The Hunger Games: Death of the Mockingjay

Chapter 21

I wake at the sound of howling wolves echoing across the arena. Looking out through the murder hole I see nothing, it's not the darkness that's blocking my vision, the dawn has started to push that away but the darkness is now replaced by a thick fog which hangs across the dunes. There's a lot of chatter from my earpiece, I can hear Plutarch practically yelling at Gale and his soldiers, Cato is yelling back at Plutarch, telling him to stay out of it.

Stay out of what, what's going on?

I look down to see Peeta assembling  arrows for us from my packing case, standard, explosive and incendiary arrows are all laid out neatly on the floor.

"Hey babe, what's happening? I say crouching down next to him. Peeta looks at me with a worried, hurtful expression.

"Cato decided to make a play for the ship wreck today using the fog as cover. He doesn't want either of us involved in the mission"

"So they're going in completely unguarded?"

"Yup, that's how they're gonna do it, and we haven't even found the mines either, Gale sent his guys out onto the beach to try and find them, apparently his soldiers are trained in how to find land mines and remove them"

"But they'll be exposed on the beach, they're completely defenceless"

"My point exactly, but Cato and Gale wouldn't listen"

"And I take it Plutarch isn't happy about this either?"

"Nope, he warned Cato that the fog will lift as the sun rises but Cato and Gale were adamant that we had to go for it today, to act on your plan"

I stand up and take my bow. "We have to go and stop them, before it's too late!"

"It's already too late Kat, you can see the sun peaking through the fog even now and Mitch and Jared have already cleared a path halfway to the ship, it's only a matter of time before their cover disappears and they're left out in the open"

"Then Gale should call them back!"

"He refuses to give that order while Plutarch wants everyone to return to the tunnel until dusk when we'll make another try for the ship"

"So why don't we?"

"Because they seem to think that we need to take the weapons and supplies now while we still can. Cato's worried that if the Brotherhood figure out that the ship is the cornucopia and they attack on mass then we'll never hold them back"

I take a handful of arrows and stomp off down the steps.

"Kat we've gotta guard the bunker, I can't cover it on my own!" Pleads Peeta as I make my way down the tunnel. I don't answer, but I do ask Conrad to go back and help Peeta. As a Rapier he's sworn to protect the president so he can't really refuse.

I run down the tunnel toward the beach and as I close on the tunnel exit I can already see the bright sunshine outside. Cato stands looking out across the beach while Haymitch hears me bounding down the tunnel and holds his hands out to stop me.

"Hey where you going sweetheart!" He says as he blocks my way.

"We need to stop them before it's too late, the sun's up, they'll get caught on the beach!"

"You worry too much" he says laughing but I know I'm already too late as gunshots echo out across the beach. Haymitch and I rush to the tunnel entrance and look out across the beach. By the looks of it Gale and his soldiers had managed to clear a path from the tunnel to the ship, small piles of sand mark where the mines once were. But one of his men, I think it's Jared, is lying face down in the sand with at least half a dozen bullet holes stitched across his back. I didn't hear a cannon but it's obvious that he's dead. Mitch is crawling the last few yards toward the wreck with blood pouring from a bullet wound in his leg. But seeing Gale's predicament makes me gasp in disbelief. He's made it to the wreck, but he's using it as cover, sat in the shallow water with his back against the seaward side of the hull so the Brotherhood can't see him. He's gasping for air as if he's been running but there's a bloody wound to his neck and the water around him his gradually turning a red crimson as the life drains from him.

"Gale, I've gotta save him!" I say as I try to run out into the beach, but Haymitch grabs my arm and yanks me back into cover, I stumble and fall to the floor and glare at Haymitch and Cato.

"What are you doing, it's Gale, he'll die!" I say angrily

"He's dead already" says Cato sadly.

I get to my feet and look out to see Gale struggling to smile at me, his face is so pale and I know that it's the end, that he's already lost too much blood. His head slowly lists forward as his body slumps over onto it's side and into the blood stained water that's surrounding him. Then just to make sure the Brotherhood shoot Jared in the back just as he's about to reach cover and then there's more from our left flank, two rounds hitting Gale's lifeless body, again just to make sure of the kill. I fall to my knees and watch numbly as the cannon booms out from the sky, twice.  Once for Jared and once for Gale, my best friend since I was a small girl is dead, killed by the very people who are supposed to be our prey. This wasn't supposed to be like this. Plutarch said no one would be harmed, that with his help we'd beat the Brotherhood but in one fell swoop they've taken out three of our team, and one of my most trusted allies too. Haymitch leans down and wraps his arms around me to try and calm me but I'm completely destroyed by this latest twist. Sure we'd had our differences over the years but Gale had always supported me and Peeta, always been there for me and my family.

I start to struggle for breath as my body convulses in shock and the tunnel starts to spin as darkness takes me.