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60…
She needs to move quickly.
If there is one thing she has learned from Haymitch and Peeta, it is that the Games are entertainment.
In District 12, they are a punishment – a reminder – and the air is heavy with resignation as they are forced to watch their children die every year while the Career Districts prosper. It is not even watching their two (poor, shabby, malnourished) tributes sent to the Arena, it is also being forced to see the other tributes (who are wealthy, trained, healthy) fighting, knowing that countless are starving outside her home, along the streets, in the places people ignore (and all of District 12 is ignored).
In the Capitol, it is a show. Just a bit of annual fun to view, but never partake in. They are detached from the Districts, they consider themselves above it.
It is disgusting.
45…
Haymitch was drunkenly detached and Peeta seems to know how to play to the audience. He is charming in the week of training and in the interviews. Katniss does not have such abilities, but what she does have is skill with a bow and an endless devotion to her sister.
She says as much to Caesar.
“I want people to truly understand what I mean when I say I’m doing this for my sister. I would do anything for her, Caesar. I would die for her. I would kill for her. And I will let no one – no one – get in the way of her safety.”
Her interview is dry and to the point, but Cinna did a brilliant job with her dress of flames and she thinks the mystery around her score has created enough interest to get her far. (And if certain viewers pick apart her words, they might read her devotion to Prim as disdain for the Capitol, but that is for later. A spark can be nurtured into a flame, but it is only the beginning.)
She will have to fight, and she has accepted that.
She will have to kill, and she has justified it through necessity.
It is for Prim. It is for her sister. Katniss will do anything.
So when Peeta declares his love for her, she allows herself a few minutes to process. She balls her fists out of sight of the cameras and lets the rage stew in her chest before she understands. And she does not agree.
She did not agree with their plan to fake a romance – but she can see the merit of it.
The Victors are often those from the wealthy districts – Districts 1 and 2, and perhaps 4 – they are talented and trained, but they are also pretty.
30…
The Capitol wants a Victor that will do well by them, that will shine in a way that will reflect the Capitol’s glory. She knows this, as many others do, though it is never spoken aloud.
It is a silent understanding – why a (cannibalistic, insane, savage) tribute was killed in a landslide, why the (unreserved, outspoken, defiant) tribute seemed to have the worst luck in resources, why Haymitch lives all alone in Victor’s Village (surely, he had family at the time of his Games).
The Capitol does not care about the District’s struggle to survive, they want intrigue and suspense and entertainment.
Admittedly, Katniss does not know if she has the charisma to pull that off. She knows she can be rude and blunt and so unlike sweet, charming Prim, who seems to draw everyone in with a smile, but she has a plan and she has skill to follow through.
It will be enough.
It has to be enough.
15…
Her platform is positioned just to the right of the Cornucopia's mouth. She has a direct path to the bow.
10…
It is a fortunate placement.
9…
Peeta is several platforms over, near the back of the Cornucopia. He meets her eyes and shakes his head.
8…
She returns his look resolutely.
7…
She does not plan to back down or run away.
6…
Not with what’s at stake.
5…
“Just try to win.”
4…
Katniss is burning with fury and love and determination.
3…
“I will. I promise.”
2…
And she light a fire to anyone who gets in her way.
1…
The horn blares and she is already sprinting for the Cornucopia.
Katniss does not have the formal training of the Careers, but she is just as practiced. She is light on her feet and a clear path. It is much easier than running through the woods.
She reaches the bow first, and she does not hesitate to send an arrow through the eye of the boy trying to stab her from behind – District 6, she thinks.
The Careers are fighting at the mouth of the Cornucopia.
She watches as the District 2 boy kills the girl from District 3.
She watches the District 2 girl take down the twelve year old from District 11 before she can run away.
She watches as the pair from District 1 try to kill the boy from District 7.
And Katniss shoots.
An arrow takes down the District 5 boy trying to kill the District 2 boy.
Another two kill the pair from District 9 before they are able to catch the District 2 girl by surprise.
Three more arrows.
No one gets close enough to harm her. The only other one with long range weapons is the District 2 boy with his spears. He spares an odd glance in her direction, then looks to the bodies of the tributes that might have killed him if she hadn’t intervened.
The bloodbath continues.
She kills the District 8 boy trying to attack the boy in District 3 – he seemed to have formed an alliance with the girl from District 4 – and he nods gratefully in her direction. District 4 is usually part of the Careers and the District 2 girl just killed the boy from District 4.
Katniss leaves the District 3 boy and District 4 girl alive.
She only has one arrow left.
She keeps it in hand for now.
Based on the battle that just took place, she is sure she can draw a bow faster than they can strike.
There are more bodies scattering the field than people she saw fall, but the Cornucopia is still except for the survivors. The pairs from District 1 and 2 gravitate towards each other, and the girl from District 4 pulls the boy from District 3 into the group, exchanging a few words as she convinces them of his merit.
Katniss walks closer – but not too close – collecting three of her arrows. They are bloodied, but unbroken, and she will not waste them. The hovercrafts have not come for the bodies yet.
The group notices her approach, but none move to attack.
Neither does she.
“Mind if I join the party?” Katniss casually gestures at them with an arrow – or as casual a gesture can be when said object is stained red with fresh blood.
“You?” The District 1 girl gives her a once over and wrinkles her nose. Her District partner considers her for a moment.
Katniss shrugs, “I’m pretty good with a bow.”
The District 2 boy merely nods his head towards the cache of supplies, “Well, come on then.”
***
The introductions are stiff, but she learns their names all the same, offering a curt “Katniss” when Clove leans towards her with a “And who might you be, Miss Mysterious 11?”
Responding with your reckoning might have been far too forward. Not to mention tactless.
Then again, she doesn’t need to charm them or get them to trust her. She only needs them to keep her around for a few more hours.
***
The sun sets and they only stay awake long enough to see the faces cast into the sky.
13 tributes are dead.
For once, it seems the odds are in her favor.
***
Night falls and Katniss offers to take up first watch. She should be surprised by how willingly that all agree, but really, she isn’t.
They view her – a tribute from District 12 – the same way those from the merchant section view those from the Seam. Logically, they may acknowledge her skills, that she is able to deliver on her promises, but when she is standing in front of them, she can see their eyes glaze over her.
Disgusted. Disparaging. Dismissive.
Peeta’s mother sneers at her for being Seam trash even as Katniss sells her husband squirrels. Glimmer gives her an indulgent, condescending smile, secure in her belief that Katniss would not get far if she weren’t allied with them.
Katniss takes it all in stride.
I’ll be home soon, little duck.
***
Soon enough, the six Careers are asleep.
It is foolish, all things considered, for them to trust the girl from District 12 to keep watch on the first day.
Idly, she wonders what the Capitol audience must think. How they see her. How they view the Careers. Do they still think her 11 was a fluke?
There has been no intervention from the Gamemakers – no artificial disasters, no restriction of food, no mutts to attack them – perhaps they can’t possibly consider that someone from a coal district could be a threat.
They don’t understand how strong a motivator desperation is.
Katniss does.
She has witnessed it – experienced it – in every missed meal, every sleepless night, every illegal hunt in the forest, every day she is forced to bear the weight of the family caretaker. Desperation is intertwined with her daily existence in the Seam.
The point of the Games is to survive. That has been her goal for years now, and she is not about to let a change in setting break her. Katniss reminds herself of her purpose. Of Prim. She is why Katniss volunteered. She will be why Katniss wins.
She glances back at the Careers as she climbs up the nearest tree.
They sleep on.
She picks a branch – sturdy, but out of their reach – and positions herself so she is steadily seated with both hands free. There is no going back from this. The others will know by tomorrow night when they see the faces in the sky and she will need to be careful.
The bow – her bow – is in her hands.
She has six arrows.
They have been wiped of the blood from earlier, but no less sharp.
She is quick. She is quiet. She is efficient.
They are all dead before the first cannon goes off.
The next five echo into the night.
By the time the hovercraft arrives to collect their bodies, Katniss has already picked up all the supplies she could carry – lighting a fire to burn the rest – and slipped into the shadows.
***
Caesar doesn’t announce that they are past the Final 8 – down to the last five, actually – until the following sunrise, but Katniss is sure that the others have worked it out by now. They must have been woken by the cannons.
She hasn’t seen the District 10 boy or the District 11 boy, but she has a fairly good approximation on where they have gone. The girl from District 5 is absent as well, but Katniss doesn’t think she will need to worry about her.
They will be pushed together soon enough. As of right now, she needs to capitalize on the fact that people will not be expecting her.
They know someone in the Careers is dangerous, that someone had killed the others, but the remaining tributes do not know who. They have heard the cannons, heard the announcement, but the faces have not been projected into the sky.
They will likely assume that the culprit is getting rest. It is, after all, the morning of the second day. Katniss has been awake and moving for nearly 24 hours now. Any other tribute would need proper rest and a way to stave off the chill of the night.
Any other tribute does not have a comfortable access to water, suitably warm clothing, and enough food to fuel her for the next two weeks. She can manage for a little while longer.
Katniss ducks into the foliage as the heavy tread of a person is heard in the distance.
Perhaps she needs to adjust her previous assumption.
Most tributes will not know who killed the Careers.
There is one person who knows her, at least somewhat, and Katniss knows he watched her run towards the Cornucopia instead of away. There is one person who has paid enough attention to know how dangerous she is and will not underestimate her, at least not to the extent the others will.
Alas, he does not have the quiet gait to go unnoticed in the woods.
He has a knife at his waist but not much else in terms of supplies.
He is collecting berries into a small pouch.
She is hidden among the vegetation.
Peeta is facing away from her – doesn’t even know she is there – he would never see it coming.
Carefully, quietly, she draws her bow back.
For a moment, she hesitates.
She thinks of the bread that saved her family.
She thinks of the boy who was kind enough to provide it.
She thinks of the personal debt she has carried.
And for a moment, a thought floats through her mind: I should spare him.
But it is only for a moment.
Prim, she reminds herself.
She must survive, Katniss must survive, because if she does not win, her family will starve. Her mother will fall into a deeper state of detachment and Prim will be left with far too much on her shoulders. Gale will help to provide, but Katniss knows it will not be enough.
But above it all, she promised Prim she would try to win.
And she will.
In a deliberate motion, she shifts.
Peeta turns at the soft rustle.
The arrow pierces his eye before he could even process it.
It is a merciful death – quick, clean, efficient.
Murder is not kind, but it is the only kindness she can provide when she is here.
It is the only mercy the Games allow.
***
She has spent the first day moving supplies for the Careers and spent the first night tracking down Peeta, so at the sunrise of the second day, Katniss settles down to sleep.
There are three others still alive, Katniss knows. There is the boy from District 10, the boy from District 11, and the girl from District 5.
She knows the District 5 girl – Foxface, Katniss has dubbed her – is flighty. She seemed clever, back in training, with the way she breezed through recognition of plants and weaving traps. She is a survivalist, and Katniss does not believe she would be one for confrontation.
The District 11 boy is strong, built larger than the Careers had been, and she would not win a physical fight against him. Luckily, she still has the six arrows from the start, and she only really needs one to do the job.
The District 10 boy… he is forgettable. Not in the sense that she considers him particularly unimportant, but he seemed to blend into the background. Katniss likely could not name a single feature he had, only that a male ‘D10’ hasn’t been cast into the sky, so he must be alive.
The Gamemakers will push tributes together eventually, but with the ‘thrill’ of the first day, she feels secure that the Capitol audience has been abated. At least for now, she can afford to get rest in the safety of the trees.
***
Katniss wakes to a cannon, jerking up, the strap she had put around herself catching her before the fall. A hovercraft flies in from above her and she carefully clamps a hand over her mouth as she rights herself.
About 30 feet below, the District 11 boy is breathing hard. He has a small pack of supplies slung over his shoulder but no weapons in hand. The body of the District 10 boy is lying on the floor, neck twisted at an odd angle.
She hides herself among the leaves as the hovercraft flies lower. The District 11 boy does not leave. The hovercraft does not lower its crane.
Katniss does not waste any more time. Opportunity had come right to her, and she nocks an arrow. Another cannon rings through the forest.
She carefully climbs to the floor, collecting the arrow, and silently escapes into the woods. The hovercraft lowers its crane. She does not look back.
***
Katniss has long since trained her movement into silence – there is no rustle of leaves or heavy weight of footsteps – but Foxface seems to know she is there regardless.
“It’s just us now, isn’t it?” Foxface says.
Foxface is not looking in Katniss’ direction.
Katniss would be obscured from view even if she was.
She does not respond, so Foxface continues, “I didn’t expect this to happen. Not so soon. Not me. District 5 doesn’t have Victors often.” She lets out a resigned breath. “It won’t have one this year either.”
Katniss steps into view.
Foxface does not turn, not yet, continuing her conversational monologue.
“Two days – and it’s almost over,” Foxface says, and she turns. “I wonder how many people who didn’t take you seriously at the interviews wish they could change their bet.”
Katniss has her bow raised. Foxface has no weapon.
“Their loss,” Katniss says.
“I suppose it is.”
Foxface looks at her with a slight tilt of her head, and it doesn’t feel like they are talking about bets anymore.
In her hand are berries – scavenged, no doubt – and when their eyes meet, Katniss knows. She knows that Foxface knows what those are, and Foxface smiles. Katniss does not return the expression, and she does not lower her bow, but she does not release the arrow.
In that moment, the Gamemakers must have realized what the two of them already know, but it is too late to intervene because Foxface is smiling with purple-stained teeth, collapsing onto the floor.
A cannon goes off.
Katniss finally lowers her bow, but she does not let it fall from her grasp.
There is a pause – a lengthy one – and Katniss can almost imagine what must be going on behind the scenes. The final battle is not meant to go like this. The last two are meant to have an explosive confrontation, something flashy and violent where each tribute struggles to claim the victory that is so close they can nearly grasp it.
A tribute is not meant to refuse a fight, to converse, to get along.
A tribute is meant to kill other tributes (not themselves).
It is a defiance.
Katniss knows it, Foxface knew it, and she wonders how they will try to spin this into something that can be shown to the public. She looks at Foxface – sprawled on the ground, so peaceful it almost seems like she’s merely sleeping – and presses the three middle fingers of her left hand to her lips, before holding them out in Foxface’s direction.
The trumpets blare across the Arena, and the noise almost covers the way Seneca Crane’s voice wavers as he announces, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, the Victor of the 74th Annual Hunger Games!”
The hovercraft flies into view and Katniss lets her shoulders relax.
She does not let go of her bow.
***
Katniss had practically been whisked from the hospital to her fashion designers, who fussed over her appearance as they ‘cleaned her up’ and stuffed her into another dress Cinna designed.
Then, interviews.
She had barely stepped onto the stage before she was surrounded by lights and noise. She made her way towards the open chair next to Caesar, glancing across to where Haymitch is standing off stage.
She hasn’t seen him since before the Games, less than a week ago. Haymitch catches her eye for a moment, and he hides it well, but there is disappointment. He likely wanted Peeta to win. Peeta was the promising tribute, the charming one.
Katniss does not say anything – does not even spare him a returning look – because peeking from behind Haymitch is Prim.
“Katniss!” Prim shouts, bright and happy and teary eyed as she runs on stage, and there are a million different things Katniss wants to say – who how when did you get here are you okay I missed you – but no sound escapes her as Prim lands in her arms.
“Katniss,” Prim says again, voice muffled by the way she is pressing her face into Katniss’s chest. Katniss manages a breath of joy and love and relief, ignoring the cameras that are surely focused on them.
Prim is here and they are hugging and it is not okay – it is not okay and it is not over – but Katniss has won and Prim is safe.
And Katniss will keep it that way, by any means necessary.