"Cato, can I have moment alone with you?"

He nods and reluctantly draws back his arm that's been resting around Glimmer's shoulder, although she's sitting directly in front of the fire. Oh, how I hate her! I hate her so much I could… I could…

One quick movement and I sink my knife in a branch on the forest floor right next to her. Glimmer shrieks, and I have to keep myself from laughing. Nothing wrong with a bit of fun, is it?

"Can't you watch out, idiot?" Glimmer hisses at me. "You've almost hit me!"

"Right", I answer dryly. "Almost."

"Seriously, Clove", Cato interrupts. "What was that for?"

I cross my arms in front of my chest. "I thought I'd seen something… a rat maybe."

"Liar", Glimmer replies, sounding as arrogant as always.

"Oh, is that a squirrel right behind your head?" I shoot back, quickly pulling out another knife from my belt.

"Stop it, girls!" Marvel protests from the other side of the fire. "You're really annoying."

"No, she's really annoying", Glimmer corrects him.

I roll my eyes at her and turn to Cato again. "Are you coming?"

"Sure."

I lead the way through the underbrush until I'm sure none of the other three will overhear our conversation. You wonder who's the third in our alliance? Well, it's the boy from Twelve, but we only call him Lover Boy.

"You're strange, you know that?" Cato tells me when we've come to a stop.

"Why? Because I wanted to find us something to eat?" I reply.

"You didn't see any rat", Cato says. "You wanted to attack her."

"So what? We're Careers. It's not my fault she can't protect herself."

Cato sighs, obviously remarking that there's no point in arguing with me. "What did you want to talk about, then?" he asks.

"Lover Boy." I shoot a glance toward our fire that's flickering through the darkness of the forest.

Cato looks at me expectantly, so I go on. "We should kill him, don't you think?"

"No", he answers immediately. "The others are right; we need him to find the girl."

"What about our plan? We're supposed to kill the other tributes at first sight, remember?"

"I don't care what we're supposed to do", Cato growls. "As long as everyone else is dead at the end, no one will care about Lover Boy."

I examine the expression on Cato's face, but it's too dark to see anything except his eyes. They're gray and fixated on me.

"It'll be harder to kill the girl when he's with us", I protest. "He'll help her."

Cato lets out a condemnatory grunt. "Are you serious, Clove? Four Careers against two little kids from Twelve; how can you even doubt we'll win?"

My hands begin to tremble out of anger. I clench both fists and take a deep breath. "Come on, Cato!" I hiss. "You know we should kill him! You know it!"

"No!" He turns around for a moment, tearing his hair and kicking at a stone in front of him. "We'll do what Glimmer and Marvel say, okay?"

I'm losing control of myself, I can feel it. But I can't hold back what I'm going to do now, although it's probably a stupid idea. It'll provoke a fight… or worse. And I honestly don't want to fight with Cato, not here while the others are waiting for us at the fire.

Unfortunately, my hands are faster than my mind is. I step forth and shove Cato hard. He stumbles backward but catches himself just in time.

"Have you lost your mind or something?" he yells at me, his voice full of hatred. He's so loud that I fear the others might hear us, even from the distance.

"You're the one who went insane over that girl!" I shout back. "Why do we always have to do what she says?"

Silence.

Cato seems to think about something. I've just started to feel sorry for shoving him when he says: "This isn't about Lover Boy, is it? You only want to kill him because it would bother her."

He nods, convinced by his theory. "It's all about Glimmer."

I could tell him that he's absolutely right, that I don't care if Lover Boy dies now or later, that the only person I want to see dead as soon as possible is her. But if I said that, Cato would probably attack me. If he understood that I hate her, hate her like none of the other tributes, hate her like I've never hated anybody before, he wouldn't hesitate to kill me.

Because he's totally obsessed with her.

And there it is again, the pain in my chest. The mixture of sadness, anger and disappointment. I've felt it almost all of the time since the Games have begun. Every night we've been spending at the fire, with Cato's arm around Glimmer's shoulders or worse, around her waist, I've felt like someone was stabbing me. Stabbing me right through the heart.

"That's stupid, Clove." Cato's voice calls me back to reality.

"No, you don't understand", I protest weakly. "I don't like Glimmer, but… this is not about her. I just want to win the Games."

"Same here", Cato says. "So, what's the problem with Lover Boy? If he doesn't die now, he'll die later."

He's right, of course.

Lover Boy's death is sure, just as sure as that of the other tributes, including Glimmer. However, I would still prefer seeing her dead right now. It would certainly calm me down to have her out of the way. Even if that meant I'd have to fight Cato next…

Some tiny, stupid part of me thinks that it might be better to die from Glimmer's hands than compete against Cato in a final battle. It doesn't even matter who would win, or if Cato would finally kill me. It's the fight itself. I don't care if it's Cato or Glimmer who kills me because, in the end, I will be dead either way.

But I'm not willing to fight Cato, whereas I feel the greatest wish to have a bloody fight against Glimmer. Just the imagination of her agonized face, distorted from my knives, stimulates me.

The thing is, if it comes to a fight between Cato and me, I'll have to hurt him as well, like I'd do it with Glimmer. It's the desire to see your opponent dead that defines a real fight. That's one of the main aspects we learned in the academy back in District Two. So, if everyone else happens to be dead, there's only one possibility for us to go on: a fight. Cato wants to win, I want to win – only one of us can be victor. That's how it is in the Hunger Games.

I know he'll come for me when we're the only ones left in the arena. And if I don't fight back, he's going to kill me. But I don't want to lose, and I certainly don't want to die as a weakling. I swore myself long ago that if I should ever get the honor to volunteer for the Hunger Games, I would do anything to win. I would never die without a fight.

"Are you even listening to me?" I hear Cato ask. His voice sounds as if he was far away; almost like an echo.

I look at him, startled. "What did you say?"

"That we better rejoin the others", he repeats. If it weren't too dark to see his face, I think I'd probably see him frowning. There's concern in his voice, anyway.

"If you say so", I murmur.

"Clove, you're behaving like a complete idiot!" Cato replies. "Just come back with me and try not to kill Glimmer with your knives, okay?"

"Eventually, we'll have to kill her", I say. "But if she's that important to you, I'll wait until then."

"She's not important to me." The concern in his voice has given way to a new wave of anger. "I try to have a bit of fun until we find Lover Boy's little friend, that's all."

I really want to believe that, but I can't. This is Cato; it's obvious that he's lying.

"So you'll stop flirting with her when we're busier killing people?" I ask provokingly.

"I'm not flirting with her, all right? You're just jealous."

"Jealous?" I gasp for air. "Come on, Cato! We're all going to die! There's no time for jealousy or anything like that… It's ridiculous; all I'm saying is that she's really annoying!"

Cato throws an angry look at me, a look that also says: Be careful with your words, Clove. The Capitol hears everything.

I swallow and avert my gaze, but I have to admit once again that he's right. It's dangerous to say what you really think in an arena full of cameras. Even in District Two, people know what happens to their family if they start opposing the Capitol. I can only hope that the Gamemakers won't take my words too serious.

"Okay. Whatever." My voice is suddenly no more than a whisper.

I think Cato's frowning, but I don't wait for his reaction. I take a step in the direction we came from, the direction of the fire that's lighting the darkness. Cato follows me quietly.

After a few steps, I hear Glimmer's laughter and I stop for a second. I don't want to go back to her. I don't want to be in this alliance any longer. I don't need Lover Boy to find Katniss.

"Clove?"

I turn around and face Cato. His face is a bit lighter now, so I can see the concern I've already heard moments ago, and it almost keeps me from saying what I've decided to say. Almost.

"I'll quit", I announce, my voice determined. "I give you twenty-four hours, and if Lover Boy hasn't led us to the girl until then, I'll be gone."

Cato nods slowly. "All right", he says. "Deal."