Author's Note: I'm back! Who missed me? :D Yeah, I just realized that I haven't been updating since before the Hunger Games movie. Yep. That was a month ago. I feel sorry for all of you. Haha. Please enjoy. Hope I didn't overload on the romance.

Did everyone love the Hunger Games like I did? If not, feel free to debate with me. :D

SOFIA LUSIEZ was standing in a barely lit room, looking out of the window into the ocean.

It was dark out and she could see enough to see that the waves were crashing against the rocks and flooding shores. Sofia shuddered. She hated the seas looked stormy. It seems so dangerous and whenever a storm came, something bad always seemed to happen.

Suddenly, she heard someone turn the TV on. Sofia turned around and saw her sister, Leonie, perched on the sofa, holding an old rag doll with stitches all over and a missing eye.

The Hunger Games was on in TV. It was a scene from an old year, when the tributes were all-out fighting in the cornucopia.

Sofia walked over to the TV and turned it off. "What are you doing, watching this rubbish?" Sofia asked Leonie.

Leonie shrugged. "My teachers told me to watch."

Sofia pulled Leonie up from the sofa. "They won't find out. Now off to bed."

As soon as Leonie disappeared from view, Sofia turned the TV on again, careful to set the TV on mute.

For a couple of minutes, she was entrapped by the gruesome combat of desperate tributes fighting for their lives. Then, she heard the door open and the stench of alcohol filled the room.

She didn't need to turn around to know that it was her father who just walked in.

Some uneven steps later brought him to the TV where he stood, slightly swaying. He silently watched for a moment.

"What are you doing, watching this rubbish?" he rasped.

Sofia didn't say anything.

"Turn off the damn television and go to bed, sweetheart."

Sofia got up and turned it off, walking out of the room. "Okay. Good night, Dad."

"You have a big day tomorrow."

Sofia turned, tilting her head quizzically.

"You're going to kill those Careers, right?"

Suddenly, Sofia woke up, staring at the plain grey ceiling. Seck was shaking on her arm. She sat up, running her hand through her brown hair.

"Come on," he said stiffly. "The rain's stopped."

The image of her dead father was still in Sofia's mind but she tried to push him away. "Right. Okay, give me a second."

She grabbed her whips in case she needed to do some close combat and Seck's quiver and crossbow. She checked her pocket to see if Leonie's token was still there. It was.

They ate leftover birds from yesterday and then Seck revved the truck up. Sofia got in the shotgun.

"So what's the plan? We drive to the career camp and go in a massive killing spree?" Sofia asked.

"Yep."

"Then?"

"We part ways."

"Right."

The first lurch of the truck was exciting and terrifying at the same time. She tried not to think that Seck was at the wheel but it was hard not to remember when a he hit the car against some trash cans.

Sofia strapped herself to a seat belt. "Do you even have a driver's license?"

"Yes," he answered.

Sofia's eyeballs could've popped out of her skull. "Really? How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

Sofia's tongue could've fallen out of her mouth then. She was seventeen. "Oh, I thought you were at least fifteen. Do you have a growth pro-"

"No. Now shut up."

Clearly, height was a sore subject for him.

The drive to the cornucopia was silent and uneventful but Sofia was kept on her toes by the possibility of another tribute sighting and the possibility of dying in Seck's driving hands.

But eventually, the road thickened and the houses were more scattered, signaling that they were close to the edge. There was thick smoke coming out and Sofia guessed it was from the career's camp. Other tributes would be careful about the smoke from their own campfire. The careers used the column of smoke as a gesture of intimidation.

"Get your crossbow ready," Seck told her. "At the end of the road, we're going to burst into the career camp."

Sofia nodded, feeling a knot of apprehension in her stomach. She counted her arrows. She had nine. More than enough for the slaughter of the careers. If she didn't miss.

She didn't trust her shaking hands to shoot straight though.

Seck stomped on the gas pedal and the Jeep shot down the road, bursting into the career camp.

There was an eruption of noise and the car spun around. The wide-eyed careers scattered, some leaping for cover.

Sofia saw someone dart in the corner of her eye. She shot at it but the lack of screams told her she missed. The jeep swerved again and Sofia had a clear shot of another career. She took it and the career crumpled in a heap. A cannon fired.

"One down!" Sofia shouted.

"Can you work faster?" Seck asked.

Seck ran over a pile of boxes and something slammed against the hood of the car. It was a career. She had been hiding behind the pile of boxes and had jumped on the hood to prevent being run over.

Now she was hanging on with her nails.

Seck made a sharp turn in an effort to shake the career off. When it didn't work, Seck hit the gas and suddenly stopped. Sofia smelled burnt rubber. The career was still hanging on.

"Shoot her!" Seck yelled.

Sofia leaned out of the window and released her seventh arrow, not before seeing a flash of horror cross the skinny tribute's face. After a small spasm, she relaxed and slid off the hood. Another cannon blasted.

Seck drove around the camp for a while looking for the remaining two tributes.

"Do you see them?" Sofia asked.

Seck didn't answer. It was like they've disappeared into thin air. There were no other sounds except the constant humming of the jeep.

"I think they've run off to the woods," Seck answered.

Then, the jeep lurched to the side and Sofia banged her head against window. The jeep spun to a halt.

"What was that?" Sofia asked groggily.

Suddenly, the window where Sofia had previously smacked her head on cracked. Dissea had suddenly appeared and smacked her club against the window.

"Open the door!" Sofia yelled to Seck, tearing her seatbelt open. "Open the other door! She's here! IT'S THE FREAKING APOCALYPSE!"

Seck shook the handle and the door opened, Seck tumbling out. Sofia fell backwards out of the door. Quick as lightning, Dissea suddenly appeared on the hood of the car, with her club raised.

Sofia desperately fired an arrow at Dissea, who dodged it expertly. She jumped on Sofia, who rolled away, barely missing Dissea's club.

Dissea swung the club again and it connected with Sofia's cheek. Sofia fell against the car, clutching her bleeding cheek.

"Traitor!" Dissea spat. She dropped her club to the ground, balling her fists. "We promised you safety and a share of the cornucopia and this is how you repay us?" Dissea kicked Sofia's stomach. Sofia felt the breath go out of her.

Sofia unrolled the whips from her belt but Dissea kicked it out of her hand. "Thinking of fighting back?"

Sofia puffed her cheeks and spat at Dissea, a trick she learned from the streets.

The moment Sofia saw the look on Dissea's face, she screwed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the worst.

It never came. Seck had somehow swept Dissea's feet from under her, leaving her surprised and on the ground. Sofia's street-hardened reflexes propelled her towards Dissea. She twisted Dissea's arms behind her, sitting on her back. Dissea tried to wriggle free, twisting like a snake but Sofia kept her down.

"Who's still alive?" Sofia demanded. "Which career isn't dead yet?"

Dissea laughed throatily. "Sparks's too smart to stick around. He's probably miles away right now, you'll never catch him."

Sofia glanced up quickly, looking for Seck. He was nowhere to be found.

"Trying to find your little ally?" Dissea taunted. "What's he gonna do? C'mon it's not like you're gonna win anyway."

Sofia twisted Dissea's elbow a bit more. "Well, I'm doing the best I can."

Dissea winced, but still pressed on. "And how good is your best? You're only a street rat, you're not trained. You're not even good-looking enough to get sponsors."

Sofia felt heat rush up to her face. "You're not in a good position to insult your soon-to-be-killer."

Dissea laughed. "Killer? You? Give me your best shot."

Before Sofia could do anything else, a loud crack pierced the air and Sofia looked up.

The forest was ablaze.

ELLA DE WINTER woke up feeling like she had slept through a thuderstorm.

Her clothes hadn't dried properly and clung to her body uncomfortably. It didn't help that they were sleeping in a rock outcropping beside a flooding river.

Ash and Van are still sleeping, huddled together. One of them was snoring.

Ella decided to go looking for breakfast. She grabbed the bow and looked around for the quiver. It was slung on Ash's shoulder. Ella gently shook his shoulder.

"Hey," she whispered as he stirred a bit. "Can I have the quiver?"

Ash handed it to her. "What're you gonna do with it?"

"Catch breakfast," she said. "Hopefully."

"Want me to come with?"

Ella shook her head, already walking out of the shelter. "Nah, I'm alright. I'll be back before Van wakes up."

Ella slipped out and began walking upstream, where it wouldn't be as flooded and where the animals would've run off to.

Ella ducked through some shadowy undergrowth, still keeping the river in sight. The rain had swept all animal tracks away but Ella managed to kill a skinny squirrel, which she stashed in her backpack.

Ella kept hunting until the sun had properly risen. She wandered too long upriver already but it would suck to have only this tiny little squirrel as breakfast.

Ella sighed and remembered her promise to Ash and turned around.

Only to jump out of her skin.

It was a mutt.

Ella stopped breathing. She had an arrow pointed to it but she knew she couldn't shoot straight because of her shaking fingers.

The mutt released a threatening growl and prowled closer to her.

Ella let go of the arrow and as expected, it sailed way above the target. The mutt bared its teeth and rose up on its hindlegs, towering at least a meter above Ella.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Ella yelled dropping her bow on the ground. "See? No danger. I come in peace. Do not eat me. I taste bad… like carrots."

Ella felt a bit foolish talking to the mutt. But since it was manufactured by the Capitol, it wasn't a bad idea to check if it could understand English.

The mutt brought its paws down again and began sniffing Ella curiously. Ella felt like a meal but she stayed as still as possible.

Ella felt a tug in her gut and reached out impulsively to shove it away. Instead, the mutt began to nuzzle Ella's hand. Like an oversized stray dog.

Ella forced her hand to move, rubbing the top of its head. It immediately lay down and began to purr. Like a cat.

"What are you?" Ella wondered.

It answered in a bird-like caw. Then it looked at her with its big yellow eyes.

Its tongue lolled out.

"Oh. My. Gawd," Ella squealed. "You are the cutest thing ever to walk in the arena! I'm gonna take you back home to my District and let my friends play with you and we shall live together in harmony."

Suddenly, Ella had an idea. Whenever the televisions weren't playing reruns of the Hunger Games, they would play little television shows for entertainment. Ella wasn't sure why the Capitol did, maybe to raise working morale in the Districts or something.

Anyway, she must've watched too many of those shows lately because she was sure the next move she was going to pull came straight from a TV stunt.

VAN CAVANAUGH was sharpening his axe on a piece of rock.

It was making an annoying grating sound and the axe was already sharp enough to sever a head with one swing but Van didn't have anything better to do.

"Will you stop that?" Ash moaned from the other corner of the cave.

"Stop what?" Van asked innocently.

"Stop making my eardrums bleed."

"I have no idea what you mean."

SCRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATCH.

Ash winced. "Okay, now you're doing that on purpose."

"Doing what?"

"Sharpening that infernal axe."

"An axe might just save your life in a fight, Ashy."

"You know what they say… 'A knife takes a life in exchange for some strife.' Here's my knife." Ash held it up.

"Well, you know what they say… 'Sharpen your axe or else you will die.'"

"That… doesn't even rhyme."

"My improvisation skills aren't the best, I agree," Van admitted.

Suddenly, Van felt the ground rumble beneath his boots. He tensed, thinking it was another earthquake. Van shouldered his backpack in case they needed to evacuate suddenly and ran outside.

He found an angry Ash screaming at something.

Van forgot to stop running and nearly collided with something furry.

"Get down from there!" Ash yelled.

Van saw Ella oddly perched on top of the mutt. She was hanging on to the mutt's neck like a lifeline, but she seemed to be enjoying it.

"Don't kill it!" she shouted at the confused boys. "It's friendly."

Anything Capitol-made is an enemy, Van thought. "Why don't you get down from that thing and let's talk about this on ground level?" Van rationalized.

Ella smiled sheepishly. "Um, yeah, I haven't figured out how to do that yet."

Ash rolled his eyes. "Just slide down the side. Like a horse."

"Do I look like I've ridden a horse?" Ella asked. Then, something caught her attention from the corner of her eye and her eyes widened. "No time for that, jump on."

Van followed the direction of her eyes and saw something flickering far away. It was getting bigger. "What is that?"

Ash had already scaled the mutt, "It's a forest fire. It's coming quick!"

Van stumbled towards the mutt and Ash helped him up.

Meanwhile, the fire had gotten closer than Van could've believed. It traveled fast.

"Make the mutt move, Ella," Ash said nervously. "The fire's getting closer."

Ella let out a commanding, "MOVE!" But the mutt stayed still.

Ella shook the mutt's mane. "Mutt? There's a fire. We could appreciate if you would run."

The mutt didn't budge.

By now the fire had gotten about several meters from the allies and fleeing animals had already passed them, Van sinking deeper and deeper in despair.

Van and Ash began joining Ella in their attempts to rouse the mutt. The trees behind Van had already combusted and a stray spark had made its way to Van's' elbow. He yelled in surprise and patted down the small fire, wincing.

"VAN?" Ella yelled. The forest was now alive with the sound of cracking branches and falling trees. They could barely hear each other.

"I'm okay!" Van yelled back, biting his lip to numb the pain.

The mutt suddenly lunged forward as though it had woken up from sleep and finally began to run away from the fire.

Van was clinging on to Ash as the mutt bounded swiftly over burning branches. Van smelled the smell of burning flesh and knew that it was his own. Van pulled his jacket collar over his mouth and shut his eyes against the painful embers.

Now, the fire seemed to be at its climax, with Van not even being able to hear himself breath. Suddenly, everything stopped and the mutt was bounding silently through a nice sunny meadow. Van pried his eyes open turned his body around. They were leaving the burning forest behind.

Van heard Ella wheeze, "Stop."

Miraculously, the mutt obeyed and came to a halt.

Ash was the first to slide down, coughing for air on the grass. Van slipped down next and opened his bag. He checked the contents and found them full. He pulled out a bottle of water out.

Ella let herself fall down the mutt's side, dropping with a thud and not moving.

Van pulled himself next Ash and shook him. "You okay?"

Ash gave him a thumbs-up, though he did not stop coughing. Van checked Ella next. She was barely breathing.

"I'm okay," she mumbled raspily. "Jus' breathed in the smoke." She reached for Van's water and gulped it in.

He didn't stop her. Ella had was on the front of the mutt, so it made sense that she breathed in the most smoke.

Ella stopped for air and her green eyes wandered and landed on Van's elbow. "What happened?"

He shrank away from her touch. "A bit of fire landed on me. I'm okay," he lied.

"No, you're not. You're still bleeding." She gently grabbed his elbow. "Ash, come and look at this."

Van didn't remember what happened next, only brief flashes of pain when Ash attempted to bandage his wounds and being barely aware of him squeezing Ella's hand. The next thing he knew, the sun had begun to sink into the horizon and he had passed out against the mutt's side. Across him, he saw that Ella and Van had set up a fire that was slowly dying. Ella had been poking the embers out of boredom.

Ella and Van were deep in conversation. Even though Ash knew it was wrong, he couldn't help himself but to eavesdrop. He opened his eyes to a small slit.

"I remember that there used to be a huge forest fire in District 7," Van was saying. "I remember almost the entire forest had burned down. No one knew what caused it. The peacekeepers blamed it on the citizens and everyone's wages were all deducted. It was terrible."

"Wow. I guess all Peacekeepers in the world are the same. My neighbor once got taken by the Peacekeepers when he paid his taxes a day late. No one knew what happened to him," Ella said.

"Poor guy. So your family's been staying out of trouble?"

"Yeah. So should yours."

"Not really… my family's been working with the Peacekeepers since forever."

"That's really lucky."

"Yeah, I know."

They talked about more trivial matters next before the conversation slowed down to a lull.

Ash cleared his throat. "Hey, I didn't get a chance to say this earlier since we were being chased by a fire, but thanks," Ash joked.

"What for?" Ella asked.

"If you hadn't come here with that mutt, we might all be dead right now."

"Well, it was more of a spur-of-the-moment thing. I didn't expect someone to set the arena on fire when I got on the mutt."

"So you tamed the mutt?"

"Pretty much," she laughed.

"That's very brave."

Ella blushed. "Nah, its more stupid than brave, I think."

"I'm trying to compliment you," Ash said with a smile. "Cut out the modesty."

"Ha-ha. Thanks, Ash. You're not such a bad guy."

"I'm flattered."

Ash looked at the sky. "It's getting late. You might want to get some sleep."

"I can stay up late," Ella said. "But if that's what makes you happy, sure."

Ash suddenly leaned forwards and brushed his lips against Ella's ash-covered cheek. Even under the dying light, Van could see Ella blush and he felt the breath go out of him.

"Thanks, Ella."

Ella crawled beside the fire and fell asleep. Van could stretch his fingers out and touch her red hair. But he didn't dare move so he just stared at her.

A cannon fired in the distance but he was too heart-broken to hear it. The Capitol anthem and the screen on the sky blared and he stayed in that position until he fell into a fitful dream.