Hello all! Welcome back to the Hunger Games! Are you ready for the challenges of the day? Let's hope you are because I'm going to go through the games as if all of these people were careers. I am the Game Keeper. Welcome to my game.

For days, they just walked. Prim and Lucas only exchanged purposeful words. There was no small talk. There was walk straight, don't look back, and keep your eyes and ears open at all times. They spoke less and less until they were in sync with each other simply because it was natural. Small hand motions, certain looks, they led the way around obstacles. When they set camp for the night was the only time they talked because then Lucas would repeat the names of the people who had perished that day.

They set up camp in the large buttress roots of a tree for night. A while back there had been a tree they could climb up into, but the monkeys had lived there. They screeched so loudly that one of Lucas' ears had bled. He hadn't lost his ability to hear, but everything seemed a but muffled. After the monkeys they had met a family of tigers that didn't look too happy to see them. Lucas and Prim had thought much like the tigers who had stopped to drink from a rather large puddle from the rain a couple days earlier. The cubs got away unscathed luckily. The mother didn't have such a happy end though.

The Game Keeper wasn't going to let them get to their destination so easily would he? No, he was going to continue to throw all the different types of obstacles at them until they turned around back toward the center of the arena. Why would they do that though? That's where everyone was dying. The last place they would go would be the center of the arena where the competition was.

Lucas pulled the shotgun shells they had collected from Reagan and Pierce when they had crossed paths. The both of them had been farther out then Prim and Lucas expected them to get. They couldn't let the two live unfortunately. As Lucas cracked the shotgun shells he collected the gun powder and then slipped it into his sock that he had taken off a couple days back. It was starting to fill up, but he only did a couple of shells a night because it gave him something to do. It was going to be enough, hopefully.

Prim watched him quietly though she had the list spread out on her lap. It was Serena's list and she had marked off the first seven, but now Prim used it to keep track. Serena had been able to sneak it into the arena because the peace keepers hadn't bother with it. She had even managed to get a pen in too. Now, Prim carried them around and every night they would mark off the deceased. Only four people had died since that first night and it had been seven days, a week.

"Who's left?" Lucas asked in a quiet voice as the sky began to go dark. They had set up camp early for the night and they had water to last them a couple more days, but it would rain long before then. It had rained almost every day since they went into the arena.

"Reaper from District 1, you and Paige, Tyler from District 3, Gwen from District 5, Emma, Owen, Shannon, and PJ from District 7 and 8," Prim looked up at him as he listened patiently. He never even looked up. It was as if he found her boring. "Meagan, District 9. Odessa and Linus from District 11, and..."

"You," Lucas finished as he set down the tied off sock. He buried the shell carcasses and then finally looked up at Prim. "There's only thirteen of us. How much longer do we go on until we find it?" Lucas asked and he looked to the sky as if waiting for an answer to fall. Nothing did.

"I don't know Lucas, maybe soon. They're not going to make it easy." Prim shrugged as if she didn't care, but there was a hopelessness in her eyes. Lucas seemed to understand that loss for hope as he scooted closer to her. The comforting arm he put around her did nothing for a moment. Soon after she leaned into him and closed her eyes. "It can't go on forever, right?" Prim whispered and Lucas shut held her unsure of what to say. The capitol anthem played, but there were no deaths for the day and all stayed dark. "Goodnight Lucas." Her words were barely a breath.

"Goodnight Primrose,"

The next morning Prim was curled up in Lucas' arms. She moved away from him and began to pack up. Lucas woke up shortly after stretching his arms before discovering they were empty. He looked up in alarm as Prim who was bustling about. She nervously tucker her hair behind her ears which had come out of its braid a long time ago, and she just hadn't bothered to fix it. But now she pulled the hair-tie free of her tangled locks and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. She thought Lucas was still sleeping too because she sat down on one of the buttress roots facing away from him and whispered sorry to Ash wherever he was. The name made Lucas' anger flare up and he bit the inside of his cheek. Lucas fixed his shoulder in his socket wincing at the pain from carrying so much weight every day.

Quietly, he stood and collected his things. When he reached to the spot where he had left the gunpowder, it was gone. He looked around wildly and then at Prim. She hadn't grabbed it, had she? No, he had been watching her collect her things that morning. The gunpowder was just gone. An arm melted from the tree and grabbed Lucas from behind. He took his bad arm in a vice grip and yanked him backwards. Lucas was about to scream but a hand covered his mouth. It was a green hand though it had brown in it for the tree bark the person had been hiding against. Lucas moved as if he was going to struggle and a knife was pressed to his rib cage. He took that as "Don't move."

Lucas looked at the back of Prim's head waiting for her to turn. Turn! Turn! Then he changed his mind. If she turned she'd be in danger too. She wasn't going to leave without him though. Without a sound, Lucas slung back his elbow and got the guy in the ribs. The guy sputtered for air and tried to get the dagger into Lucas' side, but Lucas knocked the dagger from his hand and cornered him up against the tree. "Tyler?" Lucas spat. Prim appeared at Lucas' side glaring at the boy. "We've been friends forever. What the hell man?"

"You know the rules of the game Luke. I've got to survive," Tyler spat. Out of the corner of his eye, Lucas saw Prim move suddenly. As if there had been almost no pass of time, Tyler fell limp in Lucas' hold. He tumbled to the ground as Lucas couldn't bear his weight anymore. The dagger that had been in Tyler's hand clattered against the wood of the roots. A cannon sounded around the arena and Lucas turned on Prim with shock in his eyes.

"Before you yell at me," she said quickly holding up a hand, "he had another knife and was about to kill you." Prim wiped off her blade and knelt down next to the body of Tyler pulling out Lucas' sock filled with gunpowder. "Plus," she handed it back to him looking up at him from where she was now squatting, "he was a thief. You know we need that gunpowder."

"Let's just go," Lucas growled grabbing his things and then Prim's arm. He yanked her to her feet and away from that night's camp. Lucas looked back at the place where Tyler had fallen. A motorcycle that seemed to float above the ground on some kind of suspension shot out of a floor that rose at one part of the wood's brush. When Tyler's body was encased in a side cart that extended from the main bike the bike took off again and disappeared into another door. Lucas looked up to the sky again and seemed to realize that this was their fix to the fact that there was no way the hover crafts could get into the canopy of the trees. The doors were silent no matter how large and sealed tightly.

"Lucas?" Lucas turned to Prim and then walked past her. He and Tyler really had been friends when they were kids. His dad was always going to District 3 to talk to his mom about peace between the two districts since there was still some hostility between the Technology and Masonry groups that had been there since Gale's and Prim's time. He wasn't sure what he thought of Prim. Sure, she had saved his life, but what if they could've convinced Tyler to be on their side. They could've told him the plan. He was Lucas' friend; they could have trusted him.

He didn't answer Prim and just kept walking. They moved on far from their last camp until they came to what they had been searching for. A large rived spanned out and slowly curved to surround the whole arena. Without any land beyond the river there was the force field. They searched with their eyes looking up at the force field where the sky was clear for once. There were no trees anymore and the vines didn't make a lace that choked the sunlight. Prim looked at the sky and smiled happy to see the open air. Lucas paid her almost no attention as he searched and searched for the chink in the armor.

They walked along the river continuously. Prim had taken off her shoes and dragged her foot in the water when she could. She slammed into Lucas' back at one point and was about to yell at him when he grabbed her arm and pulled her backwards. She didn't see it until she looked back over her shoulder at the crocodiles perched on the shore. "Lucas take off your shoes," Prim whispered. Lucas looked at her with wide eyes. "You went hunting with your dad didn't you?" He nodded. "You can moved quieter and faster without the shoes; lose em." Lucas pulled off his shoes tucking them under his arm. The two of them took off together back into the woods.

They ran and ran and when they finally got to rest they rested under a low lying tree. Lucas laid down with the water jug that was full from when they filled it at the river. Prim, however, didn't take a break. She got up into the tree and climbed to the top of the low tree where she was able to jump to the next one which led higher. She started using the vines and eventually made it to the top of the canopy. Birds and tree animals moved around her not bothering her at all because they weren't meant to. The Game Keeper was rewarding those who made it that high into the canopy. Plus, anyone up there would eventually have to go back down, and Prim would; she just had to get a look at the forest from the top.

Prim poked her head out the top of the canopy holding onto the highest branch. The Arena seemed to stretch for miles. It was just miles and miles of green tops. It rose and fell as if it were an ocean. It rose up like waves and fell again into pits. The center was a clear spot where the gold of the cornucopia glinted into the air. They were about as far as one could get from the center, but it wouldn't be like that for long.

Prim climbed back down and she and Lucas went through their nightly routine. The only difference between the night before was how Prim curled up to sleep as far away as possible from Lucas. The two went to sleep and stayed that way until the rain came. The first drop fell on Prim's face and she shot awake. At first, she was willing to ignore it until a new sound filled the air. Running water. "Lucas..." Prim shook Lucas' arm. When he didn't wake up she shook his arm more vigorously. "Lucas! Wake up now!" Lucas got up slowly and blinked up at her through the water.

"Do we have to go find cover?" he mumbled through his tired stupor.

"No, Lucas we have to go. Grab what you can. Let's move." Lucas still moved slowly until the sound of rushing water reached his ears. He grabbed the jug of water and one other bottle, he didn't really know what of, and took off. His gun was still holstered at the small of his back where it was tucked into his waistline. His shoes were lost to wherever they had been thrown along with Prim's and they took off. Prim had her bow and arrow over her shoulder like a sash along with her filled quiver. Her knife was sheathed at the side of her thigh with a piece of ripped off cloth. They took off as fast as they could. There was no time to watch their step or the sound of their feet. There was only running.

The water caught up a little too quickly for anyone's liking. It soaked Lucas' feet first and they tried to speed up, but it was already too late. The water got to them and they both went under. They were shoved toward the center of the arena where everyone else was having a fight to the finish. Lucas grabbed Prim's hand and they tumbled through the water together as best they could. They kept their eyes closed as twig and debris ripped at them. Lucas' bad shoulder slammed against a tree branch and as pain shot through his arm he found the strength to grab the branch. The water sped past them and eventually it was all gone. Prim latched onto the branch and pulled herself up. Lucas was able to get himself up and the two of them spent a while just trying to catch their breath.

"Okay Lucas, let's go. We can jump from here and make it to the ground. There's a tree over there that is on a decline we can use the tree as shelter and sit under the tree." Prim was about to jump down when Lucas spoke up.

"Prim, I can't."

Prim looked back at him where he was clutching his arm. "Oh my god," Prim moved closer to him balancing carefully on the branch. His shoulder was popped out of place completely and he was holding it as if it would fall away if he let go. "Can you feel it?" Prim asked as she pushed his arm away and held it still where he had had it.

"Definitely," he said through gritted teeth.

Prim moved immediately taking off her sheath from her leg. She was going to use it to keep his arm set when they moved. She reached up past him using her dulling knife to cut free a small branch that was about the thickness of a quarter. She snapped off the end farther out where the leaves were and sawed off the other little twigs coming off of it.

"You know how to do this?" Lucas asked as she mumbled to herself.

For a moment Prim laughed though she didn't look up. The laugh was uncertain and it took obvious effort to get it out. "I've seen my mom do it, but we're all closer now and I don't have to do it the slow way." She looked up at him finally and he just nodded as if he understood. She handed him the finished off branch. "Bite down." He did as he was told and then closed his eyes as if it would help. "Now I saw her do this to my dad when he screwed up on the woods so bear with me." She lifted his hand that seemed so lifeless at his side. She put his hand on her knee and kept a hold of his wrist. Chances were this was just how her mom did things like this. Her mom had never been much of a medical person. She wasn't going to count for him though. She was just going to do it. She put a hand closer to his shoulder and counted in her head. One, two...three. Snap! It popped back into place. "Don't scream! Don't scream... sorry..."

She waited for him to relax and then pulled the stick from his mouth. "Good job Dr. Mellark."

"I'm so sorry. I heard that it really suck when you dislocate your shoulder the first time," Prim said in a rush. She carefully set his hand off her leg and turned bright red.

Lucas wasn't sure why she turned to bright red but he didn't pick at her for answers. Together they got down from the tree branch and made it to the cavern under the tree that the buttress roots had created on the hillside. The hillside dipped down into a small hole of the rain forest where water had collected into a pond like section where they could collect water if they needed to. They sat down and started to take everything into inventory: the water jug - half-full, a squirt bottle of honey that hadn't been used at all. They had their weapons, minus the gunpowder, but they didn't need that anymore. There was no chink in the armor. They were trapped.

When the sound of rushing water completely vanished the cannon started to go off. That day in the flood there were three lost. That night when their watches went off they made sure to hide the light of it by digging deeper into the trees cavernous root systems. Reaper from District 1, and Gwen from 5 were gone. The one between the two was Paige. Paige was out of the way. Lucas couldn't decide, as he sat there, if he sighed out of relief or sadness for the death of a friend. The breath came out heavy though and drew Prim's attention.

"Lucas, is your shoulder okay?"

He rolled his eyes as if the questions was annoying. Of course she didn't know. Of course, because he hadn't told her. "Prim it's fine. Don't worry about it. You did a good job."

"We're gonna get out of here Lucas. We both made promises and we're going to figure this out." Lucas nodded to her words thought he couldn't quite decide if he believe them or not. The situation was starting to look more and more hopeless. If either of them made it out it was going to be more of a fight. The one that wouldn't make it out would be dead somewhere being prepared for their funeral back in their hometown.

The two of them fell asleep still apart from each other. For once, the rain forest was silent. It was as if the flood had wiped out all the predators and left behind only the surviving tributes. Lucas couldn't stay asleep for very long his shoulder was bothering him more than ever so he sat closer to the exit from their little safe house. With a quiet release of air one of the doors that let the hover bike through opened. Lucas waited and waited just watching the spot. There never was a hover-bike that made an appearance. The door stayed open for hours and hours. Lucas never went to sleep as he watched it. A blue-white light shone out from him promising a safe return to a world of technology. It teased him really but he never went close. What was the Game Keeper doing?

Sincerely,

wisegirlindisguise