Chapter twenty eight: More than 21 moves
Early the next morning, we were awoken to the sound of a cannon. There were now only four tributes remaining, and we didn't know who had died out of Vikk, Jason, and Ryan.
Our wounds had healed pretty quickly, thanks to the strange ointment we had been given.
"I don't know what's in that stuff, steroids or something," commented Mitch, as we ate the last of our supplies for breakfast.
"Would steroids even do that?" I laughed.
"I don't know, but can we take the stitches out now? Look, it's healed."
"We might as well," I replied. "Do you want to do it or do you want me to do it?"
"You do my leg, I'll do your arm," he replied. "That way we can see what we're doing better."
After that was over, we set out to explore the ravine a little more. Mitch was clearly very glad to be back to normal again, because he behaved pretty recklessly as we progressed along the bottom of the ravine, jumping from rock to rock, and sliding down the steep, bumpy slopes with who knows what at the bottom.
"Ok, Mitch stop it," I chuckled, after he'd almost toppled head first off the top of a giant boulder he'd climbed up. "Are you in a hurry to actually break your leg this time? Because if not I suggest you stop bouncing around like you're on drugs and walk like a normal person." Mitch laughed, and slid down from the boulder.
"I'm not about that drug life," he laughed, purposely bumping into my shoulder. I easily regained my balance, and shoved him back playfully. A battle ensued, and we continued until I suddenly noticed a rocky place on a sandy cliff, in a place where it wasn't as steep as usual.
"Mitch..." I said, staring at it.
"What?" He followed my gaze to where I was looking. "Can we get up there, do you think?"
"It looks easy enough," I replied. "Do we have all our stuff here?"
"Yeah, we brought the backpack with us. We didn't want to leave it, remember? Incase the others jumped into the water and came looking for us."
"Oh yeah. Well I get the feeling today is our last day in the arena."
"Then you might need this," he replied, taking the knife from his pocket, and handing it to me. I took it gingerly. It was a long time since I had held a knife in my hands. I automatically went to test the blade on my palm. It cut me slightly, and I smiled. It was perfect. Mitch chuckled at my weird habit.
"So are we going now?" I asked.
"Wait, let's take stock of what we've got," he said. "Let's not take the pack with us - we won't need it. Now what have you got in there?"
"Water, soup, sleeping bag, rope," I said, pulling the stuff out. "Oh, and my little dagger."
"Where did you get that?" He asked in surprise.
"I was sponsored it from Africa after I looked after Ebony," I smiled. "It's too gorgeous to use though, but I'll probably have to sooner or later."
"It's weirdly shaped," commented Mitch. "Kind of like a key."
"Yeah, it's quite beautiful, isn't it," I said absently. "Let's drink all the water, and then head to corn?"
"Ok," he agreed, still focused on the dagger. He looked up at me. "So you now have the knife and the dagger, and I have my bow and arrows."
"That is correct," I smiled.
"I think we're set then," he replied. "Let's drink the water and the soup and get going."
Ten minutes later, we were up and out of the ravine, and headed for the centre of the arena. We reached the lava river, and swung across on vines. Our plan was to wait in the very centre for whoever was left to come for us. What we didn't expect was to be welcomed with an ambush.
It was Jason, and Vikk of course. Jason surprised Mitch by blocking his path with my old sword that I had thrown at Matt. I knew that thing would come back to bite me eventually. Mitch yelled in surprise. Jason was too close to Mitch to snipe him with an arrow. Whilst I was focused on Mitch I didn't notice Vikk creeping up behind me. I felt an arm grab me by the waist, and a knife press to my back. It was my instincts that saved me. I kicked him backwards, and he yelled in pain. The knife only cut my skin, it didn't go very far into my body. I turned, and threw my only knife at him. It hit him in the shoulder - right where he'd hit me a few days ago. The knife sunk into his arm, and he yelled in pain. I winced, hating what I was doing. But Vikk wasn't going to let that stop him. We locked eyes, and I saw the pained but determined look in his eyes. He didn't want to kill me, but he was going to anyway. If he could.
I spent the next few moments dodging as many knives as I could. Vikk had gotten more accurate since that time above the ravine, and I had my work cut out for me. I was trying to make him run out of knives, which wasn't an easy job, since he kept picking up the ones he'd already dropped. I wanted a chance to destroy him with my golden dagger, but I had to wait for the right time. He'd already nailed me once with a knife to the forearm, and the only thing preventing me from screaming in pain was the adrenaline. I was worried. Vikk only had to hit me once or twice more in the right places, and I'd be gone. I needed to do something to change things up a bit, and catch him by surprise. I glanced to where Mitch and Jason were struggling with each other. I wanted to help Mitch, but I couldn't, since I had my own problems. I thought over my options, as I ran, dodging the flying blades. My mind ran over my training in The Soviet. What had impressed the game makers about me enough to give me the top training score? Of course, the gymnastics. I somehow had to use them. I looked up to the vines that hung above the central island, and realised they were really just uneven bars. I formed a mental plan. I parkoured it around the city until I found a house whose roof could easily be scaled. I climbed it, and leapt for a vine. It was easy enough to swing along through the branches, and Vikk now had to jump every time he wanted to throw a knife at me. I readied my dagger, and waited for Vikk to level with me. On the ground below, Mitch had found an opening to shoot, and was drawing back his bow.
"Go Mitch! Get him!" I screamed. The arrow flew from the bow, and struck Jason in the chest. His whole body stiffened, and he fell backwards onto the ground. His cannon fired almost immediately.
"NO!" Vikk yelled. He leapt to throw a knife at me, and at the same time, I leapt for the next vine. I saw my chance, and threw the dagger with all my strength. And by some miracle, I hit him in the chest.
In my shock, I missed the next vine, and toppled to the ground with a thud. Luckily, I knew how to land, and I rolled and sat up, shaking. I looked over to where Vikk was. He wasn't dead yet, but he wasn't moving. I got up, and walked over to him, and Mitch watched me intently.
Vikk's eyes were still open. It wasn't until then that I truly saw how vulnerable he was. How vulnerable we all were. I felt tears prick my eyes, and I blinked them away furiously. This boy had been trying to kill me. Yet I regretted hurting him. I regretted it so much, because in the end, it's only natural that we should want to kill everybody else to save our own skin. That was what I had done. I was no different to him. I removed my dagger from his chest, and wiped it clean.
"I'm so sorry," I whispered to him. He stared up at me, and then nodded. And in that moment we finally understood how the other felt.
"I'm sorry too," he replied softly. "But it had to be one of us. I'd rather me than you."
That was what Mitch had told me. I still didn't understand.
"Why?" I asked.
"Ask Mitch," he replied softly. "Bye Abby." I sighed.
"Bye Vikk."
His eyes closed, and he was gone. The cannon fired.
I turned to see Mitch watching me. I stood up slowly, and then ran, and leapt into his arms. He held me tightly, and I buried my face into his neck.
Finally, he set my feet on the ground, and turned my face to look at his.
"Abby, you're not just a tribute. You're a warrior. And I say that because you don't give up hope, you keep fighting, even though you're clearly so broken inside."
"If that's the definition of a warrior," I replied, smiling, "then you're the strongest warrior I've ever met." Mitch smiled, and pressed his lips to mine gently.
"I'm so sorry about Vikk," he said softly. I looked up at him.
"There's something you're not telling me about him," I said. "What is it?" Mitch sighed, and looked over my head.
"Do I really have to tell you? I don't think it's something you want to hear."
"He told me to ask you," I insisted. Mitch sighed again, and turned back to look at me.
"He loved you. A lot." I stared at him.
"You're kidding me, right?" I asked.
"I swear I'm not," he replied. "He saw the same things in you that I did. We thought he was jealous of me because of my position in the team. But it wasn't just that. He realised you liked me, and he hated me for that." I said nothing. There was nothing I could say to that. The two of us were silent for a long time, thinking.
"Mitch, you know what this means, right?" I said, gesturing to the empty arena around us. We were the only two left.
"I call a stalemate," he stated.
"Nothing could make me kill you, I call a stalemate too," I agreed. "It's been more than twenty one moves, we're done here."
And suddenly, the miracle happened.
"IN THE NAME OF A HAPPY ENDING, I PRESENT TO YOU THE WINNERS OF THE FIRST HUNGER GAMES."
"You're right, we're done here," Mitch agreed. He took my hand, and pulled me close, hugging me tightly. "Never leave me. Ever."
"I promise I never will," I whispered.
A/N: NOOOOO VIKK :( I know you all guessed that was going to happen. But I bet ya none of you guessed Vikk's intentions :) I'm so upset that I killed him, do you know how much will power that took? when I started writing this story I didn't even watch his videos... Now I like him just as much as Mitch! And then I killed him... So yeah. Comments please?? Tell me if you like it!
And can I please have brownie points for a chapter that's more than 1900 words long :D