CATO'S POV

The sound of yelling woke me in the morning. Yesterday had been the first day of the 73rd Hunger Games and I'd fallen asleep late last night on the Neilsson's couch. It hadn't been an easy day for me. First there was the attack by Jesper from District Seven, to which I had to thank Calder for saving her. Then there was the incident with the crocodile which had me screaming at the television as if she would hear me if I yelled loud enough.

But the worst part, by far, was watching the Careers as the Gamemakers shone the fallen tributes in the sky. It was the worst because not only did it remind me that I now owed a certain District Four tribute for saving Alfie but because Alfie and said tribute sat annoyingly close together as they watched it. I hated seeing them sitting so close. It was so obvious to me that Calder Van Dillon was still in love with Alfie and part of me was worried that she would fall for him again.

We hadn't really been dating but I had felt something that I'd never felt before and didn't want to feel for anyone else. I was certain that I was in love with Alfie and until these Games had started I was sure that she felt the same for me; or at least close to the same. But watching her interact with Calder, I realised that their relationship was entirely different from ours. I wasn't sure if it was a good or bad difference but I couldn't not notice the difference. I just hoped that the awkwardness was because Alfie didn't want to be around him and not because she still wanted to be with him.

I realised that people were still arguing in the kitchen and hoped that my presence might stop them. When I stopped in the doorway, I found Eitan, Aloki and Maya standing in the middle of the kitchen. It was clearly a painful argument because Eitan and Aloki looked unbelievably uncomfortable and Maya had tear tracks streaming down her face. They had been arguing ever since Maya realised that Calder was in the Games and it seemed that the argument hadn't changed at all since then.

"I deserve to know what's happening. I don't want you having to come into my room and give me that look." Maya said as she wiped her face with the back of her hand.

She was referring to when she'd found out about her father's death, she'd brought it up more times than I could count. Personally, I felt she had a point. Whether she was watching or not, wouldn't change the outcome. And if Alfie were to die, which I obviously hoped she wouldn't, then maybe witnessing it would help Maya to accept it. I didn't know; I was just glad that I wasn't Eitan or Aloki.

Eitan shook his head, "You promised Alfie that you wouldn't."

"Alfie's not here and I never actually promised her anything." Maya snapped.

Aloki reached out to his baby sister, "How do you think Alfie's going to feel when she finds out that you ignored her request?"

"She doesn't need to know. We can just say that I watched all the replays."

The two brothers were dead against Maya watching the Games. They were afraid that she wouldn't be able to cope with witnessing the horrors of the Games in general, let alone watching her sister murder or potentially be murdered. There were lots of twelve year olds that weren't allowed to watch the Games, most often those that were allowed were training to be Career's. Most people didn't want to watch the Games, as they were just a reminder that we were all powerless to the Capitol. Still, I felt like I understood Maya's determination, with everyone else in the family able to watch the Games, it must be isolating to be left out.

Aloki noticed me and his face brightened, "What do you think, Cato? Should Maya be allowed to watch the Games?"

I had supported the brothers since day one but I was starting to think that that wasn't going to work. Maya was more persistent than I had expected, she was a lot like Alfie in that sense; it was just about the only thing they shared. If I'd moved to District Four and walked past Maya and Alfie in the street, I would never have thought they were sisters.

Maya was petite with thick curly black hair. Her skin was pale and delicate, as she had had the most sheltered life of all her siblings. Maya's features were as gentle as her loving character and her hazel eyes just seemed to emphasis her sweet as honey nature. Everything about Maya was girly and cute, she reminded me of a porcelain doll.

In comparison, her sister was hard and aggressive. Alfie was tall and muscular, although not so much as to be butch. She had butterscotch hair that flowed to her shoulders in waves and occasionally formed loose ringlets. Her oval face and average features were beautiful but somehow plain, and they made her look hostile. Considering what she'd been trained for all her life and where she was, it wasn't surprising and was almost certainly helpful.

Alfie and Maya were polar opposites but it didn't stop them from loving one another. In fact, they got on better than I did with my brothers, and we were all fairly alike.

"It depends on what means more to you." I said to Maya, "Doing what your sister asked or getting your own way."

Maya seemed unfazed and her response surprised me, "Getting my own way. I'm generally not a selfish person and I think that it's about time that I got to put myself before everyone else's happiness." Maya didn't wait for her brothers to reply, instead she turned on her heels and waltzed from the kitchen, towards the living room and the television.

"Sorry." I sighed.

Eitan turned back to the fridge and Aloki walked towards me. He reached out an arm and draped it over my shoulders, "It's okay. I think it's a Neilsson women thing, I'm pretty sure Alfie would have said the same thing. You'll have to remember that if you want to keep your sanity when you and Alfie are dating properly."

We re-entered the living room and found Pierce sitting with Maya and explaining what had happened since last night when Eitan told her about the results of the bloodbath. It was strange seeing Pierce interacting with any of the Neilssons, seeing how one of the first things he'd said to them was an out and out threat to the most vulnerable member of the family. Alfie had then threatened Pierce and I would never have thought that we'd get here, ever.

Aloki sat on one of the piles of cushions that had been set up almost directly in front of the television. They didn't have enough seats for all the people that were normally gathered around so there were two cushion heaps to seat those that missed out on a couch seat. Aloki preferred the cushions because of their proximity to the television, and I did too.

We might not physically be any closer to Alfie, we are still unable to help her or talk to her, but being closer to the television made me feel somewhat better. Somehow I felt closer to Alfie, like the closer I was to the television the more support I was giving her. And the sooner I would see what was happening in the Arena, although I knew that wasn't actually the case.

So I took the other pile of cushions and got comfortable.

Nothing really seemed to be happening in the Arena at the moment. The footage kept jumping from tribute to tribute, most of them seemed to be wandering aimlessly but a few were still asleep. A map in the bottom right corner of the screen showed where the different tributes were and was colour coded for the different individuals and the alliances that had formed. There were no rival alliances close together and so nothing was really worth focusing on.

The cameras had only just focused on the limping male from District Eleven, when it suddenly jumped to the Cornucopia. There weren't a lot of good vantage points at the Cornucopia, as it was a flat field that allowed all tributes a fair start to the Games. Most of the cameras were located on the actual Cornucopia itself. A few others were set in rocks, the ground and each of the starting blocks. The cameras they were using now were focused on the mouth of the Cornucopia, where the Career tributes were gathered and fiddling with their weapons.

"So, are we all ready?" Taffeit said with a broad smile as he polished the point of a spear.

Calder and Alfie rolled their eyes.

Yolanna spoke up, "No. And we won't be ready until we have a plan."

Alfie was organising the throwing daggers in her belt and would occasionally adjust the back of her thigh length jacket. Raze and the two District One tributes didn't know about Alfie's skill with throwing axes and no one had brought up the fact that they hadn't found any. I wasn't sure if she'd organised it with the District Four tributes but they seemed to automatically know not to bring up Alfie's supposedly greatest talent. I still hadn't seen her use a throwing axe and was curious to know if they had just been exaggerating her prowess.

"Well, what would you suggest as a plan?" Chenille snapped, her bow and arrows were all sitting neatly on her shoulder as they waited to head out.

"Someone should stay here, in case there are tributes waiting for us to leave so they can steal some supplies." Calder suggested. He was annoyingly tall and handsome, with dark hair and bright eyes. The sword on his hip and trident on his back made him look even more like a soldier, I was sure that girls all across Panem were imagining him as their knight in shining armour.

"We're going." the two District Ones barked, desperate to get out there and start slaughtering more tributes.

"We'll stay." Yolanna offered and I could tell that Calder wasn't happy about being volunteered for such a dull position.

Alfie finally said something, "Should we split up or go as a large group?"

The tributes that weren't born in District Four all looked at one another. In a brilliant display of District exclusivity, the two District One tributes stepped closer together and said in unison, "Split up."

After a silent moment, that included a hard stare from Raze, Taffeit tried to explain, "We can cover more ground that way."

"Whatever. We'll go North East, you go North West." Raze grumbled as he started moving away from the Cornucopia.

There was one camera that was directly behind Alfie and Calder and its footage now dominated the screen. Calder sighed and put an arm around Alfie's shoulder, he pulled her into his side and she moved without hesitation. I hated seeing her so close to him, I'd never been a jealous sort of person before but Calder brought it out of me. He leant his head down and his lips came uncomfortably close to Alfie's ear.

"You watch yourself out there. I don't trust that guy; so try to keep him in front of you at all times." he whispered.

Alfie shook her head, "I know how to watch my own back. I've been living in Two for months."

Calder laughed as Alfie walked off, following Raze towards the wetlands. Alfie's walk was strange. She was confident and determined but it was an act. I could see the shadow of awkwardness that made her steps that little bit shaky. I'd never seen her shaky before and it was a bizarre sight, I don't think I could ever get used to seeing that. But she trudged after Raze in a fashion that would not have been noticed by any of the others, except maybe Calder.

When the two pairs of tributes reached the wetlands the screen divided down the middle. One side was following the District One tributes and the other was following Raze and Alfie. On each of the bottom corners was a map of the area and the location of the two scouting groups were flashing red. On the District One side of the screen the map showed a blue dot to the North West, while on Alfie's side it showed a yellow arrow that pointed off the map towards the North. There were two tributes in the area and the Gamemakers were hoping that one of the pairs would stumble across the other tributes.

I hoped that it was the District One tributes that found their target. The idea of Alfie actually having to fight someone... I didn't like that idea. My greatest hope at the moment was that Alfie would be able to leave the games without making a single kill. It was possible. A few years ago it had gotten down to the final three and the Victor hadn't been involved in the death of the other two. The other two found one another and although one died, the other was severely injured, to the point where he ended up bleeding to death before he found the final tribute. If Alfie could make it to the final three without making a kill then she could win without making one. It was possible, but not likely.

They walked for ages. To begin with we all watched in silence and were concentrating on both sides of the screen, hoping that District One would be seeing action and not District Two. After a few minutes of trudging through the wetlands, we started to relax and joke about the chances of District One finding their target. The really sad bit was that we had, for the most part, been right; after a while there was a little blue arrow pointing south. They had walked right past Oliveen from Seven, who was hiding in a tree; and I use the term 'hiding' very liberally as the tree she was in barely had any leaves.

Unlike the District One tributes, Raze and Alfie were able to find a trail to follow. The second they announced their location of a trail, District One was pushed off the screen and two other tributes replaced them. Lin and Justin, from Nine and Eleven respectively, they were armed with thick branches and trudging south. The two pairs were on a collision course with one another and it scared me.

So now, we were silent again. Staring at the television and moving in our seats as if a different angle would change what we were seeing.

Lin and Justin saw Alfie and Raze first and they froze at the sight of the two Careers. Careers were like wolves, while non-Careers were like bison. At the beginning of the Games, when the Careers were grouped together, you could just about be guaranteed of a Career win. While one on one the odds generally lay with the Career, it was not uncommon for one to lose to a non-Career.

When Alfie and Raze noticed their targets the mood changed dramatically. Careers were trained to be predators and when a predator finds its prey there was always a change in atmosphere. Brutus, District Two's head mentor, always said it was adrenalin that caused the change. Careers used adrenalin to pump themselves up to fight; non-Careers used it to defend themselves.

Not a word was exchanged before Lin turned and ran. Alfie took off after him and again the screen split in two. In the face of likely death, people's true colours always seemed to come to the surface. Lin, with his uninjured limbs, was going to try to save himself, with no regard for Justin and his bad foot. I didn't like Lin but I couldn't blame him, being faced with two armed teenagers must be terrifying.

I was surprised at the fight that Justin put up. Even his injury, which Claudius Templesmith believed to be a severe sprain, didn't seem to slow him down much. Brutus said adrenalin could override the pain someone felt and make them do things they otherwise couldn't have dreamt of. Justin was able to hold Raze off for an exceptionally long time but eventually Alfie had my one hundred percent full attention.

Lin finally stopped running and Alfie pulled up a few feet behind him. Lin beamed at Alfie, "I'm impressed that you survived the alligator."

Alfie shook her head, "It was a crocodile."

"What's the difference? On second thoughts, I don't care. You followed me with no weapons, are you stupid?" Lin said as if he'd lost his thought filter.

Alfie smiled at him and swooped her hands under the edges of her jacket. Resting her hands on her hips and standing akimbo, her jacket opened to reveal the half dozen throwing knives that she had tucked into her belt. There was something very aggressive about her stance and I was glad that I wasn't Lin.

For some sadistic reason, Lin smiled, "You think a little knife is really going to help you? This," he wiggled the branch that he held, "could reach you from here. Those knives aren't going to save you."

Alfie shrugged, "I'll agree with you there. I won't kill you with these knives."

Lin laughed and Alfie pulled her hands away from her hips. In her right hand she held a throwing axe and the sight of it made Lin laugh louder. He drew back his arm and swung. Alfie didn't move fast enough and the end of the branch hit her cheek with a sickening smack.

She pulled her left hand up to cup her left cheek and when she pulled it away there was scarlet blood smeared across her cheek and all over her hand. She moved something around in her mouth and then spat. Her spit was pink with the mix of saliva and blood. He'd done more damage than even he realised he could do, the shock was evident on his face.

But it was only momentary shock. After he registered that the branch could truly save his life, he smiled. Which was not a recommended move when you're in the Game, smiling at such times was very disrespectful and was often a sign that they, the smiler, weren't going to win.

The next few moments went by incredibly fast.

Lin raised his arm to strike at Alfie but before he'd even reached the apex of his swing, he seemed to freeze. The throwing axe looked to be glued to his forehead, the blade pressed into his skin and his blood welled around the cold metal. It wasn't glued to his head; it was lodged in his skull. A thin trail of blood started running down his nose as his hand released the stick.

Lin crumpled like a ragdoll as the cannon sounded.