Drew's POV

Every little sound from the forest makes me flinch. I can barely walk, let alone think. I'm dehydrated and the heat seems to be pressing down on me, making me especially sweaty.

Maybe the Capitol keeps the Hunger Games going only to torture us in the process of our death, and not just to kill us.

I keep going through the endless grass and trees with no sense of time or place. All I can think of is water. I can survive without food, sure, but water? Not a chance.

I take a look at the sky, shielding my eyes from the bright sun while trying to tell what time it is. The sun seems to be up in the middle of the sky.

This day is only half over?

After a few minutes, I start to hear the trickling of water. It then grows to splashing and then roaring. I speed up the pace – but only as much as my foot will allow me to go when it's injured.

I've been thinking about the injury a lot through the journey. How will I survive if I have to lug a useless foot around? What about combat? I'm an easy target, and I'll even admit it.

The water comes into sight, and I try to push myself to go faster, which causes a lot of pain in my foot. I sink to my knees at the river bank and take a long drink of water. It tastes cold and pure, so I don't hesitate to stop.

Sweet, sweet relief.

I stand up and observe my surroundings. Trees are everywhere, which practically conceals me from the view of anyone in the valley. The mountains are visible, but I can't see any paths from my spot. Hopefully no one up there can see me.

It won't hurt to settle here, right? I think to myself.

And, with that, I sit down and eventually fall asleep.

oOo

I wake up to the sound of nothing.

Complete silence surrounds me, and, I'll admit, it's pretty freaky.

I sit up and look around. Nothing looks different. Little sounds creep into my ears that seem to have left when I fell asleep – the river moving, the swaying of leaves in the wind.

I stand up, feeling a little less pain than before in my leg. I start to get goose bumps from anticipating nothing. I feel like something sound happen.

It doesn't.

I walk around a little bit, trying to wake myself up a bit more than I already am. I pace up and down the river, occasionally stopping to take a drink or look around some more.

Suddenly, someone bursts through the trees, almost silent and unnoticeable until they rammed into me and knocked me to the ground.

It's Troy.

His hair is messed up and his face has several scratches on it. Blood is stained on his shirt and his hands are raw.

He doesn't speak but looks at me with wild eyes. I start to panic. What is going on?

Instead of explaining, Troy literally just picks me up and starts running down the river.

I'm dazed for a moment. "What is going on?" I shout.

Troy makes a shhh noise, dodging past trees and managing not to fall in the river.

"Tell me!" I exclaim.

He takes a quick look behind him. "Kitanna," he murmurs.

A wave of fear hits me. I get a little image of her killing Chad in my brain and I squeeze my eyes closed, as if that would protect me from her.

This will all be over soon, I tell myself. It's okay. If she hurts you, you won't be able to be hurt any more.

I actually believe myself, too.

oOo

Scarlett's POV

I'm alone for the next few days.

Finnick is off doing whatever the people who rent him want him to do – I personally don't like to think about it – and, obviously, Wiress and Beetee aren't here. Really, there's nothing for me to do but sit back and watch Owen and Drew in the arena.

Owen is brilliant. He's been tampering with the detonator I sent him, and he's really close to figuring out what it – simply put – blows up. Plus, he's made a point of staying somewhere safe. And, by safe, I mean dangerous to get to, but safe afterwards. Same thing, right?

Drew, not so much. She's getting cocky. Too sure of herself. It's really putting my faith in her on the edge. But, you know, I have to keep pushing on.

I sit out on the roof where Finnick and I wrote messages not too long ago. It's a sunny day and several people have decided that they're going to take a break from watching the Hunger Games, so it's noisy. Although the noises are all normal and seemingly pleasant, there is a tension in the air that has been there for days.

I sigh, looking down at the ant-people below me. It's been a tough few days. Finnick's news, Drew's cockiness, my loneliness – I haven't even been able to contact Wiress or Beetee.

I get up from my place on the roof and drag myself back to the safety of my room – looking out at the Capitol just reminds me of my loneliness even more. Within a few minutes, I'm at my door just as someone else knocks on my destination.

Gertrude, my old stylist, looks as intimidating as ever. She has on a light sundress and her jet black hair is tied up into an elaborate knot. Her eyes are rimmed with a void of black which makes her blue eyes piercing and a force to be fearful of.

"Oh, Scarlett!" she says, turning away from my door. "I was just about to look for you!"

"Sorry for not being here," I say. "I was up on the roof."

"I heard about Finnick."

"Oh."

She moves over to me and puts an arm around my shoulder. "That boy can go through a million maidens and not be satisfied. The fact of the matter is that he already has a special-someone."

I recall a fuzzy memory of Finnick telling me about this girl back home who he has sought after for a bit.

"Annie?" I ask.

Gertrude nods. "Annie Cresta. Did you watch that Games? Of course you did – it's required. Anyways, she went made, and Finnick loves her anyways. You don't know how many times he has been bought and sold by the Capitol – but what you should know is that he came back each time still the same Finnick, still with his love for Annie."

"The whole 'buying and selling' thing…does it happen to everyone?" I ask.

"Not always," she says. "If you're a fan favorite and something to look at, then yes."

"So, if Nimiane Odair made it out last year…." I trail off.

Gertrude nods again. "She would undoubtedly have to go through everything her brother does. I mean, even their mother went through it!"

"She did?"

"Oh, yeah. The Odair family had good genes from the start. Born good-looking, die good-looking. It was never confirmed if Meri Odair was one of the people the Capitol used to make money off of, but it's certainly a pretty convincing urban legend."

I'm safe, I think. The Capitol won't come after me.

I don't even know if that's right, but the reassurance makes me feel better.

Sorry for not getting this chapter out for a while! I have everything in my life going on this week, so I've been pressed for time, yadda yadda….

I'm planning on ending this story soon – I have the ending worked out and everything. There will probably be one or two more chapters and then an epilogue. Admit it, you're proud that I actually planned for once!

Thanks for reading!