A/N: I just got really excited because I have this chapter to publish and I actually remembered! :D

So... Yeah. We are now in the second half of this story... Ooh, exciting!

Chapter 8

Sleep won't come. Not even after a whole night of no sleep and the exhaustion of running across so many islands.

Well, three, but I was going pretty fast.

I can't sleep because every time I close my eyes, I see Alexx's-patterned body and Robert's lifeless eyes... And Tad's battered corpse and Riana's desperate expression just before she died and the pair from Three - the sister's fingers and lips, stained poison and the brother's gaping chest wound. I see the field around the Cornucopia, littered with bodies and blood and horror and death. Oh, so much death! I groan at the thought of it and ing my knees to my chest. A single tar traces down my cheek and drips onto my shirt; a whimper escapes my throat.

And, finally, pure fatigue drives me to sleep. A shallow, nightmare-ridden sleep, but sleep all the same.

Golden rows of wheat surround me. I feel like they are choking the life out of me, tightening around my body like a noose around my neck. I can feel the water lapping over my feet, and I think of Sarah.

Tears roll further down my cheeks as I envision her smiling after we first kissed. My heart throbs to know that I'm not there, I'm here. That I'll never go back to that moment.

Or will I? I can be with Sarah forever this way, I know I can. We can have peace.

The water starts to gather around my knees, rising up to my waist within a minute. Icy chills shoot up and down my legs and a shiver runs the length of my spine. Water reaches the bottom of my rib cage and I try to ignore it. The searing cold creeps to my shoulders.

I duck my head under the water and feel the floor disappear from under my feet. The heavy liquid doesn't feel old anymore as it pours down my throat. I try to suppress the instinct to cough, instead breathing deeply, but my lungs protest very loudly, screaming out for air.

I forget all pain and step into Sarah's arms.

I wake to the sound of a cannon and the sight of an unfamiliar face. I scramble back.

"Are you ok?" she asks. "I thought you were dead."

"Who are you?" I gasp.

"Julie Sarasua, District Eight female tribute." She beams, holding out a hand.

"Oh." She reminds me of Olivia, so I guess I expected that to be her name. From her straight brown hair to how she talks - all in a rush like I need to know this information right now - to how she holds herself, she is the amazingly like my sister. She raises her eyebrows like she expected me to say more. Liv does that...

"I'm Frances Gray," I say. "District Ten's female tribute."

She nods. "Yeah, I thought ou were from Ten. Had that look about you, y'know?" No. I nod. "Anyway, you look like you need an ally. What would you've done if I was a Career, eh? Nothing: you were asleep, and I would've killed you."

"A career?"

"A tribute from One, Two or Four. It's a nickname we have in Eight because they train all their lives. Well, we think they do, anyway. I mean, have you seen some of them? retty powerful. You don't get tht powerful rom fishing or working in factories, and I should know!"

"You fish?"

"No, I work in a factory! From dawn until dusk every day except some Sundays, sometimes, but even then, most people go to work. Y'know, because most can't afford to spend a day doing nothing, especially not now. Did you know that Eight had a major part in the rebellion? We were almost the leaders."

"Really?"

"Yes, very much so. We did the most to fight the Capitol, too, and..." She speaks ten to the dozen and I eventually tune her out, just enjoying the company and eventually saying "really?" and "yes?" and other such things every so often.

Until she says something that really wakes me up: "So, how many people have you killed so far?"

The question takes me totally off guard. "What?"

"You were with the Careers, right?"

It takes me a second to figure out who 'the careers' are before I nod.

"Yeah," she says. "So how many people have you killed?"

"Me, personally?"

"Yes, you! That's what I just said!"

"Well... None." I'm not sure how to feel about that answer. Part of me feels like it's a bad thing, that I've been wasting my time, whereas another part is sort of proud that I'm innocent and another part is just confused. My alliance has killed many - at least half of the tributes, I would say - but I haven't done any of that. "Yeah. I haven't killed anyone."

Julie looks down. "Me neither. But I'm not sure I want to."

Deep within me, I realise that I don't want to, either. I don't really want to take someone's life. I didn't ask to be here. In fact, I can think of a million places I'd rather be than here. No, a hundred million.

We sit together in silence for a little while before Julie asks if I have any food.

I grin and nod. My sister Olivia is so, so like this girl, more so every minute I spend with her.

Luckily, I grabbed my rucksack before I went looking for Alexx, so I actually have all the supplies that used to belong to my former alliance. I fish out a can and hand it to Julie, the metal scraping my burnt finger and reminding me of the last time I opened something from this bag. Julie shovels the food down her throat, reminding my stomach to complain. I grab my own can and copy Julie.

"Thank you so much," she says as she finishes. "Robert gave me stolen food before. I'd just run out and we were planning to meet up today, but... Well, you saw. We were planning an attack on the Careers, too."

"I'm still up for that."

"What?"

"I'll help you attack the Careers. They know and trust me, and I have some poison in my bag which is just begging to be used." The words are just flowing out of me, I can't stop them.

"You would do that? Even after they were your allies?"

"Only the boy from Four. The girl from Two is coming with us."

She frowns, but then shrugs. "Ok, whatever. So... Should you go back to them now?"

I didn't think of that. "I guess I should go back today... Yeah, now would be best."

"Excellent. So you poison the boy and bring the girl back with you. Go, I'll be here when you get back."

"Ok. I'll see you tomorrow or something."

"See you tomorrow!"

As I grab my pack and leave, it occurs to me how strange this is. I have never met Julie before, and now we're plotting against my former alliance together! Can she even be trusted? She said she was relying on Robert for supplies, so now he needs me, I guess. It would be all to easy for me to leave her to starve, or to lead Drew and Rachel to her.

I don't know what to do at all, so I just keep walking.

I reach the camp at dusk, just as Capitol's anthem starts playing. Drew and Rachel don't look at me as I sit down next to the fire, just keep staring at the faces.

One dead today - the boy from Seven. He was called Andrew. I remember him and his partner in training - they were a couple.

I go on watch while Rachel and Drew sleep. Actually, I'm rather surprised that they're trusting me this easily after two days of me just disappearing., but I'm not one to argue. Plus, Drew's in charge, so anything could happen.

The shift is spent the usual way - sorting - but not with the usual things.

Rachel and Drew had no food and hunting is hard in the limited space, so they were basically starving to death. No doubt they'll eat this fast, then.

I sort breakfast into three piles, one with with poison mixed in, the others clean. The liquid doesn't stain food and goes clear in water, possibly because it was designed for this very purpose.

Morning comes all too fast, with Drew out of his tent an hour after dawn, demanding food. I hand him the water and try not to look as his body falls on my feet.

He was going to kill me anyway, you just saved your life. Yeah, I'll just keep telling myself that, and hope it's actually true.

But I'm fooling no one.

I'm getting married to Pia in two days. It's coming so quickly!

We're doing final preparations now, checking cake orders and dresses and guests and all of that. Pia is getting stressed and excited and nervous and I'm just plain tired. Everything is so tiring! At work, we're down to the final four and the centre is in chaos; at home, the house is filled with nervous energy and wedding prep; and in my head, I'm trying to stop thinking about Jezzebelle.

She hasn't been to the Gamemaking centre for six days now, but I seem to be the only person who has noticed. I haven't seen her in ages - since the incident with the tattoos, the guilt from which still sits in my stomach like a lump of thick dough.

Pia doesn't know about it, and I don't plan on telling her. In fact, no one knows what happened except me and Jezzebelle.

It's our secret.