"There is always danger for those who are afraid." -George Bernard Shaw.

When James was younger, fifteen maybe, the whole school had a big manhunt tournament. It was played at night, at and around the high school, and Grant was on his team, along with much of his team from football. When the game started, within ten minutes at least half of James' team was caught. As the night dragged on, James and Grant, who were hiding near each other in a bush, heard occasional shouts that signaled one of James' team had been found.

As the games continued, James heard the yelps of alarm from people on his team being discovered grow closer and closer, and James decided to scale a nearby tree. It was tough, but after a minute or two, James was safely perched up in the tree. Flashlights from the enemy team were encroaching on them, and Grant decided to try and make a run for it.

Just like anything Grant does, it failed, and the boy tripped after taking two steps. One of the boys on the enemy team, Edsel, found him after a few seconds. James didn't say anything as his best friend was tagged and disqualified from the rest of the match. He remained hidden during the entire encounter, and it was one of the most tense experiences of his life.

Now, in the arena, hidden in the willow tree, James holds his breath for half a minute before his lungs remind him to breathe. He looks over, down at the dead girl, crumpled in a heap, and then over at Violet. In the darkness of night, her face is pale, and James can't help but feel sorry for her. Too much death for a little girl. Too much death for anyone, really.

The birds around them, who have been chirping throughout the night, suddenly hush. Birds would only do that if something big is approaching.

The hovercraft.

James scans the ground for any signs of Oxford, who looks to be long gone by now, and then looks at Violet again. He whispers, "I'm going down."

"What? No!" Violet hisses. "He could still be here!"

"Violet, we have barely any food," James whispers back. "We have to get her pack before the hovercraft takes her."

Violet hesitates being whispering, "Fine. Just...please be safe."

"I will," James replies quietly, before readjusting the grip on his hatchet. Carefully but quickly, James climbs down the tree, and almost noiselessly hits the grass.

He can hear the hovercraft by now, and quickly looks at the girl's face.

It's Amelia.

James lets out a sad sigh, and quickly frees her from her backpack, a black drawstring bag, before reaching out and closing her eyelids. He starts back up the tree just in time, as a pair of metal teeth reach down, grab her, and take away the girl from District 12.

"Who was it?" Violet whispers when he's back.

"I dunno," James lies. "I couldn't get a good look." Amelia was part of their alliance, which means that Amelia was their friend. James can't stomach telling Violet that their friend was just killed while they did nothing.

"Did you get her bag?" Violet asks in a hushed tone.

"Yeah," James replies. "I can't see into it now, when it's bright out we'll check."

"Okay," Violet says, and that's the last thing either of them say for awhile.

James still has the large, camouflaged mountaineering bag strapped to him. It's large; With the sleeping bag on, it takes up his whole back. The drawstring bag is smaller, more fit for someone like Violet. James presses the bag close to his chest and prays that it has something helpful. By the sound of things, Oxford only shuffled around in the pack for a few seconds before running off.

James can't tell how late it is, but if he had to guess, it'd probably be around three to four in the morning. He's still covered in darkness, and he still hasn't slept. His legs ache from all the running of yesterday, and his eyes feel heavy. He can't sleep now. He'll sleep when they find shelter.

Hooking the second hatchet on his belt, James rests against the tree and begins to think. With Amelia dead, their alliance is now down to five. Five Careers. Five of them. James doesn't know who the other tribute killed a few hours ago was, so they might be down to four. He wonders what everyone else is doing.

Oxford probably still hasn't settled down in the few minutes since the pair saw him run. The Careers are probably out hunting. Odds are they were the ones who killed the tribute a few hours ago. Romeo's much too smart to be moving in the darkness, and Declan probably isn't moving, either. As for Kristina, she's probably curled up in a ball somewhere, or hiding in a tree.

As the minutes pass, James' mind wanders to what everyone in the districts are thinking. The people in District 4 must hate James by now, but they still have Olivia. So far, two districts' tributes have been wiped off the map completely: Both tributes from Districts 8 and 9 were killed. James wonders what his father will think. Otto and Ven probably aren't stunned that James has killed twice, but his father might be a bit shocked. James wonders what Grant thinks by now. If they didn't see James kill them right when it happened, then it would've been played a few hours ago when they showed the dead tributes.

Oxford killing Amelia while James and Violet only watched would have been televised, too. The people of District 12 probably hate James and Violet. James more. Violet's a scared little girl with a knife, but James is a muscular boy with two axes. He could've saved Amelia, but he just watched.

James curses himself for not helping the dead girl, and promises to himself that he'll avenge her.

In the next hour, dawn breaks, and James maneuvers his way down the tree, Violet right behind him. When they reach the ground, James steps around the bloodstain on the grass. James tosses Violet the drawstring bag, and Violet hands him the sleeping bag.

"What've you got?" James asks as he rolls up the sleeping bag and ties it to the large mountain pack. It's warm in the early morning, and James stuffs his black windbreaker into the backpack, leaving him with only an olive T-shirt on.

"Hmm...a firestriker...an empty water bottle...a compass...and a granola bar!" Violet's voice squeals at the end with joy, like a little kid who just got a toy for Christmas.

"Nice," James grins. "Keep the bottle and the granola bar, and I'll take the compass."

"What about the firestriker?" Violet asks, holding it up; It's silver and a few inches long. Helpful for starting fires, but James knows from past games that starting fires is suicide.

"Keep it, I guess," James shrugs. "We shouldn't be starting fires, but you could probably throw it at someone or something."

After James is tossed the compass, he tries to think of where the Cornucopia was. It's not that he wants to be travelling towards the Careers, but it's that he doesn't want to explore into the far regions of the arena. Every time someone strays too far the Gamemakers throw some sort of twist at them in order to draw the tributes closer. Last year, everyone died so quickly that there was no need, but two years ago they started bombing the arena, which was a lush swamp. Trees splintered apart and shredded the tributes viciously, and they had to stop after five tributes were dead in two minutes.

Still, the Cornucopia is to the north of them, and to the north they march.

For the first thirty minutes, neither of them talks, grunting over bushes and twigs and slopes. After that, though, Violet asks James if he has any pets back in District 7. James responds that they used to have a dog, but it died a few years ago. Violet frowns and replies that she has a cat named Fluffy. Fluffy's a tabby who's incredibly fat and is only four years old. James laughs, and Violet asks if he wants another dog. After a moment, James replies that if he's alive in a few weeks, he'll get a big dog and name him Bandit. Violet agrees with this idea.

As they hike closer and closer to the Cornucopia, James and Violet speak more to each other. James learns that Violet's favorite color is, unsurprisingly, violet. James acknowledges that his favorite color flipped for awhile, from orange to purple to green before finally settling on navy blue.

James is so tired and so busy talking about colors that he barely misses the cave.

Violet stops too, and asks, "You see it too, right?"

"Yeah," James nods, unhooking his hatchet. "Take your knife out. Someone might be in there."

The cave isn't covered at all, but it looks vacant. Just another part of the arena. James nears the cave, which is surrounded by trees and not in a rocky region (As caves should be) of a hill, and quickly lunges forward, stepping into the cave, hatchet at the ready.

It's empty.

James sighs in relief, and turns to Violet. He hisses, "It's empty, c'mon!"

The cave, which is more or less a big hole in the hill, isn't too deep, but is wide enough to offer sleeping space for the two of them. Violet steps into the cave entrance. The girl looks around and says, "Is this home now?"

"Home, sweet, home," James replies, inspecting the cave further. It's not easily defensible, but James could probably hide the entrance.

Violet plops down, assorting things through her bag; She tosses the firestriker to the ground. "Now what?"

James sighs. He'd love to go looking for food, but the cave can be seen too easily. "Now you sit tight."

James drops his pack, rubbing his sore shoulders, and steps back into the forest.

The next hour is spent hiding the cave. At first James drags a bush over it, but that doesn't cover the whole entrance, so James picks the next thing he can find: A small tree. Eight inches in diameter, the tree is no easy task, especially with just an axe, but James manages. The knowledge from school kicks in as he's cutting. A chainsaw would, obviously, be the fastest choice here that isn't machinery, but centuries ago they used crosscut saws to cut down their lumber. It would be so much better than the small hatchet, which takes much more time and energy.

James decides to ignore the impossible reality of obtaining easier tools and grunts as he cuts down the tree. James drags it over to the bush, and the tree, combined with another shrub James drags over, successfully hides the tree. If anyone wanted to further inspect James' disguise, their home would be discovered, but to the passerby it looks like a fallen tree.

James enters the concealed cave to find Violet throwing rocks against another wall of the cave. She looks up. "Nice work."

"Thanks, Vi," James sighs, walking over to his backpack and resting against it. Even though it's large and clunky, it is comforting. Almost feels like a chair.

"Now what?" Violet asks again.

James considers the options. They could look for food, but James is exhausted. He's tried to teach himself not to give into fatigue, but he's been awake for at least thirty hours and his legs, eyes, and arms feel like they weigh a hundred pounds each. Even trying to move aches with exhaustion. He looks over at Violet. "I gotta sleep, Vi."

Violet nods. "I know you do. I'll go look for food."

"No, don't," James replies, closing his eyes as he rests against his bag. "It's not safe."

"Alright, I'll just...I'll wait."

"Good," James sighs.

Within five minutes, he's sound asleep.

.

.

.

James was startled awake by the boom of Panem's anthem. Violet, sitting crisscrossed beside him, reaches out and touches his shoulder. "Shh, you're fine."

James stretches, grunting as he does so; He couldn't have slept for more than five hours, but his body feels fully replenished. James yawns. "How was the day?"

"Boring," Violet replies. "I got some berries and nuts."

"You went out?" James asks, a tinge of agitation in his voice. He told Violet not to go out, and she did just that. He shouldn't be aggravated, but the thought of her dying while he slept is too much to think of.

"Calm down, I walked ten feet," Violet replies, the sarcasm in his voice unmissable. "I don't know how you missed them."

"I'm blind as a bat," James shrugs. He's happy now; Violet isn't acting as timid or as distant as before. She's acting almost like she was back before the Games started. It's only two days ago, but feels like it was decades ago that James was being interviewed by Caesar Flickerman.

Together, the two of them inch forward, looking out into the calm night sky. The national anthem is over now, and the first tribute's image flickers in the sky.

Steffanie. The girl from District 5. She's sixteen years old if James remembers. Three little girls, her sisters, sobbed as she came to the stage on her Reaping. James feels a pang of sadness for this girl who he's said approximately zero words to. She was the tribute killed just hours into the first night.

Then flashes Amelia into the night sky. Beside him, Violet gasps quietly. "She was the girl that died right below us in the tree."

James frowns. He knew this only a few minutes after she died, but he forgot he kept it a secret from Violet. The lie seems stupid now; He should've told her right as he found out. Nevertheless, James says, "Yeah, she did. I feel bad that we didn't help her."

"We'll make up for it."

James looks out into the sky. No other tributes have died today. They're down to fourteen. "Yeah. We will."

"Who killed her?" Violet asks in a whisper. "The Careers? Declan?"

"No," James replies. "Oxford. The black kid from 11."

"He freaks me out," Violet replies.

"He's strong and he's dangerous and he seems just a bit crazy, which isn't good," James whispers as they start to edge back into the cave's wall. "But we can take him together." James pulls out his hatchet. "Now sleep. I'll take first watch."

"No, I will," Violet insists.

"I just slept," James frowns.

"Yeah, but not enough," Violet replies. "You need to rest all night if you're gonna be okay."

James' frown extends even more, but he sighs. Knowing Violet won't stop until he gives in, James says, "Fine. Wake me up if something's wrong."

"Sure thing, boss," Violet says with a dumb accent, and James just smirks as he rests up against his bag.

He closes his eyes, and after almost a full fifteen minutes, he's finally drifting off to sleep when Violet taps him on the shoulder. Hard. James glances up, glaring at her at first, but the fear on her face is unmistakable. She holds a finger to her lips, much like James did the previous night, and points outside.

Inching forward at a snail's pace, James eventually reaches the cave entrance, hidden by bushes, where he sees them, standing right outside the cave.

The Careers.

Two of them, Lepus and Olivia, are carrying torches, and the other two, Tybalt and Pollish, are holding menacing weapons. The group is standing in a circle, murmuring to each other, but none of them are looking directly at the cave. James realizes that they don't know that they're in the cave, and relief floods him. Still, if he makes even the slightest noise, they'll hear him and then he's dead for sure.

"What's the plan?" Tybalt asks. His voice is deep and commanding, and unlike the other Careers he doesn't seem cocky. Which is dangerous for a Career tribute. Cockiness almost always equals some sort of slip-up for the Careers, but Tybalt isn't arrogant at all, which will only make him more harder to kill.

"Dunno," Pollish shrugs; He grips a sword in his hands, which is covered in dried blood he hasn't washed off yet. "Which way did they go?"

"That way," Lepus says. Her voice is still sweet and melodic, but the venom in it can't be missed. "I'm almost possible I saw him run into the woods with her."

James realizes the 'they' that the Careers are talking about is James and Violet.

"Who do you think he's killed so far?" Tybalt murmurs.

"I saw him kill Caesar," Olivia frowns.

James realizes that Olivia was Caesar's district partner. Why she didn't attack James at the Cornucopia, he doesn't know, but the hatred in her voice is evident enough that she wishes she did.

"How about that little girl? You think he ditched her?" Pollish asks.

"Probably not, I mean, she's still alive," Lepus replies. "You think he killed that girl from 12?"

"I don't think so," Lepus says. "You saw him getting all friendly with the boy from 12. He probably didn't kill her. Maybe that buff boy from 10. Declan, I think."

"I hate the two of them the most," Olivia says. "James and Declan. When we find 'em, let's make it slow."

"You can do the honors," smiles Lepus before turning around and shouting, "C'mon, hurry it up!"

James retracts back into the cave ever-so-slightly at the Lepus' shout, and watches as Ontario, Pollish's district partner, hobbles up to them. She's taller than the rest of them, beautiful like all of the Careers, but is holding her left leg with her hand. "Sorry," Ontario chirps. "That little bitch from 5 nicked me last night. Still hurts."

"We can tell," Lepus frowns. "Don't fall behind. Now let's go. I want to find the little girl before sunrise."

"Why the little girl?" Tybalt asks.

"Because she's his kryptonite," Lepus says, her frown reverting into a sickly grin, before moving away.

As the Careers move past, James turns to Violet and whispers, "Now can I take first watch?"

Violet just nods and moves over to a corner of the cave, curling up in a ball.

James sits against the cave entrance, and as he turns one of his hatchets around in his hand he starts calculating again.

Fourteen tributes are alive. That includes all of the Careers (minus Caesar) and James, Declan, and Oxford. If everyone makes it through the night, then that means by the third day everyone who's dedicated to living will be fighting hard to stay that way. Amelia, the tributes from 5, 8, and 9, none of them seemed like they wanted to fight to stay alive.

If they come across anyone at this point, odds are it's going to get messy.

He tries to rethink the teams by now. Obviously, the Careers are still together, and then James and Violet are still together, but he doesn't know about anyone else. Oxford seems too sadistic to be working with Michaela, who is a polar opposite of Oxford both mentally and physically. Declan and Kristina would make a good pair, but both are likely separated.

And then the only ones left besides them are Kaylana, the girl from 3, and Mick, the boy from 6, and neither of them are likely to be working together. Romeo also isn't the type to be stupid and offer random tributes his friendship. James smirks to himself as he realizes by now Romeo's probably sitting on a food stash long enough to last him throughout the whole Hunger Games. Even if that's not true, he's definitely not going to be found easily by the Careers.

James ignores the thought. Fourteen tributes left. Surely more will die when the sun rises. The Careers will make sure of that.

As the night goes on, James stops trying to do the math on who's alive and who's working together and resolves to take stock of their inventory. Violet is curled up into a ball on the ground, and her bag lays next to her. James' own bag is right next to it. James ignores Violet's drawstring bag and starts to double-check what the bag holds. One full bottle of water remains; The second one James and Violet shared when they were hiking. The two of them won't last long without water, and one bottle isn't enough.

A quick inspection of James' bag reveals a pocket that James didn't know existed. He feels excited for a moment, but his excitements fades away a bit when the pocket contains only half an apple and some aluminum foil.

In the distance, thunder booms. James realizes that it's going to rain tomorrow, if not tonight. At first, he treats this information with indifference, and then joy sparks within him. Rain means water.

James reaches into Violet's bag and pulls out the bottle that used to belong to Amelia. It's empty, just like the first bottle, but James takes Violet's knife and sets to work on cutting it. In a minute, he's cut the bottle in half. James does the same for the other bottle, and when he's done, he has two water bottles that have been cut in half.

James quickly waits for any sound outside, and when he hears none, James tenderly places both half-bottles outside. Slinking his hand back into the cave, James feels content. He learned this trick from Finnick Odair, a boy from District 4 who ended up becoming the victor of the 65th Hunger Games. James only hopes that whatever luck Finnick had, he can have some of it too. Instinctively, he thumbs the necklace. It's still on his neck, having been on snugly since the Games began.

Why he values the necklace so much, he doesn't know. He never said a word to Iris Innocens, Violet's sister, before the Reaping, and even after he barely said anything. The girl's pretty, with auburn hair and hazel eyes, just like the rest of her family, but James doesn't think that's why he values the necklace. It's a signal of luck, but that's not it, either.

Maybe it's because it's a signal of home.

Nobody else gave James a token, not his dad or Grant or Otto anyone, but Iris, the girl with the doomed sister who gave him a necklace for a reason he doesn't know.

James puts the clover to his lips and whispers, "Keep us safe," into it. "You've kept us safe so far, please keep us safe."

While James does think the necklace has given him some variant of luck so far in the Games, this is for the Capitol. Their cave probably has cameras in it. Cameras are everywhere in the Games, but where, he doesn't know. Odds are, they're being televised right now. He whispered what he just whispered so that's what the Capitol thinks: That he thinks that the necklace is just a good luck charm. Or maybe it's to hide from Iris that he values the necklace far too much.

James wonders what Iris thinks of all of this. He's wondered what dozens of people are thinking about him by now, but Iris hasn't crossed his mind until just now. Surely she wouldn't be thrilled about him killing Caesar, and would likely be indifferent about how James saved Declan's life, but she definitely saw James save Violet. Saw James fly into a rage when Scotten threatened to stab Violet, saw James butcher him before scooping Violet up in his arms and running.

He remembers what Iris asked him the day he was Reaped, when she burst into the Justice Building.

"You'll keep her safe, right?"

"I will. I'll keep her safe as long as I can."

"You will?"

"I will. You have my word, Iris. I'll keep Violet safe."

James remembers their conversation vividly, and looks over at Violet, sound asleep.

"I'll keep you safe," James whispers into the cave.

Chapter 7! It'll be day three of the Games soon, and ten tributes have been eliminated. I've not got much else to say left, except to flat-out tell you which tributes are alive below. I'd like to thank you for the support so far, and trust me, I love writing these! I've written fanfiction here and there on separate accounts, but writing for the Hunger Games is amazing! I've wanted to do so for quite long, and an active community combined with a great universe really helps! That's it for now, I'll see you next chapter, and remember to rate and review!

Reviews:

-Sparky SheDemon: Haha, it was frustrating for me to even write the part with Oxford because of James' inaction! Thanks for the review :)

CURRENTLY ALIVE TRIBUTES (Day 2):

-Lepus, District 1 (17 years old)

-Tybalt, District 1 (18 years old)

-Pollish, District 2 (17 years old)

-Ontario, District 2 (17 years old

-Kaylana, District 3 (15 years old)

-Olivia, District 4 (16 years old)

-Mick, District 6 (16 years old)

-James, District 7 (17 years old)

-Violet, District 7 (12 years old)

-Declan, District 10 (17 years old)

-Kristina, District 10 (16 years old)

-Oxford, District 11 (18 years old)

-Michaela, District 11 (15 years old)

-Romeo, District 12 (16 years old)

While I'd love to leave you in the dark as to how old the tributes are, I feel like the ages of the tributes are an important distinction that I haven't made. This also gives you a pretty clear idea of who's alive, and which districts have been wiped off the map entirely. You'll see this list shrink in various ways as the Games go on, naturally.

-C