CW: Mentions of abuse in the third POV, vague allusions to torture in the second POV.

"Well, this looks like as good a place as any to camp for the night!" Vidja proclaimed, scanning the clearing into which she and her allies had stumbled. "We've got a water source, the trees give us a lot of cover, and we won't freeze overnight."

"Sounds good to me," Clem agreed, almost too eagerly. "I feel like we've been walking for hours."

"Well, that's because we have. Did we stop at all today?" Arlie asked.

"Maybe for a few minutes here and there, but that was about it. I'm not used to this much exercise."

Arlie sighed, throwing his bag down on the ground and plopping himself down on top of it. Growing up in the streets of Eight had not prepared him for this environment; he did not know it was possible for it to be so humid out. He didn't think that living around so many factories had messed his lungs up that badly. "Me neither, Clem. Me neither."

"All right. Let's get organized and get this campsite set up. We need to collect firewood, we need to build a shelter, we need to start purifying water, and we should probably get a fire going, at least for a little bit. Do either of you have a preference?"

"I'm happy to work on building a water purifier," Arlie volunteered. "It's probably a good idea to have two people go get firewood so we can build up a stash, and then we can work together on a shelter and a fire."

"That sounds good to me. And Clem, you probably have some insight into what wood is good for fires, right?"

Clem perked up. "I do! We might have to go over back into the cherry tree section where I launched because there's much more moisture in the air over here, but I bet there's some stuff we can use. Although, it is warm enough that I don't think we really need a fire. Isn't it a risk to light one, because then other tributes might find us?"

"Well, we don't need it for warmth, but we need one to cook over if we can find any animals. Even if we don't light one tonight, I think we should stockpile some wood so that the other tributes don't get their hands on it."

"Good point."

The three took a moment to rearrange supplies before Vidja and Clem set off, a machete in Vidja's hand and an empty backpack on Clem's back. Arlie settled down next to the pond, placing his mostly full water bottle and the water purification kit he'd requested from the Gamemakers on one side of him and six empty water bottles on the other. The three had met the night before to put together supply lists and had decided that it made more sense to request one full water bottle and two empty water bottles each. It was a risk, given that they needed a water source to be able to fill the empty bottles, but the fact that the two empty bottles counted as one supply felt like a good reason to take the gamble. And given that they'd found a water source rather quickly, that gamble definitely paid off.

Arlie opened the box of the purification kit to find that it contained a small bucket, a sieve, and a bottle of iodine. It wasn't much, but it would be enough to help. Arlie began the tedious process of purifying six bottles of water: put the sieve in the bottle, fill the bucket, pour the bucket into the sieve, wait for the water to drip out, put in drops of iodine, empty the sieve, repeat. As he did so, he couldn't help but wonder if he could find a more efficient way to do this. Maybe there was a way to create another sieve using the leaves, or maybe there was a way to funnel water that overflowed from one bottle directly into another. He found himself deep in thought about ways to engineer a solution. Absentmindedly, he picked up one of the water bottles next to him and brought it to his mouth. He was just about to take a sip when he heard a commotion behind him, a sound that could only be described as wood falling all over the floor.

"Everything OK?" Arlie asked, quickly turning around to find Clem sprawled out on the ground, pieces of wood scattered around him.

"I'm all right," Clem replied weakly, sticking his thumb in the air. A second later, Vidja rushed into the clearing, immediately dropping her bag to help Clem up. "Really, Vidja, it's OK!"

"I feel bad. You wouldn't have tripped if I hadn't challenged you to a race back. You were holding too much wood to keep your balance."

"It's fine. I had fun!"

"I know. But you have to be careful too." Vidja looked up. "Arlie, you also need to be careful. Did you drink from that? That's not your water bottle."

Arlie looked down. Sure enough, he'd grabbed Clem's water bottle, one of the last ones he'd purified, instead of his own. "No, I did not. Good catch though."

Arlie quickly capped the purifying bottles of water, then helped Vidja and Clem pick up the wood and stack it in a neat pile. Once the stack looked stable, Clem turned to the others. "Shelter time?"

"Shelter time," Vidja echoed.

The three got to work collecting leaves and longer branches to use for the shelter. The task was long and arduous, but Vidja in particular helped to keep a fun, lively atmosphere as they worked. Arlie couldn't help but notice that, as they kept going, he was letting his guard down just a little bit, willing to be a little loose around these people even though they'd just met. It was strange for Arlie to feel so comfortable around others; he was usually so hesitant to trust, unwilling to let himself be hurt too badly by others. But here, with Vidja and Clem, he felt safe, or as safe as he could be in the Hunger Games. It was almost nice to not be looking over his shoulder every moment, to not feel afraid that someone was going to backstab him, either figuratively or literally.

If this was what it felt like to relax, maybe he'd try to feel like this more often.

No. Not now, not in the Games. He would allow himself this one night, then put his guard up again. Arlie refused to let a lack of judgment be his downfall.

Maxi leaned against a tree, picking at the material under her nails with a knife. The fire flickered softly, casting an orange light on Nerida, who sat across from her. It was a pregnant silence, the kind where they both wanted to say something but there was nothing to say.

It was hard to figure out what to say when the boy sitting between them was tied up.

"Do you know when Arnav is going to get back?" Nerida eventually piped up.

"Not sure. I don't even know where he went."

"He will come back, right?"

Maxi gestured to the bound and gagged boy, whose lime green shirt and bottle-green jacket indicated that he was the Quell boy from Five. "This was mostly his doing. I assume he'll want to finish the job."

"I feel bad leaving him here like this. And it's getting kinda late, isn't it?"

"So, untie him. See what Arnav thinks."

Nerida paused. "I'll pass."

Silence fell again, the only noise coming from the crackling of the fire between the girls. Now satisfied with the state of her nails, Maxi began to run her finger along the edges of the knife. She was getting more antsy about the boy next to her with every passing minute. The longer they left him there, the more likely it was that he'd find a way out of the ropes that bound him, regardless of how tightly Arnav tied them. At this point, he was quickly going to turn into a liability; if someone was going to kill the boy, they needed to do it soon.

Maxi wasn't willing to wait much longer. If Arnav didn't have the guts to kill, she was going to do it herself.

Holding her knife up to the fire, so the light could reflect off of every divot in its gleaming silver surface, Maxi turned to the boy. "Any last words?" she taunted, reveling in the way the boy's eyes grew wide with fear. "Oh wait. You can't speak. Well, maybe if you think them, someone will hear."

The boy began to thrash, grunting desperately as Maxi inched closer to him. Maxi twirled her knife in her hand as she walked, relishing in the sense of control she exuded. She could do whatever she wanted to this boy and nobody could stop her. Maxi stepped closer to him and placed the point of her knife on his throat. "You've been a great companion. It's a shame we have to part so soon."

But before Maxi could push any further, she heard a scream from the woods. "Get off of him!" exclaimed Arnav, bursting out of the woods and shoving Maxi to the side.

"Where did you come from?"

"That's my kill!" Arnav grunted, completely ignoring Maxi's question.

"Arnav!" Maxi cried, but her district partner paid her no heed. He grabbed Five by the shirt, completely overpowering his struggling, thrashing body, and dragged him into the forest, paying no heed to the amount of noise they were making. Maxi tried to rush after them, desperate to prevent Arnav from revealing their location, but the dense fauna made it even harder to see through the darkness. Searching for them would be fruitless; it was better for Maxi to go back to camp before she got too lost.

"Where'd they go?" Nerida asked as Maxi emerged from the jungle.

"No idea. Clearly, Arnav knows where we are, but I have no idea what he's doing."

"Hm. That's probably not good."

While Maxi didn't want to admit it out loud, Nerida was right. The whole reason that she felt good about going into the Games with Arnav was that she had him wrapped around her finger. But she was clearly mistaken, as he'd spent the entire day thus far going rogue. For Maxi's plan to work, she needed to find a way to assert herself over Arnav, to remind him who was the boss.

Her plan was too well thought out for it to fail.

Camden didn't like the dark.

Darkness meant nighttime, and nighttime meant that things were about to go very badly. Night was when her parents used to argue, screams that echoed across the house, only stopping at the crash of glass or when one got too hoarse to continue. Night was when her father used to beat Bridget, leaving the girl bloodied and bruised more often than not. Night was when they would be forced to run away, stealing off on foot from one town to another.

Nothing good ever happened at night. Camden had no reason to assume that the Games would be any different.

Nights in the Games were a different brand of scary, though. At home, Camden knew all too well what to fear when the sun went down; here, she had no idea what to expect. The trees around her gave cover, sure, but the small slivers of moonlight that poked through the leaves felt more eerie than comforting. There was no roof over her head to protect her from the weather, no consistent source of food or water, and no promise that she'd wake up alive and unharmed if she fell asleep.

Then again, she didn't have that promise at home either.

At least Camden had one small comfort tonight: she'd found Cyei. She had no idea where Orchid or Quiinn were, but she was with one person that she knew she could trust. Hopefully, they'd find an adult before they went to sleep, but if they didn't, Camden felt OK with the prospect of her and Cyei fending for themselves.

"I think we should stop here for the night," Cyei suggested.

"Here?" Camden asked. "Why here? It feels like it's in the middle of nowhere."

"I don't think there is a somewhere to find here."

"What?"

"Like. I don't know if we're going to find a perfect campsite or anything. It's possible that, given how thick the foliage is, there's no real clearing to settle in. And there's also no blazed trail through the woods or anything like that. If there's nothing for us to find, then there's no reason for us to waste energy looking for it. We might as well just camp here."

"Oh." Camden subconsciously clutched the doll she held a little tighter. "Yeah, I guess so."

With a shrug, Camden threw down her backpack, tired from the day's travel. If Cyei thought the best plan was to wait where they were, she was certainly not complaining. She certainly had no better plan, and she didn't want to exert any more energy than she had to this early in the Games. But as she sat down to take a sip of her water bottle, a nagging thought appeared in her mind. "If we stop here, how are we going to find Quiinn and Orchid?"

Cyei turned to Camden. "At this point, I'm not sure we're going to. The arena is really big. I think it was just dumb luck that we found each other in the first place. Now that we've been wandering all day, I'm not sure if it's worth putting more effort in to hunt for them."

At that moment, Camden heard a rustle from behind her. She gripped her doll tightly with one hand as she whipped her head around, her other hand jumping to the belt of knives attached to her waist, ready to attack whatever came her way. But she immediately relaxed as she registered who was coming her way. "Oh, Quiinn!"

"Hi, guys! Oh my goodness, I'm so glad I found you. Are you guys doing ok?"

"I think so," Cyei piped up. "We were thinking of camping out here for the night. It didn't seem to make sense to go looking for any better place because so much of the forest looks the same."

"Works for me," Quiinn agreed. "I haven't seen anything better all day. Have you guys seen Orchid at all?"

"No, no sign of her," Camden said.

"And it's getting late. I guess we should set up camp here tonight and look for her more carefully tomorrow." Quiinn paused and surveyed the surroundings. "OK. We probably need a fire. And we need to do it without burning down the forest. I think if we build it carefully, we can do it right here." He marked a small area on the ground with his foot, doing his best to brush away the leaves that dotted the forest floor. "But that means we need firewood."

"We should probably clear the leaves out of the way too," Cyei pointed out. "Maybe Camden and I can work on that while you go get firewood? We can also search around here for some kindling so we can get it lit faster."

"I don't know… it's probably not the best idea to leave you two alone… I don't think Orchid would like that."

"We've been on our own all day! I'm sure we'll be fine. Right, Camden?"

Camden looked to Quiinn, then to Cyei. A part of her wanted to stay with Quiinn, as she longed for the protection of an adult figure who could defend her if she was attacked. But Camden knew that she wouldn't be as useful chopping down trees for firewood as she would be at searching for kindling. And besides, going with Quiinn was the easy route. Camden knew that she was brave enough to handle the Games without an adult. She'd already been without him most of the day, after all; she could definitely handle a few more hours.

Camden would be brave for Maya. She would show her just how fearless she was – and then maybe, once she got back, she'd be strong enough to confront her father, too.

"Right."

"All right," Quiinn said nervously. "I'll be back really quick. Scream if anything happens, ok?"

Camden nodded, trying to distract herself from the pounding of her heart. She gave Quiinn a small hug, then stepped back, gripping her doll once more as he disappeared into the night. Camden tried to keep an eye on him, but it only took a few steps for the darkness of the woods to envelop him completely.

She was so focused on Quiinn's back that she forgot to keep an eye on her own.

Quiinn reached up to the branch above him and tugged at it, bringing it down low enough that he could hack at it with his knife. He'd tried to search the forest floor for twigs and logs first, but there was not nearly enough light to do that effectively. Of course, cutting branches off of trees took much longer than just picking up sticks from the ground. Quiinn just hoped he could get enough wood and get back before something happened to the youngsters.

He had not even sawed the branch a quarter of the way through when he heard a scream.

Camden's scream.

Quiinn immediately let go of the branch and beelined back to where he'd left his district partners. As he pushed through the brush, he felt his heart sink. There was Camden, lying on the ground, a knife sticking out of her side. A trail of small, bloody footprints led away from her body. And Cyei was nowhere to be found.

Immediately, Quiinn dropped down next to Camden. "What happened?" he murmured, bringing Camden's head onto his lap.

Camden's breaths were already haggard. "I don't know. I was watching you go, ah, and then I felt a stab. I turned to see, ah, Cyei run, but there wasn't much more I could do."

"Do you think he stabbed you?"

"Didn't see… anyone else…"

"Let me see if I have anything that can help." Quiinn pulled his backpack off of his back and began to rustle through it, hunting for the medical kit he knew he had.

"Too late. No way."

"No, no, I'm sure I can do something…"

"Quiinn. Listen. Back home is a girl. Maya. Can you give this doll back to her?"

"Camden, I-"

"Take it back. Tell her I love her and that she's important. And that I wish we could have spent more time together. Please."

Quiinn took the doll from Camden's hand and held it close to his chest. "I don't know if I can promise. But I can try my best."

"Thank you," she breathed. "Rub my shoulder?"

"Yes."

A content look crossed Camden's face as she closed her eyes. Quiinn carefully put his hand on her shoulder and rubbed it gently as her breathing slowed. He couldn't fathom how a girl who had to be in so much pain could be so relaxed, so calm in the face of death.

Maybe Camden was the bravest one of them all.

A small rustling noise came from behind Quiinn. He turned around a moment before Orchid, dripping with sweat and looking frazzled, burst through the trees. She paused and surveyed the scene, her face morphing from exhaustion to confusion to frustration in just a few moments. "What the fuck happened?"

"Cyei stabbed her and ran."

"Cyei? That little angel? No fucking way. Quiinn. You're talking nonsense."

"That's what Camden said happened when I found her," he insisted.

"And you're gonna believe her?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Orchid became indignant. "You're just trying to camouflage the fact that you dilly-dallied with some other tributes. Was it the Eights again?"

"No, I promise I didn't! I know that what happened in training and also last night might make you not believe me, but trust me. I saw nobody else until I found these guys."

"And you stayed with them the whole time?"

"Well…"

"Quiinn!"

"I just went for like ten minutes to get firewood. Cyei insisted they'd be fine!"

"And now Cyei's gone. Whoever actually killed Camden probably took him too." Orchid threw up her hands. "This is great. This is just great."

Quiinn could see how frustrated Orchid was, but he was at a loss for what to say. But he really wasn't lying! He had not seen the Eights at all since the night before, and he hadn't seen anyone in the Arena before he stumbled on the youngsters. But Orchid was so set on her idea of what happened that Quiinn didn't know how to even start trying to convince her otherwise. All he could do was watch as she stewed, hoping that she would eventually calm down.

After a few tense moments, a marginally calmer Orchid turned to Quiinn. "All right. For tonight, we rest. But tomorrow early were going to hunt for Cyei. And you are not leaving my side until we find him."

"That is very fair," Quiinn relented. He paused, waiting for Orchid to continue; when she said nothing, he asked, "So, should we look for some firewood?"

Orchid glared at him. "I guess."

As he put his bag together, Quiinn took another look at the doll he now held, his mind drifting to the promise he'd made minutes before. Of course, he wanted to get home to Eleven to fulfill Camden's last wish; no sane person wouldn't. But to Quiinn, the doll meant so much more. It represented a little girl whom Quiinn was supposed to protect, who died because he was negligent. For someone who had spent his whole life back home trying to keep his younger siblings safe, the thought of a child dying because of him weighed heavily on his conscience.

Quiinn was determined not to make the same mistake again.

41/10. Pallas Gallagher, District Five Quell Male. Killed by Arnav Newton

40/11. Camden Bryna Hart, District Eleven Quell Female. Killed by Cyei All.

Kills:

Khada Oromonio: I (Cain)

Acacia Andalu: I (Izan)

Jaesa Briton: I (Amber)

Crash Hatch: I (Brandi)

Bellona Adrina: I (Hodge)

Acestes Adrina: I (Hodge)

Empra Ichinose: I (Lena)

Arnav Newton: I (Pallas)

Cyei All: I (Camden)

Arena: I (Runar)

Alliances:

District One Careers: Jaesa Briton (D1QF), Khada Oromonio (D1QM), Tyranny Bomber (D1SF), Lydia Leah (D1SM), Shine Scott (D12QF)

District Two Careers: Acacia Andalu (D2SF), Nikau Melusine (D2SM), Crash Hatch (D2QM), Smash Hatch (D2QF)

District Four "Careers": Empra Ichinose (D4SF), Fenris Shute (D4SM), Helena Blackwell (D7QF), Micah Piprick (D12QM)

Murder Children: Bellona Adrina (D4QF), Acestes Adrina (D4QM)

VACuum Cleaner: Vidja Zavala (D3QF), Arlie Poplin (D8SM), Clemency Trimble (D12SM)

Our Children Are Gone: Orchid Ursinia (D11QF), Quiinn Jones (D11QM)

Spiderman Guns Meme: Nerida Nyansas (D3SF), Maximum Acceleration (D6QF), Arnav Newton (D6QM)

Marie and the (Rest of the) Code Breakers: Marie Gagne (D12SF), Ritz Marquette (D9QM), Evion Viscose (D3SM)

Us Against the World: Viktor Wayland (D10SM), Rowena Wayland (D10SF)

These Two Are Still So Dead: Saskia Calahan (D8QF), Harlen Enetrust (D8QM)

Our District Partners Suck: Acadia Nimmo (D6SF), Leyton Gresley (D6SF)

My Allies Have to Be Here Somewhere: Astrid Evans (D5SF)

I Can Do This All by Myself: Toby Darya (D7SM)

No, He Can't: Moss Darya (D7QM),

Lone Wolves (Intentionally or Unintentionally): Poise Baroque (D8SF), Ryelee Blackburn (D9QF), Lambell Rose (D10QF), Cyei All (D11QM)