Hey guys! Guess who's updating after about 4 months! This girl! Super sorry I've been off on all of my books but I'm putting my Outsiders books on hold a little while longer. But I've been itching to update this book so here I am! I'm super excited for this chapter because ya know...I love Rue and I love the Hunger Games!

Well I've droned on enough...I present to you...CHAPTER 9

I hold in my scream of panic as I realize my life is ending. Then a familiar female voice fills my ears. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare ya Rue."
I turn around slowly, cautiously, and behind me is Carolynne, from District 8, staring at me with hopeful eyes and a slight smile across her lips.

I swallow down my fear and force a small smile. "Hey Carolynne. Haven't seen you since..." I drone off.

"Training? Yeah...it's sure been a while..." Carolynne laughs a bit then stops suddenly, knowing she's a little too loud. "So I guess you're probably wondering why I've stopped you like this-" I actually was wondering, I respond in my mind. "-but I never got the chance to ask you something during training because you were doing your thing and I was doing my thing. Rue...I was wondering if you would like to be my ally. The arena is a lonely place and we'd last longer with each other. So what do you say Rue? Be allies with me?"

I take a moment to consider my options. If I go with Carolynne, we would last longer like she said and that's always good. But then again, I want to team up with Katniss. If I choose Carolynne, what would happen when I hopefully ally with Katniss? Carolynne isn't like Katniss in many ways. But then again, who said I have to stay with Carolynne for a long time? I can team up with Carolynne and, when the time is right, split off from her and ally with Katniss. I know what to do.

"Sure." I say, slightly happy. I notice her eyes light up and a grin tug on her lips. That's when I notice the darkening sky. "Carolynne, we better go set up a camp. The Careers will start hunting soon and we'll need some sort of protection." She nods in agreement and we set off.

As we're walking, I notice how Carolynne is very quite when she walks. That's a bonus in a way. Nothing's worse than a loud ally. If your loud, you're basically allowing the Careers or another tribute to hunt you down and kill you. With the quite Carolynne has, we can easily blend in with the forest. Maybe allying with her is a good thing...I think to myself.

Then is when I hear the cannons. One by one they blow. I count to myself. One...two...three...four...five... I keep counting until the final cannon blows at the number eleven. Eleven tributes gone. Thirteen left to play. I just hope Thresh falls into the thirteen group and not the eleven group. We keep walking.

We are at a small clearing in the forest that's surrounded by sturdy trees. Carolynne speaks up. "Rue? How about this for a camp?"

I consider it for a moment, all the possible dangers running through my head. The ground isn't very protective unlike a tree could be. Am I willing to take the risk and sleep there?

"This looks great." slips out of my mouth before I can reconsider. I wish to take those words back though and say that a tree would be much better but it's too late. I try not to let my regret show.

"Great! Let's set up." Carolynne eagerly starts gathering wood for what looks like a fire. I don't bother stopping her since she looks too focused to listen or hear me. So instead I begin gathering some nearby roots. The problem with that though is that the roots refuse to budge. I look around for anything sharp. "Hey Carolynne? Do you happen to have a knife?"

"No not on me. But I have this sharp rock if that helps." she replies. I nod my head and she tosses the rock at me. Once it's in my hand, I notice that it is a fairly sharp rock. I press it against the roots and begin moving the rock in a sawing motion. The rock easily goes through the root and I conclude that it's a fairly decent weapon.

I've gathered about 15 roots before we hear an anthem flood the arena. Carolynne and I both look up at the sky, as I imagine all the remaining tributes Districts begin flooding by, one by one, and shows the fallen in the sky. The first one in the sky is Skyler from District 3. The boy from 4 shows up after her, a Career. That's unusual. Evan from District 5 flashes up there, so that means his District partner, Catherine, must have made it. Gabi and her District partner from 6 make an appearance in the sky, soon followed by both from 7, Yulia and Johnny. Then I see Carolynne's District partner, Luke, in the sky. Carolynne gasps as she covers her mouth. A tear escapes from her brown eyes. The two District 9 tributes fill the sky and finally, there's one more. Please don't be Thresh, I pray quietly. Bobbie Rose's face, the girl tribute from 10, shows up in the sky. I'm relieved. Thresh has made it through the Bloodbath, which I knew he participated in.

Carolynne on the other hand doesn't look as relieved. She looks like the weight of the world is on her drooped shoulders. A few tears escape from her eyes. I bet this is hard for her, seeing her District partner go away so soon. I'd be the same way if it was Thresh.

"He was the last thing from home." Carolynne whispers to me.

"Don't you have a token?" I ask. I remember my necklace I wore the day of the Reaping. I remember seeing Regal slipping it into my pocket before these Games started, when I was changing. My hand subconciously goes to my front pocket and is greeted by the grass. I'll put it on later.

"No. The Gamemakers didn't allow me to bring it in the arena. It was a small ring with navy blue silk fabric surrounding the outside of it. After what happened with the District 1 girl's ring, they banned rings from the 74th Hunger Games. So I got it taken away." Carolynne explains.

I can't help but feel bad for Carolynne. First she gets her token taken away, and then her District partner. Now she's all she has left from District 8. At least I have my necklace and Thresh. She doesn't have either. She's alone.

I slide the sharp rock and roots into my pocket. I crawl over to Carolynne's depressed body. I wrap my arm around her shoulder and give her a slight side hug. We stay like that for a while, my arm wrap around her while she cries silently. When she picks up her head from being covered by her hands, she sniffs a bit and wipes any stray tears on her cheeks.

"You okay?" I ask softly. Carolynne simply nods and tugs her jacket tighter around her. "It got chilly out here."

When she says this, I feel my hands. They're as cold as icicles. A cold breeze hits my cheek as if telling me that the cold has always been here and I've been stupid not to awknowledge it. Carolynne's voice breaks my thoughts,"We should build a fire, to keep us warm. It's all we can do."

I debate this for a moment. Will the Careers see the fire? Will us building it alert any other tributes? "How about you sleep while I keep watch and if you're still cold when it's your turn to keep watch, we'll do something to warm ourselves up."

"Sounds good. Are you sure you want the first watch?" Carolynne asks. I nod my head and reply,"Positive. Now rest up while you can. One of us needs to get sleep."

Carolynne obeys my orders and lays down on the ground of the arena. I get in a comfortable position before keeping my eyes locked on all directions of the forest around us, my ears alert for any sounds of footsteps nearing our mini campsite. My hand goes to my pocket and I quickly put on my grass necklace. My hand goes back to my pocket and grabs the rock. Mind as well have a weapon on hand.

{Time skip! Middle of the night...}

It's been about 5 hours since I let Carolynne fall asleep, and my eyes are drooping while my whole body is as cold as ice. I decide to wake Carolynne up, so I begin shaking her shoulder gently. She moans slightly and sits up with my guidance. "What time is it Rue?"

"It's time for your watch, Carolynne." I reply.

"It is?"Carolynne asks. I nod. "Okay...well can we start a fire or something Rue? I'm really cold."

I'm too tired to consider anything dangers, so I simply say,"Sure."

We get to work quickly, her gathering branches and I'm gathering small rocks to make the outer rim of our small fire. I hear branches snap and I almost believe it's the Careers until Carolynne comes back with an armload of branches of many lengths and widths. She puts them on the ground and we set up the sticks in the way we learned at training. Starting the fire is the hard part. There's not much heat in a freezing cold arena. Carolynne digs through her pockets for a moment. before I can question her actions, she pulls out a bx of matches.

"This was the only thing I could swip from the Cornucopia without getting killed or injured. Seems to have come in handy." Carolynne says to me, her voice low. She pulls out a match and after a few attempts with failed matches, she gets a match lite and tosses it in the pile or twigs. Within minutes the fire is lite and Carolynne's hand fly over it. Mine soon follow.

"You should get some sleep, it'd be better for us both. I'll keep watch." Carolynne motions me to lie down, so I obey like she did for me. I shut my eyes and sleep overcomes me quickly.

{Time skip! 4 hours later, right before dawn}

I'm woken up by the sounds of nearby footsteps and immediately sit up to move. I look at Carolynne and notice that she dozed off. The footsteps break into a run. They're closer now.

"Good luck." I whisper to Carolynne. I can see the tops of the Careers's torches and make a run for it. I quickly scurry up the closest tree. I'm a good distance up before I hear a Career wake Carolynne up.

"Good morning Eight!" The boy from District 1 says. If I remember from that night during the Interviews, I believe his name was Marvel.

Cato kicks Carolynne's foot and she wakes up slowly. When she sits up and opens her eyes, they widen even more at the sight of the Careers before her. Her brown eyes flicker to where I just was sleeping before flashing up to the Careers. That's when the begging occurs.

"Please spare me this one time! Please!" Carolynne begs. I can tell by the quivering of her voice that tears are threatening to spill. I wish I could help her. I was a terrible ally to her.

Cato cuts off Carolynne's pleads by lifting up his sword and slashing through her abdomen. Carolynne's scream fills the arena as blood seeps through her clothing. The Careers laugh at her crumbling figure as some congratulate Cato for killing her. They quickly pat Carolynne down and dig through her pockets only to find the matches she had. They all grumble a bit, I guess they were hoping for something of value.

"Better clear out so they can get the body before it starts stinking." Cato says.

The Careers walk away from Carolynne to under a tree that I'd say was far from mine. I quickly glance at whose in the alliance of the Careers and can barely make them out by the flames of their torches. There's both from District 1, Marvel and Glimmer, both from 2, Cato and a girl, the girl from District 4, and, to my shock, Peeta Mellark from District 12. Katniss's District partner. He's with the Careers.

I put aside my questions as to why he's in the Career pack and scurry down the tree I was in. I rush over as quietly as possible to Carolynne's side. She still alive, still barely breathing, so no cannon has been blown yet.

Her brown eyes open up when I grab her hand. Tears stream down her face and splash to the ground, making mud form. Her voice is fading as she says to me,"Why Rue?"

I instantly know that she's asking why I ditched her and didn't even wake her up. "I'm sorry Carolynne. They were coming so fast I...I don't know. I was hoping that their loud footsteps would wake you up. But they didn't..." I trail off.

The footsteps return but I can tell it's not nearly as many. I see blonde wisps of hair from where I'm sitting. My heart begins beating faster. I can barely hear Carolynne's weak,"Go." I squeeze her hand one last time before hiding behind some taller grass. When I peek through, I notice Peeta and let me say, he's not in the best of conditions. His face is covered with purple bruises and is swelled in those areas, a bright red bandage is wrapped around his arm, he must be bleeding, and I notice his uneven footsteps. He's limping. Poor guy. A knife is in his hand and I already know that the Careers have ordered him to finish her off. A quicker death.

I don't know what overcame me, but I find myself slowly creeping out from my hiding space. I can hear Peeta murmuring to Carolynne,"I'm sorry I have to do this." Then he shoves the knife through Carolynne's stomach. I turn away for this scene before I hear him getting up. I crawl out of my hiding place, revealing myself. Peeta sees me and nearly drops his knife.

"Rue? What are you doing here?" Peeta asks quietly. Guess he doesn't want the Careers to hear.

"That Carolynne...my ally." I choke out.

"I'm sorry Rue. I'm only doing this to save Katniss." He explains.

"How are you doing so? You're with the Careers, the people who want her dead most!" I ask.

"I'm telling false things about her. Leading them in the wrong direction." He whispers. Well that makes since. I guess I would be doing the same if I loved someone that much.

"You love her don't you?" I whisper to him. Peeta nods in reply. "You better get going. They're probably waiting. And Peeta? Please don't tell the Careers I'm here."

"I promise. Good luck Rue." Peeta looks at me one last time before turning on his heel to walk away.

"Good luck Peeta." I say so only he can hear. He nods his head and begins walking away. I turn my attention back to Carolynne. Her breathing is more shallow than before and there's a lot more blood on her clothes. I grab her hand and gently stroke her hair back before she breathes her last. A cannon blows for Carolynne. A tear escapes from my eye as I take one last look at Carolynne.

I crawl away from her and our near dead campfire so that the hovercraft can pick up Carolynne's body. I don't even look back at her, but instead I break off in a run in the complete opposite direction of where the Careers went.

I run for a good while before I begin to thirst for water. I pull out my waterskin and drink a little water. I tuck it back inside before pulling out a handful of roots. I chew on them, their radish-like taste filling my mouth. They taste better cooked, but are still edible uncooked. It'll have to do.

The sun is finally in the sky and the birds around me begin chirping as usual. If I wasn't in the Hunger Games, I would've found this quite pleasant and maybe would've sang a little. And Cassidy would be here too. Her long black hair would be in a braid down her back and her less tan skin slightly burnt from our day in the sun. Her light brown eyes would be filled with happiness. I can feel myself almost taken away from these horrid Games. But then reality sinks in. I'm in the Hunger Games. Cassidy isn't here. I'm all alone. I have no weapons.

As I'm walking, I notice a few pools of water. There isn't much water in them, so I keep on walking. Besides, I still have water on me, but food wouldn't be a bad thing to stock up on.

Just as I think this, I notice a bush of sugarberries and a nearby bush of berries that are foreign to me. I avoid that bush, not wanting to take the chances with it, and pluck the sugarberries. I pop a few in my mouth as I pick along, their sweet taste filling my mouth. They are called sugarberries for their sweet taste, like sugar. Sometimes hwne we get our daily food crate, we'll have some sugarberry jam in it. That's always a real treat. But that only happens on a day when Mayor Drapon feels generous. Like the day of the Reaping.

I put away most of the berries, but keep a few out so taht I can snack on them. I'll need energy, and these berries provide both food and water to me.

I continue my walk to nowhere in particular when I notice something in front of me. On a pile of leaves is cooked roots and freshly picked elderberries. Elderberries are a completely edible berry that resembles a poisonous berry called nightlock. Elderberries have a taste quite similar to blackberries. Elderberies are some commonly picked berries back at home.

I look around to see if anyone is there, but then I remember what Thresh said to me. The promise he made. His promise to help me out and every now and then supply me. I smile at the pleasant gift and whisper quietly,"Thank you Thresh."

I pick up the elderberries and wrap them up in the leaves they laid one. I tuck them safely away in my backpack and pull out more sugarberries. I notice the darkening sky and begin picking out a tree to settle in for the night. I end up choosing one that has a sturdy trunk ank plenty of leaves to well conceal me.

I climb up the tree and pick a small fork in the tree. Being small, you don't need much room, so a small fork like this one I found should be sufficient for the night.

I begin thinking about my plans for tomorrow. I'll have to get more water, more food, and look for Katniss. I'm thinking about where to go to find these things and what could be out there when all of a sudden the Capital's anthem rings out. I look up in the sky to see Carolynne's face. It haunts me, how I just let her die. Her brown eyes stare into mine until her picture flashes away.

I think of last night, being with Carokynne, having company, not being lonely. I remember all the deaths from the day before, how Carolynne got emotional at Luke's death, how I comforted her. I fast forward to the part where we made a fire, then I fast forward again to when I allowed the Careers to take her on. Five against one.

I dismiss these thoughts from my mind and force myself to get sleep. I'll need it. Fatigue is not something to be shown in the arena.

Lucky for me, sleep comes quickly.

And that's it for the chapter! Sorry for making it long but I just got so into it that I couldn't stop and besides, the 2nd day wasn't that event filled anyways, so I thought that I could squeeze it in here so that the next chapter could just hold the fire scene. I thought it would work out. Cross our fingers it does!

Comments? Questions? Concerns? Ideas? Criticism? You know where to go! Comment now! Please folks I need more comment and please spread the word about my story! I want it to blossom bigger! Do it fr Rue y'all!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, that belongs to the lovely Suzanne Collins.

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