Disclaimer: The Hunger Games is not mine.

Note: New poll on my profile. The question this time is: Which district pair is/was your favorite? As usual, the qualifications for "favorite" are entirely up to you. This poll isn't really going to have an effect on the story because a number of the tributes are no longer with us, but I'm curious.

Day Two
From Which a Man Must Flee

Mags Pharos
District Four Mentor

The sponsors kept telling her she should be proud.

Ella had killed two tributes. Never mind that they were her allies, her friends. Never mind that she was running away from the fighting, fleeing deeper into the forest. And never mind that she was alone now. She'd proven that she was willing to kill, and the sponsors loved that.

So, for Ella's sake, Mags tried to be proud. She smiled at the sponsors, assured them that, yes, of course, Ella would kill again when the time came. After all, she'd killed two tributes on the very first day, a number matched only by the boy from One. Of course Ella was a ruthless killer who'd taken the first opportunity to turn on her allies with nothing more than a few sharpened sticks.

She didn't believe it for a second, but the sponsors ate it up.

The explanation was really a lot simpler than that: Ella was scared. Just plain scared. And now she was scared and alone.

Mags knew the feeling all too well. Zale, her district partner and sole ally, had been killed in the bloodbath the year before, leaving Mags to fend for herself for the rest of the Games. And she'd survived. Maybe Ella could, too.

But she needed a little push.

Mags watched the cameras follow Ella as she wandered through the forest in the first light of dawn. She was following a small stream in a southeast direction. Away from everyone else. Away from what she had done.

Which was a fairly good plan, but Mags knew the Gamemakers wouldn't let her keep wandering forever. She'd have to get her to turn around.

Ella looked up as a soft pinging noise filled the air, and a small parachute drifted towards her. Ella stared for a moment; clearly, she hadn't been expecting any gifts. Not when she was almost certainly blaming herself for killing both her allies. But eventually she decided that, since she was the only one in the area, the gift must be for her.

Cautiously, as if she were afraid it might explode, Ella opened the package. Inside was a knife – not a small, delicate one like the one Jade had sent Angus, but a larger, heavier hunting knife, made for tearing through flesh.

Ella's face was unreadable, but, as she turned and followed the stream back the way she had come, Mags knew her message had been received. Later, there would be time for grief. For regret. Now was the time to survive. To live.

And, in order to do that, she would have to be willing to kill.

Pike Carter, 12
District Six Male

Pike woke up soaking wet.

His first thought was that maybe he had rolled closer to the water during the night. But, beside him, Libby, Wulfric, and Nicoline were still sleeping soundly, though the water was creeping up next to them. They'd meant to leave someone on guard through the night, but apparently someone had fallen asleep and forgotten to wake the next watcher. He wondered if it had been him.

Not that it mattered at the moment; they were all alive. But they would have to be more careful in the future.

Quickly, Pike woke the others, who were just as surprised by the water as he was. Except Wulfric, who was nodding. "Well, that was sooner than I expected, but I guess it makes sense."

"What makes sense?" Libby asked.

"Look around," Wulfric shrugged. "Do you see anyone else? Any action happening over here? No, everyone else ran across the mountains to the Cornucopia. The audience doesn't want to watch a group of tributes eating turtle eggs on a beach. So they'll start to flood the plains, force us east, until we run into some of the others."

"They seem to be taking their time with it," Pike pointed out. They'd gone to sleep a good distance from the beach, yes, but the water certainly didn't seem to be flooding anything just yet.

Wulfric nodded. "True, but we can't count on that lasting. We'll have to get moving eventually. So the sooner we figure out which way we're going, the better – over the mountains, around them to the north, or around them to the south."

"There's another option," Pike suggested. "There were caves in the mountains – looked like they went in pretty deep. We could go there."

From the look on Wulfric's face, caves were the last place he wanted to go. "That might not be the best idea. It'd be pretty easy to get lost."

"That's probably what the other tributes will be thinking, too," Nicoline ventured. "No one will want to go there. So it might be safer."

Pike nodded. "So the closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm. I like it."

"We might not have time to go around to the north or south," Libby added. "We don't know how far the mountains go, and we definitely don't want to be trapped on this side if the plains start to flood faster."

Wulfric nodded. "Okay, so we either go over or through."

"How do we know that the caves go all the way through the mountains?" Libby asked.

"Because otherwise they'd be pointless," Pike volunteered. "Watching tributes sit in a dead-end cave for days is about as interesting as watching them on a beach. There'll be a way through. It's just a matter of finding it."

Wulfric nodded. "But what'll be waiting on the other side?"

"The same thing that'll be waiting on the other side if we go over," Nicoline pointed out. "But it'll be harder to see us coming than if we go climbing over the mountains, making a bunch of noise."

Libby nodded. "There are four of us, after all. If we go over the mountains, they'll probably spot us. If we go through, we might go unnoticed a bit longer."

They all looked to Wulfric. Everyone seemed to have cast their votes, but, then again, Wulfric had just joined them; he was free to leave if he wanted, as well.

But, at last, the older boy nodded. "Through it is, then. And I hope you're right."

Abstract Calls, 18
District One Female

Abstract was beginning to think that maybe Jade had been right about finding allies. She hadn't slept a wink all night.

The larger alliance was camped out near the Cornucopia. Too near for comfort. And there was no chance of attacking them – not yet. They'd had someone on watch all through the night. She needed some sleep. But not here. Not out in the open.

Abstract turned her attention to one of the entrances to the caves. She had made good use of her time yesterday, setting traps outside every entrance she could find. If anyone came blundering out of the caves, she would know instantly. But, she realized with a smile, it would also work in reverse. Carefully, she stepped over one of her trip-wires and entered the caves. She could go a little farther in, sleep for a few hours, and if anyone tried to come after her, she would be ready for them.

Even so, it took her a while to fall asleep. She couldn't shake the feeling that she should be doing something. It was only the beginning of the second day, but she still felt terribly restless. Six tributes had made camp at the Cornucopia – which she had found first – and she'd done nothing, nothing to stop them.

But what was she supposed to do? Attack all six of them at once? No. No, better to wait. Alliances didn't last forever, and theirs was no exception. She could wait. She'd already made one kill, which was probably more than most of the others. The audience wouldn't be getting impatient with her yet.

Not that it mattered what the audience thought. Not really. She didn't care about making them happy, satisfying those mindless Capitol fools who had sat by and watched her brother die. If they had to wait a few days for their blood, so be it. They would get it eventually.

Abstract closed her eyes, but sleep still came slowly, and, even then, it was a fitful sleep. She kept seeing a face – but the face was never the same. Sometimes it was Mosaic's. Sometimes it was Hazel's. And sometimes the face belonged to the girl from Twelve.

Which was stupid, she knew. She couldn't even remember the girl's face – not clearly. They hadn't met. Hadn't talked at all during training. She barely remembered the girl's name. They certainly hadn't been friends.

But they hadn't been enemies, either.

And she hadn't even thought about it. She'd just thrown the knife. Just like she'd always told herself she would. Just like she'd been training to do for years now. She'd actually done it. But she didn't feel anything that she thought she would – no satisfaction, no sense of accomplishment, but also no guilt, no hesitation. Wulfric had been right that day during training – she just felt numb.

She just wished she could decide whether that was good or bad.

Sterling Therms, 18
District Seven Male

Zione and Kiona had been talking in whispers nearby for nearly ten minutes after breakfast.

Sterling wasn't sure what to make of it, but the others were watching Zione and Kiona expectantly – except for Sher, who was making a tower out of some matchsticks. When Zione turned back to the group, it was with an air of finality. Something had been decided.

Sterling didn't like the fact that it had been decided without them.

"We need to explore the area around us," Zione began. "Figure out what's in the other directions, find places that we could retreat to if we're attacked and outnumbered."

"Outnumbered?" Lordez asked skeptically. "There are six of us."

"But there won't always be," Zione pointed out. "I don't like it any more than you do, but, eventually, some of us will die, and the ones who are left might need somewhere safer to run to. Sterling and Brie were right yesterday – we're out in the open here. Which is fine for now, but it won't be safe forever."

Brie was smiling at Zione's recognition, but Sterling wasn't buying it. Zione was trying to mend the rift that had been created yesterday by pretending to agree with them. But it wouldn't last forever.

"We also need water," Kiona added. "There was some in the Cornucopia, but not a lot, and there are six of us. We'll need another source of fresh water. There's a lake up there by the mountains, but that'll also be the first place other tributes would go to find water. The less dependent we are on a single source of food and water, the better."

"So where are we going?" Lordez asked.

"We're splitting up," Zione said with finality. "Just for a few hours, just to do a little exploring. Kiona and I will head north, have a look at the swamp up there – it may provide some good cover in a tight spot. Lordez and Sher, you'll go south, see if there's any fresh water in the forest. Sterling and Brie, you'll take the containers that we have, head to the lake up by the mountains, fill them, and come back to guard the Cornucopia. Stay together; we're safer in pairs. Take some food and water, and keep your weapons handy. Any questions?"

Sterling glanced at Brie. She seemed about ready to say something, but she held it back. Sher, on the other hand, was grinning. "No questions – just a word of advice. That patch of marsh there near the mountains – you might want to stay away from it."

"Why?" Zione asked.

Sher shrugged. "Quicksand, obviously. Head for the marsh, sure, but keep away from the mountains – those patches look more dangerous. And watch your step in any case."

Zione eyed Sher curiously for a moment, but then nodded. "Thanks. We'll meet back here around noon. Good luck."

With that, he and Kiona headed off to the north. Quickly, Lordez and Sher packed two backpacks and took off in the opposite direction, leaving Sterling and Brie.

"What do you make of that?" Sterling asked as he and Brie began to gather what water bottles they had.

Brie shrugged. "I think he wants an excuse to spend some time alone with Kiona."

Sterling looked up from the backpack he'd been packing. "What?"

Brie smiled a little. "Oh, don't pretend you haven't noticed them together," she giggled. "The way she's his second-in-command without question, the way they were whispering together after breakfast this morning. It's obvious they like each other!"

Sterling stared, but then smiled, too. It was pretty obvious, now that she mentioned it. Why hadn't he seen it sooner?

Because he'd been focused on surviving – that was why. And he couldn't afford to start worrying about what was going on between Kiona and Zione now. The only thing he needed to worry about was getting home.

He couldn't afford any distractions.

Kiona Brink, 18
District Two Female

Finally. They were alone.

The other tributes were nice enough, but she'd been itching for some time alone with Zione for a while now, and doing a little exploring gave them a perfect excuse. Hopefully, they didn't look too suspicious.

They took Sher's advice and headed towards the marsh, but to the east, away from the mountains. "I wonder what's beyond the marsh," she said at last, trying to make what would sound like normal conversation.

"Maybe nothing – why?"

Kiona shrugged. "Well, if we could find a safe way through the marshes and to whatever's on the other side, it would be pretty hard for anyone else to get to it. I bet even the Gamemakers wouldn't want to go back there." Maybe there wouldn't be as many cameras back there. Maybe we could talk more freely.

"Sounds like a plan," Zione readily agreed, and the two plunged into the marsh.

Finding a safe path was easier said than done. Neither of them had experience with anything of the sort, so it was mostly trial and error – they would try stepping in one spot, and, if that started to give way, back up and try somewhere else. It was tedious work, but it was the most fun she'd had in a long time, and there were almost certainly no other tributes in the area.

Almost certainly.

Then she looked down and saw a face.

Kiona screamed and nearly fell over backwards, but Zione caught her. "There was a face," she gasped. "A face, down there in the water!"

Zione looked where she was pointing, but it was gone. A moment later, though, he took a step backwards, startled, staring at a different patch of marsh. "You're right – there are faces. Dead faces."

Kiona looked closer. Dead. And not just faces, but bodies, as well. Bodies in uniforms.

Capitol uniforms.

Kiona froze, staring at one of the bodies. The last time she'd seen a body in a Capitol uniform had been the day before she and Zione had been separated. The last soldier she'd killed. And this body looked just like him – except younger than she remembered. The boy in the marsh in front of her couldn't be more than nineteen or twenty. Just a child.

To a nine-year-old, he had seemed a giant. A monster. But now, seeing him here, only a year or two older than her own brother, her stomach churned. Could this really be the soldier she had killed? This boy, so much like the one beside her now?

Suddenly, a hand reached out, wrapping around her ankle. Zione grabbed her, trying to pull her back, but the hand was stronger. Pulling her into the marsh.

Zione gave a cry and drew his knife, striking at the ghostly shape. The arm released her and sank back into the marsh, but the eyes kept staring. Staring at her with something between amusement and condemnation. Blaming her for his death.

Kiona shook the thought from her head. She'd done what she'd had to do. It was a war, after all. She'd been fighting for a cause. Protecting her family. There was nothing to blame herself for.

But that thought was quickly replaced by another – even worse. What was he doing here? Why would the Gamemakers put Capitol soldiers in their marsh? Why would those be the dead bodies that they chose?

Unless they knew.

Nicoline Peters, 13
District Eight Female

They were almost to the caves when the eagles swooped down.

Pike saw them first, and yelled to the others to run. At first, Nicoline wasn't sure why he was so afraid – they were just birds, after all – but then the eagles began to circle down out of the sky, lower and lower, closer and closer. They were huge, their talons sharp and fierce.

Now she was running as fast as she could towards the mountains, towards the caves.

Because, whether they liked it or not, the caves were the only option now. If they tried to go over the mountains, the eagles would follow them. But not in the caves. Not underground.

They probably wouldn't even fit through the opening of the cave – they were that huge.

Nicoline and Pike ran on ahead, followed by Libby. Wulfric stayed at the back, picking up rocks to throw at the eagles, slowing them down. But he couldn't keep it up forever. He was tiring. Nicoline heard him shout as one of the eagles grazed him with its talons. But she didn't look back. She couldn't.

She had to keep running.

Beside her, Pike was breathing heavily. Both were running at a dead sprint now, maybe a hundred yards away from the caves. Out of the corner of her eye, Nicoline was aware of a lake to her right as she neared the entrance, and she thought – though maybe she was imagining things – that she saw something moving. Something entering one of the other openings nearby.

But she didn't have time to think about it. She and Pike practically dove into the cave, followed by Libby. Only then did she look back. Wulfric was wrestling one of the eagles, but the others were still coming after them. For a terrible moment, Nicoline thought they might be able to follow them inside. But, instead, the eagles' talons sank deep into the rock above the entrance, their wings flapping hard, loosening the rocks. Libby yanked Nicoline back from the entrance as rock after rock came crashing down, sealing them in the pitch dark of the cave.

And sealing Wulfric out.

For a terrible moment, they couldn't hear anything, and Nicoline dreaded the sound of a cannon that she was sure was coming. But, instead, after a silence that seemed to last for hours, they heard Wulfric's voice. "Libby! Nicoline, Pike!"

"We're in here!" Libby called back. "Can you get in?"

Silence again. "The entrances are all sealed off," Wulfric called at last. "The rocks are too big – I can't move them." From the sound of his voice, he had been trying. "I'll have to go over. You three go on; I'll meet you on the other side."

"But we can't see a thing!" Pike insisted. "How will we know where to go?"

"What if they seal off the other side, too?" Nicoline wondered.

"Stop it!" Wulfric snapped. "You'll get out. Follow Libby. Libby…" Silence again. "Get them out. Okay? You can do this. Find a way. Find a way out."

"Okay," Libby said softly. Then, realizing Wulfric probably couldn't hear her, she called louder, "Okay! I'll see you on the other side, Wulfric! Be careful!"

"You, too!" Wulfric called.

"All right." Libby's voice was quieter now, but there was something else – a confidence Nicoline hadn't heard from her before. "We have to stay together. Here. Take my hands. We'll find a wall and follow it. Let's go."

Nicoline took Libby's hand, and the three of them plunged on into the darkness.

Lordez Miller, 17
District Eleven Female

Lordez wished Zione had sent someone else with her. Maybe Brie, or Kiona, or even Sterling – though she understood why he wouldn't want to send Sterling back to the forest; he might decide he didn't want to come back. But any of them would be better company.

By the time they reached the forest, she was seriously considering killing Sher herself out of sheer annoyance. But it was rather frowned upon to kill your district partner without good reason, and being an annoying, loud-mouthed, insufferable genius probably didn't count as a good reason.

Besides, he was still useful. He'd warned Zione about the quicksand, after all – although she suspected there was more to that. And he'd taken her side yesterday about the Cornucopia. So he was handy to have around.

She just wished he would talk a little more quietly. Every tribute in the forest probably knew they were there.

Lordez was still trying to work out who might be in the forest. Out of the twenty-four tributes, eight were dead. Not counting the six of them, that left ten. But she doubted that Libby, Pike, and Nicoline were nearby – or would attack even if they were. They would probably stay put as long as possible. Sher had seemed confident that someone had reached the Cornucopia before them, but had also seemed to think that person – probably Abstract, since Mars was dead – would be in the mountains now. That left Husk's alliance – or whoever's alliance it was now that Husk was gone – but if they had reached the Cornucopia, they would probably have stayed. So even if they were nearby, they were probably unarmed.

That left the boys from One and Ten and the girl from Four. If the boy from One had, in fact, killed Mars, as Sher seemed to think, then he was probably armed, but there was still only one of him. Two of them. Wulfric didn't seem like the sort who would attack two of them at once, either. And Ella? Her allies were all dead; she was probably hiding somewhere, hoping no one would find her.

So they were probably safe. But it wouldn't hurt to be careful. Lordez held her finger to her lips, and, to her surprise, Sher stopped chattering about the number of rabbits that had crossed their path and whether any of them were likely to glow in the dark. "What are you worried about?" he asked in an over-dramatic whisper. "If there are any tributes here, they're about as likely to attack us as these trees are!" With that, he sunk the knife he'd been carrying into the bark of a tree.

And then he ran.

Lordez turned to follow him, but something clamped around her leg. Looking down, she saw a tree root, wrapped around her foot, slowly climbing up her leg. Startled, she began hacking at the root, but a branch reached down and wrapped around her arm. Her knife dropped to the forest floor as she called out to Sher. But she already knew it was useless. He was long gone.

Then there was a rustling, and the girl from Four – Ella – appeared from behind one of the trees. She rushed over with her own knife, and, for a moment, Lordez thought that perhaps she meant to kill her. But, instead, Ella struck at one of the branches holding Lordez's arm.

The branch instantly recoiled.

Lordez stared, then realized that Ella was staring, as well. It was as if the tree had obeyed her. A strange look came over Ella's face. Ella pointed at the tree. Then at Lordez. The branch reached over again and wrapped around Lordez's arm. "Wait!" Lordez pleaded. "Tell it to let me go. I can help you. You could join us. My allies—"

But before she got any further, Ella flicked her wrist, and a vine wrapped around Lordez's neck. Ella shook her head firmly – sadly, almost, it seemed. "I had allies. It didn't turn out so well for them. Maybe I'm just better off alone."

Lordez shook her head, gasping, choking, but Ella turned away and clenched her fist tightly. The vine tightened around Lordez's neck.

A moment later, Ella heard the cannon. She didn't turn around.

Helius Florum
Head Gamemaker

Helius smiled as Ella unclenched her fist and Lordez's body sank to the forest floor. "Excellent work with the trees!" he called excitedly in Bregal's direction. "I think she actually believes she's controlling them."

Bregal looked up from her work and flashed him a smile. It had taken them many long days and a few bruised limbs to finally get the program right, but now the trees were completely at their command. They could uproot an entire tree and tell it to traverse the forest, or simply move a branch a few inches to the left or right.

But it wouldn't seem that way to the audience. Bregal had been attentively following Ella's movements, making the trees seem to respond to her wishes. With any luck, it would seem that way to the audience, as well. The girl who turned the arena itself into a weapon. He liked that. And Ella was so overwhelmed with her own emotions that she just might believe it, too.

Elsewhere in the arena, the water had nearly reached the mountains. "All right, let's stop the flood," Helius instructed. "It's done its job." Libby, Nicoline, and Pike were slowly making their way through the caves, unaware that Angus, too, had been forced into a nearby passageway. Having tended quickly to his own injuries, Wulfric was already halfway across the mountains. On the other side of the caves, Abstract was waking from a restless sleep.

Back at the Cornucopia, Sterling and Brie waited for the others. Zione and Kiona were the first to arrive, sopping wet and now thoroughly convinced that the marsh was not a good place to take shelter in an emergency. Sher would arrive shortly, bringing word of his fallen district partner. Helius smiled a little, wondering how much of that the boy had planned and how much had simply been luck.

To the north, Harakuise, Aldo, and Equinox were searching in vain for food among the plants in the marsh. They'd managed to break off some of the ice and melt it for fresh water, but food was going to be hard to come by if they didn't act soon. Aldo and Equinox were growing restless, but Harakuise remained calm. Unfazed. Confident in his plan, whatever it was.

Helius leaned back in his chair, smiling contentedly. Whatever was about to happen that night between the marsh and the mountains, it was going to be good.

"I am wise enough to know that there are some perils from which a man must flee."