The ruins turn out to be much larger than I originally thought, as after an hour of running I find me in the midst of empty streets and wooden buildings. I even spotted a rusted car at one point. The sky starts to turn pink and I decide I better take shelter.

I slip into a small building, it's one story and empty. I step carefully on the floor. I can not be sure that the floor is not completely riddled with traps, and if I am to die in these Games, then I want it to be by the hands of another tribute and not by Gamemaker trap. After half an hour of tiptoed walking, I make it to the back corner and slink into a sitting position.

To my left is a small opening in the bricks that I can use to peek through and see the sky. I pull my jacket off my waist and pile it up so it's a small pile of fabric that I can use as a pillow. I slip my backpack onto my back in case I need to run, and I pull out another one of my dried fruit pieces.

I have not seen any of the other tributes since I ran from the bloodbath. That either meant everyone had taken shelter, or the arena was larger than I thought it would be. Either way, it sets me a little on edge. I replace my fruit into the bag and allow myself another swallow of water but am immedailty thirsty the minute I pull my lips away. With how hot this arena is, I would need to find more sources of it soon.

I sit quietly for a while as the sun finishes going down. My strategy had always been to lay low, but now that I'm in the arena I also need a strategy to stay alive long enough to actually get myself out. I will have to find more water tomorrow. I saw a few animals I had never seen before – wide, beige animals with an outer shell and a thin tail. I wonder if there are any more and if I could hunt them. I am not the best hunter, but I can make do when I have to.

The sun finally completely goes down, and I am left in darkness. Then, the pictures go up in the sky. I can barely see them through the hole in my shelter. The district number is beneath the tribute, which I can see clearly. All of the careers survived to save the girl from 1, and both from five were gone, as was six. The boy from eight. Both from 9 and 10. Both from eleven, that surprised me. The large boy from training I thought would at least make it past the bloodbath. And then, of course, Clyde.

I do not know how to feel about not seeing Daisy or Trapper in the sky. I don't want them dead, but the longer they live the more likelihood there is of me having to come face to face with them. And though I and Trapper never exactly got along, I do not want to be the one to deliver the killing blow.

And Daisy….Daisy was a bridge I would have to cross if I get there.

I decided it would be best to get some rest, if only for a little while, before disappearing again. Being on move seems to be the best option. Especially with how large the arena is.

I just lay down to rest when I hear movement outside of my shelter. I immedailty jump to full position and take my ax in my hand. It's a soft rustling, and I see the door handle of my shelter shake with movement. I intake a breath and try to find a quick exit, but find the only place large enough for me to leave through is the door; the hole I was using to see was far too small to get my body through.

The door opens, and am surprised to see a bloody form coming run through the doorway. I am even more surprised when I see it is the red-haired form of Daisy.

Daisy notices me at the same time a second form comes through the door. It's the boy from three, who has a bloody knife in one hand and a determination on his face.

"Johanna!" Daisy says and comes running in my direction. I hold up my ax as a means to stay away – is that blood hers or someone else - and she looks up at me in fear and surprise. The boy from three catches up from her and slits Daisy's neck and I stuck in a breath.

She falls to the ground and I lunge forward, burying my ax in his chest and kick him forward onto his back. I pull it back out, and blood gushes out. I hit him in the forehead to be sure, and a cannon rings out. I can not tell if it is for him or Daisy. Or someone else entirely.

I turn back to Daisy and find her still gasping for breath, and the boy from Three has gone completely still. I lean down to her, hesitating to touch her, my hand wavering over her wound.

"Jo-Johanna," she gasps, and I do not know what to say.

"I -I –" Then the cannon sounds, and Daisy is gone. I pull back from her body, and I feel the guilt and relief fill my body. I should have – I should have done something – said something – I could have helped if I hadn't been afraid that Daisy – little Daisy was going to hurt me.

A voice whispers in my head that she got an eight, but rotten suspicion turns in my stomach. Is a girl from Twelve getting an eight? And then when the bloodbath is over and she's not gone, she's one of the first casualties? It does not feel right.

But I do not have time to muse on that.

I begin to plunder both for supplies. I take the knife – the knife that killed Daisy and I slip into my belt. The boy from Three had another water bottle stuffed in a knapsack, and Daisy had a pair of socks stuffed in her pockets. I take no joy in how easy I can ignore the corpse and take the materials off of them.

I retrieve my jacket and decide it is best to go ahead and move, in case anyone heard. I keep going for at least two hours once I step out of the building. I do not notice what I pass for most of it.

The grief and guilt flood me. I should have – I could have – why – what –

Did I kill that boy from Three on instinct for Daisy? Or to protect me? Both? How could I have thought Daisy was my enemy? She had seemed so relieved to see me. She wanted me for protection, and that fear… that fear in her eyes told me all I needed to know about her eight. It was unearned. And if I lived through this, I was going to find out why.

Eventually, the buildings stop and I am again in the desert part of the valley. I make a turn to try and set others off my trail in case they were following. I find a large plane of rocks of varying sizes and I push away my guilt and grief as I peel my eyes for any other tributes.

It is far too dark to actually see, but I mostly let my ears do the checking. I have become trained to hear things in the night, given I live with a grandpa that could die at the drop of hat. I can not stand to face someone else right now. If I have to kill again so soon, then my strategy will go out of the window. The other tributes will somehow get a message from their mentors, I know. Codes, somehow.

I see an elbow stick out from a rock a few yards ahead of me, and I freeze and hold my ax out defensively. I hear an intake of breath from that rock, an almost familiar face pops over the top of it. Relief floods it and I am surprised. Why is the girl from Three excited to see me?

"Johanna!" she whispers. She looks down at someone next to her. "Trapper, it's Johanna!"

Trapper's head pops up next to hers, and I sink my feet deeper into the sand.

"Johanna!" Trapper steps out from behind the rock, ignoring my frown and my ax. "Johanna, please, I'm not going to hurt you."

What if I want to hurt you?

I do not say that, but I feel it in my bones that it is true.

"Please," Trapper says. "We're tired. Jus-just let us be. We won't hurt you, if you don't hurt us."

I furrow my brow but do not put down my ax.

"How do I know the moment I leave you won't follow me?" I ask. Trapper shakes his head.

"You don't," Trapper says. "Just know that we say we won't. So we won't."

That is not good enough, but I can not kill them. Not yet. After how easily I killed the last one, I can not quite bring myself to admit how willing I am to kill on command.

"Join us!" the girl from Three adds from her place still behind the rock. "We can be like an alliance or something!"

I am tempted, but I hesitate.

"An alliance?" I whisper. "Why should we ally?"

"Because if not, …. We'll kill you," she says, but the waver in her voice tells me she won't.

But still, I am tired. So tired. Trapper and I were never close, but something tells me I can trust him. At least for now. So I take a step forward, and I decide to trust for a moment.

Chapter Bible Verse:

"The Lord is my strength and my shield." - Psalm 28:7.

THIS IS SO SHORT I'M SORRY

It's just when a chapter reaches its end, it reaches its end.

And Clyde and Daisy are already gone, but believe me, as far as the story goes we are not done with them. They can and will make a comeback from the grave, and Daisy's eight is not over.

Review Replies:

ReadBooksWriteThing: Thank you so much for leaving a review last chapter! This is one is a lot smaller and I apologize, but I think I was able to keep the momentum of the last chapter going. And she met both, right after the other. That's a big thing, honestly, that I'm going for, is that luck and coincidence have a large impact on survival. Close calls for others and Johanna and the opposite will be occurring more throughout. And I hope you've liked this chapter. Have a blessed day!

I hope you all have a blessed day!

-PrincessChess