There's a sharp pain in my side, and I tumble over before rushing to get to my feet. We're under attack! Is it a Career, or one of the other tributes? Is Tierra already gone?

"Your watch."

My vision clears, and though it's still dark, I make out Tierra sitting on a gnarled chair of roots.

"I thought we were under attack!" I hiss, afraid to make much noise when I'm sure the Careers are on the hunt. "Why did you have to kick me?"

"Would you rather have had me scream at you or dump muddy water on your face?"

"Whatever," I sigh. "I'm up now."

"Good. Don't try to steal my food," she finishes, settling in her little nook.

"I won't," I reply quietly with a roll of my eyes. She's overly paranoid about getting her cheese stolen.

Then again, she's not an expert at fishing, and I'm starving.

Trying to keep myself from falling back asleep, I retrieve my half-javelin and start to rub it against the nearest tree, slowly to avoid disturbing Tierra.

But I'm already tired from hunger, and the repetitiveness of the grating is soon to begin to lull me to sleep, so I set the bamboo-weed down and seat myself, lightly tapping a pattern on the root next to me.

No matter how many times I change the rhythm, though, that lulls as well, so I just sit there, staring down at the black water in the dubious hope that a fish will jump out.

I cycle between these three activities for an hour or so before I hear a crunch. I stop my tapping and listen. There are no more crunches, but I swear I hear some whispering.

I'm about to kick Tierra in the side to wake her up, but I decide to just call her name in her ear until she moves.

"Wha…? I just got to sleep," she mumbles.

"Someone's coming," I whisper, looking back toward where I heard the crunch.

"Crap!" Tierra hisses, getting to her feet. "Follow me, and if you snap one twig, I'll kill you." She stumbles over a few roots and starts to scale the large tree she comes to. I follow quietly, and I'm up in the lowermost branches before a ball of torchlight in the distance makes me freeze.

"You're too close to ground!" Tierra whispers urgently, but I can't get myself to move. Not only is the increasingly louder Career pack coming towards me, the light has shown me exactly how high up I am. So I sit there, frozen, and watch the pack come toward me.

In the lead is Twig—of course—followed by District 1's remaining tribute Kyta, and then the two tributes from District 2 walking alongside each other.

I have to admit I'm kind of surprised that neither Odyss nor Shaw attempted to join the group. Both of them scored quite high in their sessions with the Gamemakers, so the pack may have let them in. They must have their own reasons for not joining, I guess.

"Cir—"

"Over here!" Kyta's husky voice interrupts Tierra's. "I think I saw something move," she continues, directing Twig's firelight toward us. I can only cling to the tree branch like a desperate parasite and hope the leaves and roots below me manage to mask my presence.

But the Careers are definitely headed in my direction, and I clench my teeth in a sad attempt to make myself stop shaking. Just make it quick, I beg mentally. Please don't torture me.

Something lightly lands on my back, but I'm too paralyzed to flinch. The weight lifts, and I think I hear some sort of victory hiss from Tierra. Did she get a donation now? It can't be a weapon; it didn't feel nearly heavy enough for that. It couldn't be food, because she's not narrow-sighted enough to be excited over that when we're about to get killed. So what is it?

Unable to blink or look away, I stare down at the Careers, who are just two trees away from us now. Tierra's shifting somewhere above me, but I can't move to look.

The Careers are almost right next to us now, and a sword of steel glints off the small amount of torchlight.

"Say cheese!" Tierra suddenly screams. I hear a click, and an expanding, white light sears my vision. Before I can recover, I'm boosted off the branch, and I'm being half-dragged, half-lifted across the roots. Just as my eyes start to register the darkness, I start to find my footing, and Tierra lets go as I sprint after her.

I've run into the broad trunk of a tree—receiving a score across my forehead and almost ripping open my pack of water bottles—before my vision finally clears. The blood starts to drip in my eyes, though, and I frustratedly swipe a wrist over my cut, not wanting to lose my vision again.

Tierra and I both run pretty quickly, but I can hear the Careers closing in on us. Tierra suddenly grabs my tank top and hauls me over behind a tree.

"Close your eyes," she warns, and I obey quickly, still sensing the light when she clicks the camera again. "Now go!"

I run after her again, and we've continued for a minute before we start to tire. The Careers, though further behind us, definitely have the advantage in the stamina field. I lean against a stable cluster of roots to pant.

Tierra mutters something under her breath and looks around the scene as dawn breaks. "We're splitting up," she announces. "We'll meet right here," she continues with a grunt as she shoves the camera between two branches, "as soon as possible."

I nod, taking one more second to regain my breath before taking off again, in the opposite direction of Tierra. I stumble over a few roots, and I've only gone a few meters before I hear the Careers realizing we split up. I think they decide to split up themselves, because I only hear two pairs of footsteps coming closer to me.

Now I know I have no chance of outrunning them; I'm pretty well exhausted now, but their feet are pounding the wood fast as ever. Having no other options, I half-climb, half-crawl up the side of a tree as far as I dare. My water is clung tightly to my chest when Rim and Alypso break some roots beneath me.

"She's somewhere around here," hums Alypso seriously, and Rim replies so quietly I can't make out the words, shuffling through the leaves of all the branches at his eye level.

I can only sit here, quivering, and hope they don't catch me or Tierra. The leaves around me are too thick to see them now, but it doesn't sound like they've found me. They're not crashing around the gnarls, so I'm not sure if they've passed, but I am not going to take any chances here. I just sit quietly and sip at my half-bottle of water, cradling the four full ones in the crook of my elbow.

The sun is getting high in the sky by the time I've decided to climb down. I'm quite enthusiastic since no cannons have fired for Tierra, but still wary of the Careers. For all I know, the two chasing Tierra could be near me by now. I shudder, replacing the remainder of my bottle of water in the plastic packaging.

I'm not that far from the camera tree, though, and I've arrived in just a minute. I carefully examine it—the camera's still in the same nook, and there aren't any incisions or wires around—before settling somewhat a tree away.

"Took you long enough."

"Gah!" I jump up and bonk my head on the wood above me.

Tierra moves out from behind another low tangle of branches.

"Why'd you have to do that?" I scream softly. "You could've just… just walked over, and…"

"I'm just mean like that," Tierra sighs with a hint of a laugh.

I hmph and turn away as she approaches.

"Oh, come on. I might as well have a little bit of fun in here while I'm still alive."

I roll my eyes. "Yes. This competition is just a carnival for you, isn't it? A bunch of little girls to terrify—"

"Rim?" Alypso's lilt makes me gasp, but Tierra remains silent.

"Rim?" the voice repeats. "Twig? Kyta?" she continues, a hint of irritation arising in her sweet tone.

"She's alone," Tierra mutters, looking around before her gaze rests on me. I gulp.

"So," my ally starts, "shall we stand around here and get killed?"

I raise an eyebrow, but it's clear what she means. Alypso is a threat. We can't just leave her and assume she won't come after us like we could with Chara. She's not a helpless little trinket we don't have to worry about. She's a Career, whether she looks it or not, and we have to register her as our greatest threat.

We can ignore that threat until it comes and kills us both.

Or we can snuff it out right now.

"Let's not," I reply quietly, falling silent until another of Alypso's calls helps me to locate her.

"All right," Tierra grunts with a nod. She looks over her shoulder, but Alypso still isn't within view. "Am I right to assume you have no fight in you right now?"

I nod silently, reminded of the cold truth that I'm not really a competitor in this.

"All right. That means you'll have to distract her in any way possible," Tierra continues. "I'll stay here. You track her down and lead her over, to the right side of this tree," she adds a light punch to the tree right behind her, "and I'll try to knock her out, at least. That sound good to you?"

"Mmm-hmm," I reply shakily. I start toward Alypso's voice, but I can't help but hesitate and look back at Tierra.

"Don't die," she finishes with a smile.

"Right," I reply, managing a meek smile myself as I turn to hunt the Career.

I dart from trunk to trunk repeatedly, hoping the now-silent Alypso hasn't moved much from the last time she spoke. I look around the area obsessively, not wanting to miss the slightest indication of her presence, but I don't see or hear any sign from her.

Well, if I'm going to distract her, I'll either need to be loud or showy. In this limited visibility, showy is going to be hard to pull off, so I go with loud.

With no Alypso in sight, I yank down a tree branch, sending a satisfyingly-loud crack through the air. I jump over a tree, but after waiting a few seconds, it's obvious Alypso didn't notice. Taking a deep breath, I try again, pulling down a branch thick enough I have to jump up and down to get it to crash.

There are another few seconds of silence and stillness afterward, and I frown. She obviously isn't falling for this tactic. I'm going to have to try something different.

I could attempt a fire, but I'm not very good at starting one without flint, as I learned in the Training Center, and I'd probably end up lighting too many of these giant pieces of firewood since they're in such close proximity.

And then a cannon fires.

No. It can't be Tierra.

I drop my water and start sprinting toward her tree.

No. It's not her.

I pass the camera tree.

No.

I round Tierra's tree, shouting her name.

No!

There she is, crumpled on the roots, unskilled slashes and a deep wound decorating her torso.

No! This can't happen. This can't be right. She can't be dead!

I put my hands over the deepest wound, but I know it won't do any good. Her eyes are already starting to glaze, and I can only stare at her, utterly traumatized.

Snap! I whirl around, facing Alypso. The one who killed the only friend I've had in this arena.

But it is not I who has the weapon; in Alypso's hand is a spear, its sharp edges stained with Tierra's blood.

Before my shattered mind manages to analyze the situation, Alypo hurls the spear at top speed.

I can't dart out of the way in time. Instead, I find myself ducking down, redirecting the small blade's target to my open mouth. It slices my tongue and pierces the back of my throat, but I don't stop. I can't.

I flip the weapon back toward Alypso before the little cretin knows what's going on.

"Die!" I shriek, hurling the spear straight for her heart. She falls backward, and I approach her to pull out the weapon.

But once it's out, I don't run. Almost blinded by tears, I stab her again. For killing my ally.

I stab again. For killing my friend.

For killing the only chance I've ever had in this forsaken death pit.

But the shadow of a hovercraft falls over me, and I'm forced to retreat, taking one last, blurred glance at Tierra before I run away.