Day Six:

District 2: Silver

I secrete a hunting knife into my backpack and re-bury it at the edge of the forest.

Dawn kisses the horizon and the others make their way to the fire for breakfast. Nock leans over for a water bottle and accidentally kicks Mya with his outstretched leg; she shoves him forwards and he almost loses his balance.

"Watch it!" Mya snaps

"You watch it!" Nock retorts and, for a moment, I think he'll reach for a knife…but the tension breaks as quickly as it began and the two continue gathering the supplies they'll want that day.

Teelo slings a small backpack over his shoulder "Who's staying here?" he asks, making it clear that it won't be him.

I give a shrug "I'll do it if no one else wants to." Teelo provides a curt nod in reply and beckons for the others to follow him. I watch them retreat over the grassy field and take up a post by the fire, spear in hand. Here at least I can keep track of the cannon fire without being around the others, if there are two more deaths today then I will take off. However, for now, I decide to focus on rest and rehydration after the days of long hikes around the arena.

District 10: Lash

Manny is sleeping when I climb down the tree at dawn. I prod him with my boot and he wakes with a start. "Ssh!" I scold him "we can make a fire now, but not here, can you stand up?"

He nods and shakily gets to his feet, clutching at the tree for support. We make slow progress and I feel frustrated at his slow, clumsy gait. Eventually, we make it to my snare line and I'm pleased to see a fat rabbit has been lured into my trap, unfortunately something has already nibbled at the kill and a leg is missing.

"I can skin it if you want?" Manny offers, but I shake my head and tell him to find more kindling. I don't want to leave someone to die but I can't yet trust him with my only knife; he seems different to the way he was in the training centre. I suppose we're all different now.

The fire is pleasantly warm and Manny spots a patch of juicy blackberries to add to our breakfast.

"How long have we been in here?" He wonders "Was it really only a week ago that I was working on re-building houses back in Ten?"

I think back to the panic of the first day of the Games; I trembled the first time I climbed my birch tree and now I shimmy up and down it several times a day.

"Are you frightened?" Manny asks "Of the Games I mean."

I shrug; the truth of it is that I don't really know anymore. "I suppose I was terrified of everything at the start but now…now I just feel a sort of background dread that could become horror at any minute."

Manny looks at me for a moment before turning his attention back to the fire. I don't know if he understands how I feel but I don't push the conversation any further.

Once the sun is fully up I extinguish the fire and we make our slow trek back to the waterfall. Manny purifies a bottle of water and offers it to me. "It's freezing" he says "Why don't you sit by me? I know you'd rather stay in the hammock but at least we'll keep each other warm."

I feel thrown off my guard for a second but I'm so cold without the fire that I agree. We take up a spot at the base of my tree and I feel him, familiar and yet strange, against my left shoulder. The time passes slowly and Manny tries to keep up some small conversation; he asks about my family and I chat, albeit begrudgingly at first, about my little sister Kale and my interest in training horses. He laughs enthusiastically when I reminisce about the time that Kale fell in the feed barrel and a horse chewed her long hair, my mother was furious with me for not paying attention.

In return, he tells me about his mother and brothers; his youngest brother, Bran, was killed by falling rubble when the Capitol missiles hit the schoolhouse. Manny blames himself; he's the eldest and feels he should've gotten Bran to the makeshift shelters constructed in their township.

"Get some rest Lash; I'll wake you if anything happens."

I feel my eyelids droop but I don't want to sleep on the forest floor; I instruct Manny to wake me at noon and climb into my hammock to rest.

District 2: Silver

Good grief this is boring! Every now and again I think I hear someone and I jump up, spear or axe ready, but then some dull, fluffy animal will run out from the undergrowth and I sink back down to my watch once more.

On the plus side, I have stocked my escape rucksack with more choice supplies and I'm confident that, once I leave, I'll have food, shelter, fire and weapons. I also wrapped the whole thing in a plastic sheet to keep it waterproof.

There's not much else to do so I sharpen my axe and try not to lose my sanity.

District 10: Lash

When I awake I see the sun lowering in the sky, I climb down the tree to find Manny patiently watching the forest and drinking water.

"Why didn't you wake me?" I ask

He shrugs "What for? Nothing's happening here."

A sudden thunderclap makes me jump; Manny laughs at my surprise and I find myself chuckling along with him. He pulls off his jacket and holds it above his head as an impromptu shelter. "Quick, come and sit under here before the ground gets wet." I smile and nestle myself against his side as the rain begins to pour.

District 5: Teller

My head is sopping wet but I don't care, the rain is life and I simply roll onto my back and open my mouth to let it revitalise me.

Slowly the sandpaper feel of my mouth lessens and I feel as if I can sit up. But I don't. I just allow the water to seep into each part of me and keep me alive.

Eventually I do sit up. The rain continues and I have to wipe it from my eyes every few seconds. I prop my water bottle up against a nearby rock to allow it to fill and then take a look around. I have to squint; the effect of dehydration, along with the torrential downpour, stops me from having my full field of vision. I feel dizzy and, when I reach out to stop myself from falling, some long grass comes away in my hand. I stare at it for a moment before I begin to laugh…and I can't stop! It's a good job that the thunderclaps are loud because I laugh maniacally until my stomach cramps in pain and I am rolling around on the ground. I kiss the handful of grass and hold it to my chest; it is long and plaited and comes from the shelter I made three days ago.

District 2: Silver

My allies look despondent and bedraggled on their return to our camp. Mya holds a piece of cloth to her mouth and I can see from the staining on her clothes that she has been bleeding badly.

"What happened?" I ask her, handing everyone an unappetising meal of cold, mushy grain and pickled fish.

When Mya speaks blood escapes from between her lips and she lisps slightly. "Ith was all really fatht; one minuth I was thtood on hard thoil and the netht a pit opened up beneath me. I manathed to get a hold on a three root and pull mythelf up" she pauses to wipe her mouth "but I bit through the end of my thongue."

I pat her on the shoulder companionably and swap my grain for her fish; she's unlikely to be able to chew anything until the swelling goes down. "Thankth" Mya smiles a little and takes shelter from rain in the metal box with everyone else.

The Capitol seal looks distorted through the rain but it's clear that there have been no deaths today.

"I wonder where the other tributes are hiding." Nock muses "We've scoured that field and as far as we can through the woods, how long can these Games go on for if everyone stays hidden?"

I shrug but it's a thought that crept into my mind several times today. What happens if the other tributes have spread themselves out at the edge of the arena? We aren't going to leave our supplies overnight so how will we catch them? These are the Hunger Games; perhaps the Capitol will just wait for them to starve to death. If that's the case then the food I have packed in my escape pack is nowhere near enough to sustain me longer than those here at camp.

I consider this problem as I turn my body away from the wind and try to sleep.