A/N

Welcome back! On to chapter eleven, and this is where things start to go downhill, I'm afraid… only this chapter and then our story comes to its inevitable end.

On that note, I just wanted to say a quick thanks to all you guys who reviewed; it really made my day. Hope you enjoy this!

-Iri

The next two days bring little in the way of exciting television, a fact that makes me uneasy. With the exception of the girl from Eight, there's been not a single death since the bloodbath on day one, which means the Capitol audience will be getting bored. And that spells danger for us all, because it's at times like this the Gamemakers start wreaking havoc with the system.

We've spent the last day and a half back at base camp near the lake, mostly talking strategy- or rather, arguing over strategy. Marina, you see, is all for hunting twenty-four hours a day, as long as it keeps her off guard duty, a task that really entails much less since the acquisition of our newest ally, the small boy from District Three. His name is Grayson, and he's just as personality-missing and dull as his name suggests.

But he does offer one thing of value, or we wouldn't have kept him around: Grayson, the intrepid fifteen-year-old and technological genius, has managed to reactivate the mines that surrounded the tribute plates before the Games began, a feat I'm sure has shocked the Gamemakers into a rather stupefied state, which may actually be the reason they haven't yet tried to liven things up. Even so, I'm still going stir crazy back at camp by the time we hit early afternoon of day three.

Finally, finally, we set off into the woods, Cato, Clove, Marvel, Marina and I, with Peeta and Grayson in tow as our rather reluctant tagalongs. It's already boiling hot outside, being past noon, and I'm sure this is yet another ploy to push us all- meaning the remaining twelve tributes- closer together, seeing as the crystal clear lake is the only source of water I've yet to see.

But I'm armed with several different water bottles all loaded into my heavy pack, and while I'd prefer not to carry so much weight, in case I need to make a quick escape for some reason or other, at least this way I'll be prepared for the worst, unlike the rest of my allies, who all seem content carrying small packages of dried fruit and meat and single bottles of water, as if the supplies cannot possibly be jeopardized.

I mean, sure, they're mined and all, but did no one think of the fact that if someone steps into that circle of explosives, they're going to blow our supplies straight to kingdom come along with whatever poor sap of a tribute was stupid enough to encroach on Career territory in the first place? Yes, Grayson assured us all that the landmines were rigged to only blow one at a time, but frankly, you don't get anywhere in the Games trusting in anyone but yourself.

I did not, of course, bother to inform anyone else of my opinion on the matter. The sooner they're all out of my way, the better. I'm actually half-hoping the supplies do get blow sky high, because I'm pretty sure it won't be all that hard to slip away in the aftermath of the destruction, and I've already got everything I want from the Cornucopia. No need to cry when those mines detonate. I'll be on my own then, just the way I like it.

For a moment, I feel a twinge of guilt, remembering Marvel, but I push it away. Allies or not, there can only be one winner. Our earlier agreement is still in place, meaning that, unless it comes down to the two of us, I'll not be stabbing him in the back anytime soon, and hopefully, his spear will stay clear of me as well. That being said, there's nothing else to keep me here when I see an opportunity.

It's getting late, and night has already fallen when I call the others to a halt. "It's been hours," I say wearily, my nose icy with cold, "and we haven't seen a single other tribute. Let's call it a night."

"Are you kidding?" Marina scoffs. "I wouldn't have pegged you for a lay-about, District One. Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of the local whore, or something similar, but I guess you can call it what you like. Feel free to head back to camp if you're in need of a nap."

"I only suggested it because if we haven't found someone in a full day of hunting, I think it's pretty well clear that the Gamemakers don't want us to find them just yet, or they'd have driven us together by now," I say quietly. "And to be quite honest, Marina, I'd rather be the town slut than the village idiot. At least then I'd be good for something."

Marvel bursts out laughing, Clove snorts behind her hand, and even usually-stoic Cato cracks a rare grin, showing off a flash of very white teeth before returning to his selfsame impassivity. I myself flash Marina a wide smile and wink before hoisting my heavy pack back onto my shoulders and turning in the direction I know the lake to be. "You can all come if you like," I say. "I don't see there's anything to be gained in wasting time and energy freezing to death out here. We can always pick this up in the morning."

"Hold up, District One," Clove calls after me. "Not planning on heading off alone so soon, are you?" Her eyebrows are raised in unsurprised question, and I feel my own rise as well when her words register.

"I wouldn't dare," I say with a playful laugh and smirk towards my ally, the girl who has actually become something of a friend to me. Clove grins back, her usual wicked smile.

"Didn't think so," she says. "Head back to camp, then, and take this one with you." She nudges Peeta in the back with the hilt of her knife. He stumbles wearily forward. "He looks like he could use some sleep."

"Got it," I nod, shifting the heavy straps of my backpack on my shoulders. "We'll meet you back at the lake, then."

Cato nods, eyes flashing. "Agreed. I'd like to spend a bit more time combing the area. In case we missed something while District Four was yammering."

Marina hisses under her breath and I see her knuckles whiten on the shaft of her spear, but she wisely chooses silence over retaliation.

"Good call, bottomfeeder," I jibe cheerfully, flashing her a cheeky wink. "Here's hoping we don't meet again." I am gratified to hear the girl from Four snarl softly once more, but I know she won't try anything. Not here, not now. I turn to Peeta, who still stands rather unobtrusively off to the side, looking for all the world like he hasn't slept since the Games began three days ago.

"Come on then, Lover Boy," I jerk my head at him. "It's a long walk back to the lake." The boy jerks his head up to stare at me dully before trudging off through the trees. I turn to walk after him.

"Wait, Glimmer," Marvel calls after me. I turn back to see him trotting towards me, spear in hand. Unlike the boy from Twelve, he's still got plenty of energy to make his way quickly over the rough terrain, a fact I'm grateful for as Clove steps forward, a hand reaching towards her belt.

"Hold up, Wonder," she says calmly. "You're not just going to walk away like that, especially not with something so valuable." She nods in Peeta's direction. "He's our best bet of getting to her, and you're a fool to think we'd let you just walk off with him, District One."

I stare back at my diminutive but still ferocious ally, noting in the back of my mind her very easy use of 'we' to describe herself and her district partner. "Fine then, the boy stays."

"Not a chance," Cato says, shaking his head and stepping forward. "If you think you're both going to just walk away from this alliance without a problem, you're obviously not as smart as you look, and then I'd have to go so far as to say Marina over here might have competition in the stupidity department."

I glance over at Marvel, who looks back at me with wide brown eyes, his entire body riddled with tension, and then back at the pair from Two, who now stand side by side, a perfect match. And I know this is not the time or place for this fight. Not where they'll have the advantage on this uneven terrain, while Marvel and I have been trained in a district with nothing but flat, dry land stretching for miles. And not now, when, while I've still got energy left in reserve, we're both tired and less alert than I'd like.

"Then make the split fair. Marvel stays and one of you comes with me," I say neutrally, trying to assess the situation, but I know I have them here. If I'm right about them, the pair from Two with the strange connection they refuse to acknowledge, they won't want to be split up.

Sure enough, I see Cato's eyes flicker ever so briefly over his partner and then back to me, while Clove simply stares into my eyes, unmoving. I know she's thinking it through. Weighing the possibilities. Running through the chances, trying to predict my actions.

Then Cato straightens up to his full height and I know I've won. But the fact gives me no comfort as Clove's eyes narrow and her lover's flash dangerously across my face and that of my district partner. They do not like this loss, but their hands are tied. Neither will leave the other, a fact I had bet on to call their bluff, and yet, they are not pleased that I have ousted them so publicly, where the cameras can pick it up. No doubt a team of analysts back in the Capitol is already trying to dissect the motivations of the pair from Two. Hopefully, they'll come up with the right answer. Not that I'd want to sell them out, in any other circumstances, but hey, this is the Hunger Games. If they don't want their secret little tryst out in the open, then that's good enough for me.

"Very well, then," Clove says, her voice as calm and collected as before. "It looks like no one will be sleeping just yet. Sorry, Glimmer. But you could always just mix up a bit of that energy drink you took from the Cornucopia."

"You miss nothing, do you?" I reply evenly.

"It's my job to catch everything," she responds lightly. I nod, conceding the point, but I don't take my eyes off her as I reach into my pack to pull out a bottle of the precious drink. I see Marina's face contort angrily in my peripheral vision as I gulp down half the bottle before wordlessly handing it to Marvel. When he's drained every last drop, I replace the bottle in my now-lighter pack.

"Shall we?" I ask.

Cato is the one to respond this time. "After you, District One."

And so it is that, hours later, the cameras find us still roaming through the thick forest. We're closer to the lake than before, it's true, but still hours away, and I know that even Cato and Clove, the two veritable machines, are beginning to tire. Marina leans to rest against the trunk of a wide tree, trying to yawn inconspicuously under the pretense of re-tying her bootlaces. The pretending is useless, however, as the rest of us soon follow suit, leaning against trees or sitting down on the many formations of cool gray rocks.

I don't have to voice what I'm thinking; I'm sure the rest of my alliance knows it as well. Its now been almost forty hours since the last death, and though the potential break-up of the Career alliance might have whetted the appetites of the Capitol audience for a short while, there's no way the drought of violence is being well-received. It's only a matter of time before the Gamemakers intervene, and now we're all tired and weakened by the hours of fruitless hunting.

I almost open my mouth to speak my thoughts- hang what the others will think- but I stop, cocking my head carefully. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Marvel asks, eyes drooping lightly. I smack his shoulder.

"Listen!" I snap. Cato gets to his feet, eyes roaming over the surrounding forest with the keen gaze of a wolf.

"You hear it?" I ask impatiently.

He nods slowly, still turning in a circle. "I do."

"Hear what?" Marina snaps.

"That hissing sound!" I snap back at her. As I speak, the noise grows louder, and I see Clove's and Marvel's eyes both widen. "I don't like this," I say under my breath. "I don't know what that it, but knowing the Gamemakers, it could be anything. Mutts, gas, acid rain, anything."

"How about fire?"

I whirl around to see Peeta, pale-faced and sweating, his hand on the lone knife at his waist. "What did you say?" I demand.

But he doesn't have to respond, because at that moment, Marina screams at the top of her lungs and bolts past me, followed by Grayson, and then Cato tugging Clove by the arm. "What?" I look around, confused and disoriented. Then, I see it.

A wall of fire descends upon us, engulfing trees and crackling as it moves. And we're right in its path.

"Run!" I shriek, turning to see Marvel's face as his eyes widen in horror. And then we're both sprinting full-tilt through the woods, and the smoke is billowing around us in great clouds. It stings my eyes, and I can't see more than a few feet in front of me. It takes all my concentration to keep dodging trees and leaping over roots and fallen branches.

Marvel is a few feet ahead of me, and he doesn't look back as he crashes gracelessly through the thick woods. I am right on his tail, moving just as clumsily, thinking little of how ridiculous I look, racing only for escape. The air is growing hotter, and I know the fire is gaining ground. I can't breathe, I'm choking on the smoke as it swirls around me. Heavy, rasping coughs threaten to shatter my chest and I fight back the urge to vomit, or faint, or simply stop running. My muscles are burning.

But there is no way I'm going to die, not now. The thought of Rivet, no doubt watching me on the television at home right now, of Cashmere, who I can envision sitting on the edge of her seat, gripping the hand of whoever is unlucky enough to be nearby with all the strength in her body, this thought, it fuels me and I leap forward, keeping stride with my district partner. We fly through the forest, a pair of hacking, wheezing bodies, all identifying characteristics obscured by the rising smoke.

I scream in pain as a burning branch falls with a crack to hit my forearm, but there's no time to stop and nurse the wound, not with the hissing, snarling tongues of fire now snapping at our heels. Marvel slaps away tiny sparks that land on his shirt while running. I yank my jacket hood over my head, only now remembering that my long hair hangs freely behind me, just waiting for the tiniest spark to ignite it.

But all this, and the flames still gain on us. I am beginning to despair as, suddenly, a tree crashes to the ground in front of me, cutting me off from Marvel, who skids to a halt, his eyes locking frantically with mine as I glance around, looking for a way out, any way out. But everywhere I look, there is fire, leaping towards me.

Tears prick my eyes as I search fruitlessly for an escape. No! It can't end here, it can't! The smoke chokes my lungs and I feel my skin begin to blister with the overwhelming heat. I look back at Marvel to see the stricken expression on his face. But there's clear air beyond him, and I can see it in his face.

There's no way out for me, and it would be safer for him to just run away now. I'm beginning to scream now, spinning around uselessly, looking for the exit that will not appear, as the ring of flames closes in around me. This is it. This is how I'm going to die. I close my eyes, feeling rebellious tears streak down my face as my knees threaten to give way.

Then, I'm jerked to the side, and I feel the lick of heat across my upper back. My eyelids snap open as I fly through the air, landing in a heap on miraculously cool dirt. Marvel lands with a thud beside me.

"Roll, Glimmer, roll!" he shouts in my ear, slapping me across the back and shoulders, flinging me onto my side. I catch a glimpse of the huge log we've just leaped over as it is engulfed. Then, he rolls me over again, is tugging me to my feet, half-dragging me forward.

"What- how-" I choke, wheezing as I stagger forward before finding my stride once more. He looks over at me as we sprint through the trees, away from the blaze.

"You really think I'd be able to go home if I left you there?" he asks with a derisive snort. "Your brother would have killed me, not to mention the fact that I wouldn't even make it to my final interview. Your mentor would have seen to that. She'd probably send Clove the knife to finish me off with if she had to."

I start to laugh hysterically at this- mostly because it's entirely true- but end up coughing violently as we break through the haze of smoke into a relatively smoke-free clearing, where I see the rest of our allies lying or crouching in various states of disarray and injury.

Cato pounds Clove on the back as she hacks violently before vomiting into the bushes; his own face is smeared with soot and I see a large burn across his upper arm where his shirt has been scorched away. Peeta, similarly, wheezes as he leans against a tree, while Marina clutches a possibly broken wrist and tries to avoid touching a raw and charred looking cheekbone.

At first, I think the boy from Three is gone, but then I see him lying on the ground, puking his guts out. I myself stagger forwards and plow into the dirt knees-first, struggling to unzip my backpack to get to the water I know is inside. Marvel bends over, hands on his things, to cough hoarsely before straightening up and tossing back an entire bottle of his precious water.

I think we all lay there for several minutes, maybe an hour or two, before Clove finally sits up and wipes her mouth with the hem of her filthy shirt. "I think it's time we take a gander about."

Marina wheezes as she stumbles upright, her wrist now immobilized within a thick layer of grimy cloth bandaging. "What are you talking about? You do realize the rest of us can barely breathe?"

"Think, District Four," I say weakly, too frustrated to even attempt a malicious jab. "That fire wasn't natural. It was a Gamemaker trick, and you know they're trying to drive us all together." I roll to my feet, shaking leaves from my hair.

"She's right," Cato says. "We've been here for over an hour; we're already losing opportunities. Who knows how many others are nearby?" Daylight is creeping over the treetops as the smoke fades away with the night, and the light brings all our injuries into higher relief.

"Besides, even if we don't find anyone else just yet, these burns are going to need cleaning," Clove rasps. "There's medicine in the Cornucopia. If we start heading that way, we'll probably run across someone regardless."

Marina can't argue with that logic; the pain is clear as day on her face. She shakily hefts her spear once more before lifting her pack over one shoulder. The other hand she holds carefully close to her body. I consider, for a moment, finishing her off where she stands, but at this point, it's not even worth the energy. She won't last long anyways, not with a broken wrist and that burn laying half her cheek bare. Infection will set in sooner or later. The tall girl from Four is dead walking.

We set out a few minutes later, when we've all recovered and had a bit to drink, and it's slow going at first. The half bottle of energy drink I consumed a few short hours ago is now a distant memory. My stomach growls angrily and I ignore it as I duck under low-hanging branches, keeping my sword out and at the ready. If the Gamemakers wanted us here, that means other tributes are nearby, and while I'm not particularly afraid of most of them, the thought of the huge man from Eleven bursting from the brush keeps me alert.

It's not him we find all these hours later, though. I'm out ahead this time, and I'm just about to continue walking when I see it: a flash of brilliant orange through the trees. I gesture for my allies to stop, and they do, Clove silently joining me at the front to peer through the underbrush. When I point out my find, her eyes narrow and flash with recognition.

The dark-haired girl from the coal mining district reclines in a shallow pool. Even from here, I can tell the fire has taken its toll; half her pant leg is cut away, and I can see the brilliant red of the scorched skin underneath. She's drowsing now, her eyelids fluttering every now and then as the faint breeze whistles through the trees. But she's not alert, and I can't see any weapons. No threat, no particular prowess. No fearsome tribute worthy of an eleven. Just a girl. A girl lying defenseless in a pond.

A perfect opportunity.

A/N

Dun dun dun!

A little bit of a cliffhanger for you, although I suppose we all know what's going to happen next. Still, don't miss the next chapter- I promise to make it action-packed and really freaking awesome. Just remember to review please!

-Iri