I knelt down and was sick on the rocks. I wiped my mouth, my hands shaking, and looked at the wreckage of the river. It seemed like blood and bodies were everywhere; the salty, metallic scent of blood hung in the air, making me gag again.

"Dianna," Ty breathed, running over to where Dianna was lying face-up in the river. Thray followed him, holding his injured arm limply to his side. Part of me wanted to follow them, but I was too distracted by Chryssie's limp body laying in the river between me and them. Otaco's crumpled body and the dead body of the boy from District 8 were staining the river red, and there was so much blood. I couldn't believe so much blood could come from such small bodies.

I knelt slowly, looking at Chryssie. It felt like a dream, but I knew it was all too real. She was so small and pale, her eyes wide open and staring up at the sky. Her eyes were glassy and reflected the sky like mirrors, and tiny spots of blood stood out high on her cheeks. Her mouth was agape as though she had been planning on saying something, but she was too still. No breath left her body; the only movement was her hair floating in the current of the stream.

I reached out a trembling hand and pulled her eyelids closed. If it wasn't for the gash across her throat, she might have been sleeping.

I felt like I was going to be sick again, but there was nothing left to throw up. I realized, numbly, that this was the first time I had really seen someone die. Even though I knew what was going to happen in this arena, part of me hadn't been prepared for it. Even seeing the dead body earlier hadn't prepared me for watching a child be murdered. And she was murdered trying to protect me.

"Is she still alive?" Ash asked in a very small voice. I looked up and saw him staring down at Chryssie's torn and bloodied throat.

"No," I answered. My voice felt foreign and raw. Ash's face crumpled.

"What about Dianna?" he asked, glancing over at where the others were sitting. I looked over at Ty, but I could tell by the tired and defeated look on his face that he couldn't find a pulse.

"No," I whispered. Ash sat down heavily in the water next to me, staring at the bodies.

"I think we should take Dianna and Chryssie away," Hawk said, his lips trembling. "They're going to want to take the bodies away, and I'm okay with them taking the Careers', but I'm not ready for them to take Chryssie. Or Dianna."

"Okay," I agreed.

"I'll carry her," Thomas offered, gesturing to Chryssie's body, but I shook my head.

"I'll do it." I swallowed hard. "She died trying to protect me, after all." I slid my arms gently under Chryssie's body and got to my feet. She seemed so fragile under her armor, and I held tightly to her body, ignoring the blood dripping from her neck down my arm and onto the armor of my leg. I carried her gingerly, stepping over the bodies of the boy from district 8 and Otaco, walking over to where Ty was sitting.

Ty was sitting with a hopeless look on his face, staring at Dianna's face. She was almost as pale as Chryssie, and her eyes were closed. Her hands were folded around the knife sticking out of the left side of her abdomen, stained up to the wrists in her own blood. The blood-flow had stopped now, and her chest wasn't rising. Ty looked up at me and at Chryssie's limp body. I expected to see his eyes wet with tears, but they were empty and blank, as though he was still processing what had just happened. His hands were covered in a mix of his and Dianna's blood, and streaks of slowly drying blood blended in with the shining sienna of his armor.

"We're gonna carry them away and say our goodbyes," I said, and he nodded. He shifted his arms under Dianna and lifted her into his arms, her head lolling against his shoulder gently. He stood as though she weighed no more than a pillow. I looked over at the other kids. "Get the rest of the stuff from the cave."

"Is there anywhere particular you want to go, Hawk?" I asked, looking over my shoulder. He looked at me without answering. "Lead the way."

Hawk scrambled out of the river and I followed him up the bank, struggling to get up the muddy hill without using my hands. Ty followed me, and behind him was Thomas, Thray, Wind, Ash and Kiki. We followed Hawk through the woods on a numb, aimless walk through the trees. The world around us seemed unnaturally cheery for the circumstances; it was still spring in this sector, which meant birds were chirping loudly, flowers were blooming, and everything was painfully green. Summer was coming, and the heat was beginning to take over. The ground was still wet with the melted snow, squishing underfoot as we walked on in silence.

I wasn't sure where we were going. For that matter, I don't think Hawk knew, either. Eventually, the trees opened up into a grassy clearing covered in flowers. We all stopped by some unspoken agreement, and I lay Chryssie down in the bed of flowers. Ty followed suit, laying Dianna down beside her, and then I stood back. The blood that covered my body was just starting to dry, making my skin sticky, but I ignored it. They seemed so young and peaceful in the flowers; if it wasn't for the blood, they could be sleeping.

"Can we say something for them?" Ash asked, looking over at me with a query in his eyes.

"Sure," I said. I had no idea what we would say. It's not like we knew them that well, right?

"I've known Chryssie for as long as I could remember," Hawk started, making me eat my words. "We grew up together. For a long time, it was just Chryssie, Fillie, Wind and I. There were kids younger than us, but we spent so much time together. Now, I've lost two of you... I don't know what I'm going to do without you, Chryssie." Wind patted him on the arm gently, and he turned to embrace her. They stood in silence for a moment. I waited for Wind to say something, but all she said was,

"Ditto."

Thomas took a deep breath. "I didn't know either of them for long," he started. "But they seemed like they were good people. Just in the wrong place, I suppose. In another life, we couldn't been great friends... Maybe even more." He looked at Dianna's still face with regret in his eyes.

"When I met Chryssie, she was like a big sister," Kiki said, smiling at the memory. "I felt safe with her. And Chryssie was like a fierce protector. She'd protect all of us, I think, and that's what she died doing."

The rest of us stayed in silence, looking at the bodies in silence. I knew it was irrational to feel this way about them, but I couldn't help it. Thray moaned slightly and I looked over at him. He was pale and sweat was beading on his forehead. The blood dripping down his arm was unnaturally dark, and Thomas reached out to keep him from falling over.

"Sorry, just a little light headed," Thray mumbled apologetically.

"Thomas, help him get the armor off that arm so we can look at his wound," I said, striding over to where Thray was standing. "Help him sit down." Thomas lowered Thray to the ground and Thray groaned slightly, easing his weight off his feet. Thomas peeled away the armor, revealing where the arrow went in and out of his arm. The flesh was puckered and angry, but it was not hot with infection.

"It's not going to kill me, right?" Thray asked, tone half-joking.

"It shouldn't," I breathed, poking at the wound gently. He hissed with pain, clenching his fist. "Superficial, mostly. I don't think you hit any major blood vessels, but it looks like you might've hit a nerve cluster. As long as infection doesn't set in, you'll probably be okay. Let's get this treated, shall we? This'll hurt..." I snapped off the fletching of the arrow, and then pulled the arrow out the other side of his arm. He ground his teeth, struggling not to cry out. Blood dribbled out of the hole in his arm and I clapped my hand on it.

"Does anyone have bandages in their supply kits?" I asked, looking around. Ty nodded wordlessly and shuffled through a bag of stuff, then offered me a roll of white bandage. I ripped off pieces and stuffed them into the wound to stop the bloodflow, then coiled it around his arm to hold the bandages in place. With another strip of bandage I fashioned an awkward sling for him to use. "I'm afraid I'm not the best nurse," I apologized, gesturing to the bandage. "But it should work." Thray nodded, the color leeched from his face through the combination of blood loss and pain.

We sat in silence for an hour, maybe more, before Thomas stood up.

"I think it's time we let them take the bodies," Thomas said quietly. "Let them go home." He walked out of the clearing, and one by one the others followed until Ty and I were the only ones left in the clearing. I stood shakily and Ty followed suit. When I looked up from the bodies, he was watching me with fixation. Suddenly, he grabbed me by the wrists and pulled me into a tight, reassuring embrace.

"I'm so glad it wasn't you," Ty breathed in my ear. "I couldn't stand it if it was you." He pulled back and kissed me passionately. I kissed him back before realizing what I was doing, but it took all of my will power to pull away from his lips. He was gentle yet insistent, he tasted of raspberries, and he was full of emotion. When I pulled back, I wasn't sure what to do. I searched his eyes for an answer, but there was none.

"I'm glad you're okay," I answered finally. He laced his fingers in between mine. "Ty, you know we can't do this. It'll only make our eventual separation even harder."

"If we're only going to live for another week, it might as well be a good week," he breathed, kissing me again. I wanted to disagree, but I couldn't.

"Let's get back to the others," I said, breaking away again. He smiled at me, and I glanced at Dianna and Chryssie one more time. Ty and I turned, hands still intertwined, and left the clearing.

I only wish I had known then that Dianna was still alive.

It would have saved us a lot of pain later on.