When Light crosses my tearstained face the next morning, All I can think about is Joseph. How did he die? Was it Kato? Or Clove? Maybe it was Glimmer. all I know is that it was either a career or Thresh. Anyone else is to innocent or to scared to kill. I want to find him but I know that the hover craft has probably taken him away already. I only pray that what they tell us is right. They say that the tributes that are killed are sent back to their district in a coffin. However, I haven't ever been to a funeral for a tribute. I want to see him. One last time. But I know that it is impossible. I know deep in my heart that if he can't survive these games, I have only a slightly larger advantage than he did. I decide that I need to get some more food. After my small breakfast of the roots and berries I had gathered the previous day, I set out to find some food.

I manage to find some more berries and roots as well as some nuts. I place them in a hidden pouch from my district and look for some small game that I can trap. I manage to find two rabbits and a nice, fat, squirrel. I can remember the first time I had ever tasted squirrel.

My father didn't like me going into the woods when he wasn't with me but I was much better at trapping than he was so even if I brought home dinner without him, he rarely complained. I trapped a smaller squirrel and strung it over my back. When I got home, my mother didn't know exactly how to skin a rodent from a forest so I had to wait for my father. He showed me how to skin animals and what to do with the skin afterwards. Lets just say that I have a pair of squirrel boots at home. When I bit down into the leg, I at first thought it was horrid. but after a few more nibbles, I found that it tasted a bit like the chicken I had tasted when I was younger and my family had a bit more money.

District 5 isn't a poor place like 11 and 12, but it's not a picnic either. We have to supply all the energy and power for the entire country of Panem and with only a few people working at a time these days, usually the capital and the first seven districts have power. But when the games come around, the capital send us some Avoxes, criminals of Panem, to give us some extra power.

I hear some voices coming from the river nearby and I scurry up a tree. It's the tributes of 1, 2, 4 and Peeta of 12 who come towards me now. This always happens during the first stages of the games. The Career tributes always gang up with each other and kill everyone who is a threat to them. Sometimes they grab a few people from other districts for protection. Strength in numbers and all that. But never have I ever seen the careers pick district 12 to join the mix. Then it dawns on me that they are probably using him to find Katniss and when they kill her, he will follow close behind. I feel badly for the people who have died so early in the games and I pity the ones who will be hunted down like animals. They will be slaughtered. Just like Joseph was.

When they pass on to another part of the forest, I slowly climb down from the tree and run back to my den to skin and cook my catches of the day. I find a few branches, as well as a sharp rock from the stream and make a small fire, making sure that it doesn't give off too much smoke. I wait for my catches to kook while I go to the stream and find a long stick to make into a spear. I then use the spear to skewer a few fish about a s long as my arm. I take them back to my den and cook them as well.

As I cook, I think of my options in these games. I could stay hidden most of the time and only come out for food every once in a while, but this is the only place I know is safe. And If I go and look for someplace else safe, I run the risk of being caught and killed. But there is another option. I'm not very gifted with weapons, but I can kill as efficiently as anyone. I'm quick and a skilled climber and could create a sneak attack near the cornucopia, where I know the base camp for the careers is going to be. there is another option up my sleeve though. I saw some poisonous berries called nightlock a few miles from my den. if things get bad enough, I could always resort to that as a final option. I know now that without any real weapons in my arsenal, I'm as doomed as a duck during open season. I make my choice and decide to move on. But not before turning the skins of my kills into a makeshift bag. I tie it onto a belt loop and head for the trees.