The Games We Played

by abugsaunt

AU. Peeta spends his teen years living in the seam and training to fight in the rebellion.He ends up competing in the 75th hunger games with 71 other tributes. In the Capitol, he meets Cato and many others who are aware of the upcoming rebellion. Many pairings including Peeta/Cato WARNING This is rated M for violence, language, and eventual sexy content. Male/Male relationship

7. Chapter 7 The Tributes go into the Arena

The Games We Played

Here is chapter 7. To my new followers, welcome to my insanity! Our favorite tributes will be going into the arena this chapter.

MangoMagic: My first reviewer of chapter 6! I understand where you're coming from. I thought it would be interesting to utilize current biomes for the futuristic games settings. I realized that America, Africa, and Australia might not be common terms to the tributes, but the game makers would have had a little more info coming to them being from the Capitol. They in turn could pass 'certain' info to the mentors.

Insanitywriter: Hi and welcome to my crazy idea! I was a little worried that no one would like my idea for the arena. But so far I've heard nothing but good things. I'd love to tell you right now that all 12 tributes will be safe and sound but that would just ruin the whole story ;) I hope you'll keep on this rollercoaster I'm creating and enjoy the ride!

Chapter 7: The Tributes go into the Arena

Peeta awakes to Haymitch shaking him. He tells Peeta to get cleaned up for breakfast. After his shower, he throws on some khaki shorts and a black t-shirt. He slips on a pair of sock and running shoes before heading to the dining room. He loads his plate with eggs, bacon, waffles, toast, and strawberries. While they're all eating, Haymitch reminds them that they need to find water. He tells them that he knows that they'll be fine, to remember all their training. When the six teens finish eating, Haymitch and Effie take them to the roof to the hovercraft. The six tributes from District 11 are already on board. A woman dressed in white injects their trackers in their arms. Peeta winces when he received his. They're in the air for about an hour when they reach their destination. They unload one at a time, in two minute intervals, led by two peacekeepers.

Peeta is led to a door labeled District 12 male – C. When the door opens, he sees Portia waiting for him. He walks over to her and she wraps her arms around him. She then leads him over to a small couch so they can talk.

"Peeta, I was at the interviews last night. I saw you. You looked out of it. What was going on?"

He looks at her, "Do you remember the pocket watch you gave me when I was getting ready?" She nods. "It was from my dad. I had forgotten he gave it to me the day of the reaping. I had just shoved it in my pocket, not really thinking about it. I finally opened it before the interviews." He looks down at his folded hands in his lap. Portia leans forward and puts her hand on his, encouraging him to continue. He takes a deep breath. "Inside the watch was a picture of two babies, twins. Me and what would have been my twin sister."

Portia's eyes widen. "How do you know that?"

"My dad left me a note." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the watch and a scrap of paper. He hands the paper to Portia to read.

Peeta-

This is you and your twin sister Michetta. She died two days after you were born. We never told anyone about her. I should have done more to protect you.

Dad

Portia looks back to Peeta, who shows her the picture. "You had a twin that you didn't know about? Does Rie know?"

Peeta shrugs his shoulders. "I don't honestly know." His voice is quiet.

"Peeta, one more question. What did your dad mean when he said he should've done more to protect you?"

Peeta shakes his head. "I don't want to talk about that."

Portia puts an arm around Peeta. "Hey, I understand you don't want to talk about it. But you are so sidetracked right now and you need to have your mind on what your about to go into. Being this distracted will get you killed. I have faith in you. I think you can win." She gets up and goes to get his outfit. His voice is so quiet she almost didn't hear him.

"My mother used to hit me. When I was 11, she beat me bad and kicked me out, disowned me. The rest of the family wasn't allowed to talk to me. Rie finally stood up to her and we've been working on mending our relationship."

Portia drops the clothes and turns to Peeta. She sees the tears flowing down his face. She rushes over to him and wraps her arms around him. "Shh, it's okay Peeta. Just let it out." She holds him and lets him cry himself out. When he's done, she leads him to the sink to wash his face. She brings the outfit over for him to put on. He puts on the navy boxer brief underwear, followed by navy cotton shorts and t-shirt. The last piece is a black and gold full body neoprene body suit. On his feet, socks and neoprene boot-like shoes with deep treads on the bottom. She puts the watch with the note inside in a waterproof pouch around Peeta's neck, tucking it under the suit.

"Looks like you'll be in water." Portia says zipping up the back of Peeta's suit.

"Hey Portia, what's this button do?" Peeta asks, pointing to a spot near his wrist.

"I don't know, shall we see?" Peeta nods and she pushes it. The upper half of the suit inflates. "Oh, it's a floatation device!" She pushes the button again and the suit deflates.

All of a sudden a woman's voice fills the room. "All tributes to their tubes please. All tributes to their tubes please."

Peeta starts to head to the tube in the corner of the room before turning around and throwing his arms around Portia. "Thank you Portia. For everything. I mean everything."

"Talk to Rie. Show him the watch, picture, and note. Good luck." She whispers in his ear. He nods.

Peeta rushes to the tube and it closes behind him. He turns to see Portia wave to him. He waves back as the disk below him starts to rise. Coming out of the darkness, he is temporarily blinded by a bright light. Blinking a few times, he gets a view of the arena. He sends a million thanks to Katniss and Boggs for insisting they learn to swim. He looks around to the other tributes, hoping to see at least one or two near him. Three tributes to his left he sees Clove. She smiles and points to the shore. He nods back. He looks to his right. The closest ally he sees is about ten tributes away. At first he thought it could be Rie but a second look reveals it to be Cato. Before he has a chance to think, Seneca Crane makes an announcement.

"Attention tributes! Some changes have been made to the games this year. First, there are 36 backpacks hidden in the jungle in front of you that will help you on your way to the cornucopia. When you get close enough, you will hear them beep. Once you grab it, the beeping will stop. Second, no help from your Mentors will be given until after midnight tonight. Third, you will have 6 hours to get to the cornucopia. After that, it will disappear until noon tomorrow. And finally, some of you may have noticed an empty tube next to you. Rue Burd of District 11 and Daniel Fischer of District 4 won the privilege of getting a head start and have been released closer to the cornucopia. Good luck tributes. And may the odds be ever in your favor."

With that, a clock counting down from 60 lit up in the sky. Peeta looked towards Cato again but saw that he was focused on the shore, ready to go. He looked over to Clove. She was also standing in a ready position. He looked past her one last time to see if any other ally members were near. There weren't as far as he could tell. He put his hand up to the watch under his suit. He thought of Portia. She who treated him with kindness, talked to him, got him to open up when even his own best friends couldn't. He knew he would do as Portia said, that as soon as he found Rie, he would show him the watch, picture, and note. He also decided that if he found his friends, they would see them as well. This was something they should know as well.

As for Cato, he needed to apologize to him for the night before. Peeta knew deep down that Cato wasn't trying to hurt him by asking him about his past. He snuck another peek towards him. He hoped that Cato was still his ally and would forgive him.

Peeta checked the clock. Ten seconds left. He got ready. When the canon boomed, he dove in the water and swam quickly. As soon as he reached the shore, he looked for Clove. She had swam towards where he was and was walking out of the water behind him. She pointed behind her.

"Look, some of the tributes are still on their tubes."

Sure enough, Peeta could barely see 3 tributes still standing out there. He leans down and whispers in Clove's ear, "I'm glad Boggs and Katniss made the six of us learn to swim." She looks at him and smiles. "I saw Cato down that way," he says pointing towards his left. "Should we go towards him or head directly to the cornucopia?"

She looks in the direction he pointed and the at the jungle in front of them. "Let's hit the jungle. Too big a risk running into tributes without any weapons. Better chance of finding a backpack or two as well." Peeta nods and they run up the beach towards the jungle. When they reach the jungle, they look back and see a couple tributes struggling onto the beach. Peeta takes Clove's hand and they run into the jungle together. They leap and duck their way through the trees. They get about three quarters of the way through the jungle when they hear a beeping noise. They stop and listen. Listening closely, they follow the sound until they figure out where it was coming from. Up in a tree was a backpack. Peeta climbs the tree and drops the large, heavy backpack to Clove. She waits for him to come back down to open it. Inside they find a half gallon jug of water, a bag of dried meat, a bag of dried fruit, matches, a rolled pouch of 12 throwing knives, a large heat reflecting blanket, a first aid kit, a flashlight, some rope, a pair of socks, a map and a compass.

As they load everything back into the backpack except 3 knives each, the cannon signaling tribute deaths started going off. Clove and Peeta look at each other. They counted 14 booms.

"I bet it was those tributes that couldn't or wouldn't swim. I'm sure our friends are fine." Clove says when she sees Peeta's worried look.

"I know. I just can't help but worry." Peeta replies.

They are ready to keep going. Peeta takes the lead and they run until they come to a brick wall. They decide to follow to the left. They walk until they find an opening.

"Let's go," Clove says. "We've got over 5 hours to reach the cornucopia. Let's get the map and compass out and get going."

Gale is standing on his platform, waiting for the countdown to end to swim to the shore. He sees Cato six spaces to his right. He decides to join him on the shore. Together they can decide where to go. When the cannon signals the beginning of the games, he dives in and heads towards the shore. He gets there about the same time as Cato.

He yells at Cato to get his attention. "Cato!"

Cato turns and sees him. "Gale!"

They meet up higher on the shore. "Partners?" Gale asks.

"Partners." Cato replies.

They head into the jungle as 3 other tributes get to the shore. They could kill the other tributes but want to get to the cornucopia quicker to hopefully meet up with the other allies. They know the sooner they meet up, the sooner they can be rescued. Gale follows Cato, knowing that the other tribute wants to find Peeta first. Gale is a little surprised at how quick Cato is in the jungle.

Over three quarters of the way through, they hear a beeping sound. They stop long enough to agree to look for whatever is making the sound. They quickly come across a backpack lying at the base of a large tree. They open it to find a gallon jug of water, a large bag of dried meat, a small bag of dried fruit, matches, and a rolled pouch of 4 throwing knives, a large heat reflecting blanket, a first aid kit, a flashlight, some rope, and a hat. They each take 2 knives before moving on. As they near the edge of the forest, they hear another beeping sound. They follow the sound to another backpack half way up a large tree. Gale climbs the tree and tosses the small backpack to Cato, who opens it as Gale climbs back down. Inside is another gallon jug of water, some ninja stars, and a small baggie of dried meat, another hat, and a small first aid kit. Cato puts the large backpack on.

"Peeta's really good with stars. I'm glad we found them. We should hold onto them for him." Gale says, repacking the second backpack. Cato nods in agreement. They start walking as Gale puts on the smaller backpack and find themselves leaving the jungle and entering a desert. They hear the 14 booms. Neither of them question if they're for their friends. They just know they're safe – for now.

Katniss gives Cinna a hug before climbing in her tube. As soon as she comes up she sees to her left is Marvel, who smiles widely when he sees her. He mouths, 'can you swim?' Katniss nods. They listen to Seneca's speech and then get ready to go. She quickly looks to her right and can see Delly 5 spaces away but can't get her attention. When the starting cannon goes off, Katniss and Marvel dive in. Marvel reaches the shore ahead of Katniss. He sees a girl from District 2 not far behind her. He picks up some rocks and begins to throw them at the girl, keeping her in the water until Katniss is out. As soon as Katniss is out of the water, Marvel stops throwing rocks and they quickly run into the jungle. Katniss wants to hide in a tree to stay away from the District 2 girl, but Marvel thinks they should try and find a backpack and hope there is some sort of weapon inside.

They go with Marvel's plan and soon hear a beeping noise. They follow the sound and see a backpack in a tree. Katniss climbs the tree while Marvel guards. He hears someone coming and prepares to attack. While in the tree, Katniss opens the pack and goes through it. She can hear Marvel and the District 2 girl fighting. She unwraps a blanket and finds a small sword inside. After repacking the bag, she quietly climbs down the tree, backpack on her back and sword in her hand. Marvel sees her and positions the girl so that her back is to Katniss. Katniss sneaks up to the girl and stabs her from behind. As the girl lies on the ground, Marvel smiles at Katniss.

"You were amazing! Thank you for saving me."

"We're allies Marvel. You would've done the same for me. Let's hurry to find the other. It looked like we're almost out of the jungle." Katniss replies, glad she was able to keep her ally alive.

They walk until they reach a small outcropping of rocks. Marvel points to a ledge. "It looks like there's a cave. Shall we check it out?"

"Sure," Katniss replies. She hates caves as they remind her of her father and his death in the mines. "Let me grab the flashlight and compass first." She digs in the backpack until she finds the items. She hands them over to Marvel before following him into the cavern. They hear 14 cannons go off as they enter the opening. Marvel smiles as he goes in, sure that the cannon wasn't for anyone they were allied with.

Delly is standing on her platform after hearing Seneca's announcement. She had froze when she saw the water. She had barely begun to learn to swim before being reaped. Her fear of water still prevalent despite knowing how to swim. She sees Glimmer 3 spaces to her right. She feels a little better knowing she has someone she can team up with.

When the starting cannon booms, she jumps right in. She swims the way she was taught. It's not fast but she makes it to the shore in a respectable amount of time. She sees Glimmer about to enter the forest. She calls out to her. "Glimmer! Wait up!"

Glimmer stops when she heard her name being called. She turns to look at Delly who is running over to her. "Let's team up," says a breathless Delly. Glimmer agrees.

The walk until they almost reach the end of the jungle when they hear beeping noise to their left. They follow the sound and find a small backpack hanging precariously off a branch 15 feet up. Delly tells Glimmer to stand under the branch to catch the backpack while she climbs the tree to get it loose. Delly gets to the branch and scoots towards the backpack on her stomach. She barely touches the bag before it falls into Glimmer's waiting hands. Delly sits up and tries to decide the best way to get down. She decides to just lay back down and scoot back. But as she does, the branch breaks and she falls out of the tree landing on her back, knocking the wind out of her. Glimmer rushes over to check on Delly.

Other than some cuts, scrapes, and bruising, Delly is fine. They both feel lucky it wasn't worse. They then check out the contents of their bag. They find two small empty water bottles, a small bottle of iodine to purify water, a small bag of dried fruit, a rain jacket, and an umbrella. They continue to the edge of the forest where they see a forest, a rain forest. They head in as they hear 14 cannon booms.

Rie comes up from his tube, blinded temporarily from the sun. While listening to Seneca, he notes that he is right next to an empty platform. He realizes he has a 50-50 chance of meeting up with little Rue somewhere in the area ahead of him. He really likes the little girl as she reminds him of Katniss' little sister. As the countdown starts, he can barely see Madge six spaces to his right and Glimmer five spaces to his left. He briefly entertains the thought of swimming to meet up with one of them. But the thought of finding Rue makes his final decision be to forge ahead. He knows he has to beat the District 4 girl on his left and a District 1 boy on his right to have a chance.

He dives in as soon as he hears the cannon. He swims quickly towards the shore, arriving at the same time as the two careers. He sprints into the jungle hoping to put some distance between them. He hears them arguing on whether to go after him or wait for other tributes still swimming to shore. He gets about halfway through the jungle when he hears them following him. He turns to his left and finds a tree to hide in. He watches as they run past him. He decides to wait a little while before climbing down and continuing on.

After about half an hour, he climbs down and walks at an angle towards the edge of the jungle. He hears a beeping sound and nearly trips over a backpack hidden in some roots of a tree. He throws the backpack over his shoulders without looking inside. His priority now is finding his group and hopefully, little Rue. As he walks out of the jungle, he sees a run-down city lying before him. Before he can run into the area, he hears the 14 cannon booms designating the loss of 14 tributes. He desperately hopes that none of the lost tributes are of his allies.

Madge is nervous. She isn't the greatest swimmer. Looking at the water in front of her, she tries to remember everything Boggs and Katniss taught her. She looks down at the little button on her suit. She could inflate the suit but worries it could hinder her progress, making her swim slower. She sees Thresh 4 spaces to her right. He points to the shore signaling to her that he'll meet up with her. She gives him a thumbs up to let him know she understood and will meet him. She sees Rie six spaces to her left but sees that he is staring towards the shore. She prepares herself to dive in when the timer begins to countdown.

When she gets to the shore, Thresh is there waiting for her. He takes her hand and they run into the jungle. Neither speaks as they run. They can hear other tributes behind them but ignore them. While a fast runner, Thresh seems to be okay with running at a slower speed for Madge. They leap, duck, and weave around trees. They don't really stop for anything. They near the end of the jungle when they hear two distinct beeping sounds. They decide to split up and look for the sounds. Thresh finds a backpack tucked into a V of a tree. He grabs it and heads back in the direction where he separated from Madge. Madge finds a backpack up high in a tree and climbs for it. She hears someone running towards her which causes her to hurry up the tree. She grabs the backpack and looks down. At the bottom of her tree stands a girl from District 3.

"You can toss that bag down to me and I will just go." says the girl.

"Never going to happen." Madge replies. "Finders keepers."

"I can just sit here and wait for you then." The girl says as she sits on a root.

Madge looks around and can see Thresh sneaking over to the tree. He had overheard the conversation and sneaks up on the girl. She jumps up when she sees Thresh. He grabs her and snaps her neck. He looks up to Madge and she can see that he feels bad for killing the girl. She climbs down and joins him on the ground. They open their backpacks and find parkas and thick gloves in each bag as well as water, dried meat, and a small first aid kit. They look at each other a little confused. They repack their backpacks and head to the end of the jungle. When they see the frozen tundra ahead of them, they understand the contents of their bags. They take out the warm clothing and walk out into the frozen land. As they step onto the frozen ground, they hear 14 cannon booms. Both realize that one of those was for the girl Thresh had to kill.

Peeta and Clove have been in the maze for about an hour. Peeta feels like they're not making any progress. Clove looks at the map and compass again. They hit a T and can't decide whether to turn left or right. They decide to split up and each head in the opposite direction to try to figure out their next step. Clove goes to the right and comes to a left turn. Peeta goes left and comes to a right turn. They both make the decision to go forward. Clove follows the path, turning corners right, left, then left again when she stops to check the map again. She hears someone up ahead. As she peeks around the corner, she sees Peeta looking a little lost. She runs around the corner and unintentionally startles Peeta. Before he can say anything, he sees a wall behind Clove block the path from which she came and another path open.

"Let's check out the new path." Peeta says pointing towards the path that had just opened up.

"Fine with me. And no more splitting up. This place creeps the shit out of me." Clove replies. As they begin walking, she continues, "I wonder how many walls have moved since we've been in here."

"I don't know. It's almost like we're being led somewhere." Peeta says glancing down at the girl by his side. He's feeling protective of her despite knowing she can handle herself.

They follow the new path along, being led to the center of the maze. But they didn't arrive alone. Across from where they entered, a tribute from District 7 walks in. The walls behind the tributes close and Clove realizes that they were being forced to fight the other tribute. She looks over to Peeta, "I got this," she says pulling a knife out of her boot. "The only way out is to kill that tribute Peeta."

He nods sadly. He expected they'd have to kill eventually when they found the knives. He just didn't expect it to be a young boy from 7. The kid didn't look more than 14 years old. And he was unarmed.

Clove threw her knife and hit the boy in the chest, cannon going off immediately after. She walks over to retrieve her knife. As she leans down, she makes sure to close the boy's eyes before grabbing her knife. She walks back to Peeta as a wall to her left opens. They go through and follow the winding path for another hour. They hear a scream coming from somewhere behind them and start jogging. They see a bright flash of light to their right and hear another scream and two cannon blasts. They run until they find themselves exiting the maze into another jungle.

"Do you think we went in a circle?" Clove asks worriedly.

Peeta looks at the jungle in front of them. "It's possible but I don't think so. Listen. Do you hear that? It sounds like birds. I don't remember birds in the first jungle. Not that the game makers couldn't be trying to trick us. Let's just go and see what's beyond these trees."

Clove looks at the trees and says, "Let's go then Bread Boy."

Peeta chuckles at the nickname as they head into the jungle. They walk for about a quarter of a mile before stopping for some water and food. Neither speaks, comfortable just listening to the sounds around them. They rest for another 15 minutes before continuing on.

When they reach the edge of the jungle they see the cornucopia. Peeta turns to Clove, wraps his arms around her waist lifting her up before spinning in a circle.

"We did it!" Peeta exclaims as he sets her down.

Clove laughs and playfully punches him on the shoulder. "Do that again and I will hurt you."

They begin to walk towards the bridge that will take them to the cornucopia when Peeta notices something hidden in the sand. "Clove, stop!"

She stops looking at him curiously. "What's the matter Peeta?"

He points at the spot in front of him. "Do you see that? It looks like it could be a land mine."

She looks down and gasps. "We could have stepped on that. Do you think there are more?"

He looks over at her. "I'd bet my life there are many more." Out of the corner of his eye he sees two figures coming out of the jungle. "I wonder who they could be." he says.

Gale and Cato had been walking for about half an hour when they decide to peel out of their neoprene suits. Both were thankful for the cotton shorts and t-shirts they had been forced to put on underneath. The hats were nice too, shading their eyes from the sun. As they walked along, Gale points out some tracks that looked like dog prints but were actually coyote. Neither was aware that they were about to walk by a Mohave rattlesnake until they heard it. They somehow manage to not get bit but are more aware of the dangerous situation they are in.

They stop for a break near a bunch of Joshua trees. They drink some water and eat some dried fruit. They hear a cannon blast. Gale puts his hand on Cato's shoulder when he saw the look of worry cross his face. "I'm sure Peeta's fine. He was the best of all of us in our training. He's the best at surviving."

Cato smiles at Gale. "Thanks for that. But I'm worried about Clove too. I hope she was lucky enough to pair up like we did."

Gale removes his hand, takes another drink of water, and repacks the half empty water jug in his bag. "We should probably get going. I don't want –"

"Don't want what Gale?" Cato asks confused, packing his own bag.

"Get up! Get up now! We have to go!"

Cato turns to look at what Gale is seeing. A large dust storm is headed right for them. He jumps up and the two takeoff running. Gale points to a rocky outcropping where they could try to get out of the storm. They reach the outcropping, pull out the blanket, and find a spot to ride out the storm just in time. For 30 minutes they could hear the storm. They remained hidden for another 5 minutes before looking to make sure it was over.

After shaking out the blanket and repacking it into a backpack, Gale seemed despondent. His biggest fear in the desert was getting lost. Now he fears they will never get out. Cato, on the other hand, was absolutely sure of the direction they should take and took the lead in getting them out. As they walked, they heard two more cannons go off, signaling two more deaths. Neither one commented on the cannons, both deep in their own worries.

As they walked, they could see trees in the distance. They jogged until they realized it was a jungle. Gale was almost certain they had gotten turned around but didn't say anything. It wasn't until they were in the trees that either of them realizes that while it looks the same as the one they went through earlier, there are birds singing in this one. They only stop once to take a drink of water. When they finally reach the end of the jungle, they can see the cornucopia. What they hadn't noticed was the District 4 male that had been following them!

Katniss was freaking out! She hates being in the cave. It reminds her of the mines from 12. Marvel could feel the stress and worry pouring off her. He holds her hand, giving her a comforting squeeze every now and then. She holds the compass while he holds the flashlight. The small sword was sticking up out of the backpack Katniss was wearing.

They walked along, having to back track twice when they ran into some dead ends. After about an hour, they reached a large cavern. It had a large pool of water in the middle and the light seemed to reflect off many surfaces. Both were amazed at the beauty of it. They decided to sit by the water and take a short break. They ate a quick snack and talked about the one thing from home they missed the most. For Katniss, it was her little sister Prim. For Marvel, it was his two year old nephew Ace. He admitted to Katniss that Ace was the reason he volunteered for the games, to give him a better life. She reached over and patted Marvels hand in understanding. She understood that it had a double meaning, that he became a rebel to stop the games so that kids like Prim and Ace would never have to participate in them.

They stood up and got ready to leave the cavern. The saw an opening on the other side of the water and walked around to reach it. As they were leaving, they could hear a rumble coming from behind them. They looked back and saw rocks falling from the ceiling where they had been sitting and talking. The two looked at each other before running into the next tunnel. They ran for about 20 minutes, picking tunnels without consulting their compass. When they finally stopped running, they could no longer hear any rumblings.

"What do you think caused the ceiling to crumble?" Katniss asks.

"I'm not sure. Maybe the echoes from our voices, or maybe a cannon went off and we were too deep to hear it." Marvel replies. "Let's just keep moving and get out of here."

They walked in silence for a while. Katniss thought she was hearing things move, but there was never anything there when she looked. Until she kicked a rock. Hundreds of bats came swooping down on her and Marvel. Katniss screamed. Marvel covered her mouth with his hand. He shined the flashlight on the bats and watched them fly down the tunnel. He let go of Katniss' mouth grabbing her hand instead and followed the bats, pulling her with him. She tried to pull away, but he held onto her firmly.

After what seemed like hours, Katniss sees light coming in. They follow the light and soon find themselves walking out of the cave and into a jungle. Katniss falls to the ground, feeling hopeless. Marvel sits next to her and puts his arm around her shoulder, trying to offer her comfort. After a few minutes of sitting there, they hear birds singing.

"That's different." Marvel comments, cocking his head to the side.

"Yeah. There weren't any sounds before when we ran through." Katniss says thoughtfully.

"Maybe we should explore around," suggests Marvel. "I mean, we could have ended up anywhere in the arena. Maybe we can find one of our friends."

Katniss looks over at him smiling. She stands up, offering him a hand to help him to his feet.

"Lead the way, captain!" Katniss jokes as Marvel stands.

Marvel takes the lead as they walk further into the jungle. They keep a look out for other tributes, but especially for their allies. They don't see anyone until they step out onto a beach. They can see the cornucopia in the middle of what appears to be a lake. To their right they are shocked at who they see.

Glimmer and Delly have been walking through the rain forest for almost an hour. They watched as large bats flew overhead, nearly stepped on the tail of a king cobra, and barely managed to sneak past 2 Bengal tigers fighting. Both were sick of trees.

But it was the sudden downpour of rain that nearly kills them. It rains so hard and fast that it had causes a flash flood that sweeps them up. They nearly drown. Delly catches a low hanging branch and quickly grabs Glimmer before she was swept past her. They manage to pull themselves into a tree when the rain stops. They are currently waiting for the water to drain away.

Glimmer takes out her pony tail and combs her fingers through her hair. "Ugh, my hair is a mess." She says as she's braiding it. The two girls heard a cannon go off.

"That very easily could've been one of us." Delly said.

"I know. And thanks for saving me down there. I thought for sure I was going to drown." Glimmer replies.

"We're in this together, Glim. You would've done the same for me. I hope we can get down soon. The last tree I was in wasn't very nice to me." Delly giggles.

"How are you feeling? Does your back still hurt?"

"I'm fine. My back would probably be better if we weren't swept away the way we were." Delly answers. "Does the water level look any lower to you?"

Glimmer looks down. "I can't tell. Should we take a chance and try to move on?"

"Let's check our food and eat first. We'll wait about half an hour and the climb down."

Glimmer agrees. Their food somehow managed to stay dry. They eat and wait. Finally they decide they've waited long enough and begin to climb down. The water is waist deep and they wade over to where they can get onto drier land. Once they're out they continue walking. They hear 2 more cannons go off and look at each other, eyes wide.

"I, I'm almost p-p-positive those weren't f-f-for anyone we know." Delly stutters.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Glimmer agrees. "Let's just get out of here."

The two girls walk on, not noticing when the rain forest became a jungle again. In fact, they were so lost in worry that it wasn't until they saw a beach that they realized where they were. They were so shocked; they just sat down, neither saying a word. They didn't even notice the others who had made their way to the beach.

Rie was busy ducking behind buildings and hiding behind burnt out cars. He was keeping an eye out for the two tributes that had followed him in the jungle. He hated that he was alone in this area, no one to watch his back. He really missed having Madge and Delly there. They always kept him on his toes. He even missed Gale and Katniss. Sure they could be gruff at times, but he'd give anything to have one of them with him. But he really wanted to see Peeta. He just got his brother back. He certainly wasn't going to lose him now. He even found himself missing Haymitch and Effie.

He was so busy thinking about everyone, he almost ran into the District 1 boy and the District 4 girl. He managed to duck behind an overturned car without being seen. It was then he heard them calling out to someone. Oh crap, was it Rue? He peeks over the top of the car and takes in the scene before him.

Rue was on top of an over turned bus, just out of reach of the two careers. She was keeping them away from her with a sling shot. Where did she get that? It looked like the girl from District 4 was trying to separate herself from the District 1 boy. Rie looks around for some sort of weapon. He grabs a good sized chunk of concrete. When he checks the scene again, he sees Rue signal towards the boy. He watches as she takes aim at the girl. He throws the concrete hitting the boy in the back of the head as Rue's rock hits the girl in the eye. The boy from 1 falls to the ground, knocked out. The girl from four runs off, not looking back to her partner. Rie runs over to the bus to help Rue down. She hugs him so tightly he can barely breathe. He can feel her shaking.

"Thank goodness you found me! I was so scared." Rue cries. She loosens her grip but still has her arms wrapped around him.

"Hey, it's going to be fine. I'm here now. Although, we probably should get a move on. He could wake up any time and she can come back." Rie says soothingly. "By the way, where did you get the sling shot?"

"The tube I came up in was right by a building. I had planned to hide out in it. The sling shot was lying on a shelf. I'm a really good shot." Rue said as she let's go of Rie. "I was in there when the 14 cannons went off. I don't know why, but right after that, the roof caved in. I got a cut on the back of my leg. The bleeding stopped. I was looking for a way to clean it when I ran into those two. I managed to climb up on the bus before they got me."

"I managed to get this backpack but haven't looked at what's inside. Let's try to find some place where we can be safe for a moment and I'll check out your leg."

"Which way should we go?" asks Rue.

They look around. "Maybe we should just walk in the direction you were headed and go from there." Rue suggests.

Rie smiles down at her. "Good call Little Bird. Shall we?"

They took off at a slow jog, wanting to put as much space between them and the two injured careers. They went about five city blocks before they found a small building to stop and rest in. Rie thought it looked like a bakery, but with more fancy equipment in the kitchen area where they decided to hide. Rie opened his backpack while Rue peeled herself out of the neoprene suit. He found a small first aid kit, a water bottle, a hunting knife, a small blanket, and some dried meat. He put the knife in his boot, the first aid kit and water in his lap, and put everything else – including Rue's suit – back into the backpack.

Rie helps Rue up on the counter, having her lay on her belly so he can look at her leg. Luckily, the cut isn't deep. He pours water over the cut and when it's dry, wraps a bandage around it. Once he's done, he helps her down and offers her some jerky. Rue declines, stating she just wants to find Thresh and the rest of the gang. He puts the kit and water back in the bag after grabbing himself some meat. The head out and resume their path through the city. Half a block from where they stopped, they heard a cannon. Rie grabs Rue's hand. "It wasn't them." Rie reassures her.

They pick up their pace, making sure to keep checking behind them for the two tributes they injured. After about an hour, they hear two more cannons go off. They look at each other. They see the fear and hope in each other's eyes which spur them on faster.

When they reach the jungle, Rue is happy to see the trees. She climbed a tree and looked around. She didn't see any dangers ahead or coming from the city. They decided that Rue would travel by trees while Rie stayed on the ground. It takes about an hour and a half to get through the jungle. Neither one wanted to stop for anything. They just wanted to make sure everyone else was okay. When they reach the end of the jungle, Rue climbs out of the tree and they walk out onto the beach. They first notice the cornucopia, and then they see someone else on the beach.

Madge is freezing her ass off. Her parka and mittens just aren't warm enough. Thresh is silent. Hasn't said a word since he saved Madge from that other tribute. The most excitement she's had was when she saw the herd of caribou running. They'd been in this frozen wasteland for almost an hour when they heard the cannon that caused the caribou to take off running. That was half an hour ago. She was wondering if they were walking in circles.

Thresh was feeling guilty. He really didn't want to have to kill that girl but he needed Madge. They were a team and she was a good ally to have. He couldn't just leave her in that tree. What if it had been little Rue? No, he did the right thing. He hoped that the family of the girl would someday be able to forgive him.

When the two cannons went off, Madge and Thresh started to jog. They really wanted out of the freezing cold. They jogged until they saw trees off in the distance. They looked at on another. Thresh smiled at Madge. They then sprinted for the tree line knowing that they'd soon be able to get warm.

Reaching the jungle, they kept running until their parkas and mittens make it too hard. They stopped to remove them and eat something.

"I didn't want to kill that girl." Thresh says suddenly.

Madge reaches over and grabs his hand. "I know. I understand why you felt you had to. We're a team and we stick together. Just know that had the roles been reversed, I would have done the same for you. Not that you would need me to, but I think you know what I mean."

He squeezes her hand. "I do. Thank you."

"Not a problem. Shall we go find the rest of our team?"

Thresh nods. They repack their bags and head out. They jog through the jungle. Madge is thankful for Mitchell's running work outs in the forest back home. She decides to thank the man when she sees him again. They're both really relieved when they come to the end of the jungle and can see the cornucopia.

The twelve rebel tributes all reached the beach around the same time. Thresh and Madge came out of the jungle and saw Rue and Rie. They ran over to the two with Thresh lifting Rue up and spinning her around. Madge was hugging Rie when she saw Delly and Glimmer. She pulled Rie along.

"Thresh! Rue! Come on! It's Delly and Glimmer." Madge called over her shoulder.

Delly and Glimmer saw four of their friends heading towards them from their right. Glimmer looked to the left and saw Marvel and Katniss. As soon as Madge and Rie reached them, Glimmer ran towards Marvel and Katniss. She leaped into Marvels arms laughing.

"I am so glad to see you!" she squealed.

"No more than we are to see you guys. Have you seen Peeta, Gale, Clove, or Cato?" Marvel asks setting Glimmer down to greet the others.

"No, but I bet they're around here somewhere." Rie answers hugging Marvel.

"Should we look for them or head to the cornucopia?" Katniss asks, giving Thresh a hug.

They look at the clock counting down how much time is left before Seneca said the island would sink.

"We have 42 minutes. I say we go to the cornucopia and gather as many weapons and anything else we can carry." Rue says. "Once we get over there, some of us can get weapons and supplies while the rest of us look towards the beach to see if we see them."

"Good plan Little Bird" says Rie. The group walks towards the closest bridge which was located near where Glimmer and Delly met with the others. Delly was in front and was the first to notice the hidden land mine.

"Guys watch out! There are hidden land mines!" she exclaims pointing it out.

"Wow! We got lucky that none of us stepped on one yet!" exclaims Marvel.

More aware of where they step, the eight tributes make their way to the bridge. On the bridge, they hear a loud boom and see a large dust cloud and what looks like a body flying in the air across the lake.

"Holy Shit!" Katniss screamed.

Peeta saw Gale and Cato together. He called out to Gale while Clove called for Cato. Peeta grabs Cloves hand and they carefully run towards their friends. Peeta stops in his tracks when he notices the District 4 male come out of the jungle, knife in his hand, heading towards Cato and Gale. Everything seems to go in slow motion. The next thing Peeta sees are Gale and Cato flying through the air.

"CATO!" Peeta screams.

There we are my loves – a secret revealed and a cliff hanger. I apologize at the late hour posting of this chapter. I was watching my 4 year old nephew for the last time today – grandma (my mom) is better from her knee surgery and is ready to watch him again. He wanted to play and whooped my butt at video games. The kid is a video game genius!