Santiago takes a step forward. Nausicaa doesn't move. She's speechless.
"That's not my fault." Is that true? She wanted to be here. Just as much as he wanted to be here.
"You ate it up. You love every second of attention you get. You think you're better than everyone else here, that no one will ever come close to you. You're not as special as you think you are." His words cut deeper than Virgil's knife ever did. More than Santiago's sword will. She feels defenseless as he comes in for the final blow.
She closes her eyes, but she doesn't see darkness. She sees Rhea's face. Verity's face. The face of those she's killed. The girl from Eleven, her brother. And at the end of it…she sees the Capitol. The ones who were behind it all.
She blocks before her eyes fully open. Santiago's face, once calm and collected, is nothing but rage. How has she been so oblivious to his feelings towards her for so long?
Nausicaa blocks, and blocks again, partly because he doesn't leave her an opening to strike, but mostly because she doesn't think she can.
"Please." Nausicaa tries to reason with him one last time, knowing fully well that both of them can't survive. Both of them have never been able to survive. And the Capitol is eating up every moment of this show.
But he doesn't stop. He doesn't slow down. Nausicaa can see a very faint unsteadiness in his sword arm. She keeps blocking.
When his strikes start to lose their intensity, she knows it's now or never. She dodges, and slices at his leg. He stumbles back, and tries to block her next strike. He fails. She gets behind him and shoves her sword through his back.
"That's how it felt. In case you were wondering." She pulls her sword out and the cannon fires.
Nausicaa retreats into the cornucopia for the night. She sits there, arms wrapped around her legs, not sleeping, nor eating.
Three days. That's how long Nausicaa doesn't move for. She eventually breaks down and eats something, but she doesn't go out and hunt. There's only one other tribute left, Nausicaa doesn't even remember who it is, she doesn't care. She's done.
The Gamemakers try to force her out with a flood. With a heat wave. They even dry up the lake. But nothing affects her. Not until they send mutts.
The mutts don't bother Nausicaa, though. They push the other tribute towards Nausicaa, for the final confrontation the Capitol so desperately craves.
Nausicaa stands with her trusty sword in hand as the tribute, the scrawny girl from Three, stumbles up the sand hill towards her. She has one hand on her stomach, one hand keeping her up off the floor.
Nausicaa ends the girl's suffering.