Thank you for reading 'The Story Behind the Grey Eyes,' it means so much to me! Any reviews would also be much appreciated!

I do not own The Hunger Games nor its characters, this is purely written for fun.

Chapter Seven

Unsurprisingly, I don't sleep all night. I doze off for about twenty minutes or so at a time but that's all I can manage, I can tell that the constant flow of adrenaline that is running through my body is stopping me from properly sleeping. It's such a shame that when I die I'm going to be a tired, haggard wreck.

As soon as the sun rises I pack up my bag and begin to walk in no particular direction, I just assume that the best thing to do is to keep moving no matter what. If I stop, I'm dead. The only problem is I have no idea where to go, I know I need to find water but I'm very doubtful that it will be safe to drink, even with the iodine solution I have in my bag. I just wish that I could keep on running until I'm out of this arena and back home in 12. If only.

Suddenly, the image of Clo in the sky last night appears in my mind and an overwhelming sense of loss overcomes me. I didn't even know her, I didn't want to get to know her, but she was a child who had never done anything wrong and now the Capitol had killed her. Maybe not directly but they were responsible, more so than the Career who had actually murdered her. Our last conversation had been so sad, neither of us fully accepting our deaths but knowing that they were inevitable nonetheless.

The arena! How could I be so stupid?! Of course I have a direction that I can take! I have nothing else planned so I may as well find out what's keeping us locked in here, after all, I'm not getting out alive so there's nothing to lose.

I'm not entirely sure which way I should travel but I think the mountain is over on the other side of the arena and I want to stay as far away from it as possible. It has even more of a foreboding feel about it than the rest of this place so I want to keep my distance. I trek further and further in to the woods, only occasionally sipping my remaining water. I really need to find a water source soon or hope for some rain, it's starting to get very hot as the day goes on and I can feel myself becoming increasingly dehydrated.

About an hour or two later, my sense of time has now all but disappeared, I hear the sound of three cannons and know that a bloody fight must have just taken place. That means twenty one of us have died in just over a day and there's still twenty seven of us left. This is definitely going to be the biggest and bloodiest Games that Panem has ever seen, I'm sure of it.

As I'm walking I see a brown, fluffy squirrel run in front of me and straight up a tree. There's a boy who I was in school with who manages to slip under the electric fence in 12 that blocks off the woods and he has an incredible talent for killing and skinning squirrels, amongst other things. He sells them at The Hob if you have something to trade but I never do so I mainly steer clear of him. However, he's a Seam kid so if he ever sees my mother of Layle looking even more malnourished than usual we sometimes find that he's left us one on our doorstep. Although he'll never admit that it was him who left it there.

I look up and the squirrel is sitting on a branch, glaring at me, and before I know it another five squirrels have joined me and each are baring their pointed, vicious teeth. These are not normal squirrels but muttations, genetically engineered animals that have been created in a Capitol lab with the sole purpose of destroying Hunger Games tributes.

I don't know what to do. I'm sure I have seconds before they attack but can I outrun them? I decide I don't have a choice and turn on my heel and run as fast as I can but it makes no difference. They have identified their target and they're leaping on to my skin, plunging their teeth in to my flesh and bringing agonising pain. Of all the ways I expected to die, being killed by evil squirrels was not one of them.

Luckily, I haven't let go of my knife the entire time I've been in the arena and so I sink it in to the squirrel that's about to lunge at my eye and then I start stabbing the rest of them. They squeal and howl as they fall off and, eventually, I've managed to kill them all but I'm covered in scratches and my left arm has a deep cut with blood pouring out of it.

I rummage around in my rucksack for my first aid kit but I'm not entirely sure what it is I should be doing. I grab one of the bandages and wrap it tightly around my arm, securing it with a pin. The blood is seeping through but it's the best I can do for the moment, I just have to hope that it stops soon.

I know I shouldn't but I drink what's left of my water, clean my knife and then move on. I'm starting to feel incredibly thirsty now and if I don't find water soon then I'm done for.

"Quickly!" A voice shouts from behind me but when I turn around there's no one there. I hold out my knife and find a nearby bush to hide behind. Thankfully, it's large enough to cover my body but I don't want to get too close in case my body has a reaction to its poisons.

Seconds later, a girl from 6 runs in to the clearing, followed by Dinium and another boy holding up a girl from 7, I think. This was the alliance that Dinium made in training, minus a few people that must have died in the bloodbath.

"Lie her down," Dinium instructs and he and the other boy place the girl on to the floor. She's screaming in pain and it's soon clear why as her right leg is barely attached to her body.

"Get the medicine!" The boy shouts at Dinium, "I can't let her die!"

Dinium roots around in his bag and hands over a pot of cream. "Jai, I don't think…"

"No! I have to try!" Jai bellows and starts to rub the cream on to the girl's leg but it's clear that she's too far gone.

"Jai, she wouldn't want us to waste our supplies," the girl from 6 says. She bends down next to him and places her arm around his shoulder. He stares at the dying girl and tears are forming in his eyes, I wonder how he knows her. Are they a couple? Surely I would have remembered that from the interviews. Maybe they're just close district mates.

Seconds later a cannon goes off and everyone realises that the girl has died.

"Goodbye, Tulle," says Jai, kissing her forehead. He stands up and says that they best move on so they gather their supplies and quickly head out. It's only then that I notice the pot of cream has been left behind.

I have no idea if it will help me but I only have seconds before a hovercraft descends to pick up Tulle's body and, possibly, the medicine, too. I run in to the clearing, grab the medicine and run back the way I came so that I don't run in to Dinium. He seems to have a very loyal alliance that I don't want to get in the way of.

I take off my bandages and rub the entire contents of the pot into my wound, it stings like hell but it could just save my life. I then unwrap a fresh bandage and wrap it around my arm.

I need to keep moving but all I can think about is water. The trees provide little shade and the heat is unbearable. Maybe I should just stay here and wait. Just wait for death. It's coming, anyway, so maybe now is the time to stop fighting it. I've done okay for a 12 tribute, in fact, the three of us left from 12 have all done really well. Maybe that's enough.

A sharp ray of light momentarily blinds me and I have to cover my eyes to protect them from the glare. Once I open them again I can see that a tiny white parachute with a silver box attached to it is floating towards me. Can this really be for me? Have I actually got a sponsor?

There's no one else around so it must be, although it seems far too early to be sending gifts as they will only increase in price as the Games on. I open it to find a bottle of water and I can't help but laugh. Does Titam really think I have a chance? Why else would he send me this if he didn't want me to keep going? Surely, it's a sign? I eventually stop analysing and allow myself a few gulps of the water. Maybe if he has faith in me, I should, too.