Bloodlust and Love: The 31st Hunger Games

by samoht

In order to prove a point, Tomas, an unlikely volunteer from District Two steps forward as tribute. However, his decision quickly turns to regret as he realises just how much is at stake. It's not the home he's left behind, that will fuel Tomas' will to win; but more who he has left behind, and what she means to him. Rated T for violence.

10. A Burning Fire

I am still weak, but my chest burns with renewed energy. A new fire has been lit inside me. I pick up a single knife and walk towards the lagoon in the dark. I carry nothing else except the knife and the ring, which sits on my left ring finger. I reach the lagoon and find the raft missing. As I suspected. I wade into the cold water and begin swimming. I swim for hours. I take breaks whenever I come to a small island. I don't eat. The faces of Trizzy, Cass and the boy from 8 appear in the sky. I keep swimming.

Eventually I see a faint glow in the distance. I alter my course and swim for another 4 kilometres in the direction of the glow. When I'm fifty metres away from the glow, I identify it as a campfire. I knew it. The swimming has drained my energy but I will not stop yet.

I make my way through the water silently until I am twenty metres from the fire. Daimen sits beside it.

I can feel the sandy lagoon bed through my shoes. The water gets shallower. I begin crawling through the shallows. Thin mangroves surround me. I hold the dagger between my teeth as I use both hands to navigate my way through the watery jungle. I'm closing in on my kill.

I must have made a sound because Daimen looks around. He's been staring into the fire so he can't see a thing in the black of night. I don't move. My head is the only thing above water. He looks back at the fire but looks around every now and again. I keep going. Slowly edging closer. The thrill of the hunt is rushing through my body once more. When I get within five metres, I stop. I am in range of the firelight. I can't risk it. Now is the moment. I silently take a deep breath and go under. I begin sliding my body along the bottom of the shallows. Bit by bit, I get closer and closer, like a serpent closing in on prey. The air in my lungs will last me the distance. I stop when I am directly behind Daimen. He's on the island directly at the waters edge, where I lie.

I slowly let my head breach the water surface. I force myself to take my breath slowly and quietly. I rise out of the water behind Daimen, dagger clenched between my teeth. I take the dagger in my right hand and that's when I strike. I cup Daimen's mouth with my left hand and drag him backwards into the water with a splash. He struggles, but it's too late. I plunge my knife into the side of his throat and push outwards, opening it up completely. The water becomes bitter with his blood. As I surface again, the sound of a canon fills the night. The hateful child is dead at last. I feel that justice has been delivered. I clamber onto shore. A nicely lit fire and my backpack welcome me. Cass' raft lies a few metres away. The boy from 7 is still out there so I put out the fire and slide into the water, placing the pack on the raft and pushing it in front of me. I find another island a safe distance from Daimen's old camp and clamber onto it. If the boy from 7 was heading to Daimen's camp then I should be safe here. I lie on the beach, soaking wet but happy. I kiss Aliss' ring and let the chill of the night embrace me as I fall asleep.