My heart pounds, as I watch Cato run. Who knows what other adversaries lie a few yards from me. I bite my lip, waiting for the woods to come alive. Nothing happens. Then I remember, there's only four of us left. Peeta, Cato, the boy from 10 and me. What now? Will the gamemakers force us together? I hope that it doesn't get down to just Peeta and me, because I can't kill him. And if he truly loves Katniss, he won't kill me either. So I lie in wait, avoiding sleep, because if I do, nightmares will haunt me. Nightmares of sword-wielding Cato, dying Rues, avoxes, and Thresh as he dies will attack without warning. So I sit, but refuse to sleep.

I am getting more and more paranoid as the night goes on. Three people have died near this tree. I do not want to be the fourth. So come morning, I'll continue down the river, until I find a suitable place to hide. Night moves on, and the crickets keep chirping, and the owls keep hooting. The moon continues its pilgramige across the sky.

Finnaly, after a long night, the sun rises, bursting with color. It looks prettier every single day. I pack my bag, and climb down from my perch slowly. Looking around me, I see no one, so I fill my bottle in the stream, and push on forward. I continue to walk, checking around me every few feet. I pick some berries as I meander along, munching them, only after checking to make sure they are not nightlock. I do not want any accidents

My ears begin to pick up a sound, the farther I walk, the clearer it becomes. It's a kind of moaning, and it sounds like someone in a lot of pain. I walk more briskly, wondering what it could be. It sounds human, but who knows, it could be a gamemaker's mutt. Abruptly, I stop. What if it's some kind of trap? The boy from 10, or even Cato, could be faking it, to lure someone in to invesigate.

I walk forward more carefully now, and use all my focus to sense any attacker. Though if someone does attack, I will die, after all, I still have no weapons. I continue, and then the moaner comes into view. It's the boy from District 10. I stop, staring at him in disgust. His body is covered with tennis ball sized lumps. I recognize them at once. Tracker jacker stings. Tracker jackers are like bees, but have venom in thier stings. They are capitol-created. They cause people to hallucinate, and if you get stung enough, die. I remember a patient brought in to my mother, about two years ago. He had accidentally stumbled into a nest, that was mostly abandoned, luckily. The remaining tracker jackers attacked him, and when they brought him in, he had eight stingers in his flesh. He was near death when they brought him in, and was clearly terrified of some unknown thing. He survived, but just barely.

The poor boy in front of me has at least 15 stings, and is shaking in terror. His lips are moving, but no sound comes out, except a few whimpers, or the occasional moan. I try to help him. I know that he would leave me to die, if the positions were switched, but I can't stand to watch another person die. I get up, and search for some Calendula or lavender to put on it, but there's nothing.

Biting my lip I try to pull the stingers out, even without plants, this should help. But I can't get most of them out, the lumps are too swollen. I keep trying, though the boy has stopped shaking, and is passed out in my arms. I would even settle for some basil, to save him, but there's zilch, zero, absoultly nothing. I can't help another person as they die in my arms. He slowly goes limp, and the cannon fires.

This poor boy, I didn't even know him, but I still cry for him. No one should have to die like that, in a ton of pain, and terrified. Though my heart aches for this nameless boy, I know I need to search his stuff for food, or even a knife. I bite my lip, torn between respect for the dead, and necessity for a weapon. Eventually, my brain wins over my heart, and I pull the boy's pack from his back. Inside, there's barely anything. But I do find a knife, and I pocket that. I say goodbye to another person, who died in my arms. I get up from my crouched pose. I step back, and watch as the hovercraft desends.

I turn around, and start walking back to the river, to find a tree to spend the rest of the night. On my way, I stumble upon some betony, which chases away nightmares. I quickly find a tree, and place the betony on a branch. I am so tired, that I fall asleep atop my herbal pillow in seconds. I wake up briefly at the sound of the anthem, and I see the boy's face in the sky. That means only two more of us have to die. Me, Peeta, or Cato will return home very soon. I close my eyes again, and don't wake until the morning.

I wake up late though, I've missed the sunrise, which stinks when you may not see many more. I did not have any nightmares last night, and I feel well rested, for once in weeks. I jump down, out of my tree to begin foraging for breakfast.

Suddenly, I hear thundering feet coming towards me. I whip out my knife, and stand ready, but I've never been good with knives, and I don't really know how to hold it. I point it at the lumbering shape, as the figure comes into view. My breath catches as I realize who it is.

Author's Note

My thanks to MissyDarkHeart, 97, Sophia Lele, hbm123, carmencielle for reviewing!

Please keep reviewing!

Vale,

Michela Snow