Chapter Four - Brutus Montgomery
I stand there as I watch my son plunge his sword through the neck of the poor boy from District 3. My sweet, innocent boy who used to take his sisters for walks in the garden and return with big bouquets of flowers. Who used to help his younger classmates when they were struggling with subjects in school. Who only trained in the Academy because his father guilted him into it, but came home every night telling me over and over "I would never kill anyone the way they're training me to, Mom. I promise. I'm just doing this to make Dad proud of me.".
The wretched Capitol took my son and his innocence away from me, but most importantly, away from his own self.
"He's doing great, isn't he Andromeda? He's going to win for sure." says Clark, my husband.
"Oh yes." I say absentmindedly.
We continue to watch the bloodbath as Brutus and his allies kill tribute after tribute. I excuse myself after the fourth death and go to kitchen, busying myself with the task of fetching water and snacks for our small gathering of friends and family we have over. I bring out the food and set it on the table and resume my spot next to Clark.
"What happened while I was gone?" I ask cheerfully.
"Mommy, Brutus killed some more girls and boys. His friends did too. But some of them got away. I want Brutus to get them all dead so he can win." says Everett, my youngest son who is 6. He admires his older brother so much for going into the Games. I don't have the heart to tell him that it isn't an honor to participate.
"Oh, well thanks for updating me sweetie. I want Brutus to win too." I reply and then return my focus to the Games.
They show a map of the arena and the announcer, Claudius Templesmith, begins to describe this year's arena while they clean up the bodies from the bloodbath.
"We have an abandoned industrial city. Note the graying buildings with many broken windows. They are distributed throughout the arena. There are only 2 that pose no threat at all, but the others, while rich in food and supplies also house many fatal traps. Ooh, look! Janneya from District 8 is nearing one now. Let's see what happens." and the camera turns to Janneya. Fortunately for her, she has found one that doesn't hold any "fatal traps", but unfortunately, it doesn't hold any food or water either. But she seems to decide that it is a safe place to make her camp, and proceeds to use some abandoned boards and metal rods to close herself off into a small corner and then falls asleep.
Back at the Cornucopia, Brutus and his allies are rounding up their supplies. They have plenty of food and a good array of weapons. Once they've determined that they're set with supplies, they start to argue about what to do next. Two of them, Aurora from One and Terra from 4 say they should wait until nightfall to hunt, but Stone from One disagrees. He's ready to kill some more. Brutus warily hangs back with Amelia, his district partner. They've always been close friends, even though she's two years younger than him. It was heartbreaking at the Reaping, knowing that I was going to have to choose my own son over a young girl who has become so much like a daughter to me. But I will always choose Brutus. Even in this horrible situation they've both been thrust into, I still choose him.
"Oh enough already. Let's just go now for a little while and then we can go out again tonight." says Amelia in frustration and proceeds to walk along a half-paved path into the arena.
A few hours later, they return with Brutus leading the pack. They made one kill, the girl from 12 who was hiding behind a charred tree that ultimately didn't conceal her as well as she thought. The kids gather around a campfire and cook some of the meat that was left in a backpack at the Cornucopia, and have dinner. Just after the sun has set, Panem's anthem begins to play in the arena and faces begin to fill the sky. Both from 3, Kurt from 4, the girl from 6, both from 7 and the girl from 12. As soon as the girl from 12's face leaves the night sky, the group marches back into the forest, leaving Terra from 4 on guard. I don't want to see my son killing anyone else tonight and thankfully, Claudius announces that mandatory viewing has ended but the Games will still update live during the Capitol's regular programming.
"Alright Everett, time for bed. And you too, Clara. Let's go." I take my younger two children upstairs for bed and tuck them in, with promises to wake them up in anything exciting happens. I head back downstairs to find our house empty except for Clark and my other daughter, Sameera.
"I said that we were tired and were going to rest for the night but that they could come back to watch tomorrow after lunch. Is that okay, Mom?" asks Sameera.
"Yes, darling thank you." I reply.
Sameera heads upstairs to go watch tv on her television in her room and I once again resume my position next to Clark. We take turns napping on the couch off and on, watching different soap operas that the Capitol has to offer. Around one in the morning, during my awake shift, we get interrupted to learn that Amelia has killed the girl from 10, with the help of her allies. The screen return to the Games to show the poor little girl's death and for a few seconds I get a look of my dear son's face. The sweetness that once glowed in his eyes has now been replaced with a dark, deathly stare. His mouth is set in firm determination. His fists are clenched around his weapons and marches on with such purpose in his step that I barely recognise him.
I stare at the screen, dumbfounded. I wake Clark and fill him in on what has happened. He tells me to go to sleep and I gladly take the opportunity. I dream about Brutus and all the sweet memories I have of him. But then, the vision of him stabbing the boy from 3 fills my head, and my sweetest dreams become nightmares.
Nothing else happens during the night. The second day is quite uneventful. Well compared to past Games. The girl from 11 dies of dehydration, and the only known water source seems to come from the bottles that were in the packs left at the Cornucopia. For the tributes that didn't get one….I just hope they go quick.
That night, while the group is out hunting (they left Aurora from 1 on guard) they come face to face with another alliance. Made up of the tributes from 9 and the boy from 11. The tributes form 9 are both unnaturally large for their age and also seem to be quite skilled with weapons, given that they both got 8's in training. After a few seconds of shock, the fight begins. Stone fights with Rye, the boy from 11 and wounds him easily. He stumbles and Stone must think he's as good as dead, because he goes to help Brutus with the boy from 9. Terra and Amelia try to take on the girl from 9 but no matter how good they are, she's older, faster and stronger than them. She stabs Terra in the gut and Terra falls but not before cutting the girl's leg deeply with her knife.
"TERRA!" screams Amelia.
"Just keep fighting." whimpers Terra and then the cannon sounds.
"You're going to pay." says Amelia and she charges at the big girl with full force. They fight and almost seem to be somewhat evenly matched. But Amelia isn't very fast with reaction times and pays with many cuts along her arms and legs. They continue to try and kill each other and each one almost succeeds. Then a cannon sounds. Both girls look to see who it is. It's Rye, the boy from 11. He finally bled to death. The girl from 9 is so distraught with the death of her ally that she doesn't notice Amelia coming closer with her knife. Amelia charges and successfully hits the girl in a major artery it seems, because the blood starts to flow very quickly. Amelia continues to stab but no canon sounds. The Brutus walks over. For a split second, I see a glimpse of my old son, going to help someone in need. Even if it's in the sickening Games, he's still stopping his task to make sure the other person finished theirs. He walks over and helps Amelia finish her off and the cannon finally sounds. They get up notice that Stone and the boy from 9 are still fighting. With three against one it seems like an easy win, but none of them anticipate the young girl who's hiding in the trees with her makeshift bow and arrow. She moves swiftly into position and lets her arrow fly..fly straight into Amelia's heart. Amelia crashes down on the floor and Brutus immediately drops with her. He tries to save her, but the girl had such luck with her aim. As Brutus and Stone assess Amelia, the girl jumps from her perch and runs with the boy from 9 following closely behind. Stone jumps up and chases after them but ultimately can't find them and returns to Brutus who is still holding Amelia. The cannon has long since sounded, but Brutus doesn't seem to recognize it.
"Leave her. She's dead and we gotta get back to camp. Let's go." Stone says and yanks Brutus's arm away from Amelia. Brutus seems to have realized that he needs to go and slowly rises and leaves with Stone.
That night, Brutus takes his turn to guard while Stone and Aurora get some sleep. An hour into the night, when he's sure they're asleep, he gets up and moves a few yards away from his camp and begins to cry for Amelia. The cameras cut away, claiming that mandatory viewing is over, but they don't cut away quick enough. For a few seconds I get hope. Hope that my son is still my son. That he hasn't changed. That he has not become a monster who's only out for blood. That he is still my sweet sweet Brutus. I hold onto the hope for the rest of the night.
The next morning though, a tribute has unfortunately stumbled upon the group's camp and I watch as Brutus kills her. And when the hovercraft picks up the dead girl and carries her away, it takes a bit of my hope with it.
The Games continue and fights go on. Tributes die, most of them at the hands of the Careers. Most of them at the hands of Brutus. He has changed drastically. He's determined to kill everything he comes in contact with. He's barely keeping himself from killing his allies. He seems to be waiting for a certain moment to kill them. I'm right. 13 days after I found false hope with my now lost son, the group takes down their next-to-last enemy. They return to camp with Brutus once again taking guard. He kills them in their sleep and then moves on to take down his one last competitor.
I didn't realise it at the time, but the girl who plunged an arrow through Amelia's heart was Janneya from 8. Brutus seems to have wanted to wait for her. I think he wanted to kill her last. Turns out I was right. He found her in the very early morning of the 17th day of the Games. He caught her in a trap and has pinned her down. He starts a small monologue, about how this will be revenge for killing Amelia. How's he's waited for this moment. She stays strong through it all but dies very soon. The cannon sounds, but Brutus doesn't seem to hear it. He continues to stab her repeatedly with his sword. Claudius announces him the victor and he still doesn't stop. He just keeps stabbing her. And with each stab to Janneya's heart, its also a stab to my own. I know with each plunge into her heart that my little boy will never come back to me. He's gone. Gone to the Capitol. Gone to the Games. He has become one of them. He will never be my sweet little boy again. He is completely gone.