A/N: Happy New Years! And I realized that in the last chapter I forgot to put iodine and the canteen in her backpack... Sorry for the mistake!

I'm sorry I scared you guys; I just couldn't figure out how to make the characters act. And I have a question: I feel like I made Katniss hate Glimmer more than she does in the books. Do you guys think so?

Guess what! motisizi54 posted her first story! It's called The Baker's Son. You should go read it! I love it! It's adorable!

Chapter Ten

"Mud!"

I scrambled onto my hands and knees. The flowery smell, those were lilies! Water lilies! I crawled, well, more like dragged myself to the source of the water. I splashed my face with it and pulled out my canteen. I was so happy that I was practically squealing, which trust me, Katniss Everdeen does not squeal.

I filled the canteen and pulled out the iodine. I put the right amount of drops of iodine in the water. My fingers were shaking in anticipation, or maybe it was from the lack of water.

I waited for what seemed like hours, but in reality was probably no more than thirty minutes. Finally, I shakily brought the canteen up to my lips. The water tasted delicious, and it felt like heaven when the cool wet substance slid down my throat. Before long the only thing coming out of the canteen was a drip. I drank two quarts of water already?

I tossed the thought aside and repeated the process. Once I had drained the canteen for a second time, I filled it once more and stood up. I wobbled and my stomach felt sloshy. I'm surprised I didn't absorb the water like a sponge, because of how dehydrated I was. I guess hearing the water splash around in my stomach is what I get for drinking a whole quart of water.

I walked along until a cannon sounded. I was almost certain it wasn't Peeta, because if the Careers killed him then they had no way of getting to me. And if he was dead I would go on a homicidal rampage and kill everyone in the arena before the day was over.

But I still couldn't help but wonder who it was. So far, it's been a pretty slow day. Only two deaths so far. The audience must be getting bored... And Gamemakers do not like unsatisfied audiences.

I walked around for an hour, making sure no one was following me. A couple of minutes later I heard footsteps. Well, not footsteps, it must be some animals because it sounds like they are traveling in a pack.

I was right. Seconds later a pack of wild dogs came racing out of the woods from the opposite direction. I looked to see what they were running from and my eyes widened.

A wall of fire was descending.

I hoisted the pack onto my back and ran for my life. The fire was faster than me, and I could feel the heat radiating off of the wall of bright yellow and orange. The smake was messing with my senses, so I pulled my jacket up over my nose. Luckily, for me, it was drenched in sweat and water from when I dove my face in the water. It provided a blanket against the smoke.

My guess is that the fire is being used to force us all together. So, I took a different route. I steered slightly to the left, away from the lake. A couple of minutes later the fire stopped around me.

I stopped running and panted. I needed fresh air. I couldn't see ten feet away from me, the smoke was so thick. For all I know someone is out there right now, watching me, waiting to attack.

That's when I heard the hissing.

It wasn't normal, it didn't sound like the snakes back home. I looked around quickly for a source and saw a bright fire ball heading my way. I dodged it and listened for more hissing.

Another hiss. This time, I wasn't that lucky. It hit my calf. I shrieked, but it was muffled and rough from the smoke. I dropped to the ground and started rolling. The Gamemakers must be getting a kick out of this. Katniss Everdeen, the girl who was actually on fire.

Another hit my jacket. I pulled it off quickly and started swatting it on the ground. It went out. I got up right when another fireball headed my way. It would've hit my face if I didn't move out of the way.

I ran. I ran as fast and as far away as I could from the fireballs. Surprisingly, I ended up back at the little pond I found earlier.

I gasped in relief and stuck my hands in the cool water. My mother always said that cold water will help with burns. Minor burns. That thought gave me and inkling of anxiety at what I would find on my leg.

I slowly looked down. The flesh was bright red, and blisters were welling up. Pus was oozing out of a blister that had popped. I jumped out of the water and kneeled behind the closest tree. My stomach was bent emptying itself. I lost all of my water and my rabbit.

When nothing was left, I managed to crawl back to the water. I examined my hands. They weren't as bad as my leg, but they were an angry pink. I stuck them back in the water.

I took a deep breath and looked back down at my leg. Breath, Katniss. Breath. After staring at it for a couple of minutes, I wondered what I should do. I could stick it in the water and hope that it helps.

I slowly took my boot off and stuck my leg in. It felt so cold and nice against my burned skin. I closed my eyes and stifled a moan.

I stayed by the water for at least an hour. The only time I got up was when the cannons started going off. I counted three.

I lifted my leg out of the water and gave a little shriek. The pain was so much more intense, now that it was out of the water. I winced as I pulled myself to my feet. It was getting dark out.

I limped around, looking for a tree. That's when I heard it.

Footsteps. They were subdued, but definitely footsteps. And definitely human.

I cleared my head. I had roughly a minute head start on them. I could tell there were at least five, maybe six, but that was all I counted. I found the tallest tree I could and scrambled up onto the branches, wincing when my burned flesh hit the hard bark.

I grabbed the closest limb to me. That's when I made my fatal mistake. I hissed as my leg accidently brushed a branch.

I know they heard me, I can hear them whispering.

"Did you hear that?"

"Who do you think it was?"

"Are you sure that it's even a person? I mean, it could just be a squirrel." That's my Peeta. I know he wasn't sure if it was me, but it was still close to where I saw the Careers last night.

Last night. Not even twenty four hours. It feels like an eternity since I've seen Peeta.

I climbed up the tree as slowly and as quietly as I could. I sat my stuff down on a fork in the branches.

I froze. Is someone watching me? I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I closed my eyes tightly and took a deep breath.

I opened my eyes and looked down. And, what do you know! Every single one of the Careers are standing underneath my tree looking up at me. Cato had an evil grin. Glimmer gave me a snug look, and pulled out an arrow and started toying with it. Clove took out a knife. The boy from District One held up his spear. The girl from District Four wasn't there, she must have died earlier.

Peeta looked up at me. His expression was so sad, so sorrowful, that a lump in the back of my throat started to form.

Cato opened his mouth to start speaking. "How's the weather up there?"

I shot him a quick cocky smile. "Great. You know, there's not much smoke up here at all. You should come up."

"I think I might." I smirked and grabbed my pack and moved farther up in the tree. I was about eighty feet high now, and I gave them the biggest smile I could muster up.

The smallest Career weighed at least fifty pounds more than me. There was a reason I was always the one to pick the highest apples in the tree, not Gale. Definitely not Peeta (I've never told him, but he couldn't climb a tree if his life depended on it. Ironic, in this situation.)

When Cato got about thirty feet up, his branch cracked and he fell. For a second, I thoughthe had broken his neck, but he got up to his feet and started swearing.

Glimmer walked to the center of their little circle. "Don't worry, Cato. I can take take care of that."

I felt the heat rise in my cheeks. I swallowed and cocked my head to the side. "Hit me with your best shot."

She raised my bow. I immediately criticised her technique. I couldn't help it; I've always been this way. Everything about it was off. The way she held her feet. The way she held her bow, and even the way it was aimed.

She managed to get it lodged in a branch near me. I reached over and pulled it out of the tree. I waved it over her head. She shot me a look that was filled with so much venom that I almost recoiled. But I didn't.

Clove pushed her to the side. "Let me handle this."

She jumped onto the tree. "So, Lover Boy, how do you feel about me killing your girlfriend? Do you think it should be fast? Or slow and painful?"

Peeta looked down at the ground. Even from up here I could see that he was shaking.

Clove overestimated herself. She got about twenty feet higher than Cato; she only stopped climbing when she heard the first crack. She was smart enough to get down.

"Okay." Cato said as he circled around the tree. "Okay, Twelve, you can stay up there." He turned to the rest of the Careers. "Can't stay up there forever, can she?"

I strapped my sleeping bag in. I looked down at them again. They were setting up camp, But Peeta just laid on the ground and stared up at me. I raised my fingers slightly, as if I was waving, and he did the same.

Glimmer saw our little exchange. "Cato, can I be the one to kill both of them?"

Peeta shot up. He walked over to her and grabbed her arm and furiously turned her around. "Don't you even think about it." With that he walked over to grab his sleeping bag.

Glimmer's mouth hung open. Stiffly, she pulled her stuff out. Cato grabbed it first. "You're keeping watch."

She nodded. Everyone climbed in their sleeping bags to go to sleep.

I set my head back against the tree. Off to my left, I heard a rustling sound coming from another tree. It was so quiet I thought I had imagined it.

I looked over. I saw a pair of eyes, glowing in the night sky. A skinny arm emerged from the foliage. I followed to where it was pointing, and-

Oh no.

A/N: So that's Chapter Ten. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to continue this story... But a lot of you told me to continue :) I have some news to share, too: Luke and Ingrid made it official! I found out when I was on facebook with my friend and I screamed and screamed and screamed... By the time I was done screaming she was looking at me like I was a freak... Haha. I know she's reading this right now. ;)

How obvious is it what the cliffhanger at the end is? Haha, I'm so unoriginal ;)

I'm writing an original story. You know, it's not as hard as you think it would be. (I have edited it A LOT though...)