-Matt: Day 10 of the Hunger Games-

The Inter-district Benefits Program.

The IB Program.

The end. This is the end, isn't it? It better be. I couldn't bear the thought of this going on any longer. It's today. It has to end today.

How is it going to end? It's a mystery to me.

What was once a nice little forest was now in chars. Even the infectious roses had withered away. The only thing I saw alive was an occasional bird; they had the luxury to escape from the death whenever they wanted. Both the water and sky were soiled with thick ashes, leaving the air nearly unbreathable and the water pretty much undrinkable.

That's depressing. Let's think positively. What do I have to help me here?

I have the clothes I'm wearing, blood stained and filthy. I have one sword, also blood stained and filthy, though in a metaphorical sense; one metal container of water not lost in the fire, and random pieces of food that weren't burnt completely beyond recognition. That's about it.

The average selection of belly button lint in the Capitol has more value than this. So much for thinking positively.

Then again, Katlyn was worse off, well, at least I hoped so.

An absurd image flashed in my mind of Katlyn firing twin pistols, covered in ammo, bursting out of the trees.

They wouldn't give anyone guns in the games, right? Right?

I thought for a moment. Naw, that would be too boring for them. Too quick. If I remember correctly, she has a sword, shorter than mine, and not much else. That wasn't really comforting; I knew what she could do with that little, but still... Better than nothing.

While I gathered what I still had left, I dragged my sword behind me, drawing a snake across the black soot. I could have been out of here a long time ago, but I wanted to make sure I got everything. I wasn't afraid or anything like that.

I wondered whether I had to even go out and find Katlyn. From what I've seen, I don't think she'd be someone who likes to wait around for something to happen to her. She was probably already getting ready for me, planning, scouting, finding me. In fact, she could be behind me at this very moment!

I spun around, swinging my blade; the tip flung black soot into the air.

Dust whooshed around the sword, but she wasn't behind me. Nothing was behind me. After its sole disruption of the day, the soot settled back down.

I sighed. "Come on. What do I have to be worried about? She's just some girl. Nothing intimidating about that." I felt my heart beat against my chest. "Nothing at all. I just have to kill her. That's how all this ends. There is one victor. I've been training for this all my life. Zach and I have gone through thousands of simulations, hundreds of hours of training, ten years of work, for this one game. This ends with me killing her. I got this."

I looked up to see the sun rising to its noon position. I began to wander around the familiar circle. "Well, maybe, I should wait for tomorrow. I mean there really isn't a due date for this assignment, so I don't have to do it at any particular time. Just eventually. Eventually…"

I flipped around, walking in the opposite direction. "No. I have to do this today. I have to get myself out of here. Just me."

Rachel's words rung in my mind: "What can the Capitol do to us if we work together?"

The thought lingered just long enough to stick in my mind. "No. No. No. That's stupid. I would be risking my own life for some girl I barely know. It's not worth it. Nothing is worth that." I shook my head. "The Capitol picked me for being one of the smartest people in the country. I don't need anyone else. From the beginning of this program, to the end of it, it will be just me. No one else was with me when I went through all the tests and the trials. No one was with me during the cold dark nights staying up late. No one cared. It has always been just me. I can do this, and I can do this alone." I stabbed the ground, piercing the rocky outer surface into the vulnerable layer underneath. The blade slumped over and fell.

I sighed. "What the hell am I doing?" I kicked the blade. "I'm talking to myself when I should just be going out there. Screw reason, screw emotion. The only way of knowing what needs to be done is by doing it now and questioning it later." I pulled the blade from the ground, and crossed the barrier around the circle, into the forest. "No more procrastinating."

-Katlyn: Day 10 of the Hunger Games-

"Meow." I dripped the last drop of water onto my tongue. "Oh well." I tossed the container into the distance and continued to stomp forward. I thought I could have made those two gallons of water last more than a day and a half, but whatever. I would be done with this soon. Then, the Capitol would shower me with anything I could ever ask. I could create and entire new lake of water. "Lake of Katlyn? Katlyn's lake? Laklyn?" I laughed.

"And, that would only be one of things I get when I win. They'll give me unlimited money, fame, glory, all the pie I could ever ask for!" I strutted through the forest around me, putting dying foliage out of its misery as I went. Flinging my hands up in the air, I laughed again. "I wonder how much pie it takes to fill the darkest corner of your soul; wherein lies the memories of murder and loved ones dying in front of you. Probably at least four pies. Maybe three if one was pineapple."

"That wouldn't even be the best part!" I avoided stepping on the corpse of another starved rodent. "After today, I will never have to think for myself again. I will just obey orders from someone else, from the Capitol or from whoever they think should be my mate. I will have a "happily ever after" ending once I leave." I snarked. "I can't wait to get out of here!"

I dropped the fake smile and clenched my fist. "But, I am getting out of here. I've been the strongest, fastest, cleverest, and smartest person in these stupid games. Now, Matt is probably waiting for me, planning and laughing manically, conjuring some trap, trick or façade to fool me. Well, it's not going to work, nuh-uh. It's time for that snake to die. You have to cut off their heads, right?" In my head, the speech was met with thunderous applause, but in reality, the only sound was the leaves rustling above me.

While the leaves seemed to enjoy their daily dose of sunlight for photosynthesis, the heat pounding on me from the sun was less than pleasant. "I wonder if that sun is real. I would almost be impressed if it wasn't. It feels so damn hot."

Though I had been crashing through this forest for a while, waiting for Matt to make an appearance, he seemed to either be too much of coward to come get me or too stupid to find me. I really wasn't making it very difficult; there was pretty much a straight trail of debris from where I had been walking. I called out. "Hello? Anyone listening to little old me? No? Good." Only creepers watch people while they aren't aware.

Oh well. I knew where Matt was: snuggled in his little Cornucopia, probably fat and happy. "Stabbing him would be like carving a turkey….Actually, how 'bout not. Gross thought." I meowed to myself; it was long and drawn out, somewhere between a yawn and a scream. "Anyways, I should probably stop procrastinating, huh? It'd be better to walk up there and kill him."

Chau's words rung in my mind. "I think there's a way to resolve all of this where we won't have to kill each other."

The thought lingered just long enough to stick in my mind. "No. No. No. That's stupid. Of course, I have to kill him. They are making me do this. They are making me prove that I am the best. It isn't my fault; this is just the world we are in. It forces us to do these things. So, I'm just going with the flow, man. This is what I perceive and what others have told me." I tried to convince my invisible audience.

I sighed. "What the hell am I doing? I'm talking to myself again. Isn't that, like, one of the signs of insanity? Or, is it something completely normal? The human sciences are so confusing."

I whispered. "Come on, Matt. Where are you?"

"Right behind you."

-Matt: Day 10 of the Hunger Games-

Sure. I had ruined my element of surprise, but seeing a confused look on Katlyn's face was probably worth it.

I dove out from behind the trees, jabbing my blade through the leaves, but Katlyn leapt away. Giddy at the fact that I put Katlyn on the defensive, I continued my onslaught, furiously swiping and stabbing at whatever piece of tan skin was exposed to me. Annoyingly, Katlyn was like a rabbit on stimulants, hopping away wildly from anything I could swing at her. She didn't even look like she as trying to hit me.

I gnashed my teeth together and used all my force to aim at her chest, attempting to slash into her soft underbelly.

Girls are like turtles, right? Soft underside, tough exterior?

Surprised by my speed, Katlyn tried her best to dodge, and she succeeded, mostly. In avoiding my blade, she rammed into a nearby tree and fell to the ground. Unfortunately, as she dodged, my blade swept through the newly vacated air and crashed into the tree. The metal broke through the outer epidermis and into the ground tissue, lodging itself firmly into the plant. I began to pull the blade from the bark, and Katlyn orientated herself. Before she could draw her own blade, I ripped the sword from the bark, shattering the fledgling tree, and readied myself to thrust it into Katlyn while she was still vulnerable.

Yet, Katlyn had a different plan. As I raised the sword over my head, Katlyn delivered a swift kick to my groin.

Bitch.

She smirked, as pure pain surged through my body with the force of a thousand suns. Instead of going on the offensive, like I assumed she would, she stuck out her tongue at me and ran off into the forest. I bit my lip, sucked up the pain like a man, and began limping in her direction.

Every step reminded me how much evolution does not like potential children to be messed with, but I tried to keep up with her the best I could. What she lacked in instant reaction time and strength, she made up with endurance. Though she occasionally stumbled across a stray bush or plant, all my hours of upper body work-outs at the gym did not prepare me for how far she was able to go.

Despite this, I slowly began to catch up to her, though I wasn't sure if it was due to the empowering flow of adrenaline coming out of my groin or her own plan. Nearing a distance of arms-length, Katlyn pivoted, bursting from the shadows of the forest, into the light. I grabbed a tree, and swung 90 degrees after her, but she had disappeared into the glare of the sun between the trees. Undaunted, I followed her into the sunlight and came to an open field. To my dismay, she had completely vanished, and all that was left in my field of vision was dead grasses. Panting, I unsheathed my sword and tried to decide where she had run off to.

In between harsh breaths, I whispered, "Where'd you go?"

"Since you were so courteous…"

I flipped around to see Katlyn sneering and lunging her short-sword at my face. My shoes dug into the dry dirt as I felt the weight of Katlyn's full body force against my parry. Inches away, she blew a strand of hair out of her face, and retreated backwards. Arms and legs sore from running, the sword felt twice as massive as it had been, but I did my best to repost. She parried it, causing an audible 'clang' and 'shink' as the blades came together and glided across each other.

I didn't know how long we could keep this up. Though she had more endurance, she too, was a tad bit slower than before. Every blow we exchanged caused only the most minor of injuries, but they began to add up. Creeks of blood rose from the fissures in our skin, and our clothes were beyond the hope of even the most skilled tailor. Sweat and blood leaked from my forehead, coming together to form one large drop. As I flipped my hair to keep it looking nice, the congealed drop fell to the ground.

This couldn't last much longer. Both of us drew back our swords and swung them at each other, but the resulting collision, along with our fatigue, sent both blades flying from our hands. The force shattered her sword into a shower of silver shards, while my blade cracked in two. The jagged half that was still attached to the hilt embedded itself in the ground.

As the sword bits landed a few feet away, we both looked up at each other. Her dark amber eyes met my blue ones. Something was communicated there. I couldn't tell you exactly what it was. I wish I could find the words, but there seems to be some issue of language. If I were pressed, I would say it was something between respect, hatred, admiration, derision, and comradery. So respatredmirisionery? Why don't we have a word for this, people?

Our communication was broken simultaneously as we both glanced towards the remaining weapon. As we were about to dive for it, presumably clawing and kicking as we went, the world itself broke down. Literally.

A thunderous noise boomed across the sky, and completely forgetting about the fight, we stared upwards, mouths agape.

Across the sun, there was a minuscule line. It started as a little crack, like a baby bird trying to break through its eggshell, but it was spreading into a spider web, draping across the sky.

I looked down to make sure Katlyn was seeing the same thing I was. I furrowed my brow, and she acknowledged me. Another boom drew both of us back.

By then, the large cracks had splintered, covering the rest of the sky to the horizon. As we stared in awe, the last of the lines stretched out as much as they could. Then…nothing happened.

"That's it? Come –"

A bolt of electricity surged between the seams and shattered the sky into millions of pieces. Katlyn screamed. Well, maybe it was me, but I'm not usually that high-pitched I swear. Regardless, we covered our heads as tiny pieces of glass rained from the sky. Most bounced off harmlessly, but there were a few that found a sweet spot in the newly formed rips in our clothing. Once the downpour was reduced to a tiny trickle, I looked up. At first, I thought I had gone blind, like a piece of glass went through my skull or something, but then Katlyn spoke.

"Who turned out the lights?"

I breathed a sigh of relief. Slowly, my eyes adjusted to the dark. Katlyn peeked out from under her arm and stared into the sky. "Ha! I knew it. The sun was totally a fake. It's night time right now. I knew my circadian rhythm was disrupted! I'm right again! Ow. Damn it. That piece of glass almost got in my eye."

I brushed glass from my hair. "What the hell? They turned off the force field? Why? Who popped our bubble?"

In response, the jaunty theme of the Capitol began to play, though as it almost reached a crescendo, the speakers began to reduce the classical nonsense into rhythmic "dubs" and "wubs". Though it sounded like the speakers were having a seizure, I liked it. But sadly, just as I was starting to enjoy it, the sound was cut off and an image floated in the sky; not of dead tributes, but a very alive Sabadosh.

The screen flickered as she spoke. In the background, people screamed and gun fire blared. "Guys…I'm so…sorry…Capitol…coming…You have to…McAvoy's sending …they… safe…not safe…"

McAvoy? My advisor? What was going on?

"Sorry kiddos…his…safe…Capitol is coming…run!...Run!"

The screen went blank and was replaced with the night sky. "Okay. The Capitol is coming, and we need to run. That much is obvious, but what was she saying about McAvoy? I—oh, shit!"

I dove out of the way of my own jagged blade, being wielded by Katlyn.

"Seriously? Now is not the time, woman. We need to get out of here."

Katlyn laughed. "Oh come on, seriously? Are you going to play their game? You can't really be gullible enough to believe them, can you?"

I stopped to think. Is there a chance that this is a trick? There could be, but still... there's a chance that it's not.

"Look," I sidestepped another swing. "They might be lying to us, but even then, it doesn't matter."

Katlyn tried to coordinate the half-blade into obeying her commands, but the weight wasn't quite what she was used to, so the swings were uncoordinated enough for me to continue to dodge. I kept retreating as I talked. "It doesn't matter because even if they are lying to us, and this is still part of the games," I took a deep breath. "What can the Capitol do to us if we work together?"

-Katlyn: Day 10 of the Hunger Games-

Matt slipped, allowing me to point the blade inches from his face.

"That sounds really cute. But here in reality, everything isn't so much marshmallows and unicorns. They could kill us. That's what." I shook my head. "Look. I have no idea why I'm even talking to you. Have fun in whatever version of the afterlife people like you belong in."

He closed his eyes. "Wait, isn't there a way to resolve all of this where we don't have to kill each other?" I paused, and he poked open one eye.

I was so close.

I lowered the blade. "Damn it, Chau. You couldn't just let me kill him, could you? Stupid, conscience." I grumbled. "Fine. I won't kill you."

Matt backed away. "I have no idea what you just said, but I'm glad we can agree. Let's work together for now, yeah?"

Matt motioned for the remainder of his blade, but I swiveled out of his reach and walked away. "No, Katlyn. That was my blade. See? It's bigger."

I shook my head. "Nope. It's mine now. Deal with it."

Matt mumbled something about emasculation, and knelt down to salvage something from the broken pieces of my old sword. Sadly for him, nothing could really be used without cutting yourself more than your opponent.

As he rose from the ground, I raised my finger and wagged it in his face. "Look. I'm not going to kill you, but I don't trust you either, got that? This is just a means to an end."

Matt grinned. "Well, if you're not going to kill me, and I'm not going to kill you, it looks like we're the winners of the 75th annual Hunger Games. Right about now, they should be showering us with money, confetti, and strippers. Male strippers too. Not for me. For you. You get the male strippers. I don't flip that burger, yo."

Against my better judgment, I laughed at his lame attempt at humor, and he joined in. As we calmed down, I was the first to say something. "Well then, we need to get out of here. That's what the lady in the sky said. Come. Come." I began to walk away from the clearing. Then, a thought came to me. "But, are we forgetting something?"

Matt scratched his chin. "Well, now that you mention it…"

We both cursed in unison as we realized who we forgot. "Damn it."

-Mia: Day 10 of the Hunger Games-

They're coming!They're coming!

Now that the barriers have been broken, the angels will try to pick us up, or maybe they are demons. I'm not really sure.

But the job's not done yet, is it? There is still some fun to be had. They are still alive, mocking me, prancing around with their heads full of eyeballs.

Dead leaves slapped me as I sprinted through the forest. I knew where those two were. They were so close this whole time! The screams came from only a quarter of a mile away. Miles; such an imprecise and illogical unit. I felt scandalous using it.

Among all the numerous pointy objects I hid beneath my clothing, there was something else, something much more fragile. I patted the small object in my pocket.

Maybe, I wouldn't have to use this again after all.

I smiled and whispered to whatever was listening. "I was getting so bored, wasn't I? Just wandering in the darkness by myself, but now that I can find you, you can join me. What's in me, is in you somewhere. What will it take to bring it out, I wonder?"

I slowed my pace; about a hundred yards away. "Swords? Words? Which are more potent?" I ran my fingers across the daggers hidden underneath my clothing. "They are equally as fun." I silenced a growing giggle as I came within mere feet of where they were. I've heard bears make less noise, galumphing through the forest. They make terrible predators; good prey though.

I crept through the bushes and watched them trying to hobble away. They were already so damaged. Disregarding the numerous cuts, scrapes, and bruises they had incurred throughout the week, they each had their own major wound. The occasional stumble and odd gait told me Katlyn had a damaged calf, and the limited swing of Matt's arm indicated a damaged shoulder.

You can slather as much Capitol drugs on them as want, but nature and time are the only things that heal. Too bad neither gives a damn about you.Fingers anxious, I slid one dagger from my sleeve, and twirled it around in my hand. They were only a few feet away, one throw would do it. Which to kill first? Katlyn probably. She deserved someone to show her up finally. I aimed and took a step forward.

Katlyn, leading in front, extended her arm and stopped Matt. "Did you hear that?"

I stopped and bit my lip. I couldn't take both of them. But, could I hit one before the other gets me?

"Yeah...it was coming from…" Katlyn's head tilted towards my hiding place. As she began to turn, I dropped my dagger on the ground and tripped out of the bush. I forced myself to the ground, and tried to look disheveled.

Both flinched; Matt retreating, and Katlyn pointing a broken, jagged sword in my direction. Before either could make any noise, I mustered up the most pathetic sobs and started to whimper. "I-I-I'm s-s-s-o g-glad I f-f-found you g-guys. I was s-s-oooooo s-scared."

Katlyn and Matt looked at each other skeptically.

Weakly, I pulled myself off the ground and looked up at them. As a pretended to wipe away a tear, I rubbed a little dirt in my eye, which caused actual tears to drip lightly down my face. "Wh-what's g-going on? C-can you guys h-help me? Please!"

Neither said anything. Matt backed away slowly, while Katlyn raised the blade further.

Are you not entertained? This is my best acting. Believe it, dammit!

"W-why aren't you g-guys saying anything? H-help me please. I'm in shock." I crawled forward and once again collapsed to the ground, but every inch I crawled forward, they recoiled. "What's wrong with you?" I snarled. "A poor helpless girl is pleading with you to save her. Has the IB Program turned you so numb that you'll ignore someone who is crying out for help?"

Finally, one of them spoke. It came out of the mouth of that pretty boy Matt. "That was quite an elegant sentence for someone who's in shock. You could barely say anything a second ago." He stared down at me with a mix of pity and fear, like I was a dying animal.

I can't wait to cut that look off your face, you smug twat.

"What? I can't understand you. I'm too much in shock. Nothing makes sense." I turned to that other girl. "You know that he is a bad guy, right?" I crawled a few more inches, and this time, she didn't back away. "Yeah. You'll help me, right? Pretty girl." Conceited idiot. Keep listening. With my free hand, I nudged another dagger up my sleeve. "I'm just scared." I activated my baby-eyes and pouty face. Let your maternal instinct kick in. "Please…" I stretched my arm; I was so close.

"You know why we aren't buying this?" Matt turned away.

I froze.

Katlyn continued. "It's your eyes. They're not the eyes of a helpless girl. It's like you're off in your own world, which apparently, is a lot more fun than this one." She paused. "You have crazy eyes."

My head shook back and forth. "My eyes have always looked like this."

They both grinned. "Yeah, we know."

I shrieked and dove at whoever was closer to me. My dagger glanced across someone's shin, and I heard a feminine squeal of pain.

In reaction, and lacking a weapon, Matt tried to stomp my head in. Doing a barrel roll, I spun out of the way of both his shoe and Katlyn's blade that followed.

Instinct controlling my actions, I flipped upwards just in time to block Katlyn's next strike. My giddiness about Katlyn's angry face didn't last long. Katlyn bounced away and to replace her, Matt coiled back his fist and swung at my unguarded chest. The punch connected and expelled all the air from my lungs. I tried to keep from vomiting as I stumbled backwards.

My perception foggy, I flailed wildly, hoping to make contact with something. Katlyn backed off, but Matt dodged each swing and advanced. I tried to blink to regain focus, but every time my eyes closed I could see him get closer. It was like a vacation slideshow of my imminent death.

Finally, he slapped the dagger out of my hand. Before I could pull out another, the girl dove forward, digging the broken sword against my left arm. I knocked her last remaining weapon from her, but not until after the damage was done. Tiny pieces of the metal fang forced themselves under my skin, hooking on to each individual blood vessel. The teeth dug into me and ripped my skin apart.

"It hurts."

They both stopped.

"It hurts."

I gripped my arm with my other hand and felt the warm gooey liquid.

"It…It hurts."

I screamed.

-Matt: Day 10 of the Hunger Games-

Her hair, darkened by the night, covered her face completely. "You hurt me."

Both of us weren't sure what to do. Katlyn, lacking our last weapon, only stood there and watched. I could continue to punch, but I wasn't sure I wanted to. We exchanged a glance, trying to check if the other knew what to do.

"You hurt me." Her voice had gone from terrified to elated. What formed on her face started out as a grin, but quickly blossomed into a full smile. "Hehe."

"Katlyn. I think we should leave her." I tugged Katlyn's arm, but she didn't budge. "Katlyn."

Mia giggled. "Is this what they felt? In their last moments, is this what they felt?"

Katlyn clenched her fist and pulled away. "Right before you killed them?"

"Katlyn." I grabbed her arm. "Let's go. Now."

Mia's giggle escalated until she burst out laughing. "Ha! This is what you call pain? Pathetic. This is nothing. What I feel in my head every day of my life; thatis pain. This is a joke."

She stopped smiling and laughing all at once. In fact, Mia seemed to stop moving completely. The only motion in my vision was the steady drip of red coming from her arm.

Silence filled the void. Not even the wind dared to disturb the scene. I had no idea what Katlyn was going to do; against all my effort, her feet seemed rooted to the ground.

Flicking her hair from her face, Mia finally looked up at us. Her voice came out in barely a whisper: "if I were you, I would run for my life." As I looked down, I could see the glimmer of steel peeking out of Mia's hand.

"Katlyn!" I jerked her arm towards me, finally uprooting her just as a blade flew through where her stomach had been. The blade lodged itself into a tree near us.

Katlyn shook her head. "Yeah. Run. I got it." Abandoning any form of weapon and defense, we fled back into the cover of the forest. I let Katlyn lead, and with one last look behind me, we sprinted away from that pure craziness. We struggled through every step; bushes and rocks tripped our feet below us, and above, tree branches slapped and scratched. Trying to avoid anything was pretty much pointless. The pitch black night didn't reveal an obstacle in your path until it was inevitable for you to hit it.

I resisted the urge to check behind us. I didn't think I heard her, but between the gasping and footsteps, I wasn't sure. She had snuck up on us before, so for all I know, she was right behind me.

The sound of metal embedding itself into wood resounded inches from my ears. Any fatigue I might have been feeling was washed away by another wave of adrenaline.

A laughed echoed from the trees. Where the hell was she?The sound seemed to come from the forest itself. "Hey, Matt. Katlyn. Please die."

Another dagger whizzed behind me. Katlyn pivoted to the left and tried to run in a different direction.

I couldn't tell if we were heading away from her or towards her. The voice spoke again. "Everyone else is gone. Do you really believe you're better than them?"

The smirk on Katlyn's face was audible, even if she was fleeing. As she ran, she shouted into no direction in particular. "Pretty much. Everything I've done in my life has told me I'm the smartest, fastest, and generally the best. Why should I doubt myself now?"

"Katlyn, not the time for sarcastic retorts."

Avoiding two more daggers, Katlyn turned left again and shushed me. "Shut up." As I was about to respond, a dagger slid across calf, slicing through the back of my pant leg. I bit my tongue, but did my best to ignore it.

Katlyn shouted again. "Oh, like you're one to talk, hypocrite. You're trying to kill us."

"The angels are coming. We're all going to be taken anyway."

"Sorry, I don't speak crazy." Katlyn turned left on last time, escaping from the trees once again.

Did we just make a giant circle?

A ways away from us, I could see where we started out. Katlyn turned to me and winked.

What? We're supposed to be running away. There's nothing there, but...the daggers that Mia threw and our sword. There are not many times when I would admit I'm an idiot, but this would be one of them.

Giving into the temptation, I finally glanced behind us. The figure continued to follow, quickly closing the distance between us. She moved like a broken marionette, limps dangling without any real purpose or control. Only her right hand, holding up a dagger, seemed to have a goal: kill us.

In front of me, Katlyn dove for the original dagger lodged in the tree. I turned to see Mia drawing back her arm. I put myself between Mia and Katlyn, closed my eyes, and heard her scream.

Mia. I heard Mia scream.

And then, she collapsed to the ground, a clump of tears and blood. Her own knife was buried deep within her chest.

Behind me, Katlyn grabbed my shirt and pulled herself from the ground. A thin line of blood, similar to the one on my leg, appeared on her arm. She tried to shake off the pain and directed my vision to where Mia was twitching.

Slowly, attempting to piece her body back together, Mia rose from the ground.

Katlyn clawed into my shirt and screamed. "Will you just die, already?"

Mia placed a finger to her lips.

Was she telling us to be quiet? I stopped and listened. Was there a small humming, or was it my imagination? Maybe, my ears were just broken. Beside me, Katlyn stepped forward. "Seriously, how many times do we need to do this? I mean—" Mia didn't move.

Was it getting louder?"Katlyn, shut up."

"Excuse me? You can—"

"Do you hear that?"

She stopped talking, and we listened. The humming sound (Was it a propeller, or a motor?) steadily grew louder. "Meow. What is it?"

Mia spoke. Her voice was steady and under control, deliberately so. "The angels are coming."

"What does that mean, Mia?"

She collapsed again.

Katlyn tapped my shoulder. "Sabadosh, said that someone, or something, was coming. Let's leave her and go." She pulled on my arm. I took one last fleeting look at Mia, and after a brief moment of hesitation, we left her there.

-Mia: Day 10 of the Hunger Games-

I heard the footsteps gradually fade from earshot as both of them abandoned me to die. In their place, the humming of angels vibrated the air.

Reaching into my pocket, I presented myself with my hidden treasure: the last living rose. Well, Rosoideae muttanus. Not quite a rose, but close enough. A name, by any other rose, is just as relevant.

I had hidden this in case of emergency. Of what emergency, I wasn't sure, but this seemed like a good enough time as any. Like me, the fragile form barely hung onto life. Hopefully, it still had enough pollen in it to do the job. I tickled my nose with the petal and inhaled. The pain was the first thing to go, and what was left of my mind went second.

"Is this seriously what I'm like?"

What?

"Don't 'what' me. I'm not this crazy or evil, right? Like in reality, people don't see me like this, right?"

I tried to make out the blurry outline in front of me, but nothing made sense.

"I mean I wouldn't say stuff that stupid. That's not me at all!"

The humming of an angel grew louder.

"Angel? Like, what's that about? You know it's a Capitol airship. Just say that." Again, I tried to decide who it was. She looked so familiar.

"Look, you. Well, I should say…Look, I... me…you….Gah! Pronouns are so confusing when you're talking to yourself. We'll stick to second person." Was this me? The combination of hallucinogens and blood loss is probably not good for you.

"Yes, drugs are bad, good job. Anyways, look, you almost got through the IB Program. That's pretty cool. At least you weren't one of the ones who dropped out early. I'm a little disappointed in you, but you can't be perfect."

The airship roared, and its blinding light passed over me.

She smiled down at me and waved. "Well, see you later. For what it's worth, wehad fun at least."

The last thing I saw was a bright light. That's a good thing, right?

-Matt: Day 10 of the Hunger Games-

"So, what? We're just leaving her there?" Far behind us, the airship had stopped where Mia is…well, where she was.

"Matt, come on. Ignoring the fact that she tried to murder us, even if we wanted to take her, she would have been dead weight anyway. Pun totally intended." We tried to ignore the exhaustion threatening to take us. Only fear of the unknown forces above us kept us running. "Think of it this way. We didn't leave her there. We…decreased excess mass and prevented additional complications."

"Katlyn!"

She glared at me. "Oh, when did you suddenly grow a conscience?" Yeah, I'm not going to respond to something that petty. "She was crazy. Are you listening? Capital 'C' crazy." She smirked and looked up to the sky. "She was crazy! Are you listening, Capitol? See, crazy? Are you happy, now? You made a somewhat crazy girl, a completely crazy girl."

"We should have said goodbye to her at least."

Katlyn scoffed, but didn't say anything else.

The humming above us had transformed from a bumblebee to a twenty ton giant bumblebee in terms of volume. I had to admit that, if nothing else, the Capitol was efficient. Barely a few minutes passed between the shutdown of the force field and their entrance. I hoped that finding Mia would have delayed them for more than a few seconds. Even now, though the occasional increase and decrease in the humming told me that the ship was still scanning the forest and hadn't found us specifically, I could feel that they were getting closer to locating us.

Why would the Capitol send airships over here if they're apparently in the middle of a battle? Exhausting precious resources to pick up some kids…something didn't add up.I considered sharing my thoughts with Katlyn, but I think she would respond with something along the lines of: "It's not that complicated. They're vindictive jerks."That may be true, but there was something else…

"Matt!" I broke from my concentration to see Katlyn pointing behind me. Can't we have a rest? Haven't we been put through enough? I followed her point and, in the distance, I could see a cone of light scanning the forest floor. Like the field of vision of giant eyeball, the beam darted back and forth between the trees, shrinking the gap with every sweep.

As we had done all night, our first instinct was to run. However, it didn't really process through our tired, fear-rattled brains that we could not run the speed of light. The light speeding towards us, my eyes darted across the forest floor, searching for another option. A few feet away, I saw something that would protect us. I grabbed Katlyn's hand and pulled her under the short canopy of the pine tree.

The moment we were both under, the light passed by us and the ship continued to search.

-Katlyn: Day 10 of the Hunger Games-

A branch full of pine needles scrapped across my face. "Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

His left hand still firmly grasping my right, Matt had to use his other hand to slap my mouth shut. "Shhhhh."

I tried to say: 'You've tried to shut me up twice today, so it's well within my rights to bite you', but it came out as. "Yvvve ggmmn nmm nbbbl mmnbb nmmmnn." Then, I bit him anyway.

"Ah!" He jerked his hand away and tried to shake off the pain. I pulled mine out of his grip. "What was that for? I just saved your life."

I tried to spit the taste of fresh blood and dirt out of my mouth. "You can't just grab me. I thought I made it clear that I didn't trust you."

"Whatever. We have to keep moving. There's—" Before he could finish his sentence, the white light passed over the tree.

Why did I agree to go with this guy?"Nope, not now, genius. They knew we were close to Mia, and they will keep patrolling this area until something happens. We're stuck here. There's nothing we can do but sit here and hope they don't find us." Seeing as I was going to be here awhile, I scooted away from Matt and tried to get comfortable.

Out of anywhere around us, I had to admit Matt had chosen the best place to hide. The pine tree we hid under had incredibly dense branches, shielding us from most of the light. Consequently, we couldn't see each other, but that didn't really matter as neither of us had weapons. I leaned on one side of the trunk and Matt leaned on the other. One could argue this position could let us see 360 degrees around the tree and avoid blind-spots, but it was mostly because we wanted to be as far away from each other as possible. Thankfully, the trunk was thick enough to provide a gap between us, and the branches left enough space between the ground and the lowest branch to let us lay comfortably. I cleared a space from the pine needles and took this chance to take a rest.

I flicked a needle off the branch in front of me. "We should have kept running."

Matt's voice, though barely a whisper, was clearly audible in the silence of the night. "Don't you ever get tired of running?"

I shrugged. "Not particularly. I love running. It gives me a chance to clear my head and just 'be'."

Matt sighed. "I've feel like I've done so much running lately. Running towards things, away from things. But, there's always more running to do. I can never seem to run fast enough to get away."

I considered his statement. "Maybe, you can't run away then."

"I don't know." Matt whispered. "Ever since I got into this IB Program, it's been one trial after another. It seems to exist to point out how slow I am. I want to get through it, but sometimes, I want to just keep running and never stop. Do you feel the same way…sometimes?"

"Yeah. Sometimes."

"You seem to be a better runner at me, though." I smiled at the compliment. "So, maybe you could actually get away."

"Maybe." The tiny spark of delight in me was quickly doused by another thought: Katlyn, you're letting your guard down. Matt is being charming to get inside your head. Don't let him.My smile faded away. "Don't talk to me please." I heard him try to move closer to me, but I pulled away. The cone of light passed by us again.

"Katlyn, why won't you trust me?"

I rested my head in my hands, and in my most monotone voice I told him: "I've trusted some people before. Some things happened. They taught me that, maybe I shouldn't trust people, or that maybe they didn't deserve my trust. "

"I'm sorry." He sounded sincere, but…

"Yeah. Whatever…" I grabbed a piece of bark and bent it back and forth.

"Maybe you should—"

"Stop right there. I don't want your advice, okay?"

"If you'd just—"

"What do you know about trust?" My voice started to crack. "Everyone who trusted you is dead."

He moved away from me again. "That…wasn't my fault."

I laughed. "Really? Marcus didn't die because of you? Shelby didn't die because of you? Evan, Chau, Patrick, Mia, Rachel. Your list is pretty long. Even your "best friend" Zach—"

"SHUT UP!" I flinched. "What gives you the right to judge me?"

The piece of bark snapped in half. "I've never murdered anybody for one."

"Really?" His voice was derisive now, like he was holding back the punch line for a joke that I didn't get. "Let's talk about Shelby then."

"You released a jar of tracker jackers that killed her." I recalled all of the horrible welts and screams, but I suppressed the memory.

"No. That's wrong."

"Are you insane or stupid? They clearly—"

"They would havekilled her. Something else happened first." I tried to swallow the ball in my throat. "I counted how long it took. It should have taken hours, but her cannon went off in minutes. I know Evan is too afraid to kill someone. Chau and Patrick were chasing us. That leaves…"

"That's different!"

"How so?" He asked.

"She was in so much pain." Her scream sounded so terrible. "She would have…she would have wanted me to do it."

"I didn't know Shelby for long, but if I knew one thing about her, it would be that she would never give up like that. You know that too."

"I…She…That was a mercy kill. I stopped her pain. It would be cruel to leave her suffering."

"Like we did to Mia?" I didn't respond. He took my pause as permission to continue. "And, speaking of cruelty, I saw what happened to Rachel. She was traumatized."

Though I was in complete darkness, I realized I was still gesturing wildly with my hands as I talked. "She tried to kill us. I was trying to protect them." I pointed in no direction in particular. "I had to protect them."

"Did you have to do it like that?"

"If it meant keeping them safe, then yes. I would do anything to protect the people I care about." Matt tried to speak, but I cut him off. "That's the difference between you and me. You don't have to care about anyone else. I do. There are people that depend on me, that I won't…I can't….let down. You have the luxury of being selfish sometimes. I don't. I'm never allowed to be selfish. I don't complain about it, but it won't ever leave me. Even now, there are people out there waiting for me to come home." I felt a tear dripping down my face, but I continued. "Do you know how afraid I am of the future? How much it hurts that I've failed people who depended on me in the past? No, you don't. So don't pretend that you do."

The light passed by us again.

"And, if anybody gets in the way of this, I will not hesitate for a moment to crush that person. I know you don't get it." I pointed behind me. "There was one person who actually depended on and trusted you, that poor girl. You sent Rose to kill—"

"How do you know about Rose?"

Oh shit.

"Um," I stuttered. "They said it on the news report. Something about a murder. An Avox girl did it."

Matt shook his head. "They never said her name. Nobody cared about her that much. How do you know about Rose?"

I could feel my cheeks get red. "I had to do it."

"Do what? What did you do to her?"

"I…I told the Capitol that she killed someone. I'm innocent." I paused. "Well, I'm not guilty. I told the truth," I said with a little more conviction."

"What's wrong with you? She was just some girl. She wasn't supposed to be part of this story."

"And, look who's talking! You sent her in there in the first place." I said defensively. Another wave of light passed over us.

"I know. I'm sorry. I was being selfish. I shouldn't have asked her to do that."

His honesty caught me by surprise. I assumed he was going to defend himself, or blame her, or at least deflected it. Instead, he seemed honestly sorry. "Well, maybe I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have acted without considering everyone else. I'm sorry."

We were quiet for a while after that. The lights kept coming, but other than that, nothing. Unlike before, this was a good nothing. It was like something released the tension in me. I felt relaxed for the first time since this whole thing started.

I was the one to finally break the silence. "Well, what now? We can't wait here forever." Though I said that, I didn't really have a want to leave either. Another wave of light flashed over us.

Matt scooted closer to me; this time I didn't recoil. "I've been thinking…"

I smiled. "Good. Matt has the ability to think." I laughed.

He tried to keep down a grin and continued. "Sabadosh said something about McAvoy, right?"

"Yeah, and?"

"Then, she said something about 'sending' and something about being 'safe', right?" He seemed excited.

"Yeah…"

"What if that airship we've been avoiding is actually McAvoy and Sabadosh trying to pick us up?"

I laughed. It seemed too perfect. "Come on. Don't be so naive. "

He excitedly grabbed my shoulder. "Think about it! They were fighting a war there. The Capitol wouldn't send vital airships just to kill us. If they really wanted to kill us they could carpet bomb the place."

"Unless, they wanted to kill us personally because they are vindictive jerks…which they are." I injected.

"Yeah…but here's something else that you don't understand. McAvoy is McAvoy."

I shrugged and grinned. "Oh tautology is really helpful."

"No really. He is my advisor. I would trust my life with that man. If there was anyone who could pull off something like this, it would be him."

I rolled my eyes. "Matt, you can't be serious. If we step out there and you're not right…"

"But, what if I am?"

"Matt…"

Matt looked me in the eyes and gave that certain smile that only he could give. "Katlyn, we've gone through the IB Program. We can both sit here and rot, or we could take a chance and hope there is something brighter out there." He waited for my reaction, but I refused to reveal anything on my face, so he continued. "If you think that the future is going to be bad, and you've already given up hope–if you truly think that–then you can stay here. But, if you think that the future is something brighter, then take this chance."

I brushed my hair from my eyes and smiled. "Fine." I wagged my finger in his face. "But, I'm only doing this because I'm trust you. If we die, you will have hell to pay." He laughed.

I let go of my fear and anger and turned to him. We both nodded and stepped out of the cover of the pine tree just as the wave of light passed by us.

It was so bright.