Thank you to all those who favorited this story, put it on alert, and reviewed it. I'm sorry I've been out of the picture for a couple of years. I'm not gonna give you any sob story excuses, but a lot has happened in my life. Just know this story isn't and NEVER will be abandoned. I will finish it. No worries there. It may just take some time. I will try my best not to take five years to update each time, though. But anyway, without further ado, the next chapter awaits you. Thanks for sticking around for it.

Disclaimer: Sadly, Suzanne Collins owns the Hunger Games, and everything involved with it, but I own my characters. So, don't steal them. Please? Thank you.

I know you're scared, I can feel it
It's in the air, I know you feel that, too
But take a chance on me, you won't regret it, no
One more no and I'll believe you
I'll walk away and I will leave you be
And that's the last time you'll say no, say no to me

Chapter 17: Closer

I had ended up giving the sleeping bag to Cato. Sometime during the night, he had begun shaking again, though nowhere near as badly as the previous two nights. It was easy to see that the last of the toxic venom was making its way out of his system, for which I was thankful. His A-Game was exactly what I needed, and I knew once he had rested a little longer and gotten some food in him, he would be in tip top shape. So, if I had to sacrifice my warmth for the night, I didn't mind. The thought of climbing under the bag with him crossed my mind, and I wondered if the boy could read my thoughts because just as I had dismissed the thought and backed away, his hand shot out from under the black sheet, gripping my wrist.

"You don't have to sleep in the cold on my account," Cato mumbled sleepily, not even bothering to open his eyes.

I was surprised by his words and looked at him closely to make sure I had heard him correctly or if I had just made it up. But his hand was still latched to my wrist and my mind wasn't that far gone yet. "I'm fine where I am," I replied quietly, but I didn't take my arm away.

He cracked an eye open slightly, and I could tell he wasn't buying it. "It's getting colder, and it would be better if we shared body heat, too," he said; I had to admit his reasoning was valid. "There's plenty of room under here."

It wasn't like I hadn't done it before but sleeping up against him to get him to stop shaking from the venom and voluntarily accepting an offer from him to sleep side by side were two entirely different things. My mind went back to the night I had accidentally spent the night in District Two's apartment with him. I could remember just how warm and cozy his arms were wrapped around me and how dangerous that train of thought was. On the one hand, he was already under my skin so what did it matter if I accepted his offer? On the other hand, I didn't want him to work his way further into my mind.

"Earth to April," Cato said, snapping me from my trance. He was holding up the sleeping bag so I could get under, his arms opening and inviting. "You think too much."

I could see no deception in his eyes, trusting my gut that he had no ulterior motives behind the offer. For once, he was just being kind. "Fine," I said, crawling under the bag and into his arms. "But no funny business."

He cracked a smile, then. Probably the first one from him I had seen in days. "Wouldn't dream of it."

As soon as I was under, warmth surrounded me, and I couldn't bring myself to regret my decision. We moved around in what available space there was in the fallen tree until we found a comfortable spot to lie in. His arm tentatively made its way around my waist, and when I didn't pull away, it pulled me tighter into his chest. I could feel his heart beating against my cheek; I could tell it was beating faster than it should have been, but half of my brain attributed it to the fact that he still had venom in his system. The other part of me was telling me I might have just had the same effect on him that he had on me.

That feeling of being watched tickled the back of my brain. At first, I attributed it to the fact that we were on camera and millions were watching, my family included, but when I moved to make the smallest space between us, the arm around me tightened. It reminded me of the morning not so long ago when Cato tried to keep me in bed for as long as possible. Glancing up at him, I was met with tender blue eyes. His face was soft and open, inviting almost. Gone was the brute, replaced with the boy whose hand I had cleaned.

He moved then, maneuvering his body under the sleeping bag until we were face to face. Before I could even get used to his new position, he was pulling the sleeping bag over our heads, just enough to where our faces were covered. I had a feeling it was to hide us from prying eyes and ears. Though, I was unsure if the Capitol even had a camera in the log with us.

"What are you doing?" I barely whispered. It was hard to find my voice when my heart was in my throat. "I said no funny business."

It was hard to see his face with the sleeping bag obscuring what little light we had began with, but there was no mistaking the hand that brushed my face. Knuckles soft against my cheek, brushing it with a featherlight touch. "I'm not being funny," he replied seriously. His fingers brushed back my hair, lacing them through the strands.

It was getting harder to breathe, every intake caught in my throat as he continued to stare at me. I knew what he wanted, and anger boiled in at the fact that I wanted the same thing. We kissed the night before we entered the arena, and as much as I hated the idea, I wanted to again just as much. A war was raging in me, and in that moment, I wasn't sure who I wanted winning it.

"This is a bad idea," I managed to say, with little conviction. He had moved closer, and I made no effort to push him away.

"The worst," he agreed, but he inched closer still.

His breath tickled my lips, and I knew then that I couldn't keep fighting the urge and have a clear head. Away from prying eyes, it almost felt safe. Closing a fraction of the space that was left between us, I smoothed my hand up his chest, caressed his cheek, and waited. With what little control I had left, I needed him to come to me. I needed to know I wasn't alone in the desperation.

"Tell me not to," he said, giving me an out. If we had been in any other situation, it would almost be sweet.

Slowly shaking my head, I felt our noses bump against each other. "I can't." And I don't want to, I added in my head.

His lips brushed mine, and I had almost forgotten how blissful it was to share a kiss with Cato. My body felt weightless as I fell into it, into him, pressing my lips more firmly to his. An arm tightened around my waist, and whatever space was left between us was gone. My breath hitched in my throat as he skimmed his tongue over my bottom lip. Another wave of warmth washed over me, and I couldn't help but slide my hand up into his hair. This was the exact opposite of the kisses we'd shared in his apartment that night. There was no longer rough and demanding. In their place was slow and deliberate, savoring each second.

As much as I enjoyed kissing Cato, I knew in the back of my head it was a bad idea. Though my heart kept screaming for me to continue, my heart wasn't going to get me home at this point. Listening to reason was my only option. All too soon for both of us, if his slightly annoyed groan was anything to go by, I pulled away. Heavy breathing filled the air, practically covering up the sounds of the forest around us. His forehead rested against mine, and I didn't want to open my eyes. For just a little bit longer, I wanted to pretend we weren't technically trying to kill each other, that we were just a boy and a girl who liked each other, and the rest of the world wasn't there.

"April," he whispered, his breath on my lips. I couldn't bear to look at him, afraid of what expression I might see.

Shaking my head, I could still feel our noses brushing against each other. "We can't…"

He cut me off with a bruising, searing kiss. My heart wanted to believe it was out of longing, out of the same want that I knew I had for him. That I couldn't deny any longer. My mind told me that even brute's needed company occasionally, and we'd all been starved of it since we had left our districts. But the tightening feeling I felt in my chest, the almost desperate cling he had on my body, I wanted to believe was out of more than just lust.

My head was spinning when he finally pulled away, and it took all my self control not to chase after his lips. It helped that I could hear Merrick practically screaming in my head, as I'm sure he was wherever he was. Ducking my head, I rested it against his chest. I couldn't bring myself to look at him or hear anything else he wanted to say. This whole thing had my head in a whirlwind, and I had to get myself focused back on the big picture: winning the Games and getting back home.

He seemed to sense that I had fully put a stop to what we were doing. Pushing the sleeping bag back down so my head wasn't under it, I felt him rest his head on top of mine. If we were anywhere else, it would almost be a comfort. I didn't have any more time to dwell on it before the warmth of his embrace was pulling me into sleep.

It felt like I had just blinked, Cato waking me up when he sat upright. It was light outside once more, which meant we had slept most of the night. Even if it felt like I had only been asleep for a few minutes. I looked at him, confusion furrowing my brow and opened my mouth to speak when he stopped me, holding a finger to his lips. When he pointed outside the log, I leaned over him, peering out as much as I could from my position. Through the brush, I could see a pair of legs nimbly moving, making little noise and a mop of bright red hair peeking through the leaves.

I looked back to Cato and mouthed, "District Five," to him. I would recognize that fiery red hair anywhere, especially against the green leaves. The girl wasn't anything to worry about, that much I knew. She was more into hiding and waiting than confronting. And with Cato still not at his best, I wasn't about let him go after her.

"We stick to the plan," I whispered when I couldn't see her anymore. "We go to the river for water, and then I'm taking you back." Part of me wanted to stick with him; he had yet to show any sign of betraying me, but there were still eleven tributes left. That number seemed to be dwindling quickly. There was no way I was sticking around Cato, or his group, for longer than necessary. Every second I spent with him was another second I was letting him get under my skin and ruin my chance at winning the Games, my chance at going home. All I could do was just steel myself for any pitch he might throw at me once we made it back to the Cornucopia. I gave the girl from District Five a few more minutes before I started crawling out of the log. "Let's go," I said quietly, the dim sunlight through the trees making me feel the need to keep it down.

Finding the way back to the river was easy, having been there twice in the last two days. I only prayed that we didn't run into Rue or Katniss; even in his weakened state from the venom and dehydration, I wasn't sure I had the strength to hold Cato back. I let Cato carry his sword, it being too heavy to carry in my pack again, while I walked ahead with the spear the boy from District Ten had used to attack Cato. It felt heavy in my hands, but I knew it wasn't from the weight; I couldn't let my mind linger on that thought.

"Have you seen anyone else since Twelve dropped the nest?" Cato asked, surprising me out of my thoughts. "Next time I see her—"

"No," I answered quickly, cutting him off from that thought. "Just you." Keeping my eyes on the path toward the river, I hoped that Cato couldn't tell I was lying. Asking questions was something I didn't need from him. If he found out that I had killed the District Ten boy to keep him alive, he would fully know the power he had over me. I couldn't kill him myself after the nest had been dropped on him so leaving it up to someone else was all I could do. But when I saw him lying there, unconscious and defenseless, I couldn't even let the boy finish him off. The implications of that were too great to think about in the moment. I just hoped if it came down to the two of us, my self-preservation would win out. "I've been too busy taking care of you to go looking for anyone."

Cato huffed. "I didn't need you to take care of me." I could tell he thought it made him look weak, but anyone that had been stung as many times as he had would've needed assistance.

I rolled my eyes as we turned to the left. We were coming close to the cliff with the plants, but we needed to get to the bank in order to get water. "Tell that to Cato two days ago for me." I could understand, especially coming from the district and family that he did, why he felt that way, but it was unnecessary. "It's not so bad to need help every once in a while."

Cato seemed to ignore my statement and pushed past me toward the bank of the river. We have an audience, so I know he's not about to thank me for my help. I didn't expect as much from him anyway. Following quickly behind him, I had to hope that the water was safe to drink since there was nothing in my pack to clean it with; I doubted I could talk Cato into starting a fire. Then again, he'd probably welcome a fight with anyone who tried to scope it out.

"You wouldn't happen to have anything to clean the water with, would you?"

Cato shook his head before leaning down and splashing some water on his face. It was easy to see that he was still exhausted from the effects of the tracker jacker stings, but the water seemed to bring some life back into his face. "This isn't the first time I've drank from this river. It's fine."

"Who's to say they haven't dumped something in it since the last time you had a sip?" I asked, giving him a skeptical look. He shot one right back.

Thinking back in my mind, if there was something bad in the water, Katniss would've most likely died already. She sat in the water with an open wound for hours, and I had yet to see her picture in the sky. I had also gotten water for Cato and me from the river before, and we were both on our feet. Though I was getting increasingly thirsty, it was so hard to throw caution to the wind when there were still eleven people left in the arena. In some respects, that was a high number. It was these big moments that I wished I had Merrick in my ear to guide me.

"If you're so paranoid, there are plenty of supplies back at the Cornucopia. Get some water in your canteen, and you can sanitize it when we get there." I looked over at him quickly, realizing I must not have spoken for a few minutes. I hated that he could read me so well. It was becoming clear that any more time spent around him was going to drastically ruin my chances at going home.

"I'm not paranoid," I said, walking up to the river and filling my canteen with the running water. I took a swig, and as I did, Merrick's voice seemed to boom in my head. I can't believe you were that careless just to prove someone wrong. Everyone has their faults. That was one of mine. "See. Not paranoid."

Cato looked amused by the fact that I had clearly gone against how I was feeling. That smug smirk made its way across his lips, the one I hadn't seen for quite some time. I knew we were in a different environment, and he was in Games mode, but I had hoped he knew he could drop that façade around me. Even if we were on camera for the entire nation to see.

"We should start heading back," I said, topping off my canteen and closing the top. "If we leave now, maybe we can get back to the Cornucopia by the afternoon. I'm sure your alliance is wondering where you've been."

"I doubt they're exactly worried about me," Cato said with a shrug. "The longer I'm here, the less likely they are to make it out alive."

As cocky and arrogant as Cato was, he wasn't incorrect. Cato was a competitor. If I were watching from home, he would be one of the ones I would put my money on. He was focused (a lot more than I was at the moment), he was strong, and he was surprisingly smart. Of course, you couldn't be all brawn and no brain and win the Hunger Games. There had to be some smarts that went into it. Strategy was just as key a component as wielding any weapon. It was another reason Cato was so deadly at this game, another reason to leave as soon as we made it back.

"Even so, you provide something to the group that they don't have without you. That's valuable for a little while." I picked up my pack, slinging it over my shoulder as I stood up. "Seriously, let's get going. I don't want to be walking around the forest in the dark."

I tried not to talk too much on our walk through the forest, focusing on not making much noise. There was no telling where the other tributes were, and I shuddered to think what Cato would do if we ran across Katniss. He was practically back to full strength, and though I knew I could outsmart him, I doubted I could overpower him. We stopped a couple of times when we heard animals skittering through the forest floor, Cato killing a rabbit and me a squirrel.

"I think we're pretty close; this place looks familiar. We should stop and cook them before we get back to the Cornucopia. They have plenty of food, but no fresh meat," Cato said, pulling on my backpack to make me stop.

"And you don't want to share with them," I stated more than I asked, glancing at him skeptically before looking to the sky. We were making good time, so I wasn't going to be too upset if we stopped long enough to eat. I was beginning to feel hungry as it was.

"I'm fine with my alliance for now," he said, gathering wood to make a big enough fire to cook on but small enough not to be noticed. "But why give them extra energy to use against me later on."

"But you're willing to share it with me," I pointed out smugly. I felt like I was grasping at straws by hoping that meant he was as affected by me as I was by him.

"You helped kill it," he said quietly before dropping the matter entirely, continuing to gather sticks for tinder.

It was as if bringing it up brought shame to the character he put on for the Games and everyone in the Capitol. And that's exactly what it was. As much as Cato would hate to admit it, I had seen behind the mask he put on around those he tried to impress. I had seen the sadness in his eyes when he'd realized he'd hurt me on the train, enjoyed his tender side after he stood up for me against Marvel. His disappointment was evident when I had originally joined forces with Katniss. If there weren't cameras on us constantly to broadcast all around the country, it would be easier to break through.

Though, I knew his experience in this world was much more different than mine had been. I had been pulled out of the District Four academy at a young age. Cato had been in his district's until he volunteered for the Games. It made sense that he would be more closed off than I was. With how my feelings were affecting my performance, a part of me wished I had been allowed to stay in the academy. I would have been home before the fifth day, and there wouldn't be faces haunting me every time my eyes closed. I wasn't sure if my current situation was better or not.

Sitting down on a tree stump, I pulled our haul off my backpack, using another stump as I began to skin them. Cato dropped the sticks in front of me, looking down at me, eyebrow raised.

"I can do that if you want to work on this fire," he said, holding his hand out to take the knife.

Bringing my eyes back to the squirrel I was working on, I chuckled bitterly. "Like I can't do it by myself?" I asked, continuing to get our food ready.

I heard Cato scoff as he squatted, clearing a place and starting to assemble the wood to cook over. "That's not what I was saying."

"Well, it came across that way. It's just like filleting a fish back home, except this fish has…fur." I couldn't help but laugh at myself for the comment.

Cato laughed as well, a real, genuine laugh. It felt like our realest moment together since the night before. We continued to work in silence. By the time I was done skinning the rabbit, the squirrel was roasting quickly over the fire he had mustered. Cato fixed the rabbit to a separate stick, propping it up over the fire to cook as well. Sitting next to him on a fallen log in the middle of the forest, I could pretend for just a few minutes that we weren't in the middle of a death match that only one of us could win. That's the thought that continued to break my heart and spirit. If we weren't born in different districts, if Panem wasn't in a state of decay, if we didn't have to act like we hated each other. If…if…if…

"Thank you," Cato said suddenly, quietly, turning the squirrel and rabbit to cook them as evenly as he could.

I whipped my head to him, surprised, wondering if I had even heard him correctly. Those were two words that I never expected to hear from him again, especially in the middle of the Games. The last time he'd said those words to me were in the District Two apartment when I cleaned his hand after he'd beat Marvel. We were alone then, and the words had barely been a whisper. Our situation in the forest was entirely different. Millions of people were watching us, but I wasn't sure if he had been loud enough for them to hear.

"What for exactly?" I asked just as quietly. If he didn't want the entire nation knowing what we were talking about, I would respect that.

Cato rolled his eyes, but I could tell he wasn't annoyed by me. "You gonna make me say it?"

"Would it kill you to do so?"

"It just might."

I didn't relent, though. Holding his gaze, I waited for him to finish his thought. I could tell he was thinking he should have known better to think I would drop the subject. Eyebrow raised in challenge, I honestly doubted he would give me a straight answer, especially when he turned away, breaking eye contact with me.

Then, he opened his mouth and let out a long breath. "Thank you for taking care of me the last couple of days. I would probably still be recovering if it hadn't been for you." He stoked the flames with a stick he'd had to the side. "Hell, I could very well be dead if it weren't for you. Which is a bit stupid on your part. No offense."

"Thanks for that backhanded attempt at gratitude, I guess." Cato wasn't telling me anything I didn't already know. After the incident with the tracker jacker nest, I thought I could let someone else kill him, knowing I wouldn't be able to do it myself. Then the very situation I hoped for happened, and I took someone's life over him. That was something Cato didn't even know about, and I wasn't about to tell him. I shuddered to think that he might use that against me. I would if I were in his position.

We feasted on the squirrel and the rabbit, hungrier than we both realized once we'd taken our first bites. Any thoughts I had about keeping any leftovers to ration were gone as we picked the bones clean. Kicking dirt onto the fire to keep any smoke from billowing, we grabbed our weapons and continued the path to the Cornucopia. I knew it couldn't be much farther with the amount of time we'd been walking. Cato had said the clearing we'd stopped in looked familiar, and I hoped that was the case. I was growing tired of walking.

True to his word, Cato and I broke through the tree line to an odd sight. Every supply the Careers had scavenged from the Cornucopia was in a pile near the trees. The dirt around it looked recently disturbed. Something didn't seem right about it, uneasiness settling over me as we stared at it. He didn't seem worried whatsoever, grinning confidently down at me.

"Just follow my lead," he said, and with that, he was stepping and jumping in the less disturbed places.

The places that Cato stepped, I followed close behind. It seemed each patch of earth we walked on had been treaded on quite a bit before us. "What happened here?" I asked curiously. Whatever was here, I had never seen anything like it in the Games before.

Once we were on the other side, Cato held out his hand to help me make the last leap. "On the first day, the boy from Three offered his services up so we wouldn't kill him. Said he could dig up the bombs around our pedestals and activate them again. Blow anyone trying to steal our stock to kingdom come."

Along with your stock, I thought to myself but decided to keep that thought in my head. I wondered why I was still following him to his base camp. Even with Glimmer gone, there was still Marvel, who I knew hated my guts equally as much as she had. Though with him, I was sure he wouldn't step out of line after Cato had almost bashed his head in. Clove had always seemed indifferent toward me, never favoring but never openly hating me either. I hoped she would keep me around if Cato wanted me there. I couldn't remember much about the boy from District Three to know whether he would side with me or not. I knew he was younger than me, and we had talked on the train once, but that was it.

"Who's there?" yelled Marvel, running around the edge of the pile with a spear in hand. As soon as he recognized us, he lowered it. "Cato! We were beginning to think you wouldn't be back." I didn't miss the disappointment in his voice.

"Well, I'm back and good as new. You get stung much?" Cato asked, walking toward their makeshift shelter in the middle of the field. If it had been anyone else, it could have been construed as caring, but I knew Cato better than that.

Marvel jogged to catch up with him, both moving farther ahead of me. "Yeah. We both did. Clove didn't get it too bad; she got out of there faster than I could, and I was pretty much out of commission for two days. It was rough for a minute. Just starting to feel back to normal again. You?" I could see Marvel glancing at me out of the corner of his eye every so often, almost silently asking why I was there.

"Nothing I couldn't handle. Found Four out there. Figured it wouldn't hurt for her to replace Glimmer," he said with a smirk, knowing it would get under my skin. I wish I would be able to see the look on his face when he woke up in the morning and I was gone.

"So, she's staying?" He asked, finally looking at me, veiling his frustration at the idea poorly.

I smirked at him, the satisfaction of getting under his skin too good to pass up. "Yes, I'm staying. Where's Clove?"

"Went to look for some fresh meat. Should be back soon," the boy from District Three piped up from their small fire pit. He was stoking a small flame, keeping it alive until Clove could get back with food.

It wasn't long before Clove came back, three rabbits and two squirrels hanging from her pack. We all exchanged what little pleasantries that could be in the Games. Clove got to skinning the animals as the sun continued to set. None of them seemed worried about the fire, knowing they could take anyone left in the arena that decided to check out who had set it. Chip had been rather good at getting it big enough to cook over, surprising me. He didn't seem the nature type. By the time all the animals were skinned and cooked, we were eating by nothing but the light of the fire and artificial moon. No anthem played in the sky as we did; no one had died for third day in a row. That made me sick to my stomach; I had a feeling if we didn't get a move on with killing each other, the Gamemakers would step in soon.

Even though Cato and I had eaten no long before getting back to the camp, I was still famished. I ate the pieces of meat I was given quickly, hoping it would give me enough strength to get out of the camp once they were asleep. I would need to make it far out to feel comfortable by morning.

"Anyone know who killed the boy from Ten?" Marvel asked out of the blue. I was glad I was finished eating, otherwise I might have choked.

Cato shook his head. "We didn't see anyone but each other after the nest was dropped, right?" He looked at me then.

I hoped the darkness covered any insecurities in my face. I had already lied to him once, and he had bought it then. Lying had never been one of my strong suits, something my mother was happy about growing up. More often than not, I ratted myself out.

"Just the two of us. I figure if it were anyone, it'd be Thresh. That big guy from Eleven, you know?" They all nodded, and I held in a sigh that they had believed me.

We all sat in silence for what felt like hours. I could tell that they were all still exhausted. My opportunity to leave was approaching fast. "I'll take the first watch." Before any of them could protest, I continued. "Don't argue. If I were going to kill any of you, I would have tracked you down when you'd been stung. I didn't get stung by the tracker jackers. You all should rest up some more. I'll get Chip for the second watch. I'm sure we won't need a third." They must have been more tired than I realized; they didn't argue after that.

It took longer for them to go to sleep than expected. All four of them had to be asleep for me to be able to sneak away successfully. Any one of them would probably try to kill me if they caught me leaving them. I watched intently, one by one, their breathing evened out to the steady slow breathing of sleep. I waited a few more minutes before beginning to grab my things. Slowly, I walked past the shelter, stopping only briefly to look at Cato. Once again, he looked so different when he was asleep, younger and less troubled. Fighting my instincts to run my fingers through his hair, I turned and began walking away from the stockpile of supplies, making sure to give myself a wide berth from the explosives underground.

A whistling noise moving through the air made me jump. I didn't even feel the wind off the spear that went past me before it hit a tree and fell to the ground. Moving into a defensive stance, I turned to see Chip standing there breathing heavily and looking scared. I would be, too, given my performance during training, and I was sure he'd seen me kill District Six in the Bloodbath. Walking over to the spear, I picked it up. I needed more weapons than just knives, anyway.

"You said you were going to stay," he said, finally finding his voice.

I had to chuckle at that; I had told a lot of lies during the Games so far, to myself included. All I needed was to be given a watch in order to sneak away. Cato's smooth words weren't going to keep me around. "I'm safer out there than I am with them. And you are, too, Chip."

He shook his head in disbelief. It pained me to see how naïve he was. "No, they need me. Without me, they wouldn't have gotten the bombs, and-"

"And they've gotten what they need from you," I interrupted him, trying to keep quiet. I didn't need anyone else waking up while I snuck away. "This is an individual game kid; we're all expendable to each other. Do you want to go home?"

He paused for a moment before nodding. "Of course, but… They've kept me alive this long. They could have killed me after I activated the bombs, but they didn't. They need me."

I sighed, my heart heavy with every word he said. "Don't say I didn't warn you, kid."

Without another word, I walked into the forest, away from him and away from any more distractions that would keep me from going home. Walking through the forest was terrifying enough in the real world. It was even more dangerous in the arena. Deciding to sleep in a tree for the night, I walked about a hundred yards in before finding a sturdy tree to climb. Leaning my spear against the side, I began my climb, my shoulder not screaming in protest as much as it had a few days ago. I knew I'd need to wake up early to create more distance between me and the Careers. I just hoped that I could. Settling down on a broad branch, I tied myself in for the night and drifted off to sleep.

CATO OC CATO OC CATO OC CATO OC CATO

I'm not going to promise any sort of upload schedule, but I am going to finish this story, as much for myself as for you guys, too. My life is a little hectic right now as an "essential worker" in this crazy pandemic but writing again has given me something to do to destress. As I said before, I don't plan for it to be another five years before I upload again. If all goes as planned, you'll get another chapter again soon. Until then, reread the fic, get reacquainted with these two. And again, thank you to anyone that has stuck around this long. I hope it'll be worth it in the end.