When you came to, you were alone. Your body ached and your head was pounding. The trees and roots in front of you were blurred, as if something had affected your vision. You groaned and tried to turn over, but a bruise on your back began to throb in protest. Tears sprung into your eyes as you began to wonder what had happened to you. Most importantly, why you were still alive.

You shifted to the right, where there was a low lying branch that you were able to grab a hold of. You counted to three in your mind and pulled yourself to your feet, clenching your teeth tightly in pain and squeezing your eyes shut. It was as if every bone in your body was on fire. You breathed in and out deeply, trying to regulate the pain but it didn't go away. You let a few tears fall.

There was a snap of a twig in the distance. You gasped as your head jerked to the right, listening. Your held your breath to hear better, but you nothing more happened. You passed the noise off as a deer or a rabbit. Then your stomach growled and you realized how hungry you were.

"Ah," you groaned, taking a step forward away from the branch you were holding onto. You had to get moving or else the girl who had knocked you out before would come back and do it again. Or worse, finish you off this time. You started to wonder again why she hadn't killed you in the first place, and then you thought, what's happened to Peeta?

Peeta.

You looked around frantically and noticed that both the backpacks were gone. So were your shoes. You couldn't understand why anyone would want to take those, as they were so burnt and unusable. More tears leaked from your eyes. You swallowed the rest back and began to walk, holding onto low branches as you went.

"Peeta?" you whispered as you walked, trying to look through the brush to see if he was hiding, or had also been knocked unconscious. Your heart was pounding with each step you took, afraid you were going to find him a bloody mess at any moment. But you hadn't been awoken by the sound of a cannon, nor had you heard one go off since you had woken up. This gave you hope, and kept you going.

You found water within a couple hours and elation burst through you. You rushed forward and fell to your knees, cupping some in your hands and sucking it down fast. You did this a few more times until you were satisfied with your moistness of your mouth. You smiled, looking around. This was the last place you knew Peeta to be. Assuming he had found it in the first place. You sat down on a rock and dipped your toe into the water. Comfortable with the temperature, you slipped your whole foot in and then the other, letting them soak. You let your head hang back to allow the sun to beat down on your cut up face. Whoever had knocked you out had made a gash in your forehead – you could tell when blood dripped into the water you had cupped in your hands before.

Another twig snapped. Your eyes snapped open and you looked around. You didn't see anybody, but you heard leaves rustling and you quickly stood up, bracing yourself to run if you needed to. There was silence for a moment and you took advantage of it to quickly fill your stomach with just a few more handfuls of water. Each time you were done drinking, you would look up to make sure you were still alone. You started walking in the opposite direction of the footsteps you could now, for certain, hear. When they got louder and you heard someone break through the tree line and stop at the sight of you, you broke into a run.

"Wait!" the person shouted but you didn't, you pounded the forest floor as hard and fast as you could, putting your hands up against your face to keep the twigs and branches from cutting up your face anymore. You jumped over roots, fallen trees and avoided holes in the ground as you sprinted away from whoever was at your heels. You didn't dare turn around. They yelled for you to wait again.

"No!" you screamed as your foot caught on a stump and you flew forward, landing face first in the dirt. You were sure you broke something, by the sound of the cracking. You began to cry and pushed yourself up with your hands, getting onto your knees and then dragging yourself to your feet. As soon as they made contact with the earth, you began running again. But slower this time, as the pain in your leg was shooting up into your hips and ribs, and making it hard to breathe.

"Jacklyn!" the person shouted, and you thought you recognized the voice but you couldn't be sure. You continued on until you came across a small marsh. You were going to have to run through it, but you had no shoes. There would surely be snakes, and you had a deathly fear of those. Your heart beat furiously inside you, and you took a few steps back, preparing to jump over the mud and water. You looked back quickly, but didn't see anybody. You could still hear them running though. You took off and leaped, landing on the other side of the marsh and continuing your sprint away from whoever was following you.

"Peeta!" you screamed, hoping to get his attention wherever he was. You could feel your leg giving out beneath you and your tracker would surely catch and kill you any second. "Peeta!" you screamed again, throwing your arms out and breaking through the branches and twigs, not caring if they hit you in the face anymore. Your feet were burning and bleeding as you ran, but you couldn't stop. Not until you lost the person behind you.

"Stop!" the person shouted.

"No!" you shrieked back, and got caught in the chest by a branch you didn't see. It threw you backwards and knocked the wind out of you. You lay on the ground, gasping for breath and listening to the sound of your attacker's footsteps getting closer. You tried to dig your nails into the dirt and pull yourself into the brush, but it was no use. This was the end. You began to wish you had gone easy on the 'wanting to die in the Games' talk.

You shut your eyes as the person was a few feet away and began to scream at the top of your lungs, hoping to deter them or make them think you were poisoned. Maybe they would leave you alone this way. Someone dropped to their knees beside you and yanked you up. You screamed in surprise, and your eyes snapped open. Peeta was there looking horrified. You burst out into tears as he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close.

"It's okay," he said into your air as you sobbed into his shoulder. "It's okay, Jacklyn, it's me. Shh."

"I thought-" you choked, sniffling miserably as your nose began to run, "you were-"

"I know," he whispered, rubbing your back and rocking you. "I know." You were both silent for a few minutes as you gathered control of yourself and pulled away from him, moving the hair from your eyes and wiping your nose with the back of your hand. You had left behind some snot on his jacket, but he didn't seem to mind. He reached forward and touched your gash. You jerked away as his touch made it sting.

"Ow!" you cried, falling backwards onto your butt.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I was seeing if it was fresh."

"It's fresh!" you said, breathing deeply and beginning to hyperventilate slightly. Peeta got to his feet and walked to you, grabbing your upper arms and pulling you to your feet as well. You couldn't stop breathing quickly, and he pulled you in again, hugging you tightly.

"Jacklyn," he said soothingly, "stop crying. Calm down. You're safe now...you're with me. I'm not going to leave you alone again." This helped you slightly, but you still couldn't help but cry.

"I don't know why she didn't kill me," you said into his shoulder, the last of your tears sliding into your mouth as you spoke. He rubbed your back.

"Don't think about that."

"Don't leave me again."

"I promise I won't." He hugged you tighter. You had been refraining, but you now wrapped your arms around him too. He fingered your hair and you calmed down. He pulled away and you wiped away the rest of your tears.

"She took our backpacks," you said miserably and he sighed.

"I figured." You stared at him. "It's fine, we'll just go see if there are any more left...sometimes the Game makers put more out to draw us all back to each other." Your heart skipped a beat.

"I don't want to die," you said. Peeta smile sympathetically.

"I know. Me neither." He took your hand. "We'll be quick. We're not that far away." It took you an hour to get there. The field seemed deserted, but you were willing to bet there were other Tributes hidden in the grass like you both were. Peeta set down the knife he had been carrying, and let go of your hand. You looked at him.

"You're not going alone," you said and he returned your stare.

"It's not safe for both of us to go. You know how to work a knife, right? I saw you throw during Training." You nodded sheepishly, remembering when you threw one at the dummy you pictured was Katniss. "If I get caught in any kind of trouble," he said, holding up the knife, "I trust you can get me out with this." You nodded, swallowing and taking it from him. He patted your shoulder.

"Be careful." He nodded.

"I'll be right back." You watched as he looked around to make sure he was alone and then darted out towards the cornucopia, scooping two backpacks off the ground immediately and then doubling back for a third one that was laying a few yards away.

"Come on," you whispered as he began running back. You gasped when you heard a rustle of leaves and another Tribute sprinted out of the woods behind him and began running at him. You stood up. "Peeta, behind you!" He looked back and cursed to himself, running faster. When he made it to you, he grabbed your hand and jerked you along, nearly ripping your arm out of its socket. You turned your head and saw the Tribute still running at you. He was gaining speed and loading an arrow as he went. "He's gonna shoot us!" you shouted and Peeta looked, diving to the ground and bringing you with him as an arrow whizzed by your heads. You screamed and he pushed you back to your feet.

"Go!" he shouted, running behind you and shielding you. You both broke through the brush and branches, slicing open your arms and reopening the gash on your forehead. Fresh blood slipped into your mouth and you spit it out, disgusted. The other Tribute's footsteps still pounded behind you.

An arrow whizzed by your cheek. You screamed, falling to the side but Peeta had an arm around your waist within seconds, holding you up. He pushed you along and yelled for you to go. You did. You spotted a cave down by a fallen tree. You began running for it and Peeta shouted your name.

"Where are you going?!" he yelled, but he followed you anyways. You sprinted towards the rock and dove inside, scraping your arm almost to the muscle. You gasped in pain, but bit your lip so you wouldn't scream out. Peeta tumbled in behind you and threw the backpacks down to break his fall. He pushed himself up and the both of you watched as the Tribute sprinted past the cave and farther into the woods. You sighed in relief and leaned back against the cold stone, gasping for breath. Peeta did the same. You shut your eyes.

"I'm not gonna make it," you said.

"Shut up," Peeta breathed and you looked at him in surprise. "You're going to make it. I'm going to get you out of here."

"What about you?" you asked as he dragged a back pack over and began to unzip it. He looked at you.

"You think I'm gonna let anything happen to me?" You shook your head and he began to rummage through, pulling out a few rolls of bread, an empty canteen, rope, matches, a blanket and some soap. You rolled your eyes at the soap. Nobody was going to take the time to get clean when there were Tributes prowling around waiting to catch you off guard and slit your throat. To find you bathing would be their perfect chance. Peeta took a bite of bread and handed you the other piece. You graciously took it and stuffed it in your mouth.

"Mm," you said, licking your lips and taking another bite. "Still warm." Peeta looked at you.

"No it's not," he said. You opened your eyes.

"Just let me pretend." He said nothing for a moment and then smiled.

"Yes ma'am." You smiled back and stuffed the remainder in your mouth, swallowing it whole and coughing slightly. "Are you okay?" he asked, pounding your back. You nodded, coughing once more forcefully and then swallowing down what had gotten stuck. You sighed in relief and rubbed your stomach.

"Food."

"I wish we had more," he said. You nodded.

"Me too." You paused. "What happened to you, anyways? Why didn't you ever come back for me?" He swallowed the last of his bread and wiped his mouth, looking at you.

"It took me a while to find the water. I didn't know anything happened."

"You were gone for the whole night..."

"I know," he said, "by the time I started heading back I passed by a pack of Careers. I couldn't go anywhere without them hearing me, so I had to climb a tree for the night." He paused, looking down at the ground and gathering a bit of dirt in his hands. He watched it slip from his fingers and then continued. "When I woke up, I saw you by the water. So I went to you."

"Why didn't you call my name?" you asked, annoyed.

"I didn't want to draw the Careers to you." His eyes seemed sad as he said this and you had no choice but to forgive him. You sighed.

"Thank you," you whispered. You yawned.

"You should get some sleep," he said, folding the blanket up as a makeshift pillow. You didn't argue. You crawled towards it and laid down, resting your head on the blanket thankfully. You looked up at him.

"You should get some sleep too."

"I'm going to keep watch," he said.

"All night?!"

"Yes." You frowned.

"Please come lay down and go to sleep." He said nothing. "Please...I've had a bad day." You couldn't help but smile slightly at this and his lips curled up into a slight smile as well. "We'll be all right. That Tribute ran right past us." He stared at you.

"Okay," he whispered, moving closer and laying down beside you. He put a backpack under his head and turned your way. Your eyes were already shut. He brushed the hair from your eyes.

"Good night," you said.

"Good night." You began to fade off immediately. The last thing you felt before falling asleep was Peeta planting a light kiss on your forehead, beside your still-bleeding gash. He pressed his jacket to the wound and held it there to stem the flow. Then he laid back down and fell asleep immediately. You smiled at him and turned over, drawing your knees to your chest and hugging them tightly against you. It was cold in the cave, but you ignored it as the sound of 3 cannons went off. 17 Tributes were gone, only 7 left.

You hoped that would still be the case in the morning.

End of Chapter 11