'Finnegan?' I say, my heart beating at a terrifying speed. 'Finnegan, where are you?'

I take caution not to be too loud, scared by the likelihood of either Jacob coming to get us or the boy from 7. Or Finnick. Or Finnick's mutt, shall I say.

I'm scared. Finnegan just disappeared. One minute I was discussing how we'll get food with him – the Cornucopia's off limits – and then he was just... gone.

A hissing sound comes from above me and I jump, startled.

'Absidee, look,' a voice says and my hand jumps for my knife instinctively before I realise it's just Finnegan. I retract my hand from the knife in embarrassment and glare up at Finnegan's form in the tree above me.

'What the heck are you doing?' I angrily whisper. 'I thought you were gone!'

My anger disappears and relief floods through me.

'Sorry,' he says shortly.

'How did you get up there anyway?' I say, but as the question leaves my lips I realise the answer. He used to climb onto his roof back in 4 every night, didn't he? Of course.

'Ignore that. Why are you up a tree?' I shake my head.

'We need a place to sleep, don't we?' Finnegan says.

'The floor is good as well,' I say stubbornly.

'The floor? You'd be spotted easily. We're not in the Career pack anymore, Absidee. Other tributes have little reason to fear us,' Finnegan dismisses my suggestion. 'You scared of heights?' I shake my head. 'Well, that's good then. Come on up.'

Come on up? I've only ever climbed a tree once before, and that was as a dare when I was younger. There were good climbing trees on the outskirts of our district, so when I was with Finnick and his friends once hanging around that area, they dared me to climb one of the trees. I did, but very carefully.

I never told my mum I'd done that; she'd have had a fit.

'Alright,' I agree, accepting the challenge. I take his words as a challenge of sorts, and I think he means them in that way as well.

I go back to being in District 4 and being dared to climb the tree, and completely forget I'm even in the Games.

I study the tree for a couple of moments, then place my foot on a piece of thick bark which sticks out from the tree trunk low to the ground. Heaving myself up, I grab the lowest branch which is to my right. I pull myself up onto the next highest branch after that one, and continue, slow and steady. I'll get quicker after a couple of goes, I'm sure.

It feels like half an hour has passed by the time I reach Finnegan on one of the top branches of the tree, which is still thick enough to hold him, surprisingly. He smiles at me.

'That was a good effort. Of course, we won't need to sleep this high, though.'

'Thank Panem.' I glance at the ground below me anxiously.

I don't have a fear of heights, much, but as any normal human being should, I feel a little nervous at the prospect of falling.

'So, want to go back down again?'

Oh god. I'd forgotten we had to go back down again.

'In a minute,' I try to sound not bothered by the fact we still have to go back down. 'Can I have a minute to just look around?'

Finnegan smiles again. 'Sure. I'll climb down in the meantime. And remember,' he has a hint of mischief in his eyes, one I haven't seen from him during these Games yet. 'I'll be there to catch you if I fall.' He laughs. Oh. Hilarious.

I feel giddy all of a sudden, but not from the height we're at.

'See you at the bottom,' I say, not daring to look down at Finnegan. He's already begun the descent down.

I gaze around myself. It's a lovely day. The sun warms me, and the sky is a beautiful azure blue. But this warns me of something horrible approaching.

The Capitol would probably want the heavenly weather to put us at peace.

A shiver of fear runs through me.

What are they planning?

I'll think about that on the ground. When I can think straight.

My tree sways a little.

The Cornucopia glints in the sun. I can see it from up here clearly. And as expected, 1 figure stands guarding it.

Jacob.

He's really arrogant enough to guard the Cornucopia by himself?

Obviously so.

Where's Zamuel?

I wonder what's happened to him. His cannon has yet to go off, and I would've heard it. There's been nothing wrong with my hearing or anything like that that would assure that I wouldn't hear Zamuel's cannon, so I'm curious.

Has Jacob adopted him as an ally? Unlikely.

Left him to die? Probably.

Making his death long and painful.

Just like he said. 'I intend to make this awful for you.'

And so he will.

I pray it ends soon for Zamuel.

I begin my descent to ground level, soon enough reaching the ground with no slip ups. I feel like kissing the ground, but don't. That'd be slightly awkward.

More than slightly embarrassing.

'So, you were saying. Plans for food?' Finnegan says nonchalantly to me.

'We could try to hunt. I heard rumours back at home of citizens of the more outlying districts hunting. Those rumours might not be true, but if they are, then if they can do it, why can't we? We can make nets, tie knots,' I say, and Finnegan nods along, a smile growing on his face.

'But if that fails, which, with a bit of luck and skill, it won't, then we'll either have to resort to sponsors or sneaking food from the Cornucopia.' Risky choices. Me and Finnegan both know it.

You can't just rely on sponsors the whole time for everything, you'll eventually lose all your sponsors when they see that you only rely on sponsors for food, and lack any survival skills at all. Survival skills are just as important, if not more, as skill with weapons.

Then sneaking food for the Cornucopia is even riskier. Jacob will kill us without hesitation if he gets the chance.

And if we do try to do it anyway, it's pretty much certain that the Capitol will set it up so me and Finnegan meet Jacob in our attempt.

'Stealing from the Cornucopia is a complete no go,' says Finnegan and I sigh in relief. 'Our best bet is hunting and relying on sponsors a little as well.'

'Good idea.'

We spend the rest of the afternoon using the long grasses around us to weave nets for catching food. We're not disturbed once, thank god. I keep waiting for Jacob to emerge through the trees, though.

'How are your wounds?' says Finnegan at one point.

I'd almost forgotten about them, surprisingly.

The injury on my lower back doesn't pain me at all. Then my arm. Nothing.

It just doesn't hurt.

'They're fine. How's your cheek?' I shrug off my injuries.

'Absolutely lovely.'

I smile at his choice of vocabulary.

We're just settling down into our tree. Night has fallen.

We set up a couple of traps earlier, far enough out that no one would be able to locate us if they stumbled across them, but also close enough that it isn't a horrendous trek to check them every so often.

Strapped in safely, I look up at the stars.

I know they're fake, made by the Capitol, but nevertheless, they're beautiful.

Ironically, the Capitol, the people who make these Games occur every year, who are so ugly inside, make such beautiful things. Their architecture is beautiful, their gardens are beautiful.

And I only saw a small part of the Capitol when I was there.

Finnick could probably tell me more, I think.

I don't mean that in a horrible way, either.

I've gone past feeling resentment towards him for what he's done.

It's not his fault. Nowhere near.

A moan breaks the silence.

I bolt up.

'Finnegan,' I whisper so quietly I'm surprised he even hears me. 'Did you hear that?'

The noise has scared me. What could be down there?

'Of course I heard it, Absidee. But don't you dare think of going down there. I'm not losing you just because you think that moan is Zamuel,' he hisses to me and I nearly fall out of the tree. And I would have, if I hadn't been belted in.

'I never thought it was Zamuel,' I say faintly.

Finnegan swears under his breath. 'You're not going, you're not.'

I'm struck by his harsh attitude.

'I can't just leave him, Finnegan!'

'You have to. It could be a mutt.'

'Zamuel isn't dead yet, you know that.' And that's the last thing I say before I climb down the tree.

'Dee, you moron,' says Finnegan, louder now. But his voice goes quiet again when he says, 'I wonder why I even like you sometimes.'

I don't think he meant for me to hear that.

But I can't think about that now. Zamuel needs help.

'Zamuel, is that you?' I say in a hushed voice.

'Absidee?' says a pained voice. 'Are you with Finnegan?'

'Yes,' I say. I completely disregard any ideas that this could be a potential trap, stupidly.

'Dee it's as if you're asking to be killed,' Finnegan hisses at me again.

'Jacob left you to die?' I ask Zamuel softly, ignoring Finnegan.

Zamuel barely chokes his words out. 'Yes, he did. He's Jacob though, right?'