Silence [The Hunger Games]

Chapter Thirty-One

The day of the plan was upon us. Logan shook me awake in the early hours of the morning, and after a large breakfast, we left camp, taking everything with us. We didn’t plan to return to the same camp, knowing that it was near to the Career’s base. Despite the loss of our fifth member, we were a relatively strong team. Minerva’s ankle had mostly healed, and so she was able to run. When I asked her grudgingly what her weapon of choice was, she swung a sword skilfully in front of my face before attaching it to her belt. Logan took some wire that Clementia gave to him and planned to set a special trap that left the victim of it hanging upside down from a tree. Clementia wielded her axe fearlessly, and her slingshot enabled her to attack from a distance. And I, the final member of our team, equipped myself with six excellent throwing knives, and one special one for if it came to hand to hand combat.

 And so, with me in the lead, we marched valiantly to the Career camp. The plan was to surround it from two different angles, with Clementia and Minerva going into battle from one side, and me from the other, whilst Logan set the traps for any of them who tried to run away on my side. I hoped that maybe one of the Careers might be out hunting, or they could be sleeping. Cowardly as it was, I wanted to kill them before they had a chance to fight back.

 To my relief when we arrived, Roger was not present at the camp. Avery, Biff and Cerebus were crowded round the campfire I had seen the previous day, and seemed to be paying little attention to their surroundings. Grinning at their stupidity, I drew my first knife, and readied myself to throw it. Across the camp, I could see Minerva and Clementia preparing themselves to charge. Minerva kept shooting anxious glances over her shoulder. Maybe she wasn’t as fearless as she let on.

 They were waiting for my call to charge, so I held up three fingers to count down.

3…This is it.

2…Time for revenge.

1…It all rests on this.

  We charged. But something wasn’t right. The Careers had all calmly got to their feet and were poised for attack. Trying not to be put off by this, I tossed my first knife. It hit Cerebus square between the eyes before he was able to react. He fell to his knees with a howl of pain, but clambered straight back up again, blood pooling into his eyes and mouth. He stumbled slightly as he ran at me, and I sent my second knife straight in to his shoulder. I was aiming for his heart, but with him moving it was difficult to get the angle right. So instead of throwing another knife, I charged at him, knife at the ready to kill him. He was only armed with a wooden club, so if I could get rid of it, I thought I might have a chance. But his brutish strength was a little worrying, and as we collided, I felt the full force. Nevertheless, as we grappled on the ground, I managed to wrench the club from his hand by stabbing him in the hand first, and whack him round the face with it. He was knocked unconscious after a few blows, his face mangled and crushed from the attacks. Removing the knife from his shoulder blade, I finished him off with a jab to the heart. As I left his body behind, I heard the sound of a cannon. Clementia was in a headlock from Avery, but where was Minerva? I didn’t have time to worry though, as Biff was making an advance on Clementia. I sprinted harder and reached him just in time to trip him. He fell on his face, but grabbed my ankle and dragged me down to the floor with him. I landed hard on my nose and for a moment, my vision went black. In the distance, I heard the sound of wailing. I knew who it was.