Chapter Nine: Day Five

74th Hunger Games Arena

Day five.

The last day.

Four Tributes left.

Cato.

Marissa.

Prim.

And me.

After… what happened yesterday, the three of us walked away to find somewhere else to camp. Or well, two of us limped away. We only had my serrated sword and Prim's knife. But I hadn't cared then.

Prim…

Prim hadn't said a word since yesterday. Even when we ate our final rations before sleeping in a cave. The hard rain echoed through the cave but we sat against the hard rock wall. All of us were uncaring.

Hard rain meant nothing compared to what we all been through.

And now we were all defeated. My right leg, below the knee, was broken. I had stopped feeling barely anything there since. We had spent our only medical supplies bandaging Marissa's waist and Prim's arm. I had been left with all my cuts and bruises.

But somehow we had all managed to sleep.

I slept on my side, facing the entrance to the cave. Prim held me around the waist from behind. And Marissa did the same behind Prim, holding us both. I knew they had fallen asleep as their breathing became steady. I tried to fight myself to stay away. To protect them.

But I had been too tired and drained.

We woke up the next morning. The sky and clouds were completely gray. We could hear the rumbling of thunder above the clouds. But there was no rain. At least, not yet. Marissa had asked me what we were going to do next. How were we going to kill Cato? But I said nothing as I limped away with my serrated sword as a crutch. They followed behind me with Prim supporting a still pale Marissa. Eventually, we reached our destination.

The Cornucopia.

The giant silver horned shaped cone with a curved tail sat in the middle of the clearing. This had been where we started. This had been where so many had died. This is where it would end. Because standing beside the Cornucopia with his own serrated sword was him. He saw us. And we saw him. But he didn't move. Neither did we. Because he was waiting.

Cato was waiting.

For me.

I didn't turn away but I spoke quietly.

"Marissa, take Prim further back and hide. If I'm not back in half an hour, go further away from here as possible. Take as much time as possible to heal. Then kill him for me. The next thing I'm about to tell you is very important. If it comes down to you two… Or him finding either of you… Both of you threaten to take the nightlock berries. Force a tie. They can't let the game end with no winner. Both of you can get out. I didn't know if it'd work with so many of us… But if it's just you two…" Finally, I turned to see both of them looking at me in shock. Prim was openly crying and Marissa was blinking away her tears. But I didn't give them time to speak. I stood in front of Prim and placed both of my hands on her shoulders. She looked up at me with wide tearful eyes. "You help Marissa. You protect Marissa. Until she can protect you both. If I die-"

"John…" Prim whispered tearfully. I tried to blink away my own tears. Even Marissa was openly crying now.

"If I die. It's you two and him. You can take him. You still have your knife. I know you can do this. Kill him. End this. And then both of you can go home. To your mom." I looked directly at a crying Marissa. "And to your mom and your sister." I looked back at Prim who was sobbing now. "I… I was never going to leave this place… I knew that since I came here… I didn't think I'd get this far… But I did… For you. You have to keep going. This might be the end for me… But don't this be the end for you, Prim. You can beat him. You can beat the Capital. I believe in you more than I have ever believed in myself…"

I laid out all the cards. I didn't care if the Capital, President Snow, or all of Panem heard. I didn't give a damn.

Not anymore.

But finally, Prim broke and ran into me. I felt her arms around my waist. I knew she was trying to keep me from going. I felt her try to hold her hands together and tighten her grip.

I let her believe she could.

I looked back at Marissa. She was crying but she nodded… She understood. That's all I needed. Gently, I separated myself from Prim who went to hug Marissa. She held the sobbing girl but she stared at me. Not with the same expression from when we met.

Sadness.

But I turned and began walking to my possible end with my serrated sword as a crutch. Until I stopped when I heard her speak quietly.

"I… I'm glad we ran into each other, John…"

I didn't turn around.

"Me too, Marissa."

And then I kept walking.

Even when I heard the sound of thunder rumbling through the sky. For a moment, I thought I saw a bolt of light flash through the clouds. I didn't know if the sky or even the weather was real. The river was. The grass was. The trees were. Even the rain felt real.

Everything that happened felt real.

This was all real to me.

I would have been happy to start a new life before. I would have been smiling being a badass fighting. But now? It had become too real. All the deaths I had seen. All the deaths I had caused. And now there was one more I had to cause. Because if I failed, I would die. Because if I failed, Marissa would die. If I failed, Prim would die. It wasn't about a single promise anymore. It had long stopped being about that when I found Prim with blood on her hands…

It was about a message.

The Capital thought they could grab a bunch of kids and make them pawns. Not anymore. I'd make my message clear now. I'd let all of them know where I stand. I'd make them pay for what they had done. But first…

I had to survive.

Finally, I stopped walking. He was a few feet away. Another rumble of thunder. Neither of us spoke for a full minute. Only sizing each other up. Looking for strengths. Looking for weakness. He stared at my broken right leg longer than anywhere else. I stared at his broken left arm. We both held our serrated swords with our right hands. Finally, he spoke first.

"The river?"

My broken right leg below the knee.

"The river. Thresh?"

His broken left arm.

"Thresh. Only you?"

Silence.

"Only me."

Silence again.

"Smart. Give Foxface… Sorry, Marissa." He corrected mockingly. "Give Marissa time to heal. Enough to try and kill me. Then what? She kills herself for a girl she's only known for a month? That's your plan."

I said nothing.

"Ah. I see. Suicide pact. Either they both leave. You included… If you kill me… Or no one leaves. Force their hand. Smart. Clove and I planned the same. Until Thresh made the smart decision to take us out before we took him out."

"And now they're both dead. Everyone else is dead. Demetri. Marina. Marvel. Glimmer. Thresh. Rue. Clove. Everyone but Marissa and Prim. And you and me."

"You and me…" Cato chuckled bitterly. "You know, you would have made a great Career. You're just as ruthless as me. Clove even said the same… I regret not approaching you before this started. But you're right. Everyone else is dead. Except them. And you and me. But we both know how this ends. They don't care. They have never cared. We're here to be their entertainment. But you knew that already, right? You knew exactly what we would have to do. You even tried to protect that Everdeen girl through all of us. But she's killed, hasn't she?" I lowered my head, gritted my teeth, and tightened my grip on the serrated sword. Another mocking chuckle. "Couldn't have been Marvel. You killed him in the fall. Thresh killed Clove and I got away. I know Foxface must have killed Glimmer. And you probably killed Thresh. Neither Foxface or the Everdeen girl would have killed him. Or the other girl from his district which means…" I didn't have to look up to see the mocking smile. I heard it through his voice. The reminder of my failure.

Silence once again.

"You're right…" I said quietly. "She did kill her. I failed. But you want to know something else?" I raised my head with my eyes narrowed, looking him in the eyes. I raised my sword. He did the same. "I'm not going to fail again. I'm not going to die here. I'm not going to let you walk away. I'm not going to let you kill them. I'm not going to let the Capital play their fucking game any further. I'm going to kill you, Cato. And then I'm going to get the three of us out of here. And if I have to die for them both to leave… then I'm fucking taking you with me."

I swung my sword. I knew I wasn't close enough but I wanted to surprise him. And I did. He backed away and I ran directly into him. I tackled him. Knocking him right into the Cornucopia. I felt him slam his fists down on my back. I felt my back crack. I felt pain. I kneed him with my left knee and heard him gasp. I punched him in the side again and again.

Until he threw me right into the Cornucopia with my head hitting it directly. I felt my ears ringing but looked just in time to see him swing his sword. I dodged and backed away. I tried to put distance between us but fell back due to my weak leg. That's when Cato tried to stab me in the stomach with his sword. I grabbed it with both my hands, dropping my own sword, and tried to keep it from killing me. I gritted my teeth as I felt the serrated sword cut both my hands.

I kicked him in the stomach and rolled away to avoid another swing. I grabbed my sword and swung weakly but it still connected. I cut his shirt open and saw blood. But he kicked my hand. And my sword flew away. He tried to stab me again but I caught the blade. I tried to kick him again. This time with my broken right leg. But he grabbed my foot.

And snapped my broken right leg at the knee.

I both cried and screamed to the gray sky and clouds above. Another rumbling. And another flash of lightning. I didn't stop screaming even as my throat became far more sore than the day before. He dropped my leg and walked back to pick up his serrated sword.

All the while I screamed.

And then I screamed even more when his serrated sword impaled my left shoulder. I tried to grab any part of him but failed. The blade was deep inside my shoulder. I felt pain throughout my sore body. Complete and utter pain. Finally, he pulled the blood blade out and held the sword over me with the blade pointed down.

This was it…

This was how I would die…

But before he could bring the blade down, Marissa tackled him. His sword flew away. But he punched Marissa in the face. Instantly, she went down. But then Cato screamed. Prim had stabbed him in the back with her knife. He smacked her across the face, knocking her into the Cornucopia, and she went down too. I saw Marissa try to crawl toward one of our swords. But Cato knelt down over her and grabbed her throat. She grabbed his wrists and tried to stop him. Her face started to turn red. I heard her gasping for air. I tried to crawl toward them despite my broken right leg…

"J-John…" Prim called.

I turned my head to see Prim down on the grass. She held something in her hand. And weakly, threw it to me.

Her knife.

I gripped the blade.

I only had one shot at this.

I looked toward them.

Or Marissa would die.

I whistled a familiar tune.

Prim would die.

A Mockingjay call.

I would die.

Cato looked up.

We would all die.

I threw the knife. And it went directly into his right eye. His grip on Marissa's neck lessened before breaking. And she rolled away, taking in the air with wide eyes. She turned on her stomach. Prim and I had done the same.

And we crawled toward each other.

When we finally reached each other, we took each other's hands. I looked both of them in the eye. Marissa had a black eye but her face was filled with relief. Prim had a bruise on her forehead with small amounts of blood but her tearful eyes were filled with happiness. And I… I… I…

And I hissed from the pain.

I rolled onto my back. I stared up at the gray sky and clouds. The rumbling had stopped. No flashes of lightning. But I felt light rain on my face.

My breathing started to become uneven…

"J-John…"

Marissa…

"John!"

Prim…

I'm losing blood…

Both her and Prim knelt beside me on both their knees. Both with tears in their eyes. I felt Prim take my hands. Marissa pulled out the nightlock berries… Prim noticed them… And grabbed them. She stood with tears in her eyes.

And what she did next surprised both me and Marissa…

"P-PLEASE! P-PLEASE! P-PLEASE SAVE HIM! IF YOU DON'T, WE'LL EAT THEM! WE'LL EAT THEM AND YOU WON'T HAVE A WINNER! I WON'T GO BACK HOME WITHOUT HIM! I DON'T WANT TO GO HOME WITHOUT HIM! I-I LOST MY D-DAD! I-I DON'T WANT TO LOSE HIM TOO!"

Silence but the light rain that fell.

My head felt lighter…

My heart felt slower…

I barely felt anything…

But I knew I had tears in my own eyes…

And I felt the tears fall from Marissa's eyes…

Prim looked back down at us with tears going from her red hazel eyes down to her red cheeks. She gave Marissa a nightlock berry and she took it without hesitation. I thought it was because she didn't want to die… But the look in her eyes… I hadn't seen that look since she showed me the berries…

She was willing to die for me…

They both were willing to die for me…

Prim knelt back down and gave me one. I held it in my fist. I looked both of them in the eye.

"P-Prim… It's done… I'm-"

"N-no… J-John… P-please…" Prim sobbed.

Weakly, I raised my free hand and held her cheek…

"I'm not getting out of here… But you can… You both can… Stay together… Keep the berries… Force their hand… The same way they forced ours… We… The people… We keep them going… Without us… The Capital is nothing… Go home… Both of you go home…"

My vision was going…

I heard them call my name in panic…

I whistled the Mockingjay call…

And even when I saw the white light above us…

I gave my last breath…

I had kept my promise…

They were both safe…

Next chapter: A new promise.