Really going to try and keep the writing up and frequent! Hope the previous chapter wasn't too emotional for you, it was for me to write as I named the character Maddy after my best friend! ~Cassie xx

I spend the next few days with Maddy's poppy slotted in my pin. Ash tries to coax me out of my trance, but it's useless. I feel empty. In the few days we had known each-other, Maddy and I had created a strong bond. Although I realised it was worse for Ross. He had known Maddy ever since our first day of Training. He wanted to take watch that first night, I realised that he wanted to reminisce about their time together. I guess he liked her a lot. But I couldn't sleep that night. So, I joined him. He seemed to not mind me being there. It was strange sitting there, in the dark, with Ash lightly snoring behind us. We didn't light a fire. We stayed the whole night.

I'm struggling to get used to being the only girl in our Alliance again. Ross is a great addition, a bit better with weapons than Kieron, but he's mourning Maddy. I will hold my hands up and admit it, so am I. I realise I'm muttering to myself. Ross is out running, Ash is sharpening his sword. I pluck the poppy from my pin and twirl it round in my fingers. I hear footsteps behind me, lighter than Ross' and I can still see Ash. I smirk. I let them edge closer and closer to me, before whipping my knife out of my belt and plunging it deep into their heart. The boy from three, good with stealth, not very special or memorable. Oh god I sound like a Career. I shake my head away from his shocked dead eyes. I step back and stiffen as I hear the crush. I look under my boot. The poppy is ruined. I close my eyes and a tear falls. "I'm sorry Maddy." I mutter. I collect my knife and move away from the body. The claw picks him up. I look up to the sky. "I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I didn't mean to kill him." I put a hand to my head and feel dizzy. A hand touches the middle of my back to steady me. Ash. I collapse into his arms. "I didn't mean to kill him Ash. I heard him creeping up on me so I struck-" He rocks me slowly. "Shh. It's not your fault Renèe, you did what you could. It was a natural reaction." I sob into his shirt. Then a yell catches our attention. "HELP!" A voice so familiar. "No." I say. "Ross!" We run to his aid.

Ross stumbled into a Tracker Jacker nest. Huge pus-filled globes have appeared on his body, disfiguring his features. I fall to my knees next to him and grip his hand. "Renèe, please" He chokes. "Please end it. The pain." I wipe my eyes and let go of his palm. Ash grips my shoulders and whispers into my ear, "You can do it." I ready an arrow. Ross closes his eyes. My bow lifts into position. I squeeze my eyes shut and let the arrow loose. Ross grunts, then sighs. His cannon fires and I bawl into Ash's chest. He grips me tightly. We leave Ross' body and go back to camp. I feel something splash on the top of my head. Ash is crying. "What are we going to do now Ash?" I ask.

"I don't know Renèe. I don't know."

We spend the next few days out in the open, no-one comes near us. It's too quiet. Nobody has died since Ross did, the audience will be bored. They'll want blood shed. We expect the Gamemakers will be coming up with some deadly plan to slaughter some of us, we just don't know what. Four of us remain. Me, Ash, the boy from One Phil and the girl from Six. I'm shocked she still lives. At Training, she didn't seem all that good at anything. I guess, like us, she had been hiding her skills.

I lie with my head across Ash's lap, making a daisy crown, just like the one in my story. Ash is fiddling with my hair, muttering things to me that I don't hear. It's our most peaceful moment in the Games. We don't care any more, the other Tributes seem isolated away from us, we are in our own state of peaceful serenity.

That is, before the dart flies into Ash's neck, knocking him out. I scream. The girl from Six stands before us, hair tangled, a wild gleam in her eye. The left side of her face is caked in dry blood and three fingers of her left hand are gone. She throws down the blowpipe and grips her axe. I quickly nock an arrow. We are poised at each-other, both ready, both measuring up each-others reflexes. We'd hit each-other at the same time. But I don't care. I'd die for Ash. We both seem to decide the outcome, at precisely the same moment. Her axe spins in the air, whilst my arrow flies. My arrow settles in her throat, her axe burrows into my chest. We both stagger back. I choke out my last words, "It's for him." I fall back over Ash's unconscious body. I rip the axe out and fling it aside. My vision fades and a white light appears before my eyes. I hear a cannon fire, then another. Evidently, I'm dead.

Afternote:

Just saying, this isn't the end. There will be more. Just thought I'd let you know, in case you don't realise and don't get to read the end.

~Cassie xx