"How did it happen?" I asked after we'd made camp. We set up shop on top of the playground. We were high enough to see who was coming, and the metal play equipment would slow Rapture down if he attacked. I was hoping Emma would say Aimee surprised her, or she acted reflexively, but I was still afraid when she started to answer.

"I came down on of the aisles, and there she was," Emma said. We were sitting on an open platform on the playground, and she was eating an egg. "Her back was to me. She was smelling a rose."

"And you just killed her?" I asked. She didn't look away.

"You say that like it's a big deal," she said.

"How can it be so easy for you?" I asked.

"I don't want to die," she said. "I did it quick. You heard. She didn't even scream."

It occurred to me that Emma honestly thought killing someone quickly made it a good deed, or at least a forgivable one. And I could understand her, which showed me how much I'd changed since I left home the first time. It seemed hypocritical, but while I condemned the action, I didn't condemn her. From what I'd seen of Aimee, she was a sweet, friendly girl, and I was sad she was gone. But I wasn't sad she was dead, because that brought me closer to staying alive.

"You shouldn't have split off," I said, trying to talk about something less disturbing. "What if it had been Rapture after all?"

"You think I couldn't take him?" Emma asked.

"I'm sure you could, but things happen. He might have gotten lucky," I said.

"Then I wouldn't have to worry about us being the last two," she said. I could never tell what Emma was thinking. She was probably way ahead of me, but she hadn't killed me yet. She could have, if she'd wanted to. I had no idea what her endgame was. She knew what would happen if we were the last two. Maybe she was just waiting until Rapture was dead and I was insurance, but she seemed confident that she could fight him. And she was better than he was. She didn't need me. And yet I wasn't nervous as I slept with her standing guard.

Aimee was the only face in the sky that night. Rapture was no doubt hunting for Harmony, and then he'd attack Eleanor. He wasn't patient enough to wait for us to do it, even though that would have been a better strategy for him.

I pretended we were going to hunt Rapture as we walked toward our horses. It definitely wasn't Harmony we were hunting. I'd tied our horses to a tree that bordered a flower garden. To my relief, there were no roses in that particular flower patch. The horses were grazing next to a cluster of hollyhocks.

"I think I'm getting better at this," Emma said. She went up slowly next to her horse so she wouldn't spook it, and it looked at her lazily as she untied it. I looked past her at the rainbow of flowers.

"FU-"

As soon as I saw it, the crouching tiger sprang out of the flowers, straight at Emma, who happened to be closer. My unfinished curse merged into a scream. Emma reacted unbelievably quickly, since she had a heartbeat to see the white, blue-striped tiger before it hit her. She ducked and twisted so it bit into her shoulder instead of her neck. It bore her to the ground and started shaking her like a doll. The ponies reared and whinnied in panic as they bolted.

Emma's clothes ripped and snapped under the tiger's movement. It jerked its head and the skin on her shoulder slid off like a sweater. I couldn't believe she wasn't screaming, until I saw her teeth were locked onto the tiger's ear. As I ran to help her, I saw their expressions were identical.

Emma was trying to get her sword, but it was squished underneath her by the tiger's weight. I took my own sword and brought it over my head with both hands. I smashed it onto the tiger's back, afraid that if I aimed at its head I might hit Emma. I felt the tiger's fur slowing my blade, and I didn't get nearly as much force as I'd wanted. The tiger thrashed in a coil, dragging Emma across the ground as it drew nearer to me. Emma tried to get her arm between her throat and the tiger's mouth, and I heard it snap as the tiger crushed it in its jaws. I stabbed it again in the side. It reared up and swatted me with a paw before I'd hardly seen it move. It didn't even let go of Emma, It just carried her along. Its claws dug trenches in my flesh and I felt like my face was broken from the force of the blow. It knocked me flat and I was thankful I didn't land on the sword.

When I got back up, Emma had her legs wrapped around the tiger so it couldn't rake its claws down her stomach. She was using her unbroken arm to try to gouge the tiger's eye. I brought my sword down on the back of the tiger's neck. It dropped Emma and hissed hotly as it turned and leapt at me. I barely managed to turn so it bit my free hand instead of the sword one. I felt its teeth crunch through my hand like paper, but it didn't hurt yet. I brought my arm back awkwardly and shoved the sword into the tiger's mouth beside my hand. I felt the blade slice into my finger, but then the tiger screamed and jerked its head away, freeing my hand. Emma grabbed its leg and yanked. It turned to her and shifted off balance. I shoved the sword into the tiger's eye. Blood and liquid smeared its gory face and it backed a step away, batting at me and snarling. As it reared to swipe, I stabbed it in the belly. It dropped down on all fours, and the movement dragged my sword deeper through its underside.

The tiger dragged itself closer to me, but it was slowing. One eye was ruptured and the other was bruised from Emma's attack. I jumped onto me and crushed me underneath it. It pulled up a leg to disembowel me, but it didn't have the strength. Its claws only tore gashes in my stomach. It tried to bite my face and neck, but I had the sword blade shoved into its mouth sideways. It bit at the metal and tried to push around it, but it only tore its mouth open in the attempt. Its attacks grew weaker, then stopped. It stirred weakly a few times, then stilled. Its full weight started to rest on my sword, and I realized I wasn't out of danger yet.

"EmmaEmmaEmma!" I yelled in a panic as the tiger's weight brought my blade closer and closer to my face. I could barely push back hard enough to keep from decapitating myself. The tiger lurched sideways and its weight fell from me.

I got up and looked Emma over. She was drenched in blood and her bitten arm dangled from her side. Huge patches of hair were missing and her scalp was glistening red.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Hell do you mean am I okay?" I asked. "You're falling apart!"

"It's nothing," she said as she sank to the ground.

"You got mauled by a tiger!" I said. I didn't think there was any way out of this. Our endgames dilemna was about to be solved.

Rose likes tigers. She also likes blue. So of course she sent a tiger to maul her favorite Tributes.