It began raining after a while. Thankfully, we managed to find a cave where we're currently taking shelter in. Once again, Byke and Troy are just straight knocked out. I feel like going to sleep as well but I keep myself awake. "You know, you could go to sleep too." Monica brings it to my attention.

I sigh. "Yeah, but I don't want to right now." I tell her.

Monica only groans. "I seriously can't read you, 11. You seem a lot older than you look." She admits.

I chuckle. "Crazy stuff happens in 11 you know. I'm kind of used to things being bad." I shrug.

Monica thinks over it for a minute. "Do you even think of the possibility that you... may not come out of the arena alive?" She asks me.

I look down at my shoes. "Yeah. More than likely, I may die. However, I just can't afford to be held down by that thought." I explain.

She nods. She looks outside of the cave. It's begun pouring down harder that it was before. "Hm. It seems pretty dangerous out there." Monica says, looking outwards.

I lower my head. The rain brings a chill to the cave. I wish I could use the sleeping bag I picked up earlier but it seems I'm not gonna be able to do that. I sigh, this feels so weird. I'm not sure if I completely feel safe or not. Especially with this girl, Monica, with that spear.

However, I just swallow my saliva and lay my head back against the dark cave. I actually come close to slowly drifting out when Monica suddenly asks me a question. "Since you really don't seem like you plan on sleeping... I kind of want to know something..." She begins.

I turn around to her. I nod. "What's that?" I ask.

She looks around. "What was it... that gave you the ability to use knives that well?" She asks.

I stop and turn back to the wall. My insides hurt thinking about the things that happened between the time of the 96th games and now. My mind hurts too. I take a deep breath. "Well... It's hard to go over. It's a long story and I really... don't like touching that subject." I admit.

She looks up. "Yeah, I guess I can understand where you're coming from." She sighs.

I close my eyes. Those memories... just hurt...

Everything happened so fast, or so it seemed. It all happened in a never ending chain of horrible memories. One thing after the other, which I guess led to me being who I am.

If dad hadn't died... maybe...

I look over to Byke and Troy. Troy sleeps near Byke, trying to absorb the warmth of my sleeping bag. I wouldn't have been able to survive and longer than Day 2...

I'm already confused. What day is it? Is it still Day 2 or is it Day 3 already? Assuming it's been hours since we heard the anthem (No deaths today for some reason), it may be Day 3 already...

Man, I'm alive and it's the 3rd day. I guess the fact that there are only 2 careers makes this a... well... interesting game. Who knows how far I'll get? I lay my head back. It almost feels relaxing in here...

"BOOM!"

I jolt back. Monica also jumps up, holding her spear out. Byke jumps up, knocking Troy off of her and into the ground. I hit my head on a rock, knocking me to the ground in pain. After only a few seconds, we're all sprawled around on the floor.

"Augh. It was just a canon." I rub my head in pain.

Monica slowly begins laughing. "Heh, that was actually pretty funny." She admits. I look around, starting to laugh as well.

"I wonder who that was..." My smile drops. I'm reminded of Soya and Alma when I say this. Not only because I'm reminded that they're both fighting for their lives simultaneously, but I won't know when they die...

I take a small breath. Just keep your calm Altar, we just gotta hope for the best...

"I don't think anybody is really around, why don't we go back to sleep?" Troy says, yawning. Byke gives him a glare.

"Of course you'd be the one willing to say that. Come on. Be real, there could be something out there ready to hunt us down right now!" She yells at him.

Monica agrees. "Yeah actually. I didn't really think about it but who knows, maybe the Gamemakers really do plan on pulling something on us. We should just be careful with how we sleep." She tells us.

She's right actually...

I lay my head back against the wall once morel... slowly but shortly drifting into a deep sleep...

"KIDS! YOU NEED TO WAKE UP! NOW!" I'm shaken awake all of a sudden. Moncia stands above me, looking around frantically. Byke and Troy are both jumping around like monkeys. For a second, I'm almost sure I'm in the middle of a nightmare when I start to notice that I feel... pretty cold.

I then realize my hands are in water. My eyes begin opening. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING?!" I shout, looking around. Byke quickly hands Monica my sleeping back and she shoves it in her backpack, not even bothering to finish rolling it up.

"The cave is flooding! We gotta hurry!" She grabs me. I shake my head. I feel quite groggy but I'm slowly starting to feel sick. I'm so out of it right now, none of it feels real. Even as I try moving as quickly as I can, I'm slow. However, I know this isn't a dream. My heart is pounding like mad. I immediately charge towards the exit of the cave... only to notice the place we came in from isn't there anymore...

"Uh..." I step back.

"Now you see our dilemma right?" Monica says. Water is rushing in from somewhere, flooding the cave while we suffer and search frantically for a way out. The cave keeps filling and filling but no clear way out in sight. At this point, I'm starting to panic. I don't want to drown. I don't want to die...

I can't even swim, so searching around is harder than it should be. By this point, Troy and Byke have given up all hope. The former is crying for his life. I grit my teeth in annoyance. It's making this whole situation more dreadful. If anything, Monica is doing the best out of us. "Guys, I found an exit! It's also where all the rain seems to be coming from!" She rushes up to us.

On the other side of a giant pond of water is... another wall. However, if you look up you can tell there's no roof over that area of the cave. "I can assume none of you can swim..." She begins.

I shake my head in disappointment. Troy and Byke both do the same. "Grh. Well, Byke. Get on my back. I'll try and get you over there so you can climb up." She says, jumping into the water.

Byke softly gets on her back and Monica begins to attempt to swim towards other side of the cave. By this point, the water is closing up on my knees. I'm shaking in worry. For the 2nd consecutive day, I'm actually afraid I'm about to go. Is this really it?

Monica quickly pushes Byke off of her before directing her to climb up the rocks and out of the hole we're in. She begins swimming over to our area. The water is at our knees now!

"11! You go first!" Troy pushes me forwards. I nearly fall into the water, but thankfully Monica catches me. "Stay calm. You're actually pretty heavy." She admits. I turn back to Troy. "What are you doing?" I ask him.

He waits behind him. The water is rising faster than before suddenly. The water is up to his chest. He's flailing around like a mad man now. "We need to hurry." I worry.

Monica groans. "I know, but you're heavy and I'm going as fast as I can." She argues. I grit my teeth as we make it to the other side. Only barely too. I look up and notice Byke still struggling to climb out.

Troy is still on the other side, the water making it to his head. Monica jumps into the water. Right as she does, the water reaches the tip of that area of the cave. My eyes widen, my heart starts pounding. I gotta get out of here though...

I grit my teeth before putting my hands against the wall. I slowly begin to climb up. It is surprisngly easy to get up. Byke seems to be struggling somehow though. I guess it's a lack of experience along with the rain. I look up. It's raining heavily at the moment. However, I manage to ease my way out of the cave and hold my hand out to Byke. "Grab on! I got you!" I tell her over the roaring sounds of the storm.

She grabs my hand and I begin pulling her over. And she's heavier than I think she should be...

I struggle to lift her up for almost a minute. "Can you try to pull yourself up by climbing I'm supporting you. You shouldn't fall into the water!" I tell her. She looks back down at the dark black water under her.

I still don't see Monica or Troy...

However, at once, I manage to pull her over and out of the cave. I take a giant breath. Good, Byke isn't dead... yet...

However, my thoughts now turn to Monica and Troy. I look back down into the cave. "MONICA! TROY!" I shout. No answers...

No canons yet... they must be barely alive. However, I... can't do anything about it. I can't swim...

I almost feel like crying. And hey, I do feel a few tears coming up. "She can't be gone! She can do this! She has to save Troy!" Byke worries.

That knocks me out of my inner dilemma. After a few minutes though, they still haven't come up. It's official... They're both dead... Now I need to know where the canon is?

My heart hurts now. I couldn't do anything... and now they're both gone...

"They're both gone, Byke." I tell her, falling to my knees.

She looks over at me. Her face is as dopey as ever. She seems like she has no idea what I'm on about. That's how she's always been... "There was no other way. I just... I just let them die!" I feel tears beginning to form.

It only takes 3 seconds for me to begin sobbing like a child. I've cried before, getting hurt on the field, failing in class... But this is years of tears I've held back, all coming together. "I couldn't save them..." I cry.

Byke goes quiet. It seems she doesn't know how to respond to my mental breakdown. "But... But... they really are..." Bykes voice quiets.

A few more seconds pass. My tears resolve to mere sobs, but I still feel pain. Byke looks around. "They aren't dead." Byke finally says.

I begin to rub my eyes when she says this. I almost want to yell but I go back to being calm. "What do you mean they aren't dead? There was no way out of there? The closed it up and the only other one was underwater. They would've been out by now obviously." I tell her.

"And there canon would've gone off now." She argues.

What am I doing? She's clearly an idiot. They probably got trapped in a certain area and are beginning to drown.

"I'm honestly sure they would've drowned by now. Maybe they're coming up with an escape?" She wonders.

I sigh before getting up from my knees. I look up at the sky. "You know... no matter how stupid you sound, I hope you're right." I sigh, admitting that there is some truth to her comment.

A few moments pass. I begin drying up my tears. The thought still remains. Am I truly a failure? Monica would've perished, even if I stayed behind.

A few minutes pass. By this point, I feel like I was given false hope. They're probably dead now, just somebody is too busy drinking to notice or something. I grit my teeth thinking about that.

Me and Byke have been quiet for what seems like hours, not wishing to speak to each other. The sound of rain continuously interrupts our silence. The thought continues to bury itself into my head as I put my knees to my chest. You know... Someway, somehow... I miss my mother... and District 11.

While I continue my self-loathing though... Byke jumps up. "Did you hear that?" She asks.

I turn around. "Huh?" I question her.

She jumps down from the top of the cave and into the the shallow water surrounding the cave. I jump down and follow her. "What do you mean did I hear that? You didn't even explain anything." I tell her.

She shushes me before looking around. The sound of footsteps echo through the night. Suddenly, I hear a sound. A faint sound of someone shouting something. Byke walks over to where the entrance to the cave once stood. "Hello?" She shouts at the wall that stands in its place.

Okay, what is she doing now? "Uh... what are we trying to do here?" I ask her. She shushes me again.

"I-Is that you guys?" I faintly hear a familiar voice. Troy...

"Troy? Monica?" I put my head against the entrance to the cave.

"Yes! It's us! The place you guys exited from is flooded now and we won't be able to get out from there without drowning. Apparently though, the part of the cave that was enclosed isn't as strong as we thought. We were trying to dig our way out but it's too dark to see in here anymore." She explains.

I look around. I pick up a fallen tree branch floating in the water and begin slamming it against the wall. "No idiot. You should try cutting around the dirt so we can pull the rocks out easier." Byke does her own thing.

"Hurry! The water is at our necks!" Troy cries.

We go as quickly as we can. Eventually getting the rocks out of the way. Monica and Troy quickly come bursting out of the cave. Both of them falling on me and Byke in the process...

"Whoa! That was close." Troy breathes heavily.

"Thanks! Oh my goodness!" Monica jumps off of us. She seems to be shaking. Weather from cold or fear, I don't know nor do I care.

Troy is breathing heavily. "I... I really thought I was gonna." He begins. However, he doesn't finish. It's clear that the two really thought they were going to die.

"Don't scare us like that!" I beg them.

Monica begins to form a smile. "Heh. I scared you?" She admits.

"Of course. We thought you drowned!" I tell them.

"Thanks for saving us though." She admits, hugging Byke and me. I feel a little awkward when she does that.

"Uh... Well, we should be thanking you because without you, we would have drowned." I admit.

Troy nods as he tries to pull Monica off of us. "Where are we going to sleep now though?" Troy asks.

I look around. The floor is out of the question as it's flooded right now. "Somewhere high up might be pretty good." Byke says.

I sigh. We all just nearly drowned and the first thing they want now is somewhere to sleep. Well, can't blame that would tire me out as well but can't we wait a bit? "Let's go. Maybe we'll find a pretty good place for you to doze off..." Monica begins walking. We all follow.

This is probably the 3rd day... And what an opening to it...

Surviving Tributes

District 1 Female

District 2 Male

District 4 Female (Monica)

District 5 Male

District 6 Female (Byke)

District 6 Male (Troy)

District 10 Female

District 11 Female (Ceres)

District 11 Male (Altar)

District 12 Female

Glad to get this chapter out of the park. Yeah, kind of filler-ish but something needed to fill in the early morning slot to the 3rd day. Also, this is another short chapter but I hope to get these longer once more things begin happening. Who knows, maybe the main 4 will encounter something "INSANE!?" in the next chapter?