Endure Chapter 18: The Alliance, a hunger games fanfic

~Chapter Eighteen: The Alliance~

"The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he is on." ―Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Hearing Cato's voice caused me to feel a very strange mixture of emotions.

The relief was strongest. Almost overwhelming, at least for an instant. After all, I'd been looking for Cato for days now, and he should improve my chances for survival…at least in the first Arena.

It was followed by a jolt of surprise as I registered Cato's words. Had I been spotted? Was that why he was telling the others to check their surroundings?

But no; even if the Careers had night vision goggles, the tree was still blocking me from their view as they progressed through the forest. Whether they would discover me or not would depend on how close they passed by the large trunk and bushes that served as my shelter, and how thoroughly they were searching. He didn't know I was here…yet.

A big part of me—bolstered by the waves of relief crashing over me—just wanted to leap out from the tree right there and then, announcing my presence. That part of me didn't want to be alone, exhausted, and grieving anymore. It wanted to cling to the person that could hopefully help me live longer (for now).

But, underneath that, I was uneasy. The cautious side of me didn't like the idea of jumping right out and drawing attention to myself in front of half the Careers. Even if they were supposed to be my allies, my inner survival instinct still pulled me back. It was natural, I think, to be afraid of people like them. To fear the tributes from Districts 1 and 2. I'd seen enough Hunger Games to know what the Career tributes were like.

Even if Cato wouldn't kill me…the three others still could.

But would they? My mind raced as I continued to sit, pressed as far into the small indent in the trunk of the tree as I could, listening intently to the Careers' movements through the forest. They were getting closer.

It appeared, right now, the four of them had a tentative alliance in place. Clearly, the District 2 boys were still working alongside one another. Otherwise, I doubted Cato would be out with this group right now. He'd be outnumbered severely, three on one, if the other boy from District 2 turned on him. Bastion and Chiffon were partners, after all, and Lambent was from Chiffon's district.

If I stood up right now and drew attention to myself, surely it wouldn't alter that dynamic. If Bastion was working with Cato for now, I doubted my presence would change that fact.

Yet Career alliances were always fragile, and they eventually turned on each other. This year was unusual with the tribute pairs, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

I remained motionless, listening intently as seconds trickled by. The Career pack was still moving towards the creek. After Cato's snappish comment, they had ceased speaking again. From the sounds of it they weren't going to pass directly by me, instead approaching the creek a bit further downstream from the tree I was sheltered against. Despite that, they were close. There was still the risk of discovery.

But, now that I knew Cato was with them, shouldn't I want to be discovered? Should I just stand up and join up with them now?

Part of me wanted to do that. Finding Cato had been my goal, after all.

But still, I hesitated. That careful, survival-first part of me that had helped keep me alive, that insisted on thinking through every course of action where possible, was holding me back.

I briefly had a mental flashback to that night on the roof, when Cato and Caspian had brought up the alliance to Ben and me. To our conversation later on the District 7 floor, where we had tentatively decided to join it.

However, even after talking it over with Ben, I had also made my own personal resolution: to be as cautious as possible when it came to trusting anyone. Especially them.

The danger of allying with the Careers had always depended on the number of people that were at leasttemporarilyon my side versus the number who would be motivated to kill me in my sleep. The tributes that I thought wouldn't kill me had pretty much consisted of Ben, Cato, and (according to Ben) Caspian. I couldn't be sure about any of the others.

Because of that, my original strategy—before knowing that we wouldn't all be at the bloodbath—was to be exceedingly cautious before linking up with them. I had planned to hide from the bloodbath, then circle around and observe everything for a while before committing to anything. Just to make sure it was safe, because I always had to put myself first. I didn't want to get myself killed by running headlong into a risky situation. By blindly trusting someone like Caspian, for instance.

Well, obviously everything had gone to shit on the first day of the Games, with the wrench the Gamemakers threw into the Arena set-up.

But the principle might still be sound. Perhaps the plan could still work now.

I clutched my backpack nervously, listening to the sounds of the Careers' progress, still hesitating, torn. They were nearly to the creek now. I'd have to peek out of the bush to see them more clearly, but judging by the sounds and the beams of the flashlights jolting around, they were only a short way downstream from me.

Chiffon's words earlier had implied the Careers' base camp was close by. If I only knew where it was, I could make my way there on my own. Or, if I knew the Careers were returning there, I could just follow them from a distance. I could try to stay hidden somewhere just outside their camp, observing before approaching, to analyze the situation first.

Or was that too cautious, given the fact that I'd been searching for Cato for days? I felt a rush of annoyance. I was worried my decision-making skills weren't as sharp as normal, in my current condition.

I shifted with discomfort, mind racing.

The Careers had now passed by me—though not directly past the tree protecting me, fortunately, otherwise I may have been seen—and continued onward towards the creek, a stone's throw downstream from my current location. The tree trunk at my back was no longer positioned between me and the four dangerous tributes, I realized with a jolt of nervousness.

These large bushes in front of me still helped conceal me, as did the darkness, but that could only do so much. If the group headed in this direction, there was a good chance they'd find me with any diligence at all. I had stayed pretty close to the creek when finding a place to sleep.

I felt bark scraping my back as I tried to make myself as small as possible, hoping they wouldn't turn and head this way yet.

They'd notice me immediately if someone had night vision goggles and turned and looked this way.

Don't you want them to find you anyway? Isn't it inevitable? the less cautious side of my mind urged.

The real problem, I realized—and the main cause of my hesitation—was that I didn't know who was back at the Careers' camp. They always left at least one or two people behind to guard supplies when they were hunting.

It was back to the number comparison, of tributes in the alliance who would be trying to kill me versus tributes who wouldn't. Given the way the Games had started, I had no way of knowing if Ben had been at the bloodbath, or if he had linked up with everyone. Who knew if he and Caspian had found each other yet? Without Ben around, Caspian would have nobody to keep him in check. He probably wanted to kill me at the first opportunity, without Ben there to stop him.

Given this, my pessimistic brain immediately imagined the worst-case scenario: if Ben wasn't with the alliance yet, but both Caspian and the surviving girl from 4 were. Then, Cato and I would be outnumbered. Bastion may be on his side now, but I couldn't bank on that being an ongoing thing. It would be stupid to trust a Career, especially when ultimately his loyalty may be to Chiffon, his partner.

I may be Cato's partner, and I knew I had my uses, but I was also a liability in some ways because killing me was a guaranteed way to hamper one of the most dangerous tributes in the Games. Nobody was trying to kill Cato right now, sure, but that could change once I was around…someone could weaken him by slitting my throat in my sleep. They may see that as an attractive opportunity once I made my presence known.

I was just worried Caspian would make my life a living hell without Ben being present. And I felt my concern was warranted.

I would feel a lot more secure knowing where both Ben and Caspian were.

Maybe observing carefully was safest. It would allow me to get more information, at least.

Overthinking things—and being extremely cautious—had paid off so far, right?

Cato's annoyed voice cut through the still night air again. From this short distance, without a lot of ambient noise in the forest or wind to carry sounds away, the Careers were pretty easy to eavesdrop on. They weren't trying to lower their voices even a little. They had no fear of being overheard.

"Why are you stopping?"

Some of the rustling noises quieted, suggested the group had stopped walking at the edge of the creek. I dared not poke my head out and look.

I remained positioned as if I could meld into the tree, nerves coursing through me, though I was less afraid than when I'd been hiding from Tatiana. Because even though I wanted to hide and observe for now, I figured the consequences of these four finding me wouldn't be my instant death, at least.

No, I was far more worried about who I'd run into at their camp.

"I'm thirsty." That was Chiffon again, still sounding annoyed. "And how much longer are we going to keep searching?"

"Nobody forced you to come, so I'm not sure why you're complaining," Cato said curtly. "You volunteered to join the hunt tonight."

"Sure, but we've been out here since dark and we've had no luck, and now we're chasing imaginary lights." Chiffon responded, an accusatory tone in her voice.

"Hey! It wasn't imaginary! I'm telling you, it was probably a tribute!" Bastion replied defensively.

"If you say so," she retorted, not sounding like she believed him at all. "Point is, we've been out here for hours, and we haven't found anyone. Why don't we just go back?"

"Missing the boy from 4 already, Chiffy?" Lambent drawled.

So Caspian has joined them, I thought, my stomach sinking like a stone, also feeling disgusted by Lambent's implication. But what about Ben?

"Ugh, stop. It's not like that," Chiffon responded, disgruntled.

"Seemed pretty friendly with him to me," Bastion said lightly, but I could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

"Oh, please. That's just because it feeds his ego. He's predictable in that way. Men like that are always easier to manipulate."

Bastion pretended to gasp in response. "So devious!"

I couldn't help but be slightly impressed at her cunning. Although, Caspian had struck me as incredibly manipulative, himself. I wondered how much her ruse was actually working.

"We're wasting time," Cato cut in. "It has been a while since we started following the light you saw. Are you sure it was heading this way?" I presumed his questions were directed at Bastion again.

I also suspected the "weird light" Bastion had mentioned earlier had, in fact, been my flashlight. What else would it be?

"Well..." Bastion responded, hesitating. "It looked like it was moving in this direction. But it was really far away, and I only saw it for maybe a few seconds. So by now…I guess they could have changed course." The last bit sounded almost reluctant, like he didn't want to admit that their hunt could be fruitless.

I expected Cato to snap at the other boy or insult him, but to my surprise, he was silent for a moment.

"See?" Chiffon said then, sounding incredulous. "He doesn't even know if we're going in the right direction. So, what's the point?"

"Either way, I think we should keep searching. At least until we reach the very edge of the forest. If we don't find anything by then, we turn back." That was Lambent, all-too-eager to continue the hunt.

"No, most tributes tend to stay near a water source," Cato responded. "If they came this way at all, we'll probably have more luck searching along the creek."

I had done exactly that. Yet again, showing he has a brain after all, I thought.

"If it was even a tribute in the first place," Chiffon muttered under her breath sullenly.

Bastion pretended to ignore her entirely. "Cato has a point. And if we follow the creek downstream…well, it goes out of the way a bit, but it'll eventually lead us back to camp anyway, right? We could just head in that direction."

I took a mental note that the creek next to me would be the easiest way to find the Career camp.

"Would that make you stop complaining, Chiffy?" Lambent asked snidely. "Your poor, exhausted body will only have to hold out a little while longer."

"Shut up," Chiffon huffed. "I'm not exhausted, I just don't like chasing ghosts."

"It's settled then," Cato said curtly before another argument could erupt. "Let's go." There was no room for debate in his voice, and I found myself wondering how so many big egos in one place managed to coexist. Especially when Cato's temperament suggested he would want to be the leader.

But apparently, Chiffon and Lambent truly didn't see further faults in this plan, and the sounds of the Careers' trek through the forest resumed. The conversation stilled once more, replaced by their not-subtle movements through the undergrowth. This time, though, they were heading downstream, away from me.

A fortuitous break for me, but now I had a decision to make.

I was sure some of the Capitol onlookers were cursing me not for revealing my presence to Cato right then and there, though I hoped Johanna thought I was doing the right thing. Playing ultra-cautious had saved my life already, and on top of that, I was really just sticking to my original plan while adapting to the unexpected circumstances.

But I couldn't let Cato get too far away from me. I knew that would be stupid—why spend all this time looking for him, and not at least keep tabs on him until I figured out what the safest next step was? As exhausted and empty as I was, I had to follow them.

Technically I knew how to get to their camp on my own—following the river. But it just seemed foolish not to follow the Careers back. They were loud. The sounds of their journey, and the flowing water of the creek, should mask any noise I made when shadowing them.

Plus, I was sure the last thing they'd expect would be for someone to be stupid enough to follow them, alone.

I strained my ears, listening to the sounds of their departure, as they continued downstream, reckless and uncaring about others seeing or hearing them.

What were the risks? They may somehow discover me following them, or discover me when I got closer to their camp. Yet part of me still wasn't averse to this, because I was battered and bruised and tired and my goal all along had been to locate my partner.

I could also get too tired to follow them far. That wasn't ideal, but even so, I wouldbe closer to the camp, and hopefully finding Ben, too.

But the potential outcomes of not following my partner were worse. I was sure almost every person in the Arena was working with their partner currently, or trying to. I was at a disadvantage on my own. I had not yet been forced into an altercation with another tribute, but that was inevitable. My survival was likelier with Cato at my back, at least in the first Arena. Wandering around alone got riskier and riskier the more days that passed. Eventually, the Gamemakers would do things to force more tributes together. It would make today seem tame in comparison.

And there were Sponsors to think about, too. I'd be way more likely to get them if I were around Cato.

Of course, if the situation back at the Careers' camp was the worst one I'd imagined earlier, I would have to reconsider things.

But I was hoping against hope that Ben was already there. Even if he'd started on the edge of the Arena, surely he'd made faster progress than me. He was strong, better suited for this type of thing, and I'd probably started in the worst possible location to be able to move through the Arena quickly.

I closed my eyes for a moment, feeling weariness in every muscle. The sounds of the Careers were quieter now. I was waiting until they were just at the fringes of my hearing before getting up and following them.

I mentally tried to force the fatigue away. The relief and associated adrenaline that came with practically running into the Careers had given me just the tiniest bit of energy back, but I wasn't sure how long it would last.

If their camp was too far away, I doubted I'd be able to make it.

But I had to try, right? Even despite the fact that I was worn to the bone from the day I'd had. The worst day of my life since my mother died and since the day I'd been Reaped, I realized.

But following this plan should hopefully help my chances for survival. I had to continue on. I had to find the strength somewhere. It wasn't even quite the morning of the 4th day of the Arena. If I couldn't handle this, how could I expect to endure the coming weeks?

Make it home, June.

The words echoed in my ears, not for the first time.

Autumn had given her life, in part, to buy me time. And here I was, sitting and complaining about being tired and having a few scrapes on my body.

While she would be shipped home in a box.

I felt a surge of renewed determination, and straining my ears, determined it was time to go.

I stood up slowly, every muscle protesting at the efforts, but I forced back the discomfort. I squinted into the distance – I could see the swiveling beams of the Careers' flashlights, but I was way too far for them to hear me. Worst case scenario, I knew they were following the creek, so I shouldn't get lost.

I set off after them, shifting my backpack until it rested between my shoulders again, knife in my left hand, my newfound wave of motivation carrying me.

Although they were too far to hear my progress, I placed my feet as carefully and softly as I could, trying to minimize the noise (despite not really being able to see anything), though I couldn't walk too slowly or I would fall behind. I attempted to also step from trunk to trunk as best I could instead of walking in a straight line, on the off chance one of the Careers turned around. Surely the group would at least check their backs from time to time? And this whole cautionary plan would be wasted if they noticed me. I would look stupid for not revealing myself in the first place.

As the minutes passed, I was willing to bet that some of the Capitol audience thought I was deranged. Probably wild-eyed, exhausted, and covered in cuts, sneaking around in the dark after the Careers and my own partner I was supposed to be allied with.

I didn't care. The tributes who were the most mistrustful usually lived the longest.

The river curved to the left after maybe half a mile, which was probably why Bastion had implied it wasn't a direct route back to their camp. Was their camp at the Cornucopia, I wondered? Where even was the damn thing?

Naturally, the Careers' search for the mysterious light and the associated tribute was unsuccessful. I was sure they were frustrated, though I couldn't hear anything from here. How ironic, that the person they were probably searching for was actually following them right now.

Several more minutes passed with me safe from discovery, but I didn't let my guard down. In my tiredness it would be easy to slip up. I maintained my effort to progress as subtly and quietly as possible, keeping the beams of the flashlights roughly the same distance ahead of me, sometimes blinking in and out of view behind tree-trunks and other vegetation. The river was slowly curving again, though my sense of direction was hopeless by now.

As the journey wore on, the vigor associated with the new wave of determination began to drain from me again. But I was stubborn.

I pressed on.

Another five minutes passed, then ten, then fifteen, with the Careers blissfully unaware of their distant shadow. The ground was still sloping downwards, I noticed, and I wondered how close to the desert we really were.

The flashlights did dart back in my general direction on a couple of occasions. Once I was already practically behind a tree trunk, and the other time I immediately crouched down to avoid the beam falling across me. But it quickly became apparent that whoever was glancing behind them hadn't actually heard anything, and was just doing some sort of half-assed search. They came nowhere close to revealing me.

I only stopped for a few mouthfuls of water and to pull one of the last fruits out of my pack, but then I continued downstream and ate while I walked. The bites of food gave me just the tiniest bit of energy to move forward, but I knew it wouldn't last long.

My body felt hollow. All my cuts and bruises hurt, especially the ones on my leg. Sometimes, the lights in the distance would blur, and I'd have to blink rapidly to re-focus on them. I really hoped that if any tributes were nearby, they'd remain in hiding, afraid of the Career pack, and entirely fail to notice me. I still had my knife clenched in my hand, but I knew my reaction time would be horrible right now and I needed to replenish my strength.

At one point, I almost panicked, because I thought I'd lost them—I could scarcely see anything, probably due to a particularly dense patch of forest. But in accordance with Bastion's words earlier, I kept to the river, and soon the familiar sight of the flashlights returned.

I kept my feet moving, past the point where I probably should have stopped. My arm felt tired just from holding the knife, even though realistically I knew it was from lack of adequate sleep and the horrible things I'd gone through today. Or…yesterday, technically.

It felt like I'd been following them for three hours, but realistically, I knew it hadn't even been one. Still, I was about ready to admit that I couldn't keep going for too much longer, when I realized I was hearing a new sound in the distance: a waterfall. The sound was a lot easier to notice when I wasn't focused on running away from a giant muttation.

Almost as soon as I registered the sound, I noticed that the roving flashlights had swung around a bit to the right, and then disappeared from view. I paused, standing still for a moment, but they didn't reappear. It took my foggy brain a moment to realize that if there was a waterfall, the ground probably sloped down sharply somewhere, and the Careers may have just climbed down to the point where I could no longer see them.

Not ideal, if I wanted to keep up with them.

On the other hand, a higher-elevation point could serve me well. I resolved to walk to the waterfall, and scope out the surroundings. The sounds of the crashing water would certainly mask my approach. Clearly there was a way to get down somewhere on the right.

Resisting the urge to drag my tired, aching feet along the forest floor like a petulant child, I followed the sound of cascading water. I glanced around me, like a wary animal, despite the fact that my eyes could see little in the oppressive darkness. I no longer had flashlights in the distance to guide me.

The sounds of the rushing water swallowed up most of the surrounding ambiance, including my own footsteps, as I approached, finally seeing the point where the bubbling creek dropped off, as did the solid ground on either side of it.

I crouched, heartbeat increasing again. I decided to creep forward as close to the edge as I dared, to see if I could get any sort of glimpse of the area below, despite the darkness of the forest. Near the waterfall, it was mostly devoid of tree canopy cover, so I kept myself in the crouched position as I moved forward.

When I reached the point as close to the edge as I wanted to be, crouching close to a scraggly bush (wouldn't the Gamemakers just love to trigger a landslide or something to send me tumbling down, I thought with some paranoia), I tried to survey the area.

The waterfall was even higher than the last one. It tumbled off of the drop-off and down a rocky cliff, the height of the falls contributing to the noise despite the fact that the creek itself wasn't very large or aggressive. The cliff's edge was steep, but not perfectly even; there were a few ledges and sharp rocks jutting through the stream of falling water. Like the waterfall from earlier, it would not be safe to jump or climb down here.

Well, maybe it would be safe to jump if I could jump really far and swim.

Because this time, at the bottom of said waterfall was a small pond stretching out in front of me. I could see the reflection of the very faint, thin moonlight on its surface, ripples forming near where the roaring water crashed in.

While the waterfall area was fairly barren and exposed around the cascade of water, the right and left sides of the pond, from where I stood, looked thick with vegetation. Far denser than the rest of the forest in this area, actually. Even with the dim lighting, I could see plants and foliage choking the sides of the pond, pressed up against it, drawn to grow close to the water source.

Plenty of places to be concealed there, I thought.

But my eyes had settled on something else: from this height and angle, the flashlights of those I'd been following were sporadically visible again to my right, circling around the pond. They blinked in and out of my vision through the dense undergrowth next to the water. The Careers were heading to the back side of it, opposite the waterfall where I currently hid.

And there, on the far side of the pond, I saw it: the Career camp. There was someone with a flashlight over there, presumably waiting for the others to return.

It was an idyllic location, really. Though it wasn't the Cornucopia, which I didn't see anywhere.

Instead, the area where the camp was located was a flat, sandy cove, much smaller than the pond but still spacious enough for several people to use, devoid of trees and undergrowth. The forest pressed in on three sides, with the pond on the other, making the cove an ideal spot to make camp. I suspected it was also carefully cultivated by the Gamemakers, just like the clearing I'd come across. In fact, the area seemed like the perfect place for Careers to settle in.

Well, I'd found where Cato had been the last couple of days.

But I wasn't going over there yet. Without knowing where Ben and Caspian were, I wasn't about to run headlong into their camp right now. I was too far away to clearly make out what was going on. I needed to get closer.

And I definitely didn't want to be skulking around the forest, this short distance from camp, once the sun was up. If I could settle into the thick foliage next to the pond while it was still dark, I might have a great angle to observe what was going on and even catch some sleep.

Hopefully.

My exhaustion was still a problem, however. I had pushed myself past my limit today. The thought of moving again was not appealing.

Just a little bit more, I thought. The Careers had circled around to the right, and they were nearly back to camp now, only a few minutes ahead of me. I didn't have to move very far from here. And it would be smarter to do it now, while they were all distracted and settling back in from an unsuccessful hunt.

Wearily, I moved back from the edge of the waterfall and stood up. It wasn't possible to climb down towards the pond here. There had to be an easier way down, a gentler slope or climbable ledge, that the four Careers had followed.

I began heading to the right, still treading carefully, though the tiredness tugged at me and threatened to make me sluggish. It was much harder for me to follow their path because I didn't have a light source like they did.

Don't get careless. You're almost there, I thought.

As I meandered through the forest, walking slowly but intently scanning my surroundings in the darkness, an image from last year's Games sprang, unbidden, to my mind. Katniss, the Girl on Fire, sneaking up on the Careers to observe their camp from a distance. In broad daylight, of all things. Hiding in the foliage, watching them intently, before blowing up all of the supplies with mines that had been buried around them.

Clever, I'd thought at the time. Brave, striking at the Careers like that.

Well, I did not have her boldness, and I didn't plan on destroying anything, but I still wanted to remain hidden and observe before deciding my next move. Despite the risk.

They won't kill you if they find you. There is very little risk, I tried to reassure myself.

Unless one of them catches you alone without the others around, a tiny voice added, causing a sudden rush of nerves.

No. I wouldn't psych myself out now. I was already committed to this plan. I had been since the night before the Games, when the alliance had been suggested. This had always been what I was going to do.

Rushing into the Career camp headlong, or (on the opposite end of the spectrum) letting Cato leave without following him, would be far more stupid plans than this.

Just a moment later, my wandering led me to what I was looking for—a ledge, dropping down a few feet, then another ledge, and another. The ground continued to slope down beyond that, and I suspected this was the way the Careers had gone.

I steeled myself. I was far enough away from camp that there was no way they would hear me, especially with the waterfall still close by. I was more concerned about climbing down the ledge without my knees collapsing.

I decided to sit down, scoot towards the edge of the ledge and slide off slowly, so that I was closer to the ground as I did so. It was quieter that way, and I was able to control my landing more easily.

I was correct, and I repeated the process for the next couple of ledges, trying to minimize the noise. Still, by the time I dropped down from the third ledge, my knees buckled slightly and I stumbled to my hands and knees, inwardly cursing how weak my body felt right now.

At least I didn't fall straight into a thorny bush this time.

The going was easier at that point, as I was moving a gentle slope instead of ledges. I stepped forward cautiously, this time angling back towards the pond. I wanted to be near the water's edge, because the vegetation was thickest there, and would hopefully be able to fully conceal me.

If I didn't like what I saw tomorrow, I could remain concealed until tomorrow evening, if I had to. I still had one more fruit in my pack to sustain me.

Though I wasn't sure the pond itself would be safe to drink from. The creek was, but we'd been taught that standing water usually contained bacteria.

I brushed the thoughts aside as I tiptoed through the forest, squinting into the distance. Occasionally, I saw a flicker of light through the trees. Had they built a fire? It was hard to tell from here.

A faint lightheadedness was beginning to settle in my brain, and my eyes were horribly dry. Rapid blinking didn't help. A muscle was spasming in my left hand, as I still clutched the knife. But I was nearly to my destination.

My observation from the top of the waterfall had been correct: the greenery was exceedingly dense, the closer I got to the pond. The thickness of the vegetation here was almost reminiscent of my first couple of days in the Arena. However, unlike before, I didn't really see many thorny plants; instead, these bushes near the pond were much broader, with a host of incredibly large leaves. A couple of them appeared to have vibrant flowers, but they were hard to identify in the darkness, so I tried to steer clear as much as possible. The vegetation with the massive leaves stretched all along the shore of the pond on this side, swarming the gaps between the trees in a way that suggested I would be well-concealed here.

The ground wasn't perfectly level—after another minute or so I spotted a small dip next to the base of a tree trunk, with the wide leaves stretching above and around it, encircled by undergrowth. I could nestle in and practically be concealed on all sides. Well-protected by foliage, even more so than the place where I'd (tried to) fall asleep earlier tonight. I'd also be less than ten feet from the water.

I dropped down, pushing aside some of the large, smooth leaves to settle into the dip in the ground against the tree. I placed my backpack on the ground next to me for now, resting my back against the rough tree bark. Weariness was washing over me in waves.

As always, my left fist clutched the knife, even knowing there were a lot of situations where it wouldn't do me much good.

I could hear the gurgling waterfall faintly, as I wasn't too far from it. Hopefully I wasn't close enough to the falls for it to drown out all nearby sounds.

Part of me wanted to just pass out now, and let sleep claim me. But I couldn't yet. After catching my breath for a moment, I repositioned into my hands and knees, crawling forward slightly.

I was on the side of the small pond, and should have a good angle on the spot at the back where the Careers were camped. However, there was quite a bit of foliage between me and the water. Leaves and undergrowth wrapped around me in all directions, and I knew there was virtually no chance of them spotting me. Cautiously, I stretched an arm out, brushing greenery aside little bits at a time and moving forward on hands and knees until the glimmering water and cove came into view again.

My eyes took the landscape in in seconds before honing in on the camp itself.

The four I'd been following had since rejoined whoever had been keeping guard back at camp.

It looked like a couple of the Careers were currently working on building up a fire. They'd cleared a space in the middle of the cove and dragged plenty of branches over. Even in all of their boldness, their confidence, whoever had been left to guard must have thought better of drawing attention before the others got back. Now, though, I was sure they were welcoming other tributes seeing the fire and venturing over. As far as I knew, no other alliance could match theirs in size.

Starting a fire when it was dark would be a death sentence for anyone else. But for these tributes? They wanted trouble.

The fire was still small, though they were adding more to it to build it up. Still, it was enough to see a bit of what was going on over there. Especially given that the cove itself was devoid of cover.

I could see silhouettes of piles of what appeared to be weapons or other supplies situated around the cove, a safe distance from the campfire in the middle. The Careers must have brought a lot of things straight from the Cornucopia. That confirmed that the Cornucopia itself couldn't be too far. There were several piles, varying in size, and even though I couldn't make out specific items, it was obviously way too much for even eight people to use.

I also saw what looked like a couple of small, single-person tents set up, just near the edges of the cove. Impressive. Supplies like that were usually rare, from what I remembered.

This was standard, though. The Careers almost always hoarded Cornucopia supplies.

A wave of loathing and resentment washed over me.

I'd been struggling through the forest, barely finding food and water to get by, avoiding a minefield of poison, out-running a swarm of flesh-eating insects, and watching someone from my district get killed by a giant scorpion in front of me. All while they had probably lounged about the cove, sleeping then taking turns hunting to find others to kill.

I grit my teeth. Focus. Take stock of everything you can.

Several figures moved about the cove, occasionally visible within the light of a flashlight or the flickering campfire.

I squinted intently, eyes following the silhouettes. I could pick out Cato just because he was the bulkiest of them all. And then, as I continued to observe, a couple members of the group eventually situated down within the circle of light emanating from the fire. The bright, flickering flames illuminated them to where I could see who it was, especially from here.

My breath caught in my throat as my eyes settled on the familiar figure, holding his hands out in front of him towards the fire as if he wanted to absorb the heat, wearing the trademark dark-brown colors of District 7's Arena clothing.

Ben.

He's here.

Not for the first time, I felt a wave of relief crashing over me. So, it wasn't the worst case scenario I had considered earlier. Ben had already joined up with everyone. My chances of the surviving in the alliance just got a whole lot better.

Ben wasn't a threat to me…right?

I felt a tiny prickle of doubt that I immediately tried to brush aside. This Arena had already made me even more paranoid than normal. Ben was obviously dangerous to other tributes, but he had never given me any indication that he would become hostile in the Arena. Ben was the person I trusted most here. It was true that I hadn't known him well for long, but everything he had ever done had made him seem genuine.

I could be wrong. He could have been manipulating me the whole time…but I just didn't think that was the case. No, as I'd gotten to know him better, my instincts had told me that Ben was legitimately a good person, who didn't deserve to be here (not that I did).

On top of that, he had told the entire Capitol he wanted to protect me. I was sure they were just dying to see his reaction whenever we ran into each other again.

So, I let myself drown in my relief for a moment, keeping my eyes fixated on Ben's familiar form. I was too far to see his face clearly or his expression, but he didn't look to be injured. Nobody was attacking him. He really was working with them, as we'd planned.

If he were there to keep Caspian in check, the number of tributes who would be trying to kill me just dwindled significantly. I was running out of reasons not to go ahead and join up with them.

I watched them for a bit longer. Ben was clearly lost in thought, not really moving as he stared into the flames. Cato paced around the cove for a while before retreating to one of the tents. Lambent spent some time examining the piles of supplies. Bastion felt asleep pretty quickly, using a sleeping bag out in the open instead of a tent.

Caspian and Chiffon sat far too close together next to the fire. I couldn't hear anything that was said from here, but they were cozying up to each other. I knew she was trying to flirt with him to manipulate him, and that was a legitimate strategy, but it was still gross.

I didn't see the other girl, the strawberry-blonde from 4, anywhere.

My eyelids were growing heavy.

But, now that I knew where they were camped, and knew Ben was there, I felt like I deserved the reward of sleep. Even if it was just a few hours, until the sun rose. My body was tired and battered from today and I would only be putting myself in more danger if I tried to force it to stay awake longer.

And I certainly wasn't going to charge over there right now, even if I could force myself up again. I was half asleep, delirious, worn down, and probably had slower-than-usual reaction time and decision-making skills. I knew where their base was; it wouldn't be moving overnight. It would be far wiser to decide my next steps tomorrow with a clear head.

Tomorrow night, I might be sleeping at the Career camp. The thought was jarring. Part of me would prefer spending the night up in a tree again.

I couldn't think about it anymore. My body was giving in.

I dragged my backpack onto my lap and closed my eyes, sleep tugging at my eyelids, begging me to succumb. Even despite my aches and pains, the dull hunger, the underlying grief from Autumn's death, and the ever-present fear, the tiredness was in control.

But you found Ben. And you found Cato. You did that, and you're still here.

I clung to that thought, focusing on that instead of replaying the horrors I'd experienced throughout the night, until sleep fully claimed me.

…

I supposed the Gamemakers had enough of tormenting me that night, because they let me sleep for the next several hours without wayward tributes or mutts attacking me.

When my bleary eyes finally opened and I began to stir, I blinked several times, trying to adjust to sunlight that seemed overwhelmingly bright.

Every other day so far, I had woken up right at the crack of dawn. Today, my exhaustion had caused me to sleep later. I glanced up at the sky through squinted eyes, guessing it was still a couple of hours before noon, judging by the sun's position. So, I had gotten at least seven hours of uninterrupted sleep, then.

Uninterrupted sleep, but not good sleep. Plenty of nightmares had held me in their grasp. I felt better, obviously, but still drained.

But I should count my blessings. At least I wasn't attacked again.

I was fully enclosed by greenery, concealed and secluded even in daylight. The air was even hotter than I remembered from previous days at this time of the morning; my shirt was sticking to my back already. I was again presented with the thought that the desert couldn't be far, with the heat.

At least Ben and Cato weren't running around the desert sands.

Remembering that I'd located them brought back flashes of other memories from the night before too, memories I didn't want to focus on right now. I forced back the mental image of Autumn's body clenched in the scorpion's pincers, grief and disgust making my stomach clench and a wave of nausea to course over me. It was probably good I hadn't eaten much.

I then remembered that she had died after the recap from the previous night, so I'd have to see her pale face—and those large, scared blue eyes—projected in the sky tonight.

Deal with it later, I thought, even as the back of my eyes burned. I wanted to expel some of my grief, but…

I couldn't. At least right now. I had to appear strong. There were always cameras nearby.

Before doing anything else, I pulled the last fruit out of my backpack and ate it quickly, savoring the sweetness on my tongue. That helped ease a bit of hunger.

I stretched my legs out briefly, examining the worst cuts. Now that it was daylight and had been about a day since I'd been injured, it was easier to see that only one cut on my leg and the one on my shoulder might actually need treatment. They had been oozing small amounts of blood since the day before, and were too deep to be scabbed over. I'd been reluctant to press anything on them, since I didn't have anything clean. I could only hope the flushes of cold water yesterday would help prevent infection. All of the other cuts were shallower and more superficial, even if they hurt.

My clothing was in rough condition. The pants and shirt were torn around the cuts, blood had soaked into the fabric around them, and patches of dirt were evident even with the deep brown color.

I was sure I had lovely dark circles under my eyes to compliment the scrapes on my face.

I definitely looked awful.

Orea and Minodora are probably horrified, I thought, not feeling the slightest bit guilty.

So, what now?

I was still tired and achy, but more focused after some sleep. I knew I probably needed even more rest after yesterday, but it was uncomfortably hot already, and I wanted to see what was going on at the Career camp.

Now that I knew where Ben was, I was much more inclined to join the group. I didn't really see other options. I wasn't going to skulk about the outside of their camp and spy on them for days. The Gamemakers would probably summon something terrible to kill me if I didn't do anything interesting for a while.

But part of me still wanted to make sure I had a full read on the situation before risking anything. It would be ideal if I could somehow speak with Ben—or even Cato—first, when they were separated from the others, though I probably wouldn't get the chance.

I shifted, pushing some of the leaves aside to peer around cautiously. I first looked around the nearby forest, confirming that I hadn't imagined the plants with vibrant flowers. They were huge, and various shades of white, pink, red, and purple. I stared at the nearest flowered plant intently, and a memory flashed before my eyes. To my pleasant surprise, I recognized them from the edible plants station as both edible and rich in nutrients.

I was about to crawl my way over to the nearest one when something reached my ears—a shout?

My head spun to the left, eyes narrowed, and I instead crawled through the foliage towards the direction of the pond, where the sound had come from. Much like last night, I tentatively pressed leaves aside until the pond emerged into my line of sight.

Movement—in the water. I withdrew slightly, ensuring I was still concealed, only peering through the tiniest gap in the foliage. Lambent came into my field of view. He was shirtless as he swam around for a moment, the water only coming up to his waist when he stood up. So, he knew how to swim, then. The tributes from District 4 always did, but not necessarily the other Careers.

I was sure the Capitol was enjoying the spectacle. The boy from 1 was beautiful—so was Chiffon, and a lot of other District 1 tributes I'd seen over the years—but I knew there was poison underneath his pleasant veneer.

I heard another shout, more like a whoop of excitement. My eyes skimmed the pond intently, and I quickly noted that Chiffon and Caspian were also in the pond with him, similarly stripped down to their undergarments. As I watched, Caspian playfully splashed water on the girl from District 1, and I could faintly hear her peal of laughter. She was standing very near the shore of the cove, only up to her knees in the water. Maybe she couldn't swim.

You would think they were back home, in their districts, swimming and flirting without a care in the world. Not in an Arena where they'd have to fight to the death.

I tore my eyes away, having seen enough of their carefree behavior.

I didn't see Cato, Bastion, or Ben anywhere. Frowning, I scanned the pond again. Had Cato gone out hunting again? He was probably disappointed that he hadn't killed anyone yesterday.

But without him there, I was hesitating to join them yet. Ben wouldn't be enough to protect me from the others.

My eyes returned to the flat, sandy cove where the camp was set up. I could see the piles of supplies situated across the area. The Careers had everything. Various types of garments, backpacks containing who-knows-what, tarps and other protection from the elements, small tubs possibly full of precious medicine, tools and fire-starters, packaged food of all kinds, containers most likely holding water, weapons of varying sizes, and plenty of other supplies, some of which I couldn't name a purpose for. No doubt all dragged here from the Cornucopia.

I could totally understand why the redheaded girl from last year's Games had snuck around so much, staying close to the Career camp and stealing supplies despite the risk of the buried mines.

I found myself playing with my mother's ring, lost in thought, eyes flicking between the camp and then back to the pond consistently. The three were still swimming, but the others were missing. I still had not seen the strawberry-blonde girl from District 4, so presumably, she had not yet joined up with the alliance. That helped even more with regards to the "number of tributes that might try to kill me" issue.

I was seriously debating my next move when Ben himself came into view, walking towards the edge of the cove. Had he been wandering through the forest on the other side? Surely, he wouldn't have gone far from camp alone?

My chest tightened as I stared at my fellow District 7 tribute—something about his body language looked tense.

As I observed, Ben approached and began poking around the pile of food supplies, before pulling out a package of what looked like beef strips. He wasn't surreptitious about it, telling me the other Careers didn't really have a restriction on which supplies he could take. I scanned his tall form. It was impossible to tell without being closer, but he at least appeared unharmed and uninjured. I didn't see any glaring issues.

He settled down, opening the package of dried beef and digging into it.

If I can talk to him privately, I can get a good feel for what's going on, I thought. I could make sure that Caspian still won't try to kill me.

But how? I really didn't want to get too much closer to camp. I was concealed right now, but close enough to the cove that moving in that direction would be risky. And there was no way for me to catch Ben's attention without the others noticing.

If I could just draw him over to me somehow…

But Caspian appeared to have noticed Ben's emergence from the forest, and was making his way out of the water. He didn't even bother to put his Arena clothing back on—fully playing up the fact that some of the Capitol cameras were probably watching him right now—just wringing out his undershorts before making his way towards Ben. The two began a discussion that I couldn't hear while Lambent and Chiffon remained in the water.

Now what? I thought. And where the hell is Cato?

Still trying to formulate a plan, I continued my observation. Ben and Caspian spoke for several minutes before the latter went and stretched out in the cove, basking in the sun. Lambent and Chiffon stayed in the water for a bit longer before Lambent took to sharpening a knife and Chiffon lay down next to the boy from 4. Continuing her ruse, seemingly.

Clearly, they were waiting on Cato and the other boy from 2 to return before doing anything.

Minutes passed. A half hour, then an hour, by my guess. I kept my eyes trained on the Careers and Ben for most of that time, exiting the confines of the bush that sheltered me only to relieve myself and pick some of the flowers off of the nearest plant. It was probably overkill, but I kept myself practically crawling along the ground as I made my way to the flowery bush, in order to remain hidden as much as possible. Not that any of them were looking over here.

After eating a coupe of the flowers—they didn't taste great, but I needed the nutrients, and I stuffed the rest in my backpack—I returned to observing the group, but I was already getting very thirsty again. Damn. I still was worried the standing water wasn't drinkable.

Sweat had accumulated on my forehead, trickling down my temples, making my clothing stick to me. I could understand the temptation of getting in the water. It was definitely hotter here than anywhere else I'd been in the Arena, and that was saying something. I couldn't imagine hiking all day through this. Cato and Bastion had to be miserable right now.

A tiny, petty piece of me relished that thought.

Another hour had passed when the two boys finally returned. I jolted slightly to attention as Cato emerged from the cover of the forest on the far side of the cove, Bastion close behind him.

Both of them were mostly empty-handed—minus the spear Bastion carried and the short sword at Cato's belt. My partner looked annoyed. I could see irritation evident in every line of his body. That was nothing new, though. Annoyance and condescension were two of Cato's main personality traits. Bastion, as usual, seemed more even-keeled and he ambled towards the pile of food supplies as the two arrived.

I observed keenly as Cato gestured vaguely at something, body language still resonating frustration. I had no idea what he was saying or what the other Careers said in response, but it didn't seem to satisfy him. He shook his head then tossed his sword down angrily, next to Bastion, who was now digging into what looked like a piece of fruit. Then Cato paced for a couple moments, stopping only (to my surprise) to say something to Ben. A moment later he was picking a knife out of the weapons pile and striding towards the pond. Even from here, I could see he was more coated in sweat than I was.

At the edge of the water, he stripped down to his undershorts—the audience was getting quite a show today, I thought, imagining with some disgust the Capitol fawning over him—before wading into the pond. Cato had the knife clasped in his free hand, still. So paranoid that he wouldn't even go swimming alone without it.

But my train of thought was quickly replaced with the realization that this could be my opportunity to talk to him. I had hoped to catch Ben out alone, but had been observing for hours this morning with no luck, and I was getting antsy. Getting the chance to speak with Cato without the other Careers around—particularly Caspian, so that I could air my concerns about him—was my only back-up plan.

Although, once Cato knew I was here, I suspected he wouldn't let me leave again. He'd probably knock me out and force me to join the damn alliance if he had to.

But, at this point, I didn't really see any other options. I couldn't continue to struggle through the Arena alone.

Cato was now walking close to the middle of the pond, towards the waterfall, but he stopped once the water was roughly up to his chest and began ducking his head under, clearly trying to clean his hair much as I had yesterday. He was nearly level with me, and not far. Perfect, I thought.

Quickly, I shifted my backpack onto my back again then scooted out of the spot near the tree where I was camped out observing the others, crawling on my hands and knees until I was on the other side of the trunk. I was small enough that it should block the others' vision of me now if I stood up, at least for a brief moment, to try to catch Cato's attention.

Yelling wasn't an option—the others would hear that—but he had to be less than fifty feet from me. I wasn't sure if he'd be able to hear anything else over the sounds of the waterfall, but I had to try.

I glanced nervously at the cove—Ben was aimlessly staring in Cato's direction, but it didn't look like any of the others were paying attention.

Cato re-emerged from the water, rubbing a hand down his face.

Now or never. I slowly stood up, emerging above the undergrowth, pressed against the trunk to minimize the chance of others seeing me.

"2," I said, voice barely escaping my throat, only coming out slightly above a whisper.

I wasn't sure if he actually heard me. My voice may have been too quiet for that.

But either Cato sensed someone watching him, or his many years of training, preparing for the deadly Arena, had taught him to always scan his surroundings for any potential threat. He was already turning slowly, eyes skimming the vegetation all around the pond, making sure nothing was amiss.

His eyes almost seemed to pass by my form for a split second, before they refocused on me, a lot of my body visible above the undergrowth, and too close by for him to miss if he looked in this direction. Cato's entire body tensed, a fleeting expression crossing his face, something almost like incredulity.

And then those icy blue eyes snapped up, and we made eye contact. The incredulity became—for just the briefest of moments—a look of total shock. It was starkly out of place on Cato's face.

For just that split second, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Then the shock became something else, something indecipherable, as Cato quickly scanned me up and down, as if to make sure I wasn't grievously injured, even though he couldn't see all of me, standing in the foliage. His jaw clenched.

Because of course, that could cause him problems, which was all he cared about.

I then tried to subtly beckon him over, but there was no need. Cato was already wading over to me in a hurry.

I had to squash the innate, primal instinct to run. Despite the fact that he was my partner, my underlying fear of him as still present. Probably had something to do with the fact that he'd threatened to kill me multiple times. And everything about his presence was menacing.

Instead, I remained firmly in place, against the trunk, still wanting to minimize the chance of others noticing me.

Though, if anyone was watching him, they'd probably wonder why the hell he was striding towards the edge of the pond with such purpose.

Or maybe not. Maybe nobody questioned him at this point.

Seconds later he had reached the edge of the pond, pulled himself onto the bank in one smooth, powerful motion, and brushed through the undergrowth heedlessly to close the short distance to me in about three or four steps. I noticed Cato positioned himself a bit inside the tree line. Some part of him clearly wanted to avoid the eyes of the others as much as possible.

His blue eyes burned; he looked pissed, towering over me from just a few feet away. I could practically predict the next words out of Cato's mouth before he spoke them.

"Where the hell have you been, 7?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Every line of his massive form was tense. Despite the harshness of the words, I noticed Cato kept his voice very low, just above a whisper. Water dripped off of his body, puddling on the ground below. I locked gazes with him, though part of me was still afraid. Part of me was also uncomfortable, due to his proximity and general lack of clothing.

The rest of me didn't give a shit, after what I had been through.

"Do you want the short or the long version?" I asked in response, keeping my voice scarcely above a whisper as well, my tone still managing to come out incredibly dry.

He began to scrutinize me again, able to see me better from this angle and distance. I resisted the urge to shift from foot to foot. His cold expression lingered on the cut on my arm, then my leg, and probably just my general state of bedraggled appearance.

"You look like shit." Was his response after a moment.

"You always say the sweetest things," I bit back sarcastically. I'd had the same thought about myself earlier, but that wasn't the point.

Being in the Arena had completely run my patience out.

Cato's eyes flashed in annoyance, but he didn't push that argument, to my surprise. "How long have you been watching us?"

There was no point denying it. I didn't really see any reason to be dishonest. "I was sleeping last night, a ways up the creek, when you passed by me. I followed you back. Slept here, woke up a couple of hours ago."

The metal of the knife glinted in his grip as he shifted. "And were you planning on just hiding out here, stealing supplies?" There was a dangerous gleam in the boy's expression.

I scoffed lightly. "Of course not. I just wanted to see who all was already here, to minimize the chances of my throat getting slit in my sleep."

Cato's eyes narrowed. "Why would someone break the alliance this early?"

"I wouldn't put it past 4. He's targeted me from the beginning. I had to make sure Ben was around to keep his partner in check, because I can't trust him. Can you?" I was still deciding to be as honest as possible.

Cato glanced past me, staring in the direction of the cove for a moment, before that icy gaze returned to me. He must have understood my point on some level, because he didn't try to defend Caspian. Instead, he seemed to have tensed a bit more. He glanced at the straps of my backpack, then his eyes trailed over to the knife still clutched in my left hand.

"How did you get those?"

Wasn't the first time I'd answered that question.

"Figured out a Gamemaker trap," I said, just the tiniest hint of smugness finding its way into my voice.

"What kind of trap?" Cato asked. Maybe he didn't believe me, or maybe it was his Career instincts, wanting to find out as much about the Arena as possible.

"Underground geysers containing poisonous gas. They were triggered by any sort of weight put on them. I had to climb across trees to get past. The supplies were my reward."

Even more smugness in my tone now. It must have shown in my expression too, because Cato did not look pleased.

I was sure he just hated the fact that my climbing had come in useful.

"What else did you see?" He pressed. So yes, he was fishing for as much information as possible. But I wasn't going to just hand it out. Not without something in return.

"You first," I retorted.

His jaw clenched again, annoyance plain on his face. "Not how this works." His voice was just the tiniest bit louder.

"Isn't it? It's a partnership," I retorted. "I just gave you information, now it's your turn."

"You've been watching us for hours. What else is there to know?" Cato snapped in irritation.

"How far is the Cornucopia from here?" I questioned.

"Not far."

"What about the desert?"

"Same."

How helpful. I huffed with annoyance, shaking my head before refocusing my gaze on him. "Difficult from minute one. Why am I not surprised?"

"Difficult? It has been four fucking days since the Games started." His tone was grating.

"Believe me, I noticed," I responded sarcastically.

But Cato pretended like he hadn't heard me, continuing, "And then I just find you spying on us instead of actually trying to-" Now, he seemed to no longer care about the chance of others overhearing.

"Instead of trying to what? Kill people?" I bit back, anger rising in my chest, along with my voice.

Cato scoffed. "As if you'd be helpful in that regard." Once again, the derision was back.

"You have no idea what I've fucking been through in here," I snapped.

"You got to start all by yourself, far away from the danger, while I was fighting in the bloodbath," he said, tone laced with distaste.

"As if you didn't want to be in the bloodbath," I said, free hand clenching into a fist. As if he hadn't been trained for exactly that. And with only half of each partnership starting there, he had less risk of being outnumbered. It was probably his dream scenario.

Cato shook his head, eyes cold, speaking through gritted teeth. "And you got exactly what you wanted: safe and sound away from all of the actual danger."

"Safe and sound?" I asked, my voice going up an octave in my incredulity, anger at the forefront, ahead of my worry about others overhearing us. "Is that what you call having barely any food and water, avoiding a Gamemaker trap, running from flesh-eating insects," I was counting on my fingers as I listed the dangers I had gone through, as if to emphasize my point, "Being chased by a giant fucking scorpion mutt, and then watching someone from my district get killed right in front of me?"

But my voice broke on the word 'killed.' I immediately stopped talking after that sentence, wrenching my gaze away from Cato's, shaking my head back and forth wordlessly. I couldn't say any more. I was sure it was written in my expression, but I didn't care. Autumn's face had swum into my mind's eye again, as had the image of the scorpion impaling her with its giant stinger. Her body jerking around as the venom coursed through her. Underneath my sudden grief was anger, anger at the horrible boy in front of me. I didn't want to talk about this right now, least of all with him.

Cato was silent for a few heartbeats after my little tirade. The tension was palpable. But before he could say anything—likely another insult—a voice called out in the distance.

"Hey, Cato! What the hell is going on over there? Where you at?"

It was Bastion.

I glanced up to see Cato was staring over my shoulder again.

As was typical for me when interacting with the brutish boy, I had lost my sense of self-control, and alerted the others to our position. But I supposed that was inevitable anyway, wasn't it? I was so frustrated, and upset, I could barely bring myself to care.

"Just a second!" He called out loudly, the annoyance ringing in his tone, but I knew it was directed at me and not Bastion.

But the others weren't dissuaded. "I think you guys should come on out." Caspian called out lazily There was something knowing in his tone. Because who else would Cato be arguing with instead of killing?

"Come on," Cato snapped at me, not even bothering to make eye contact again as he brushed past me roughly and began to stalk in the direction of the cove.

I was still fuming, body hot with anger. But I was out of options now.

And maybe Ben could help me calm down. Because right now, I just wanted to release all of my frustration, grief and tension by punching Cato in his face. Even though I knew the things I'd gone through so far weren't his fault. Technically.

But riling me up was his fault.

I stared mutinously at his back as, with my knife still clutched in my hand—still seething—I began to follow behind Cato (who hadn't paused to wait for me, of course), heading towards the others.

The Careers.

My new allies.

…

There was a myriad of reactions to the others recognizing me as I followed Cato and approached the cove.

As I neared the edge of the tree line and came more into view, Caspian was facing me, features affixed into something close to a triumphant smirk. Of course.

"The hell?" Lambent said, hand going to his side, almost as if he expected to find a weapon there, though he was empty-handed. He sounded genuinely confused, as if he didn't even know who I was.

I could feel Chiffon's eyes boring into me, assessing the threat. "Who is th—oh. It's her." Her tone was something close to disapproval.

"Wait, is that 2's partner? Wine girl?" Lambent asked her. So clever, I thought sarcastically.

I could see Caspian's broad grin against his tanned face from the corner of my eye. "I was wondering when you would join us, Juniper." He sounded all-too pleased about my arrival. Shocker.

But I ignored all of them—and the retreating form of my hulking partner in front of me—because as soon as I exited the tree line, my eyes found Ben's.

Any tiny amount of paranoia I'd felt earlier, any worry that Ben may not be on my side anymore, was immediately extinguished when I saw what could only be described as an expression of profound relief cross his handsome features.

"June?" He asked, in complete and total disbelief, taking a few tentative steps towards me from where he'd been on the far side of the cove. His eyes were fixated on me as if he were seeing a ghost.

I nodded, trying to smile. And probably failing. I stopped, hesitating just outside of the trees, feeling oddly exposed out here with all of the Careers around.

Without another word, Ben stepped forward. He strode towards me, rapidly closing the short distance between us. His eyes were scanning me up and down with concern, as I moved to meet him.

Despite my no-doubt awful, bedraggled appearance, torn up clothing, various cuts, and knife (now held loosely) in one hand, Ben didn't hesitate when he reached me. Without speaking, he leaned forward, wrapping his arms tightly around my small frame in a firm embrace, crushing me into him. Holding me close; I could practically feel the relief radiating off of him in waves.

I didn't realize how good it would feel to hug someone again. My face was pressed against his chest—I felt a brief rush of embarrassment, knowing I probably smelled like sweat and blood and dirt even after my bath in the creek yesterday—and I wrapped my right arm around him, pressing the hand not carrying the knife tight against his back, the other limp at my side.

For a few seconds, he just held me, and it reminded me of the night before the Games. Reminded me that he was the closest thing I had to a friend in here. The one person left in here who would actually care if I lived or died at the end of it all.

My eyes burned, and I felt weakness rush through me, but I forced it back.

One of the Careers whistled suggestively—Lambent, I thought—but I didn't care right now. Ben clearly didn't, either.

He released me after a long moment, staring down at me, green eyes intense. "Are you okay?" His eyes darted across my face and then down my clothes, no doubt noting all of the minor injuries.

"I've been better, but…nothing serious," I admitted.

"Let's get you cleaned up," Ben responded. "We can talk more later." The others definitely weren't going to give us any privacy right now.

I nodded wordlessly. He placed a hand between my shoulder blades, almost as if he were gently guiding me. I steadfastly refused to look at Caspian, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of reading whatever expression was on my face, instead eyeing the supply piles again.

As we walked towards the pile that hopefully contained useful tubs of medicine to heal these cuts, Chiffon scoffed from behind me. "Wow. Did you get into a fight with a plant?"

"Something like that," I responded, only glancing at the blonde girl briefly over my shoulder, unwilling to play this game with her.

"And you even have supplies," Caspian said, sly tone in his voice. "The Sponsors must really like you."

I (barely) bit back a sharp retort, instead just shrugging, not making eye contact with him. Why tell him where they actually came from?

"Wine girl?" Lambent asked from my left. I did pause and spare him a glance, realizing that this was actually my first interaction with the boy from District 1. The pair from 1, really. His eyes—an unusual shade of grey, I realized—were scrutinizing me. He did not look remotely impressed. "Tiny thing, aren't you? Surprised you made it this far."

Typical of a Career, to immediately dismiss someone who wasn't trained and well-fed and muscular. I felt another surge of annoyance, but right now, I knew snapping at another Career in anger was probably not a good idea.

"Glad I could exceed your expectations," I bit back instead, an edge of sarcasm in my voice. The best I could do right now was respond with sarcasm instead of vitriol. The Arena had worn down all of my patience.

The boy from 1 looked almost baffled by my response, but I heard Bastion speak from my left, cutting off any reply Lambent would have given.

"It's good that you've joined us," the dark-haired boy said amiably. "Now Cato can stop bitching about you not being here."

Cato ignored his fellow District 2 tribute, having stalked off, but I briefly made eye contact with Bastion. "Happy to help," I responded, matching his tone. He grinned broadly at me.

Clearly, he enjoyed needling Cato (who seemed to tolerate it far more than expected, I noticed, not for the first time).

At least I could get behind that.

"Glad you've preserved that sense of humor, June," Caspian interjected, sounding far too amused.

And so, his attempts to annoy me were already beginning. I fought back a scowl, probably unsuccessfully.

"Let's find medicine for your cuts," Ben said abruptly. He tossed Caspian a dark look, gently ushering me towards the pile and then knelt down next to it, rummaging around, looking for medicine. Behind me I heard Lambent murmur something to Chiffon, and the two wandered off towards the far side of the cove. Must already be bored of the newest addition to the group.

I didn't care. At least I had Ben by my side.

Cato had gone off on his own and was steadfastly ignoring all of us. Probably annoyed after our argument, just like I was…even though his obstinacy was what started it.

Honestly, I didn't mind that, either. The less we interacted, the better. It was seemingly impossible to get into a discussion with Cato without it turning into an argument.

And I couldn't foresee that changing. Not with how difficult and condescending he was…

Along with the fact that he wanted to kill me as soon as possible.

…

Ben had tried to insist on helping me with the medicine, but I hadn't wanted to look helpless in front of the Capitol. What kind of weakling would I be if I couldn't treat a few very minor injuries, all within reach?

So instead he watched, concerned, as I smeared the medicine across the cuts on my leg and left arm, the relief almost instantaneous. I released a deep breath, relaxing slightly. The high-tech Capitol medicine eliminated the pain pretty much immediately, a cold, soothing sensation spreading across my skin. I knew they'd heal faster now, too. Tomorrow I might be nearly as good as new.

Still, I was as stingy with it as possible. There were several different types of medicine here, but the containers were all very small, and who knew how long we'd be in here (or what else we'd face).

To my severe annoyance, Caspian plopped down on my other side when I was just about finished and ready to screw the lid of the medicine back on.

"You missed a spot," he said, pointing at my face. "A couple spots, actually. Can't have that face marred for the cameras, now can we?"

I barely resisted the urge to scoot away from him, knowing that wouldn't make me look great.

"I'm sure it's fine," I replied stonily. Truth be told, I'd forgotten I had a couple cuts on my face and one on my forehead.

"At least treat that bigger one," Caspian insisted. "Could become infected." His amber eyes glimmered with amusement. "I'd be happy to help."

He knew full well I wasn't going to say yes to that.

"No thank you," I replied. I scooped a tiny dollop of medicine on one fingertip, ignoring his gaze fixated on me, feeling around with my other fingers until they brushed up against the most significant cut on my forehead. I then smeared the gel across it, gently, the faint sting (that I'd barely been aware of) immediately dissipating.

Caspian shrugged, not looking the least bit put out as I screwed the cap back on the container and handed it back to Ben to return to the pile.

"I'd love to hear what you've been up to the last few days," he said airily, eyes skimming me.

"Trying to find all of you," I responded, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"I knew you missed me," Caspian retorted, grinning cheekily.

"June, are you hungry?" Ben interrupted, tossing his partner a dark look. "Let's get you some food."

I was more than happy to move away from Caspian, but of course he continued to linger nearby, pulling some of his own food from the pile as Ben gave me a piece of fruit and some dried beef strips, along with a container of water that had been filled from the river. Pretending Caspian wasn't there, I eagerly dug into the food after draining most of the water container. The heat was oppressive, and the air felt horribly dry. I ate the small meal while sitting on top of a spare sleeping bag that Ben decided was mine. The sand of the cove was getting hot, but the expensive-feeling material of the sleeping bag appeared to be pretty resistant to extreme temperatures.

I tried my best to ignore the obnoxious blonde lounging a few feet away from me as I polished off the food and Ben and I made small talk, but it wasn't easy.

The two of us stood up a little after my meal, planning to drag our sleeping bags towards some shade before I got too sunburnt. I found myself gazing out over the pond wistfully. I was tempted to go stand in the shallowest water, but I suspected Caspian would just follow me there.

"Thinking about going swimming?" His lazy drawl cut in, confirming my suspicions.

Not with you around, I thought. Instead, I just shrugged. "Maybe later."

Caspian stood up, wiping sand off of his bare legs. He was still just wearing his undershorts. "You sure? It's awfully hot. If you don't know how to swim, I'd be more than happy to teach you," he responded.

"I'm good," I said instead, the annoyance more evident in my tone now. Ben was giving Caspian an irritated look, which the boy from 4 was conveniently ignoring.

"Allergic to water?" Caspian asked mockingly.

My eyes snapped back to his. "Allergic to clothes?" How could he just stroll around in underwear for hours? He was perfectly dry now.

I thought I heard Bastion snort from his spot near the edge of the cove, where he was fashioning a net or something out of a piece of rope, but Caspian just grinned broadly.

"Might as well put a show on while I'm here," he said, tossing me a wink, though I was sure it was also for the benefit of the cameras.

I just scowled in response, turning away, refusing to acknowledge him anymore. I knew the men and women in the Capitol were probably swooning. Gross.

Fortunately, shortly thereafter, the District 4 boy decided it was time to go engage in another flirting session with Chiffon, making his way over to her. Good, I was a lost cause. He should spend all his time focusing on her.

As planned, Ben and I brought our sleeping bags over into the shade of the nearest trees circling the cove (still within a distance where others could overhear, unfortunately) and I tried to relax.

Cato had wandered close by again—studiously refusing to acknowledge me—and had taken to sharpening his sword. It felt like he was deliberately positioning himself so that he would be able to eavesdrop. How paranoid.

Though he wasn't wrong. There were a few things I would only discuss with Ben when the others were out of earshot. I felt like, more than anyone, he'd understand what I had been going through.

Still, compared to my previous few days in the Arena, today was bearable.

As the afternoon wore on, the Careers alternated between planning for the upcoming hunt, wading in the water, and bragging about their previous accomplishments (particularly in Lambent and Caspian's cases, and I tried to tune them out as much as possible because I did not want to know about the bloodbath). They also spent time honing their weapons, organizing supplies, using a nearby large tree for target practice, or—in Cato and Bastion's cases—physically conditioning. Those two did several reps of push-ups and sit-ups, even in this heat.

I couldn't fathom it. They were in the Arena, but it was like it was just another day for them. The heat was miserable, but they still persisted. I wondered what type of conditions they were forced to train in back home.

All of it was jarringly different than my experience so far, where I'd constantly been on the move, feeling like I was never really in control of what was going to happen to me next.

I felt a faint sense of foreboding at the thought. There was something about staying in one place for too long that just made me uneasy. There hadn't been many kills the last couple of days. I couldn't help but worry that the Gamemakers would get bored. The Careers had surely been trying to find people to kill, but the lack of success made me concerned that the puppeteers behind these Games would try to force something.

I tried to brush it aside as paranoia.

At least it was pleasant to be in Ben's company again. He remained constantly by my side. We only talked about things that we didn't mind others overhearing, but it was still a relief.

And I did find out a few things.

First, Ben had not been at the bloodbath. He'd started in the north-northeast edge of the Arena, in the cliffs on the far side of the desert. He'd been so far to the north that he could see the grassy plain that Autumn had mentioned. The spot where Ben began the Games was traversable, closer to rolling desert hills than mountains, but apparently, they got far steeper further south.

After judging the landscape Ben had circled around to the north, sleeping most of the day and then cutting across the northmost part of the desert the first night. He had corroborated what Autumn said: the more north you went, the cooler the Arena got. He had been so close to the grassy plain that he said it could barely be called a "desert" up there, as the sand was interspersed with patches of dry vegetation.

He told me his plan was to get to the trees, because that was obviously where I would go, and he was looking for me. Once he had crossed the desert, Ben had just followed the tree line south, hoping (like I had) that he was heading towards the middle of the Arena. not going too far into the forest until he heard a river nearby. He had managed to come across Caspian and the others late in the second evening of the Games after following the river to the pond.

So, all in all, it sounded like Ben had a much easier time than I had. No choking forest hampering his progress, and no Gamemaker traps or muttations.

I had been tempted to ask if he ran into anyone on his journey. If he'd seen other tributes, or knew what they were up to.

But something had stopped me. Maybe it was the taut look on his face as he recounted his adventures through the Arena. It had been subtle, at first, but I'd noticed it more as he talked about his trek through the desert. I couldn't help but feel Ben was omitting something.

But I didn't question it. Yet.

If he had run into someone and killed them, I just didn't want to know. I didn't want to picture him doing that, even if it had been necessary. And I didn't want to bring up something painful for him. I knew Ben would kill if necessary, but I also knew it wouldn't be easy on him. He had a good heart.

So, I didn't pry…at least not right now, not unless it became necessary.

Ben then informed me that Lambent, Caspian, Bastion, and Cato were all at the bloodbath. Ben said the first two in particular had spent plenty of time bragging about their kills, but that all four had drawn blood, and Ben had tried to tune it out as much as possible. Especially after finding out Rudd died at the bloodbath and realizing one of them may have killed the man from our district.

I didn't blame him for not wanting to put a face to Rudd's murderer.

The Careers, apparently, had split up after the massacre at the bloodbath to scout the area, meeting back up at the Cornucopia to report their progress. The Cornucopia itself was out in the open sand, right where the forest and desert met, and was apparently unbearably hot to stay at during the day. The Gamemakers had clearly designed it so that nobody would stay there.

This had made me uneasy, because there weren't many Games where the Gamemakers drove people away from the Cornucopia. It would make sense if they wanted the Careers to wander around killing everyone, but things hadn't worked out that way. It made me even more nervous that they'd be getting bored in the Capitol.

I didn't voice this concern out loud.

The group that headed north had discovered the pond-while the river was not yet running, the pond itself was already full even on the first day. They'd spent time on the first and second days lugging supplies to the pond, since apparently the Cornucopia was less than an hour walk from here.

After establishing the base here, they had hunted each night, each time keeping at least two people back at base to keep watch. They had only gotten one kill since the bloodbath.

Of course Cato would be getting pissy about that, I thought, with some disgust, tossing a glance at the boy in question as he was meticulously examining a couple of the weapons, comparing them as if he were deciding which one he'd rather kill someone with.

The last interesting tidbit that Ben shared was that, starting yesterday, Bastion had set up a series of elaborate traps around part of the edge of the forest nearest the Cornucopia. Apparently, the boy from 2 was somewhat of an expert at creating traps to catch other tributes, intended to capture but not fatally wound.

Ben told me they left a couple of the "worst" supplies at the mouth of the Cornucopia as bait. Perhaps taking inspiration from last years Games, where the Careers had rigged a trap around the supplies. Only this year, no mines were involved. Instead, they had hoped that a wandering tribute would see a gleam of metal and make a mad dash for the Cornucopia, thereby springing one of the rope traps or other configurations Ben had set up using wire, netting, and various other supplies.

That was where the two boys had gone this morning: to check to see if any of the traps had been sprung. And to keep an eye out for me, apparently, in case I had stumbled into and been captured by one of Bastion's creations. They had been disappointed to find that nobody had fallen for them, yet.

That—coupled with the fact that I was still missing—had been the cause of Cato's foul mood earlier.

And then I'd gone and made it worse by arguing with him.

Well, he deserved it.

Still, my experience had been far worse than all of theirs. I knew for a fact that Ben wanted to ask about it, but outside of telling him I'd started in the west side of the Arena and it had been dense forest, I didn't mention anything else. I wasn't ready to talk about the other things yet. Not without some privacy. Cato already knew about them, but that had been an error in judgment, committed while I was seething in anger. I had no desire to tip the others off about the other dangers of the Arena just yet, or about my strengths and skills and how I'd gotten my little pack of supplies.

And Ben was smart enough not to pry.

Eventually, in the late afternoon, I began to doze lightly in the shade of a tree, trying to ignore the way all my clothing was sticking to my body. I couldn't get comfortable, though. Not in this heat. Maybe I should just sit at the edge of the water, at least to cool off.

Yawning, I stood up, stretching briefly. This accidentally roused Ben, who had also been sleeping.

Glancing around, I didn't see Caspian in eyesight right now, so I decided to tiptoe to the water.

"I'm going to dip my feet in, at least," I told Ben, as I began to make my way over there. "It's way too hot. I can't even get a good nap in."

Ben stood up, rolling his shoulders. "Yeah. It'll be way easier sleeping tonight, trust me. It feels good out here once it's dark."

But as soon as he said that, a cold voice interrupted, causing me to pause, just a short distance from the water.

"I wouldn't be so sure that she'll be getting sleep tonight," Cato said, causing my gaze to shift over to him. He was covered in sweat, meaning he must have been doing some sort of work out again.

"Why?" I asked, my voice coming out with an edge to it, because my brain was already dreading the answer.

Cato eyed me coolly, expression entirely inscrutable.

"Because after dark, you'll be hunting with us."

…

A/N: So sorry for the delay! I've been working a 50-hour week and had some family stuff come up (I blame that for any typos, because I'm TIRED). The awesome news is I'm off work ALLLL next week, so I will have plenty of extra time to write! Hoping to get the next two chapters out more quickly than normal.

So, I know in a lot of ways, this chapter may feel like filler. It's definitely a slower chap. I felt that was necessary after the previous chapter was so intense, and given what I have planned for the next couple…well, I thought you guys deserved a break. ;) Plus this allowed me to work in a bit more characterization for June, and add more detail to her interactions with the others when she joins them. June & Cato reunited at last!

Originally, when writing my first outline for this story, I thought about her just jumping out and joining the Career pack when she first hears Cato. As I wrote the story, however, that just didn't feel organic for her. June is a pessimist and an overthinker. In the Arena, caution has paid off for her in a lot of ways. I felt like it was more in character for this chapter to develop how it did.

I got a lot of comments on the last chapter, and a lot of really nice compliments. Thanks, you guys. It seriously means a lot to me. Warms my heart 3