"Nick's in trouble," I say urgently to Lucas. "We have to help him."

We quickly but carefully get down from the tree. I grab the pocket knife out of my backpack. We start running. I push through the pain in my body. We keep running in the direction where Nick is. I can hear screaming. It's the same scream as before. The girl that nearly killed me from district 5. We keep running. I can see the shapes in the distance. On and on we go until we reach him.

"Hello again," I say which makes the district 5 girl turn around. She stares at me angrily, before running at me. As she bumps into me I push her to the ground. She brings me down with her. I pin her down to the ground.

"Leave him alone!" I yell

"This is the Hunger Games!" she yells back. "We are going to kill people!"

"Good luck with that!" I shout showing her the knife.

"She makes an attempt to grab it but I pull it away. Suddenly it's jerked away from my grip. Not by the girl. I'm pulled up onto my feet. It's the district 6 boy. He pins me to the floor but Lucas pulls him off. He goes to strike Lucas in the head but Lucas ducks. I grab the boy's foot and he slips and falls on the ground. I grab the pocket knife that he dropped on the floor. Now he comes to attack me again. The girl joins him. She pulls my hair while he tries to grab the knife. I keep pulling it away from his grip so instead he punches me in the face. Nick pushes the girl over while Lucas pounces onto the district 6 boy who rolls off of me.

It's dark now and hard to see. I barely see the district 5 girl grab a stick and strike Nick in the stomach. I lunge for the stick and pull it out of her hands. She tries to grab the pocket knife. She pulls hard and I lose grip. She pins me to the ground and gets ready to stab me. Her arm is raised. I get ready for my death. Suddenly she is pulled up by Lucas. He flings her to the ground. I get up and run to her. I know that this is going to be a fight to the death. I snatch the knife out of her hand. I get ready to stab her but Lucas's voice distracts me.

"Help!" he yells desperately.

I turn around to see the district 6 boy holding Lucas in a headlock. I start to run but the girl grabs my foot and pulls me down again. I kick her away and run towards Lucas. This time the district 5 girl is too slow. Nick is searching through the dead girl's backpack, looking for anything valuable. I feel my backpack still on my back. I can't lose it. I get to where Lucas is and stab the district 6 boy in his hand. He lets go of Lucas. Lucas gasps for air and I pounce on the district 6 boy. I've pinned him to the ground.

"Don't mess with me!" I yell, furious.

I raise the knife and get ready to stab him. I have to kill him. Just stab him already. It's not that hard. I move the knife down but can't seem to pierce his skin. He rolls over sending me with him down the hill. We finally stop rolling and he's got me pinned to the ground. His arm is over my neck pushing my head back. Lucas is busy fighting the girl.

"I am going to kill you!" the boy says maliciously.

He grabs the pocket knife with his other hand. He raises it ready to stab me. Again, I'm certain that my death will come. I close my eyes, waiting. No, I'm still alive. I feel his body weight being lifted off of me. I open my eyes and see Nick attempting to grab the knife. The district 6 boy pulls the knife away. I'm behind him and he can't see me so I make a desperate lunge at the knife. I snatch it out of his hand and give it to Nick before quickly pinning the boy to the ground.

"Kill him!" I shout at Nick making sure he understands. "I can't!"

I keep the boy pinned to the ground but leave Nick room to stab him. I watch as the knife pierces his skin. The boy starts choking. Soon he is dead. I get off of him and go over to Lucas who has pushed the district 5 girl to the ground. She runs away into the forest. Nick flings his arms around me. I collapse into his arms, unable to stand.

"What happened to you?" he asked. He's obviously seen my deep gashes and cuts.

"I'll tell you later," I reply. "Please can we get out of here."

Lucas picks me up and we walk to a safer place. Who knows if it's safer? Nowhere is safe in the

arena. I hear the sound of the canon. Six dead. Eighteen left.

Nick scatters some valuable possessions that he found from the district 5 boy on the floor. I think it was the district 5 boy. Lucas puts me down on the ground. I try and sit up but I can't. My back is aching. Not just that, every part of my body aches.

"Food and a sharp knife," Nick says. He's telling us what he got from the boy.

"I've got some stuff in my backpack," I tell them.

They pull the backpack off of my back.

"Are you okay?" Nick asks.

"No," I reply. "First the district 5 girl attacked me when I got the backpack. I tried to get away. I couldn't. We ended up fighting in the forest, using anything that could be used as a weapon. Pointy rocks, sticks. I had the pocket knife so I tried to defend myself. We kept snatching it off of each other. I cut her once but she cut me twice. My back stings. We were rolling down a hill and I bashed into the tree."

"I'm so stupid," he says. "I should've gotten the medicine. There was a cream in the boy's backpack that soothed pain anywhere in the body. It was only for pain though, not cuts and gashes."

"It's alright," I reply. "How were you supposed to know that I'd be so weak?"

"We have to get it."

"No," I say reaching for his arm to stop him from leaving. An excruciating pain runs up my back and I lie back on the ground. "Maybe after some rest I'll be better. And it's too risky. You could get yourself killed."

Lucas is searching the contents of my backpack.

"Look," he says holding up a tiny jar. He starts to read the label. "Apply to cuts and gashes daily until healed."

"It'll do," I say. "I'll just have to push through the pain in my back.

They both rub the cream inside of the jar onto my gashes. Instantly the pain from those cuts goes. I'm so relieved. I already feel so much better. I close my eyes and quickly fall asleep.