Levi hoisted himself up onto the low branch of a snowy tree and made himself comfortable. The other tributes could be anywhere in the Arena. He figured he'd have some time to kill before his teammates showed up.

The whole team situation made the tribute from District 11 uneasy. He didn't believe for one second that the Gamemakers were going to let more than one tribute out alive. His gut feeling was that as soon as all the tributes from the other group were dead, they'd be forced to turn on each other. He wasn't worried about killing Willow and Chester. They were weak-stomached and mediocre. It was Zephyr that concerned him. The guy was a year younger than him though much taller. Levi could remember hearing that Zephyr had also grown up without a family. He was a wildcard. He'd hardly said a word during his interview and he always kept to himself.

A cannon fired and Levi jumped, nearly tumbling off of his perch. There were seven other tributes, but his mind jumped immediately to October. He quickly ran over the facts in his head. Cedar was his initial pick, but he supposed that it was possible that Wren was the killer. October had told him that they'd come across her by the northern lake, so she could have made it there already and taken out her spite on October before Cedar could calm her down. But that didn't seem likely.

He refused to believe any theory other than that Cedar had killed October because she was the biggest threat in his group. He could lie to his teammates and say she fell or got attacked by a muttation or something so they wouldn't pin him as a traitor. He was clever.

He was also dead meat.

Levi had vowed to tear Cedar to pieces if he killed October, and now he had his chance. He slipped into his thoughts, imagining sawing the chubby boy's arms off with his dullest knife before cutting through his legs at an agonizingly slow pace. Once his limbs were no longer attached to his body he would draw a line across Cedar's neck. Not deep enough to kill him, no, just deep enough to leave a stinging line of blood. Then he would drive his deepest dagger through the boy's heart. He would enjoy the look of utter agony on Cedar's face. He deserved it. He did.

Footsteps startled Levi out of his murderous thoughts. Without thinking, he jumped to the ground and drew a knife, taking a defensive stance as he faced the direction of the sound. Zephyr materialized from behind a tree. He put his hands behind his head, smiling a twisted kind of smile. "I thought we were in this together," he said in a rumbly voice Levi would have associated with a middle-aged man.

"Sorry," Levi muttered, lowering his knife. "I'm a bit on edge is all."

Zephyr nodded, taking a couple steps forward. A quiver was strapped to his back along with a bow. "Do you have any supplies?" he asked.

Supplies. Levi sighed. "I only have my knives on me. We can go back to the Cornucopia and get some if you'd like. We'll have to be quick. Cedar and October aren't technically my allies anymore.

The taller tribute nodded. Levi began to jog down the path he had created on his way over. Zephyr followed after him, his longer legs making it easy to keep pace. It wasn't long before they reached the Cornucopia. The clearing was blissfully empty. Levi headed over to the pile of supplies. "October packed emergency backpacks," he explained, taking out three navy blue bags. "Each one has a sleeping bag, matches, water container, iodine tablets, beef jerky, and dried fruit in it. Do we want anything else?"

"A flashlight could be helpful," Zephyr mused. Levi dug around through the supplies and produced two flashlights. "Netting, if you have any. Other than that, we should be good. We have to hope that Willow and Chester have supplies. Also, is there an extra pair of gloves?" Levi stuffed a net into one of the bags and then sifted through the remaining things. He shook his head.

"No gloves."

"Shit." Zephyr flexed his fingers. They barely bent at all. The skin was dry and cracked. Levi wrinkled his nose. "Haven't been able to hold my bow in days."

"We should be going," Levi said awkwardly, looking away. Zephyr nodded. Levi picked up two of the packs and began to head back. His teammate took the other, following him back to their meeting place. The walk was slower now that they weren't worried about the other team getting valuable supplies. After a minute of walking Levi asked, "Should we maybe just secure the Cornucopia? We'd have all the supplies and sleeping would be much better."

Zephyr shook his head. "It'll end too quickly if we do, and the Gamemakers won't like that. They won't let us hole up in the Cornucopia. They'll give us hell if we do."

They continued on in silence, Levi cursing himself for not thinking his question through. He didn't want Zephyr to be the alpha male of the group. He was okay with taking the backseat to October, but the District 8 boy worried him. The guy wasn't messing around. With his hands injured as they were Levi was safe, but what about when they were fully functional? Levi had no doubt that Zephyr would come across gloves soon enough, be it an extra pair belonging to Willow and Chester or a sponsor gift. Then the real danger would come.

When they reached the meeting place there was no sign of their other two teammates. Levi cleared a small patch of ground and dumped the supplies there before climbing back into his tree and sitting there, waiting. He didn't feel like talking to Zephyr. He didn't trust him.

Despite the fact that the snow had stopped it was colder than ever. Levi cross his arms over his chest and pulled his knees up, struggling to balance. He nearly toppled over, so he stretched his legs back out again, shivering. The sunlight offered little warmth. For a second he felt bad for Zephyr with his bare hands, but Levi pushed the thought from his head. He wasn't going to feel sorry for his biggest competition. Anything that weakened him was an advantage.

Voices wafted towards them from the lakeside. Levi glanced at Zephyr to see him staring in the direction of the noise. He didn't miss things, either.

"…can't be much farther. Unless they ditched us, which I suppose could happen, but I don't think the Gamemakers would be too thrilled."

Willow and Chester were walking along the water. They lazily searched the trees, but it was clear that they were tired. It had to have been at least a few hours since the announcement. Clearing his throat, Zephyr called out, "Nice of you to join us!"

Both of their heads snapped to face him, no longer fatigued but extremely alert. Zephyr waved teasingly and they relaxed. Chester smiled a little, though Willow's face was impossible to read. They slowly carved a path through the snow to where Levi and Zephyr waited. They were both carrying packs, which was good. Chester set his down with the three that had been brought from the Cornucopia, but Willow kept hers on her back, fists closed protectively around the straps.

"Hi!" Chester chirped. Levi grunted and Zephyr gave him a nod. The red-headed boy's smile faltered but he plastered it back on. "So, teams," he continued. "Pretty weird, right?"

Zephyr shrugged. "It's the Hunger Games."

"Right, right…"

A silence fell over the four tributes. Levi stayed up in his tree, sizing up Willow and Chester when they weren't looking and staring straight ahead when they were. Zephyr was examining his almost completely frozen hands. Willow cleared a small area at the base of one of the trees and sat down. Chester plopped down beside her and wrapped an arm around her. She grabbed his hand in both of hers and leaned against his shoulder.

They looked so happy. Levi had to marvel at it. As the Games wore on he just felt more and more sick of everything. But these two were madly in love. They were facing the Arena together, no doubt hoping to make it out together. Snuggled up at the base of a tree they could have been anywhere. They could have been in the Districts. They didn't look like tributes that were fighting even the weather to stay alive. They looked like people.

Levi wished that October was with him. The more that he watched Willow and Chester, the more he wanted his own person to huddle up with. Zephyr didn't exactly seem to be snuggle material. Levi hoped with every fiber of his being that October was still alive. He needed her to still be alive. He didn't want to be facing the Arena alone. He wanted an ally. A real ally. Not like Zephyr who was only teamed up with him out of force. Not like Cedar who only put up with him for the safety of the "Career" alliance. Someone like October who actually gave a damn about him.

"Look!" Willow said, her soft voice sounding loud in the utter silence. Levi looked lazily to where she was pointing and then quickly jumped to the ground. Floating towards them was a fairly large silver capsule attached to a parachute. Levi walked towards it, his arms outstretched. It was heavier than he expected, and he had to take a step back to balance himself as it settled into his hands.

"What do you think it is?" Chester asked eagerly.

"With any luck, a bazooka," Zephyr said, laughing a little at his own joke.

"Sorry, mate," Levi said, lifting the metal lid off. Inside were four bulky fur hats with ear flaps and four pairs of heavy duty gloves. "But your hands might be happy."

Zephyr crammed the gloves on his hands. "Damn that's good," he said.

Levi watched him uneasily. His hands would be better by morning. Then the Games would really begin.