DONG!

That was the gong. My sixty seconds were up, and thanks to Peeta, I'd stayed a split second too long deciding what to do and they were now ahead of me. I scanned the field quickly and my eyes landed on the rucksack I had been eyeing up seconds before. I leapt off the metal plate and ran faster than I had ever run before towards my prize. I also grabbed a loaf of bread that was sitting near by. A boy, I think he was from District Nine, tried to grapple it off of me, but before he could get a good grip, I was sprayed with blood from his mouth. As he slumped to the floor at my feet, I saw the knife in his back. My instincts told me to get out of there, which is good because seconds later, the girl from Two, I think her name was Clove, had thrown a knife at me. I pulled the rucksack up over my face instinctively, and the knife jammed right in to the front. As I sat there on the grass, trying to process what had just happened, I watched her snarl at me, then run off. I wasn't going to take any more chances, so I took my rucksack, bread, a sheet of plastic I had managed to retrieve, and my new knife, and ran into the woods. I wanted to get as far away from them all as I possibly could. Try and find water, that had been Haymitch's advice. Well, I'd ignored the first part, so I figured I may aswell do as he says.

As I turned a corner, trying to get away from the bloodbath, I crashed face first into someone and we both fell to the floor. Standing up to protect myself, I saw it was the sharp looking girl from Five, who I'd named FoxFace. I think I heard Caesar call her Jade. I preferred the name Foxface, it suited her. She looked terrified, trembling, eyes wide open, the corners of her mouth were turned down in terror. I wasn't surprised, I wasn't exactly feeling the love right now. I jutted out at her slightly to scare her off, and it worked. She scrambled up on to her feet and almost fell back over again as she ran off. I turned in the opposite direction and ran as fast as I could, as far as my feet could take me. For the next few hours, I kept going, but jogged at a much slower pace, so I didn't wear myself out too fast. Just after noon - I could tell, the sun was high in the sky - I found an alcove in the bottom of a large tree root. A rabbit hopped past me, making me jump and brandish the knife it's way.

"Oh it's just you," I sighed, realising that if there was one rabbit, there would be hundreds more to snare, which meant food. And water. The rabbits needed to drink, so maybe there was water near by. I tore a small chunk of bread from the loaf, and set it to one side, being careful to keep my eye out for other tributes. I was so far in though, that I didn't think anyone else would be this way. Upon opening the rucksack, I had, along with the plastic sheeting, a thin black sleeping bag which will reflect body heat, a pack of crackers, a bottle of iodine [which I remembered from training would come in handy for cleaning stream water to drink], a box of wooden matches, a small coil of wire, a pair of sunglasses and a two litre plastic bottle with a cap, which when I tip it upside down, I discover is bone dry.

I sunk back into the curve of the root, sighing. There had to be a way of getting water somehow. These trees wouldn't be here otherwise, nor would the animals. I had walked so much today, and felt really uncomfortable as the valleys brought me lower and lower. I wished I could be up on the hills, like in Twelve, where I felt safer. I could look out for my enemies easier then. I made a mental note to myself, as I packed everything up, to camouflage the bright orange colour covering the rucksack. That wasn't going to do me any favours. I walked and walked through the forest, coming to groups of trees I recognised and a few I didn't. I really felt my thirst now. My throat was dry, my lips were cracked and my head was pounding. A horrible thought crossed my mind - what if the only source of water was the lake by the Cornucopia. It would be heavily guarded by the Careers now, there was no doubt about that. I silently prayed, however, that there were other water sources, because the lake was now a full days journey away. I continued on my way, grateful that the pine needles on the floor softened and muffled my footsteps as I walked.

My mind drifted to Peeta as I slowly ambled along - it was getting harder to walk dehydrated but I had to keep going. I saw him in my mind dead already. Drained of all his blood by one of the Careers, his lifeless body - ok I can't think like that. I was feeling hungry again, but didn't want to break into any rations again, so I used the knife to peel off some pine bark. Not the other outer layers, but the inner layers were edible. It was hard to eat after a week of gourmet food, but I'd had it before, I'd had worse, so I could do it now. When I came across a group of willows, I decided it would be a good idea to settle here for the night. I easily scaled the biggest of the trees, and made my bunk for the night. It was only twelve feet off the ground, but it was better than trying to hide in a bush somewhere. Sliding into the thin sleeping bag, carefully, I tied my belt around me and the branch, then back around me again, just in case I roll over in my sleep. The rucksack went into the sleeping bag with me and I pulled the black hood over my head, then settled in, attempting to get a few hours shut eye.

Before I could get too comfy, the sound of the National Anthem blaring out of the sky made me jump. I was just glad I had tied the belt around me. I watched the seal of Panem appear in the dark sky above my head, then the headshots of the tributes who died today. At home, we would see the recaps of each killing as the tribute was being remembered. In the arena, we only saw the headshots of the dead tributes. This was in case a secret skill could given away by accident to the rest of us. They didn't want any of us to have an advantage. As the first faces appeared in the sky, I ticked them one by one in my head. There was the girl from District Three. That meant the Careers from One and Two had survived. Her dark haired picture disappeared and in it's place came the young boy from Four with the blonde curly locks. He was probably only about 13, not much older than Primrose and Rue. That came as a mild shock to me, usually the Careers make it at least through the first day, but looking at him, he was so small, that I guess it wasn't too much of a surprise. Next came the boy from Five and both tributes from Six. When both tributes from Seven came up, I felt a mild jolt of sadness. Obviously that meant that there were two less in competition now, but I had met with their mentor, Willow Monroe. If she was a friend of Haymitch, she was a friend of mine. The boy from Eight and both from Nine. I ticked them all off in my head, and there was one missing (from the cannons I had heard earlier this afternoon). I was just thinking about Peeta when the final image came into view. No, it was the girl from Ten. So Peeta was still alive. That was good.

I don't know what time it was, but a crackling noise woke me from my sleep. I sat up and carefully looked around, instantly spotting the fire lit by another tribute. "Idiot," I thought, shaking my head and rolling my eyes. That was when I heard it - the distinct whirring of a camera, right by my head. I looked into the branch and realised there was one built into the knot of the trunk, watching my every move. I was about to close my eyes again when I heard the crashing of footsteps. Whoever it was, wasn't bothering to hide the fact they were coming. And it sounded like a lot of someones. Four, maybe five of them. I realised that the risk I took in grabbing the rucksack was worth it. I'm warm, but I'm assuming that whoever has lit the fire won't be warm. The footsteps stopped and I heard a piercing scream and someone laughing. That's another one down, I think sadly, but I'm surprised I haven't heard the cannon yet, signalling the death.

"Are you sure she's dead?" a voice said, underneath me. I didn't dare move, let alone breathe.

"Course she is, I did her myself," said another.

"I'll go and check," said a third, which made my blood chill. It was Peeta. Very slowly, I peeked out of the tiny gap in my sleeping bag, I had to confirm it. Yes, I was right. Peeta had joined up with the Careers. Bastard. Absolute bastard. This was because I said I wanted to be alone, now he has teamed up with them to help them kill me. He knows me better than anyone, at least in the arena.

"Why don't we just finish him off," the first voice said, when Peeta went to check the tribute they had just killed.

"No, we'll keep Lover Boy safe for a little while longer, he's good with a knife and he can help us find her," said the second voice. So they were using him to get to me, but did he know that? Urgh, I was so pissed off with Peeta, but because of the camera right next to my face, I didn't let it show. I stayed as still as I could, hardly daring to breathe. BOOM! That was the cannon telling us whoever it was, was now dead.

"Now she's dead," said Peeta, right underneath me. "Come on, I think she's gone this way." He led them away from me, further into the woods. I sat back into the trunk, wondering if the dead girl was Rue. Then I dismissed that idea; she was too clever to be lighting fires like that in the middle of the night. I peered over the edge again, and caught a glimpse of Peeta's face in the torchlight. His face was swollen, with what looked like the forming of a black eye coming, his arm must have been bleeding at some point because there was a hashed up bandage wrapped around it, blood still seeping gently onto the outside of it, and he was limping, by the sound of his footsteps moving away. They must have beaten him up pretty bad, but I'm guessing the fact he was willing to hand me to them on a plate was tempting enough for them not to actually kill him. Yet.

"Do you think anyone bought that soppy romance crap?"

"She might have. She seemed pretty simple to me. Every time I think of her grinning like a child in that dress, makes me want to puke."

"Wish we knew how she got that eleven." Ha, that was Cato! I knew he would be pissed that I scored higher than him, although when we came face to face, I doubt I would be laughing.

"Bet you Lover Boy knows." I couldn't hear anymore because they had gone to far. Plus the sound of them crashing through the trees was covering up their voices. Honestly, if they did that when out hunting in the wild, they would starve in a week. If that.

Above me, the birds fell silent and one high pitched note was sounded out, followed by the humming of a hovercraft engine. I watched as it picked up the dead girl, from by the dying embers of her fire, her downfall, and then it disappeared. The birds resumed chirping away once it was out of the way. These weren't normal birds, the ones who slept at night and sang in the day. I didn't know what these were but if they were here in the arena, they were here for a reason. Which didn't bode well for me.

"Move," I told myself. I was so stiff and dehydrated that I had to give myself physical commands before I was able to do anything. Kick my brain in to gear in a sense. I wriggled out of my sleeping bag, rolled it up and tucked it into my rucksack, then taking a deep breath, I jump out of the tree and land softly on the pine needles, crouching. Being hidden in the tree, behind the willow leaves, tucked into my sleeping bag, I doubt I was easy for the camera to pick up. Even the one right next to me. Now I can guarantee that I will be on close up in every single home in Panem. The audience would want to know how I'm going to react to the news that Peeta has betrayed me, after s publicly declaring his love for me. It's not much, but I subtly raise my head up to the sky and give a knowing smile. There, that should keep them talking for a bit longer.