Katniss seized her opportunity. She had stealthily grabbed Haymitch's knife when it was dropped in the struggle and now planned to use it. The soldier was distracted in his battle to subdue Haymitch and she willed herself to move as slowly as possible towards him so that he did not sense her movement. It took an enormous amount of determination not to run towards Haymitch and stop the aggressor from hurting him. She knew that he could look after himself but Katniss was absolutely terrified that the soldier would achieve some harm that could not be undone. When his boot made contact with Haymitch's face, she lunged forward from where she was stood behind him and slit the soldier's throat without hesitation.

She shoved him out of the way and tried to ignore the noise of his dying. The gurgling sounds pierced through her but Katniss quickly tamped down the overwhelming feelings of guilt and nausea; Haymitch needed her attention.

She knelt down and examined the damage to his face. An ugly bruise had already begun to blossom and blood was trickling from a large gash below his eye-socket. It looked serious but Katniss had seen people suffer worse and live to tell the tale. She reached out and moved the bloodied pieces of hair out of the way of the wound on his cheek. The bottom of the soldier's boot had left a maze-like pattern of indentations and she began to gently stroke his face. Feeling as if she was in a trance, her fingers traced the markings.

After a while, bitter experience survival instincts started chiming in the back of her head. Katniss realised that she needed to take some action. She felt too vulnerable in this situation and needed to do something. However, the only thing she could do was wait for Haymitch to wake up; there was no way she would able to get him back to Victor's Village whilst he was unconscious. She compelled herself to be practical and move away from him. First job: light a fire. Second job: drag the soldier's body out of sight.

She heaved herself to her feet and got to work.