We stay in the clearing for the rest of the day, deciding against going further into the forest for now. When Eva suggests that we climb a tree and sit up there instead of being exposed in the clearing to anyone who might come along, I agree that this is the best thing to do. We climb up into a huge gnarled old tree and settle on a large bough about halfway up the tree, well off the ground and hidden from view by the leafy branches. We eat some crackers and jerky, and I note that we are running low on water. We have enough to do us for the rest of today, but tomorrow morning we'll have to try and find that river.

'Jude, why did you ally with the Careers?' Eva asks me in the late afternoon. 'You're not like them. You don't want to kill like they do.'

'Because I promised my boyfriend that I would,' as I say it, I know it sounds stupid. I have to clarify. I look Eva straight in the eye. 'I told him I'd ally with them to get me through the bloodbath, then kill them all the first chance I got.' At this stage, having abandoned my alliance with them already, I have no qualms saying this even though I know there are cameras on me.

'Oh. That's...interesting.'

'He thought it was my best chance of surviving.'

'Well you did get through the bloodbath. And you're still here. He must be pretty happy. Even though you haven't really followed through on that plan fully, they are still alive after all.'

I sigh. 'I just had to get away from them. They're so...brutal. And they're bound to turn on each other at any stage now, they've been arguing right from the start.' I pause. 'My sister was in the Games too, see. She allied with the careers and she got killed by another one of them.' Tears well up in my eyes and spill out. 'I don't want my mother to have to watch the same thing happen to me.'

Eva nods sympathetically and puts her arm around me. She is way tinier than I am, but it is still oddly makes me feel very safe to have her comforting me. Well, as safe as you can feel in the arena.

.

.

Nothing else happens that day. We remain in our perch in the tree, sometimes talking, sometimes sitting in comfortable silence, listening to the birds sing and the wind rustle through the trees. There are no more cannons and we don't see or hear anybody else in the forest.

When night falls, once again the Capitol seal appears in the sky and the anthem blares out. I strain to see the sky through the dense foliage, even though since there have been no more cannons, probably the only face we'll be seeing is that of the District 5 girl who I killed. Unless we missed something.

Sure enough, the blonde girl's picture is the only one shown. I feel guilty momentarily, then harden my resolve. She was trying to kill Eva. What was I supposed to do, let her? No way. Eva must pick up on the way I'm feeling, because she squeezes my hand and smiles. 'Thank you, Jude. I know you didn't want to kill her.'

'She's the first person I've killed,' I admit. Although the District 12 boy kind of died because I threw that knife at him, it wasn't me that directly ended his life, it was Milo. This time, however, the blame lies fully with me, and I have to live with that. I shake my head. 'We should get some sleep now. We'll have to go look for some water tomorrow morning before we run out.'

We curl up in our sleeping bags on the huge branch. Eva's breathing rapidly becomes deep and level, indicating she is asleep, but I can't drift off. I wonder how things are at home. I hope my mother doesn't have to watch me in the Games alone since there's nobody else left at home with her. I hope Luke sits with her, even though everybody is supposed to watch the Games in their own home. When Nina was in the arena, we watched the mandatory viewing together every night, the three of us, Mom's hand gripping mine as tight as she could without breaking it, and me doing the same to Luke.

Mom buried her face in her hands on the fifth day, when the District 2 girl turned on Nina when they were out hunting. She couldn't watch, but I couldn't not watch. I watched the life blood pour out of my sister, cursing the Capitol with all the passion I had in me. The only thing I hated more than the Capitol was that sly District 2 girl. Her name was Adira and she went on to win. When she came to District 4 on her Victory Tour, smiling and waving at the friends and families of the people she killed, Luke had to physically grip my arm to stop me from running up to the stage and throttling her. I hated her.

Now that I think about it a little more, my immediate dislike for Cleo could have something to do with that. She resembles Adira a little, both having mousy brown hair and brown eyes, with sly, drawn little faces.

I drift off to sleep finally, slipping into dreams of killing Cleo and her turning into Adira beneath me. I dream of home, when Nina was still alive and we were all happy. I dream of Luke, of his embrace that makes it seem like everything is alright with the world even when it's not.

.

.

.

The next morning when I wake up, Eva is already awake and rustling through our supplies.

'Good morning,' she says brightly when I sit up. 'We're down to our last bit of water.' She waves the bottle in front of me, the small amount left in it sloshing around the bottom.

'We should go look for that stream,' I say. At that moment, another silver parachute floats down and I reach out and catch it. Water. Enough to last us at least two days, if we're careful.

'Scratch that plan, I guess,' Eva says.

'Yeah. Finnick must think it's best if we don't go wandering around too much. The Careers must be hunting.'

'He seems like a good mentor. Mine hasn't sent me anything.'

.

.

.

We don't stray too far from the clearing that day. Eva inspects the wound on my thigh and pronounces it much improved.

Then she disappears for a while, taking my bow and arrow with her and promising not to go out of earshot. If she encounters anything I want to know about it. I listen carefully for trouble, but she returns safely after about a half an hour, triumphantly clutching a rabbit.

For a mayor's daughter she is certainly resourceful. Even though I'd have no problem shooting them, I wouldn't have a clue how to gut and clean an animal the way she can. We make a small fire and cook the rabbit, eating most of it between us hungrily and stowing the rest for later. It's the first fresh food we've had in days.

Once we're done, I put out the fire and try to remove all evidence of it being there, scattering the ashes and kicking some dirt and leaves over the remains. We climb back into the tree. Night soon falls and the Capitol seal appears in the sky. No deaths today.

The viewers won't like that. It's highly likely the gamemakers will put in some kind of intervention to make sure there is some action soon. I don't even want to think about what kind of intervention that might be.