We get some water at the valley but pass it quickly. It's broad daylight, and we don't need to be sticking around. One stream above us feeds into the valley bed, so we'll follow that upward. I'm sure we can make it to a decent altitude before sundown.

I take a look around as we prepare to tackle the next mountain, but we're alone save for a large bird circling overhead. It's too far for even Trucy to catch, so we'll just have to let the eagle—or falcon? I haven't studied birds much—be. It veers off to the mountain in front of us, anyway.

"I... can walk..." Ema's voice is faint and scratchy, but she's standing. Or at least on her feet, even if most of her weight seems to be pushed onto that tree trunk.

"I don't know that you need to risk it, though." Klavier puts his hands on his hips and smiles at her. "I can still carry you for some distance, no worries."

"Supposing I don't want to be carried."

"You can stay by me," I offer. "Just to have someone to lean on if you have to." I glance at Klavier's calf. "Someone who's not in danger of losing his footing as is."

He rolls his eyes. "Come, now. I made it this far without any trouble."

"Thanks, Apollo," Ema says over him. "Sounds like a... good idea to me."

I nod. "As long as you're feeling up to walking. If you feel yourself starting to slip under, try to let us know."

"Sure..." She pushes herself off the tree and sways a bit before standing upright. Her brow furrows as her hand brushes the end of the scarf. "What...?"

"Oh, we found a muffler on the way here. You looked kind of cold, so—Ema?"

Clenching the muffler with both hands, she stares at the ground.

"Ema?!" Trucy hurries to her side.

The 7 stays frozen to the spot, her shoulders shaking. "Wh-wh...?"

"I-it's not blood or anything, it's just red!" Since that doesn't seem to help, Trucy tries putting a hand on her shoulder.

Ema shrieks and shoves her away with one palm. The motion sends both of them stumbling backward—Trucy recovers, and Klavier catches Ema before she can hit the ground.

She's never reacted like that before...! It wasn't a reflex, it was a memory!

"Ema? Ema." I help Klavier stand her up and seize the other end of the scarf. "It's okay. You don't have to wear it!" I try to unwind it as quickly as possible. Even when I'm done, she clings to the same two handfuls as before.

"Are you all right?" Frowning, Klavier releases her slowly.

"I..." Her grip tightens on the scarf before she looks up, although she doesn't face any of us. "I'm all right. Sorry..." She looks at Trucy, who accepts the apology with a nod.

"Let's... get going already." Wadding up the scarf, she shoves it out of sight into her bag and goes for the forensics bin.

"Ah, n-no—" Jinxie beats her to it. "I can get this."

"Fine..." Frowning, Ema grabs another Snackoo. She has to have had more donated if there's still a few left. "Don't you dare drop it."

Jinxie clutches it to her chest. "I won't!"

And then Ema's striding toward the rocks, shakily but without looking back. I hurry after her, and we only get up one row of rocks before she's slumped against me.

What on earth happened? What's wrong? What was that muffler making her think of? What happened to her to hard-wire that kind of response?

I bite my tongue. I can't ask her. This has done her enough damage for today. I'm hardly going to add to it—I learned my lesson with Athena. There's nothing I can really do to help with these things, so... I shouldn't go around dredging those kinds of memories up. I hate not knowing, but I can only dig so deep before I hit something I shouldn't.

So I just keep her arm across my shoulders and walk along.

"Now that I think about it—" Klavier keeps his voice down, in case Ema regains consciousness while he's throwing her over his shoulder—"I believe her sister used to wear a red muffler."

My forehead tightens. "Used to?"

He nods solemnly and turns to face ahead.

Then, I take it her sister isn't around anymore. But what on earth happened to provoke that response earlier? How long ago was it? Is the pain too fresh, or would I be able to help her at all if I got to the bottom of it? I mean, it's good to get some things off your chest. But maybe not all of them. And to be perfectly honest, I kind of want to know for knowledge's sake.

"Polly?" Trucy steps up next to me, hands resting on the shoulder bag. "You want to ask her about it, don't you?"

I rub my scalp. "Is it that easy to tell...?" But that's right. Trucy is my accountability partner. I don't have to figure out everything by myself. "Would it be all right to?"

"Hmm." She swings the bag around behind her back to climb over a taller step between rocks. "I couldn't tell all that much, but it was definitely a painful memory... And she didn't seem ready to talk about it."

Letting out a breath, I pull myself up the rocks. The mountain may not be all that steep overall, but if the handholds get any farther apart, we're going to have to break out the cables. "She did charge off pretty quickly. I guess I should let it go."

"I think so, too. She can decide to tell us herself, but I don't think we should be prying. A girl's mind can be a sensitive place."

I nod, turning ahead to see Klavier stopped.

"Do you need me to carry her for a while?" I call.

He tenses. "Shh!"

Pausing, I strain to listen for whatever he thinks he's heard. The stream is babbling almost right next to us, so it's a bit hard to make out other sounds. I switch to a visual lookout instead. Maybe he heard that bird from earlier. If it's close enough, I bet Trucy could knife it, and we'd have a more normal dinner.

Of course, if it's not an animal...

A chill crosses my forearms, but I keep my grip on the rocks steady. We just fought off a bunch of mutts this morning. The Gamemakers have no reason to send any other tributes our way.

Right! We're fine! It's probably just a rabbit or something. Just dinner. Nothing to—

A screech makes me jump, but then I see that hawk again. It's a lot closer to us now; Trucy could—

It flies back around an outcropping opposite the stream. Well. It's not like we don't have plenty of meat right now, anyway. We'll just keep climbing until we find a good spot to set up camp. Another cave would be nice; the wind gets pretty cold at night. We kind of lost our nice blanket to Phineas, too.

"Eeeek!"

Jinxie's shriek nearly startles me into losing my footing. "What?" I twist, craning my neck to see her staring past where the bird disappeared.

She flinches back but glances wide-eyed between the rest of us. "The demons! Th-they're coming for us!"

"What demons?" Trucy scrambles past me and pulls herself far enough up to see past the ridge. "Aah!" She whips back around, hurrying back to her former position. "Everybody, hurry, this way! It's the Careers!"

"Whaaaat?!" I might as well react as loudly as I want to since Jinxie has already given away our position. "H-how?!" I climb after her, toward the stream.

Klavier, bringing up the rear, grits his teeth. "We were careless. We should have gotten out of the valley as soon as possible, water or no water."

I swallow, climbing farther up to a better part of the stream. It's not exactly a bridge, but we can jump across more easily. "We were all dehydrated. It was a necessary risk..." But maybe still not worth it, if the entire pack is after us...!

I get a running start and leap to the other side. The impact jars my knees, but I hurry out of the way regardless. Trying not to breathe too shallowly, I look back. The Careers have got the sun behind them—did they plan that?—but I can easily make out five figures. I don't know if that's the whole alliance, but it's sure more than I'd care to deal with.

The Careers are seriously coming! We haven't even recovered from this morning! We're still dehydrated and hungry, my arms are sore, Klavier's limping, Ema's unconscious, and does Jinxie even have a way to defend herself?

We—we have to lose them somehow!

I help Trucy up after me as Jinxie makes the jump. We both have to steady her since the forensics bin is occupying her arms. Klavier comes last, Ema chained to him for the moment. Landing hard, he immediately lists to his injured side, but Trucy and I manage to right him.

The Careers are past the ridge that obscured them for way too long. How could they have snuck up on us so easily? They're trained killers, but...

"Keep running, you milksops!" Even with the sun in my eyes, I can hear the cold grin in Simon's voice. "Tiring yourselves only makes it easier on us—and should your haste send you tumbling down the mountainside, all the better."

Sh-shoot, he's right! If we keep running—!

No! He's trying to manipulate us, isn't he? He thinks we could get away, so he wants to keep us from trying!

H-he still has a point, though. Trying to outrun them on this kind of surface can't end well, especially if they've been trained for this situation.

Ugh! It's a dire game of Simon Says, and I feel like we'll lose no matter what we choose...!

"I can't outrun them."

Startled, I don't realize how far Klavier is behind us until I'm looking back at him. He's almost closer to the Careers than the rest of us. Panting, he unwraps the chain around Ema and pulls her off his shoulder. "At least get her out of here!"

Trucy darts toward him and slips her arms under Ema's. Trembling, she looks between the impending Careers and Klavier, and her expression hardens. "I'm not letting you fight them alone. Jinxie!" She pivots, struggling to hold Ema out. "Get Ema away from here. I know you can carry her to safety."

Jinxie stammers but hurries over. "B-but her supplies—"

"Just leave them here!" Trucy thrusts Ema into the 8's arms. "She won't mind, I promise. Now run!"

"O-okay!" Struggling to cradle Ema, she takes a step back before turning and scurrying off.

Gasping, Trucy faces me. "Apollo..." Her voice is steady, but she still looks close to tears.

The Careers are less than fifteen feet away.

A shudder goes through my shoulders as I draw my sword. "I can't very well run now, can I? Let's... not die."

"Okay!" She readies two knives and gives my elbow a squeeze. "Thank you."

Does me staying really tilt the odds in our favor any more? We're still outnumbered and outclassed, and I can't even imagine us defeating them.

But we're going to, anyway, somehow...! I have to believe that!

Here comes Justice!