The 55th Hunger Games

Chapter 23

Finally, I reach a point where the layer above is thick enough. I pick a tree and climb. When I'm almost halfway up my tree I look down and see Maple climbing up hers. She's moving fast. I turn back and move faster. The sounds fill the clearing as I reach the top. I look down and the whole ground is a dark wave of mutts, climbing over each other and hissing. I wait to watch them try and climb up. One smaller mutt touches its front legs to the tree and it stills. For a moment, I think it won't try. Then, fast as light, it launches itself up the tree. It makes it a third of the way up before it catches itself against a branch and throws itself up again. As it gets closer, I can see more details. It's fuzzy, hairy arms and body. It's multiple pairs of glinting black eyes. It's foot long fangs.

I let out a small scream of fight when my fears are confirmed and the thing closes the gap. We are facing gigantic spiders. They are mutts, so the Capitol has probably genetically engineered them to be full of nasty surprises. More begin to climb, leaping impossibly high.

Maple reaches the top, narrowly avoiding being caught by a large spider. She screams as its fangs sink into the wood at her feet. I leap to my feet and begin running again. This time, though, I run towards her. She's getting to her feet, off balance. If I can shove her into the mass of spiders, this will all stop.

That's when something hits me.

One of the spider's long legs flies out of its mass and hits my body. It sends my body flying. I smash into a tree ten feet away. Branches crack behind me and I fall to the ground. There's no way that leg should be capable of that much force. I don't have time to think about it, though, because the spider closes in on me. I stand, wincing at the pain in my ribs. I'm forced to stop when the pain rolls over me with all its force, almost making me faint. It's sharp and stabbing. At least a few of my ribs are broken. I catch sight of Maple, running away.

I follow, holding my side. I'm slower with my broken ribs, but Maple seems to be limping. The spiders nip at my heels and I force myself to pour on more speed. I begin to gain on Maple, who looks like she's been caught by the spiders. She's holding her arm, which is pouring blood. Her leg doesn't seem to be in good shape, either.

I unsheathe my sword as I draw in closer, right behind her. I need to take care of her now. The stupid spiders will leave me alone.

"Maple!" I shout, my voice full of rage and pain. She looks back at me and promptly trips. I fall over her, cursing. As I trip, a sharp pain runs across my leg. I look at my leg and she has cut into my lower calf. I forget about the spiders. I focus my gaze on her, glaring. The pain burns into anger. She glares back, her face sweaty and dirty, one of her eyes unfocused and bloody.

"Nerissa," she growls. "You blinded me, you little-"

"Blinded you?" I can barely breathe now. Pain shoots through the words. "You killed my brother."

She tries to stab with a knife but I block it and scramble to my feet. She follows suit, and we square off, me raising my sword and her pulling out her bow.

The spiders have formed a large ring around us. There's enough space for a good fight. I'm sure the gamemakers wanted it to be this way. I don't care either way, as long as Maple's body is the one that's being shipped back home in a wooden box.

"I'm going to gut you, Maple," I say. "You won't live to see another day."

She just smiles and shoots. I dodge and hear the wail of a spider behind me. She shoots another and I deflect it off my sword. I rush her and slice her bow with my sword. The thing splinters in two. I plant a firm kick in the middle of her chest and she falls on the floor.

"Did you think you could beat me one-on-one, Maple?" I ask. I hear the venom in my voice. "With a bow?"

I level my blade under her chin. She looks up at me with pleading eyes. Then she starts crying.

"Please," she blubbers. Fat tears stream down her face. A drip of snot hangs from her nose. "Don't kill me. I'm sorry."

I scowl in disgust. This is not what I wanted. This disgusting little thing is begging me for its life?

"How would that work, exactly?" I ask, condescending. "Should I let you win? Stab myself on my own sword?"

No answer. She just sobs louder. Now that we're not fighting, the spiders are getting antsy.

"He was perfect!" she screams. I back up, disgusted. "He was the only thing I cared about. You took him away from me. You and your brother."

"That's just sad." Maple glares at me. Then, quick as a flash, she whips out her knife and readies it to throw.

I see it coming in slow motion, but I can barely move my body. It flies into my stomach, an area just below my ribs. She throws another, but this time I'm ready. I dodge right into the pincers of a spider, and have to slash wildly to get away. I don't dare to pull out the knife stuck in my belly. It might block my movement but it's the only thing keeping me from bleeding out.

They weren't that close before...

My attention is diverted when Maple attacks me with another knife. It must have been her last one, because she didn't throw it this time. She stabs low but I swipe with my sword and land a deep cut into her forearm. She doesn't even cry out and slashes high with the knife, cutting into my forehead.

We fight viciously. The mental list of my wounds grows longer as we continue to fight. My only consolation is that Maple doesn't look too good, either. My arms grow heavy from holding the sword, my breath is uneven and ragged, and I have a stitch in my side. The worst part is that the spiders slowly inch in closer, giving me less room to move.

I feint to the left, but she doesn't react, and blocks further right. She's blind in one eye. I'm assuming she can barely see out of her right eye, the bloodied one. As soon as I notice this, I smirk.

"What?" Maple asks, breathless. I can hear the fear in her voice, and I relish it. I feint to my right, and she goes for a block. I use the flat part of my blade to whack her as hard as I possibly can. She goes down, and the knife clatters out of her hand. I kick it further into the mass of spiders. Maple looks around, dazed and lethargic. She looks up at me, a sort of emptiness in her eyes. I pull out the knife she used to kill Brennan with, and kneel beside her, holding her chest down with one knee.

"Please..." she croaks, blood on her lips. I shake my head.

"I have one more thing to say, Maple," I pause, considering whether or not to tell Maple that Josh had lied to her about his feelings. For a moment, I almost tell her. I want to see the pain in her eyes. Then I remember Josh. I don't know him that well, and I have no idea how he would react to Maple's breakdown. But it seems rude to Josh's memory to undo something that he did for someone he cared about.

"What?" Maple's voice cracks with pain. Judging from the amount of blood she's on her way out now, but I'm dizzy and I know I won't last much longer.

I don't say another word. I just stab the knife as deep as I can into her neck.

The cannon sounds. The wave of horrifying spiders melts away.

As the trumpets sound, I see the sunrise through the thinning trees.

"And we have our victor of the 55th Hunger Games! Congratulations to Nerissa of District Four!"

My vision fades to black, and I lose consciousness.