A/N: Sorry for not updating yesterday, but this chapter's a long one :)
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Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games!

I slowly open my eyes and attempt to sit up, but my body is so badly bruised and wounded that it hurts even to lift a finger. There are holes and tears in my jacket where the mutt has scratched me, and I'm fortunate it didn't decide to sink its claws into my heart. The mutt has fled and my knife and pack lies a distance away from me. Something flutters on my chest when I breathe and I pick it up. It's a mint leaf. So Soraya has been here, but where is she now? I sniff the air to see if there are any more leaves she's scattered around, but there are none. I get up painfully and hobble to the tree where I left my supplies and the rabbit I killed, where Soraya is supposed to be. But she isn't. Nothing's left there. Sure that this is a dream, I cross to the other side of the tree, where I know I left the entrails of the rabbit. They're there, plain as day, and proof that everything wasn't a dream.

The sun suggests it's probably around noon, but I'm guessing probably a day has passed because the blood has clotted in some of the surface scrapes and scratches on my hands. I have lost my sense of direction. Even returning from the mountain, I was always following Soraya. I'm lost now. I wander around the area, stumbling and moving lethargically, occasionally stifling a groan as my wounds protest. The sky is dotted with white, wispy clouds, the blue hidden here and there. The wind blows against my body, fitting into the holes in my jacket, making my cuts sting all the more. Then I stop dead and stoop down.

There it is. A single mint leaf. I pick it up and hold it together with the first. So Soraya has left a trail of leaves, but where would she be? At the rocks? I have no idea how to get there. Maybe she's somewhere around here now? I look around for another leaf. Possibly the wind has blown them off course. Then I come across another. Scouting around the area, I come up with more and more, walking in the direction of the trail. It's tedious and takes considerably long as the leaves have all been blown away, since I've probably been unconscious for at least a day.

I wonder if anyone saw me. Perhaps the Careers didn't, or maybe they did, and thought I was in such bad shape I was as good as dead, or maybe they're just planning to take out the stronger competition until I'm one of the last few left, since I supposedly am a "weakling". My cold, cut fingers grip the rough rope handle of the obsidian knife tightly, until the coarse surface of the rope cuts into my palm. Even though I have a weapon here, I'm so injured and my head is spinning so much I doubt I could even stick it into someone now.

My tongue licks the cracked, bleeding surface of my lips and I realise how much I thirst for water. There's not a pool in sight, but I follow the mint leaf trail Soraya left, confident it'll take me back to the lake, where she'll be waiting. I keep picking up leaf after leaf, treading carefully through the forest that stretches on for eternity, through this large arena. After a kilometre, something moving on the ground startles me, and I can see it's a rabbit. I'm about to turn and sprint the way I came, anticipating its claws on my neck, but it doesn't come. Instead the rabbit just sits there, blinking occasionally, watching me passively. It's just a normal rabbit, I think. I throw my knife into its fur, which I can still manage, surprisingly, and it hits. Greatly relieved, I step forward to retrieve both my kill and the knife sitting in its fur, and pull up some grass to wipe the blood off. I clean the entrails out and holding the rabbit by the ears, continue trekking, following the mint leaves.

Pretty soon it falls dark, which makes me question my judging of time. I find a makeshift place to rest in the shrubs and try to fit my body in the leaf litter as best as I can so I won't be seen. I hope no one will come here, because I'll be rather defenceless. The anthem plays loudly, but no one's died today. I wonder how many nights I missed, and if anyone else died. Slowly I fall asleep, cradling my cut arms.

When I open my eyes, it's still rather dark. But at least I'm safe. I slowly sit up, stirring up the leaves around me, trying to make as little noise as possible. Even in the mid-darkness I can make out someone crouching nearby, head down, and I freeze, fingers curling around my knife. Then the person looks up, and I'm shocked by who it is.

"Cade? Why are you here?" I ask, forgetting that I'm in the Games.

"Shush. I just came across you a while ago. Where's your ally?"

"I don't know. I was knocked out for a few days, I think. By a mutt. Anyone died after the day we first met?"

"That was 2 days ago, and no deaths. Well, there was a fire coming towards one of the lakes over there, supposedly to spur action," he says, pointing in a direction.

I think it's probably our camp. That explains why Soraya didn't bring me back there or stay with me or something. But since I have no burns whatsoever, the fire was probably cut off at the lake. And that's why she left a mint trail, leading me to our new camp. "Seen my ally?" I ask Cade.

"I saw her running, but only from a distance. She was gone after that."

Hope she's still alive and well. "Thanks," I say, standing up and slinging my pack back onto my shoulders. Then I sniff the area for more mint leaves. "I'm going to find her now. She left a mint trail for me to follow."

"You mind if I come?"

I raise my eyebrows. Honestly, I wasn't expecting him to offer that, but I say yes anyway, since now it's quite obvious he won't hurt me. Soon after, I locate another mint leaf and keep going. I pick up more as the hours pass and the sky brightens, and Cade offers decent company. We make small talk about our time in the arena, joking here and there, and I ask him if he's got any sponsor gifts yet.

"Yeah, you got any?"

"No," I say bluntly.

"Not yet, huh?" He attempts a smile and I force one onto my lips as well.

Soon the mint leaves lead me to an area with a shelf of rocks not unlike the ones at the lake, and looking down at the rabbit I caught yesterday, I have an idea. Some matches are in my pack, and I pile twigs in one of them, deftly light a match and fling it into a small gap in the rocks, creating a small contained fire inside. I thread the rabbit through larger twigs as some form of spit, and poke it through the larger holes in the rocks. Cade watches silently as I go about this, and when the rabbit's inside the rocks I sit back, wiping my sooty hands on my jacket, and wait.

I sit for what I think is enough time for it to cook, occasionally peering inside the rocks to see if it's done yet, and when I think it looks cooked I hoist some rocks off the shelf, draw the spit out and clamp them down fast enough so the smoke won't escape. I can't afford water to put out the fire now, and seeing it's in the rocks, it should go out after a while. I just throw some damp tree bark I found on the flames. The rabbit is a little burned, but it's cooked, and I tear off part of it and divide it between Cade and myself. We continue following the mint trail, and I dig out more of the leaves from my pack, offer some to Cade, and nibble on them as an addition to the rabbit lunch. It's a good meal for the arena, and I've actually had a craving for meat ever since we were dropped in this forest. I suck the bone clean and bury it in the leaf litter on the ground. The rest will be for another day, or Soraya if I can find her. Anyway, there seems to be more rabbits around here. Shouldn't be a problem getting another. Don't forget Soraya probably has the other rabbit I caught.

We go on for a while longer. Soraya seems to have travelled a really long way. The landscape seems vaguely familiar...then I realise, she was heading for the field and mountain. Yes, I remember seeing that particular tree, this patch of dull red flowers, the leaf litter around. We're headed for the mountain. It takes me really long compared to the hour we first took to get there, but then I realise I've spent extra minutes here and there locating the leaves. Unsure of where she was leading me. But now that I do, I break off into a run for the mountain. I can hear Cade yelling to know where I was going, but I ignore him and keep running. Soon, the field of flowers and the mountain behind draw into view, unchanged as ever. I run until I get to the very edge of the forest, then stop. The following footsteps behind me stop as well, and Cade mutters, "Makes sense, why she'd be here."

"Johanna!" someone screams nearby, and Soraya runs out towards me. "You ok? You looked really bad when I found you, but I had to get away quick. There was a fire and the air was bad, but I figured you'd come."

I nod weakly and extend the spit, with the rabbit still on it, to her. "I got meat."

We walk to the tree where she has dropped all our stuff, including the first rabbit I caught days ago, which I notice she has somehow managed to cook. Parts of it has been eaten, and the rest is getting old. She refuses my offer and instead passes me some of the first rabbit, saying it won't keep for long. I ease myself down on the grass, back against a tree, and am half surprised to see Cade isn't here. Why did he leave? But soon I see someone standing still as a statue behind a tree, and after a couple of minutes the figure takes off, feet thudding silently against the ground. Strange.

"Johanna," Soraya says, fear and concern dancing in her eyes. She examines my torn jacket and bleeding limbs, and the cuts on my face that dripped blood, now clotted and dried. "You didn't come for three nights, but no one died yet, and I was starting to worry."

I brush away her concern and stand up. "I'm fine, really. So there's eight left?" Without waiting for an answer, I bring my finger to my temple, where I feel something thick trickling out. "I just don't want us to be the last two."

"What are you trying to say, Johanna?" The green eyes burn into me, pulsing mysteriously, boring into my thoughts.

There's no point beating around the bush any more, so I look her in the eye and state plainly, "We're going to have to break up soon."

She averts her gaze and solemnly nods. "I know. Alliances don't last forever, do they, brainless?"

I don't reply to that. My mind wanders to Cade, and I think I begin to understand his actions. Why he didn't want Soraya to know he was there, and why he left after he saw I was with her. Because alliances don't last forever.

It's about three or four in the afternoon, and we just sit there. Soraya managed to get everything out from the rocks before she escaped, so we have our stuff and the extra knife. I don't know what became of the knife I somehow lost here. I remember picking it up when we were leaving, then when we stopped it was no longer in my hands. I probably dropped it on the way.

The burning sun beats down on our heads, though the air is freezing. I wriggle my hands into the long jacket sleeves, clenching my frozen fingers into fists, curling up in a ball and sticking close to Soraya to conserve body heat. I'm sure the temperature has dropped two times colder than on the first day. I restlessly dig my knife into the ground, uprooting blades of long grass and flowers and halfheartedly weaving them into a crown of pale yellow blossoms intertwined with grass. The end result is something like the one I wore during my interview, except that this one has the natural scent of flowers and grass and carries the fond memories of the meadows beyond the trees back home.

I fiddle with my handiwork, occasionally gazing up at the blue sky without a hint of clouds in it, otherwise talking with Soraya. It's probably around six when we go out to scavenge for food after finishing one rabbit, and she finds a patch of berries among the flowers. An image comes to mind, the trainer extending a handful of different berries to me, pointing to one particular dark purple berry and saying, "This one's safe." I grin at Soraya's find and pick some of the berries, filling our palms full with them and bringing them back to camp. We have these plus a rabbit leg for dinner, but I'm starting to miss the mint leaves. We still have some, but we're running out last time I checked our stash of food.

The sky falls dark much earlier than it's supposed to be, and the sound of crickets chirping fills my ears. We squat there in semi-darkness, packs on our backs, knives in hands, fearing something's going to happen. I occasionally sneak a worried glance at Soraya. What's going on? There's still eight of us, so the Gamemakers shouldn't be sending some sort of natural disaster or mutts on us yet. Something's wrong with this darkness. I can't see. I can just make out the plants in this vicinity, but I can't see as well as in the daytime. I hate this half-darkness. Who knows why it's descending on us now.

A hand rests on my shoulder, and I look behind to see her eyes flicking around, wary of the danger approaching. There's an air of uneasiness around. She gasps, and hurriedly whispers, "Get up, Johanna, get up. It's coming."

I stand, and get a glimpse of what's coming our way. Even though it's dark, I still can see it distinctly. Black and brutal, engulfing everything it brushes past. Blanketing the cheerful flowers in a sooty black. Just as I take off into a sprint after Soraya, something reaches my skin. It's the black mist.

A/N: I just had to end with a cliffhanger. But I'll update soon!