By midday, the rain was coming down heavily again, pounding the forest below. Devorac ignored it. He had made good progress so far. He wasn't sure how long it would take him to reach the edge of the Hunger Games zone, but it couldn't have been much longer. His day had been largely uneventful.

As he walked, he thought he saw a glimpse of red in his peripheral vision. He stopped. Yes, there was a blob of color among the brown and green of the forest. It was near the base of a tree in front of him and to his right. He froze and listened attentively. He couldn't hear anything that would indicate danger. He wasn't even sure it was a person, but he didn't know what else it could be. He could try sneaking up to take the enemy by surprise, but stealth wasn't his thing. He would focus on speed instead.

He charged, crashing through the forest toward the colorful shape. When he got close enough to see what it was, he ground to a halt. He wasn't sure why, since he knew there was a person there. He could see a pair of boots beneath the red umbrella held at an angle away from the tree. The smart thing to do would have been to cleave right though the umbrella and whoever was underneath, but he didn't. Maybe the person is dead or sleeping, he told himself. But it wasn't likely, since the umbrella wasn't leaning on anything. It was being held above the ground.

The umbrella moved to one side, and Devorac found a girl sitting against the tree, looking up at him. She looked to be a year or two younger than him. She had long, wavy black hair and beautiful green eyes that caught Devorac off-guard. When she spoke, she did so just loudly enough for Devorac to hear her clearly over the crashing rain.

"Are you going to kill me?"

Devorac hesitated for only a second. "Yes."

She didn't flinch or look away. She said simply, "Well, it was going to happen sooner or later." She stood up and held out the wide umbrella so that it protected both of them from the rain. "I'm going to fight back, you know. Do you understand that?" He nodded, but didn't move otherwise. She held out her hand for a handshake. "My name is Alamera."

He stared at her hand for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. He quickly scanned her visually for any signs of a concealed weapon. She really seemed to be unarmed. He supposed she might have a concealed knife, but if she was planning on fighting for her survival, she would have reacted when he came crashing toward her. He didn't think it likely that her handshake offer was a trap. He reached out and grasped her hand briefly. "Devorac."

"So you're tangled up in these Games, too, huh? And by the looks of it, you're doing pretty well. Are you a Career?" He nodded. "I knew it. Which district?"

"Two."

"Oh, you're from the district right next to mine. I'm from District 3. The electronics capital of Panem. Our vast array of advanced technologies doesn't seem to be doing much for me now, does it? For all society's advances, I'm back where people were thousands of years ago. And nothing my parents have attained for themselves can change that." She was looking out into the forest as she spoke. Her eyes had a misty, faraway look. "You know, when I wished my life were different, this isn't quite what I had in mind." She looked him in the eye and gave a small smile. "What about you? Everyone has a story. What's yours?"

Devorac wasn't sure what to say. He shrugged, silently wondering if he was really going to exchange life stories with the girl he was about to kill. "Not much to tell, really."

"Oh, you must have something. Everyone has a story," she pressed him.

Devorac shrugged again. "Just training, mostly. For this. Learning all I could about survival, combat, and whatever else the trainers thought would be useful."

"That's it? You must have had free time. How did you use it? What did you enjoy doing?"

Devorac was about to shrug a third time when he came up with an answer to her second question. "Sleeping."

He was surprised when she actually laughed out loud. "Oh, and eating too, I bet! I mean interests. Hobbies. Not things you have to do. Things you do because you like to."

"Eating" had been the next thing Devorac was planning to say. He tried to think of something he really enjoyed. Truthfully, there wasn't much. His trainers had planned free time for him to keep him stress-free and sharp, but he wasn't sure what to do with it most days. He usually took a hike, since it gave him something to do and gave him ample exercise. Then he remembered the few times his trainers had given him puzzles to test his mental acuity. He had enjoyed that. "Puzzles," he told Alamera.

"You must be smart, then, if you like puzzles. I've never been good them, truthfully," she reflected.

Devorac decided to ask the question that had been on his mind since the beginning of their conversation. "Why are you just talking to me? About everyday things? We're going to fight to the death, you know. And I'm going to kill you. I told you that."

"I don't believe in hatred," she said simply. "Besides, it's not like I really have a chance at winning, although that won't stop me from trying. No offense."

"Don't you value your life at all? If you can't win in a fight, you could have run. When I saw you, you weren't trying to hide or avoid danger at all, were you?"

For a few seconds, her only reply was a shrug. Then she answered, "Everyone values their lives, even you. Am I wrong? I'm no different. But here you are, not running away. So neither am I."

"I'm not fighting for me. I'm fighting to win the food for my district. I want all the poor people there to eat well for once. That's why I'm fighting." For some reason, he felt that it was important to tell her that.

"Well, that's good," she said honestly. "That makes what's going to happen easier for me to accept." She lowered her umbrella and dropped it. The rain immediately assaulted her, making her hair stick to her scalp, neck, and back. As Devorac watched, she picked up a sizeable rock that was nearby. "Shall we begin?" He paused for a second, then nodded. She ran straight toward him, lifting the rock to hit him with it. Before she was close enough to do so, Devorac raised his axe and thrust downward, shaft first. The spike on the end of the shaft drove through her skull and pierced her brain, killing her instantly. He stepped to the side as her momentum carried her body forward. She fell, but her upper half was held up by the spike on Devorac's axe. He placed his free hand on her head and pulled the spike out, letting her fall facedown. In the distance, a cannon sounded, signaling her death. He wiped the blood and bits of brain off the spike using nearby leaves. He considered using some of his water to clean it better, but decided against it; the heavy rain would soon wash off the rest of the gore. When he'd moved on, a hovercraft far above sent down a green beam, lifting her corpse out of the forest.

As he continued toward the edge of the arena, he couldn't get Alamera off his mind. She was… strange. Somehow, he wondered if there was some way he could have accomplished his goal without killing her. He shook his head, knowing it was impossible. I couldn't have let her live. By refusing to kill her, I'd be slitting the throats of all the people in District 2 who will starve if I don't win. It was her throat or theirs.

Her throat or theirs.