CHAPTER 5

I turn away from Flint and stare into the dancing blue waters of the lake.

"Are you hungry?" I ask him, picking up the spear.

"Sort of. Will be soon. We left everything at the cornucopia." He informs me. I nod and wade slightly into the water. Normally I would use the flowers, but it's the second day and the sponsors will be more active, so I have to impress them.

I close my eyes and try to feel the movement in the water, rather than look. It's very almost calming. I can tell Flint is watching me, be he doesn't say anything. There's a ripple off to my right and I throw the spear down hopefully. When I pull it up, there is a large bloffinch stabbed right through the middle, wriggling about on the end of my spear. I catch myself before I laugh… Normally I would ever make a catch like that. It's virtually impossible. Happily I was lucky this time. I walk to shore.

"You ever tried Bloffinch before?" I ask Flint, smiling a little. He shakes his head, uncertainly. I chuckle and pick up a few pieces of driftwood.

"Hey uh… Is it wise to start a fire? The careers will be angry at the moment." He points out. I shrug, whilst casually noticing the way he uses the words the careers. Not the rest of them. He's distancing himself from them.

"We need to eat. And we have a lot of weapons. We're not completely defenceless, so if anyone tried to attack us we'd probably be ok." I reason. He nods and helps me collect the firewood. About ten minutes later, we have a nice warm fire in front of us, flickering away. Of courseit's still daylight, so the smoke is visible, but let them come. We're prepared. The salty driftwood is turning the flames an attractive green colour and I stare into it, appreciating the warmth. I stick the Bloffinch on a stick which I rotate over the fire, and wait until it looks cooked. Then I find another slab of driftwood and use it as a chopping board. One of my three knives makes short work of the fish. I hand Flint a few pieces. It isn't much, but it's the best we can do.

"Thanks." He mumbles. I smile at him and start to eat. A while later, a thought occurs to me.

"How many tributes are left?"

"Uh… Well, I think that's seventeen down. So… there are seven of us left to play." He remarks. I can barely believe it. It's the second day, and I'm almost home. That's an unusual amount gone in the first two days. Maybe it will calm down tomorrow. Hopefully it will calm down tomorrow.

"Do you want to stay here or move?" He asks, which I can't help thinking is considerate.

"Well… People will see the smoke out here, so it would probably be better to leave…" I muse, and then come to a decision. "Yeah. Let's go."

"Flint, can I ask you a question?" I ask him, while we're walking.

"Sure." he answers.

What I really want to know is why he wants me as an ally, but I don't know him enough to ask him that. I have to admit that I trust him, but I have to keep my eyes open, because there's only one winner, and at least one of us will be dead by the end: that's the harsh reality of it all.

So I think twice, and ask him something else.

"What are your skills?"

"I'm good with spears and swords, I'm strong and probably much wiser than the other Careers." he answers, grinning. "Not that that's an achievement." He adds, smirking. Then he looks up at me. "What about you? You're from 7… so either lumberjack or hunter, right?"

"No. I know I should be…" I tell him. "But at home my brother fishes and we own a cow. There's no reason for any of us to go hunting.

Occasionally in the woods I've helped take down a bear or something, but that's not quite the same as this. Usually, I just repair rotten clothes, and we earn money from that. My parents are kind of old, so they do home business and help me at school: they used to be teachers." I tell him, and then realise I've literally just told the entirety of Panem that I'm worthless. Up your game Regan. "But I'm fast, I can use knives, and I know how to fish. More importantly… I know to survive here, much better than the Careers. I guess you guys don't really suffer from hunger." I shrug. Flint thinks for a moment.

"Well... we don't really. The odd family does. District 1 has poor sections too, you know. But the only thing you've got to be afraid of is being reaped, and even then, people usually volunteer to take you place, even if they don't know you."

"You're lucky." I tell him.

"I know." he answers me. I look at him, frowning, trying to figure him out. He looks right back at me, big brown eyes earnest.

So the careers are not as scary as I first thought, or at the very least Flint wasn't. The only tributes I should be wary of are Aquette, Squirrel and the boy from 11. Maybe even from Neptune too. But seemingly not Flint.

We don't talk. We just look at each other and try to find what secrets our eyes hide. He opened his mouth to tell me something, when a voice a little way off, interrupted him. It's someone talking loudly. In other words, the careers. I curse under my breath and dart behind a tree, Flint following my lead. I listen intently to their conversation.

"Do that again and you'll end up like Shimmer." Aquette snarls at someone I can't see. There's no way I'm looking around. They'll see me if I do.

"I know, I know, but you need me, much more than we needed Shimmer." answers Neptune. So Aquette and Squirrel did find them then. Neptune is still talking. "She could only run and scream, but you know me. I'm strong, I'm fast, I know how to fish, I can swim and I can use any kind of weapon." He finishes, and I roll my eyes. Arrogant much? But this tells me two things.

First, I should be worried about Neptune, despite his arrogance. Second, the cannon belonged to Shimmer. Aquette killed Shimmer! There is only seven of us left at this point, and I suppose they realised she was more pain than gain. One less Career alive. The boy from 11 has survived but I don't bet he's in a good condition after a run in with Aquette and Squirrel. I can't guess why my district partner is still alive; he isn't as strong as the Careers. Fine, he knows how to hunt professionally, but nothing else. There's a huge difference between hunting and the Hunger games. For one, your prey is intelligent.

"That is why I didn't kill you." Aquette clicks her tongue, annoyed. "Now let's find Flint. Where is he?"

Oh, no. They're looking for Flint. This alliance no longer seems like a good idea at all.

"No idea. But if we find him, I get to kill him." Squirrel snarls.
"Wait. I know he didn't do anything to help us, but we need him." Aquette again. "Knowing him, he'll be looking for us: he's probably at the Cornucopia."

"And if not?" prompts Squirrel.

"Then we kill him." announces Aquette. Squirrel makes a little sound of satisfaction.

"All right, let's go to the Cornucopia." Aquette decides and I hear their footsteps retreating.

As soon as the Careers were out of earshot, I turned to Flint. What do we do now? Flint doesn't want to go with the Careers, and… Fine I'll admit it: I want him with me. But if he doesn't go, he'll probably be the next victim, and they'll search for him everywhere until they find him.

Come on, Regan, think. The secret lake? That was a good idea, but he can't stay there for the rest of the Games and leave me the one who goes out to hunt or fight. If we do that, he's got a higher chance of surviving than me, and much as I value the alliance, I don't want that. It's an alliance, not a friendship. If he goes, he can fake an alliance with Careers, but how would he escape to get back to me? Is it the end of this alliance? I don't want that, I want Flint to be with me.

"So what do we do?" I ask him.

Thanks for reading! :D I hugely appreciate reviews and if you'd care enough to follow the story I will love you forever 3

Lucy xxx