I run as far away from the Cornucopia as I can, trying to avoid the bloodbath that is unraveling before my own eyes.

I feel tears spring up in my eyes. Why would they kill innocent children? There are certainly better ways to spread their message of authority.

I push them down and continue up the mountain, slowing down a bit because I'm not exactly in the best shape. In a minute I'm panting and my legs are burning.

Then I hear pounding footsteps behind me. Someone starts to call my name, and I sprint, kicking rocks out of my way.

I will not die.

Not today.

"Drew! Stop!" they shout and I try to pick apart the mysterious voice, attempting to figure out who it is.

"Stop or I'll lead everyone else straight to you!" they then say, and I stop.

I can't afford for that to happen.

I turn to face them. It's just Troy. A very exhausted yet cute Troy.

Shut up brain! I think. This is no time for those thoughts!

"What do you want?" I say bitterly. His face falls a bit at my tone.

"To listen to me."

I give him a look. "I'm listening."

"The Careers want you, Drew. We want you. I want you, for heaven's sake!" he says, a sort of desperation in my eyes.

I think about it, but then Owen's face pops up in my mind. I can't leave him behind. "What about Owen?"

Troy doesn't move a muscle. "We want you, Drew."

"Troy, I'm not doing anything without him," I say, turning around to walk away. I feel a little triumphant. He's silent for a moment, and all we hear is the sound of birds chirping and the screams of our fellow tributes.

"Yes, you will, because you know that your best bet of getting out of here is teaming up with us." He pauses. "You'll survive."

I breathe. Careers come from what districts? One, Two, and Four?

Oh, God. Cleo.

"Not if Cleo is in."

"She's not," he says, surprising sure of himself.

I turn to him. "How? She seems rather Career-ish to me."

"The others are fighting her right now," he says. "I couldn't stand to see it, but I want it to happen. It was a unanimous decision. She'll be gone before you know it."

Well, that's one thing off of my mind.

I take in a deep breath. This means life or death.

"I'm in."

Troy's face lights up. "But we're staying up here until the bloodbath is over," I say, wagging my finger in his face. "I'm doing what I want to do, got it?"

He smiles. "Wouldn't have it any other way."

oOo

An hour and ten cannons being shot, Troy and I start to go back towards the Cornucopia.

It's a pretty easy trip, despite the rocks that fly around whenever I put down my foot. I almost fall a few times, but either I manage to keep myself up or Troy helps me out. He walks down the mountain as if he does it every day.

"What's District Three like?" he asks, shading his eyes from the sun and looking down at me.

I avoid a big rock in my path. "Pretty dull. All business. We're serious about our industry, you know."

He nods. "I know what you mean. District One takes our jobs very seriously."

"Do you have a job?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "If I make it out of here, I'll have a job by next year. I'm eighteen, so I'm pretty freaking close to independence."

"Do you want it?"

"It's all every kid dreams of. Making my own decisions….Don't have to listen to parents….Free from the reaping."

Just him rambling about it makes me want to be an adult.

I look up at the Cornucopia. "Do you think they're waiting for us?"

"Probably on the outskirts of the mountains, if at all. They're not stupid enough to stand out in the open this close to the bloodbath," he says. "Come on, slowpoke. We're almost there!"

I laugh and he bounds down the few more yards we have until we reach the valley. I follow him, careful not to fall down on national television.

There are a lot of things that I'm not going to be able to do on national television.

When I catch up with Troy, he is looking around the valley. "Come out, come out wherever you are!" he teases. A few people step out from behind boulders and trees. Iris was actually sitting in a pile of snow.

Wait.

Snow?

"Well, we made it out," Kitanna says, looking proud. "And we seem to have a new recruit!"

"Or your next dinner," Chad says under his breath, which doesn't go unnoticed by Kitanna. She punches him in the stomach and he doubles over in pain.

"God, I've wanted to do that for weeks," she says, satisfied with herself.

That doesn't make me feel any better.

"So, what do we do now?" Wiley asks, holding a spear in his rough hands.

"We can set up camp," I suggest.

Kitanna looks a little bored. "Or we can go hunt down some more people!"

We all exchange wary looks, but Kitanna won't take no for an answer. "We can go up that mountain, right over there. And then we can split up into little groups. How about Iris and Wiley, Chad and Troy, and myself and Drew? That sounds good?"

My stomach drops.

Now, wait a minute, Drew, I think. She's your ally now. You have to trust her. If she comes after you, you can totally take her. Do you hear me?

"That sounds great," I say, trying my best to sound happy. She looks satisfied by my answer.

We climb up my second mountain today – I think I can feel muscles in my legs developing from the incline – and Kitanna is moving around the group like she owns it. "If you need help, just call out. Okay, guys?" We all nod.

We split up and Kitanna smiles at me as we go further up the mountain. "This can't be too hard, right?" I ask. "I mean, there are eight people somewhere in this arena. One of them has to be close."

Kitanna shrugs. "I just didn't want to make camp just yet. Better wait and see if we find a more secure spot, right?"

"Oh," I say. We don't speak for a bit, mostly because I'm looking anywhere but Kitanna and she's just strolling along as if there is no threat to her life right now.

I would kill for the ability to act like that.

Literally.

The thought of death comes across my mind and I start breathing heavily. Tears well up in my eyes. "Can we…stop?" I ask. "Just for a few minutes."

Kitanna turns to me, seeing my obvious show of emotion. "Yeah. I'm cool with that." She points to a boulder a few feet to our side. "Go sit up there. I'll keep watch."

I do as she says and position myself in a safe place on the large, sturdy boulder. Kitanna leans up against it, her eyes darting across the landscape while mine are watering uncontrollably.

Drew, you don't cry outside of your house, my mind tries to remind me, but my eyes just don't want to cooperate. You better get used to the idea of death, or else this whole thing will be spent crying yourself dry!

I keep at it and Kitanna stiffens up. I notice. I slide off of the rock, my face still wet with tears, and ask her what is up.

"Don't move," she says through gritted teeth. "Someone is here."

She slowly pulls a knife out of her waistband. My eyes widen.

Was that there earlier?

Then a boy with dark skin pops out of nowhere, pushing be back. I fall and hit my head against the boulder behind me, my vision immediately spotted with multicolored, fuzzy balls.

The last thing I see before blacking out is Kitanna warding off the boy and then stabbing him in the chest. She pushes him down to the ground with ease and he is dead.

Whaaaaaaaat?

I did not see that coming. Or did I? You don't know how I write, so you don't know if I did either…okay, kind of off-topic.

So, I'm probably not posting a chapter tomorrow, even though my track record for postings recently has been excellent. I have another story, you know….[which you should go read if you like Percy Jackson. Oh, hey! Free advertising!]

So, you know, thanks for reading, blah blah blah, usual send-off junk.