My consciousness strains against what I think is a fever-induced haze as I try to decipher whether the explosions I heard were real. I know what it means if they were – that Buzz's plan has come to fruition, and some of the Careers must be dead. But I don't hear the telltale cannon boom indicating another death, and before long I start to believe that I had imagined the sounds in desperation, or that I must have missed the sounds of the cannons among the sounds of the explosion, so I start to drift.

Despite the hot sun, I realize I am shivering with cold sweats, and I can't seem to focus my vision on anything, so I close my eyes and let myself fall again out of consciousness, falling into a silver-grey haze the exact shade of Katniss' eyes.

Soon, I am wrenched back out of consciousness by the sounding of a cannon. How many minutes have passed since the explosion? The sun doesn't seem to have moved much, but I can't really tell. I'm also disheartened by the fact that there is only one; surely an explosion of the magnitude that I thought I had heard would have caused more deaths. I'm starting to believe that I must have imagined the whole thing.

I slip back into a dream. I know that I come back to reality every few hours, but it's a hard distinction between the two. Sometimes, when I awake, I think I see Katniss, crouching before me, telling me everything is going to be all right. When I sleep, I see her also, though my dream visions of her are rarely in the arena, but back in District Twelve.

I'm not aware of time passing in the arena until night has fallen and I awake to the Capitol seal shining in the sky. The first face I see is the boy from District Ten – who I barely recognize from our time before the Games – followed by a face I do recognize. Buzz. Then, the anthem ends. I'm dumbstruck, wondering what has happened to the smart, scrawny boy from District Three.

I realize now that his plan must have failed. I believe that the explosions I heard earlier today are real, but have no idea how they went off without taking out a single Career. Perhaps the attack went wrong; I know it's not worth dwelling on, because I should be glad that all or most of their resources are now gone. But I can't help feeling a little sad for the demise of the only kid I felt might have really been my ally at the Career camp.

And I still don't know for sure that Katniss is safe. As much as I continuously tell myself that she must be, and that now her chances of winning are improved with a weakened Career team, I longingly wish that I could be positive – that I could see her just one last time.

Thinking of my current condition, I know that I may not live long enough to have any of my questions answered. I know that, first and foremost, I need water, but the idea of crawling the few feet back to the stream seems an insurmountable task. But my throat is dry and I can already feel my lips beginning to crack, and I know I won't hold out for much longer without water. So, desperately, I begin pulling handfuls of mud from the ground and pull them to my mouth, sucking what moisture I can from that. I still am not feeling any hunger, and I don't recognize the surrounding plants anyway so I know I shouldn't dare trying to eat them.

I force a few more handfuls of mud to my lips until I can't stand the murky taste of what little water I have been able to slurp up. Then, I again shut my eyes and drift away into my world of fever dreams.

I again revisit the dream that I had the first night in the Capitol – the one where I stand, a ghost, at Katniss' wedding, watching as she walks down the aisle towards a waiting Gale. This time, though, as she passes me, she stops dead and turns her soft grey eyes to rest on me.

"Thank you," she whispers, her eyes glistening with tears. "You gave me the bow, and I survived because of it. I understand now. You saved me." She gives me a soft smile, before turning to Gale, who holds out his hand for her. He momentarily meets my gaze and gives me a nod. It is such a vastly different scene from the one contained in my first version of this dream that I feel my dream-eyes glistening with tears. I watch the ceremony quietly, and after the vows have been said, Gale and Katniss turn out and look out at the crowd. Silently they both meet my eyes and, without hesitation, put the three middle fingers of their left hands to their mouths and salute me in our old District 12 salute – the same one I used after Katniss volunteered in place of her sister at the reaping.

I stand, stunned, for just a few moments, before falling backwards back into the silver-grey haze once more. I float through the mist, through visions of my family and friends back home, and countless visions of Katniss over the last eleven years. I don't know how long I remain suspended in my half-conscious state, but as I feel my mind returning to the present, I feel the warm afternoon sun pressing on my face, and know that I must have been in my fever-dream world for a very long time. I remain half-aware for several hours, half willing myself to simply fall back into complete unawareness until my growing fever and the slice in my leg finally get the better of me.

But I don't get so lucky. Before long, my gentle slumber is interrupted by a very familiar sound.

For those who are wondering - I heard a story once while I was cave diving about two young kids who got trapped in a cave and survived nearly two weeks without food or water by sucking the moisture out of mud, so that's where I pulled that inspiration from.

Hope you're all enjoying!