Day 24- The Games (Day 17)

I've lost all semblance of time over the last couple of days, and the fact I have no way of seeing outside from here doesn't help, but I'm sure we're well into the day when I'm woken by Claudius Templesmith's voice echoing around me.

"Tributes of the forty-ninth Hunger Games! Congratulations on making it to the final three. This is your 17th day in the arena, all of you have had your own struggles, but you have still survived. None of you have eaten anything significant for at least two days now, so, for your efforts, we will reward you with a feast."

I scoff to myself. Reward. As if, it's just an attempt to draw us all together and force us to kill people we have nothing against.

"There is also another incentive for attending," he continues, "should you be thinking you can last without food for a few more days. If all three tributes attend the feast, then the first tribute to kill another shall be separated from their final opponent for ten minutes or so, in which time they shall be rewarded with a superb weapon which should make their final victory a mere formality. We hope to see you in the largest building in one hour, and may the odds be ever in your favour!"

When he is finished, I shift position- I would like to sit up but there's no room- and consider my options. I could just stay here, not attend, that way neither of the others could get the 'superb weapon', but at the same time I just want this thing to be over, one way or the other. I'm also not sure how much longer I can stand to stay in this cramped little shaft.

After a few minutes of deliberation, I decide that I can see which of the others attend from this hiding place. If only one or neither of the others show up then me attending won't activate the award of the weapon, and I may as well get some food. Although I am unsure of whether Jeremiah or Coulette would want to fight even without the reward of the weapon, or would rather eat first.

I'll see how I feel in an hour I decide. It's an hour which takes a long time to pass, before eventually, to my surprise, the floor slides upon, producing a banquet table from underneath the ground, covered in an absolute ton of food. For a split second my first thought is whether I could get through to wherever the food came from but it has finished rising before I can really think, and I quickly realise it would have been pointless anyway- I could hardly have escaped, I would have just been captured and either sent back into the arena or killed outright.

I decide to wait for a while to see if the others arrive, and sure enough Jeremiah lopes in a few minutes later. He looks around warily for a while, but can't see me, before starting to eat. He appears to be armed only with a knife. I guess ten minutes or so must have passed and Coulette still hasn't showed, so on a sudden impulse, I decide to reveal myself.

He spins round at lightning speed, knife held out in a defensive stance as I drop out of my hiding place. I daren't put my staff down, but hold my hands up to show I'm not about to attack.

"Shall we just eat?" he asks. He sounds tired. "Try and make it to the final two before we try and kill each other?"

"Sounds good to me," I say calmly, staying well clear of him as I move round to the far end of the table and start to eat too, my staff resting against the table and my knife next to my plate. I noticed Jeremiah is only picking at his food, and I've not had much at all when I start to feel very full too, a little sick even.

I'm considering leaving, now that my hiding place is compromised, when Jeremiah calls out. "Look out!"

I jerk back in my chair out of surprise, not even having time to register what he said until Coulette slams onto the table in front of me, a tiny blade in her hand. She jabs it towards my neck, but I'm quicker, snatching up my own knife and slashing reflexively it in a wild arc in front of me.

She cries out in pain, falling back, and I see I've cut her across the arm quite badly. For a second I hesitate, a large part of me still wants to apologise, see if she's alright, before I remember the situation I'm in and lunge forward again.

This time she's too quick however, rolling back off the table and breaking into a run towards the exit. I know I'll never catch her, so simply watch her flee, her right arm limp, as Jeremiah goes to cut her off. Suddenly I panic- if he kills her now he'll been given the weapon! And I will have helped him. Frozen in my seat I can only sigh in relief as she beat him to the exit. He disappears after her, but is back a few seconds later.

"No point chasing her now," he says, not finishing the sentence with 'now that I won't get a weapon for killing her'. "Maybe she'll bleed out."

"Why did you warn me?" I ask pointedly.

He simply shrugs back at me. "Honestly don't know," he replies tersely. "Natural reaction I guess."

"I wonder how she got up there," I muse, looking up at the beam that she must have dropped from, but it's more a thought out loud than a question to Jeremiah, and sure enough he doesn't respond.

He doesn't sit down, having apparently had his fill, while I grab a couple more bits of food, some bread and fruit to put in my backpack, noticing that he doesn't appear to have one, when a thought comes to me. "Did you kill Grove?"

"Nope," he says, "you didn't?"

I shake my head. "Must have been her."

"Looks like it," says Jeremiah monotonously, before turning away and heading for the door.

"Thanks," I call after him, "for warning me about Coulette. I know we're probably going to try and kill each other next time we see each other, so thought I'd get that out of the way."

"Whatever," he says, stopping, but not looking round, "like I said, it was just a reaction."

"I'm still grateful," I say, and with that he's gone. I give him a few minutes then head outside too; staff in hand, wary he could be waiting to ambush me. He doesn't appear to be however, so I set off to search for Coulette, exactly what Jeremiah's doing too I'm sure. I realise as I do so that for the first time in The Games I'm actively hunting other tributes, and I remember back to my mother's words in the justice building- 'don't let them change you into a monster'. I stop to think briefly but soon press on. Coulette and Jeremiah are going to have to die for me to get out of this, and that's the most important thing, for mine and my family's sake. It's selfish, I know- I'm sure they both have families they want to be reunited with too, but I'd rather be selfish than dead, and that's the straight-up choice right now. Like I said, they need to die, I'm just going to speed up the process, and hopefully make it as painless as possible for them. That was the one tiny light in the dark of Fern's death I realise in hindsight- at least it was quick. I've seen careers in past games torture their victims in some pretty horrific ways, so I suppose for all her victims it was fortunate in a way that someone with Jade's killing skill didn't have that desire, she just wanted everyone dead quickly.

I'm brought out of my internal monologue by the realisation that there's a bloodstain on the wall I'm passing. I check it to find that it's definitely very fresh, and given the height it is at I'd very surprised if I wasn't from Coulette's injured arm.

However, I can't see any more, so just wander around the buildings aimlessly, constantly on edge, listening as well as looking for my two opponents.

Not that it's any guarantee, but the gamemakers seen to have kept the lighting fairly regular this Games, and if they're still not messing with it, dusk is approaching fast, when a cannon fires.

There we go…twenty-two down, one to go. Here's hoping it's not me. When the hovercraft comes swooping down moments later I hurry off to its position, and although I can't get there before it leaves I have a good idea of where it was. Sure enough, after slowing to a walk for a couple of minutes I come across, to no surprise of mine, Jeremiah, standing in one of the larger streets between the buildings.

He's holding a knife in one hand, which I can see clearly, even from about fifty metres away, is covered in blood, of which there is more splattered one the ground and wall he is stood near.

To my surprise he speaks first. I hadn't been expecting him to say anything before attacking me, but he simply states. "I guess this is it then."

I nod back at him. "Final two can't meet and not fight- the Gamemakers would unleash something awful on us."

He nods determinedly and starts to advance, knife upraised. I approach too and once we're close we start to circle, staring each other down. After a minute or so a lightning bolt fires down from the previously clear sky and it starts to rain- a message from the Gamemakers to get on with it, I think.

Jeremiah lunges.

I parry with my staff and try to use the extra reach to attack him while out of range of his knife blade. I land a good blow on his shoulder then think I've disarmed him with a hard blow to the wrist of the hand holding his knife, but he shrugs it off and slashes horizontally at me. I jerk my waist backwards, but feel the blade slice across my stomach. Hopping back again, I chance a glance down. There is a thin line of blood staining my shirt, but I think I'll live for now. Too close.

I attack with desperation and determination, parrying his knife blows in between swinging blows at him. He's able to counter me however, by blocking my attacks with his forearms. It must hurt, but I can tell he's very tough, stronger than he looks, and it's stopping me landing any blows on his head or midriff, where I could really incapacitate him.

I definitely feel as though I've got the upper hand though, probably due to being much more familiar with my weapon, and try to go for his legs, hoping to knock him off his feet. He's quick as well as strong though, and dodges, though I am forcing him backwards. Suddenly I see a parachute falling…behind Jeremiah. He spots me glancing and takes advantage of my momentary distraction to race for it. I'm right after him, but he's quicker- and is able to grab the one-handed axe that broke out of the container as it landed. As he's turning I lunge at him with the sharp end of my staff but he rolls away, and I barely get my weapon back up in time to block the swing of his axe at my head. He's back on his feet and we continue the fight, Jeremiah now dual-wielding his knife and axe. Soon I realise I'm now the one on the defensive. The axe is much more fluid in his hands the knife, and is also heavier, taking more effort to block. Having two weapons to block mean I have much fewer openings to attack, and when I do manage to strike at him he blocks with the axe handle, saving his arms from a further bruising.

After several minutes of sparring I'm starting to tire and my stomach is beginning to sting and feel moist with blood. All the movement I'm doing is probably stretching the wound open. Jeremiah shows no sign of letting up, so while I block almost automatically I formulate a plan- I can't win this fight fair now.

Hopping backwards after blocking yet another attack, I holding my staff upright, slightly diagonal- so it covers my face, right shoulder, chest and left hip, but leaves my left shoulder conspicuously open. He falls for the trap, swinging his axe in his right hand into my shoulder and collarbone. His eyes light in triumph as I cry out in pain, but my right hand still has a firm grip on my staff and I take advantage of his distraction- he thinks he's won, but instead he receives my staff point in his stomach. I drive it in as hard as I can manage- he sort of grunts in pain, doubling over a little, and when I hear his weapons drop to the ground and see his hands instinctively reaching towards the wound I know I've won.

With no feeling of triumph I pull the staff out, drop it and take up my knife. He doesn't resist as I take my knife and hold it up to his throat. "I'm sorry," I say quietly, before steeling myself and cutting firmly from ear to ear. Blood spews everywhere, and I feel the bile rising as I see him gasp for breath that can't come, before the life leaves his eyes. A few moments later his brain is starved of oxygen, and the cannon fires.

"Congratulations!" booms out the voice in the sky, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I present the winner of the Forty-Ninth Hunger Games, Rory Jordan of District Eight!"

I barely hear it, just standing there numbly as I wait for the hovercrafts that will collect Jeremiah's body and take me out of the arena. I try to force my sister and parents' faces into my mind, think of seeing them again soon, but am only able to raise the briefest and weakest of smiles before their faces are replaced by those of Jeremiah, Tamla and Fern, staring at me with lifeless eyes.

The hovercraft's crew have to almost drag me into the vehicle, and I don't resist at all when I'm jabbed with a needle, that has me feeling very drowsy very quickly and soon I've passed out.