Disclaimer: As I have said with the past chapters, I do not own the Hunger Games.

I hear the splashing again, closer this time. At this point I'm pretty sure that it is a person, but I can always have a distant hope that it might be otherwise. I'm about to tell Glitch, in case she has yet to notice the impending threat, but she bolts out of her sleeping bag, and quickly shoves it in her backpack, then raises the pack to her back. I sit and watch this, but I'm not shocked at the speed in which she accomplished this task. At this point, I just regard that as her regular pace. She readies one of her knives. I quickly pull my pack onto my shoulders. I take my bow and load an arrow. "Any chance the splashing will just be an alligator?" I ask with false hope that my unpleasant theories would be destroyed.

Glitch shakes her head. "Unless gators have evolved over night to walk on two feet, it's highly unlikely. We should probably move out, they might not be searching for us in particular, but once they see us they probably won't hesitate to attack. We are pretty easy to spot in the trees. Our clothes don't blend in. Stupid Gamemakers, making us were nonstrategic clothes."

I look down at my red shirt. It was splattered in mud, and slightly faded, but it would still be easy to spot if you were looking for it in the trees. I nod in agreement, and we start to move. The splashing continues, it is approaching slowly, like the person is confused on where they are, not wanting to get lost and searching for familiar landmarks. Or they are moving slowly because they are searching for someone. I wonder what the chances are that the person chasing us isn't actually chasing us. Then again, it's best not to take any chances at all. After ten minutes of running, the splashing stops. So does Glitch after a few minutes. I'm far enough behind her this time. I'm able to stop without losing my balance.

Glitch looks around, searching for any hints of red in the trees. Glitch leans close and whispers loud enough so I can hear her, but not so loud as to alert anyone of where we were, "Maybe we weren't being chased. Maybe the person was running from an alligator or snake or something. Hmm, we can rest here for a while I guess. We can't let our guard down, so keep your weapons ready. I'm hungry. We can eat some of that chicken, I mean alligator." I silently giggle to myself, careful not to make any sound that would echo through the forest. I don't want whoever was there to realize that we are above them, in case they didn't already know that.

I sat down on the branch with my bow still in my hand. I reached into my backpack and took out strips of alligator. I handed one to Glitch, and took one for myself. We were in a cypress tree, surrounded by other cypress trees. We were maybe fifty-feet high. No one could climb up and get us. They can still throw their weapons at us, I thought in my head.

We decided to move to separate branches; these weren't as study as the tree we were at before. So Glitch hopped to a branch to my right. I had my bow in my left hand and my alligator in my right. We nibbled on the gator strips in silence. Then we heard a splash. Glitch reached across the gap between the branches, grabbed my arm and dragged me to my feet. I dropped what was left of my meat, but not my bow. We took off running, again.

There was only one person; the splashing was the only sound of its kind. Maybe the Careers decided to split, since there were so few left. They might be hunting us each solitarily. Something deep in my head told me that wasn't likely.

The splashing was closer this time though. It was moving towards us faster, like they were no longer confused on where to go. They were hunting, and whoever it was, they were going to catch up to me and Glitch fast. I didn't want to admit it, but they were much faster than us.

The splashing was almost directly below us. I look behind me. I still couldn't see who it was yet. The cypress trees were still too thick. I look back in front of me. My eyes bulge and adrenaline rushes through my body. I duck at the last moment. I let out a delayed high-pitched squeal, and skid to a stop. I was almost hit by a thick branch of one of the other cypress trees. Glitch turns and sees what happens. She looks below her and all around, and quickly says "Oh, sorry about that, you want me to warn you next time that happens? So we don't lose any more time?" She is talking so fast I can only guess at what she is saying, I nod in response. "Sorry, again, I thought that you were paying attention."

With that issue clarified we started to run again. We had lost time, and most of the little lead we had. I knew I would probably see the person if I turned around this time. I was still a bit shaken from my encounter with the branch, so I don't risk it. I continue to resist the urge to look down until I hear that the splashing is directly below me. No point in trying to run, so I finally look down. I'm not surprised when I see the pursuer is directly below us. I am surprised to see a boy with red hair.

I can still easily recollect the memories from the distant past once known as safety. Therefore, I remember this boy in the training center. On the first day, before Glitch asked me to team up, I watched what the other tributes were good at. The events were still clear in my mind. He was terrible at everything long distance. He only excelled at close combat, mainly with a sword. I sigh with relief. I didn't have to run any more. Even if he meant to hunt us, he couldn't hurt us in the trees. I stop right before I jumped to the next branch. Glitch didn't though. She kept running. And when she landed on the branch, it was too thin, and it couldn't support her weight. It snapped, and that sound seemed to ring through the forest as loud as a gunshot. And the event that followed was just as painful as if a bullet had hit me.

When you fall, time slows, and then speeds up. When you watch someone fall, everything slows down. I ran forward to grab Glitch and save her, but I might as well have been moving through molasses. Even if I was able to move fast enough, she was still too far away. I couldn't save her. All I could do was watch as she tumbled down like a rag doll, with her limbs limply hitting branches.

I think there are three types of time. Earth time, that would be the one that most pay attention to, it is the standard measure of time that people use. Universal time, that would be considering how quickly you can get somewhere in a certain time. Then there is mental time. That is the one that I was paying attention to at the moment. It is the speed at which your brain thinks everything is moving. Everyone's mental time is different from the others.

It took Glitch hours to fall. In Earth time, that would equal about five seconds. In the moments before someone dies, some say that the person sees their life flash before their eyes. Since Glitch was moving so fast, I think that the saying was true in her case. She kept falling for what seemed like forever. Half of me urged it to stop, the other half knew that once it did, Glitch would probably be dead. She landed on her neck. I stood there in total and complete shock. For a small second, I held the hope that she was still alive. That hope was soon crushed. A cannon fired. My nightmare had become reality. If only I told her. Maybe then she would have been more careful. Or maybe she would have laughed at you, says the voice in the back of my mind, in an attempt to comfort me.

"Glitch!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. My voice sounded hoarse, like how it did after hours of screaming. But I only screamed that once. Or did I? I scanned the side of the tree frantically, looking for a way down. The only option was to grab onto the trunk and slide down. That or fall. I really didn't want to follow in Glitch's footsteps on that one.

I climbed down to the lowest branch that would support my weight; it was still forty feet off the ground. I slung my bow back over my shoulder. I took a deep breath and wrapped my arms around the thin trunk. My fingers were barely able to interlace each other. My head started to throb. Before I could convince myself otherwise, I jumped off the branch. It was sort of like falling, only slower. It was also more painful, at least, more painful than the time that I fell forty-feet when I was nine. The bark stung and dug into my arms as I slid down the tree, cutting deep into my arms. I didn't care though; I needed to get to Glitch. The mental time of my fall was forty seconds. The Earth time was twenty.

Even when I had a controlled fall, I still had a hard impact with the ground. Once I landed on my feet, I fell backwards onto my back. I rolled over and sprinted to where Glitch's body lay. She was broken, just lying there, with her neck at an unnatural angle. I crawled over and sat beside her, I lifted her head into my lap. Her hair made a pillow on my lap. "Glitch." I breathed, still unable to grasp the fact that she was dead. The grin had disappeared from her face, only a shadow of its presence remained. Her eyes were closed, which I was grateful for, because when people die with their eyes open it freaks me out. She looked asleep. I wish I didn't have to move, I could stay there forever until Glitch would wake up again. But that was impossible, because Mason was standing there, a yard away, his sword half drawn.

Tears were streaming down my face. I didn't care what happened. This wasn't the first time that I've seen someone die in the arena. This isn't even the first time that someone I cared about died. But it was the first time that someone I cared about died while I could have helped them. If only I was faster. If only I had seen that coming, if I had warned her. I look up to Mason. "What are you waiting for?" My voice is barely audible; it seems foreign, even to me.

Mason stares at me wide eyed. "W-what?" He stutters. He asks not because he didn't hear, but because he didn't understand.

Between tears I explain to him. "You're right there; your sword is drawn and ready. I'm on the ground. I can't reach my arrows or my knife and even if I could you could stab me with your sword faster than I could shoot or stab you. So why don't you just kill me already, and get it over with, it would be a lot easier for both of us if you just hurried up!" My voice had raised an octave higher each sentence. Whether it was raising with anger or grief I did not know.

Mason puts his sword back through its sheathe. His head was shaking, with it be for shame or defiance, I will never know. "Y-your just t-twelve, I-I can't kill you. T-that would be like killing a bunny." Did he, a seventeen-year-old boy, just compare me to a weak, scrawny, little bunny? Mason shook his head again as if he were debating with himself on what to do.

He took a deep breath. "Here, you should probably take her pack. Leave the knives, unless you need them; if you don't they will be taken out of the arena for good. Then we need to clear out, so they can collect the body. I can also fix your arms, to prevent infection. Then we can find a tree, and you can be safe again. I don't think the same thing will happen to you, you're too light." He nodded once again, this time to assure himself that he had a good plan.

He took my hand and led me a yard away from where Glitch lay. He held up a finger, and raised it to me like he was lecturing me, "Stay." He commanded that of me like I was a dog. He then returned to collect things of use. I could have probably tried to run when his back was turned, but I didn't. He took the straps of Glitch's backpack and gently slid them off her broken shoulders. I slumped to the ground.

I watch, sniffling. Did he really want to help me? Or was this a trick? "Can I see your pack?" I don't answer he walks over, and tries to take it off my shoulders; I relax and it falls off, the straps brush past my arms I feel a stab of pain. I notice that they are torn and bleeding badly. So that's what he meant when he said infection will set in soon. "Thanks," He murmurs. He starts emptying the content of my pack and putting it into Glitch's. I watch in silent as he does this. Once he is done, I expect him to take the pack and run, but he doesn't, he hands it to me.

I take it from him in a rapid, sudden motion, put it on and stand up. To my surprise, it's only five pounds heavier. Mason offers me his hand. I hesitate, but take it. He leads me farther away from the body. Everything goes quiet. I look back to see Glitch's body being lifted into the hovercraft. I wish I could do something, anything. Punish the Capitol for their horrible game. I want to apologize to her. The only problem is that I won't see her until I die. More tears escape me. Mason is leading me through the trees, not saying anything and letting me morn in silence. I follow without struggle. It's not that I trust him, it's just I'm too depressed to protest, fight, or do anything to help me stay alive.

We stop five minutes later, and he lifts me up onto the roots of one of those weird trees that Glitch and I always slept in, the ones I didn't know the name of. He takes off his own pack and rummages through it. After a while, he takes out a first aid kit. At first I wonder why, then I remember that he said that he could fix my arm. "Can I see your arms?" I lift up my arms to him, he hasn't killed me yet, so why not? He bites his lip when he sees them. "It's ok; I can fix this."

He takes out some cream and rubs it on my arms. It stings, and makes me involuntarily wince. He notices. "It's supposed to sting, but I have to put it on; it keeps out infection, and after a while it will make the pain go away too." Once he finishes with that he wraps them in clean, white bandages. A satisfied smile of accomplishment spreads to his face. The bleeding had appeared to stop at least. "Ok, you should be fine. At least, I don't think you will get an infection, as long as you stay out of the water, it is extremely putrid. Well, actually, you can go in the water, just not for that long. No longer than a minute. Not that you would want to go there in the first place."

"Why were you chasing us?" My voice is barely above a whisper. I took no mind to his ramble about the water. All I heard was something about not going in for over a minute.

"I thought you were the volunteer tributes." He says, guilt evident on both his face and in his voice.

"We call them Careers." I allow a sniff to escape me. That was mine and Glitch's term. I didn't mean to tell him, but I was so used to calling them that. "Why would you chase us if you thought we were them?" I thought back to the options that Glitch gave me. We could play offence of defense. Maybe Mason was playing offence.

Mason turned serious, into a war tactic, totally-male mode. "The sooner they are out of the game, the better. They hunt in a pack. It would be better if they were out of the way; they have unfair advantages over the other tributes. They have trained for this. I thought I had them cornered. I should have known it wasn't them once I saw you in the trees. They are too fat to climb trees. I'm sorry." I could tell by the look on his face he truly was sorry. Then under his breath, "You don't deserve this. You are so young."

"It's ok. It's not entirely your fault." I put stress on the word entirely, and as I did so, I saw a grin trying to make its way onto Masons face. "Thank you, for fixing my arms." As if to prove no hard feelings, I gave him some of my alligator strips. He nodded his appreciation, but by the look on his face I could tell that he didn't need them, and then he disappeared back into the woods as if he were never there. I scanned the woods for a few minutes, watching for any movement. Then I decided he wasn't coming back after a few minutes. He probably thought I was too much trouble to form an alliance with. I would think the same if I were him.

I sat there for a few more minutes, letting my sorrow sink in and escape. It didn't take that long; I was already so used to copping with death. I climbed back into the safety of the trees. I perched in the highest branch of the tree, about ninety feet up, and took out Glitch's sleeping bag. I laid it on the branch. I sat there where I cried and felt sorry for myself until it was dark. I wasn't exactly crying for Glitch's death at that point, I was just crying for my whole unfortunate predicament.

Then stupid Capitol symbol appeared in the sky, along with the stupid anthem. That put an end to my crying. I wanted revenge against the Capitol. For taking Glitch. For taking my brother away from me. For killing so many innocent children who actually had lives to look forward to. Anger was rushing through me. Only one picture flashed into the sky that night. It was the picture of Glitch, her grin present. That calmed me back down. And after crying so much, all I needed was sleep. And sleep was what I got.

For once in what seemed to be forever, I didn't have a nightmare. I didn't dream of falling that night. I dreamt of flying, as weird as it might seem. Glitch was there, right beside me. She was laughing and joking around, same as ever. We were jumping around in trees so high they reached the clouds. We were flying through the trees. Just like birds. And the branches seemed strong enough to be titanium. Right before I woke up Glitch told me something I'll never forget. "It wasn't your fault. I was being careless. You have to win now. You have to win for both of us, everyone. Everyone who has ever died in the Games. Everyone that ever will die. Everyone who is killed by the Capitol."

I nodded. Glitch laughed. "You need to lighten up. You are way too serious for a twelve-year-old." She pushed me off of the cloud we were resting on with a joking punch. That was when I woke up. Everything was quiet, and it was early morning. Then I heard a bird chirp. I knew that there was still hope. But you can't rely on hope alone. I needed a plan though if I was going to make it out alive.

Ok. I probably won't add another chapter until Thursday or the weekend. I've written a rough draft of the whole thing by now, but I have to look over it all about eleven times before I feel comfortable posting it. So, tell me what you think of this chapter. Thanks for reading. :D