Chapter 31:

Peeta sleeps; I watch and listen.

I watch as members of the alliance hug each other in relief that they are finally all together. I watch as they pool their resources, setting up a new camp on the forest floor and building a fire. They have a greater chance of surviving an attack by the Careers if they are spotted than making it through the night without one. I watch as they drift off to sleep, snuggling close to one another to keep warm. Jack, the lone boy tribute left, takes the first watch.

I listen as the cannon booms twice. The female tributes from Districts 6 and 10, still on their metal circles, unable to move the rocks from their wall and not receiving any outside help, both succumb to hypothermia. I listen as the Careers awake early the next morning, the crackling of the fire as they prepare a meager breakfast and the grating sound of weapons being sharpened- whether it's for hunting food or tributes is anyone's guess. I listen as the cameras show the tributes in the new alliance awaken a short time later and awkwardly try to start conversations amongst the group. They know next to nothing about each other, have little in common- except perhaps the most important thing possible- the united goal of taking down the Capitol, which is the one thing they can't discuss.

I sit there and gently stroke Peeta's hair as he sleeps; I watch. The entire time I'm viewing the broadcast, it's with sort of an unfocused feeling- I'm just staring at the TV screen, with nothing in particular capturing my attention. That feeling abruptly comes to a halt when a camera shows Prim and Annella in the midst of a whispered conversation.

"I just don't think we can trust him," Annella was saying.

I stiffen to attention. Jack? He had the first watch shift last night- had he done anything untrustworthy? Not that I can recall.

Prim shakes her head. "I think you're wrong, Annella. I know him a lot better than you."

It can't be Jack. They must be talking about Paavo.

"I'm telling you, Jack said that he saw the whole thing with his eyes- he had moved enough of the rock wall to see. Paavo threw his knife right into Joel's heart." Annella chokes back her sobs, shoulders shaking. Prim pulls her in for a hug.

"Shhhh….it's okay. Look, we don't know Jack's motivations, either- who's to say we can trust him fully? We just need to keep our eyes open." Prim sighs. "Look, I know he's my district partner's not particularly friendly- but he's our mole- of course he's going to fake allegiance to them, and he has to make it convincing, or it will never work," Prim tries to reassure her.

Annella can't be consoled. She shakes her head slowly, still bawling. But her anger rises. Her next whisper sounds as ominous as it does sad. "All I have to say, is that if what Jack said is true…." She lets the threat dangle in the air.

"Shhhhh, Shhhhh," Prim continues to hug her, understanding that her words are meaningless.

It's so surreal to be on this side of the cameras- to hear the tributes debate the accuracy of something long since shown to the rest of Panem to be true. Yet what is the truth? We know Paavo's actions, can guess at the motivation inside his mind, but the truth of whether or not he is trustworthy lies within Paavo himself; not likely to be revealed for quite some time.

Or maybe it is. Because when the cameras focus back on the Careers, they are ready to hunt- and the preference for food vs. tributes doesn't appear to be discernible, so I have to assume the latter. Fired up, the Careers remove the rock wall from in front of where the male District 5 tribute still sits on his metal platform. Without hesitation, all five of them unleash their pent-up aggression from last evening on him. The cannon booms again. They seem satisfied with their result, and proceed to march towards the woods. But by the camera angles, they are still a long ways off.

Just then, something important occurs to me. Other than in the first couple of minutes of the Quell, the Gamemakers have not shown either of the tributes from District 11 on the TV screen. If they remain on their metal platforms, having somehow survived the night, the Careers paid no attention to them whatsoever. It leaves me puzzled as to where they are. Surely if they had formulated some sort of escape than it would have been televised? And if they died, wouldn't that have been shown as well? Why have the Careers decided to ignore them- is it possible that the Capitol did have some influence on these tributes? None of this makes sense.

It is late enough in the morning; I nudge Peeta. "Peeta," I whisper, "Why haven't they shown the District 11 tributes since the first few minutes of competition? I don't even know where they are."

Peeta shrugs sleepily. "I don't know," he replies, rolling over, eyes still closed. He briefly opens one, squinting. "Maybe they did something that the Capitol didn't like."

I'll admit it, the thought never occurred to me. However, I don't have much time to dwell on it. The Careers are still heading towards the woods, only now they've picked up their pace.

They surprise me by not wandering aimlessly to try to find the alliance; they first focus on killing game. I think that after breakfast they realized how precarious their food situation has become since Copper, Jack, and Mouseface had picked over the bulk of their food supply. That's the disadvantage of the Cornucopia- as protective as it is, it isn't where the natural resources are- so if you don't have enough provided to you, you need to travel far to find it. But Ruby is dangerous with her spear, and between her and Paavo, they take down a beaver and a showshoe hare.

It takes them quite a while to prepare their game, and they do a bit of a hack job- by my standards, anyway- but after it's cooked the Careers consume it quickly. As soon as they finish, they are on the prowl again- and by the looks of things they have closed to within several hundred yards of the alliance's camp. The good news for the alliance- the Careers are loud, talking obnoxiously, without thought as to where the other tributes might be. Maybe they don't care.

And this delights me. Because if the Careers are smart, they should care. We aren't talking about a lone defenseless tribute; we are talking about a group of five (albeit only one male, but still- Annella has proven herself rather strong) armed with several weapons- a trident and a knife at least. Now the alliance has enough time to hear them coming and implement some kind of game plan- whether it be to ambush them, or simply run and hide. Unfortunately, I don't get to watch any of this strategizing firsthand; the camera stays on the Careers as they approach the alliance's campsite. When they get there, it's deserted.

I sit there, chewing my nails, and my nervousness starts to build. I wake Peeta, feeling suddenly claustrophobic from having him pinned across me. He stirs, and gives me a kiss on the cheek as he sits up, but doesn't distract me further- he just grabs my hand and watches with me.

Silk and Stone begin poking through what's remaining of the supplies; unfortunately for them most anything that they would find particularly valuable, i.e. the food, is missing- the alliance must have taken it with them. I am jittery with anticipation at the alliance's plans. Surely they don't plan to square off- the Careers hold too much of an edge with hand-to-hand combat. Still, being so close to their camp, this may be the alliance's best chance to utilize their home-field advantage.

A sound of rustling branches occurs somewhere off in the distance. In response, Silk, Stone, and Paavo reflexively take off after it. Ruby and Nutmeg ready their weapons, but without a target. A few seconds later, with the heavy hitters properly distracted, this is the alliance's chance to go on the offensive. They do. Out of nowhere, Annella's trident appears whizzing through the air- and lands directly in Ruby's chest- at the same time that Jack tackles Nutmeg from behind with the knife.

Ruby falls to the ground instantly, but Annella goes in anyway- she needs to retrieve her weapon. The cannon fires. Nutmeg and Jack roll around on the ground in a struggle- Nutmeg had dropped her machete in surprise and now they are both fighting for the knife in Jack's hands. Trying to distract Nutmeg somehow, Copper slips in. Desperately wanting to give Jack the advantage, Copper tries to kick Nutmeg as she and Jack are rolling around on the forest floor, but misses as they are moving too fast.

The same voice booms out: "Run! Now!" Prim, the tree-rustler, along with Mouseface, had looped back around, but the boys are hot on their tail. At her words, the alliance stops their attack and takes off in a full sprint- all in all, they are lighter, a bit faster. But Copper, the slowest of the group, starts to lag behind.

And with a backwards glance, Prim now sees, firsthand, Paavo throw his knife in Copper's back.