21

They curved back to the river after an hour and then waded upstream, in the stream, to keep their tracks from being noticed. Prim sludged at the back of the pack, her legs aching with every step. Marvel was pale and Peeta breathed hard.

"Can we stop to eat?" Rue asked.

Yes please. Prim looked to Peeta who finally nodded and they settled on a narrow strip of bank. It was less than ideal with no real shelter and a lot of mud in which to leave tracks. Prim went around, handing out a small serving of berries.

"Think it's safe to start a fire?" Peeta toyed with his fish. They weren't so fresh any more and smelled almost rancid. Prim's mouth watered at the very thought of eating a fire-roasted fish.

But…was it safe to have a fire?

"I think it'd be fine." Marvel didn't look up from his bread.

Prim stilled and Peeta looked at Marvel with narrowed eyes. "You do, do you? That's it then, no fire."

Prim's heart flopped down into her boots. How badly she wanted that fish! Was Marvel being truthful or sly? Did he think Cato was nearby? Who could even see smoke at this distance?

"Prim, want to pass out the bread?"

Her shoulders slumped and she took the bread from Peeta. "Sure." Bread and berries. No fish. How silly of her to expect elaborate meals as they fought for survival in a forest. She was being selfish. "I used to make goat cheese at home," she said to lighten the mood. And to distract her fish-craving stomach.

"Whoopee." Marvel stuffed his entire serving of bread into his mouth in one go.

"It was from my goat, Lady." Her throat closed. Who was milking Lady while she was gone? Surely Katniss was. Yes…Katniss would be. Katniss knew how much Prim loved Lady and Buttercup.

Rue nibbled on her bread and Peeta picked at his as though not hungry.

"That's the last of it." Prim almost choked on the words. After this, they'd have to find their food. Good thing there were fish in the river. Good thing there was a river at all or they'd die of dehydration.

"Better cook the fish then." Marvel gave a humorless laugh and tossed the berries into his mouth.

"Why are you so angry?" Prim split her own piece of bread in half and tucked the other half in her coat pocket. Even though she wanted to eat it, she had other plans.

"Why are you so ditzy and smiley all the time?" he retorted.

She tried not to let it get to her. "Because my mom raised me to be like this.

"Well I was raised like this."

"What, brooding and wanting to kill people?" How could anyone be raised with such a harsh personality?

"I was trained to kill children." Marvel said it as if to disgust her, but she already knew that much—he was a Career.

If this were on camera, he'd be in trouble. Tributes weren't supposed to train for the Games. Would the Capitol kill him now because he said that? "Does that mean you like killing people?"

"You wouldn't understand."

She lifted her chin. "You're right, I don't understand how someone could want to kill someone else." Surely Marvel was lying. No one could enjoy death and murder. No one.

"I don't want to kill people, alright? I want to win the Games and live in all the glory, and I'm willing to do anything for that! Including cutting that smile right off your perfect little face."

His threats didn't bother her, but her heart sank like a wilted flower. What a tragic way to think and live. "Why would you pursue being something you hate? That destroys the whole point of living."

She shook her head and turned her back on him. No one else spoke.

For a breath, Prim felt utterly alone. But then a small body plopped itself down next to her. Prim looked up and there sat Rue, smiling and holding out some extra berries. "I'm glad we're together."

Prim broke into a smile. "Me too."

"Ten more minutes and then we've got to keep moving." Peeta started assembling their things. "Maybe…we can start a fire at our next stop. If it's still light enough."

He was learning. He was learning safety out in the forest. Prim knew he'd barely strayed from his bakery, but he had a keen mind. Because of that, she knew they'd only grow stronger as a group—as a…family—the longer the Games went on.

Once everyone was up and ready—Marvel looking the worst of the bunch—they continued on. Prim took the rear again, but this time she didn't mind. She had something she wanted to…try.

As they waded back into the river, she glanced back briefly to where she'd left her second half of bread resting on the stone she'd been sitting on.

Whoever had followed her and Rue was…hungry. And berries never filled anyone's stomach very much. It always left Prim's churning on a false empty-feeling.

Enemy or not, Cato or not…Prim hoped the tribute found her bread…

…and the note she scratched in the dirt beneath it.

.

.

To be continued...

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How would you live if you knew the day you'd die? Parvin Blackwater believes she has wasted her life. At only seventeen, she has one year left according to the Clock by her bedside. In a last-ditch effort to make a difference, she tries to rescue Radicals from the government's crooked justice system. But when the authorities find out about her illegal activity, they cast her through the Wall - her people's death sentence. What she finds on the other side about the world, about eternity, and about herself changes Parvin forever and might just save her people. But her clock is running out.