Chapter 14

I wake up to the sound of mockingjays chirping in the trees above me. We have a lot of mockingjays back home. One of Cress and Bil's favourite after school activities is to hum funny tunes to the mockingjays and see if they'll repeat it back. We usually laugh so hard our sides hurt, and have been the cause of many noise complaints among the farmers. I hold my locket as I think of them. I wonder what Cress and Bil are thinking watching me right now, seeing the things I've done. Will they even still want to hang out with me if I make it home?

I pack my blanket into my backpack and start moving south. I take the small knife I have in my backpack out for protection. Seeing as I don't have my crossbow anymore, I have to make due with what I've got.

My eyes drift up back towards the mockingjays as I walk. I watch as they playfully fly from branch to branch, excitedly chirping at one another. It must be nice being a bird. You can go wherever you want whenever you want, and not have a care in the world. You don't have to think about anything other than where you're going to go next. You wouldn't have to think about providing for a family. You also wouldn't have to think about an oppressive dictatorship forcing your people into labour and condemning them to send their children into a death game each year.

One mockingjay comes and perches itself on a rock not far from my feet. It looks up at me and cocks its head expectantly. Maybe it wants me to sing. Before I know what I'm doing, I start humming one of the many tunes Bil would make the mockingjays sing. As soon as I finish, it starts repeating my song happily, and flies back up to its comrades. Next thing I know, there is a whole chorus of mockingjays singing Bil's song. It sounds so beautiful, and reminds me of home. I sit and listen for a while, seeing as I'm in no rush.

My mind starts to wander, and I start thinking about how the Gamemakers could possibly finish this. When there is only two or three tributes left, they usually put in some super big obstacle to end things quicker and make things more interesting. One year they flooded the entire arena in a giant tsunami. I'm pretty sure the girl from District 4 won that year. Makes sense seeing as they're around water their entire lives.

I get up and start walking once again. As I'm walking, I hear something rustling in the bush on my left. Thinking it might be another tribute, I ready my knife for attack. My mind races thinking who it could be. The girl from District 2? Wyatt? I hope it's not Wyatt. I don't think I will ever be ready to face him.

What emerges from the bush is not a human, but a hare. I haven't seen any game in days! I waste no time driving my knife into its stomach, killing it instantly. I haven't eaten anything yet today, so I figure now is as good a time as any to cook it up.

I am careful to build my fire in a sheltered area, as I don't want to send up a line of smoke in broad daylight, and let the others know where I am. I skin my hare and slowly turn it over the fire.

Once I finish devouring my lunch, I discard the bones, put out my fire, and start walking once again. I take a swig of my water as I do so, making sure I am well hydrated for what is to come.

I walk on for a while until I reach the mountain where the Careers were camping out before they ambushed us. I don't see the girl from District 2 anywhere, so I can only guess that she has abandoned this spot since. I start to make my way up the mountain to see if she could have left anything useful behind

I am more than halfway up the mountain before I hear something in the distance. It sort of sounds like a rumbling sound, but very far away. I then hear a high pitched scream and footsteps running towards me. I look up and lock eyes with the District 2 girl, who seems to be running away from something. The colour drains from my face as I look behind her and see a giant avalanche making its way towards us.

I join her in running in the other direction, struggling to keep my footing while running downhill. She sees this as an opportunity to try and finish me off, as she then charges towards me ready to fight. I take her fists in my hand as she tries to punch me, narrowly dodging her attempts to knee me in the stomach.

"Really?! Is now the time to be doing this?!" I exclaim as I gesture to the giant wave of snow gaining ground at an alarming rate.

"I don't know when I'll run into you next, so I need to make sure that avalanche kills you before I do anything else!" she yells back, and tries to knee me once again. Having enough of her antics, I use her trapped fists to my advantage and flip her onto her back. I take this as an opportunity to seek out higher ground before the avalanche hits, and make my way onto an elevated piece of rock. The District 2 girl chases after me, and we are now stuck on a rock as the avalanche finally catches up with us.

I take out my knife and ready myself to fight her while she puts on her clawed gloves. We then waste no time charging at each other and trying to push the other into the raging snow beneath us. "Where did all of this sudden bravery come from? I thought you were scared of me" I mock as I knock her hands away from my face.

"Scared? Of you? I'll admit, what you did to Conway was pretty brutal, but he was slowing me down anyway. The only reason I ran away was because I knew I couldn't take you on right then and there" she says in response. It's so obvious she's bluffing, as there was no mistaking that look in her eyes for anything but fear.

We start fighting once again, and her attacks become harder to keep up with. She manages to jab her claws straight into my ribs, and I instantly recoil in pain. She then successfully knees me in the stomach, and I fall backward. I am inches away from falling off the rock, but I hold on for dear life as the District 2 girl then climbs ontop of me. I can see the blood from my wound start to stain her pants.

"I finally have you! You have been nothing but trouble for me since these games began. First you show me up at the Tribute Parade, then in training, and then during the interviews! All of that attention should have been on me! I am a polished warrior! You're nothing but a poor little farm girl who's decent with a crossbow! How you've survived even after we destroyed your weapon? I don't know. I always figured Wyatt would kill you if I didn't. But you're like a cockroach, you just don't go away! I'm putting an end to you once and for all. That crown is mine!"

Just as she is reciting her boring monologue, I take my knife in my hand and stab her in the stomach. She immediately falls backward, and I then switch our positions and climb ontop of her instead. With venom dripping from my voice, I whisper in her ear, "I'm not going anywhere." I then take my knife once more, and start fatally stabbing her in the chest. Once I am satisfied, I send her falling into the avalanche beneath us, and watch as her lifeless body descends the mountain. Once the cannon goes off in the distance, I know I've won.

I wait for the avalanche to die down before I descend the mountain myself. On my way down I notice that my hands are covered in the girl from District 2's blood. A wave of guilt, much like the one I had when I killed the girl from District 1 washes over me. I didn't even know this girl's name, and I just stabbed the shit out of her and threw her down a mountain. Sure, she was jealous and immature, but no one deserves to die.

My thoughts are interrupted by another rumbling sound behind me. My eyes grow wide in shock when I realise that a second wave of snow is now making its way towards me. I start running as fast as I can in hopes that I can somehow outrun it.

My plan fails and I end up tripping and falling onto my knees. Before I have time to recover, the second avalanche of snow swallows me up and sends me tumbling down the mountain. I try desperately to find my footing in the torrent of snow, but it is close to impossible, and I eventually just let the snow carry me down the mountain. A handful of snow then makes its way into my mouth, and I end up choking violently. Is this the end? Is this where I die? My vision starts to go blurry from the lack of air, and I lose consciousness somewhere on the way down…

I am running in some sort of black void, angry voices yelling profanities at me from behind. Am I dead? Did Wyatt win? So many questions swirl my mind as I keep on running. I stop to look behind me at just what could be chasing me, and it is none other than all of the tributes I've killed so far. There is the girl from District 1, Jeweliana, who's eyes are now sunken in and angry looking. I see that she has an arrow stuck in the middle of her head, presumably the one I ended her life with. The District 2 boy is looking at me with the same angry expression, but there is an arrow stuck in the middle of his chest. Cleo, Ezra, and Farley all stand together glaring at me, blood pouring from their wounds. The District 4 boy, Conway, has ugly bruises all over his body. Finally, the District 2 girl, who gives me the most venomous stare of them all, is covered in snow while blood leaks from the many stab wounds in her chest.

"It's your fault!" They all shout accusingly. "Without you, we'd still be alive! It's all your fault!" They all circle around me while continuing their belittling chant.

I crouch down and cover my ears in an attempt to drown them out, but they just become louder and louder. "I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to!" I shout back, but they just continue to yell. I try to tell them I'm sorry, but they just keep going.

After a while, I hear another voice. I look up to see my grandparents, giving me the same angry glare as everyone else. They are then joined by Bil, Cress, Aunty Petra, Chet, and Mr. Netherthorn. "You are a murderer! You are a murderer!" They yell, and join the others in pointing their fingers at me. Tears start to fall from my eyes, as the last thing I ever wanted to do was disappoint those I love.

The mayor and his wife, Farley's parents, then join the circle with beratement of their own. "You killed our son! It's all your fault!" they yell.

"I'm sorry! I never meant for this to happen!" I beg with them, but they just continue to yell.

The last one to join is my father. He doesn't wear an angry expression as he looks at me, like everyone else, but a look of sadness and disappointment. "Oh Kitty, how could you do this?" he says sadly, and I immediately cry out.

"Daddy, I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!" I reach my hand out towards him, but he doesn't take it. Instead, he turns around and walks away, leaving everyone else to bury me in hurt.

"Daddy, please don't leave me!" I cry, but he is already gone. Everyone then starts beating down on me with their fists, and I am struggling to breathe. I can't take it anymore, and scream out loud to anyone to help me…

I jolt up as I gasp for breath. I look around and see that I am surrounded by a thick blanket of snow. I survived? I thought for sure I was done for. That must mean what I just saw was just a dream. I clutch my chest in relief and try to steady my racing heart.

As I catch my breath, I feel a sharp pain right above my stomach. I look down and see the front of my coat covered in blood, and remember my fight with the District 2 girl earlier. I look through my bag to see if I still have some of the medicine I got from Mulvain, but the jar is empty. As a substitute, I pick up some snow and press it against my wound, in hopes to stop the bleeding and to prevent infection.

After a while of icing my injuries, I get up and shake off all of the snow. My body temperature is dangerously low from laying in the snow, and I need to get warm fast, so I walk back the way I came earlier.

I find myself in the middle of the arena, the Cornucopia not far from view. With the District 2 girl dead, Wyatt and I are the final two tributes, just as I predicted.

"I've been waiting for you to show up."

Speak of the devil and he shall come. Wyatt makes himself known by walking out of the Cornucopia. He stops a few paces in front of me, and looks at me with a predatory smirk on his lips. We'll have to do this at some point, so might as well get it over with now.

"I knew you would be the last one standing" he says. I start pacing back and forth slowly, preparing myself for whatever he throws at me.

"From the moment I saw you dazzle everyone at the Tribute Parade, I knew you would be my biggest challenge. I was so desperate to see you in action during training, but alas, you kept me waiting, mousey. That made me very sad" he says with a hint of lust and sarcasm. I really wish he would stop coming up with these sickening nicknames for me. I don't say anything and continue to glare at him expectantly.

"All the other females here don't hold a candle to you. Either too plain, to frightened, or too arrogant. You are neither of those, aren't you? And might I say quite the looker." He licks his lips and all of a sudden I feel like throwing up. I'm not becoming prey to this derranged and horny psychopath.

"I have a feeling you're going to taste fantastic. The ultimate prize" he says, and he takes another step towards me. I automatically break into a fighting stance and wait for him to make the first move.

"Well then, Katerina. Let's begin."

Without another word, he charges at me, and I quickly dodge to the side and sprint towards the Cornucopia. My size luckily works to my advantage once again, and I am able to make my way ontop of it before he has a chance to grab me. It doesn't take long before he joins me up here and charges at me once more. I know for a fact that I can't fight him hand-to-hand, as I'm sure I'll lose, so all I can do right now is keep dodging and hopefully wear him out.

Before he has a chance to swing at me, I swan dive between his feet and slide myself to the other side of the Cornucopia. I quickly recover and go to swing at him with my knife. He deflects me with his sword, and ends up slashing me across the face. As I stumble backward, he painfully grabs a handful of my hair and slams me down on the wall of the Cornucopia.

"I thought you would put up more of a fight, little mousey" Wyatt taunts in my ear as I try to squirm free. He then pins down my hands to make sure I'm not getting away.

"I don't think I want to do this the usual way. I want you alive for this" he says before his mouth starts to make its way down to my neck. Having an idea of what he means, I start to struggle even more. There must be some way I can get out of this. He then bites down on my collarbone, and I gasp in pain. He grunts in approval and keeps on going. While he begins to leave a bruise on my skin, I start to panic underneath him. Struggling proves useless, as he easily outweighs me and can easily subdue any attempt of mine to fight back.

He then moves from my collarbone upward, and shoves his tongue down my throat. I try to scream in protest, but every scream is muffled by his mouth on mine. I swore to myself that things wouldn't end up like this, yet here I am. I feel so helpless as he continues to violate me, and feel that there is nothing I can do but let it happen. Tears threaten to spring into my eyes, but I will them to stop. If this is where it ends, then I will not be giving this asshole the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

As Wyatt continues to suffocate me, my eyes drift down to his legs straddling mine. If I time it right, then maybe I can drive my knee into his groin. As I am brainstorming, I can feel Wyatt's hand tug on the bottom of my shirt, so if I'm going to do anything I have to act fast.

Before he can start biting my neck, I knee him right where it hurts, and he stumbles back in agony. I take this opportunity to shove him off of the Cornucopia, and watch as he hits the ground beneath us. I don't stop there, as I then jump off myself and send my foot right into his face.

Just as I am about to land another blow, Wyatt gets up and swings his sword at me. I try and dodge, but the tip of his blade ends up scraping me in the stomach. I need to end this quick, as I'm sure I'm losing a lot of blood from my injuries. Before he can swing at me again, I crouch down and swoop my foot under his, making him fall to the ground. I then take my knife and lodge it into his arm as he tries to roll away from me. I go to stab him again, but he is a step ahead of me and shoves me away from him as he tries to recover from my most recent blow. I can feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins as I stare down at him.

"Get up…..GET UP!" As soon as the words leave my mouth, my chin is met with Wyatt's fist, and he knocks me to the ground. I don't let him come any closer, however, and roll backwards before he can advance on me.

I get back on my feet and think about what my next move will be. I don't have much time, though, as Wyatt is gaining on me once again. Without thinking, I take my knife and throw it at him, and it manages to land right below his chest. He grunts in pain, then pulls the knife out and throws it to the ground. He then starts laughing hysterically, and I give him a look of confusion.

"Now THATS more like it! I was wondering where the fuck that 10 in training went. You were worth the wait, mousey" Wyatt says in that low grunting voice that makes my skin crawl. I shrug off his creepy comments and charge back at him. I plan to take him off-guard by making him think I'm going to hit him in the face, and then sidestep around him last minute and steal the sword out of his belt. My plan works, and I now hold his sword in my hand. He looks at me with a look of shock, and I dont give him time to recover before I drive the sword into his gut. He stumbles backward and grabs his wound in pain. I then kick him to the ground, and take his hair in my hands. This ends now. I lift him up to my level and say, "Next time, listen to your head and not your dick."

I walk over to a nearby rock sitting underneath the Cornucopia, Wyatt still in hand, and start bashing his head into the rock over and over again. I don't stop until Wyatt's head is nothing but a useless pile of insides and blood, and finally drop his lifeless body after I'm satisfied. Next thing I know, I hear a cannon go off in the distance, signifying Wyatt's death.

Claudius Templesmith's voice then fills my ears, and says the words I never thought I'd hear. "Ladies and gentleman, may I present the winner of the the 72nd Annual Hunger Games!" The trumpets then start to play in the distance, and I fall to my knees in relief and exhaustion. I won. I actually won. I get to go home. I get to see my family again.

The corners of my vision start to go black as I see the faint outline of a hovercraft swooping down to come and collect me…