DAY FIVE

In the morning I wake up to find my hands completely healed. I'm blown away, usually these creams require weeks and weeks or applying, but one application here and I'm healed!

I realise that if I stay in the cave all day then the Game Makers are probably going to punish me again, so I decide to get up and go. Before I leave the cave I have a few nuts, an apple and a swig of water.

I'm not too far away from the pond so fill my water bottle up and then walk away.

I make discreet carvings on every tree I go passed with my knife as I want to be able to find my way back to the water and apple and nut tree. It's actually quite fun doing this, it feels like I'm creating a treasure map of something like that that you would do as a child when playing hiding games. That's what this is effectively. Hide and seek. And murder.

Whilst walking adjacent with an open foot path I hear running footsteps and a girl scream. My instinct is to hide, I don't want to fall victim to this. I crouch on my haunches behind a boulder, and make sure no one is behind me. I take a look over the boulder to see what is going on, who is being chased, and who is chasing. Its Sadie. She's being chased by Claud. I am about to run and fight him when I see that next to me is a rock. I realize if I throw this it will land else where and work as a distraction, so Sadie can get away.

I pick up the rock and don't bother aiming, this isn't about precision, it is about saving Sadie's life. I release the rock and it doesn't go exactly as I would have planned. It hits Claud on the temple, killing him instantly. The sudden stop in leaving foot steps behind her causes Sadie to stop and turn around. I get up from behind the rock and Sadie spots me. I give her the thumbs up and mouth 'are you alright?' Before walking towards her. It's such a relief to see her alive and well, if a bit skinnier. I give her a huge hug and ask if she is okay. I then hand her over some nuts, an apple and some of my water. She appreciates it.

'you need to be more vigilant, Sadie' I lecture. 'stay in the trees and if you do have to come down to look for food, don't walk in open places'.

'I'm sorry' she says nervously. Now I feel bad.

'Don't be sorry' I assure her 'It's just I don't want you to be hurt'.

'Will you stay with me for a bit?' Sadie requests

'Of course, but only for a little while' I reply 'there's only seven of us left now, and I don't want to be with you if even more tributes die, it makes it too tricky'.

Despite the bad, blunt news, Sadie understands, and we decide to go and find shelter.

'What have you been doing about shelter?' I ask, intrigued.

'I've been using trees'

Must be a district 12 thing then, as we've all been doing it. I notice that Sadie has a back pack. This confuses me as I saw in the corner of my eye at the bloodbath her running away. It turns out that whilst the careers were hunting down Lucius, she daringly ran out to the cornucopia and grabbed herself some supplies.

Sadie spots a tree for us to climb and we do so. Once we had settled down she opens up her bag and pulls out two squirrels.

'It's not much, but I think it will really help us'

I'm blown away. She is such a dark horse. I couldn't even kill a pheasant, yet she has just gone and killed 2 squirrels. I feel bad taking the food she has hunted but for the passed six days I have been living off apples and cereal bars, with the exception of a chewy snake.

I get out my stove and get cooking. Despite the intense, terrifying situation we are in, Sadie manages to bring the best out in me. As I'm cooking, I pretend I am on a television show, and me and Sadie spend the whole time laughing.

The squirrel isn't bad either. Plus, it's amazing to have a bit of protein.

Then the tone of the conversation lowers a little.

'Apart from Claud, have you killed anyone?' Enquires Sadie.

I'm hesitant to reply. I know I have but I really don't want to tell her. She seems to respect me and I don't want her to see me as a monster.

'Yes' I mumble.

She looks shocked.

'Who, when, what, where, how?'

'It was a last resort and it was only meant to scare them' trying to justify myself. 'The careers were waiting me out when I was in a tree and I wasn't going to just let them kill me. They had been sat at the bottom of the tree for hours. I saw a tracker jacker nest as cut it down on top of them'

'So you cut a highly venomous nest onto them, not thinking it would kill them?' She smiles

'well, sort of. It only killed two of them. Boy from two and girl from four' I explain 'but I'm not a blood thirsty monster'.

There's an awkward silence and then Sadie breaks the ice.

'Nice squirrel' She jokes. 'How's spike treating you with the sponsors?'

'Well, initially he was shit' I laugh, 'but yesterday I got caught in acid rain and really burnt my skin, so he sent me some cream or jelly or I don't know' I mumble 'What about you?' I'm hesitant to ask.

But instead, her face lights up as she opens up her rucksack and pulls out what spike has sent her.

'Aren't they amazing?' She beams.

Spike has sent her come gloves with razor sharp spikes on them that allow her to climb trees and close up combat. I feel a massive weight off my chest when I see that he hasn't given up on her. Age means nothing.

Suddenly it strikes me that I'm in the final six, and not just me, Sadie is too. Two people from 12 in the final six, that's crazy, unheard of. To make things even more bizarre, the boy from three is still alive. That means two people from non-career districts have made the final five at least. For the past eleven years, the final five has always been careers. It would turn into an unimaginable act of traitor-ism.

Night falls once again and me and Sadie decide its now time to sleep. I jump onto the branch next to where we are sat and rope myself in, as does Sadie. The anthem of Panem plays as the photo one fallen tribute is projected into the sky.

Sadie smirks and looks at me. 'Thank you'. She says.

It's not long before she falls asleep but suddenly this is the most guilty I have felt. I look at Sadie and realise this isn't about me going home, it's about getting her home to see Connie again, and I am going to sacrifice my own life to do that. I would never be able to live with myself if Sadie's death were a direct result of my actions. Her chocolate brown hair, put into two plated pig tails, with her emerald green eyes so like Connie make me feel more comfortable, but it makes this whole experience so much more difficult.

The anthem blasts out again, and for the second time this Games, I see the face of someone who has died at my hands. Claud. I don't feel guilty this time, he was quite prepared to kill Sadie, a young girl who poses no threat to him, so why should I care about him?