Harry was awoken just as the sun was starting to come up by Ron lobbing pebbles at him from a distance. Harry looked up at him with his bleary eyes, trying to figure out where he was and what was happening.

"What on earth are you doing?"

"I'm waking you up from a distance, I didn't want to take any chances, you know?"

Harry nodded along in agreement, the statement was fair enough in nature especially at this point of the games.

"Understandable."

Harry got up and packed his things, Ron having already done this before hand. Soon, he had put on his backpack and walked over to stand by Ron.

"So what do you reckon we do today?" Ron asked.

Harry shrugged, indifferent to what they did.

"I dunno. I suppose we try to put as much distance between us and the careers as we can?"

Ron nodded along in agreement, obviously thinking along the same lines. He began to walk forwards, in the same direction as the day before.

"That's probably a good idea, it was a little too close for comfort last night I reckon."

"Definitely. I think we need a plan though, rather than just walking aimlessly. Eventually, we're just going to get picked off by the careers."

"Well, what do you propose?" Ron asked, sounding intrigued.

Harry stopped to think about it for a second. "Well, what's their main advantage in the games? Why do they usually win?" He asked.

"Their training?" Ron responded.

"Well yes. But I mean other than that?" He asked again.

"I dunno." Ron replied after some thought. "I always chalked it up to the training to be honest."

"Well, that's definitely a big factor." Harry said. "But I reckon the biggest reason is that they have such a big group. They just outnumber us."

Ron thought about this for a second. They had now stopped walking to continue to strategise.

"That's actually a fair point. I never really thought about it that way. But how do we get around that? Do you want to ally with more tributes?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I don't trust anyone else in the games. What we need to do is separate their pack."

Ron looked at Harry with excitement. "But they've already split up. You heard them last night, there was only two of them."

Harry shook his head. "I doubt they've split up this early in the games. They're probably just trying to cover more ground in teams."

"Well then, how do we get them to split up?

"I'm not sure. Do you have any ideas?."

"Nope, none at all."

"Guess we'll just have to think about it then."

Ron nodded his head and began to move again. Together, he and Harry continued to walk adjacent to the river for most of the morning in silence, pondering what to do.

The sun was almost halfway across the sky by the time that they stopped to take a break. Harry was disappointed to find that they had almost run out of food, having not left any snares over the last few days. They would be out by the end of the day and Harry realized that with the barren nature of this arena, that could be a real issue.

"You know, I reckon we should go towards the river. Try and find a way to cross it." Ron suddenly piped up.

Harry looked over at him, startled. Having not expected Ron to speak.

"You think that's a good idea?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, why not. I don't know where the others, or the careers are but we may as well keep moving."

Harry nodded along, having no better plan available. He went back to eating his lunch before another sound interrupted him.

"Hehem."

The obnoxious coughing sound interrupted their silence and, like one, they swiveled towards the source of the noise. Standing there, with the widest grins in history were two careers, the boy from 4 and the girl from 2, their weapons casually held by their side.

"Well well well." The boy began in a surprisingly high, thick voice. "What do we have here?"

"Looks like we've caught a couple of fishes." The girl responded in a brutish low voice.

"It sure does." The boy agreed.

"Isn't that your districts specialty Greg?" The girl asked casually. "What do you guys do with the fish you catch anyway?"

The boy grinned. "We mash em."

Harry didn't give them anymore opportunity to continue their wicked banter. He had been slowly sliding one of his knives from his sheath into his hand and he hurled it at the boy with no hesitation.

The boy didn't even bat an eyelid, he just swayed to the side letting the knife sail past him. Harry gulped before looking across at Ron wide eyed. They both looked at each other before turning around and sprinting for dear life. Harry could hear the two give chase immediately behind them as they started to kick into top gear. However, the arena was a barren desert with virtually no cover and the heat had now risen to an excruciating temperature. It barely took Harry two minutes before realizing they were not going to outrun these two careers. They were much too fit and strong and seemed to be keeping pace with them easily, almost toying with them.

Harry decided to try a different tactic and veered towards the right, hoping to reach the river and find an escape route through there. They ran through the desert looking for anywhere to hide, but the arena gave them nothing. Soon, they came across a group of rocks, Harry angled right hoping to get to the river and find a way out through there, find a way to cross it. Unfortunately, they had come quite far inland the day before and the river was now some way off. Harry ran for at least ten minutes and the river still didn't seem to be getting any closer. It was at this point that Harry suddenly realized that the sound of footsteps around him had reduced some time ago, and sounded softer now. He chanced a look around to find only the girl from 2 behind him, there was no longer any sign of Ron or the other boy.

He had no time to think about this however, because he finally heard moving water. He was tiring now however, as the heat was finally getting to him. He was slowing down, his body unable to cope and he just had to hope that the girl was struggling as well. The river was quickly approaching, as he could now see the water and had to analyse it quickly to see where he could jump in. There didn't appear to be anywhere obvious and so he decided to just launch himself in at the first possible chance and just see what would happen. He picked his spot, where the current looked weakest, and started to increase his speed, gearing up to launch himself into the water. Just as he was reaching the edge however, he felt the girl slam into him from behind, sending him sprawling to the ground.

She went rolling over the top of him before quickly getting to her feet, positioning herself between Harry and the water. Harry quickly got himself up, dodging the girls preliminary swing with her mace. He quickly got out one of his knives, which looked pathetic compared to the solid looking mace that the girl was wielding. Evidently, she felt the same based on the huge, predatory, grin that she had on her face. She gave another quick swing aiming at Harry's kneecaps and he had to quickly sidestep out of the way.

He quickly evaluated his predicament; up against a career with a mace, on his own, with only a knife. It didn't look good. His only real chance was to get in close and to do that he was going to have to goad her into a mistake. Already, he realized, she felt this was an easy kill. Her swings were lazy and testing, clearly toying with him. Her grin told him that she thought he was weak and her eyes promised a long and painful death. Harry gulped, realizing that her swings so far were aiming to incapacitate him rather than kill him.

He quickly shifted his stance, dragging his back foot further back and squaring his front foot across, appearing to retreat. The girl laughed as she stepped forward and swung, aiming at his shoulder, forcing Harry to lean back to avoid it. Again, he shuffled slightly back squaring his shoulders. The girl stepped forward and swung again. This time however, it was a fake and as Harry dodged she stopped the mace before jabbing it quickly into his left forearm.

Harry felt an eruption of pain in the arm despite the lack of leverage in the jab and the arm quickly numbed over. However, the girl had made a mistake and hovered in close a moment too long. Ignoring the pain, Harry kicked out, slamming his heel straight into her left kneecap. The girl cried out in pain, buckling to the floor before immediately rolling out of the way as Harry aimed another kick at her kneeling form.

Quickly she got up, no longer smiling and heavily favoring her leg.

"You're going to pay for that one kid." She snarled.

She came at him again, this time with a big downward swing, aimed right at his stomach with proper intent for the first time. Harry had the advantage now however, her leg was making her slow, and her attacks obvious. Still Harry waited for the last moment before stepping back, seemingly narrowly avoiding the blow. The girl stepped forward again swinging at Harry's head with Harry again ducking late, making the girl feel as though she had him on the ropes. The girl continued to limp after him, swinging again and again each time just narrowly missing Harry. Her swings steadily became more erratic and frustration quickly became evident on her face. Finally, Harry walked straight back into one of the occasional trees littered throughout the arena, his back slamming against the trunk. Harry let out an oomph of surprise. He saw the girls eyes light up in triumph, evidently feeling that she had him trapped. She aimed a huge swing aiming straight at his head, putting all her power into it, going for the final blow.

Except, Harry wasn't there. This time he ducked early before stepping to the side. The girl saw this too late her arm already following through on her swing. Her mace blasted straight into the tree, smashing straight through the dried rotting wood and getting lodged in the centre of the tree. Her eyes widened in shock and she pulled hard, trying to dislodge the Mace.

It was too late. Harry knife was already coming up and jamming straight through into her neck before pulling the knife back out. The girls hand came straight up to her neck trying to plug the hole. She took the hand away and brought it in front of her face, staring at her own blood in disbelief before crumbling to the ground. The cannon fired almost immediately after.

Harry stared down at the girls body, completely detached from it all. As he looked down at the girl's lifeless body he felt shockingly little. He was almost numb to the whole situation, completely different to the way he felt about his first kill, the girl from 7.

Harry had to shake himself off quickly however as he decided he had to go and find Ron. He walked over and took the girls backpack, replacing his one that he'd shrugged off earlier. He turned back planning to retrace his steps and find Ron.

It took Harry very little time to find the rock that they split at and he found footprints heading off towards the left, away from the river. Harry quickly set off in that direction running despite the exhaustion he felt.

He had gone only five minutes before he could see them in the distance, the open nature of the arena helping him for what felt like the first time. He picked up the pace, watching the whole time as the two boys sparred off against each other. It only took another five or so minutes before he arrived at the scene, quickly shrugging off his backpack and taking in the standoff.

The boy from four was limping slightly, having taken a shot to his left leg. On the other hand, Ron looked terrible. He had a deep wound in his left shoulder which had covered his side in blood. His arm hung limply as he swung wildly with his right. Both boys looked completely exhausted and neither appeared to be sticking to any real technique, instead just swinging from the hip in the hope one blow would connect.

Even as Harry watched this, he saw Ron take another wild swing which the career dodged clumsily. The swing took Ron off balance and left him stumbling just to the boys right. Harry saw the boy smile triumphantly as he lifted his sword above his head, ready to finish the red head off.

The swing never came though. Instead the boy looked down to see Harry's knife stuck in his shoulder. He stared at it dumbly, almost leading to his downfall as Ron came around the boy and swung again, aiming at his torso. The boy only just managed to dive out of the way, impressively transferring his sword to his left hand in the middle of his roll. Harry reached into his sheath and grabbed another knife, before running into the fray.

It became clear immediately that the boy had a lot less skill with his left than his right as his swings became exceptionally erratic and desperate. Harry, the most refreshed of the three found it no real stress to duck and weave just waiting for the perfect moment to get in close. Ron seemed to be a bit clumsier but was managing to keep out of trouble as he swung back with equal vigor. The three of them fought, with the boy from four quickly wearing down through sheer exhaustion and Ron becoming increasingly tired also. Finally, out of desperation, the boy went for the hay maker – swinging in a wide arch from low to high aiming for Harry's upper chest. The boys swing was exceptionally slow however, and Harry ducked easily under the wild swing before quickly coming up and jamming his knife into the boys' neck in one quick manoeuvre.

Harry yanked his knife back and the blood quickly came flowing out as the boy dropped to the ground, the cannon going off ten seconds later. This time Harry felt nothing but a sick sense of satisfaction as he looked down at the boys' body.

That was, until he heard a gurgling sound to his left. He looked towards the sound to see Ron drop to his knees, a deep gash appearing in his stomach with his intestines beginning to fall out.

"Ron!" Harry cried out, running over to his fallen friend.

Ron's face had already gone white in shock as he looked down dumbly at his stomach. One look and Harry knew there was nothing he could do. Ron's stomach was now stretched wide open and his insides were now spilling onto the ground around him.

"Harry…" Ron gasped.

Harry continued to stare at his friend numbly, unable to move or do anything. It takes Ron gasping it even louder for him to snap out of it and run to the Redhead.

"Ron!" Harry yelled.

Ron's face was now completely pale and blood was gushing out of the wound.

Harry pulled out his new backpack, trying to find some medical supplies frantically. He rummaged around finding nothing but a small amount of food and some knives.

"Where is it? Where is it?" Harry exclaimed, feeling the frustration building within him.

"Harry… It's too late…" Came the struggling gasp from Ron.

"It's not too late, I just have to find something." Harry retorted, continuing to rummage around.

Finally, he emptied the bag out on the floor of the arena screaming out in frustration as he saw nothing of use come out.

"Harry… Please." Ron whispered.

Harry came back over to his friend, tears forming in his eyes.

"Harry, look out for my family will you?"

Harry choked a sob back in incredulation. "There's no way I'm getting out Ron, not without you."

"Oh please Harry, I can tell. You'll find a way."

"But- "

"No buts Harry, you have to win. Look after my family please."

Harry tried to respond but it was clear that Ron was in no condition to keep talking. His face had gone exceptionally white and the bleeding hadn't slowed down at all. All Harry could do was choke back his complaints and promise to watch out for them. Ron smiled contently.

"Thanks Harry. You're a great friend. You'll love them I promise, all of them. My twin brothers are hilarious and my sister has an amazing spirit."

Harry couldn't help but start to cry as he watched his friend continued to talk about his family while his eyes became more and more unfocused and his words became incoherent and nonsensical.

"And my Dad, he's a bit strange but he's great as well. I can see them now Harry, out on the fields, harvesting the crops. Even Charlie's there, welcoming me home."

Harry just sat there listening as Ron continued to talk about his family, his ramblings becoming more and more nonsensical until finally they trailed off into silence. Harry looked down at his friend, now exceptionally pale and staring intently out into the distance.

"Harry." He said finally. "Just make sure you win okay."

"Of course, Ron." Harry replied, his voice wavering as the tears continued to fall.

Ron smiled contentedly, and lay back down, staring up at the bright sky. The two of them stayed there for some time in the sunshine. It was almost peaceful and harry could almost pretend that he was on holiday here. Maybe even in district 4.

Until the cannon sounded. Harry looked over at his friend and was greeted by the same sight, Ron laying there with the same content smile on his face. It was the same as when Harry had last looked at him and yet somehow different. It was obvious there was something missing but Harry knew he would never be able to describe it.

As he stared down at his fallen friend, he struggled to quell the mix of emotions that swirled within him. He felt hate first and foremost. Hate like he'd never felt before. Years of living with the Dursleys had dulled him down to a point where he basically felt nothing. He had thought himself apathetic to the world and its problems but he had thought wrong. Through his veins he felt the rage flow though him at what the Capitol had done to his friend. His only friend. Already, thoughts of revenge began to consume him.

Deeper than that however, he just felt sad. Sad at the loss of life of Ron and all the others. He couldn't help but wonder if it was only those who were in The Hunger Games that could ever truly understand the true cruelty of the games. They alone know the fight the tributes put in and the character that they show.

How long Harry stood there and pondered these thoughts he could not say but he only came away from his musings when he recognized the sounds of a helicopter circling above him. The claw dropped halfway, hanging there as a clear hint that he needed to get moving. He was tempted to see what they would do but decided to just move on. He had no real desire to fight off another coyote. Instead, he went over to both bodies and gathered their backpacks, before gathering both of his knives and putting them in his little sheath. He gave the bodies one last lingering look before heading off in no particular direction. After walking a short distance he turned around to give the bodies one last look, but already they had been removed. His only friend in the world had left the game. Harry began to walk off. He was once again all alone.

A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. Life's been horribly busy and this chapter has frustrated me forever. I'm still not completely happy with it, but here we are. I actually love the character of Ron, but i couldn't see any way around him dying unfortunately. Don't hate me too much for killing him. Hope you enjoy the chapter, and review if you want to.