Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! To those who thought I'm moving too fast, I'll try to give more detail and such. I appreciate the criticism. I may be a while updating the next chapter.

Predator and Prey

I pump my legs, my heart pounding. The desert is high, but the forest where the games began is higher. That must be where we're going, I think.

The Careers have caught up to me and are running right beside me, oblivious to the fact that I am foe, not friend. At this moment, the only thing going through their minds, and mine, is survival. The water is still biting at our heels like an angry dog. If it were to catch up to us, only the tributes from District Four, who have lived around water their whole lives, would survive. I run harder.

The trees disappear, and we're now running on the sand in the thinnest strip of desert between the two forests. I stop dead in my tracks, the water stops too, at the edge of the desert. It's no longer a danger to us. There are bigger things to worry about.

The woods where we started the games are on fire, confining the remaining eleven tributes to the desert. The Gamemakers want these games over quickly, I guess. That, or my attempts at controlling my fire were unsuccessful. I'm guessing the first.

The boy from District Eight and the girl from District Ten are running towards us, away from the fire.

While I'm taking in what's going on around me, Jayden, the two tributes from the woods where the games started, and I are suddenly surrounded by the Careers. They form a perfect circle around us, forcing us to group closely together. They examine us closely, smiling at the idea of new victims.

"Six on five," snarls the boy from Two. "This should be a good fight." A sly grin appears on his face.

Sunny, the girl from District One, turns to him. "Who going to take who, Kannan?"

Kannan examines the five of us, his expression thoughtful. "Sunny, you fight Twelve. I'll help you." He turns to the tributes from District Four and nods at Jayden. "You take him." He assigns the boy from District One (Flash) to the boy from District Eight (Milo), and the girl from Two (Dominique) to fight the girl from District Ten (Kristen). Kannan is obviously the leader because nobody challenges his decisions.

"What about her?" asks Sunny, pointing at me with her dagger.

Kannan shrugs. "We'll deal with her later. For now, we need two people on each of the big guys."

Jayden snarls, tired of being silent, and steps towards Kannan. "We're standing right here, you know," he snaps.

The boy from District Four, Kannan just called him Blue, smiles, lifting a spear. "Not for long," he says to Jayden. All six Careers take one step towards us. They seem in no hurry. They want to enjoy this.

Jayden however, has other ideas. He draws his sword and cuts Blue's arm. There's a pause, then Blue punches Jayden in the jaw. That seems to be the cue. The Careers start fighting with their assigned tribute, and the tributes inside the circle started fighting back. As for me, I do what I do best. I run. I run even harder than when I was being chased by the wave. I need to get away...

When I am a safe distance from the fight I turn around to see how it's going. I feel sick. The tributes are hacking at one another and the sand is already red. However, some of the tributes have run away from the fight like me. I can't help remembering the fight at the Cornucopia. Once again, I've been spared from a battle by my cowardly charade and the Career Tributes' stupid decision to underestimate me.

I walk for about an hour, with the forest that's still smoking on my left and the forest underwater on my right. There will be faces in the sky tonight, I think. But, which faces and how many?

I hear cannon shots. The Capitol has treated this fight like the initial fighting at the Cornucopia, not bothering to fire the cannons until the battle has ended. Four shots. I have to admit, I expected more. I try to think about who might have died. I saw that Dominique and Kristen were missing from the fight, so they probably ran. I shake my head. I can't think of anything else.

I sit down beside a rock. I sip some water and eat the remaining food. Once again, I need my sponsors. I didn't manage to get any plants while in the woods, and there probably won't be much more than mud left when the water disappears. Thinking about the water disappearing, I refill my bottles and purify them. With nothing else to do, I lean against a rock. A bird lands on a nearby boulder and starts to sing. A warm breeze blows past me. I push the fight out of my mind and smile. It's the most relaxed I've been since the reaping.

I start to think. This time, I don't think about the fact that I'm an orphan, or that I will have to kill someone to survive. I think about Peter. He kissed me. He loves me. He wants me to survive. Remember that I love you, his voice whispers in my head.

Don't worry, Peter, I think. I'll remember.

I realize that I'm sweating and quietly curse. This outfit was helpful in the dark, cool woods, but in the desert, it'll just be trouble. I'm too warm, and the green and black will stand out against the sand. I consider leaving the jacket in a nearby cave, but decide to put it in my backpack instead. It may be useful. Muttering unhappily as I walk, I travel the desert until nightfall. The Capitol seal appears in the sky, then the faces of the dead tributes. There's Sunny, the girl from District Four, Milo and the boy from District Twelve.

I try to picture the fight. The tributes from District Four fought with Jayden, who's still alive. After Jayden killed the girl, Blue must have run away in fear for her own life. Sunny and Kannan battled with the boy from Twelve. I think about it. The boy must have killed Sunny, then been killed by Kannan. Flash killed Milo. Dominique and Kristen ran.

There are now seven tributes remaining. Flash, Dominique, Kannan, Blue, Kristen, Jayden and me. The Careers have probably broken their alliance because of the low number of tributes remaining. If they haven't gone their separate ways yet, it's only a matter of time before one of them gets a knife in the back from another. The people from the Capitol will be betting heavily now, maybe even interviewing the families of the tributes. Kimberly must be pretty surprised, seeing that I'm not dead yet. District Seven will be proud of Jayden and I. We made it to the top seven. That's big.

I sigh. Soon, I will become the killer. In fact, if Jayden, for example, showed up now, I'd probably fight.

That of course, is the cue for Jayden to appear.

He's badly hurt, that's for sure. His arm is bleeding heavily and so are his legs. Obviously, he didn't get a first-aid kit at the Cornucopia. His eyes, however, are wild and determined. "Hello, Johanna," he says calmly, almost purring. "You're going to die now, and I'm going to kill you."

He sounds different. He's not the silent giant from the reaping. He's crazy. The fight must have made him snap. I know he means every word he's saying. I breathe, trying to stay calm. I try to think. I want to fight, but I certainly do not want to kill the male tribute from my district. How would I be able to face his family if I returned home? Finally, I think of something. "Jayden," I say. "It's not too late. We can still be allies. I can be useful. I can help you survive."

Jayden starts laughing uncontrollably. "No," he says after a few minutes. "You're useless. You're a coward. You will die, because you are weak. I am strong. I am like a wolf."

"That's a little bit ran-" I stop mid-sentence. He's started howling. He's howling. He actually thinks he's a wolf!

Jayden Ashfield has gone insane.

He continues to laugh as he steps silently towards me. I have a decision to make. Either I kill him, leading me to face his family if I survive the games, I run, though he'll probably just follow me, or I let him kill me, which I'm not about to let happen.

I'm actually considering trying to swim in the flooded woods to escape him when he smiles. "You're as weak as Peter," he says. "I can't imagine how that fool won the games. You might even be as weak as the District Eight girl. What was her name? Lilac? She wouldn't have lasted a day, even if she hadn't dropped that stupid ball. She deserved to die."

It seems that Jayden has decided for me.

I wait a moment before I speak. "I'm not weak," I say, trying to keep my voice steady. "And even if I was, I'd rather be weak than out of my mind." Just another minute now, and he'll be within throwing range...

Jayden lets out a scream, loud and high, and runs towards me, but I'm ready. I throw my axe. Unfortunately, Jayden has quick reflexes. He dodges the weapon and it hits a rock and falls harmlessly onto the sand. He continues to run. I swing my mace. Jayden is still coming. Will he really ignore the mace? I think. He does, and it connects with his shoulder. He raises his sword, ignoring the obvious pain. I swing again, hitting his stomach. That does it. He falls to the ground, grimacing.

I run and retrieve my axe, then look at the sky. "Forgive me, District Seven," I cry, hoping the cameras can see me. I throw the axe at Jayden. Even though he is curled into a ball, my weapon lodges itself into his skull. A cannon fires immediately.

I feel like crying. I feel like I'm going to be sick. I feel like screaming. But I can't show any sign of remorse. I can't be a coward. Not anymore.

Steeling myself, I walk over to Jayden's body. I check his pockets, finding only some berries that I know are edible. Well, it's better than nothing. I stand, looking down at his bloody body. He doesn't look crazy anymore. I guess nobody does after they've died.

I briefly glance around me. The world is different. I'm no longer searching for predators.

I'm searching for prey.

This is what I've been waiting for. I've become the killer. I pick up my weapons, then run, beginning my search.