The storm rages on for hours, and the water slowly rises below us. I'm getting more and more worried about the others with each passing second. Prim, Mom, Lavash, Haymitch. I hope they are doing better than we are.

"Do you hear that?" Peeta asks suddenly, dragging me out of my thoughts.

I focus on the noises around me. There's the rain, and the wind, and something I can't place. Is that meowing? I scan the area for the source of the sound, my gaze falling on an orange blob in a nearby tree. Buttercup is clinging to a branch, crying loudly for Prim to save him.

I point toward Buttercup's tree. "It's my sister's cat."

Peeta turns his attention to the cat. "What's he doing up there? I thought Prim would have found him by now." He gasps and points to the base of the tree. "Katniss, look there. Isn't that your sister?"

I look down, eyes wide. Sure enough, Prim is standing at the base of the tree, trying to coax Buttercup down from his perch. "Prim!" I shout. She doesn't hear me. "I'm going down. You stay here."

"No," Peeta protests. "I'm going with you. It's dangerous down there."

I swing my legs off the side of the branch, ignoring his protests. "You will only slow me down." I leap to the ground before he can respond. My feet sink into the mud, causing me to fall forward into the rising water. I scramble to get up, coughing and gagging. "Prim!"

"Katniss!" she calls back to me.

I make my way to her side just as Buttercup jumps into her arms. "Where's Mom?"

Prim doesn't look up at me. "You should see for yourself."

My breath catches in my throat. Did something bad happen to her? I glance back at Peeta. I can't leave him stranded in the tree. I stumble toward him in a daze. "We need to stick together."

Peeta can see my distress and begins to panic. "What happened?" He wastes no time climbing out of the tree and splashing into the mud beside me.

"We'll find out," I say.

Prim leads us up a steep incline. The water from the flood flows downhill, draining out into the area we just left. The mud makes it hard to walk, so I let Peeta lean on me for support. It takes us about ten minutes to arrive at a thicket. Prim sets Buttercup down and crawls between the dense bushes, motioning for us to follow. "She's in here."

Peeta and I crawl side-by-side into the thicket. Wet leaves cling to our bodies as we make our way inside, but I'm too preoccupied with thoughts of my mother to take much notice of them. It's not long before I see the outline of her body. She appears to be in a peaceful sleep, but the bandages around her head suggest otherwise. Her backpack of medical supplies is propped up next to her.

"She fell," Prim explains, "and hit her head on a rock. I dragged her in here to get her out of the rain. This thicket was the only form of shelter I could find."

I gingerly touch my mother's cheek. It's so cold. There is absolutely nothing to warm her with, because all of our other supplies are with Haymitch. "How bad is the head injury?"

Prim gives me a look of uncertainty and fear. "It doesn't look too bad, but she has been unconscious for a long time. I don't know what else to do."

"It's okay," I assure her. "I'm sure she will wake up soon."

We wait out the storm in the thicket. Not much rain can get through the thick mass of leaves surrounding us, and the wind has died down a bit. The storm should be over soon.

Peeta has fallen asleep, his body shaking from the cold. I wish I had my sleeping bag to cover him with. I settle for lying next to him, allowing him to share my body heat.

Prim is cuddling Buttercup close to her chest, and he is purring into her soaked clothes. "Katniss," she begins, her eyes darting between our mother and me. "We need to dry off and get warm somehow."

I motion for her to come here, and she scoots into my open arms. "I know. We'll find Haymitch and our supplies as soon as the storm is over."

"It might be too late by then." Prim leans down to hug our unconscious mother, Buttercup still clutched in her arms. "She's freezing."

I brush my fingers across her frozen hand, and then I lean over to touch Peeta's hand. They're both so unnaturally cold. If we can't warm them up, this thicket will be their grave. "Peeta, wake up!" I shout, shaking his shoulders. His eyes flutter open in alarm, and I pull him into my arms. "Don't go to sleep. You might never wake up."

"I'm sorry," he whispers.

I turn my attention to Prim. "You have to wake her up."

She gently sets Buttercup beside her and grabs our mother's arms, shaking her. "Mom, wake up. Please." When she doesn't wake up, tears spring into Prim's eyes. "Mom, please! You have to get up! Mom..."

"She can't be... dead," I mutter, burying my face in Peeta's hair.

"No," Prim says, sniffling. "There's still a pulse, but why won't she wake up?"

I can't bring myself to look at my mother's injured body, her deathly pale skin. She is going to die, and it's all my fault. I should have known better than to bring her into the forest. I should have left here at home, where at least she would be safe from the cold.

"Prim... Katniss..."

I open my eyes and slowly, timidly turn my head to face her. My mother is staring back at me, and I offer her a small smile. At least she is alive.

Prim kisses her cheek. "I'm so glad you're okay. We thought you were..." She lets her sentence trail off, afraid to finish it.

Our mother wraps her arms around Prim, calming her down. "I won't ever leave you."

I give her a quick hug before pulling Peeta back into my arms. There is a faraway look in his eyes, and I fear that he won't last much longer. I need to warm him up somehow, but that's kind of hard when I'm freezing too. "Haymitch has our supplies," I tell them. "We need to find him as soon as possible."