I stare down into the snow, hoping that Calyptus will come crawling out of it at any time, but she doesn't. The wind begins to pick up, but the avalanche that was headed our way has gone leaving behind snow piles. I start climbing down the tree when I hear a cannon go off. Panic rises up within me, "Calyptus!" I yell and then jump down from the tree. It wasn't a far drop to the ground, but once I hit the ground, I stumbled back a little to catch my footing.

I ran to the spot where she landed in the snow and started digging through it. "Come on, don't be dead," I whisper to myself. I reach my hand down into the snow and grab onto her arm. I quickly pull her up, hoping that the only person that I liked in this arena is still alive. As soon as her head breaks the surfaces of the snow, she gasps in air.

"What happened?" She asked as she looked around. "What happened to the avalanche?" she sounded confused, and honestly, so was I. I wonder why it just disappeared as soon as Calyptus fell to the ground, the Gamemakers could have easily made a kill, but they didn't.

I pull her up to her feet, "It went away, but a cannon went off. I guess that since we both are alive, that it is most likely the boy from 6. The tributes from 1 probably took him out." I tell her, and as I reach for my backpack, I realize that it is not there. I must have dropped it at some point during the avalanche. Maybe when I jumped from tree to tree. At least I still have my golden bow and arrows. "It's just them and us." I don't say that this will most likely be the last day of the arena. I don't want to think about that. I mean, yes, I want to go home more than anything, but it would also mean that one of us, if not both, will die in the next few hours. But I can tell by the look on her face that she knows.

"Listen, before the last battle happens, I just want you to know that I liked having you as my ally and as a friend." She spoke softly.

I nodded my head, and tears started to form in my eyes at the thought of her dying. We have bonded so much in the twelve days that we've been here. "I couldn't have made it this far without you. I hope you win," I tell her.

I know that if the cameras are on us, then Snow is probably not happy about this. He wants us to kill each other, not make friends. "Thank you for being my friend," I reply.

After our moment of saying our goodbyes to each other in case we don't get to later, we head out on the hunt for the last two tributes. Hours seem to pass before we find any sign of life, but then we stumble across an old fire site. It looks like it hasn't been used in a couple of days. It has snow starting to cover it.

"Wait," Calyptus says as he stops walking, and I turn back to stare at her, "You still got to hold up your end of the deal." She speaks.

I let out a sigh, "Now?" I ask, not really wanting to make a snow angel when there are currently two tributes hunting us.

She nods her head, "Yes, now, this is probably the only good time to do it, so do it."

I let out a sigh of defeat, but they get down on the ground and lay on my back, "Fine, but you got to keep watch." I spread my arms and legs out in the snow, dragging them through it and then bringing them back after doing that a couple of times. I stand up and look down at it.

Calytpus walks up behind me, placing her hand on my shoulder, "Well, that looked like fun."

I turn around and smile at her, "It's too bad you don't get to make your snowman." I tease her. She looks at me, annoyed but shakes her head. She still wants to make a snowman.

We don't stay there long, who's ever the fire was is gone, either dead or they just left. I had started to give up hope that we will ever find the other tributes when I hear something—a bird. I lift my eyes up to the sky and see a whole flock of them flying above the trees. It was the first time since I have been in the arena that I have seen a bird. I smile at seeing them, the black birds almost look like ravens, but they have a purple tint on their feathers.

Calytpus follows where I am looking, "I've never seen those birds before." She says, and I don't catch on to what she is trying to say. I just continue to look at them. They are so free, they can fly away to a better life, but we are stuck. "I think we should keep on going." The sense of urgency in her voice made me stop and look at her, she didn't trust these birds, and maybe she had a good reason not to. I didn't argue, and the two of us headed off again.

Walking for hours, we should have left the birds behind us, but instead, it seems like they are following us. I glance over at Calyptus, who also notices the birds right behind us in the sky. Then I get that sinking feeling in my stomach; this is not going to end well. I look up at them, their beaks are razor-sharp, and the talons are long. They look hungry, like a vulture circling a dead animal before it dives down to eat it. That's what they are doing to us now, circling us, stalking us, we are the prey.

I don't have time to react before all of the birds swarm down at us. For a moment, all I could see was the black swarm of birds flying towards us, they even blocked out all of the light, and then they went away. I let out a breath that I was holding and looked over at Calytpus, "What just happened?"

Calyptus looked just as shaken as I was, "I have no idea, but I think we should find a place that has a roof. I don't think those are good birds."

The only place that I can think of that has a roof would be the cave that me and Monty had stayed in during the first few days of the arena. But that was before the snow. It's probably covered in snow. I was fixing to voice this concern when the sky grew dark again. Looking up, I see the swarm of the birds has come back, "Run!" I yell at her, trusting her instinct that these birds are dangerous. Nothing in the arena is ever safe.

We can't outrun these birds, especially in the snow. The snow makes it hard to run because it's so deep. I stumble through it, but the birds are already upon us. The nails of them dug into my arm, and I let out a cry. I can't even see Calyptus through all of the the birds. I reach for my bow and start taking out a few of them. One of them perches on my shoulder and nips at my arm, biting me. As soon as the blood starts flowing out, the other all join in.

These mutts are the worst ones that I have seen, flesh-eating birds. If we don't get out of here, then we will die. Realizing that I still have two knives on me, I put my bow away, it's only really good at long range, and pull out the knives.

I slash the knife at the birds, and they fall to the ground at my feet. I hate doing this. I love animals, but these want to kill me, and I don't want to die. Soon there is a pile of dead birds at my feet, and I can finally see Calyptus. She has her sword out trying to fight them, but I can see that she is bleeding pretty bad. Her arm is covered in bites from the birds, and her face has scratches from their nails. She is losing a lot of blood. I jump over the pile of dead birds and rush over to help her. I take out any bird that comes my way. The two of us teaming up to take them all out, we stand back to back as we slice through the birds.

After a few minutes, I don't know if I am covered in my own blood or the blood of the birds, but it drips down my arms, and some of it has splattered on my face. My knife is all bloody, and there are a lot of dead birds at our feet. From behind me, I her Calyptus cry out, and I quickly turn around to see why. One of the last few birds sticks its claws into her arm and then bites down on her neck. I lunge forward and stab the knife into the bird. It falls dead at her feet, and Calpytus reaches her hand up to her neck to try to stop the bleeding.

The few birds that remained fly off, hopefully, to go get the other tributes. I reach for Calyptus to steady her as I try to think of someplace we can stay while she recovers. The cave is the only place that I can think of. I just hope that it is not filled with snow. "Come on, there's a cave up here not too far, just stay with me," I tell her as she leans on me to help her walk.

She nods her head, "I hate birds now." She says, and I know that she is trying to lift the mood that has lingered in the air since this morning, but it doesn't work. I am afraid that she is losing too much blood and won't make it much longer. I am bleeding as well, but it is not as bad.

Before long, the cave entrance comes into view, and just as I expected, the snow has caved in on it. I don't know what else to do besides dig through the snow and go inside the cave. I sit Calyptus down next to a tree for her to lean on, and then I start scooping the snow out with my hands. "That's no use, Ember," Calyptus says as she watches me try to dig my way through the snow.

I turn back to her, "I have to try. We'll be safe in there until you recover." I tell her as I continue to shovel the snow with my hands. The cold from the snow seeps into my hands, causing them to become unbearably cold. I am sure that I have hypothermia from being in the weather for almost two weeks.

Calyptus lets out a sigh, "I get that, but this way will take too long. Right here will be fine for a few moments, and then we can leave." she says as she stands up. "Listen, Ember, I'm not going to make it, and that's fine. I've made my peace with it," she says, but I can see the sadness and fear in her eyes. She doesn't want to die, but she knows what is coming and that she can't avoid it. "I want you to make it out, and when you do, tell my mom that I love her." She says as a tear spills out and rolls down her cheek.

Once again, the sinking feeling rises up in my stomach as fear settles in, "Don't talk like that," I tell her, "Don't talk like you are already dead. You can still make it out of this alive."

She shakes her head, "I'm glad that I chose you as my ally, that I got the chance to meet you, even if it ends up with me dying. You showed that there is still humanity in people. You have such a big heart, Ember. You cared more about Monty than you did yourself. You saw him as a little brother, and you needed to protect him." She says, and I feel tears swell up in my eyes. "And then we became friends, and I know you didn't trust me all that much in the beginning, but now we are friends, and I am happy about that." She steps closer to me, and I let the tears fall down my face. Now both of us are crying. "You have to win this, Ember."

I step closer towards her and pull her into a hug. I don't care about the camera or how mad Snow most likely will be with us. Instead, I think about her words. She wants me to win because she thinks that she doesn't have a chance. "You deserve to win, Calyptus," I whisper to her as I wrap my arms around her.

Our moment is interrupted, but the chiming of a parachute—a sponsor gift. We quickly break away from the hug and look around for the parachute. I spot it floating down from the sky towards us. I pick it up and look for a note to see if it is for Calyptus or for me. Grabbing the note, I read it, "Apply on wounds and stay strong, you can do this." the note is signed with a W, indicating that Willow had sent this. I open up the container and pull out the small tube of cream.

Walking back towards Calytpus, I speak to her, "Look, we got a sponsor gift." I tell her as I hold up the tube of cream for her to see. I see a smile spread across her face. We both thank the sponsor, knowing that without this, then we most likely wouldn't stand a chance against the last remaining Careers. I spread some of the cream on my arms where the birds bit at me, and instantly, I feel a lot better. I then hand the cream to Calytpus, who does the same.

Then an arrow flies through the air, hitting Calyptus in the stomach. I whip my head in the direction that the arrow came from and see the girl from 1 holding the bow that used to be mine. She smirks at me, and then the boy from 1 steps out from the trees holding a sword in his hands. I hear Calyptus gasping for breath. Sadness wells up in me. I turn back to her, and tears start to form in my eyes again. There is nothing I can do to save her. The cream won't work on a wound as big as that, and besides, I wouldn't have time. The Careers tributes are behind me, probably getting ready to send another arrow my way.

I bend down to Calyptus and then turn back the other tribute, "Before you try to kill me, just give me a minute, please." They don't nod, but they also don't raise up a weapon as me. I turn back to Calyptus, "I'm sorry." I sobbed, "I should have seen them coming. I could have prevented this. You deserved so much better."

She stares up at me, "Don't... Don't blame yourself, Ember." She breathes out. Her breathing becomes more desperate. "Tell my mom... tell my mom that I love her." Her voice is barely above a whisper. Tears fall down my face, but I nod my head. Then her breathing slows, and I know that she is dying. The sound of the cannon fills my ears, and I grip onto her sword and pull it out. I stand up and turn around to face the last remaining tributes.

The girl from 1 raises her bow and releases the arrow at me. I barely have time to think, but I raise the sword and swing it in front of me just as the arrow is fixing to hit me. The sword sliced through the arrow, shocking the girl from 1. I don't remember either of their names, not that it matters, they are fixing to be dead, or I will. I take off running, knowing that they will follow.

I don't know where I am going, but I want to take the high ground, maybe climb a tree and shoot them with an arrow. I know my footsteps will lead them directly to where I am, but I am counting on it. I rapidly scan the trees looking for one that I can climb quickly. I spot a big oak tree and start climbing it as fast as I can. I can hear the Careers coming. They are yelling for me to come out so that they can finish this.

Once I am up a safe distance in the tree, covered in the leaves and branches, I reach for my bow and secure an arrow into it. My best bet would be to take out the girl from 1 first since she has the other bow. The boy only has a sword from what I could see.

I see them coming, and before they can see me, I draw back my bow and aim it at the girl's heart. Releasing the arrow, it flys through the air and sticks into the girl's chest, killing her. A cannon sounds and the boy from her districts looks at her and then to where the arrow came from. He glares at me and walks closer to the tree that I am in. He pulls out a knife that he had hidden away and throws it at me. The knife hits me in my arm, and the impact and me trying to dodge it knocks me out of the tree.

I hit the ground, and the breath gets knocked out of me. I gasp for air and the boy from 1 is standing above me. The sword that I got from Calyptus is gone. I must have dropped it as I fell. I quickly swing my leg towards him, knocking him off of his feet. I stand up and grab my bow and aim an arrow at him. I hesitate to shoot him, "Do it. I've already lost." He says as he looks up at me. I am confused by what he said, but he doesn't make an effort to move. He kneels down on her knees. It's as if he is waiting for me to kill him.

I aim the arrow to hit his heart as well, "I'm sorry." I whisper, and then I let the arrow fly. It strikes him in the chest, and he falls to the ground as the final cannon echoes throughout the empty arena.