We had been on the move all morning and afternoon. And on very little sleep. The exhaustion was getting to the both of us. It was probably near six in the evening. I was snapping at Peeta and he was getting irritated with me as well. We were just so tired and hot and hungry and terrified. There had been so sign of Marvel and Glimmer yet but we figured if we didn't find them during the day, we would head towards the lake and catch them on their way there. I had been desperately hoping we would come across a weapon before then because there was no way I going into a fight with Glimmer and Marvel without a weapon.

"Should we stop and eat?" Peeta asked.

I shook my head. "We gotta keep going! We'll eat soon but not now."

He sighed. "Katniss,"

"NO! We aren't stopping!" I yelled. Why were we even fighting? I was going to die in a weeks time and I wanted to spend what little time I had left on earth with Peeta, curled under the stars, falling asleep to the rhythm of each others heartbeats. Of course, that wasn't very practical when there was tributes to kill. But I didn't want to spend our time fighting.

He grabbed my hand and turned me towards him. His eyes were soft and understanding when he said quietly, "If we don't stop soon, we are both going to explode to each other and that's the last thing we need right now. So, please, let's just rest and eat for a few minutes, okay?"

I closed my eyes for a moment and nodded my head. Once again, Peeta was the voice of reason between us. "Alright. I'll go hunt something."

And I walked away from Peeta and deeper into the woods. But then he called to me and I whipped around to face him.

"Take your pack." He said before tossing me my backpack. I took another step forward but then, suddenly, the ground beneath me collapsed. I screamed as I was pulled to the ground and then something fell on top of me, surrounding me and yanking me upwards. I felt a searing pain in my shoulder that had me crying out in pain.

"Katniss! Katniss!" I heard Peeta yell from down on the ground. It took me a long moment to register what had happened. I had stepped on a trap and was now caught in a net, high in a tree. I looked down at him through the holes in the net. "You alright?" He asked me.

"Yeah, just my shoulder." I said quietly before touching it gently. I winced in pain and my hand came back bloody.

"I'm going to climb the tree and then cut you free, alright?" Peeta called up to me. I nodded my head and tried to concentrate on something other than the pain.

I heard him begin to climb the tree and I craned my neck around to watch him. There was a branch about five feet directly under me than he slowly but steadily climbed on to. He walked across it with his hands out, trying to keep his balance. He was ten feet in the air, while I was fifteen. When he was directly under then net, he began to cut a hole in it. He alternated between cutting it and ripping it with his hands. Once he had a hole big enough for me to crawl out of, he held his hands out to me.

"If you try to hold me, we will both fall out of this tree." I said simply.

Peeta rolled his eyes. "Give me some credit, Katnsis. I can manage your weight. I lift barrels of fish everyday."

I sighed and using my good arm, I squeezed through the hole and into Peeta's arms. It was a shaky maneuver and he almost lost his balance a few times but eventually, he was able to carry me down the tree and back to the safety of the ground. I slumped against the bottom of the tree while Peeta wiped away the blood so he could apply the medicine.

"I bet it was Marvel and Glimmers trap." I said to him.

"How do you know?" He asked as he cleaned my wound with water.

"Well, we know they went this way, for starters. But something went wrong because they'd only set a trap like this if they were ganna be near by so they could kill whoever it trapped."

Peeta nodded. "They must've ran into trouble if they left, then."

"But who is even capable of taking on the careers? And nobody died because there haven't been any canons."

"I don't know. But we're going to find out." Peeta said to me with a smile before he spread the medicine onto my shoulder. I sighed in relief. It was like the pain was being pulled directly out of my body. His hand continued to rub my shoulder, his thumb spreading the medicine around. His eyes found mine and I realized how completely devastated he looked.

"What?" I asked quietly.

His hand stayed on my shoulder, although the medicine was definitely rubbed in at that point. Then he spoke, "I'm just trying to imagine my life without you."

I closed my eyes and my hand caught a hold of the arm that was on my shoulder. "Don't."

"I just don't think I can do it, Katniss. I know I promised you I would think about it and I have been. But..."

"But nothing." I said harshly. "Don't decide yet. Don't dwell on it yet. There's still time, alright?"

He wanted to say more. I could tell by the way his mouth hung open. But he nodded his head slowly and didn't say anything else besides, "Alright."

"Good." I said before I took a deep, shaky breath. "Now let me get back to hunting."

His hand fell away from my shoulder finally and I stood up searching for something to eat. I was able to catch a squirrel and Peeta gathered some fruit. I cooked the squirrel and we ate our dinner on a log, which reminded me of home. I didn't say as much though. Our conversations were depressing enough without the reminder of the life we left behind. After we ate and began to continue into the woods, I came across a pool of blood. Some of it was dried but some of it was still wet. Whatever had happened in that place, had happened in the last few hours.

"Whoever's blood it is, they are still alive." Peeta noted.

I shrugged. "Could be an animal." But I had a gut feeling that it was definitely human blood. I looked over at Peeta, and he was leaning against a tree, his eyes closed. We hadn't slept since the previous night and even then, we had only gotten a few hours. "Why don't you sleep, Peeta? I'll keep watch."

He shook his head. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not. I'll wake you if anything happens. Get some sleep."

He was too exhausted to argue with me so he pulled out his sleeping bag and laid down next to where I was now sitting. He slipped inside and instantly, fell asleep. Without really thinking, I reached out and pushed the hairs back from his forehead. I stared at the boy who was willing to give his life for me and as my hand continued to play with his hair, I remembered our kiss the previous night. I remembered how warm it was, how steady, how sweet. And I remembered how it made me want another.

"You're an idiot." I whispered to his sleeping body. And then I placed a soft kiss on his forehead.

I had been gathering some plants when I had heard them. I heard them talking about a trap of some kind, saying it was probably Glimmer and Marvel's. I hid behind a bush so I could watch them without being seen. And when I saw Peeta spread some kind of magic medicine onto Katniss's wound, I knew it was what I needed for Gale. But I didn't know how to go about getting it.

Gale and I had hadn't moved from our place all day. After our fight with Marvel and Glimmer, we traveled a little further in but stayed pretty close to the sight of the fight. Gale seemed to be walking a little better, but that didn't mean infection wasn't coming. I decided to tell him about the medicine to see if he could come up with some sort of plan. I traveled back over to where he laid on the ground. He was drinking water and nibbling on some berries. He said he didn't have much of an appetite, which wasn't a good sign.

"Gale, I found Peeta and Katniss." I said in a hushed whisper. "And they have medicine that could help you."

He looked confused for a moment. "Peeta and Katniss? The tributes from four? The boy who said he would die for the girl?"

I nodded. "Yeah, also known as the girl who scored an eleven. She's more powerful than she looks."

His eyes were narrowed and I could tell he was deep in thought. "District Four, huh? I bet they've been looking for the trident, being from the fishing district and all."

I smiled at this. "Maybe they'll make a trade. Their medicine for our trident."

Gale shook his head and slowly stood up. "I have a better idea." He said with a smile of his own. "What would you say to making some more allies, Madge?"

I laughed. "Why would we do that? Just more people we'll have to kill eventually." I said quietly.

"Think about it. She got an eleven. She's obviously powerful, like you said. They come from a career district but yet, they chose to go their own route. The four of us together could bring nothing but more strength."

I crossed my arms over my chest. It sounded like a bad idea to me. I made an alliance with Gale, yes. But that was because I had no idea how to survive in the woods. Plus, he was my district partner and I had some unexplainable magnetic pull towards him. The tributes from district four, however, I had no connection with. And I couldn't seem to think of a reason why we should. Of course it would make us more powerful but what about after we killed all the other tributes? What then? I didn't need another tribute to worry about when the time came to turn on one another. I had enough trouble trying to decide what would happen if it came down to Gale and I.

"You're not thinking far enough ahead, Gale. It's a bad idea." I said, holding his gaze.

He stared at me for a few minutes before he spoke. Then he said, "Right now, we need to worry about getting the careers. Four against four is a lot better than four against two, Madge. Trust me."

Trust me.

Did I trust Gale? I wasn't sure. But he was standing there, begging me to. And because he was Gale and I was Madge, I agreed. "Okay. I'll trust you. But don't make me regret it." I said sternly, my arms still crossed tightly over my chest.

He nodded. "I won't." He grabbed his bow and arrow and attached to his back and then handed me the trident. "Now, this is going to take some... convincing. Any two tributes who've made a point to stick together from the very start like this aren't going to want to form any alliances. But I think I can make it happen. You stay back and hidden and until I tell you to come out, alright? I need to deal with her first."

I sighed and wanted to comment on the fact that he always liked to hide me away, as if I was too fragile or stupid to get in the middle of a real fight, but I didn't want to start an argument. And when it came down to it, he knew what he was doing far better than I did.

And just as we began to approach their little camp, Gale turned around and pinned me to the nearest tree. Just like that. Out of nowhere. I was about to ask him what he thought he was doing when his lips crashed into mine. It was a soft and steady kiss, warm and true. He smelled like fire and smoke and home. My stomach was flipping upside down at the feeling of his lips on top of mine. His hand found my chin and lifted it slightly upward into the kiss. When he pulled away a moment later, I couldn't seem to breathe. And more than anything, I wished he hadn't pulled away at all.

"Just in case something goes wrong." He said hoarsely, his eyes locked on mine. "You said you had never been kissed. I can't let you die like that. It would be pathetic." He smirked and jumped away from me.

I understood it then. Why girls flocked to Gale at school, why they giggled and twirled their hair around their finger. I had finally understood the Gale Hawthorne appeal. And I was jealous of every other girl he had ever made feel this way. But this was no time for romance or feelings or flirting. We had a job to do.

We approached their little camp with slow and quiet steps. Peeta was asleep and Katniss was on guard. Gale motioned for me to stay back and I obliged. Gale began to approach Katniss. She turned at the sound of movement and instantly was on her feet, ready to wake Peeta.

Gale held up his hands in defense. "I'm not here to kill you."

Katniss held out knife. "Who are you?" She whispered to him.

"Gale. District Twelve." He kept his hands up in defense. "Me and my district partner Madge want to form an alliance with you and Peeta."

"I don't believe you." She hissed at him, her knife still out and ready to attack if he came near her.

"Look, we would all work much more efficiently together."

Katniss shook her head. "We don't want or need allies."

Gale smirked. "I think you do. We have your trident."

The hard expression on her face was replaced with a puzzled look. Then she let out a sarcastic, short laugh. "Impossible. I know for a fact that Glimmer has the tri-"

"We took it from her. Madge, show her." Gale interrupted before turning his head towards my hiding place. I revealed myself and waved the trident.

Katniss stared at it, her jaw hanging open and her eyes fixed hard on the weapon. She wanted it. She needed it. Suddenly, Peeta awoke behind Katniss. Once he realized what was going on, he jumped to his feet and in front of Katniss to protect her. She sighed and pushed him back. "They want to be our allies, Peeta. And they have my trident."

Peeta glanced from Katniss to Gale to me and then back to Gale. "Why would you want to be our allies? What's in it for you?" His voice wasn't condescending in the way that Katniss's was. He was softer with his words, more gentle.

I spoke up now for the first time. I took one small step forward. "You have medicine that Gale desperately needs. Plus, we would all work better together. We could destroy the careers."

Peeta and Katniss stared at one another, trying to decide what to do. Peeta shrugged and Katniss, who didn't look convinced, glared at us as she spoke. "Fine. But this doesn't mean we trust you."

Gale snorted. "I didn't expect trust. You think we trust you? Dream on."

Katniss rolled her eyes and looked at something on a nearby tree. "If you took the trident from Glimmer, where is she now?"

Gale and I stared at each other. We had all but completely forgotten about Glimmer. Gale raced over to the tree we had left her at, the one Katniss was just staring at a moment ago. His face was pale when he looked up at me. "She's gone... but how?"

I shook my head. "I... I don't know." I stammered. She was dying earlier. Bleeding to death. But of course, we never did hear a canon. How could we be so stupid to let her out of our sight? A thought occurred to me. " Maybe Marvel came back for her."

Katniss shook her head. "It doesn't seem like the careers style to do something like that."

"No, it doesn't. Glimmer must've gotten up. Maybe someone sent her medicine in the same way they sent you two medicine." Gale said to Katniss and Peeta.

"Probably." I said. "They couldn't let District Twelve show them up." I sighed and looked over at Katniss. "Oh, this is for you." I handed her the trident, which she took eagerly.

Peeta pulled out the medicine and I took it from his hands. I had Gale sit down so I could rub it in on his ankle. We both watched amazed as the skin returned to a normal color and the burn practically disappeared all together.

"Haven't you heard?" Katniss said, bringing our attention back up to her. "Water always put out fire." She smirked and I couldn't help it when a small smile played on my lips as well.

We gathered all our supplies together and spoke of all we knew. There was thirteen tributes left, including the four of us. Madge and Gale had stabbed Glimmer with an arrow and scared off Marvel but neither of them were dead and Glimmer was missing. The careers were meeting at the lake in a few hours and we planned to be there. Nobody had seen the girl tributes from five and six, the boy from ten, or the tributes from eleven.

With the trident finally in my hands, I was able to actually hunt. Gale was apparently a hunter as well and proved to be quite good at it. He used the bow and and arrow and set up some snares. I fished in the lake using my trident and also took out a rabbit. We gathered quite the little meal and although Peeta and I had already ate, we definitely were still hungry.

As we dined on our food, we tried to come up with a plan for how to approach the careers at the lake. We knew we couldn't just walk up and try to attack them. Even with all the weapons we had, they probably still had more supplies than we could dream of.

"We split up. Approach them from opposite sides, corner them." Gale said before he took a bite of the rabbit I had caught us.

"We still can't take them. We need a distraction. Something to throw them off their game."

Madge's stood to her feet. "Before you all ask, I refuse to be the distraction. I'll end up dead because my sling-shot doesn't stand a chance against their weapons."

I sighed and before Peeta could open his mouth, I spoke. "No, Peeta. I won't let you. It's too dangerous."

He rolled his eyes. "I can protect myself, Katniss."

"Hardly. You slept right through it when Gale and Madge came earlier."

"I was tired!" He said, shoving me in the arm.

"Well, it can't be me or Katniss. We need to be ready to fight them." Gale said.

"Well, if it can't be me or you or Katniss or Peeta, then who is going to be our decoy?" Madge asked, irritated.

"I'll do it."

We all whipped around at the sound of a tiny and quiet voice. A small, dark skinned girl stood behind a tree, hesitatingly. Her lips were pulled together tightly and her eyes were wide with curiosity and maybe even a little fear. Rue. The girl from District Eleven.

A/N: Sorry it's so short! I'm going camping and I wanted to get it up prior to that. Plus, I am sick and need to get to bed so I ended the chapter shorter than I intended to but I promise, next chapter will be long and action filled! Hope you liked the Gale and Madge kiss, It seems like something Gale would pull, honestly. Good guesses about the four of them forming an alliance! We'll say what trouble that gets them into, huh? Okay this is short but I just need some sleep but PLEASE review and thanks to all the reviews thus far! Happy Hunger Games, readers!