This chapter and the next one were originally meant to be one chapter, but it would have been one long chapter. Instead, I broke it up so I wouldn't feel pressured to finish the next part in order to post an update. Hopefully the length in chapters is the only noticeable difference between my writing and that of Author of Ice and Fire. Thanks for the review Dictator Mags-We'll see if anyone else from the beginning finds this story. As always, feedback is greatly appreciated.

Chapter 60: Go Confront Yourself

Riri Kramer, 15, District 6

AACHOOOO!

Now there's the sneeze I've been waiting for. It's the sneeze that signals when my hunger has reached its peak. I call it "The Hunger Sneeze," of course. For as much of my life as I can remember, this has happened. And out of all the people I've known, I've never heard anyone else describe something like it. As an operative, there were a few times early on where the timing of the sneeze was extremely annoying. After those situations, I did all I could to not let my hunger progress this far.

The timing of the sneeze differs too. Sometimes the sneeze occurs after going without food for one day, sometimes two. After the sneeze, the gnawing hunger sensation goes away. It's not something that immediately concerns me. Sure, after a week or two, my body's energy will be seriously depleted, and I'll lose focus.

I don't think we'll be here that much longer...one way or another.

What concerns me more is the lack of water. It's not as if there are drinking fountains on every corridor down here. Water is much more valuable at the moment. It's been almost a whole day since I left Adia and Tully, and it's been longer than that since I've had water to drink. The games are gonna go pretty quick if no one has water—quick and boring for everyone watching.

I'm sure that's why they called it The Hunger Games.

And everyone watching can relate. Maybe that's what they want. They want to remind the districts just how much suffering they've had to endure, and how much they've caused. Hunger exists in every district. Most know what it means to be hungry. And because of the rebellion, mostly District 11, many Capitol citizens know what hunger feels like. Or they know what it means to go without something. Hunger for them probably doesn't even compare to hunger for us.

Quick and boring though, is that really what the Gamemakers had in mind? Are they really trying to starve us, or are they seeing how far we can bend before we snap? One would think they would be excited about what I want to do. Don't they want us to fight? Don't they want me to go after Andromeda?

Maybe they don't know that's what I'm doing…..?

Oh, duh.

Of course. It's not like I've come out and said, "Hey, I'm going to fight Andromeda now! Please show me the way." No, I've just been wandering aimlessly through these endless corridors because I literally have nothing better to do.

So, how do I even go about letting them know of my intentions?

I stop walking and look at the walls around me, at the ceiling, and the floor, just to make sure I'm addressing anyone who's definitely watching.

"Hey," my voice rasps quietly. The thirst and disuse of my voice makes talking difficult.

I try again. "H..Hello. Riri Kramer here. I just wanted to let you know that I want to go and avenge my allies, namely Arc. So, if you would kindly point me in the direction of the lift platform thingy that brought us all down to this living hell, I will promptly go take care of the bitch from District 2. Andromeda I mean."

As an afterthought, I add, "And by 'take care of,' I mean, kill." Just so there's no confusion.

I stand there a minute longer, waiting for some kind of response. Anything really? Just an acknowledgement that someone, somewhere, heard me.

Maybe she's not there anymore. Surely after confirming his death, she wouldn't wait around for him. Unless she's there waiting for someone else instead? But where is it?

I think back to that first night when we were lowered into the maze, after the "feast." It was pitch black at first, all of us stumbling around, trying to find one another. I think maybe it wasn't until after we had fled that the torches were lit, so I can't be sure of any details of the corridors surrounding the platform area. Even if I could remember, would they look any different from any of these other corridors?

It's at that moment that I notice a thin red line running along the left side of the corridor, just where the wall and floor meet.

When did that get there? Was it there before I stopped walking, or after?

I look both ways down the corridor before kneeling down to inspect the red line. A closer look reveals that it is separate from the wall, not paint. I reach out and take hold of it. As I attempt to pull it closer to me, it gives a couple of inches, but that's it. It's pretty taut. It seems like it's just a string of red yarn, or a similar material.

I look both ways again to confirm that, yes, the string stretches both ways, further than I can see. To my left, it runs about fifty feet before turning around a corner to the right. To my right, the strings goes twice as far before reaching an intersection, where it crosses the corridor diagonally and follows the right-hand corridor.

Well, that's a start, but which direction do I follow?

As if in answer to my unspoken question, the string vibrates. And vibrates again. As it vibrates a third time, I can clearly see that the vibrations run from the right-hand of the string and continues along to my left-hand side.

The Universe provides…and by Universe, I mean, Gamemakers.

Unless it's another tribute at the end of this string?...Andromeda?

"Only one way to find out," I murmur to myself.

I walk over to the intersection, a sudden burst of energy putting a spring in my step.

Calm down Riri, or you'll screw this up.

Several of my fellow operatives during the war showed me just how true this was; sometimes you didn't live to learn from your mistakes, so you learn from the mistakes of others. When an operative lets her emotions control what she does, she makes mistakes. Too anxious, too excited, and you overlook important details, however small they happen to be.

Learn from their mistakes. For all you know, she put this here herself. It's just as likely they're helping her as they are you.

I stop myself short of the intersection. I edge up to the right corner, crouch down low, and peer around the corner.

Nothing. No one. As far as I can see, the red string continues down this corridor without turning to the right or the left.

I get up and start walking, keeping my footsteps as silent as an operative like myself can. After several hundred feet, the string crosses this corridor and follows the left-hand corridor. Just as I did at the last intersection, I slowly approach and look around the corner.

There's no one there, but this time I can clearly see where the corridor leads. It and the string follow the corridor for about fifty feet until it makes a right turn. And that is the only way to go; there is no intersection, no other choices. So I follow the string to the turn and look around the corner.

This time, I can clearly see where it's leading me. Since it's only one hundred or so feet ahead, I can see the point where the corridor suddenly widens into a chamber. And with my above-average eyesight, I can just make out the figure sitting in the middle of the chamber.

Andromeda...

I can't tell if she's spotted me yet, but I back up around the corner anyway. I wait one full minute, then peer around again. She's still sitting in the same position, and it's clear she's waiting for someone.

Maybe there's another way...

I backtrack to the last intersection behind me and make a left turn away from the red string. Now I'm following the corridor that runs parallel to the path to Andromeda.

I'm highly optimistic that I'll find another route to her location, but the further I walk, the less hope I have of that possibility. Either the Gamemakers originally created this maze to be like this, or they closed up some of the routes leading back to our entry point. Either way, it seems clear they only want me to reach her by one route. This supposition is only reinforced when, after several hundred feet, I find out that the corridor turns right. A right turn would take me further away from Andromeda, not closer. I reluctantly turn around and head back the way I came.

This time, when I reach the corner leading into the final corridor, I don't hesitate. I round the corner and confidently continue walking. Now, as I'm walking towards her, Andromeda noticeably stirs. She sits up straighter but makes no move to stand. As I approach, I observe torch light as it glints off of the sword she has balancing on her knees.

I'm steps away from the chamber when she slowly gets to her feet, the sword in her hand pointing towards the floor.

I stop at the entrance to the platform chamber. My knives are still tucked into my belt, but my hands are comfortably close to them, ready at a moment's notice. I know why I'm here, but maybe she doesn't.

After several long moments of staring at one another, she breaks the silence...

"Took you long enough, cousin."

Adia James, 15, District 3

"So," I say, after Chance and Tully try explaining for the third time, "You both met up because Tully was laughing. Chance found a map, and at one point in time, he knew where everyone else was. That's how you knew which direction to go to find me. And you," I point to Tully, "decided to get the gang back together because you felt guilty about Bolt and Magnus? With Chance's help"

"That's about it," Tully replies. "What Magnus did for us showed me that we have to be here for each other. That's what he wanted, why he sacrificed himself for us. And Bolt…" she pauses, looking down at the floor. "What happened that morning with Bolt…no one meant for that to happen."

She looks back up and meets my eyes, and I see there are tears running down her cheeks.

"We were all so caught up…I was so caught up in the argument…I didn't realize what happened until afterwards. But I knew right away it was my fault when we discovered what happened, and…and I should have said something right away instead of waiting. Waiting was the wrong thing to do. I'm so so…sorry."

I think back to that morning. When we found Volt's body outside, mutilated and carved up with Reese's name, chaos broke out. I was the one that went out with Reese when she made the choice to leave, before she could be forced to. I couldn't stop her, and at the time, I wasn't sure if I wanted to. But when that cannon blast sounded, I had an empty feeling in my stomach. I rushed back in to find my allies arguing, and even then, I didn't have a reason to think that cannon was for one of them.

Until we found Bolt

They told me it was an accident, that they didn't even know how it could have happened. They were fighting, and Bolt was just trying to step in between them to break it up.

That was Bolt. He was the best of us, and he had to die in a freak accident.

But it was an accident that happened while he was trying to make peace. He was the first of us to realize that we had to stick together if we were gonna make it as a team. And now Tully's saying the same thing…

Can we really go on, pretending that nothing happened? That everything's gonna be ok?

"So," I finally say, after minutes of silence and introspection, "What do you want from me? What do you want me to say? That I forgive you for what you did?"

Tully looks at me, sadness and confusion mingling in her eyes. "W..w…What?"

"What did you think was gonna happen?" My voice is raised in irritation now. "We were just gonna pick up right where we left off before I found out the truth? That we'll be buddy-buddy and best friends forever? Is that it?"

"I just th-th-thought.." she stammers.

"NO," I interrupt. "I don't think you were thinking it through at all. I think you…"

"Enough already!" Chance shouts, cutting me off.

He looks around us and lowers his voice. "Just enough, ok? You really don't get how sorry she is? She's put her district partner's death behind her, and he sacrificed himself on purpose for you to live. She's in a good place with it, even laughing about the memories they shared. Holding a grudge over Bolt's death is not gonna bring him back. Is that what he would have wanted? For his allies to keep fighting, when he gave his life to stop that very thing from happening?"

That gets to me. That I finally understand. I can't meet their eyes anymore, so I turn away and look down the hall instead.

They're right, in a way. Magnus and Bolt both gave their lives for us in different ways. Even if Bolt didn't mean to die, he still spent his last moments in life trying to make this world better, trying to keep his friends from becoming monsters. If I want to honor his legacy, I need to do the same thing.

Finally, I turn to face them. I look at Tully, who's still crying. "You're right," I say to her. "We can't keep doing this to each other. We have a better chance at working together than we do apart."

We both continue looking at each other, not sure where to go from here.

Then Chance says, "Oh, just kiss and make up already."

I look over at him with a mock-murderous stare.

I'm sure that's exactly what you want.

He looks back into my eyes, afraid of what I might do. But all I do is laugh. Then, when he realizes I'm not gonna straight up murder him, the little joker starts laughing too. We both turn to Tully, who cracks a smile and chuckles a little herself. I close the distance between us and wrap her up in a hug. It takes her a few seconds, but she tentatively returns the hug.

We'll have to keep an eye on that kid.