Sebastian "Seb" Cassara (18)- D7M

We make it to the waterfall by nightfall, at which point we decide to rest for the night. If the Career girl has realized we've outsmarted her, she'll be coming after us with ferocity, probably continuing through the night. But Tag and I are both agree that she likely won't figure it out; she'll just assume that she's missed us and keep going. We'll be safe here for the night.

The gentle sound of the water running over the rocks and sand soothes me enough that I can sleep, despite the pain that I'm still in. I think it's been slowly coming back, and I don't want to overwork myself and make it worse. Maybe after I get some sleep, I'll go back to feeling better. It's Tag who apparently understands the healing properties of coconut. He said he read about it in a book. I can't say I read much in general, but maybe that will change if I survive this thing. That night there are no faces in the sky, yet again. That's two nights in a row. The Capitol is surely itching for blood, even though these Games have generally been pretty eventful. I can only hope they don't devise a deadly decimation of the remaining tributes. On the other hand, we could definitely use a few deaths caused by the Gamemakers. With only five of us left, the competition is getting fierce.

I wake up a number of times in the middle of the night, each time from a separate strange dream, each I don't really remember seconds after waking up. It makes the night drag on forever, like the sun will never rise above the mountains. When it finally does, the glaring light burns my eyelids and doesn't let me sleep. I shove at Tag's shoulder. Luckily he's a light sleeper too, and he jumps to his feet almost immediately.

"How are you feeling?" he asks, checking his boot to see if his knife is still there. The sight of the blade glinting in the sunlight still makes me slightly nauseous.

"I'm fine," I say, despite my queasy stomach and the continual clouding of my head. Tag bends down to examine my skin, the black poison that extends through my arm and over to my shoulder. It's still scary, no matter how much its receded. I pull my jacket back over it and reach a hand out so Tag will help me up.

"We should get a head start," Tag says, using his other hand to block out the sun and look up at the cliff. "It doesn't look like the Career from One knows what we did, but she'll come back around eventually."

"It's not just her we should be worried about," I groan as I step forward. "There's only five of us left. Any of the others could be around, trying to end things quickly."

"Then we need to get over the cliff quickly, before someone sees us."

I nod, stone faced, trying to stay optimistic. My body definitely isn't at its best, but I have Tag's help, and I'm feeling much better than I did when we came this way before. Going up is harder than going down, but I can manage.

Tag and I start our ascent beside the waterfall, which is much easier than any other path we could have taken up the cliff, clearly planted there by the Gamemakers. I can tell it's more difficult than Tag had anticipated. I feel a twinge of guilt as I watch Tag struggle to reach another handhold on the rock. If I was in my normal state, I could have helped him up the path and easily made it myself, but now I have to sit back and watch him find the safest way, knowing that if he falls his small body will be completely broken.

Speaking of, now that the pain from the poison is wearing off, I can feel pain radiating from my back where I fell from the cliff before. It must be bruised beyond belief. I'm lucky I didn't break anything; the sand must have cushioned me well enough so that I'm still able to walk. If one of us falls now, we'll fall onto the hard rock of the waterfall. I can imagine Tag's fragile body breaking against the rock, splattering blood and meat everywhere. I feel so powerless. I joined Tag in an alliance so that I could protect him, and yet now I wouldn't even be able to catch him if he slips on a wet rock. What am I even here for?

"Seb," Tag pants, about halfway up the cliff. It's not exactly high; I could still jump up and touch his ankle if I wanted. "Try climbing after me. Watch where I put my feet, okay?"

I nod curtly, placing my hands on the slippery rocks. The water cascades down beside us, the noise filling my ears, drowning out everything else. The ascent would be easy if I was in my normal condition; I could climb up in a few minutes and help pull Tag up. Instead I have to struggle for at least ten minutes, grabbing Tag's hand that he offers and letting him help me up. It's all backwards, the way things are.

When we reach the top of the cliff, Tag helps pull me all the way up and we lay on the ground for several minutes, panting from exertion. I can still hear the water crashing in my ears. I open my eyes, watching as a flock of birds flies overhead. I sit up with a groan, shaking my head to get the ringing out of my ears. I look over the cliff at the sea, eyes widening when I realize the water is churning violently, like it's trying to spit something out.

"Tag!' I exclaim, pulling him up. He scramble sto his feet and we stare in amazement at the ocean, swirling and warping in an unnatural way. What kind of Gamemaker trick is this?

"We have to get inland, quick!" Tag yells over the din, grabbing my hand and dragging me along.

Filly Marcoffe (18)- D10M

I'm sitting on my bed, peering out the door like I've done all night. I wasn't able to sleep after seeing that figure out in the desert, instead sitting awake, trying to figure out if I've been hallucinating or not. I regret throwing the book over the cliff. I could have reread the happy parts to distract myself, try to make the ominous figure disappear. Maybe if I don't read about it, it will go away. But now I've tossed away my only recourse, and this demon might never leave me alone.

Every little sound makes me jump. I glance around me every few seconds, terrified that the demon has somehow found its way into the cabin without me knowing. The air was chilly at night, but now it's burning hot. I wipe the sweat out of my eyes, the lack of air movement through the cabin killing me, but I'm not willing to leave. Outside the door, I can see sand blowing around, forming but think that the Gamemakers are responsible for every little grain of sand that's blowing all around the arena. If they can set a demon on me, surely they can do anything.

Or… there's the more terrifying option: that the Gamemakers aren't responsible for the demon at all, but that it is a real monster that's out of their control. I grip my knife tighter from where its hidden under my leg, just in case the demon can see me and will think I'm unarmed. If it comes for me, I'll need to be ready. My stash of peaches and apples are on the bed beside me so that I can grab them easily and run away if it comes to that.

But I would rather kill the creature myself than leave this place, which has sustained me for so long. I tear up slightly thinking about my friends in the book. They died here because they didn't want to leave their home, and here I am terrified to leave myself.

I sit for hours, listening to the wind blow outside, the white noise of the arena. The distant howling of wolves or some strange animal. Everytime, my stomach clenches with fear. The noise rises in volume, to the point that I'm not sure if I'm imagining it or not. It fills my ears so much that it's all I can hear. I feel my breath coming quickly as I realize the sand outside the door has started swirling in a vortex so quickly that I can't see anything else. I slowly get up, gripping my knife tightly and holding it just under my jacket. I cautiously peer out of the doorway, coughing as sand blows directly into my face and mouth. I can barely see anything beside the brown and orange grains swirling all around.

I can hear the inhuman yowling of animals as I hurry back to my fruits, packing them tightly in my pockets and even some in my pants and underwear where I'm sure they won't slip, before heading out as quick as possible. I put one hand over my eyes to block out the sand, but it barely works. I can feel it in my mouth, in my eyes, my nose. The gritty taste and feeling in my throat makes me gag, but I persist. I can see the path below me, so I know where I'm going at least. I eventually forget about blocking the sand and instead reach for the wall on my right, to make sure I don't wander off of the cliff. I lose my footing a couple of times, but I manage to right myself and keep moving. The howls of the animals behind me keep me going, terrified of what will happen if they reach me, or even so much as catch my scent in the wind. But more than anything, I'm scared of the demon. What if it is the one that's sending this storm?

Suddenly, the sand stops blowing, the air going freakishly still as the sand suddenly drops onto the ground. The mountain is exactly as it was before the storm, the leaves of the fruit trees serenely blowing in the light breeze. I've barely moved at all, hardly a few yards. When I turn around, I can still see the cabin behind me, sagging to one side. Then I can hear a distant whistling sound, like something was coming towards me. I watch as a fireball materializes in the distance, rapidly heading my way. I duck down as the flaming ball crashes into the hut, exploding with wood and sparks. I scream in terror and try to run as fast as I can away from the plateau, struggling not to fall over the side of the path. Another fireball scorches behind me, crashing into the path and leaving it tumbling to the ground. I can smell heat and burning leaves as I continue sprinting away. My heart is pounding faster than I've ever felt. I can hear and feel the rumble of the fire as it crumbles the path on the mountainside, making sure that I'll never be able to come here again.

Maybe the Gamemakers got tired of watching me sit cozy in my cabin… but I have a feeling that isn't the case. That book was too conveniently placed for this to be a coincidence. The people in the book died in too similar a manner.

As I realize this, I trip over my own feet and stumble on the rocks, almost falling over the side. I scream in horror as I watch stones tumble down the mountainside. I pick myself back up and keep running. The Gamemakers couldn't be trying to kill me now; they're only playing a game with me. I remind myself of this over and over as continue on the path. I feel the heat of the blaze behind me, pushing me further along. I must run for hours before I finally reach the bottom of the mountain, panting and sprinting as fast as I can until I find the river, then continue to run alongside it towards the ocean. Fireballs continue to rain down behind me, but as I run, I realize they aren't as close as they used to be. They torch the mountains and the desert between them, but seem to stop at an invisible line that I've crossed. a little tornado. It makes me shiver with anticipation and fear. Despite how illogical, I can't help

I smile to myself and turn back around, only to have that grin wiped right back off my face.

Tiffany Silk (18)- D1F

I haven't slept for nearly two days when the sea starts to swirl in unrest.

I've been noticing its strange behavior for days, but out here with no one for company, no one to share these strange things with, its almost like they don't even happen. Of course, that's not exactly true; there are thousands of Capitolites and eager District citizens watching me on television right now, seeing exactly what I'm seeing.

And what I'm seeing has to be impossible. The waves have risen to a terrifying height, though they manage to even back out by the time they reach the shore. I stop and stare in awe, wondering if I've lost my mind as the dark, swirling waters grow higher and higher. And to my horror, I notice something swimming in the depths, huge and monstrous. Now I know I'm not going crazy; I would never think up something this crazy. It has to be the work of the Gamemakers. As wave gently lowers back to the water level, the storm seeming starting to cool down until I hear the loud explosions from behind me. I turn around to see fireballs raining down on the mountains. They aren't near me yet, but they certainly could be heading this way. Without thinking, I run towards the shore while listening to the fire burning behind me. Then I realize what awaits me in the water and I grin to myself, stopping with my ankles in the water.

The fireballs won't reach this far, because this isn't about killing us, it's about driving us closer together. I don't wait for the monster to come for me. I start running the opposite direction, toward the firestorm, as quickly as possible. Let the sea monster claim one of the boys that I'm pursuing.

The firestorm is terrifying too, but I stay confident in my knowledge that there must be a zone in the middle that the Gamemakers want us all to flock to. That's why they've sent these horrors for us to escape from, and I won't be the one that straggles behind and ends up killed. I think as I run, to help control my breathing and keep me calm. There's only five of us left, and the Capitol must be getting bored of with the lack of action. But I was headed right for two other tributes, one of which was completely incapacitated and the other a twelve-year old child who would have been no match for my sword regardless of how clever he is. Does the Capitol really love those two boneheads so much that they don't want to see them sliced to ribbons with my blade? The stupid twelve-year olds are always well-loved, and I remember the applause the one from Seven got during his interview. Still, no one in the Capitol would regret to see them fall on my sword except for their die-hard fans. I have my own, after all.

That's when I start wondering if I was actually pursuing them. I was so sure that this was the only direction they could have gone, but what if they slipped past me somehow? Then the Gamemakers would surely get bored and would be itching to drive us together. My pace picks up again, my breaths coming quickly from rage. Those crafty idiots will die soon. Either tonight from the monster or the fireballs, or from the edge of my blade.

The Gamemakers probably want us all in the same area near the Cornucopia, which means that everyone will be descending on my supplies. The supplies that I've worked so hard for, for almost two weeks now in the arena. All of that food and those weapons belong to me. I snarl to myself as I continue on the path to my home base. I need to take shelter there, then start preparing for the others to show up, or to go looking for them.

My feet pound against the sand, some of it ending up in my boots as I run along the shore. I've never been so aware of my heartbeat before as it thunders in my ears. The combined heat from the sun and from the blaze that has taken hold of the mountain above me is pressing down, greater than any heat I've never felt before. I try to stay calm; I know what I'm doing. I won't be burned alive. I won't be.

Especially as I hear a monumental screeching sound from the water. I don't turn to look; I can't. Not with a singular goal in mind: I have to get to the cliff before it's too late. I'll have to be able to climb without the waterfall path that the Gamemakers gave to us; though it will be difficult, it's the quickest way. If I stay any longer than I need to on this beach, I'll die for sure.

Suddenly something falls from the sky and lands right in front of me, blocking my path. I stumble before I run right into it, sliding on the sand and ending up on the ground with it in my mouth. I can feel the heat from it nearly burning my skin as I hurry back up. I must have been wrong about the fireballs not reaching the shore… but then I realize it's a flaming tree trunk, having fallen from the mountain. I hear the distant yowling of animals that are being burned alive or running from the flames.

I quickly run around the tree, sprinting as fast as I can as I listen to the sea grumble and scream something terrible. I don't dare look, instead continuing to run for hours until I can no longer hear the fireballs landing on the mountains. It seems like the fireballs have finally stopped, but the fire is still raging on the mountains, burning up anything that lives. No one will be able to go up there again, at least not for a long time. I can feel the heat from the blaze all the way down here.

Another screech echoes off the mountains, and this time I can't help but look over to the right over the water, and the sight chills me to the bone. The creature is diving back into the water when I see it, but I can see its long, tubular body sliding above the waves. It's huge, a monstrous creation of the Gamemakers.

I have to keep my head level. The monster is slowly but surely heading to the shore, which means I need to get out as soon as possible, preferably now.

Spool Nylon (12)- D8M

The fire is blazing on the mountains, but there's nothing to burn here on the desert floor. Seb and I only have to dodge the flaming fireballs as they rain down from the sky, throwing up sand wherever they land. One of them lands a few feet away from us, knocking us off our feet from the blast. Seb groans as I help him up, but he can still stand on his own. It's too bad I didn't leave some coconut juice to help him again, but it was nearly impossible to save any.

Miraculously, the fireballs seem to stop after that, apparently satisfied with terrifying us for now. I glance up at the mountains, still up in flames. We won't be able to take shelter up there anymore. I pull Seb along as the water continues raging behind us. I don't want to look back to see what the Gamemakers are doing with the ocean. Having a goal will keep us focused and calm, especially now that we don't have to worry about flaming balls of pitch falling from the sky.

"We have to get to the Cornucopia," Seb groans, apparently thinking the same way as me.

I silently nod, helping him along. He's moving faster now, apparently incensed by the idea of getting supplies and a place to rest, but I know it won't last long. The girl from One is definitely heading for the same place, as well as some of the other tributes. We'll have to be ready for a fight once we get there, and I know I'm not up for a brawl with an older tribute. I'm by far the youngest tribute here, and Seb is incapacitated. Our only hope is that there will be medicine in the Cornucopia for Seb, but even if there is, he'll still take a while to heal. My heart feels heavier than Seb as we trudge forward. We've been able to survive so far against all odds, but it seems like our luck might be running out.

We keep running for what feels like hours, until my body feels weak. I realize I haven't eaten in nearly a day, and our only source of food is some of the dried cat meat. I can only imagine how Seb must be feeling. We take a quick break after a while. Seb collapses onto the ground and I lean over with my hands on my knees.

"Seb…" I pant. "We're almost there." The hazy outline of the golden horn is on the horizon, the heat making it look warped and hazy. "We have to get there before anyone else."

Seb doesn't say anything, instead getting to his feet with a loud grunt and continuing onward. I wonder if there is any water at the Cornucopia, or if the Careers took all of it when they went hunting. I pick up the pace, the thought of a nice drink of water spurring me onward. The dry taste of sand in my mouth intensifies as I imagine it more and more.

The golden horn draws closer and closer, the combined heat from the sun and the blaze making like a sauna. I wonder if the horn will start to melt under the pressure of it. Then Seb suddenly fall to the ground.

"Seb!" I stop and kneel beside him, but he just groans and tries to push me away.

"Leave," he says hoarsely.

"I'm not leaving you!" I say shrilly. "There will be medicine at the Cornucopia! Don't give up!"

"I'm not," he says through gritted teeth. "Just come back for me."

I try not to let any tears fall from my eyes, nodding before turning away and running toward the Cornucopia. If he dies, I don't want some sentimental words to be our last goodbye. That just wouldn't be representative of us.

It takes me another half hour or so to reach the Cornucopia, collapsing onto the sand inside. The heat is even worse inside, the golden horn heating up from the sun, so I quickly rifle through the packs that I can reach, looking for anything that can help. Most of the boxes are piled too high for me to touch, but I at least find a bottle of water in a large trunk in the back of the horn. It's been hot and stagnant for almost two weeks, but it's something.

There are lots of medical kits and bandages, but hardly any salves or medicines. I find one that I recognize from the Training Center that's supposed to help with sealing wounds, so I grab that just in case. However, poison antidotes are nowhere to be found.

I take some bandages as well and head out back into the sun, watching the haze and smoke on the mountains in a daze for a few seconds before remembering my objective. From here, I can't see whatever's happening in the ocean, but I can hear a deafening roar. I shudder as I start to head back to Seb, taking a large swig of the warm water. I sprint as fast as I can, more rested now that I've had a break and a drink. The ground shakes every time another shriek echoes through the arena, chilling me to the bone.

I follow my own footsteps to make sure that I'm headed the right direction, but eventually they stop, and I'm left wondering if I've wandered off course. Maybe the wind has blown my footprints away, or the Gamemakers erased them to confuse me. But I'm determined to reach Seb, so I barrel forward anyway, trying to keep going in a straight line. But eventually I realize I've gone too far; the river is right up ahead and we diverged our path from it right after climbing up the waterfall. This isn't the way we came at all.

"Seb?" I shout out, my last hope. "Seb, where are you? I'm here!"

There's no answer, of course. This time the tears really do fall. "Seb, I've got medicine!"

It can't be possible that he died and the hovercrafts took his body already. I didn't hear a cannon, and the roaring and blaze of the fires aren't loud enough to drown it out. I just strayed off the path, that's all.

I start to retrace my steps, wondering where I went wrong, but ending up far past the Cornucopia, where I've never gone before.

I scream out into the open air. I've been searching for him for maybe two hours now. I couldn't have lost him; I've searched everywhere!

Then I hear a light tinkling sound above me. I look up in astonishment, overjoyed to see the little silver parachute flying down to meet me. I grasp it in both hands, opening it slowly to reveal a small little crossbow and a quiver of arrows. Instead of feeling relieved, I'm filled with rage. My mentors couldn't have given me directions to Seb, or an antidote to heal his wound? Inside my mind, I can hear Claudius Templesmith's voice as he narrates my despair to the nation: Poor Tag probably is upset that his mentors haven't sent him something to help his partner, but that's how the Games work! Tag is District Eight's tribute, and Seb isn't.

I throw the box back onto the ground in fury,taking out the crossbow, swinging the quiver over my back and taking another drink of water. The sun is starting to go down, but it looks like my day is far from over. My mentors sent this to me for a reason. Why else would they give me a weapon right despite how close I am to the Cornucopia, where I can take any of them at will?

It's time to show District Eight what I'm really made of.

Nicolette "Nikki" Anderson (17)- D4F

By the time I've started fleeing from the shore, it's too late.

I had been taking a nap, something I knew I shouldn't have done, but too bored for anything else. I wake up to the salty water splashing against my face, and the ocean swirling into a dangerous vortex just off the shore. It fills me with a sort of dread that only someone from District Four can feel. I've been through enough storms to know what to do: get to high ground as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I soon realize what the Gamemakers have done: they've set me up without any way to leave the shore. I have to run along it until I reach the cliff, a trek that took me days to get here. I'm trapped.

I start running as soon as i wake up, stuffing my supplies into various pockets so I don't lose them. Meanwhile, the ocean continues to writhe with fervor, the sky darkening as a massive roar erupts from the water, along with a monstrous-looking head that emerges, scaly and ginormous with glowing yellow eyes. It locks eyes with me, then opens its mouth and screams with the volume of a thousand mutts. I freeze in place for a few seconds, then as it dips its giant head back under the water, its long scaly body sliding under the waves, I spring back into action.

There's no time for heading to the cliff. My only hope is to climb the mountain itself until I reach a place that is level enough to stand on, then figure things out from there. I scramble over to the mountain, scrabbling for purchase as I try to lift myself off the ground. Years of climbing rock walls could never have prepared me for this; climbing with barely anything to hold onto as the storm rages behind me. I manage to get my feet on a ledge, then start climbing from there. I reason that if I stay on the shore, I'll die anyway, so I might as well take my chances with climbing, even if I do fall to my death.

I hear the monster roar again behind me, the water splashing and wind whipping around my face. I refuse to look down or behind me, climbing until I must be nearly 15 feet off the ground. I can only hope that there will be somewhere for me to stop and take a minute to breathe; better yet a path that I can escape on.

The monsters roars' get closer and closer, and then suddenly I hear a loud crunching sound from above me. I glance up and gasp in horror. Sheets of rock above me and starting to fall down toward me, knocking into each other and plunging to the ground. I scream as the rocks grow closer, but many of them are smaller than I realized and they pass over me easily. I then shakily restart my ascent, trying to stay calm for the cameras. They will surely be zooming in on my face to capture every gritty detail. I put on a mask of determination and reach for another handhold.

Then I hear the roar of the monster again, much closer this time. It sounds like it's right behind me as I finally find a ledge to sit on. I grab my trident from my back and crouch down, hoping maybe I can hide from the mutt as it whips it's giant head around in the air. Its great yellow eyes blink as its scales shimmer with the light from the sun, iridescent and almost reflective. It's long whiskers flicker in the breeze, moving as if detecting something in the air. Then it locks eyes with me again and roars in my direction. It lunges forward, misses by a hair as I duck away fom it. I get to my feet, gripping my trident tightly as I hold it threateningly, daring the creature to come any closer.

It opens its large mouth and hisses loudly, showing its sharp fangs. It lashes out its tail again, emerging from the water to smash against the wall beside me. The wall shakes and I lose my balance, falling onto my knees and almost dropping my trident. The tail passes right over me, trying to swipe me from the ledge. I can tell that the Gamemakers are playing with me.

Lightning strikes on the sea as the creature lunges again, its mouth open wide. I grip my trident tightly, the fangs looking terribly wicked and sharp. The smell of the creatures breath is horrible, but I hold my ground and wait for my chance. As it gets closer, I throw my trident into it, sticking into the roof of its mouth. Its shriek is ear-shattering, and I cover my head as it writhes in the air, clearly in pain, before disappearing back under the waves.

I take a deep breath, slowly standing back up and taking in my surroundings. The storm is still raging, and it probably won't let up until everyone has left the shore. The monster might come back if I don't evacuate it soon enough. I know the Gamemakers tactics well enough after studying them for so long.

I decide that my best bet would be to climb the mountain until I find somewhere safe to stay until a few more tributes have been picked off. If I go back down to the shore, I'll just be easy pickings again. But more importantly, I don't have a weapon to fight with now. Fuming with rage at the Gamemakers, I start to climb. With any hope, there will be food wherever I end up. I've made enough water to last me a few days, but the boy from Eleven's food ran out not long ago.

I have no idea how long I've been climbing, but it feels like forever when I finally claw my way onto a ledge. This one is long and stable, with what looks like the entrance to a cave not far away. It could be a trap, but a welcome one at this point. My muscles are aching and I can barely stand to walk over to it. Inside, there's a black pool of water and animal bones and hides, probably the remnants of someone's meal, either another tribute or another animal. The hides look like they've been untouched for a while, though, so I'm not worried.

I sit down on the opposite wall and watch the storm rage outside. I don't think the monster will be able to reach me in here, and but either way I need a break. I feel myself start to drift off to the familiar sound of wind blowing and water sloshing.

Tiffany Silk (18)- D1F

I've been running for miles before the monster finally slides back down into the water, with only the long whiskers shivering above sea level, before those finally go under as well. I breathe a sigh of relief as I keep running. It hadn't paid much attention to me; I was too far away. I thought that it was trying to knock the mountain over and destroy the whole arena, but apparently it's finished now. Still, I don't trust the giant muttation, continuing on my path with just as much urgency.

After another half hour or so, I reach the cliff. The waterfall is still another half day's walk or three hours run away, but I don't have time for that. I immediately run to the cliff's face and try to find a good place to climb. It will be difficult without the path given to us by the Gamemakers, but they wouldn't have made it impossible. My heart beats wildly in my chest as I climb, wondering if the creature will rear its ugly head again and snap me in its great jaws. My limbs shake as I climb, from both fear and adrenaline. I try not to show it on my face as I climb, remembering my training. I've done enough obstacle courses to complete this. But the thing about most obstacle courses is they have easily accessible and visible handholds that don't break off when you touch them. Still, my determination to reach the Cornucopia overcomes my fear of falling. If Nikki or the one from Ten get there before I do, I might as well die anyway, with no food or supplies to keep me going, and them with all the weapons in the world.

I finally emerge into the desert, growling with anger and concentration. I crawl until my entire body is laying in the sand, giving myself a quick breather before getting back to my feet. It's starting to get dark out, but I can't let that stop me. I start running again.

Filly Marcoffe (18)- D10F

Night has finally fallen over the arena. The birds are singing their cheerful song, but the sound grates at my ears. They're still ringing from the sounds of the monster shrieking and the fireballs crashing into the earth. The sound of the cabin erupting into flames echoes inside my head.

I sit on the ground, gesturing for my companion to do the same. He gives me a stink eye but does as I say, his body weakly flopping onto the ground. I keep my knife trained on him, staring as I eat an apple with the other hand. We've finally found a grouping of rocks for us to hide in near the western mountain, and the last thing I would need is him running away, though I'm not sure he's strong enough to.

"Who sent you? Are you with the other group?"

"I don't know what that means," he hisses, his voice hollow and strained. "I told you, I'm here alone."

"So no one will come looking for you?"

"No, of course not. Except to kill us both."

I narrow my eyes at him, taking another bite of apple. I wonder if I should give him some food so that he doesn't die: he's looking awfully weak, probably from starvation and dehydration. But I decide against it; I don't need him regaining his strength.

"It will come for us tonight," I tell him as the juice dribbles down my chin. "And it will take you instead of me."

Hey everyone! I know it's been awhile and I'm so sorry. Midterms really got the best of me. I hope this action-packed chapter made up for it! I hope to get the next one out on time, but we'll see.

We still have about five or six chapters left of this story, including what's left of the Games and everything afterward, so stay tuned! I hope everyone is enjoying the antics of the final five. Thanks for reading!