Astrid was getting lonely.

It had probably been about a day since she'd seen another human, though she wasn't sure how long it had exactly been. Not only did she not have a watch, but Astrid didn't know how to measure time based off of the sun, nor if the sun even worked the same way in the Arena that it did outside of it. Even if it had been less than a day, the thought of just how long it had been since she saw another person was enough to make Astrid feel a little crazy.

No, Astrid realized, that wasn't right. She had seen someone – that girl, the day before. She still couldn't shake the image of her wide eyes, staring into nothing, unblinking and unbothered. Everything about it felt so eerie, as if the girl was a robot or mutt or something rather than a living person. A small part of Astrid wondered if she was alone in this Arena, with a few mutts of other tributes sprinkled in to create the illusion of everyone else being there. It was a Quell, after all; a long Games consisting entirely of tributes trying to survive against the elements felt almost too fitting. But if there was even a chance of her allies being in the Arena with her, she had to do whatever she could to find them.

She didn't know how much longer she could handle being alone.

Feeling more determined, Astrid grabbed her backpack and stood up, as ready as she could be to take on the day. But as she turned around, trying to decide which direction to go in to leave the clearing, something caught her eye. Unlike the trees that surrounded the clearing, which all had pink flowers, the tree in the center of the clearing had green leaves, and plump, red cherries sprouted from their branches. The more Astrid thought about it, the more she realized that she hadn't seen any other green-leaved trees since she launched. Clearly, the Gamemakers were trying to draw Astrid's attention to this tree.

But why?

Astrid began to creep around the tree, trying to glean as much information from it as she could. The more that she looked at it, the less real it seemed. It was just too perfect to be anything remotely near natural. She began to investigate the tree, feeling up and down the bark to try to figure out what was throwing her off. As she brushed her hand down the bark, she noticed that a section of the bark had a circle carved into it, and it felt a little springier than the rest of the tree. She pushed in on the circle, then jumped back as a blast of smoke poured out from the tree, catching her off guard. After a moment, the smoke cleared, revealing a clear capsule with a golden dagger suspended within hanging out of the tree. She gingerly took the capsule, surprised by how light it felt, and turned it over in her hands, slowly reading the words that appeared on its surface.

It didn't matter how many times she read the Gamemakers' message. The whole deal seemed too good to be true. The ability to escape the Arena with her life if she succeeded? Being able to just… decline the task if she didn't want to do it? It felt too easy, almost like a trap that the Gamemakers were just waiting to spring on her. But at the same time, Astrid so desperately wanted the Gamemakers to be telling the truth. If all she had to do to get back to Lucy, to save her from their father's grasp, was complete just one simple task, why wouldn't she take it?

Astrid read the message once more. There was no harm in just looking at the task, right?

Right.

ASTRID EVANS – TASK 2

Choose another tribute to challenge. You will face off in a head-to-head battle in a task designed for that tribute. The tribute you challenge cannot decline. The winner will survive; the loser will die.

If you would like to accept the task, please place this canister in the clear plastic pocket on the outside of your backpack. If you would like to reject the task, please return the canister to the tree in which you found it.

Astrid inhaled sharply, her mind whirring as she tried to decide the best course of action to take. If she could pick the right person, this would be an easy win for her, a sure-fire way to get out of the Arena and back to Lucy. The problem was that, in picking someone, she was essentially telegraphing to the rest of Panem that she wanted that specific person to die. Astrid did not want to draw the ire of someone's family, or their entire district; more importantly, she didn't want to be the reason that someone's sibling or child returned home in a coffin rather than in a train car.

But these were the Hunger Games. As much as she hated to admit it, the odds of her surviving without killing were slim at best. If she took this task, at least she would only have the blood of one person on her hands, and at least she wouldn't have to stab them herself. Astrid didn't know if she'd have the strength to do that if she came upon another tribute.

Taking this task felt immoral to Astrid. But there was no morality in the Hunger Games.

If Astrid was going to accept the task, however, she needed to choose a shortlist of people against whom she wanted to face off. While there had been no cannons thus far, Astrid was not convinced that all 48 tributes were still alive; she wanted to have multiple options in mind so that she could make her decision quickly. Immediately, she thought of the younger tributes, but she quickly pushed those thoughts out of her head. Astrid was willing to be immoral for the sake of her sister, but she refused to be outright evil. She also ruled out any tributes she knew to be in alliances, just in case her opponent found out who selected them. The last thing she wanted was to make an enemy out of another group of tributes, just in case they happened to run into any of her district partners. That left just two tributes: Cain from Three and Poise from Eight.

Poise from Eight…

The Arena was everything Poise had dreamed of and more. She had spent so much of her life dreaming of what it might be like to live on the other side of the fences that surrounded Eight, of the freedom that open skies and flowery meadows could provide. Sure, trees were not flowers, and the Arena wasn't completely open the way she envisioned her meadows to be. But Poise didn't mind; she was just happy to have this chance to be enveloped by nature, to sit amongst the trees and just… relax.

It was probably bad that Poise only remembered about once every other hour that she was in the Hunger Games. But she hadn't died yet, so how bad could it really be?

For now, Poise was resting under a pretty tree with yellow leaves, entranced by the golden shadows cast by the sun. She didn't know leaves could change the color of the light that passed through them! It amazed Poise that the grass she knew was green could look so fiery, that the shifts in the sunlight made the light flicker like a real flame. It made her think of warm fireplaces at home – well, at Tilla's house. Her father never made an effort to find firewood, and if he ever had, he probably would have burned down the house trying to light it…

Maybe it was better that he hadn't. A cold roof was better than no roof.

As she sat, Poise noticed the faint sound of birds tweeting, something she hadn't yet heard in the Arena. She began to search for the source of the sound, her eyes landing on a flock of birds floating her way. Poise reached out for the birds, entranced by the bright reds and oranges on their stomachs that matched the leaves surrounding her. To her delight, one of them, the only one with yellow feathers, landed on her forearm. It ruffled its feathers a little, then opened its beak as if to squawk, but no sound came out. Instead, the same voice from the launch room the day before spoke to Poise.

"Hello, POISE BAROQUE. You have been challenged by ASTRID EVANS to a duel. Please follow me."

A duel? Poise didn't know that there would be duels in these Games, and she had no idea why Astrid had chosen to fight against her of all people. She wasn't exactly confident in her ability to win, but she also doubted that she had a choice in the matter. Sure enough, the birds began to fly around her in a semicircle, leaving a small opening in which the yellow-feathered bird hovered. Poise took a deep breath, then set off after the bird, ready to face whoever stood in her way.

The bird led Astrid to a small clearing, not unlike the one in which she'd found the Golden Dagger, except with two green-leaved trees instead of one. The bird hovered lower to the ground between the trees and flitted around in a small circle; clearly, that was where Astrid was supposed to stand. But as she surveyed the area, she couldn't seem to find another circle. She and Poise were supposed to be facing off head-to-head; how would they do that if they couldn't see each other?

Suddenly, the sky in front of Astrid shimmered, and black text emerged seemingly out of thin air.

Welcome, Poise and Astrid, to your Head-to-Head Duel. Whoever wins this duel will earn their survival and will be allowed to leave the Arena immediately. Whoever loses will face immediate death.

In a moment, we will show you a series of images, cycling through them twice. Your goal is to remember as much about the images as possible. Afterwards, we will ask you questions about the images you just saw. The first tribute to answer five questions incorrectly loses. If both tributes answer five incorrectly, we will continue until one tribute has more incorrect answers than the other.

The first image will appear in 120 seconds.

Astrid nodded, blinking a few times to clear her vision as the number started to count down. If there was only one series of images, the Gamemakers were clearly confident that the questions they'd written would be difficult enough to knock one of the girls out. If Astrid wanted to survive, she needed to capitalize on the earliest questions, which would likely be the easiest.

A small voice in her head reminded Astrid of the day before. But Astrid quickly pushed that voice out of her head. She couldn't afford to be overconfident; Astrid needed to focus on the images instead if she wanted a chance to survive.

Poise just needed to focus on the images if she wanted a chance to survive. That couldn't be too hard, right? Sure, she was prone to daydreaming, but she'd been able to finish tests in school at least twice. She had to be able to pull this off; more importantly, she had to prove wrong anyone who thought she couldn't win. Poise wasn't sure why Astrid singled her out to die, but it was foolish to hope that Astrid had chosen Poise to give her the best chance at life. Clearly, Astrid thought she was weak.

Poise wasn't weak. If anything, having to fend for herself for her whole life made her stronger than anybody.

When the number reached 30, it began to grow, practically swallowing up the text of the message. Poise did her best to focus her mind, to channel all of her energy into thinking and remembering and counting and whatever else she needed to do to survive. She closed her eyes once more, took a deep breath, then opened them again, just in time to see the countdown go three… two… one.

The first image to be projected in front of Poise was of a city skyline. Poise began by counting the buildings – five very tall ones, six medium ones, and three small ones. There were twelve cars driving by on the street: nine black, two silver, and one blue. She got about halfway through counting the number of lights on in the windows – forty-three, forty-four, forty-five – before the image began to blur. Poise knew she could try to guess how many there were in total, but she figured it was better to wait until the picture came around again.

Twelve cars, fourteen buildings, at least forty-five windows…

The second image was a family picture. An elderly couple sat in the middle, with a middle-aged woman sitting on either side. Four men stood behind them; the ones on either side had placed their hands on the women's shoulders. Six young children sat on the floor in front of the couple, and two teenagers stood on either end of the row of older men. Poise began to count the colors of their shirts – three red, two blue, two pink – but got cut off as the image began to blur. She certainly hadn't gotten everything she wanted to out of that picture, but she was sure she'd get more out of the second cycle.

Twelve cars, fourteen buildings, at least forty-five windows, an elderly couple, two women, four men, six kids, two teens…

The third image was a meadow.

Poise couldn't help but gasp. Somehow, this image was exactly what she'd always envisioned her meadow to be like. There was the sun, bright yellow and radiant; there were the clouds, perfect and white and fluffy. The landscape was perfectly green, dotted with bright pinks and purples and reds, so many wildflowers that Poise could barely count. There was even a small cluster of rabbits munching on grass in the foreground that looked soft and cuddly. It was everything she could have dreamed of and more. Poise could just see herself walking into the picture and laying down, letting the warm breeze wash over her as she watched the clouds roll by. Maybe a bunny would hop over and settle on her chest, nestling its head under her chin. There was nothing to worry about in the meadow, no father to fear, no duels to lose, no Games to die in. Just… peace.

A peace that was quickly disrupted by a vine that snapped around Poise's left wrist.

QUESTION TWO, read the writing in front of Poise. How many snakes in the eighth image had red dots on their heads? Please state your answer.

The eighth image? Poise had only seen three! How much had she missed?

How badly had she screwed herself over?

Poise tried her best to think about anything she'd seen that looked like a snake. She'd spent time at that station in training; maybe her mind had subconsciously connected what she saw in training to one of the pictures that she missed. But no matter how hard she wracked her brain, she couldn't come up with anything; the best she could do was blurt out, "Twelve!" and hope she was right.

Incorrect. Two had red dots on their heads. Total number of incorrect answers: Two. A second vine shot out from the trees, grabbing hold of Poise's leg.

Poise took a deep breath. She still had three incorrect answers to go before she lost. There seemed to be no way to know how well – or badly – Astrid was doing, no matter how desperately Poise wanted to. The only thing Poise could control was herself. And she was going to find a way out of this Arena come hell or high water.

QUESTION THREE. What color was the canopy in the sixth image?

Canopy… canopy… Poise remembered from training that part of the forest was called the canopy. And if it was in the forest, then the canopy had to be green like the trees. "Green," Poise said, hoping she was right.

Incorrect. The canopy was pink. Total number of incorrect answers: Three.

Poise could feel her heart beating out of her chest. Now both legs were trapped by vines, leaving just Poise's right arm free. Her margin for error was getting slimmer and slimmer. But Poise couldn't let her daydreaming defeat her. She had to find a way.

QUESTION FOUR. Which picture had the most women in it?

This was promising. Poise at least an answer to give: there were four women in the second image. She wasn't sure if it was right, but it was a closer guess than anything else she'd had.

"Four?"

Incorrect. There were nine women in the fifth image. Total number of incorrect answers: Four.

Poise barely got a chance to push her hair out of her face before a fourth vine snaked around her right wrist and pulled it out to the side. The girl was now strung up like a star. She could feel her arms getting heavy as gravity took its toll; if her feet weren't still on the ground, she could only imagine how strained her legs would feel. But Poise had to push through the pain. She might have been down, but she wasn't out just yet.

Poise clenched her fist. She had to do it.

QUESTION FIVE. How many cars in the first image were silver?

All right. Cars. Poise remembered that picture. Twelve cars… nine black, one blue… two silver! "Two!" Poise yelped, thrilled to finally have an answer right. She wasn't out of this just yet. There was still a chance.

QUESTION SIX. How many colors of flowers were in the meadow?

Finally. A question Poise knew. This was the image that Poise had had in her head for years and years. Pinks and purples and reds and oranges – four colors. "Four. Four colors."

There was a pause. The entire forest seemed to quiet down, as if time had frozen. Poise felt her breath catch in her throat as she watched the text in front of her shift, pixels twisting and transforming slowly, building suspense that Poise didn't know if she could handle.

Suddenly, a realization struck Poise. She felt her stomach drop, a wave of despair washing over her. The girl squeezed her eyes shut, curling her head into her chest to try to soften the blow of whatever was coming.

There were four colors of flowers in the meadow that she envisioned in her mind. But there were only three colors of flowers in the image she was shown.

Incorrect. There were three colors of flowers in the image. Total number of incorrect answers: Five.

GAME OVER.

Correct. Total number of incorrect answers: One.

Astrid's arm was really getting tired. She was certainly grateful that, after five questions, only one of her limbs was currently trapped by a vine, but that small amount of cushion against the challenge didn't provide any relief from the physical pain. And really, the second question was a silly one. Astrid had counted the spots on the snakes' heads twice, and both times she was sure she came up with eleven. Maybe there was a snake down in the corner or obscured by the shadows or something, but either way, it was a frustrating way to miss a question.

QUESTION SIX. How many colors of flowers were in the meadow?

This question felt too easy to Astrid. She'd spent so much time counting all the individual pinpricks in the meadow that she could clearly remember their colors: purple, red, and pink. "Three," responded Astrid.

CORRECT. Total number of incorrect answers: One.

Suddenly, the vine retracted from around Astrid's wrist as the area around her was bathed in a soft, golden light. Astrid felt her heart speed up as she struggled to process the shimmering letters that appeared in front of her; she could read the letters just fine, but it took her three tries before she fully internalized what the single word meant.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Astrid collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily with relief. She'd done it. She was going back home. She could get Lucy out of her father's clutches. She could maybe even provide for her mom and sister now. Astrid didn't care that this moment wasn't met with trumpets and confetti, with the cheers of the Capitol's crowds piped in through the Arena. Finally, her life was in her own hands again.

A hovercraft materialized right above Astrid, and a ladder descended, which she eagerly grabbed. As she was pulled upwards, away from the Arena and the danger it brought, Astrid could have sworn she saw the sky turn a shade of vibrant purple. And she could have sworn she saw the purple sky begin to move. Astrid felt a small seed of worry begin to blossom in her stomach, but she was quickly able to stomp it out.

There was no need to worry about the Games anymore.

39/10. Poise Baroque, District Eight Standard Female. Lost the Golden Dagger Duel.

38/9. Astrid Evans, District Five Standard Female. Won the Golden Dagger Duel. First Survivor of the 100th Hunger Games.