Justice, the 4th hunger games book, the story after mockingjay

Chapter Forty-six

Forty-six

There is nothing for me to do but watch and wait for a clear shot as Marc and his assailant grapple for the knife currently in his attacker’s hand. I recognize this person; he stood out so clearly in the reaping, the man with the Electric purple eyes and green vines tattooed up his face. He must have been from the Capitol nothing else explains the patterns on his skin. He was the loved one in the pairing.

I keep my bow and arrow trained on the two of them praying for a clear shot but I know better than to expect to have one with their rapid movement.

I watch as Marc is thrown back hitting his head pretty hard on the icy floor knocking him unconscious. The knife flying out of his hand and skidding on the ice. The attacker takes one look at us before breaking out in a run towards the knife though Peeta is hot on his heels as he speeds past me in a heartbeat.

“No!” I gasp and I am barely able to catch myself before I fired my arrow that would have ended Peetas life, instead I let it slip from its notch on the bow nearly dropping it in the process but I will take that if it means that Peeta doesn’t die at my hands. I could have ended it there and them if it wasn’t for Peeta. Though I know I can’t blame him, like me he was acting in instinct at this time wanting to protect Marc like he would have done for either of us.

Letting the arrow slip from the bow instead it takes me seconds to reload it and get my sight but that is enough time for Peeta and the tattooed green assailant to be locked on the ground as they wrestled rolling over each other trying to keep the knifes as far away from themselves as they can whilst trying to attack at the same time.

 I stand there unsure of what to do as I try to get a clean shot. I stare down my sight willing Peeta to stay out of the way but I know that if I were to shoot there would be just as much chance that I would hit Peeta as I would kill the attacker. 

I take a deep breath and allow myself time to think clearly as I follow the madness in front of me knowing that I am unable to intervene for fear of hurting Peeta. I think back to an observation. This purple eyed, green vine face man was the loved one in the pair and he is up at the top of the cliff why would he be up here?

No one would even consider climbing this unless they knew that the other half of the arena was up at the top of it. There is every possibility that he has found is pair, the unforgettable man with the orange hair. I immediately start scanning the area yet again for the tell-tell sign of his hair.

I see the glint that indicates some form of metal and know that is where he is hiding. Why is he hiding though? As the criminal he must have more fighting experience than the tattooed man with the vines yet he is the one who is currently fighting for his life against Peeta who is clearly the larger one of the pair.

Instinctively I throw myself to the side just as an arrow flies past my right shoulder. He is hiding behind the pile of rocks less than ten metres from here and I am out, exposed, and in the open. I have to eliminate him now or risk his next arrow hitting me. I am unable to untie the rope from my waist connecting me to both Peeta and Marc without the chance of being hit.

I can see out of the corner of my eye that Peeta is beginning to get caught up in his end of the rope and will soon need help. To prevent me from getting tugged off balance by him I scamper to my feet, redrawing my bow and take a couple of steps closer to the grappling men. All that has made me lose sight of the second of the attackers. I know roughly where he is but I am unable to see any hit of orange hair which means he is there, somewhere but not in a position to attack me at that moment.

I take that opportunity to wriggle my way out of the rope and quickly but silently make my way over to the pile of rubble. Making myself as small as possible I crouch at the far left edge and prepare my bow, taking note of the location of my knives just in case I need a weapon at close range.

I have no idea where the orange haired man is but I know he is close. I hope I have the element of surprise as I take a second to compose myself and make a plan. The best way of doing this with the minimal risk to my own safety is to do this as quickly as I can.

I know I can move swiftly, take aim and fire in a matter of seconds. What I don’t know is his ability with a bow and arrow. I wish I had paid more attention to the other tributes during training or indeed that I had actually gone to many of the sessions. I would have the upper hand if that were the case. This tribute will know how lethal I am with a bow and arrow though I am unsure why they let themselves known. I guess they were trying to protect their partner.

I know this is going to be a point blank range but it needs to be done. I recall something Gale said to me all those years ago.

“You get to a bow, you know how to hunt.”

“Animals… These are people Gale!”

“It’s no different, Katniss.”

“There’s twenty-four of us, and only one comes out.”

“And it will be you.”

That last sentence rings in my ears. It was me, and Peeta. It will be us again.

I push back the memory and put my hunters head on and attempt to convince myself that the person I am going to kill is just another deer in the woods. Make it one of my signature shots, it would be painless then.

Bow strung and pulled tight I take one more deep breath before I turn and come face to face with my target. Everything seems to happen in slow motion and I act again on instinct.

Standing up I roll around the rock and securely plant my feet swinging my body round to be sideways on to my prey. In the same fluid motion I pull the bow up to my line of sight and take aim at the tributes back. It doesn’t feel right shooting someone without them seeing their attacker but I see no other choice. I take aim at the back of their head ensuring as much as I can that this will be as painless as possible.

“I’m sorry.” I whisper, even though this tribute seems more dangerous than the others.

I am acutely aware of the continued fighting going on behind me and try to tune it out as I focus on my kill. With my bow already strung I line it up with my line of sight before letting out a shaky breath and letting my arrow fly. Sure enough it hits home and instantly the tribute slumps over the rock blood oozing from the fresh wound. Seconds after my arrow bores its hole in the tribute skull I hear the all too familiar boom of the cannon, signifying the orange haired man from the Capitol death. By my hand no less.

I move over to him and remove the bag from his back and arrows from his sheath. They might come in handy later. I choose to leave the arrow I shot well alone not wanting to prolong my being in the poor tribute vicinity longer than necessary. As per my custom I step back from the fallen tribute and giving them one last look I turn and move back to the edge of the rock pile.

Instinctively I pull out another arrow and notch it to my bow swiftly turning back to the fight Peeta is still occupied in. I know the cannon may have distracted both tributes but hopefully Peeta will know it is not me or at least put it to the back of his mind as he continues to fight. I stalk forward once again and watch as I see Peeta with the upper hand though both knives are nowhere to be seen.

They both must have been knocked away by the other.

I see Peeta glance up and spot me as he wrestles with the tattooed tribute. Him knowing I’m OK and that it must have been me who had eliminated another tribute seems to spur them both on. The one to get revenge for their partner’s death and the other to finish what I started and to come back to me. In the brief second that Peeta glances up at me the green vined man flips him onto his back but as Peeta sees this happening and has had a lot of experience in the past with wrestling he uses the momentum from the previous turn to go full circle. Sensing what Peeta was going his attacker carries the motion yet again.

I see what is going to happen just seconds before it does and dropping my weapon do the only thing I can think. I sprint towards the pile of rope I had detached myself from and wrap it around myself, preparing for the pull that will soon come as the fighting pair roll closer to the edge of the cliff.

“Peeta the rope!” I shout as they both tumble over the edge. I just pray he heard me as there was no way of me preventing this.

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