"I never hid those clams!" I say in protest.

"Oh yes you did!" laughs Urso.

"Did not," I say with a laugh. I punch him playfully in the shoulder.

Unexpectedly, Cayne's hulking figure drops about a foot away from me. It makes me jump. He had been scouting for other tributes in the treetops. For being so muscular, he is insanely agile. His brown eyes are dark and brooding. I glance at Urso. The smile has left his scratched up lips.

"No one," says Cayne quietly. "We should get moving."

I put everything back in my pack. We used some of the medicine on Urso's bites. He had run halfway to the cornucopia and tried swimming the channel. He was probably the one who's scream I heard. Cayne had saved him, apparently. He had a couple bites. And then they had run into the forest. I still don't know why he would save Urso, of all people. I tighten my grip on my knife. Cayne has the other. Urso managed to grab a little pocket knife. I don't really think it will do him much good. Sooner or later we'll get more weapons.

I look over at Cayne. The breeze ruffles his jet black hair. He's tying up a little satchel he got. It contains a mushroom that's about the size of a baseball (we still don't know if it's OK to eat), a thin little blanket, some rope, and some plastic wrap. He looks a little scared, but I can tell he is trying to hide it. He senses me looking at him and turns around. I look away. I'm getting over my blabber reflex, but he's still really hot.

He's hot, all right, but I hate it. It's like he expects you to fall for him. Not gonna happen. And besides, if I'm ever going to have another boyfriend, it's not going to be in the midst of all this death. Yep, believe it or not I've had two boyfriends. And guess what? They both died. Right when we were starting to love each other. It's so cliche. It's like I'm cursed or something.

I feel anger bubbling up into my mouth, and the last thing I want to do is erupt like a volcano. So I do the thing that's always stopped my anger in it's tracks. Hurt. I know it sounds terrible, but anger fuels me. And since there's nobody I really want to hurt around here right now, I break a branch off a little tree and snap it in half. Again and again. Until there's nothing left to break, and no anger left to spill over. We'll have no trouble starting a fire. All the wood's pretty dry. I hope I didn't just jinx everything.

We finally found the stream, although it's more like a rushing river. We're not too far away from it now, but far enough so we don't here it's roar.

Everyone's done packing up, so I give each of them a hunk of squirrel we caught and cooked not too long ago. I chew mine for a while, trying to savor it. It doesn't really work so I just swallow it. I'm glad the squirrels are normal. In one of the movies, there was a duck thing that blew up in their throats and strangled them. I'm glad that didn't happen with the squirrels.

"I still don't get why our outfits are water proof," says Urso while pulling a bit on his shirt. It's pretty balmy, so the sweatshirts are safely tucked away in my bag.

"There was the river around the Cornucopia, but that was about it," says Cayne who's still frowning.

"Maybe it'll rain so much we'll all float around and have to send messages in bottles," Urso says sarcastically.

"Oh don't worry," I say cheerfully, "Cayne can get the sponsors to send him a tropical island." I glance at him. He doesn't seem that affected so I continue, "We can tan on the beach all day and invite the game makers to a tea party."

There's actually a smile on his face. "I call the spot next to President Carwheeler!" he says. We all laugh.

In about two seconds a red parachute floats down toward us. I'm confused for a second, but then I remember that it's a sponsor gift. I smile at my allies and catch it before it hits the ground. I tear at the box excitedly and laugh at whats inside. It's a steak shaped like an island, with a sailboat, a palm tree, and a little person tanning.

I guess we're really giving those capitol people some entertainment.

We start walking along the river. It's so peaceful in the woods you could almost forget that you're in a game meant to kill children. Almost.

"The sun's getting low on the horizon," I say quietly, still on the alert. "We should keep going for a little and then go a bit farther into the woods."

"Then we'll set up camp," says Cayne. Urso and I nod.

I try to imagine being on my own, and how hard it would be. Maybe an alliance isn't such a bad thing. That doesn't mean I can trust Cayne. I glance over at him. He's concentrating really hard. Maybe he's thinking, like me. Girls in the Capitol must be so jealous of me right now. How much would they hate me if I killed Cayne? I probably wouldn't have any sponsors. Not like I take any of that crap into consideration. I'm in this thing for me, to stay alive. Not to entertain some Capitol priss. I smile to myself as I think about saying that in some speech when I win. I can just imagine the look of horror on their deformed faces.

The sun is setting when we find the perfect tree. Finally. Urso is such a perfectionist. It's a big oak tree with a bunch of sturdy forks all bunched together. I'm not the best tree climber, but Cayne helps me up. During the process of helping me, he touches my back end- probably a mistake, but I still say, "Watch it," with a growl. It's my best Grig interpretation yet.

When we're all up, we tie the packs to a sturdy branch with rope. I settle down in my sleeping bag in two nicely placed forks. Thank you mother nature, I think. One of the knives came in a sheath and its in my sleeping bag near my knee. Urso and Cayne settle in on my left under the thin blanket in some forks. I really hope none of us fall out of the tree.

"Good night Urso," I say sleepily.

"Good night Mag," says Urso.

"Good night Cayne," I say.

"Good night Magali. Good night Urso."

"Good night Cayne."

The Capitol anthem plays and we can see the seal through an opening in the leaves. Neither Beam or Patin are up there, so District 1 is still alive. I recognize the boy from District 2, both people from 5, the girl from District 6, the boy from 11, and the girl and boy from District 12 we killed.

7 down, 17 left.