Day 2

Hunter and I went hunting after shaking hands. I quickly saw why he got such a high rank- as soon as he had a knife in his hands; he was invincible. I could barely even see the flash of sliver as his blade flew past, I could only feel the cold wind rushing by. I lost count of the amount of squirrels he killed after he hit 30.

"How...do you do that?!" I asked in amazement, admiring the calm in his eyes as he flipped his wrist and killed yet another squirrel.

He grinned. "I'm just skilled. Plus I've been practicing with a knife since I was four."

"Wow...not many four-year-olds I know like to play with knives." I teased.

His eyes clouded. "I didn't have much choice," He said, suddenly all the joking and light-heartedness vanishing from his face.

I sighed. "Did any of us?" I muttered, kicking at a leaf.

"That's not what I meant," He said, and then smiled, his good mood returning abruptly. "So what's your talent? You know mine- knives."

I smiled. "I think I'll keep it secret for now."

"Well that's not very nice," He grinned.

I started to say a retort, when I heard a branch snap somewhere beside us. Immediately my body went into a fighting stance, and Hunter's hand grasped his knife. Crouched down, he signaled towards the left. I nodded, and started to walk to the right. Hiding behind a bush, I caught a glimpse of Veronica and Fernando. They were laughing at something, and I relaxed. They'd neither seen nor heard us- we were safe. I didn't want to kill them- I couldn't. I wasn't a murderer. Plus the two were obviously having a good time, and I didn't want to ruin what could be a last moment of happiness for either of them. The next thing I knew, they were kissing. I felt such a bittersweet taste in my mouth. Love was not welcome here. Who knew how quickly any one of us could be killed during these games? Out of respect I started to turn away, when out of the corner of my eye I saw Veronica bring up her hand. She'd concealed a knife beneath her sleeve and as I watched in horror, she stabbed Fernando once, twice in the back and he fell to the ground. I clapped a hand over my mouth to stop myself from crying out in horror. Veronica knelt down beside him, wiping her knife on the ground.

"Better you than me," she sneered. She got up and ran, without so much as a glance back.

I knew I shouldn't, but I ran to him. He was still breathing, his eyes wild. Looking at me, he tried to smile. He took my hand and squeezed it.

"For a moment there, I thought perhaps love could overcome the fear. She gave me hope," he managed to choke out, his breathing ragged. "I hope you win, Mai. You deserve it more than any of us." He shuddered once then became still. The cannon fired.

"That bitch," I whispered. "I will make you pay for this."

I hand't known Fernando all that well, but he seemed so nice. He shouldn't have been here. Even in death he had been brave. I got up to find Hunter, but he was already behind me.

"You see that?" I demanded angrily.

He shook his head. I told him what I'd witnessed.

"I should have killed her. He was so nice Hunter. He thought they were in- in lo-"

"Don't. Don't say it," He said angrily. He put an arm around me and drew me close. I hadn't even realised I was crying. Holding me tight, he whispered into my hair; "You have to be strong to survive. Don't turn your back on anyone- especially not your ally." He let me go. "Come on, we should get moving." I walked after him.

We hiked for about two hours in silence, aware of everything around us. We stopped and Hunter started teaching me to throw a knife. After a bit of practice I found i was actually ok, although nothing compared to Hunter's amazing skill.

"You just have to practice more. If u don't practice, you're wasting your gift," he told me. It was so easy to talk to Hunter, and for a moment around his light-hearted spirit I could forget everything. Forget that I was in these games, forget that sooner or later Hunter and I would have to kill each other.

Forget about my father and that night 2 years ago-

No! I refused to think about that. Concentrating on the path ahead, I blocked everything out of my mind.

We hiked for another 3 hours, by which time it was starting to get dark. Sitting down on a patch of moss, I realized there was something I'd been meaning to ask him.

"Why me?"

"What?" He looked up, surprised by my sudden outburst.

"Out of all the people you could have chosen to have an alliance with, why pick me?"

He considered this. "You got really high marks in your test. Plus I guess it was an 'in the moment' decision kinda thing. You made me laugh, I decided not to kill you," He flashed a smile, the sunset transforming his face into a pillar of glowing radiance. His eyes reflected the pink and orange of the sky. He looked beautiful.

"Thanks. You sure know how to make a girl feel special."

He laughed. "Looking at your fashion sense on the first day, I knew you were a special person."

"Whats wrong with my style!? I dress fine!"

He smiled. "That's what you think."

"Well its not like we have a lot of choice over in district 7," I reminded him.

"True," he agreed.

We continued to talk about pointless little things for about an hour, before he stood up and yawned.

"We'll need our strength for tomorrow. Night," he dismissed.

"Night," I replied softly, too low for him to hear.

Well theres chapter 3 :) I really would love some reviews to see what I can improve thanks guys