20: Careers

Katniss POV

"So, are we just going to wait here for the careers to come back and attack us?" asks Johanna, leaning on her axe. She yanks it out of the ground and spins it with one hand. "Or are we going to have a plan? You know, because I don't really want to waste everything that we've worked for getting killed from behind."

She has a point. Even if it's seven of us against three of them, we should still have a plan. After all, I doubt that Wiress and Beetee will be much use in a fight. Finnick and I have been standing here discussing different upbringings in different Districts like we aren't in an arena where only one comes out alive and an attack from three of the strongest tributes could come at any moment.

"So what do you suggest?" Haymitch asks Johanna. "I think that we should ambush them. Katniss should hide with her bow and arrows over there." He gestures to a large rock. Part of this is just good strategy, but I know that another part is that he's trying to shield me from the risk as much as possible. Thank you Haymitch.

I pull my bow from over my shoulder and take of my quiver. Only two arrows remain. Most of the others were used up during the gorilla attack and killing game and during the bloodbath. Perhaps Gale will sponsor me some. He's probably watching me right now, I can expect a parachute from him soon without even needing to say anything. Gale has always been able to tell what I need, even if in this case it is obvious.

Sure enough, a glint of silver catches my eyes as I look towards the sky. A parachute with a fairly large package and I doubt that it will be for any of my allies. It lands right in front of me with a message from Gale. I remove the message and read it silently.

Catnip- I noticed you were running short of arrows. Stay safe during the attack, or as safe as you can be. I'll miss you if you die and I won't be the only one. -Gale.

Nice of him to send me a message before the attack. It's been the only thing that I've heard from him for what feels like ages. We can speak in a fashion here: I can say something to the camera, knowing he will hear it. If he thinks I need something he can send me a note with the gift. But this is the first note. Haymitch used to send us lots of notes about acting in love. I don't need to act anymore though. After this attack, hopefully I should be out of here. If my prediction of the others giving up their lives for me is correct.

Somewhere across the arena, I hear a cannon sound. Suddenly, I am hyper-aware. Could the careers be turning on each other? Who else is there in the arena except for us and them? District One- Gloss is dead, Cashmere's a career. District Two: careers. District Three: Wiress and Beetee, both of whom are with me. District Four: Finnick (here) and Mags (dead). District Five: Electra (here) and Leon.. Where is he? Could he be the dead tribute? Most of the others died in the bloodbath.

Damn. The careers haven't yet turned on each other. It's probably Leon, seeing as I don't hear another cannon now. Luckily that should mean that the careers will be coming back soon. No more tributes to hunt after all, none except for us- will they be going through the sections hunting for us now? Maybe. Maybe they'll just come back here though. I hope so.

Haymitch, Finnick and Johanna organise the others. I'm not paying too much attention. I trust them to coordinate the attack, and they do have a lot more experience with watching the Games than I have. Besides, Johanna doesn't like when I interrupt her and I don't want to give her an excuse to betray me when I'm so close to winning. She's too sensitive to criticism- she's rather risk her life with her plan than listen to somebody's analysis of it.

I pull myself up onto the rock Haymitch pointed at, finding small hand-holds. Were those put there by the Capitol specifically so people could climb on these rocks? For the first time, I imagine what a huge task it would be to create an arena, to fine-tune every small aspect of the environment for your purposes. And that's even before thinking of the mutts and weather conditions and all of that. How much money do the Capitol blow each year on the Games? How many people would that money have fed, kept alive if given to the Districts? How many people like me wouldn't have needed to hunt?

That said, if I didn't hunt, I wouldn't have met Gale. I can see his face in minds eye right now. His irritated face in front of his snare the first time that I met him. Gale splashing around in the lake, trying to swim. Gale getting his first bullseye with the bow and arrow and doing a victory dance. Gale and I eating game together in the woods, Gale ranting about the Capitol, Gale and I selling our game in the Hob and sitting down for a bowl of Greasy Sae's stew afterwards. Gale rushing up to the stage to volunteer.

If all goes well, I can see him tonight. We can go home to District Twelve. What's happening in Twelve at the moment? The thought is almost painful as it strikes me. In here, I have no way of knowing what's going on in the outside world. Prim could be dead and I wouldn't know it. The people could be rioting, the Capitol could be attacking, there could be chaos and I'm isolated here, unable to know.

For all I know, the rebellion could be over already and Gale could be dead. The other tributes will sacrifice their lives for me and I'll be victor and go back to District Twelve, only to find that my family and friends are dead and everything that I've ever cared about destroyed. It would be a good strategy for Snow. Keep me isolated here and destroy everything that I love- snatch my victory straight out of my reach, just like he did with this quell.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the trees move and three figures emerge. The careers. Brutus, Enobaria and Cashmere. Me and Finnick killed Gloss a while back whilst she was alone. My fingers grip the rock under me for support. They're so close. Just a little bit closer, just a bit and then I'll be able to shoot.

They dive into the water at the same time, the splash obscuring my view. The seconds feel like hours as I hold the bowstring in place. As soon as they come into view again, I loose the arrow. I don't see which one it hits- if any.

Damn. There's no blood in the water. They know that we're here now. I just spoiled our ambush because I was too impatient to wait for a clear shot. Well they have to come up to breath sometime. We can kill them then.

Suddenly, one of them is on the shore. Brutus. He holds a spear and a circular shield. My arrow bounces off the shield harmlessly, but Haymitch comes up behind him swinging the axe. Brutus turns around at the last moment and lashes out with his spear. Haymitch's axe comes up to cut off the spearhead, but the wood repels the axe.

Brutus drives his spear down towards Haymitch's foot and Haymitch jumps backwards. I fire off another arrow towards Brutus. He's clearly the more skilled one here. The arrow hits him in the leg. He doesn't even seem to notice. The spear point flashes across Haymitch's cheek and a thin line of blood follows.

I look around wildly for the others. Cashmere and Enobaria are still somewhere. Johanna and Electra are fighting off Enobaria, they don't seem to need my help. Enobaria fights wildly, not in the structured way that careers usually do. It's a sword stroke, then throwing a knife, then tearing with her teeth.

She has a wound to the leg which is oozing blood though and Electra drives her shortsword into Enobaria's foot. A screech of pain and anger fills the air. Johanna buries her axe in Enobaria's face. The cannon sounds, distracting me for a moment. Where is Cashmere? What about Haymitch?

And suddenly I see. Cashmere is holding Wiress in front of her with a knife to her neck. Beetee is standing still. I aim my arrow. I need to get this shot just right. Like with Thresh and Gale last year. I can't hit Wiress. I pull the bowstring back as far as I can. Just the hand holding the knife.

My arrows soars through the air. She notices it coming a second to early and her hand moves slightly to the side. The arrow hits her in the shoulder and the knife slides across Wiress's throat. Blood spurts out, staining her grey hair and clothes and the sand. She doesn't scream, but I can hear her laboured breathing from here. Even the Capitol can't save her now.

Cashmere is fast though. She doesn't bother to pull the arrow out, instead she launches herself at Beetee. My second arrow hits the sand where she was just a second ago. Her knife almost finds Beetee's abdomen- it would have had Finnick been not been there. The trident edge smashes Cashmere in the face.

Two gaping wounds open where it hit, not deep enough to kill her. "Go to hell," Finnick shouts. "For killing an old woman who was no threat to you."

His trident plunges into her back, and then again through her chest and once more in her neck. Only the sound of the cannon stops him. He rushes over to Wiress and Beetee. Beetee is holding Wiress in his arms, whispering to her about District Three and how she'll be in a better place soon.

Finnick kneels down next to them. "You'll be OK," he says to her. "We have sponsor money, we can save you. Just stay alive for a few minutes longer."

Even from up here, I can see that it'll be hopeless. The pools of blood around her are too deep, she'll die soon. Her neck is cut too far in. Beetee lays her down on her side and shuts her eyes. He wipes the remaining blood off her neck with his sleeve as the sound of the cannon fill the arena.

Just now, I remember that Brutus and Haymitch as still somewhere around here. There hasn't been a cannon for either of them. I swirl around on the rock, scanning the island below. Could they be inside the cornucopia? What about in the forest? Has Haymitch run. My breathing becomes fast.

And then I notice the splashing in the water. Brutus holds Haymitch under. Both of their weapons have been lost. I aim an arrow a Brutus and fire it, but my vision spins. And then I realise that it isn't my vision spinning at all. It's the entire island. My arrows goes hopelessly off.

Haymitch resurfaces coughing up water and I sigh in relief, before nearly falling from the rock. I cling to the handholds that allowed me to climb up here earlier. Beetee is gripping another rock and Johanna has her axe embedded into the sand. Wiress's, Enobaria's and Cashmere's bodies go flying into the water.

I catch sight of Haymitch trying to get to the shore and Brutus grabbing his leg and pulling him back down into the water. We have safety in numbers, but Haymitch is alone and faced with somebody much stronger than him. As the cornucopia slows down, Electra jumps from where she was sheltering behind a rock.

Her arm is extended with her sword. It hits Brutus in the stomach and drags him off of Haymitch. Risky strategy. She could have easily hit Haymitch there. Haymitch will be dead soon anyway though, they both will. Once Brutus is dead, the others will kill themselves so that I can get out.

Brutus's body slumps down into the water on top of Enobaria. The once sparkling blue water is now a dirty brown-red shade. They both fall under. I fire an arrow under the water for them. Neither emerge for about half a minute.

Then there are two cannons, so close to each other that I can barely tell that it's two deaths and not one. Both of them drowned. Or maybe I killed one of them. It doesn't matter. I've won now. We're the only ones left.

xXx-X-xXx

Thanks for reading! I hope you liked the action in this chapter, I believe that it's the most deaths that I've written in one chapter so far (five- three careers, Wiress and Electra). Thanks to everybody who's reviewed, followed and favourited the story so far, there are only a few chapters left now.

-MoonOfPluto