The Hunger Games: Death of the Mockingjay

Chapter 30

It takes about another 30 minutes to reach the mount. It's a huge grass covered dune about 40feet high with steep grassy sides leading down to the smaller undulating dunes. It takes some climbing with the slippery slick grass which is still damp from last nights mist. When we reach the summit we find a large flat area that'll act as our makeshift fort over the surrounding area. It would be difficult for the Brotherhood to scale the steep slopes while under fire. The coastal side of the dune leads down to the beach which is far below us. It'd be near impossible to climb up from that side as it's a slope of white sand and anyone who tried would be easy pickings from above. My only concern is to the north, just a few metres away is that shimmering of light which marks the edge of the arena. Plutarch was right, this is our last stand, we're trapped in the north easternmost corner of the arena with no way of escape.

Alek calls us all together for a meeting.

"Okay, first we need to go through all the weapons we've got with us. We emptied Katniss' packing crate before we left the bunker, Peeta, Conrad and Steph have all the arrows from the crate in their sheaths. It'd be a good idea for those to be shared out between the four of you. I'll leave it up to Katniss as to who gets the explosive arrows but don't forget we have a large number of incendiary arrow heads that haven't been used. Once the grass dries out they might become useful"

Conrad continues...

"I think it'd be a good idea to have at least one runner moving weapons to which ever flank needs it most. We'll need pretty much every ranged weapon fully stocked with ammo but if they attack on mass to one area we'll need to react pretty quickly. I think Annie would be our best bet for this"

"What do you mean?" asks Peeta.

"What I mean is that this battle's gonna be fought on an adhoc basis, we don't really know how many there are of them and they don't know where we are and what weapons we have. They may very well attack the mount from all sides in which case everyone's gonna be busy. But I reckon they'll try to overload one area and attack on mass, if that happens then we'll have to move our assets to that area but we must be mindful. This plateau on top of the mount is pretty big and we need to be sure to keep all sides guarded. We don't wanna get out flanked"

"At least they're not coming at us at night" I say trying to lighten the mood.

"That's it!!!" Yells Alek making us all jump.

"What?" asks Haymitch

"The clue that Plutarch sent us, the note. Finish the game by nightfall or all will be lost he said. What he meant was that we've gotta beat the brotherhood before dark as it'll be impossible to guard the mount after dark, we'll never see them coming"

"But what of the 'old friends joining the party', what did he mean by that?" I ask.

"I dunno, I guess we'll find out" says Conrad.

*

We put our plan in motion and wait. Me, Steph and Peeta all have bows with a reasonable stock of arrows at each of our positions. The area I'm watching over is to the south looking directly across the dunes in the direction of the bunker. It's too far away to see it but we can work out it's location by the clouds of smoke which reach high into the sky from the explosion that Viper set off. Peeta covers an area off to my right which looks over toward the forest and swamps while Steph looks out across the beach just in case the brotherhood try to flank us from there. Alek has the pistol I took from the backpack in the swamp and he guards our rear with help from Conrad who has a crossbow. Annie and Haymitch will move arrows and supplies to whatever area needs it most.
The sun climbs high into the sky as midday approaches. I'm starting to get a little concerned that the Brotherhood have decided to wait until nightfall to launch their attack which will make things difficult for us. Peeta comes over to me looking slightly concerned.

"What's up?" I ask.

"I came over to see if you're alright, you don't seem yourself right now"

"Well we are fighting for our lives, I guess that changes you" I say forcing a smile.

"Nah, that ain't it. That look you gave me back in the bunker, it was that focused, don't mess with me kinda look. I haven't seen that since the war"

"I was angry I guess. Plutarch told us that this would be an easy win for us, that he'd be able to turn the tables on the brotherhood and yet here we are with just seven of us left"

"I know, when the time is right and all this is over we can grieve for them. Johanna, Ellie, Gale and the others gave their lives for something they believed in. Let's just make sure they didn't die in vain"

I look out across the grassy dunes and think of all those who have died since these games started. Yes we've lost friends and allies but the Brotherhood have literally lost dozens of members in this fight. And if what Plutarch is saying is right then they've now only got seven members left, just like us.

"We need to find them" says Alek as he walks up to us.

"What do you mean?" Says Peeta

"The Brotherhood were supposed to follow us here and it's now after noon and there's still no sign of them. We need to bait them somehow and lead them to us"

"And how do you propose we do that?" says Peeta

"Someone has to go out there, find them, start a halfhearted attack and then run back hear with them in tow. Then we can take em out"

"Okay great, so who goes"

Alek gives me a sideways glance and I roll my eyes at him as I get to my feet.

"No you're kidding me, we only just found Katniss this morning. I'm not gonna lose her again!" yells Peeta jabbing a finger at Alek.

"Before Alek can answer Steph walks up from behind Peeta and puts her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll go with her"  Peeta swings around to see Steph step into Alek's open arms. I know why she decided to do this, to come with me. Steph offering to come makes it fair in her eyes. Peeta would be worried about me going out there into the dunes but if Steph came too then Alek will be in exactly the same position. They'd both be sending their loved one's out into a potential war zone, there's no single sacrificial lamb.

"You sure about this?" says Peeta as he puts his arms round me and holds me tight.

"I am, I have to do this, for our children"