The Hunger Games: Death of the Mockingjay

Chapter 36

I make my way to the beach facing side of the mount and look up the coast. Sure enough I can see the tracks in the sand left by Peeta and my friends leading off into the distance. I can only guess that once clear of the attack they made their way back in to the dunes to stay away from the mines. For a moment I think about following them but my one aim now is to kill Draven and win the games. I look out across the dunes for any sign of him but as before the grassy hills are deathly quiet. I can almost feel the difference in the arena, it's stillness and anticipation driven by Plutarch manipulating the conditions to heighten the moment, the calm before the storm.

I make my way down the steep slope to the dead brotherhood tributes and search the bodies for anything that might prove useful. There's nothing. It would seem that everyone is running out of supplies at this late stage of the Games.

I slowly head off to the south following the dunes which are closest to the beach. I do this for two reasons, firstly I'm hoping to run into Peeta and the others who were walking along the beach, and second it leaves me safe from attack from the beach as it'll be much too difficult to carry out a rapid ambush from that side what with its steep bank and soft sand.

I make a point to keep a close eye on my right though, Draven isn't stupid and I know that he'll most likely have his own plan on how to kill me and I'm pretty sure his attack won't come from the beach or from behind me.

I come across a section of the dunes which appears to of been recently dug up. Tufts of grass litter the area while at the centre is a newly exposed damp sand pit which looks similar to the others I've seen. I can feel a slight tremor through the ground and I step back cautiously not quite sure what it is that's happening.

I turn and hurry away as I feel the anxiety build inside. I'm not scared but I'm concerned by what it could be that's under the ground. I take off at a run as the tremors get worse, Plutarch never said anything about something coming at us from underground. I run over the next dune and continue to head south toward the bunker and hopefully my friends. I'm not sure wether it's my imagination but the tremors seem to be dissipating the further south I go, hopefully I'm outrunning whatever it is that's coming from under my feet. I run for a few minutes more then stop in the cover of a valley between two dunes to catch my breath, I check my surroundings before doubling over to try and clear the stitch which has now built up in my side. Just a few feet away is another one of those strange patches of damp sand, what they are or what their purpose is a mystery to me. I crouch down next to the sand pit and grab a handful of the white gritty material. The sand seems course and oily and in a few places I find globules of tar, just like what I found back at the swamp.

I get to my feet and look down at the sand pool in confusion, but my preoccupation with this strange sand has made me drop my guard.

The attack came from my right.

Draven screams my name from just a few feet away. I swing round to see him rushing at me with a sword hoisted high above his head. He's got clumps of long stringy grass tied to his body as camouflage which is why I most likely never spotted him. A twisted grin of victory spreads across his face as he swings the sword down at my head. I've no time to grab an arrow so I use my bow as a barrier to try and deflect the blow. There's a loud 'clang' as the sword and my bow make contact and I jump clear having parried his first assault. Draven staggers past before swinging round at me. He's using a large broad sword, a long heavy weapon that isn't easy to fight with. Fortunately his attacks will be slow and laborious and I should have no problem in taking him down with an arrow. I reach over my shoulder, pull an arrow but when I come to string it I find a problem.
When I used my bow to deflect Draven's attack his sword must of cut the bow string making my weapon completely useless. He grins as he see's my sudden look of panic at the realisation that I'm defenceless.
I do the only thing I can think of and turn to run but after only a few paces I feel a massive impact to my legs which knocks me off my feet. I look down and see Draven's sword laying on the grass by my side. He'd thrown it to bring me down but he must of known that I'll just get up again and keep running, I'm much smaller than Draven and should find it easy to outrun him. I need to reach Peeta and the others as at the moment I've nothing to fight him with. I try to get to my feet but for some reason my right leg doesn't seem to work properly. I can feel blood pouring into my boot and when I look down I see a deep gash in my calf muscle from Draven's sword, The weird thing is is that it doesn't hurt.

I can feel the tremors starting to vibrate through the ground again as Draven leaps on me. I hold my bow across me in a desperate act of defence but he straddles me pushing my bow toward my chest and locking my hands under it. I scream in terror as I try with all my effort to push him off but his weight is too much. He sniggers at me with that confidence that only comes from pending victory, that he's finally beaten me and won the games.

"You can kill me but you won't win, Peeta is still alive and he'll find you, you're gonna die Draven" I say defiantly.

"Maybe, but you're gonna die first!" he yells. "At last, the Death of the Mockingjay" he snarls close to my face.

I feel a slight pressure to my chest and look down to see a dagger with Draven's hands locked around the handle, it's sharp point pressing against my suit. My eyes open wide in shock as he pushes the blade between the bullet proof plates of my Mockingjay suit and on into my body. The pain is excruciating but I can't scream, it's almost as if the blade has somehow taken my breath away. I can taste blood in my mouth and I start to cough, I feel as if I'm in a lake somewhere drowning but I know that I'm drowning in my own blood. A blur suddenly rushes from my left knocking Draven off me, but my strength has already left me me and I give up the fight, relaxing my body and waiting for death to take me. My vision is cloudy, almost dream like, is this really what it's like when you die? I start to see strange visions and shapes, Cato grabs me by my feet and drags me clear before he turns away to face Draven. It can't be Cato's dead, they said.....
The ground shakes under me as through my hazy vision I see a large black tentacle close around Draven's body as he rushes at Cato. A look of shock spreads across his face as he's suddenly hoisted off his feet and lifted high into the air. I struggle to sit up to watch and there climbing from the pool of sand on its long spindly legs is the spider, it's body covered in black tar and white sand. Draven screams in pain as the tentacle grips ever tighter literally squeezing the life out of him. His face turns purple as the pressure builds before his body falls limp and the spider retreats back into the sand taking Draven's body with him.
I collapse onto my back and feel down my body with my hands. I grip the dagger which still protrudes from my body, I haven't the strength to pull it out so I just lay back, close my eyes and let myself drift away to oblivion.