-Katlyn: Day 3 of the Hunger Games-

"Alrighty, let's do this!" After whipping my bushy hair back into a ponytail, I popped out of my hiding place, revealing myself to the ginger career girl across the small clearing.

In a single fluid motion, she plucked the throwing knife from her side and sent it slicing through the air.

Holding my smile, I tilted a few inches to the right. The blade whizzed past my left ear. The ginger girl stared dumbfounded for a moment before pulling out another blade. I bounced up and down on my feet, ignoring the soreness of my leg.

I tilted my head in the other direction, blades again slicing past my ears. "Come on, career, I heard you got an eight from the judges, but I didn't think you were this bad." I stuck out my tongue at her.

She snarled and flung a few more knives at me. I leaned and hopped out of their path, leading each to become lodged thoroughly in the thick tree behind me.

Her hands flailed around to find another blade, but she was, evidently, out of ammo. Instead of panicking, she looked back up at me and grinned. "Matt, Zach and the other girl are less than a hundred feet away. The second I call for them, they'll be here and you won't stand a chance. I'll be back for you in sec."

I stomped my foot. "No, come at me right meow!" Ignoring me, Rachel turned around and began yelling for help.

Step one of my plan: complete. Step two: initiate survival strategy.

Though the deep gash in my leg slowed me down a bit, I had tied a tourniquet to stop most of the bleeding. Ignoring the pain, I did my best to fall into my normal running mode. Chest expanding, I raced in the opposite direction of the ginger girl; I needed every moment of this head start.

A few yards away and I heard the ginger girl shriek: "I found her! That Katlyn girl. She taunted me and began running this way. Hurry up or we'll lose her!"

Remembering where everything exactly was, was a bit of a challenge, but I just let my body take over the running, while I focused on the next part of my plan.

My eyes scanned the ground until a saw exactly what I was looking for. I hopped above it and looked backwards. Thankfully, the careers behind finally started to pick up my trail. I could hear a stampede of eight feet blended together under the crunch of pine needles, but they were still pretty far off. If it weren't for this injury I would have been much farther along, but I dealt with it.

"Rachel, you're right. There she is!" Zach pointed at me, coming closer at an unnerving speed.

"Of course I'm right. I already threw all my knives at her, so hurry up and catch her!" She as well, closed the gap at fast rate. Not that it mattered, phase two should start momentarily.

A single shriek started low, but quickly increased in volume as the first of my traps had sprung. I took a moment to glance backwards; I wanted to admire my fine handiwork.

To my delight, I could see the ginger girl strung up by both her ankles, squirming wildly to remove herself from the trap I'd set. The rest of their party paused, allowing me to widen the too-narrow-for-comfort gap.

Behind me I could hear their voices. "Rachel, are you all right?"

"Yeah, Zach, I'll be fine. Keep going before we lose her!" Just like that, the footsteps continued with renewed effort.

In between breaths, I smiled. "Oh you people."

The scenery blurred on the peripherals of my vision, but my eyes searched on the next piece of my plan. I gritted my teeth against the pain of my right leg, and pushed off from the ground with my left, leaping over the inconspicuous patch on foliage and dirt where I had worked earlier this morning.

Still, they continued after me. Silly careers.

In between breaths, I whispered to myself: "Three."

"Two."

"One."

I snapped my fingers.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuu-"

The sounds of my net trap working reached my joyous ears. Random grunts and yelling filled the forest. Ginger girl, Matt, and Zach all down, just one mystery person to go. Then, all that I have left to do is go back and finish up.

Tuning out the rhythmic stomps of my footsteps against the noisy leaves, I listened for the last person. Mercilessly, she didn't stop and check on the career boys. There was only a distance of twenty yard between us. The short strides and rapid stomps told me this person was short and probably fairly fit, but after racking my brain, I couldn't think of anyone who was left that fit that description.

Not letting me have my thoughts, my leg pulsed up against an inflection point of pain. A warm drip down my leg told me the tourniquet wasn't exactly doing its job properly. I shook my head and refocused my attention back on the problem that was currently speeding towards me.

I gasped as I felt a tug, small and fleeting, but definitely an indication that I needed to end this soon. I veered right, towards the trap I had planned for this type of close quarters chases. I spotted the trigger mechanism: a small piece of rope.

A small hand pushed up against my lower back, as I reached out my arm to tug the rope.

My hand firmly grasping the rope, I fell forwards, rolling against the mud and dirt. In an instant, the rope coiled around the leg of my pursuer, stringing her up just like the deer I had caught back in my district. Or rather, as I learned as I turned around, the deer we had caught back in our district.

Above me, the dyed hair of Shelby, my fellow tribute from District 12, was in a torrent of movement. Upside down, she struggled to reach the knot tying her feet together. Her squirming and flailing only succeeded in letting all of her supplies fall towards the ground.

I just stared at her. After a few moments of struggling, she admitted defeat and relaxed, letting the blood flow towards her head. Like a spider on a string of web, she span around until our eyes met.

I crossed my arms and tapped my feet. "Why the hell were you with the careers?"

"You're not my mom, Katlyn. I can do whatever I want, and I think that being with the careers was best for me. They are not bad people."

I furrowed my brow. "Shelby, they are kinda the villains of this story." I gestured to this despicable world around us.

"That doesn't mean they're bad people. The people around you are more than just one dimensional characters!"

I paused, inhaling deeply. The pain in my leg was making a resurgence, but I bit my lip and ignored it.

I collected the random items that fell out of her and placed them carefully back in her bag. Finally, I picked up her sword. Her furrowed face told me the blood rushing to her heart was making her uncomfortable, so I walked towards her to cut the knot.

She glared at me. "Why are we even talking? Just get it over with." She folded her arms and turned away from me.

"Come on, Shelby. Stop it."

"I'm serious. You beat me at this game and won; just finish it." Her voice seemed strained and forced.

"Shelby, shut up. I'm not going to-"

I could see tears dripping from her eyes. "Just do it! We all know you're gunna win. Get it over with. Besides, if you were in this trap, and I had a sword in my hand, I'd do it to you."

I stepped back from her. "Well, I won't." I shouldered her backpack and began walking away from her, my entire plan ruined. "I'm done with you."

"No, get back here, you bitch. I'm not going to be in debt to you!" Her struggling and screaming resumed. I tuned out the noise and continued to walk away.

A few hours later, I jogged aimlessly, pouting in thought.

"Did I really just do that? She hates me, now. Was it worth it? Well, three days of lying traps just went to waste in an instant, though, on the other hand, I got her small pack full of goodies." I sighed. "Why does the world have to be full of moral dilemmas? I mean really."

I stopped near a tree to twist the tourniquet a little more on my leg. Thankfully, the pain stopped almost completely. My fingers slipped through the knot and pulled it tighter. I grinned at my good work, and looked up. The hair on the back of my neck raised, my first instinct was to leap backwards before my brain comprehended who was there.

"Evan!"

An unenthused face stared back at me. "Katlyn...oh joy."

"Hey, be nice!" I raised my arms in big gesture to hug him.

"I don't really need a hug." His face grew in surprise. "No, no stop!" I paused; he seemed a little too seriously worried about a hug. Plus, he was looking past me.

"No! Patrick don't-!"

A quick pain hit the back of my head, and darkness surrounded me.

-Katlyn: 3 Days until the Hunger Games-

"Did you seriously wake up at five o'clock to run five miles?"

I squirted the water bottle into my mouth. "Yeah, no big deal."

"You are crazy. You know that?" Shelby grinned and shook her head

I tilted my head and shrugged. "If you say so, little shwam."

Ignoring her annoyance at the word 'little', I gazed up from our conversation to the rest of the gym. I could already tell the cliques that were forming: jocky careers, pretty girls, slightly odd group of random boys, and nerdy pair of guys that wouldn't shut the hell up.

Speaking of, that pairs of boys walked past us.

"...right, Chau?" Evan, the skinnier boy on the right, gestured wildly as he talked. "Anyways, you were telling me about the new things this season?"

The taller boy on the right, Chau, didn't look at Evan as he talked. "Yeah, they are not too bad this season." He made a face. "Well, they're not all great, but there are none as bad as HSOTD at least."

"I mean, it's pretty hard to be as bad as that without actively punching the viewer in the face." They both laughed. I almost ignored both of them, when I saw an atrocity that I couldn't allow to continue: socks with shorts.

Ignorant of the awful mistake he was making, Evan just continued to walk around, staining the eyes of everyone around him.

"Something must be done about this." I pointed my finger to the sky.

"Katlyn? What are you- Hey, where are you going?" Shelby had already fallen into the distance, as I crept closer to them.

Evan sat in a bench, ignoring all the weight equipment around him, and continued to talk. "Well, I guess that's true, but I really just wanted to see...Um can I help you?"

"Oh noes! I hath been discovered!" I popped out from my hiding place from behind a fern, and pawed towards them. "You sir, are the one who will be helped!"

"Um, I'm fine thanks. Anyways, Chau, I think that if it's going to end, it will-I'm not sure I gave you permission to hug me, woman."

"You're just so cute!" My shoulders shrugged, I grinned up at him. "Like a puppy that chases his own tail and thinks it's serious business."

Chau piped up from his side. "Excuse me, ma'am, but the men are talking. Shoo. Shoo." I slacked my arms as both of them started to crack up. Evan was the first one to gain back control.

"Haha..hehe...heh..." I glared at him. "Um... Sorry that's Chau."

"Hello, I'm Austin Chau."

"He really doesn't mean anything by it. He's just joking."

I punched Evan in the side. Hard.

"Ow! Oi, I wasn't even the one who made the joke."

"Yeah, but you laughed. Besides," I put my fingers up to my chin and stroked it, staring at Evan wardrobe, "you need help with this." With my finger, I drew a circle around his everything.

"Hey, me and Chau were just about to go to lunch."

"It's Chau and I." I gave him smug look, which he glared back at. "You're not gunna win sponsors like that. Come on, let's go clothes shopping!"

Chau cut in front of me, "Pardon me, but I kinda don't have money, and he said he'd buy me lunch later."

I looked him in the eyes, "which you can do, after I take him shopping." I tugged on Evan's arm.

Evan looked up at us. "Wait, don't I have a say in this?"

"Nope!" said both Chau and I simultaneously.

Evan stared at the ground and dejectedly mumbled: "nyoro..."

Chau looked up at me, smiling. "Well, we agree on something. You can take him for the morning; have him back by the afternoon."

Evan's gaze shot up from the ground. "Chau, you dirty traitor!" Chau just stared at Evan.

"Yay! Come on, we only have five hours. We'll leave right meow." I pulled Evan from his sitting position and dragged him out towards the door.

-Katlyn: Day 3 of the Hunger Games-

Snippets of conversation floated into my consciousness.

"...idiot."

"said I was sorry."

"...hit her in the head...you to stop."

"Chau...medkit...yes that one."

"Patrick, where did you come from?...the tree, like a bat?...idiot. Shut up, her eyes are opening."

I was always told to go away from the light, but isn't waking up like heading towards the light? Regardless, I gathered all of my linguistic skills and dexterity to articulate the complex state of being in which I found myself.

"Guh..."

Dammit.

"Katlyn, it's us. Patrick hit you in the head, but he didn't mean to."

"I'm sorry." Another voice interrupted.

"The other ones here are me and Chau."

I lifted my eyelids and whispered to Evan. "It's Chau and I." Evan stared at me and lifted an eyebrow, before turning to the other figures coming into focus.

"Yeah, her head's fine." I grinned. "On the other hand, you're an idiot as well."

I raised my head from the bunched up blankets I had, apparently, been napping on. "Whatchu talkin' 'bout?"

"Half the reason you were actually knocked out was because of this tourniquet. Your cardiovascular system is having a hissy fit. You don't just put these on a limb." He's motioned to my leg, which reminded me that it hurt. "A little while longer, and you would have lost that leg form lack of blood." He paused. "Though, it did stop the bleeding to your leg, so I guess be thankful for small blessings." As he was talking, Evan was washing his hands and placing on latex gloves. "How'd you get it?"

"That stupid Kate girl just had to go all honorable suicide. The force blew me into a rock." A slight stinging made me realize he was doing something to my leg. Crunching my abs, I leaned forwards to see Evan dabbing on an ointment on the wound.

Evidently, he had a realization, as he jumped from the medkit, ran to another bag, and rummaged inside. Pulling out a sponge, needle, and thread, he shook his head. Out loud he said, "yes, Cassidy, now it makes sense. Alrighty, let's do this."

Using the sponge to dab up excess blood and the needle and thread to stitch, he began to fix my leg. The ointment took the edge off the pain, but each needle stab into my skin still hurt a little. I felt a little bad; by the end of the procedure Evan's arm was bleeding lightly from the scratches I stabbed into him, but my leg looked decent. It's all stitched up. Better than the bloody mess is was before.

"Okay, now go to bed before you pass out from other reasons." Reluctant to go to sleep while everyone else was awake, nevertheless, I obliged.

After taking a nap, and awaking a second time, I saw Evan, sitting against a nearby tree, trying to organize his medkit. He didn't notice me until it was too late to escape.

"Katlyn."

"Hmm?"

"Now is not the time to cuddle."

In the surprisingly warm blankets, I rubbed my head against his arm. "Oh, Evan, but it is time to cuddle."

"Woman, me and Chau were going to spend the night thinking up a new plan against the careers."

"Chau and I. And nope, you are going to spend it sleeping. You have bags under your eyes. You will stay here."

"Fine, I'll stay, but when you fall asleep I'm just going to leave."

I curled my arms in a knot around his arm. "Nope."

He sighed, and I watched him continue working until I fell asleep again from a combination of medicine and pure exhaustion.