Never forget. 9-11-01.

~PennStateGRL4eva~

After three hours of walking in the frozen tundra I still haven't found any sign of water. There is really only so far down I can go and I can't help but remember that I will eventually end up having to go back up. I stop for a second and look up at the top of the mountain. I can't see any part of the top because it is now shrouded in clouds. Thunder rumbles in the distance. I keep walking to where I see a dense forest of evergreens.

The shadows of the trees make me feel a little safer and not at risk. After all, it's easier to shoot something that's down a hill than up a hill. The rocky ground has turned into hard dirt and patches of grass. There are still rocks scattered between the trees but they were starting to get sparse. I kept an eye on the darker parts of the forest as I walked, starting to realize just how thirsty I am. I come across a line of smooth rocks, nearly stumbling on them at first. Then I realize they are river rocks. I follow the line of them through the woods and come across a large sheet of ice, tucked away in the middle of the dense trees. I wonder if this is the only water source in the whole arena. It isn't really big, only about twenty feet long and thirty wide. But it is large enough for about twenty-six people to get water from it.

I take the canteen that was hooked onto my belt and a knife that was tucked into my sheath of arrows. I slam the knife down in the ice and chop a circle in it. A sharp snap from about twenty feet in front of me catches my attention. I look up and see a goat stomping on the ice to break it. I silently slide an arrow into my bow and pull back on the string. This is the first animal I've seen all day, of course I'm going to shoot it. I'm just about to release the string when a spear is thrown directly into the side of the goat. I don't take the time to put my knife and arrow back, I fill my canteen and run back into the trees. I hear footfalls behind me so I take a winding route through the trees, jumping over rocks and diving under fallen trees. I find a hollowed out tree and tuck myself inside, bowing my head to hide my light face as much as possible and praying that someone wouldn't see my breath.

I hear the footsteps walk around the tree and then I see Marsha Darren. I thought she would be long dead at this point in the Games. I thought she'd be one of the first ones dead at the cornucopia. I watch her disappear into the shadows and wait several minutes before I step out of the tree. The area of the woods I am in is clear but in my desperate flee I didn't bother to make note of where I am going. There is no light in the distance meaning there is no break in the trees for at least a hundred yard radius. So I just walk. I know that the cameras are probably glued on me and Peeta.

Suddenly I'm nearly sick with worry. I didn't bother to look back at the cornucopia to figure out what he was doing. Is he even alive? I wonder. But I can't let my concern show. If Peeta and I were going to get divorced, would I still be worried about him? I had no experience in this. What is Peeta doing about it? Is he letting his worry show? He's the one that came up with the lie, he should at least know what to do with it. Unfortunately, because of the nature of what the lie is, I wasn't able to ask him what to do. I can only hope that I'm a better actor this time than I was in the past and that Peeta stays alive so I can carry out Haymitch's plan.

As it gets darker I find a good tree to climb and settle in for the night. I only have a bit of rope to tie myself to the branch but I make do. My suit has done really well with keeping me warm but I get concerned about my face. I tug on my hat and find that it can cover my face except for my eyes and a tiny hole at my mouth so I can breathe. My sleep is interrupted by howls in the distance, confirming one of my fears about the wildlife. I see the Capitol seal in the sky and count the faces that appear. Both tributes from One, Iris from Three, the male tribute from Five, the guy from Eight, the girl from Nine, and the guy from Ten. So only seven died. All of the ones we thought would get killed except for one. The girl I saw earlier. Where is she now? She's probably freezing to death now, or starving. Unless she has sponsors.

I start brainstorming how I can pick seventeen other people off when I hear someone walking through the woods again. I lean over my branch a bit and see her. She's looking around her like she lost something. At least she's been smart to keep moving to stay warm. Unless she really did lose something. In which case, I should just kill her now. But from where I am now my shot wouldn't kill her, just make her wish she was dead. So I shimmy down the tree, preparing to shoot when I hear her scream.

I jump out from behind the tree just in time to see Johanna drive a knife through her chest and bring it out. We hear the cannon and I hide behind my tree again as the hovercraft picks the girl up. Johanna walks around the tree to stand in front of me. "Figured you didn't like having a tail." She says.

"Doesn't matter if you're going to kill me." I say.

She laughs. "I'm not going to kill you. I'll let someone that doesn't actually care about you do it for me. Anyway, I needed to find you to give you the scoop."

I shrug and cross my arms. "Okay. What's going on?"

"Well, I'm allies with Gale and we both allied with Collin, Griffin and Peeta. The Regan girl ran off to Lord knows where. We're all alive and healthy. Gale is holding up pretty well. Unfortunately, he's gotten kind of blood thirsty. And we know what happens to those tributes." She says sadly. "But I'll try my best to get him to the end. That's the best we can hope for, right?" she laughs. "That guy, Jack, from Nine…he's someone to watch out for. He killed a couple of the people single handedly at the cornucopia." She tells me. "Now, we are all planning on coming down here in the woods to get some food and set up base camp. I'd say your best bet is to get the Hell out of here because outside of these woods are all sorts of game for you to hunt and everyone is expecting you to be sitting up in a tree somewhere. Especially with the way you took off in this direction earlier." She pauses. "How are you holding up? You didn't get a thing from the cornucopia, did you?"

I shake my head. "Negative. But there is a pond somewhere to the East. I lost it running from that girl." I pause. "Well, I'm not sure if it really was her. It could have been anyone. I just happened to see her at the time."

"Well you got lucky. That girl was pretty fast." Then she continues. "The brother and sister are holed up in a cave somewhere. We're going to try to ally with them and then kill them in their sleep. They don't seem to be the brightest but that girl Coral delivered a pretty good cut to the guy tribute from Six, Clint I think. He probably won't be around much longer. Also, that Vera and Maisie girl are allies from what we can tell. They are pretty hard to catch. Scarlett and Phoenix haven't been seen since the gong went but Griffin said he saw them go separate directions. I think that's it." She finishes.

"When are you planning on killing the brothers?" I ask.

"When they've done all that they are useful for. Probably after they kill a few people." She says honestly. "They're not really useful for anything besides killing people. They seem to have no conscience."

I hesitate. "And Peeta?" I ask.

"Better than ever. Really." She says. "Why are you asking?"

"Because I don't want to worry about having to kill him myself but obviously I do." I tell her. "I mean, really, when our kid is grown up and asking where Peeta is I don't want to have to tell it that I killed him."

"True. I should probably go back." She sighs. "Edge of the woods is about a mile to your South West. Be out of here by dawn." She warns darkly and then disappears into the darkness.

Since dawn can't be too far away I gather my things and start walking in the direction she went. It's still pretty dark when I emerge from the thick trees but I can still see pretty well. The only problem is that there is really no where to hide. It would have been nice to know where Johanna and her allies were so I would know where not to be but that would present to risk of the Gamemakers taking you out. I hear a cannon go off and see a hovercraft appear on the side of the mountain. But people actually get out and disappear inside a cave. They pull out the guy from Six, Clint, and take him away. Fifteen people left. And I haven't done anything. I could actually make it to the final two, as long as Peeta doesn't die first. In which case there better be some poisonous berries around.

That's it for this chapter. I know it wasn't really fast paced but it'll pick up. I promise. For now you guys can just review and please, please, PLEASE VOTE! I don't care if you review (I really do actually), just vote! Please! Like, right now, as in stop reading and go to my profile and vote! And remember, just because someone is dead doesn't mean they can't win. The odds are ever in your favor.

~PennStateGRL4eva~