Yay! Finally a new chapter! Sorry about that long wait guys. So, once again, review!

*************

"You saved me." An awkward silence fills our little clearing. Patin doesn't say anything.

I've just finished washing off Patin's wounds as best I could. I'm shivering because my sweatshirt is now torn in half, with one side tied tightly around her right arm's gash and the other around her smashed hand. I used the sweatshirt string to make a sling and used the blanket to pad the back of her neck. It's pretty warm so we won't be needing it anytime soon. She may be in a lot of pain, but she's not about to die.

After I killed Beam I went right to work in patching her up. We didn't talk. The only questions were things like, "Do you have a pack?" and, "How long have you been bleeding?" They taught us how to fix people during the rebellion. I might not be the best, but I can do a lot with limited supplies. I remember how Urso was horrible at this. I wonder how he's doing. I push the though aside.

I quickly change the subject, because this obviously makes her uncomfortable. "You look better." This is true. She's sitting up and looks a lot less pale. I fumble for my water bottle. "You're probably thirsty." I hold it out for her. She drinks at least half and then hands it back.

"I didn't save you," she says slowly. I start to object, but she finishes before I can say anything. "Your reflexes did. You have good reflexes." Her eyes aren't as wary as they were at training.

"Thanks, but yeah, you did save me. If you hadn't warned me, I wouldn't have been ready for that spear Beam threw." She nods. She doesn't seem up to an argument, and frankly, neither am I. "What happened to him anyway?"

"He was like that the whole time." That's all she says.

"Like what? Crazy?" I say with a hint of a smile.

"Yeah, he was trying to fool me into thinking our alliance would last. I could tell he was going to get me. But he beat me to the kill. Or injury I guess." She pauses. "I don't really know why he was crazy. Maybe something in the rebellion or just the thought of the Games." She gives a shrug.

We don't talk about it anymore. It really unnerves me. Just the thought of not being in control of my own thoughts makes me shiver. No reasoning behind anything. I could kill my own family if I ended up like Beam. Surely he wasn't like that before. No, nobody's like that unless they have some sort of disease they're born with.

"So you guys just left the Cornucopia first thing?" I ask as I sip some water.

"Our plates were pretty close so we left together," she says. Obviously she doesn't want to tell me more. I don't blame her. If she hadn't warned me about Beam and if there was no honor code from the rebellion I can't shake without feeling guilty, I'd probably stab her in her sleep. Well, I'd wait and see if she was useful first. I guess I'm not the most trustworthy type. I mean, this is the Hunger Games, not a competition for the Nice Awards. I want to be able to see District 4 again, to enjoy another day in a boat, and most of all, to show my district that not all hope is lost. That we can still be okay.

We decide that we should probably be moving on, and since we've only got my little satchel, it doesn't take long to pack up. I grab Beam's spear and knife, and Patin tells me that the knife was hers. She traces her finger along a line in the intricate pattern carved on the blade and the little knife extends into a full length sword.

"Woah," I say.

"Yeah pretty cool, isn't it?" she asks, but really I'm thinking about how easily Beam could've killed me during our fight. "We had one during the rebellion, so that's how I know how to use it."

"I guess Beam didn't," I say.

She gives me a weird look and says, "Well, obviously, or he would have cut you to pieces."

"Yeah," I say. I guess District 1 doesn't know about sarcasm.

We eat a chunk of fish each and I tell her to remind me about cooking the squirrels later. This isn't the time and definitely is not the place to do that.

The walk through our little clump of trees is short and silent. I take my first step from the roots onto grass, and suddenly hear a cannon sound. My first thought is that it sounds really close and the killer could be upon us in seconds.

I grab Patin's good hand and say, "Come on! We need to get out of here!" She doesn't argue, but as we run, too many cannons fire to count. I stop at ten and they come so quickly. There are only thirteen people left. Are they killing all of us off? I stop abruptly and turn to Patin. The cannons stop.

"What's going on?" I ask angrily. I'm frustrated. I don't want to die right now!

Patin bites her lip and quietly says, "I don't know."

"Are they killing all of us? Will no one win? I don't get it!" And that's when I start pacing. The cannons start again.

"Stop!" Patin orders me. The cannons stop. "Now take a step." I take one step. BOOM! Then I take two more. BOOM BOOM! I look up and smile. I'm so relieved. But Patin's face is as grim as before, and I'm thinking it's the pain until she says, "We have to run!" This confuses me. I'm caught up in realizing that we're not all going to die just yet. "Everyone knows where we are!" she explains as she grabs my hand and we begin running again. The cannons keep firing until we are off the grass and into the woods. But we still keep running. And running. And running.

Until we finally stop. We're panting, but not sweating so much because the temperature is dropping.

"Cook the squirrels," Patin tells me. I realize that she is useful and I have quickly lost my spot as the leader of this alliance.

We gather wood, and it takes forever to light it since it's wet. We cook the squirrels and put them back my satchel. We eat half of the rest of the fish, since it will go bad pretty soon.

I spot mushrooms that look like the one from the satchel and almost rip it right out of the ground the moment I see it, as I remember how good it was. Patin stops me and tells me to look at it again just to make sure. I do and notice some very faint red spots the other certainly did not have. I silently curse the mushrooms for making me look like an idiot in front of my ally.

In the sky that night is only Beam. I hear a howl come from somewhere out there in the dark, and think its good that Patin can't climb without my help. I can just toss her to the mutts if she decides to turn on me.