Run For Your Life: The Fray.

I took a deep breath. It was almost time. I would be thrown in the arena. I promised Finn. I promised I would come back, but with each step, I was less sure of that. I had the last comfort of finally having him there when I woke up. "Today's the day…" He whispered, kissing me on the forehead. My heart sank, but I was as ready as I could have been. He gave me one last hug and I was sent to breakfast and then to Cora. Cora watched with some sympathy but very little. He was excited about the games, like the rest of the Capitol, not thinking of lives lost. "Are you ready?" He asked me.

"I guess I have to be."

"That's the spirit. You'll at least look fabulous," Cora clapped his hands together and went to work. He pulled my hair back, enough to be out of my way and still frame my face. He kept me pretty for the cameras even though I was only minutes away from destroying his work. He put me in a tight, thin blue shirt, tight but flexible forest green pants, comfortable and sturdy boots and a light jacket. My ring was still on my finger. My nerves were rattled. Cora pulled me over to the small, clear, cylinder elevator, saying nothing more to me. The door shut and with a whoosh, I was taken to the arena. My body shook as fear ensnared me.

Don't move. I waited. The world was watching. Finnick was watching. 10. 9. The countdown began. 8. 7. 6. The mines would go off if anyone tried to race to the Cornucopia before it was time. 5. 4. So close now. 3. My heart was racing. 2. I studied the determine faces. 1. I ran. I grabbed the first bag I could, that was furthest from the center. In a hurry, I ran from the bloodbath. But someone caught me. A sword was aimed at my throat, by a girl from Seven. In a rush, I let out a weak shout just as someone stopped her with their own blade. Blood splattered across my face as the girl took her last gasp of air, grip loosing from around my arm. I didn't stay around to see my savior. Instead, I ran toward the dense wood that mimicked the grounds outside the cottage back in Four.

I ran until I thought my heart would burst. The grounds were quiet behind me. I stopped, taking in a moment to study my surroundings. The woods were truly dense. There wasn't much in the arena. Not much to hide behind, other than the few trees standing between the Cornucopia and me. There was a dam on the other side and a small pool of water standing around it. It was warm in the arena, as if we were stuck in the marshes. I stripped from my jacket and pushed it in the bag, only to find a small amount of dried food, a small canteen of water and one knife. That was it. The only means of surviving…Although I was safe, the idea of only having a knife to hunt with and to protect me from my predators and surroundings frightened me. I ran again only to find a small cave to hide in. Would that save me? Could I stay hidden for the entire time? It was a stupid thought, but it was a stupid thought that saved me for the first few days. I didn't leave the small cave. I didn't go out, not even for food. I would rather starve than kill. My head was aching, but I rationed my supplies as I had been. It was quiet. There were only a few deaths but that was it. I had expected more. The tributes from Districts One and Two were all still alive. District Five's boy was alive and District Three's girl. The two from District Six and Eight were alive and the boy from Twelve. No one from Seven, Nine, Ten, or Eleven had survived. And Thomas…Thomas was still here. Somewhere.

I thought I was safe in the cave until someone stumbled upon my hideout. I hid in the dark corner of the cave, holding my breath. He carefully tiptoed in the mouth of the cave, weapon ready. I gripped my knife in my hand. One. He was getting closer. Two. I braced myself for impact. Three. He saw me, grabbed my hand and wrestled me to the ground. "I've been looking for you." I waited for him to slit my throat, but he didn't. He took my knife, tossed it across the cave, along with his spear. I was lying on the ground, bewildered. Strands of my long brown hair stuck to my bloodied lips. The mud, blood, and dirt smeared across my face and clothes made me look wild. I was hoping that would scare away my attacker…as if I looked like a threat with a smudge of dirt on my cheek. I watched Thomas watch me. "Get up." He commanded. So I did in fear. "What Cresta? Are you scared?" He laughed with the same harsh smirk from the training center.

I bit my lip in confusion. "What do you want Thomas?" Fear paralyzed me and I crawled to the edge of the cave, edging into jagged rocks.

Thomas smiled wider. "I'm not going to kill you Cresta." His deep brown eyes looked troubled, sad even. "I already saved you once." My mind whirred as I thought of the sword that pierced my attacker days earlier.

His grave sarcasm left me with no condolence. "So who is?" I asked quietly, paranoid this was some sort of trap.

He shrugged. "I don't know, but it won't be me…" He said in the same instance of quiet.

It seemed impossible Thomas hadn't made some move. I was sitting in front of him, vulnerable; he could've struck at any moment. "Don't you want to win?"

Thomas sat beside me, pushing me further into the sharp wall. "Sure. But we both know I won't." He said running his hand through his usually perfect brown hair. Now it was matted and he was covered in dirt and blood like I.

It broke my heart hearing him talk like this. "Come on Thomas…you're brilliant at this," I said weakly, knowing I was at his mercy but strangely only caring about his survival. "Hunting was always an easy sport for you."

Thomas chuckled a little, just like Finn would have. "Sure Annie, but I'm not here to hunt you. You heard what I said back there…there's no chance for us. So, why would I kill you?" He asked, leaning into the rock and closing his eyes.

"To give you a chance," I croaked in the darkness of the cave. The only light that came in emitted from the small opening between plant leaves that hid most of the entrance.

He sighed and I could hear his frustration. "What would I be going back to Ann?"

"You're still loved." I told him in a meek voice. He was, after all the equally boisterous Thomas Reed, the life of the District who had incredible wit and strength.

But he thought otherwise. "But not like the beloved Finnick Odair." I never thought of how it must've felt to have a best friend come out a victor. It never crossed my mind that Thomas would be jealous of Finn. That idea seemed silly, but his next surpassed his last. "…Or even better, his pretty little lover Annie Cresta…" Me? Beloved? By whom? And lover? To whom?

"It's not like that Thomas," I muttered, instantly defensive.

"Oh it's not?" Thomas laughed a laugh so hearty I was scared a career would find us. Could they even hear us? We should have been more on our guard.

Thoughts were swirling in my mind, consuming anything the least bit coherent and the best I could sum up out of all of Thomas' emotions and mine was, "If you're so angry…kill me. Get back at Finn." I was taunting him, like I would Finnick.

And while I waited for an explosive shout from him…it never came. "I would just be hurting me," Thomas whispered dejectedly.

It didn't make sense…his way of thinking. "How? I'd be one less threat…if I were even one to begin with. You'd be victor. You'd have fame, glory, outshine Odair." I said; ready to help him plot my death like a mental victim.

Thomas scoffed, and a small part of me admired the humor left in him, whether it was facetious or perverse. "There wouldn't be much to outshine if I killed the girl he loves," He sighed, standing up. "I'm sure we'd both be a little pathetic, now wouldn't we? Me, a murderous villain and him, a loveless puppet," He offered me a hand, staring at me.

"I don't want to do this Thomas." I whispered, wishing I could wish the conversation, or better yet the situation away.

He pulled me to my feet. "Well, all I can offer you Ann, is an alliance. And even in the end…if we're the last two standing, I would expect you to take me."

I felt my throat go dry as I remembered the times Finnick and Thomas used to hunt around our nets and how happy and carefree they were. Without Thomas, Finn would be miserable. That was his best friend. And such a sacrifice, for me of all people, seemed so repulsive. Who was I to Finn really? A friend who abandoned him. A girl who wept and fought and gave him all the tortures of hell…and then there was Thomas, sweet Thomas who didn't deserve death...who hadn't already accepted it. "You were his friend Thomas…I couldn't do that." Thomas had faced enough trouble for a lifetime, he deserved something good…and that's what victor's got, right?

But Thomas insisted on his proposal. "He didn't put me up to this. He'd want you to. I even want you to." He said sadly, but a new emotion washed over him. "I'm here to protect you Annie and that's what I'm going to do." This courageous offer was admirable, but stupid.

"Who decided that?" I challenged him.

Somehow, like Finn, Thomas knew how to fight me, but his technique differed. "I did. Not Finn. I know he would have wanted both of us to come out and if we had been here at different times…maybe we would but…I talked to him about it. I wasn't ok with keeping you safe then, but it'll be like my last good deed," He said as if he sought out for some mystical redemption that only the salvaging of my life could produce. It was ridiculous.

"No Thomas…It's stupid to sacrifice yourself for me," I shook my head in disbelief as ideas of their conversations started to form. The visions I painted in my mind all seemed surreal and they all seemed to end poorly.

"I'm not. This is my last good deed to Finn," He assured me. "I owe him."

But debt or none, the idea of a sacrifice made me weak. It was a sacrifice for a moment that would never last.