A/N: Sorry for the wait. I'm afraid we're facing an even longer wait now. Don't expect an update for about two months. Sorry.

The Arena

1116 Hours

2:01:16:56

"I'm already sick of this," Avalon states plainly.

"Took you a while," Katie sighs, adjusting her pack. "How long do you think it'll take?"

"For ninety-five to die? There'll have to be more deaths, but there are also more killers." Avalon shrugs. "I think it'll balance out, probably won't be much longer than average. A week or two, maybe?"

"Think our supplies will last us that long?"

"Probably not, but there are always sponsors."

"Yeah, I suppose." Katie runs her finger down the blade of her knife. "Ready to become a killer, Avalon?"

The younger girl laughs hollowly. "We'll find out soon, won't we?"

"Unfortunately so."

"You're not looking forward to it?" Avalon raises her eyebrows. "Didn't you go to the Academy?"

"They can't change the way I think," Katie says firmly. "Not about something like that."

"If you say so."

The two walk along in silence for several minutes. Their path is lined with the skeletons of wooden buildings. The partially collapsed forms loom over the duo. Katie glances nervously up at a particularly large building that slumps into their path at at least a sixty degree angle, calculating the odds that the weak supports will fail before she and Avalon pass by. After a moment, she grabs Avalon by the elbow and pulls her from the shadow of the structure. They have barely passed by when the building collapses in on itself, hammering the street with debris.

"That was close," Katie says, her voice shaking slightly.

They back away as the building folds in. A piece of wall plummets towards the ground. There's a large stain glass window in it, but the girls are too far away to see the scene.

"Let's go," Katie says. As she turns, Avalon lets out a shriek of pain. Katie whips around, slipping her knife from her belt. She scans the street for a Career, for any tribute at all, but there is no one but Avalon, bent over, hands at her face. "What happened?" Katie asks, eyes wide. Avalon shakes her head emphatically, then lets out another cry. But after another demand, she straightens, her hands slipping to her cheeks.

Katie would have gasped if she could breathe. A small shard of glass is embedded in the younger girl's left eye. It's stained red, but Katie can't tell if it's from the blood.

"It hurts," Avalon whimpers. She reaches for her eyes again, but Katie stops her.

"Let's get away from here before something else falls," Katie says. She leads Avalon to the end of the street, still in view of the building. "Don't touch it. This is going to hurt, but you can't scream." She pulls Avalon's hands away and reaches for the glass. It is slick from blood, though, and her fingers slip off. She groans and wipes her fingers on her pants. Katie reaches for the glass once again, gets a good grip, and this time she manages to pull it free.

Avalon cups her hand over her eye, her teeth gritted, her face twisted in pain. "How bad is it?" Her voice is weak.

Katie hesitates. "Pretty bad," she eventually admits. "How does it feel?" The answer is clear in Avalon's face. "We need to get this patched up," Katie says. "You didn't happen to get some bandages from the Cornucopia, did you?"

"No," Avalon whispers. "Is there anything else we can use?"

"Yes, of course," Katie says, trying to sound upbeat for Avalon's sake. "We should wash it out first, though. I - I can cut some fabric from my sleeping bag. Give me a minute." She slips her pack from her shoulder and kneels beside it. When she straightens, she holds a strip and a small patch of camouflage fabric. She trickles water onto the patch approaches Avalon. "I'm going to try to clean that out, okay?"

Avalon takes a deep breath and nods. She grits her teeth to keep from screaming as Katie dabs at her eye. The patch is soon soaked with blood, but the wound is no longer bleeding heavily. Katie cuts another patch and presses it to Avalon's eye. She ties it on with the strip of fabric, then steps back to admire her work.

"A functioning eye patch," she says. "Not bad. Should decrease the possibility of infection."

Avalon touches the patch, wincing. "Thank you," she mutters. "How...how long do you think I'll need this for?"

"I have no idea," Katie admits. "Quite a while, I'd expect. As long as you can. Things'll be hard enough without an eye infection."

"Katie."

"Do you want to keep walking? We can't walk forever, right? And we've already gone a pretty long distance today. We could call it quits and make an early camp here if you want."

"Katie."

"If you want to keep going, that's perfectly fine," Katie says. "But the arena can't go on forever. There'll be a boundary, I'm sure, and I don't want to find a bunch of other tributes there."

"Katie!" Avalon grabs the older girl's shoulder.

Katie turns. "What? Do you want to stay here or..." She trails off as she sees Avalon. Her eyes follow the ten-year-old's finger. She's about to inquire what is worrying Avalon when she sees it- a thick plume of smoke rising into the air just a few blocks away.

"Oh, shit," Katie whispers. "An idiotic tribute, or are the Gamemakers setting fires now?"

"Doesn't matter," Avalon says. "We need to get out of here."

The two girls turn and run.

District 3 Female C: Azure Brooke's POV:

It is almost noon when the parachute come. It is quite a surprise. I don't know about Misa and Alessia, but I certainly was not expecting to get any sponsors. I would have dismissed it as one of theirs had it not dropped right into my arms. I open it immediately to find a small loaf of bread and some fruit. The three of us are still running on the food we acquired from the Cornucopia, so it is carefully placed in my bag.

We sit in silence for a while until Misa brings up what I'm sure we're all thinking about: "No one's died today. How long do you guys think we have before they decide to spice things up?"

"A day at most," I say. "You know how impatient people are."

"I do."

"I don't know about you guys, but I don't really want to be on the street when they decide it's time to let out some mutt," I say.

"Agreed," Alessia says.

"It might be better to be outside when it happens," Misa says uncertainly. "What if it's, like, some sort of creature that eats away at the wood and makes buildings collapse? Better to be outside if something like that happens. And being inside isn't going to provide much protection against most mutts."

"It'll buy us some time, though," Alessia points out. "Come on, Misa, let's stay inside for the day. Until something happens."

She shrugs. "Fine."

It wasn't for a while that we realized what a bad decision this was.

At first it is just a spark. I sit beside my pack, leaning against the wall, enthralled by the small, orange fleck of light dancing in the dusty corner of the room, right by the door. It is only when the spark begins to spread that I realize what is happening. By the time I've ushered Misa and Alessia to their feet and brought their attention to the spreading flames, the fire has already spread to the door.

Cursing, Alessia lunges for the doorway and leaps over the flames. The cuff of her pants catch on fire, and she disappears from view, crying out for us to run. Misa prepares to follow the fifteen-year-old, but I back up to the window. The flames have spread to the frame of the door now, and I don't want to risk it. But Misa still tries. I watch her, my eyes wide with horror, as she leaps for the small window between the flames and the door frame.

For a moment, it looks like she's going to make it. But as she sails through the air, I realize there's no way she's going to clear the flames. I turn away as Misa enters the flames and my ears are filled with her screams. I so badly want to go back, to drag her from the flames, but I know it will only prolong her pain. And to be honest, I really don't want to stick my hand into that fire.

I grip the edge of the window and try to pry the glass away. It doesn't give, though, and eventually I grab my knife and drive the point into the glass. After several strikes, the glass is webbed with cracks. I lunge at it with me elbow, and just as it shatters, Misa's cannon blows.

"Misa! Azure!" I turn as Alessia's voice reaches my ears. There's the heavy padding of feet, and I hear her curse. "Azure, get out of there! But don't try the door, you'll never make it - "

"I know!" I block her out and slip outside of the window, one hand clenched on my knife, the other on the window ledge. I look down. It's maybe a ten foot drop. Not huge, but farther than I would like to jump. But it's my only option. The wood creaks under me as I bend down. I slide from the ledge and plummet towards the road, a cry slipping from between my lips as I fall.

My feet hit the ground first, and there's a flare of pain in my right ankle. The rest of my body follows, folding atop my injured ankle. I cry out again and roll away from the building, one word on my mind: fire. Fire in my ankle, fire in the building, the fire that consumes Misa's face whenever I conjure it in my mind.

I grapple at the side of the building. Somehow I'm able to hoist myself to my feet. I stare at the fire, then down at my ankle. There's no blood, but it supports little weight. I'm screwed, I think. I slowly hobble away from the burning building. My pack feels too heavy, as if it is loaded with bricks. I keep my eyes trained on the one stone building of the street, the only building that is not made of wood. I can only hope that it won't be the last thing standing on this block when the fire's finished its work.

"Azure! Azure! Are you okay?" I turn to see Alessia, who barrels down the street towards me, her face dotted with sweat, clutching Misa's axe.

I shake my head and point to my ankle. "It wasn't a very big drop, but my ankle couldn't miss an opportunity to betray me."

"Can you walk?"

"Not really," I tell her. "It might just be sprained, though. I've sprained my ankle too many times to count. It usually improves within a day or two. Let's not go any farther today, Alessia. I can't."

"Fine," she says, "but we can't stay here. It's too likely that someone will decide to come here to see who set the fire. I don't want to risk that. Let's just find a building to set up camp in, alright?"

"Not a wood one, okay?"

She almost smiles. "Not a wood one. Come on, let's go."

1832 Hours

2:08:32:07

District 2 Female C: Lila Walker's POV:

"You haven't spoken since the interview?" I laugh, astonished.

Vival shakes his head, smiling. He places his rough hand on my arm, and I lean into him. It slows us down, but if it means we're together, I'm fine. Back in District Two, relationships like this were things that happened to other girls. I never expected it to happen to me. I'd never thought much about it, as I felt I was fine by myself. But with Vival beside me, I cannot understand my former rationalization.

"Tell me about District Twelve," I urge him. "I've always wondered what it's like in the other districts. I mean, I know some stuff, but..inside information, maybe? Things that haven't gone through the Capitol's filter?" As these last words leave my mouth, I wonder momentarily if they will anger the Capitol. But I decide I don't care.

Vival doesn't respond, which doesn't surprise me, but a quick glance at his face reveals that his muscles are clenched tight, and he wears an expression I have never seen on him before. It is one of fear. I cast a glance down the street, but cannot see anything any more threatening than what we have been walking past since the Games began.

Vival squeezes his eyes shut. When he opens them again, he smiles at me, and I relax. He pats his chest, right about his heart.

"You like it? That's good," I say. "You liked your family?"

"I loved them," a quiet voice says.

I whip around to face him, my eyes wide with shock. "You...you..."

Vival smiles again, nodding. His voice had been rough from disuse, but it was still his voice, Vival's voice, and I would do anything to hear it again.

"Say something else," I urge him.

He smiles bashfully and leans towards me. "You're beautiful," he murmurs into my ear.

I resist the urge to throw my arms around his waist. "Thank you," I say. I'm not sure whether I'm more thankful for the compliment, or for the fact that he spoke at all. I'm thinking of what to say next when Vival slips the pack I got from the Cornucopia from his shoulder. He unzips it and draws out an apple. He offers it to me, and I take it from him, unable to keep the smile from my face. He spoke to me. He spoke. Vival, the mute boy from District Twelve, spoke to me.

"I'm never going to let them kill you," he promises me. "You will live, Lila Walker, I promise."

A/N: Even shorter than the last chapter, I know. But the other option was making you guys wait a few months, so I decided to update.

59) District 3 Female B: Misa Hodgeton, 10 - Killed in fire

What did you think of this chapter?

Who was your favorite tribute here?

Least favorite?

If you could choose, who would you kill off next?

Trivia: Name the other selectively mute tribute. (Not Vival.)

Thanks for reading! Please review, it would make my day. See you in August!

-Skye