A/N: Wow, I am so sorry for how long it took to update (and how short the chapter is). I had a chapter written but I didn't like the direction I took the story in, so I rewrote it.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I'm happy to see that you weren't too fooled by my cliff hanger xD

Chapter 14

Snow. Small, pure white flurries floated down from the sky, melting into the ground and sticking to my cheek. The sky above me was a light grey, but everything felt pure. Cold, but pure.

"You're awake." A voice called from far away, but I heard footsteps getting closer. Was I awake?

For a second, I had thought I had moved on. Gone to Heaven, or whatever was in the After Life. But on a second look, I noticed the sky was not pure and the snow was not innocent, but instead menacing and foreboding. A product of the Capital.

"You are awake, aren't you?" The voice questioned again, this time more hesitant. I wiggled my fingers, testing to see if I could still move. My body felt frozen, but I managed to sit up.

Every part of my body protested, but nothing was worse than the throbbing in the back of my head. I reached back, feeling a tight bandage wrapped around my head.

Moe came into my line of vision, her blonde ringlets wild and dusted with snow. Her nose was red from the cold, but her bright eyes were filled with fire. At thirteen, she looked even more mature than she did before the arena. A bow and quiver was strapped to her back and she had a knife slack in her hand.

"I…" My voice came out hoarse and I didn't know what to say to the girl in front of me.

"A thank you would be nice." Moe responded very sarcastically, as if she was reading my mind. I frowned, my hand still on the back of my head.

"What happened?" I asked suspiciously, but I made no move to threaten her. I felt that I could trust Moe, even though I knew she would kill me if it meant she could go home to her family.

"Well, I found Atlas cutting you up against a tree, and I shot him." She held up her bow, her face impassive. I guessed that it may not have been the first kill that she made in the arena.

"Is that how you got your nine?" I raised an eyebrow, but Moe didn't answer. Instead, she walked past me. I shift my body to find her crouching down in front of a huge backpack, rummaging through it. The bottle of pills she took out rattled slightly and I tensed up, my natural instinct taking over when I heard the sudden noise.

The blonde made her way back over to me and held out a few pills in her grubby hand. I took them gratefully and swallowed without pausing to think if they were poisoned or anything. If she wanted me dead, I wouldn't be here right now.

"You can rest for a little, maybe eat something, but then we have to move." Her tone was so matter of fact that I remained silent, letting the young girl boss me around. A million questions were flying through my head, but I couldn't decide where to start.

"No one else besides Atlas is dead." She doesn't beat around the bush, but begins to tell me what I missed while drawing lines in the snow with a twig.

"The boy from District One, the twelve year old from Five, the big guy from Ten, me, and you are the only ones left." Moe draws five lines in the snow, one for each tribute.

"The guy from one took out the entire career pack in their sleep, I saw it happen. And the twelve year old is psychotic. I haven't run into Ten, though."

Moe's eyes get wide, surprised by the news. "I did have a run in with Mandy, so I knew she was off the charts. I also had to get away from Ten, but I did get him in the leg." At this, she holds up one of her arrows before placing it back carefully. "But I didn't know what happened to the Careers. One seemed like the weak link, I'm surprised."

"Well he took one look at me and ran, so I don't think it would be too hard to take him out, although he still is a career. He was probably desperate and knew he would be the next to go if he stuck around with his allies."

Moe agreed. Silence fell over us, and I shut my eyes to block out the falling snow.

Sometime later, I woke up shivering. The snow was still falling and was gathering on the ground in an unnaturally perfect way. My new ally, or whatever we were, sat beside me, her head tilted upward at the darkening sky.

The anthem blared, but no faces were shown in the sky. It was the end of day eight in the arena. I had been in this death trap for only a week, but it felt like months had passed. Unlike last year's games which lasted about a month, I knew that we wouldn't be in the arena for too much longer. With only three other tributes besides Moe and I, it would only be a matter of time before the Gamemakers forced us all together in a grand finale.

Moe stifled a yawn beside me, and a frown etched onto my face. "You must be super tired. I don't mind taking watch for a little, you should get some sleep while you can." She hesitated, but it didn't take long for her resolve to completely diminish.

"Okay, but wake me up if you start to feel dizzy or something. You've got a nasty wound on your head." I promised, but Moe wasn't finished. "You've got a bad cut on your collar bone too. There are others, but that one's probably going to scar." She shrugged before snuggling down into a sleeping bag, which she told me earlier was found in Atlas' bag. I fingered the thick bandage on my shoulder, as well as one on my forearm.

"Don't fall asleep." She warned before turning her back toward me and remaining quiet for the rest of the night.

"Watch your step." Moe warned, her hand clamped onto my arm and helping me through the thick snow. The snow had not gotten heavier, but it continued to fall at the same speed and had collected overnight. Our thin suits were not made for snowy conditions and I found myself numb to the bone, even with multiple layers.

"What's the plan?" I ask. It's almost humorous how I resorted to taking orders from a girl four years young than me.

"We keep walking. The further we get away from the spot where I killed Atlas, the better." I nodded, knowing that Moe was right. One of the tributes could have seen where the hovercraft picked up his body, which means that they could be close. Something else registered in my brain, and I turned to Moe with a smirk on my face.

"We?" I questioned her, eyebrows raised. "So we're officially allies now?"

The fiery blonde scowled, but looked more cute than annoyed. "Something like that."

Her grip suddenly tightened on my arm and she let out a loud squeal. "You have got to be kidding me."

It was hard to make out in the snow, but someone was running toward us at full speed. Mandy's pigtails flew behind her as she charged at us, wielding a knife in front of her.

"I don't want to fight that thing. Run." I grabbed Moe's arm and tugged her in a random direction. I let go as soon as I knew she was following me, because it wouldn't help us go faster if we were holding onto each other. It also wasn't helping that we each had on two big backpacks of supplies, but I wasn't sure if it would be smart to let one go.

On second thought, I decided that thinking about short term survival was the better option. With little protest from Moe, I threw one of my bags to the side. I chose the one that was filled with food, knowing that we still had a whole other bag of food that we wouldn't even eat by the time the games were over. Moe followed my example, chucking away her bag of bandages. It wasn't the smartest move, but it was better than getting rid of our sleeping bag and catching hypothermia.

Feeling lighter and more motivated, I clenched my frozen fingers and pumped my legs faster. Moe and I probably looked like weaklings to all of Panem; the two of us, armed, running away from a small twelve year old with a single knife.

But one looked at Mandy's wild eyes and I knew I made the right choice. Moe fell behind, but took the opportunity to turn and shoot an arrow directly at Mandy's head. Even running, Moe had impeccable aim.

Our pursuer held up her arm to block the arrow, not having time to dive out of the way. It sunk into her arm, but she didn't even slow down. Moe fumbled for another arrow, but Mandy had already gained on her and tackled her to the ground.

I was torn between fight and flight, but I decided not to abandon my new ally. Mandy attempted to sink her knife into Moe's shoulder, but the latter was able to deflect the knife so it only grazed her arm. I threw one of my last few knives and it hit Mandy in the thigh. She rolled off of Moe, moaning like a wounded animal.

I had never seen anyone move as fast as Moe when she got to her feet. She took off like a startled deer, whipping by me in less than a second. Following her lead, I caught up to her in a few strides.

The two of us ran like the wind, and I almost felt free.