I have to find them. It's the only thing I can think as I enter the woods with my hastily grabbed supplies. I don't stop running, but I look frantically to my left and right as I go. All of a sudden, I feel myself run into someone.
I barely supress a scream as I turn to see who I've hit. Then I breath a sigh of relief. "Juliana! You scared me to death!" I whisper.
"Shhhh," she replies. "We have to find the others." We jog quietly through the forest for about a mile before Foxface grabs my arm and motions to her right. "Can you see who it is?" she whispers through gritted teeth.
I look to where she is pointing, and I notice someone moving through the trees. At first I wonder if it's a Career, but then I catch a glimpse of dark hair and a tall, strong body, and I know who it is. "Thresh!" I say softly as I approach. "And Rue!" For the first time, I notice that Rue is next to Thresh. "Oh, I'm so glad we found you!" I say as Rue gives me a hug.
"I didn't get much at the Cornicoupia," Thresh says. "I got two knives, a bow and arrows, a loaf of bread, a first aid kit, and a backpack. Then I had to get out of there because the District 2 boy started throwing swords at me."
We walk for a few more miles before we come across Peeta. Foxface starrs to walk over to him, but stops short. "Mateo!" she gasps.
I look to see what's going on, and gasp when I see it. Peeta is carrying a bloddy, bruised, Mateo on his back. Foxface and I race over as Peeta gently deposits his passenger on the ground. That's when I go into full doctor mode.
"Thresh, see if there's a blanket or something in the backpack. Also, he needs water." As Thresh digs in the backpack, I address Peeta. "What happened?"
"He was running away from the Cornicopia when Clove hit him with a knife in the back. When he was down, the District 7 boy hit him with a huge rock. I scooped him up and got out of there."
I flip Mateo over to assess the wounds. I gently slide his shirt up his back and swallow hard when I see where the rock hit him. In his lower back, a large gash squirts blood. "Thresh! I need that blanket!"
"Here," Thresh says. He spreads out a thick sleeping bag. Peeta helps me move Mateo onto the fabric. "Alright. Rue, see if there's any bandages in the first aid kit. Do we have anything to kill the bacteria? Juliana, look for water in the backpack. Peeta, where did the rock hit him?"
"On his side." Sure enough, a bruise is forming on his right side. I feel his ribs, but they're not broken. Rue comes over and hands me a bandage roll and an antibacterial wipe. Foxface hands me a water bottle.
I wipe the cut with the antibacterial wipe and apply a bandage. "I think that's all we can do for the wound. We'd better make camp and wait for him to wake up."
"I think there's a stream on our right," Thresh says. "Want me to head over there and get some water?" We could really use the water. The only water Foxface found was the small water bottle she gave me. And we're using that for Mateo.
"Yeah, that would be good. But you'll need something to carry the water in.
"I managed to grab this box at the Cornicoupia." Peeta holds out a metal box. "It had a sword in it, but it fell out as I was running.
"It'll make a good water barrel. Thresh, take Juliana with you. She can act as a lookout."
"Is it alright if someone else goes?" Juliana cuts in. "I really want to stay with Mateo."
"Ok, then, Rue can go. The rest of us will set up camp." Thresh and Rue head to the stream, Peeta rearranges our supplies, and Foxface sits back down next to Mateo. I join her.
"Is he going to be ok, Prim?" Foxface asks. "Because, you see...Mateo's more than a friend to me. I've had a crush on him for years. But I don't know if he feels the same way.
I supress a gasp at her words. Foxface likes Mateo? What? I think about how Mateo told me he didn't like Foxface 'that' way. But obviously, she feels differently...
Focus, Prim, I tell myself firmly. You need to focus on helping Mateo get better.
"So, what are you going to do for Mateo?" Foxface asks, breaking my train of thought.
"Well, there's not much we can do for him until he wakes up. His cut wasn't infected or very deep. I think the rock was the thing that knocked him out. He'll probably wake up in a few minutes, and we can give him food and water."
Sure enough, Mateo woke up just as Thresh and Rue returned with the water from the stream.
"Hey, Mateo," I said gently, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "How are you feeling?"
He looks around at his surroundings. "Well...my back hurts...and my side. Whag happened?"
"Clove hit your lower back with a knife, and you got hit by a rock, too. It's a good thing Clove only got your lower back, so she didn't hit any...er...vital organs."
Mateo blinks a few times. "Are we far away from the Cornicoupia?"
"We're about 5 miles away. We'll need to move on, but not until you rest some more," Foxface replies. She gently strokes the side of his face, and, for some reason, I feel annoyance at her. I try to push it away.
"Here, have some water." I help Mateo sip some of the water in the bottle. "You need to eat something. Here, have some of the bread." Seeing the bread makes me think of how much we need food. After Mateo eats, he starts to fall back asleep, and I take charge of the camp.
"We're going to need more food. Anyone have any ideas?"
"I can gather nuts and berries and things," Rue says.
"Perfect. Take Peeta with you. Does anyone know how to hunt?" I get blank stares in response. "Ok, I guess not. Peeta and Rue, go ahead and search for food. Take some knives with you. Juliana, could you see if there's any iodine in the backpack? We need to disinfect the water from the stream. Threah, be on the lookout. I'll take care of Mateo.
Everyone set out to do their tasks, and Mateo improved quickly. By the late afternoon, he felt better enough to move on.
"Are you sure you're ok to do this?" I ask as I check his bandage.
"I'm fine. But can we go slowly? I don't want to get worse.
"Of course," I say. "But we have to get farther away from here before the Careers find us." We gather up our supplies and start walking further away from the Cornicoupia. It's so hot-about 100°F, I'd guess. We walk slowly through the blistering hot forest.
We walk quietly for about half a mile before we hear rhe cannons that symbolize a tribute's death. The fighting at the Cornicoupia must have finally stopped.
Boom. Boom. Boom. The cannons go off 9 times. Our little alliance stands quietly. "Nine gone," Peeta says softly. We stand there for another moment before we keep going.
By the time we've gone another 3 miles or so, we're exhausted. We set up camp for the night and talk about dinner.
"We really need to find a way to catch meat," Peeta says. "I practiced setting traps in the training center, but they weren't very good."
"Set them anyway," Thresh replies. "Why not?" So Peeta makes a simple trap out of tree bark and some rope he finds in the backpack while Rue and I discuss starting a fire.
"I think we should make a fire. The temperature's coming down fast, thanks to some Gamemaker. It's probably about 80 degrees now, and it's going down fast."
"But what about the smoke?" Rue asks. "We don't want the Careers to see where we are."
"Good point," I say. "I guess we'll just have to stick it out tonight. We can sleep in the trees, and use our belts as safeguards. I'm not very hungry or thirsty, but we need to get food into Mateo."
"You like him, don't you?" Rue asks suddenly. "I've seen how you act around him. You have a crush on him," she says, smiling.
"Well...ok, yeah, I do," I admit, blushing. "But I don't know if he likes me back. And Foxface likes him too (Rue agrees that Juliana does look like a fox, and we both call ber Foxface). I briefly describe the conversation between Foxface and me earlier in the day.
"Well, if he doesn't like her back, than you have a chance!" Rue squeals.
"But we couldn't be together. We can't both make it out of the arena." I slump down onto a tree stump and sigh. "I wish the Hunger Games never had to happen."
"We all do," Rue replies.

Peeta manages to snare two squirrels in his traps. I help prepare them, and the six of us enjoy the juicy meat for dinner. Soon, we head up into neighboring trees to spend the night. I shiver as I climb up the rough, thick trunk of an oak tree. It's about 50 degrees outside now. Peeta helps Thresh up into the tree next to me, since he's too big to climb it himself, and then climbs his own tree. We sit quietly in our trees for an hour before the sky lights up.
The Capitol anthem plays as the pictures of the dead tributes are projected into the sky from the bottom of a hovercraft. I can feel tears slipping down my face as the pictures flash. Their poor families...were the tributes Christian? I silently sob as I fall asleep, knowing the Games are terrible torture, and wondering what I can do to end them.