This was it.

I was waiting in the Gatehouse of the Training Yard with Cato. We'd been spending a lot of time together recently. He was easy to talk to and unlike everyone else he didn't try to pressure me into telling them the 'secrets' of District Four's Careers Program. He also sucked at identifying berries and fruits, which gave us something to study when we didn't have training with the crew. I was lucky that Cato was willing to forgive my bitchiness because otherwise I would be even more jaded, and I'd be alone.

"This place is crazy high tech." I said as I continued scanning the multitude of television screens that relayed live footage of the Training Yard. It was no wonder that District Two tributes did as well as they did.

Cato laughed, "Rumour has it that District One has a proper Cornucopia and starting bases."

I didn't really care about District One. For the last two weeks I had been trying to figure out some way to avoid having to volunteer next year. It was hard because a big part of me didn't feel right about it. I was a District Four Tribute and I'd been taught that volunteering wasn't something you ran away from. The prevalence of trained Tributes didn't seem to abate my desire to protect those younger than me and I felt nauseous about trying to get out of it.

I took a deep breath and let my main concern from the last couple of weeks come to the surface, "How does it work here? The actual Reaping that is."

"Well, this year Raze's crew is up for volunteering, they'll decide who is going to volunteer. Next year we will have a meeting before the Reaping and decide as a team."

"What are my chances of having to volunteer?"

"'Having'? Shouldn't you be interested in 'getting to volunteer'?" Cato was smarter than most people gave him credit for.

"My family has already lost both parents. I don't think Maya would survive me dying as well." I mumble. I was unable to look at him so I had no idea if he believed my excuse.

"Would you volunteer to save her?"

"Of course." I was annoyed that he even felt the need to ask.

"Well then... don't mention it in there." he pointed to the door that led to the Training Yard, "If something like that got out then there is no knowing how it would affect a Reaping."

I wanted to ask what he thought would happen but at that moment the door into the Gatehouse swung open and Pierce waltzed in, followed by the rest of the crew members due to compete in these trial games. He smiled at us and proceeded to wink at Cato, which made me very suspicious.

"Don't go there." Cato sighed loud enough for Pierce to hear.

Pierce beamed at me, "Come on, how long are you going to try to hide it? We all know what you're actually doing when you say that you're 'studying'."

"Pretending Cato's stupidity is acceptable?" I suggest and the crew laughed.

"Hey!" Cato gasped in mock shock.

Pierce walked past us to the cabinet by the door and opened the second drawer. The rest of the crew followed but I waited where I was sitting. I didn't see the point in standing around at the back of the group; I wouldn't be able to see anything anyway. Cato sat with me still, watching me out of the corner of his eye.

"What?"

Cato scanned the crew before whispering, "I was thinking... when we get in there, we should team up."

"Okay." I whispered back, "Just don't stab me in the back."

Cato smiled at me and I couldn't help but smile back, "I wouldn't dream of it."

Movement caught my eye and I looked away from the handsome Career beside me. A small girl with short black hair and hard brown eyes stepped out of the mass of Careers. Over the last two weeks I had come to learn that she was one of the most bitter people I had ever met. She was also one of the most talented Careers in general. I didn't ever want to get on the wrong side of this girl and I got a feeling that by the time she volunteered she would be the most formidable female Tribute to ever leave District Two.

"Here." she barked and threw two metal bands at us before turning away and walking back into the fray.

"What's this?" I asked as I inspected the band. It looked like a thick, flat bracelet with a thin electronic display.

Cato laughed to himself as he wrapped his band around his wrist, "They're health bands. When we get in there they will be activated and if you get injured then they'll show it. When you have no health then you're considered 'dead'."

"Got to be the best way to die." I muttered as I fastened the band in a similar fashion to Cato.

We were standing around the makeshift Cornucopia, a table piled with fake weapons and survival tools. Everyone was approximately the same distance from the packed table and we were waiting for the cue to start. I was curious for how this would work because the real games had tributes who were more likely to run away from the Cornucopia than towards it, but here there were just Careers; every one of them would be itching to get at those weapons.

I figured I would run. Mainly because I couldn't be bothered risking my 'life' for a couple of fake weapons. I could easily fashion a basic trap and then steal the weapons of whoever fell in it first. My specialty was axes but I could use just about anything, at least until I got myself some daggers. For reasons that I couldn't explain, I didn't want them knowing that I was good with axes. Not even Cato knew that I was proficient with an axe.

A buzzer sounded and I sprinted for the lake that was behind me. The sound of almost two dozen tributes storming towards the table of goods was like distant thunder behind me. A deafening bang, like someone had hit a giant gong, sounded just as I reached the lake's edge. I didn't wait to check behind me, I guessed the gong was to emulate the canon used in the real games; instead I just dove into the water.

Part of me was relieved to feel the cool water against my skin. I hadn't swum since a couple of days before we left Four and I hadn't realised how much I missed it until I was back under the surface. For the sake of swimming I let myself forget that I was pretending to be running for my life. I was half way across the lake when I resurfaced and still I didn't look back.

It wasn't until I was wading out of the water that I let myself turn around. On the far side of the table there was a congregation of tributes slowly moving back the way we had arrived. They were 'dead'. My decision to move away from the improvised Cornucopia was clearly the right one, as there were more Careers leaving the Training Yard then there were staying.

Even from more than a hundred metres away, I could see a few of the Careers that were still left. Of course, Pierce was one and he was picking through the pile of weapons while the others waited around him. It was exactly as I had expected, Pierce had a small group of Careers that he was working with.

What I hadn't expected was that Cato would be among them. I wondered what he was doing considering his 'let's team up' crap back at the Gatehouse. It didn't entirely surprise me, he had been a friend of Pierce's for a hell of a lot longer than he had been a friend of mine. It was only natural that he would team up with Pierce over me.

I turned to the forest and started walking. Eventually someone would come out looking for me and anyone else who thought the Cornucopia was a bad idea. There had to be at least one other. Right?

It was coming on sunset and the sky was dark with approaching storm clouds. I had already weaved four sides of a cube and was sitting on one of the sides, with the other three protecting me from the wind. I'd set up my little cube amongst the bank of reeds that I had used to weave it in the hopes of concealing my location until the morning.

After that I wasn't sure what I would do. The usual plan in a real Hunger Game would mean that I already had weapons but currently I had nothing. It was made ever so slightly more difficult by the fact that, since this was a fake Hunger Games, any crude weapons that I could make in the real Games were too dangerous to make here. I couldn't bludgeon anyone with a rock, or sharpen a stick to use to puncture an artery or two, or drown someone in the lake; all things that would be easily done in the Games but were certainly frowned upon in the Training Yard.

"What makes you think she'd be around here?" I heard a girl's voice break through the howl of the strengthening wind.

Someone groaned, "Because she's from District Four. She'll have built shelter and be hiding from the rain. If she made said shelter out of reeds then she will most likely be hiding amongst the reeds."

It took me a second to realise who it was and I was surprised by how well Cato knew me. Cato was smarter than even I gave him credit for and that annoyed me a little. I wasn't sure whether I could trust him because I'd seen him at the table with Pierce, so I decided to listen in on them for a little longer. With the fading light and my shelter in the reeds, it was unlikely they'd be able to locate me.

"I can't believe we're doing this." the girl grumbled and I could barely catch the exact words.

There was a slight pause before Cato answered, "You can go back if you want. It'd be safer for you if you did because Pierce is going to be pissed when he sees that we're gone."

"He probably already knows, which means my returning will definitely get me killed." whoever she was she seemed upset about leaving Pierce, probably she knew that leaving was going to cost her whatever chance of winning she had, "What is the deal with you two anyway?"

"There's no deal. We're just friends." I still couldn't see them but their voices were getting closer. Well, they had been, now they had paused just out of sight.

"Just friends?" she wasn't convinced.

"Yes, just friends. Alfie is awesome but there's nothing between us." I don't know whether it was what he said or how he said it but when I heard Cato say it, it annoyed me. There was an awkward pause before Cato spoke again, "It's not going to happen."

Cato strode into view, followed closely by the girl as she whined at him, "Why?" Even in the fading light of day I could see that it was Clove, the bitter looking girl who'd given me and Cato our health bands.

"Because... it's just not." Cato growled as he turned towards Clove, and I could sense his anger.

She stared at him for a few moments, "Why do you deny it? It's so obvious that you two are fucking each other."

I'd had enough, so I rolled onto my knees and stepped towards them, "No, we most certainly are not!"

Cato smiled at me and held his hand out to the side, "Give me the knives, Clove."

Clove stared at Cato in disbelief, "What?!"

"Alfie's a better shot than you so she should have the knives." Cato didn't look at Clove as he spoke, he just stared at me. I noticed him reach for something on his hip as he waited for Clove to answer him.

"No. I ran into the Cornucopia when she ran away. I deserve these-" Cato spun on Clove and looked to punch her awkwardly in the stomach but he hadn't punched her. He'd stabbed her; with the broadsword he'd acquired at the Cornucopia. The gong sounded and Clove looked pissed, "You jerk! I hope it's worth it, since you just eliminated one of your best allies."

"I have a better one." Cato laughed.

Clove pulled open her jacket and started removing the half dozen blades from the in-built sheaths in the jacket. She snatched the last couple from their holders with such careless regard that she slashed through the fabric. But Clove had no intention of handing the blades to Cato, instead she seemed to throw them beside me. Only she threw too hard and I heard them land in the lake.

"Clove! Really, what was the point? Alfie's from Four, she's been pearl diving for years. Getting those knives will be as easy as pie." Cato laughed as he watched Clove walk away. She was well out of hearing range before Cato moved towards me, "I knew you'd be here."

I shook my head and turned back to my shelter, "You still wouldn't have found me if I hadn't stood up, though." I sat down to one side, leaving enough room for Cato to sit beside me. Something told me that this could be a mistake but I didn't really care. Maybe if they thought I was naive then they would recommend sending someone else into the Games next year.

"So you made this in one afternoon?" Cato asked as he sat down, "That's impressive."

I bit my lip, "Not really, not for a District Four tribute. What's impressive is that you could just use Clove like that. And then turn on her."

"I told her she could go back."

"She was right about Pierce likely not letting her back. How can I be sure that you're not going to kill me when my backs turned?"

"Oh, because I've given a lot of thought to how I'm going to kill you. And you'll be facing me when I defeat you." Cato said with a sly smile.

I turned towards him, "Really?! And how are you planning on defeating me?"

"Now why would I tell you that?" he cocked an eyebrow at me.

I shrugged my shoulder and splayed my hands, "What harm can it do? It's not like this is really life and death. Anyway, tit for tat; you tell me your plan, I'll tell you mine."

Cato chuckled to himself, "All in due time."

A voice boomed through the 'Arena', sufficiently silencing my attempt at a reply, "End of day one; eighteen dead."

"Huh..." Cato sighed.

"What?"

He smiled at me and pulled me into his side. It was an awkward hug but there was still an element of comfort in it, "When Clove and I left there were seven tributes at the Cornucopia, meaning that at least three people have fake died. And that's assuming that there were no others that copied you in ditching without weapons."

"All that says to me is that there are only five more tributes to fake kill." I smiled as I closed my eyes, "You are on the first watch. If you fake kill me in my sleep then I will make your real life hell for at least a month."

It was almost noon and Cato was bitching about not knowing how many people Pierce had left. When we had woken up this morning and looked across the lake at the empty table, that had been the very lame Cornucopia, we were surprised to find it completely deserted.

I didn't see this as a real problem, as long as we kept an eye out for signs of traps or other tributes. For some reason I just didn't seem to have the same now or never impulse that Cato did. I guessed that it was simply the knowledge that even if I died, I couldn't lose as I could in the real Games.

We were searching for food. Well, I was searching for food, Cato seemed determined to poison us. Although the worst thing we'd come across would only give us really bad diarrhoea, I did not like the idea of that happening, ever.

"When we get out of here we are going to have to step up the berry and fruit studies." Cato remarked as he emptied his hands of Geocherries, which would cripple us with temporary blindness if we ate even one.

"I don't know, I think maybe studying that is a waste of time." I grumbled as I started picking blackberries.

Cato knelt down beside me, "Why?"

I sighed, "What have you learnt in the last two weeks?" Cato was silent, "Exactly."

My hands were full berries and when I tried to pick another one I found myself losing more than I was gaining. So I decided to give up on picking more and stood up. Cato followed suit and it annoyed me because he hadn't picked a single berry. I turned to him, ready to yell at him for doing nothing but I didn't get the chance to say anything.

Cato's hands cupped my cheeks and his lips pressed firmly against mine. I was torn; part of me wanted to pull away but another part was enjoying the feel of his kiss. The realisation that this was almost certainly being filmed made my mind up for me and I tried to step away. Cato's hold on my face unyielding but gentle, and he stepped forward to keep us close together. Realising that he wasn't going to give up, I decided that if I gave in then it might end sooner. Or at least, he might let his guard down.

Which he did and I was able to put some distance between us. I was confused about what exactly he had done that for. He hadn't given me any sign that he had those sorts of feelings for me and I wasn't sure whether I liked the idea that he felt that way.

In my confusion, I took a second step back and felt something hard press against my back, just behind my kidney. My health band vibrated slightly as an arm snaked around my shoulders and the object pressed harder into my flesh. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was happening.

"Sorry." Cato whispered with an awkward grimace just as the gong sounded.