We didn't hear any more cannons so it wasn't surprising when only Zac's face appeared in the sky. We sat in the same spot all day and when the seal of Panem disappeared we crawled into the sleeping-bags.

'How much water do we have left?' I ask.

'One full bottle and 3 half full bottles.' Lilac answers, 'The careers obviously haven't started hunting yet, don't they usually start killing straight away?'

'I think they'll probably start tonight. Let's have someone watching, I'll watch for the first half of the night and Carabelle, I'll wake you up to do the second half.' Ellick says.

'Okay, but don't scare me when you wake me. And let's have the pack ready in case we need to make a getaway.'

I try to sleep but the thought that mad teenagers are running round the arena at night with weapons, keeps creeping through my mind. We can't risk a campfire, so it's hard to see Ellick's face in the darkness.

'I hope you're not asleep.' I whisper. He smiles.

'What's life like in district 10?' he asks with what looks like a grin. I know every camera in Panem is probably on my face but I want to tell Ellick the truth.

'We're very poor. My Dad was… he died. And I live with my Mum and brothers. District 10 is livestock and I don't to school every day because I work in calf rearing.'

'What's calf rearing?'

'I take care of and raise all the baby dairy cows. So if you drink milk in the capitol, chances are I raised the cows that made it. What about you?'

He edges closer my sleeping bag. 'Well, I'm an only child and we're not really poor. But that's only because my Mum works for hours in a factory. My Dad teaches school. That's it really.'

Even though he's dirty and smelly and has a few bruises and cuts, he looks hot and cute. But it I don't really know how I feel about him. We don't talk until it's my turn to watch but even then he stays awake with me.

When the sun starts to rise Lilac goes off to make snares and Ellick and I roll up the sleeping bags.

'Ellick, did you hear any cannons last night?'

'No I didn't. Maybe, if we're lucky, all the careers are starving and wounded.'

'I doubt it, but it is a bit strange that not many tributes have died yet.'

When Lilac comes back we resume sitting around and doing nothing. After an hour I say: 'Let's go down to the swamp and collect some reeds. So that we can fill up all the drink bottles.'

'But we have enough to get us through for another day and a half, if we're vigilant.' Lilac argues

'But in a couple of days someone will start hunting in the swamp and in the bush.' I reply

We decide to go now instead of wait. After walking for an hour we hear a cannon. We all stop and stare at each other in fear. The sickening feeling creeps back into my mind. For the next hour my brain imagines people jumping out from trees and I keep looking over my shoulder. My stomach starts to hurt as we reach the reeds. We quickly grab a few armfuls then dash back into the bush. Boom! Another cannon. It makes us walk faster.

'The careers are out on the hunt.' Ellick says stating the obvious.

'I hope no-one saw us.' I reply.

We pass the hole that we found yesterday. Because we left nothing where we were last night, we've decided to go a little further into the bush just to be safe. After another hour we reach the snares that Lilac set up. One of them caught a strange looking squirrel. She pulls it out and collects the other empty snares. As we set off again Boom! Another cannon fires.

'Three people have died in the last four hours.' I say morbidly. No one replies. Another hour of walking passes and Lilac informs us that it is midday. After a long debate we agree to stay where we are and set up camp. We spend the rest of the day squeezing the reeds we gathered for water. Lilac weaves bags for us to carry stuff in and Ellick sharpens a few sticks for weapons. Nothing really happened. It's weird though, I thought the hunger games would be constant fighting and running. I guess that's happening to other tributes

Eventually it gets dark and all three of us stare at the sky eagerly. The first face is Leaf, the boy from five who attacked me. Areaverly from seven comes next. The next face is a huge shock, Emerae from 2. The Panem seal appears.

'I can't believe it! The career girl from 2!' Ellick exclaims.

'She probably got killed in a fight.' Lilac answers. I close my eyes and pull the sleeping bag over my head. My dreams are filled with horrific images of people being tortured. Suddenly someone shakes me awake.

'Carabelle wake up!' Ellick whispers. This must be it, my worst nightmare. Ellick tosses me a woven bag. He wakes Lilac and gives her the backpack.

'Take a spear!' He whispers to us.

'What is it?' Lilac asks frantically, then answering her question a boy appears through the trees.

'Run!' I squeal. We bolt.

I trip and fall as we race through the forest. We run for what feels like a year. My chest is heaving and I feel like I am about to throw up. Then, out of tiredness we slow down to almost a walk.

'Let's hide under this bush.' Ellick pants. We dive under the leaves. Everything goes quiet. Then alarm bells go off in my head as I hear leaves crackle under the noise of a running tribute. We don't need a hint; we scramble to our and run again. My legs won't hold out for much longer and I'm ten times fitter than the others. Our pace slows but so does that of our pursuer. Eventually we hide behind a big tree. I slump against the trunk, every part of my body hurts. I know I can't go on. I close my eyes and drift in to a light sleep.

The water dripping on me wakes me up. Actually I think it's rain. But a strange kind of rain I think. It seems to be dripping very slowly. It's still night-time. Wait. I look up and scream. A is boy standing over us dripping with blood and pointing an axe. Ellick and Lilac jump up and run. I don't get away in time and he takes a slash at my legs, only inflicting a small cut on my right one. I sprint and catch up to the others. I can't remember who the boy is but he looked very injured. But that won't impede him from killing us. After about 2 minutes of agonistic running, the boy is still following us. Then up ahead I spot the reeds. Damn. It's harder to move in the reeds and he might catch us.

'Split up!' Ellick calls as we hit the reeds. I begin to push through the reeds. I have never felt so frantic in my life. We've separated and I can hear Lilac and Ellick but I can't see them. As more time passes the splashing sounds become fainter. The sky starts to light up and I feel so alone. I don't what to do. I can't exactly stay where I am in the muddy water. But I can't move forward, because in another half hour I'll be near the cornucopia/waterfall area. I decide to turn my attention to the cut on my leg. Bending my knee, I pull my leg out of the water. The cut is on my upper calf. It's small but deep. In my woven bag I have food and a drink bottle but Lilac had the first aid kit. I decide to beg for medicine. 'Petra now be a good time for sponsors.' I say not too loudly. When nothing happens I ask again: 'Petra, this cut is really deep, I need medicine or I will die.' Nothing happens. I lean against the reeds and wait. After a short time, a silver parachute floats down. I open it. Inside is a tiny tin of ointment and a large, transparent, super-sticky Band-Aid. A small note says: Apply this quickly and be alert. Very, very alert. And quick. – P

I do as she says and start moving again. The sun has now risen and light is everywhere. From her note I got a bad feeling that a whole pack of careers is hunting me down. The nerves get to me and I fall and trip a lot. Then out of nowhere someone pushes me under the water. I struggle and push my body out of the water, spluttering. Corinne from six holds a sword at my throat. She tries to push me under again but I head butt her in the face with my head. She cries in pain and I seize the opportunity to knock the sword out of her hand. She rolls off me to pick it up. I run. The water gets shallower making it easier to push through the reeds. I look behind me. She throws the sword. I dive to my left but not fast enough. The sword lodges itself into my right shoulder. I scream in pain. But I stop and turn. This is my opportunity to show them how brave I am. I pull the sword out and run towards her. Panic flashes in her eyes. She skids and runs in the opposite direction. I pretend to follow her for a few seconds, but then I turn and run away from her. I keep running until my legs and shoulder are screaming in protest. I rub the ointment into my shoulder and try not to cry. I tear a strip of material from my shirt and attempt to bandage the wound. I press on in a kind of shocked, dazed state. But suddenly I'm standing on dry land. I stop dead. I gag the sight that greets me. It's too late to go back into the reeds now. About 200 metres in front of me is the cornucopia and 200 metres from the cornucopia is the waterfalls and the jungle. Two tents are set up around a small fire. I can't believe I've let this happen. I can't go back or I'll be noticed. I'm such an idiot. I'm going to die.

I've walked straight into the middle of the career camp.