The fog had settled deeply onto the forest. Moss could barely make out the shape of his hand as he lifted it in front of his face; the odds of him being able to see any other tribute in this weather were slim at best. But he had to keep trying. If he gave up because of something silly like weather, and Toby died because Moss wasn't there, he would never be able to forgive himself.

A cold breeze blew through the area. Moss couldn't help but turn his head as he walked, trying to follow the path of the breeze, as foolish as that might be. He could see the silhouettes of branches projected on the fog, casting faint, eerie shadows on the ground below. A shiver went down Moss's spine, but he shook it off and continued walking. He couldn't let himself be scared; if he was afraid, he couldn't imagine just how frightened Toby was. Moss had to be strong for his brother.

As he walked, Moss began to see specters in the fog, shadowy figures about the same size and shape as toby appearing and disappearing like apparitions in the mist. As soon as he tried to follow one, it disappeared, with another appearing just a few feet away. Moss felt as though he was being pulled in every direction, twisting and turning in a fruitless attempt to find the person he loved.

No. It wasn't fruitless. When he found Toby, all of this searching would be worth it.

"Moss?"

Moss perked up. That was Toby's voice! He took off in the direction of the voice, running as fast as his legs could carry him. It was almost as if he was running through the droplets of the fog; his brother's silhouette became clearer with every step he took. Finally, he burst through the last remnants of mist, emerging on a clearing in which his brother stood. "Toby!"

"Moss!" Toby exclaimed. Only this time, his voice sounded different; it was a hair robotic, underscored by a strange buzzing sound.

"I made it. I found you."

Moss rushed towards Toby, but before he could reach his brother, Toby was tugged backwards, as if pulled by a string attached to the small of his back. Moss lunged to grab him, but he wasn't fast enough; all he could do was watch as Toby flew out of sight. He tried to follow Toby, but he found himself frozen in place by what he could only describe as a wall of sound. The buzzing sound got louder and louder, filling Moss's ears until he was overwhelmed by the noise. He threw his hands over his ears, but nothing worked, the sound of the noise only amplifying the thoughts that he'd never be good enough, that he'd never find his brother, that it was his fault that Toby was going to-

Moss's eyes opened.

Blearily, the boy blinked, allowing the world around him to come into focus. He looked up, blinking away the violet spots that clouded his vision. The buzzing sound slowly faded out of Moss's head, turning into a whisper before it disappeared completely. Moss rubbed his eyes and stood up, trying to get his bearings. Where was he? What time was it? What happened?

He hadn't remembered falling asleep. The last thing he knew, he was taking a short break to stop and drink some water, the first rays of sunlight just beginning to permeate the inky darkness. But now, the sun had passed its zenith, already beginning its descent back towards the earth. How stupid had Moss been to fall asleep out in the open? How many hours had he wasted?

How far away had Toby gotten?

Without missing a beat, Mars sprung up and flung his bag over his shoulder. He had no idea if his brother was alive or dead, but he had to hold out hope that Toby was safe out there. Moss would never forgive himself if he found his brother just too late, bleeding out like Amber, with no way to save him.

Fueled by determination, Moss set out into the forest. He couldn't afford to waste any more time.

"All right. I think we can finally breathe."

Ritz immediately flopped to the ground, their limbs heavy with exhaustion. They might have been used to walking long distances, but walking was not quite the same as sprinting for their life. They could feel the adrenaline beginning to wear off, leaving Ritz a shellshocked, shaking mess. "Holy… wow. What was that?"

"I don't know for sure. But my best guess is that it was the forcefield around the Arena moving inwards. I don't think anything else would be strong enough to electrocute a tribute like that."

"But why would they move the forcefield? And how did they decide how far in to move it?"

"I mean, why do the Gamemakers do anything to move tributes? They want to get us closer together so that we can fight. As far as how far it moved? Well, the number did appear at the same time as the forcefield turned purple, so I'd assume they're connected. And if we go with the idea that the number represents the number of tributes left in the Arena, then I figure the forcefield moves in the number that we lost. So we went from 48 to 37, so the forcefield moved in by eleven… somethings. I don't know what unit of measurement they're using, but that's my guess."

"That's smart."

"Thank you. I don't know if I'm right, but it's kind of nice to have something to go off of." Marie paused, looking over at Ritz. "Are you ok?"

"I think so?"

But Ritz did not answer confidently. The past few minutes – had it really only been a few minutes? – had been so intense that they were only just now starting to process what had happened. Their memories were patchy, like individual snapshots that, when pieced together, told most of the story. Ritz remembered Marie, calling out directions as she led the group fearlessly through the forest. They remembered Evion's panicked yelp as they tripped over a stray tree root. They remembered Marie insisting that Ritz couldn't go back for him, that they had to save themselves first. They remembered Evion's screams of terror as the purple wall overtook them.

They remember just how loud the buzzing sounded when the screaming stopped.

Ritz put their head between their legs. Somehow, the internal conflicts that they were looking to avoid maybe half an hour prior seemed much more manageable. They just wanted to pretend they weren't here, that they were back in the sprawling grain fields of District Nine. Sure, their district might have sent them to die, but perhaps it was better to be hated and alive than to be cared for and dead.

"Hey," Marie said, bending down and putting her hand on Ritz's shoulder. "I know this is hard. But it's going to be all right, I promise. We're gonna find a way out of it."

Ritz looked up towards Marie, barely able to see her through the tears that spilled from their eyes. "Are you sure?"

"I'm as sure as I can be. That's the best I can do."

Marie took hold of Ritz's hand. The two took a moment to breathe together, allowing the fabricated peace of the forest to wash over them. Ritz could almost believe that things would be alright.

Until the sound of a twig snapping echoed through the forest.

Breathing heavily, Lambell slowed to a jog as she looked for a place to rest. Now that the strange purple field enveloping the Arena had mostly faded, she was ready to let herself take a short break. While Lambell had not been particularly close to the field, the sparseness of the trees in this wintery environment meant that she always knew precisely where it was – and how quickly it was moving. But all of the thinking that Lambell had to do to calculate where the forcefield was and how long she had before it reached her had really worn her out.

It was exhausting having to look after herself all the time.

In the distance, Lambell noticed a spot of color, a bright orange that stood out against the white landscape. Intrigued, she crept closer, eventually emerging into a deciduous forest. She immediately let out a sigh of relief; more trees and more foliage meant more places to hide. Lambell set off into the forest, keeping her eyes out for a big tree around which she could spend the night. For the first time in a while, she was almost feeling confident.

Until she felt a twig snap beneath her feet.

Lambell froze, her eyes darting back and forth as she listened for any tributes who might be in the area. Sure enough, the sound of voices drifted her way from deeper in the forest. Lambell listened as carefully as she could, trying to make out the words she heard to decide how quickly she needed to run.

"… go after them?"

"No, I don't want to go hunting. More likely than not, any tribute confident enough to step on a stick and not fear is a Career, and we don't want to run into them. If they're not, they'll probably run away; if they come in our direction, we have the advantage of being able to stand our ground."

"That makes sense."

Lambell knew she should run away while she still had a chance. If the other tributes were planning on holding their ground, they were probably more than capable of taking her out. But Lambell was desperate for protection, for anyone who could squarely get between her and someone else if her life depended on it. She had to at least get close enough to see if these were people who might be interested in allying with her. In these Games, Lambell figured, anyone that would remain squarely on your side had to be considered an asset. And if they decided to attack instead, Lambell just had to hope that she would be able to get away fast.

Mind made up, Lambell crept towards the voices. After a few minutes, she finally caught a glimpse through the trees of who was talking: one of the girls from Twelve and one of the tributes from Nine. From what Lambell could remember, they'd had two other allies in training who were now nowhere to be found. Maybe they were looking for a third person to fill in the gap.

As confidently as she could, Lambell strode into the clearing, her hands raised in the air. "Hi there!" she chirped, intentionally keeping distance between herself and them. "I couldn't help but noticed that you're short a couple of people from training."

The girl from Twelve put herself between the kid from Nine, who had scrambled to their feet, and Lambell. "We might be. How would you know that?"

"Well, there were four of you and now there are two. Wasn't their district partner one of them?"

"Sharp eye."

"I do my best."

"You come in peace?"

"I do. Promise."

"Marie Gagne, Twelve, and this is Ritz Marquette, Nine. What do you want?"

"Lambell Rose, Ten. I'm looking for an alliance."

Marie's eyes narrowed. "Why now? We're already almost a quarter of the way into these Games death-wise. You easily could have approached me in training, and you did not."

"The same could be said for you," volleyed Lambell. "We all have our reasons for the choices we make. And the Arena has, I'm sure, made all of us change our plans."

Lambell felt a shift in the air, as if she'd gotten a small foothold in the conversation. "You're not wrong. But still, why now?"

"Well…" Lambell drew out the last syllable to buy herself a moment to think. "Having expected a conventional bloodbath, I was worried about having too many people to find in the chaos that would naturally come with having 48 tributes all rushing towards the same place at the same time," she fibbed. "Having one person to look for increased the odds of getting out of there faster. If I'd known that we'd be spread out the way we were, I probably would have looked for other people to work with."

"But you did ask other tributes to work together. I saw you talking to the Sixes."

Crap. "By that point, you were already at four members of your alliance," Lambell saved it. "If I was hesitant about expanding my group to four, of course the prospect of working with six was a little scary."

A faint smile tugged at the corners of Marie's lips. "You think well on your feet. But you're also twelve, and it doesn't seem like you have much on you to work with by way of supplies or weapons. What can you bring to this alliance that an older kid wouldn't be able to do?"

"My father's sponsor money. I'm the daughter of the mayor of Ten who also happens to be a Victor. He has connections in the Capitol all over the place. He promised me when he said goodbye that he'd be able to help me in the Arena. And of course, any gifts that I get will naturally be to your benefit as well."

"Has he sent you anything yet?"

Lambell felt her breath catch in her throat. "No. But I assume that my mentors will know when I need something, and they'll send me a gift then."

There was a pregnant pause as Lambell's eyes darted anxiously to the sky. She could sense Marie's eyes boring into her chest as the girls waited for a parachute that didn't seem to come. Almost as an afterthought, Lambell blurted out, "I'm sure of it," hoping that Marie couldn't sense the urgency in her voice. She could almost hear the ticking of a clock in her head as she searched for any sign of a parachute. But none came.

Had her father lied to her? Had he abandoned her? Why else was nothing happening.

"Well," Marie began, awkwardly glancing down at the ground. Lambell looked down too, not ready for the rejection she knew was coming. But before Marie could continue, a silver parachute drifted down and landed squarely in between the two girls.

"There." Lambell picked up the parachute and opened up the small box attached to it, which contained three loaves of District Ten bread. It was a simple gift, but she didn't care; it was a sign that her father was still there for her. She took out a loaf of bread and extended it towards Marie. "One for each of us."

As Lambell waited with bated breath, Marie turned around and knelt down to Ritz's level so they could discuss. It seemed like an eternity passed before Marie turned around and took the loaf out of Lambell's hand. "You're welcome to stay with us for now."

Lambell exhaled. That wasn't quite an alliance offer, but for the time being, she had someone to watch her back.

And that was about as much as she could ask for.

"It's getting dark out," Leyton mused, looking up from the fire that crackled between them.

"That's true. Nightfall is probably about half an hour away."

"Should we put the fire out?"

"I don't think we have to just yet. The trees give us good cover, and if we do get ambushed, I think it's better for us to have light."

"That's a good point."

The two fell silent, listening to the faint sounds of crickets echoing through the twilit woods. It was almost peaceful, a very strange adjective to attribute to the Hunger Games of all things. But Acadia could not think of a better word to describe her experience over the past thirty hours or so. Thus far, the Games had been rather uneventful for Acadia and Leyton; in fact, in Acadia's mind, things were going about as well as they could have.

For one thing, she and Leyton had found each other relatively quickly after launch, and not long after, had stumbled upon a small clearing among the cherry trees that made a perfect campsite. Their search for firewood was more than fruitful, and they'd been able to sleep peacefully, switching watch at the end of each person's sleep cycle. And whatever was going on with the giant number counting down and the strange purple sky had not affected them at all. All in all, it was about the smoothest start to the Games that anyone could hope for.

And perhaps the best part was that Acadia had a more than sufficient repair kit for her prosthetic leg. She noticed it on the supply list the night before launch but assumed that it would be mediocre at best, only choosing it to suck up to the Gamemakers who had clearly included it on the list just for her. But the kit had more than she could ask for in the Games. Acadia knew that she wouldn't be able to fix a significant break during the Games, but now, a minor issue with her leg was far less likely to become a major issue.

Acadia had already known that she was capable of winning the Games. The universe was just giving her proof.

"Do you think it's weird that we haven't interacted with any other tributes these whole Games?" Leyton broke the silence.

"I don't think so. We launched pretty far apart from other people, I think, and we haven't exactly gone looking for other tributes. I'd assume the Gamemakers are going to do something to bring us together, but I'm not sure what that is yet."

At precisely that moment, a soft rustling noise floated through the forest. Acadia's hand jumped to the knife at her waist, her head jerking towards the sound. "I guess we spoke too soon," Leyton whispered, his eyes darting around nervously.

"Stay calm," Acadia commanded, getting to her feet. "We're not attacking unless they attack first."

After a tense moment, a broad, tall boy emerged into the clearing; his bottle green jacket and forest green shirt identified him as the older boy from Seven. Despite his imposing stature, his demeanor seemed more worried than anything. Acadia drew her knife, allowing the fire to reflect off of its steel blade. "State your case. I have no intention to attack," she asserted, "unless you do something to warrant it."

"Oh, I have no interest in getting into a fight," the boy explained apologetically. "I'm sorry if I startled you. I'm just looking for my brother, and when I saw a little bit of your fire peeking out through the trees, I wondered if it might be him."

Leyton piped up. "Your brother? Did you lose him?"

"We launched separately and haven't been able to find each other since. I just want to know that he's safe. Have you seen him at all? The other boy from Seven."

"No, we have not. But if we do, we'll let him know we saw you," Acadia said curtly, raising her eyebrow at the other boy.

"Much appreciated. I should get back to searching; I'm definitely wasting time. Mind if I just cross through your camp?"

"Feel free. And best of luck to you."

Acadia kept the point of the knife pointed towards Moss as he walked across the clearing. Only once he disappeared from her view did she finally lower the blade, letting out a sigh of relief. "I think we got lucky there."

"I think so too."

"We should probably put out the fire."

"Yeah."

"All right. We should get ourselves settled in for the night," Vidja instructed. "Do we need more firewood?"

"It can't hurt to get some," Clem replied. "By the way, what are we doing about those traps you were talking about?"

"I still don't have quite the supplies I need," she lamented. "Even with both the prosthetic repair kit and the mechanical traps kit, there are still a few pieces missing that I feel like could be useful. The kinds of things that would actually do some damage."

"Do you think you'll be able to find them?"

"I doubt I'll be able to naturally. But I'm holding out hope that my mentors will send me something. We talked about what might be useful for me to have, so they know what I want. I can only guess that they haven't secured enough funds, but I had high hopes for my interview."

It wasn't just that she didn't have the supplies she needed. Vidja's entire plan hinged on there being mutts in the Arena. She'd spent some time in training at the dangerous animals station, which had given her an idea: what if she could use combine her skills with traps, her control of sound from years as a DJ, and the mutts that roamed in the Arena to put on the best show the Capitolites had ever seen? It was a bold idea for sure, and one that Vidja thought she had made clear enough in her private session that the Gamemakers would give her something to bring it to life. Vidja was choosing to hope that something would manifest soon to indicate that she was on the right track. If it didn't within a day, she'd start thinking of a backup plan, but she really wanted to bring her original idea to life.

"I'm sure we'll figure it out." Arlie put a comforting hand on Vidja's shoulder. "You're good at that. And I bet the more we keep mentioning this plan, the more likely the Capitolites will bite."

Vidja looked over to Arlie, a slight smile crossing her face. "I hope you're right, buddy." She took a moment to composer herself, then suggested, "How about the two of you go out for wood tonight and I'll get on the water purifying, and then tomorrow, Arlie and I will go out and Clem will stay here?"

Clem picked up a backpack and emptied its contents into the other two packs, then slung it over his shoulder. "Works for me," he said, nodding to Arlie. "Shall we head out?"

"Let's do it."

As she watched them leave, Vidja couldn't help but think about the position she'd found herself in. She hadn't necessarily intended to lead an alliance; yes, Vidja was hoping to use her allies' talents to help her enact her plan, but she didn't exactly want to make all of the decisions for the whole group. But given that she'd formed the alliance and that she was four years older than both boys, she could understand why they looked to her for guidance. Vidja hadn't minded much during training, but now, in the Arena, the unofficial title bestowed upon her felt heavier on her shoulders. One wrong word from her or the smallest deviation from her plan could end the life of someone who had put their trust in her. And that was a lot of responsibility for Vidja to bear.

She'd never forgive herself if she let her allies down.

Vidja took a deep breath to ground herself again, then reached into her backpack to pull out the water bottles to purify. But before she could do so, she heard two pairs of footsteps running towards her, followed by a scream.

Arlie's scream.

For half a second, the thought of running towards Arlie to help crossed Vidja's mind. But if they were already running towards her, that probably wouldn't help them in the long run. Instead, it would be much smarter to pack up as much of their camp as possible so she could join in with them once they arrived at camp; with the amount of noise they were making, whatever was chasing them was definitely following close behind. Vidja began frantically gathering the few supplies that weren't already in their packs and throwing them in her bag, disregarding any potential strategy for how to balance weight. She needed to be ready to get out the minute that Arlie and Clem arrived.

Not three seconds after she threw the last thing into her bag, Arlie and Clem burst into the clearing. "Run. Fast," Arlie gasped. "Big cat." He looped his arm around the handle of the third pack and took off. Without missing a beat, Vidja fell in step, throwing her back onto her back as she ran. She could hear the sound of growling behind her, somehow growing closer with every step. Vidja glanced back quickly, catching sight of a big black panther chasing after them. She silently cursed as she kept running. Why the fuck did she ask for mutts in the Arena? In what world did she think that was a good thing to want?

She knew that she couldn't spend time thinking about her stupid decisions, at least not until they got to safety. But she couldn't shake the realization that her own hubris was going to get her and her allies killed.

"Do you have anything we could throw at it?" asked Clem desperately.

"I don't know," Vidja called. "I'm not sure what's smartest."

"It probably has to be something that'll immediately trip it up," Arlie suggested. "I don't think jerky will even work all that well; it'll scoop it up for maybe ten seconds and keep running."

"You don't happen to have a bomb?" Clem threw out.

"Nope. Less talking, more running."

So they kept sprinting through the jungle, pushing branches and leaves out of their way as they ran. Vidja could hear her heart beating out of her chest, could feel the way that her steps grew shorter as she kept running. But she was determined not to give up. She had to survive for herself – but more importantly, she had to survive for her allies. If she was not there to keep them safe, then who would?

Deep down, she knew she could only do so much. Vidja was violently reminded of that fact when she heard a shout from behind her. She turned her head again to see Clem, flat on the ground, just a few yards ahead of where the jaguar was.

"Clem! Are you ok?" Arlie exclaimed.

Clem tried to get to his feet, then grimaced. "My ankle really hurts."

"We can help. We can carry you." Vidja turned around to run back towards Clem. But before she could even take two steps, Arlie had grabbed her wrist and was pulling her the other way. "I know you want to save him. But you have to save yourself first."

"But…"

"Vidja. You will get yourself killed as well. We have to go." He started to pull on Vidja, but the girl remained rooted in her spot. She could not bring herself to tear her eyes away as the jaguar ran closer and closer and closer before leaping onto Clem's prone body. The jaguar shoved its claw into Clem's chest, then pulled it out; Vidja caught a glimpse of the blood glinting off of it before the jaguar brought it down again. She felt her limbs grow weak as she let herself be dragged away by Arlie, Clemency's screams echoing in her mind.

The one time she'd had hope, that she'd believed things would go right, the worst had happened. Maybe she wouldn't be able to enact her plan. Maybe she couldn't protect Arlie.

Maybe all of this had been for nothing.

36/10. Evion Viscose, District Three Standard Male. Killed by the Forcefield.

35/9. Clemency Trimble, District Twelve Standard Male. Killed by a Jaguar.

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: V (Runar, Poise, Harlen, Evion, Clemency)

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)

VAC - Oh :( Wait: Vidja Zavala (D3QF), Arlie Poplin (D8SM)

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

Gonna Break This Code Somehow: Marie Gagne (D12SF), Ritz Marquette (D9QM), Lambell Rose (D10QF)

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

I Can Still Save You: Saskia Calahan (D8QF), Quiinn Jones (D11QM)

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

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

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

Lone Wolves (Intentionally or Unintentionally): Ryelee Blackburn (D9QF), Cyei All (D11QM), Orchid Ursinia (D11QF)