"Good morning," Russell says cheerfully as I join him for breakfast. When I woke up, I found him tangled in the branches of a nearby tree, stuffing something into his bag. That's when I realized: the barren trees of this grove have finally borne fruit. While I was asleep, Russell managed to stockpile a large collection of food.

"Those look disgusting," I admit, "but I'll eat anything at this point."

"They taste great," Russell says. "Trust me."

Russell's used his knife to cut open the fruit; they look like oranges, but each piece is purple or black. I reach for a purple slice, but Russell grabs my arm before I manage to eat it.

"Not yet," he warns me. "I'm testing those ones. The black ones are safe, but I'm still checking the purple ones. You never know with the Gamemakers."

I give Russell a grateful nod, taking a black piece of fruit. It has a dark, sour taste, but I'm too hungry to care. Before I've even swallowed the first piece, I'm picking up a second one.

"Horner's Dill?" I ask Russell, and he nods, showing me a piece of the purple fruit. On the top, he's laid a stringy piece of green herb. As I look at it, it begins to glow.

My days of reading plant manuals with Sienna come back to me, and I remember what I learned in Training - if the dill glows, it's a no-go.

"Poisonous," I tell Russell. He looks at the herb with a nod.

"I'm impressed you knew about that," Russell says. "I thought I was the only one who knew about Horner's Dill. Almost threw it out a few days ago, but I'm glad I kept it."

"I studied plants in Training, mostly," I admit. "Thought it might be useful."

"Well, it's coming in handy now," Russell says. "Hopefully the Careers are hungry for fruit."

"I doubt they'd be so careless," I say, helping Russell dispose of the purple fruit. Still, part of me is hoping that I'll hear a cannon shot today.

"Even though I can't see any of the others, it feels so empty in here," Russell says, taking a look at the grove around us. "If you think about it, there are only six people in this whole grove."

I nod; it is weird to think that there are so few of us left. "Did you ever think you'd make it this far?" I ask the boy in front of me.

Russell shakes his head. "I mean, I hoped-" he says, hesitating to think about what he wants to say. "I hoped my sister would be able to protect me until the end. After she died, I thought it was over for me. I mean, when was the last time a twelve-year-old even made it this far?"

"The Games work in interesting ways," I tell him. "And you're way smarter than you give yourself credit for."

A smile graces Russell's lips. "Did you think you'd be here?" he asks, turning my question back at me.

"No," I tell him truthfully. "You know, in training, my mentor told me that my brother was one of the only tributes who had a chance of beating the Careers. Your sister was another one. He told me that my duty was to help my brother win the Games, and I'd just accepted that I wasn't going to make it. So when my brother died..."

"You felt like you'd failed," Russell finishes. "Me too."

"Right," I exhale. "And I didn't see any possible way to make it out of here. I still don't, really. But you've shown me that somehow, there might be something worth fighting for."

"Hope is never lost," Russell says. "That's something nobody can take away from us as long as we refuse to give it up."

I nod as Russell passes me another piece of fruit. I can't begin to describe to him how many times I've given up hope since I was Reaped.

"I think there's one opportunity we haven't talked about," Russell tells me. "I mean, there are six of us left, right? We'd be better off in a three-on-three fight, even if they're still the stronger team."

I shudder at Russell's idea; I'd only just gotten the feeling of Colby's knife against my neck out of my head. In all this talk of the Final Six, I've pushed Colby to the back of my mind, but he's still out there, too.

"I think that ship has sailed," I tell Russell, speaking in his District Four terminology. "He was the one who tried to kill me at the Feast."

"With the arrows?" Russell says, surprised.

I shake my head. "Long story."

"That's what you said yesterday," Russell says firmly. "I think it's time to tell me what happened."

I know Russell's right, even though I don't like it. We can't work with Colby; that's the bottom line, and Russell deserves to know why.

I don't even know where to start, so I start at the beginning. Not all the way back, not before the Reaping, but almost that far. I tell Russell about my rocky start with Damien after the Reaping, and I continue from there. I don't hold anything back - I have nothing to hide anymore.

I manage to hold myself together, but by the time I reach my brother's death, I feel myself falling apart.

"That night..." I force out. "I was supposed to keep watch. Clay told Damien and me that he wanted to talk to Sienna, so he told us to go to sleep. And then... the Fallen Tributes..."

I pause, allowing myself to breathe for a moment. I'm just now realizing that I've never said any of this out loud before; as I'm telling Russell this story, I'm forcing myself to face it all over again.

"The Fallen Tributes," Russell prompts me. He's stayed silent this whole time, but I'm sure he can see me struggling.

"They appeared in the sky," I continue. "And I opened my eyes to see them. Then I noticed that Clay and Sienna were gone."

Russell furrows his brow, but he doesn't say anything.

"A few minutes later, they arrived," I tell him. "Trent... and Midas. And they killed my brother."

Russell nods, thinking for a moment. "So Clay and Sienna betrayed you," Russell states, plain as day. "You all saw the Careers earlier that day, right?"

"Yeah, well, I trusted my friends," I say, feeling oddly defensive. "I couldn't have known."

My face burns, and I have to take another deep breath. Russell's conclusion just makes me feel embarrassed - was I really that blind to not see Sienna's betrayal?

"I thought there had to be some explanation," I tell Russell. "Maybe they went into the woods and were found by the Careers first. I mean, Clay died, too."

Russell nods. I think he just doesn't want to embarrass me.

"I barely escaped with my life," I continue. As I tell Russell my story, I feel like I'm reliving it, step by treacherous step. "We'd waded through the river that day, so I'd left my shoes by the riverbank to dry. Trent was shooting arrows at me; the only thing I had on me was my knife, and that was all I had when I left. I dove into the river and swam away."

Russell stares at me, his eyes wide. "That's... crazy," he says in awe. "I can't believe that happened to you, Luna. You're really brave."

"I don't feel brave," I whisper up at the trees above us. Next to me, Russell splits a new piece of fruit open, sucking the juice out.

"That would explain the lack of shoes," Russell says with a small laugh. "How did you even stay alive?"

"Berries," I tell him. "And plants. My training finally payed off. I spent a week searching for Sienna, and I finally found her at the Feast."

I sigh. "She told me that she betrayed me, just like you thought. Colby came from behind me and started strangling me, and they told me that they knew about my plan with Casper. Everything."

Russell raises his eyebrows. "He ratted you out?" he says, surprised.

"I don't think so," I say. Somehow, I don't think Casper would do that to me. "I mean, my idea benefitted him, too. Sienna was pulling his brother away from him. I think Colby forced the truth out of him. Sienna pretended to go along with it and trick me. The whole time, she was waiting for her chance to abandon me and run off with Colby. At the Feast, she got her chance."

"Well, not really," Russell argues. "She's dead, right?"

I shudder as the image of Sienna's body flashes through my memory. Only a few seconds before, I thought my life was over, and a few seconds later, it nearly was.

"The Careers saw us, and they came back to kill us," I say. "Trent shot Sienna, and then he shot me."

"So that's where the arrow came from," Russell muses softly. "That makes sense."

"Colby dropped his knife and I was able to escape," I continue. "But Trent shot me. I think Colby tried to fight him, and he killed Trent. Midas ran away after that."

"So Colby probably won't be open to an alliance," Russell summarizes. "To make a long story short."

"Pretty much," I sigh. "He put a knife to my neck. We can't really go back from that."

"Fair enough," Russell says with a small shrug. "It was worth a shot, but I get it now. You know, he might attack the Careers at some point, and I think he could take one of them out. That would still help us even if he's not with us."

"It would be the first thing he's ever done to help me," I say with a hint of bitterness. "The biggest favor he could do for me is to die, honestly."

"Well, I think they all could do that," Russell laughs. "I'd appreciate that."

"Unfortunately, I don't think any of them are feeling generous," I mutter.

"I think that means our only option is to play the waiting game," Russell says. "We have more than enough food now. If we wait long enough, the Careers will crumble."

"They'll be hunting for us," I remind him.

"Well, we'll just need to hide in a place where they'll never find us," Russell says with a smile.

I can't help but smile with my new ally. Even though every other person in here is our enemy, we have each other for now, and that's enough.

"Hope is never lost. That's something nobody can take away from us as long as we refuse to give it up."

So we spend the day snacking on fruit and telling stories. The boy who never gave up hope and the girl who never had it from the start.