60. 59. 58. 57. 56.

As the countdown began I started to survey the area; there was a large plain of rock that expanded twenty feet around the Cornucopia. Next was a rim of thick woodland trees and then large mountains that finished the bowl of the arena. I noticed that directly in front of me was a grand concrete wall that connected the two mountain ranges to complete the bowl. I knew that it was a dam and where there was a dam there was water. That was where I had to go.

15. 14. 13. 12.

As I expected the Careers looked ready to kill. Their eyes glittered at the Cornucopia, searching for the prize that they wanted to collect whilst occasionally glaring at the other tributes, practically licking their lips for their first taste of blood. The rest tried to look intimidating or were just downright terrified. I was thankful that I couldn't see Rio. Thankful that he couldn't see me shaking.

5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

I whispered a silent prayer and thought of my District. My parents. Mags. Finnick. The gong sounded and I began to run; concentrating on not slipping on the slanted rock beneath me. There was nothing for me in the Cornucopia that I had much skill in using so I decided to grab one of the green packs off of the ground. It was probably suicide but I had to cut through the middle to get to the water as going around would take too long and I would probably run into the other tributes. Halfway to the Cornucopia I seized the pack and dodged around the other tributes. The blood was nothing that I had ever seen before; it ran down the rocks like a thick stream from the dead tributes and the Careers wore it proudly like salt water on the lips of a newlywed District Four couple. The sight made me ill; I swallowed hard and had to keep moving. A relieved smile tinted my lips as I was only a dozen feet away from the trees into safety. My legs ached along with my lungs and my heart was pounding. I kept pushing myself until I felt a sharp pain in the back of my leg.

With a loud gasp I tumbled to the ground and scraped my hands. I turned back to see a small knife impaling the back of my right calf. The District 9 girl stood only a few feet behind me with a second knife already in her grasp. I remembered that she was better than I was at the knife throwing.

I knew that this was going to be my end.

With ugly determination in her eyes she started her descent on me; I was ready to die. Except that never happened. Her pale green windbreaker turned a dark shade of red as a spear flew through her chest. She in a heap on the ground; silent and not breathing. My eyes flew wider with fear as it was revealed that Rio was standing behind her; he was coming for me. I tried to run but my leg wouldn't let me and I fell again, holding in a painful grunt. I squeezed tears away from my eyes. One of his large arms encircled my waist as he hastily threw me on his shoulder and started running way from the Blood Bath into the woodland.

I thrashed, screamed and kicked for a good twenty minutes before he released me and let me drop to the forest ground. His left hand bore his bloody spear and I edged away from him, my fearful eyes never leaving his steady gaze. He probably wanted to kill me himself, in private to show the full force of his brutality. It was sick, but I wouldn't have expected less.

What surprised me was that he dropped his spear and fell to the floor, obviously exhausted.

"S-stay away from me," I demanded with my shaky voice.

After a few deep breaths he finally spoke.

"I don't want to hurt you," he said bluntly, holding my gaze.

"You could have fooled me last night," I retorted, my voice gaining some power.

"That was just for show. To gain more sponsors. Mags said that a few of them pay even before the Games start." He shrugged. "It just seemed like the best way."

"H-how many people did you kill?"

Rio dropped his eyes to his spear. "Two. Nine girl and Seven boy." Rio paused. That boy was only twelve years old. "What in the actually hell were you doing running through the Blood Bath?" His voice was a harsh growl; if we weren't in danger of being found, I suspected that he would have screamed at me. "Thank Panem I was there or you would have been the dead one. It was brave but utterly stupid!"

"I had to get to water," I stated.

"What water?" Rio's eyes to lit up. I realised that his podium was probably facing away from the dam.

"I saw a dam, that was why I headed this way." I tried to pick myself off the floor. "We have to go quickly." I winced from the pain as I collapsed; I could barely move my leg.

"Not with you like that we can't." Rio stood back up and grabbed his spear. "We have to find a safe spot for you to rest whilst we-" Rio couldn't finish his sentence due to the firing of cannons. We fell silent as we carefully listened for them. For the first two that I heard I immediately thought of Rio's own kills; the blood on his clothes as the evidence of his deed. It ended at nine. We remained still.

"Let's go," Rio said after a few moments. He offered me his hand, which I was hesitant to take. "Look, the more time we waste, the more and more that cut of yours is going to get infected, which may lead you to dying and I have already saved your life. So. Trust. Me." Frustration flashed in his eyes. I knew he was right. I had to trust him. I couldn't survive on my own with a wound like that. This time he didn't carry me, but wrapped right left arm around his shoulder and helped me hobble.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked.

"Because I can't survive on my own."

It was thirty minutes of silence and slow walking before we found a clearing of trees that encircled a small dip in the ground, creating a minimal yet quite effective shield.

"This will have to do," Rio said as he carefully helped me to sit on the ground. I looked at my clothes and I was covered in blood. I didn't say anything and acted like I hadn't notice, when really my breakfast was turning sour in my stomach. I had no idea what he had in mind, but it had something to do with fire as he was collecting sticks. It was only late afternoon so it would be a small while before it would turn dark, meaning there was nothing that noticeable about lighting a fire now that would help the Careers find us. A few minutes later I had to get the fire started due to Rio not being able to; it crackled as we sat silently, warming ourselves around the flame.

"May I?" Rio asked nodding towards the pack on my back. I made a small sound of acknowledgement in my throat as I passed it to him; he rooted through it.

"Okay. One blanket. Ten crackers. Wire. Iodine drops to purify water. Alcohol rubs for wounds. Two bota bags!" Like an animal, with hunger and excitement in his eyes he tore off the lid of the bota bag and held it to his mouth. He swore quietly as he found that the water container was empty and placed it back in the pack. "I have to say, what you did at the Blood Bath was crazy but worth it," he said and flashed me a smile. I offered one up in return.

He grabbed a relatively thin stick from the unused wood pile for the fire and pointed it at me. I jumped and dragged myself away from him. Rio rolled his eyes.

"You need to bite it."

"Why?"

"To stop you from screaming."

"What?" I cried and scurried further backwards and winced as the knife dug deeper into my leg.

"We need to take that knife out." He was right. I nodded shyly, scooting forward again. Rio put the stick in my mouth and I bit down on it.

"Ready?" I breathed in deep through my nose and nodded. "3. 2. 1."

With one strong and painful pull he removed the knife from my leg and my teeth sunk into the stick to repress a scream. Rio looked at me with a frown and held the all bloody knife in his hand. We both looked down at it and a three-inch wound was left behind. Rio bunched up the blanket and placed it on my wound to stop the bleeding.

"I don't think it hit any muscle," I said, the stick still clenched in my teeth.

"At least you have a weapon now." Rio chuckled slightly. I glared at him. "Now we need to cauterize it."

"That's when-"

"When you burn the wound closed to stop infection, yes."

I spat the stick to the ground. "But won't Finnick and Mags send us supplies from the Sponsors?" I asked with my voice a pitch higher and shaky.

"Annie, be realistic. There is no special cream for this kind of stuff. We either fix it now; you die from infection or we amputate later. Frankly the first is the least messy and I don't want you bitching then dying on me." A moment of silence. "What do you want?" He was right. Even if there were something that the Sponsors could do, our mentors would have sent them by now, maybe we didn't have any Sponsors.

We waited for a while and ate a cracker each whilst Rio's disinfected spearhead heated up in the fire. I cleaned my wound and the scrapes on my hands. I couldn't believe that this already happened to me. I knew that I would die but I thought that I could get through the first day at least. The spearhead glowed a molten white.

"The sun is setting; we should probably get this done soon or we will get spotted."

"Have you ever done this before?"

"Yes, one time my-" Rio stopped himself and clenched onto the spear. His eyes found mine and were asking for my permission.

"Just do it," I sighed.

Once again he gently held my leg and took one big breath in as well.

"Ready?" I placed the stick in my mouth again and nodded. "3. 2. 1."

Rio stuck the hot metal in my leg and I bit down on the stick as hard as I could. The pain was excruciating as Rio burned my leg. I clutched the ground between my hands and tears gathered in my eyes. I tried so hard not to cry and show weakness to the on looking Sponsors. If we didn't have any already we had to get some somehow; showing no weakness was one of them. After seven seconds my whole body began to shake. I tasted bile in my mouth and felt like I was burning alive. Rio gritted his own teeth with a pained expression on his face as he moved the blade down my calf, careful to see the job done as effectively as possible. I had to hold on. Show no weakness. Show no…

I passed out in fifteen seconds.