"Come on, Luna," Russell grunts, extending a hand down to me. "Almost there."

I groan as I allow Russell to hoist me onto his branch. Why did I agree to this madness?

This morning, Russell's been nagging me about wanting to see the whole Arena. He's convinced that if we climb a tall tree, we might be able to see the other tributes in the grove. I'm not convinced - I'm sure the Careers know better than to walk out in the open where we can see them.

"Look," Russell says, pointing above us. "If we get up onto that branch, I think we can look through the side."

"Alright," I huff. "After you."

Russell's surprisingly nimble; with a laugh, he jumps up, grabbing the branch and hoisting himself up. I find a lower branch to raise myself up onto, and Russell helps me climb onto his branch. Finally, I help him part the leaves; next to me, Russell gasps.

"It's... beautiful," he whispers. I glance down at his face; for the first time, Russell looks like the child he is, and it fills my heart to see him like this. His eyes shimmer as he takes in the view. It's stunning - rolling hills of green, dotted with flocks of birds lazily drifting through the sky. I can see where the trees break at the lake nearby; it looks like there are three or four small lakes scattered across the Arena.

"It looks like it goes out forever," Russell says quietly next to me. "I wonder how big the Arena actually is."

I nod - Helvius really did a good job at disguising the edges of the Arena.

"Day Twelve," Russell announces. "Crazy, right? It feels like we've been in here a lifetime."

I can't believe it, but Russell's right - it really only has been twelve days.

"Seamus told me the Games usually last two weeks," Russell says quietly. "He's my mentor. We might only have a few days left."

"Let's not think about that," I say, looking back out over the Arena. "Whatever happens will happen. No point thinking about it."

My eyes scan the surrounding Arena, and my breath gets caught in my throat. Next to me, Russell gasps. He sees it too: smoke is blanketing the Arena, and it's easy to see where it's coming from. Below us, the grove is burning, and the fire is rapidly approaching.

"Come on!" Russell says, panicked. He drops from our branch like a tiny monkey, swinging from branch to branch as he descends to the ground below.

I'm terrified, but I have no time to hesitate. I launch myself from my branch, plunging through the tangled branches of our treetop perch. By the time I swing down to the forest floor, Russell is frantically slinging his bag over his shoulders. Wordlessly, I follow him as we sprint through the forest.

Russell is panting so hard that I think he's going to pass out. I glance ahead of us, and all I can see is a wall of fire. To our right, flames approach with the fury of gods.

"Left!" I scream, coughing from the smoke. Russell turns so quickly that he falls to the ground, and I drag him to his feet.

My legs are moving as fast as they can, but my mind is going faster. We are going to die.

I can't give up now, I know I can't. Not after Russell saved me and showed me what hope feels like. We can make it out of here. Push... faster...

Russell glances behind us. "Luna, duck!" he screams, and I throw myself to the ground. Looking up, I watch as a massive ball of fire sails over me.

"What the hell is that?" I ask, terrified.

"Fireball," Russell says. Tears are running down his face, but I'm not sure if it's from the smoke. "Come on!"

I can feel the heat of the fire on my back as we run. A fireball barely misses my head, and then another. Finally, when a fireball comes so close to us that Russell's eyebrows burn off, it hits me.

"They're targeting us," I gasp. My knees nearly buckle beneath me, but I keep running behind Russell. All of a sudden, it becomes clear that this is it. Helvius Athanasios has all the power, and Helvius Athanasios wants us to die.

A burning tree falls in front of us, stopping us dead in our tracks. Russell moves to turn left, but I see it before he does. Helvius must be bored of throwing fireballs at us from behind, because this one is coming right at us straight-on. We have no time to react; I shove Russell to the right and dive to the left.

I'm a second too late. Russell screams next to me; I look over to see him laying on the ground, his leg completely singed.

"Go, Luna," he croaks, tears streaming down his soot-streaked face. "Give them what they deserve."

Determination fills my body as I see Russell's body on the ground. "Come on," I say, scooping him up and looping my arm around his shoulder. "If you go, I'm going with you. They can't burn this entire place down."

Russell whimpers with pain as he hops alongside me. I'm at a walking pace now, but I notice that the fire is starting to slow. Is Helvius finally showing us mercy? Somewhere in the distance, over the roar of the fire, I hear a cannon shot fire.

Finally, at long last, the fire begins to diminish; soon, only the grass behind us burns, until even that dies out. We've made it.

I drop Russell to the ground, and he lets out a howl of pain.

"Open my bag," Russell says, his voice strained. "I think I collected something for this a while ago."

I rummage through Russell's bag until I find what he's looking for. According to him, he's kept a few samples of every plant he's come across in here, just in case. Looks like it's coming in handy now.

"Tell me what to do," I urge. "Whatever it is, I can do it."

"Chew one of those leaves in your mouth and spit it out onto the burn," Russell grunts. As quickly as I can, I follow his instructions.

"When you put it on my leg, I'm going to scream," Russell informs me. "I read that it's supposed to feel like the worst pain imaginable, but it's the fastest way to heal it. I'll be okay."

"Okay," I say nervously, holding the chewed plant in my hand. "Ready?"

Russell nods, and I rub the chewed mixture onto his leg. Immediately, he lets out the most guttural scream I've ever heard. Russell's body begins to shake on the ground in front of me, and I want to look away so badly, but I know I can't. I grab hold of Russell's hand, holding it tight as he screams. And then, in the distance-

"What was that?"

I slap my hand over Russell's mouth, muffling his scream of agony. Beneath me, I can feel him struggling.

Closer now: "Did you hear a scream?"

"Probably from the fire," I hear someone say, their voice echoing through the grove. It sounds like Calista. "I read somewhere that you can hear all sorts of noises from fire. It's the wood breaking apart or something like that."

"Probably demons and whatever else is in there," Amanda says.

"You two are ridiculous," Midas laughs. Beneath me, I feel Russell go slack.

I feel something like rage fill my body as I hear the Careers' voices. It's very apparent what is happening - Helvius tried to kill us in that fire, and when it didn't work, he led us right to the Career tributes so that they would kill us for him. Well, I'm not going to give him what he wants.

I see a glimpse of Midas and Amanda through the trees; they're not too close, but still within hearing distance. If they were looking for Russell and me, they would've certainly found us.

Russell pulls my hand off of his mouth. "I told you I was going to scream," he says crossly, staring up at me.

"The Careers almost heard us," I whisper, still in shock. "Helvius led us right to them."

Russell doesn't say anything for a few seconds. "Sometimes I wish they'd just kill us," he says frankly.

"Yeah, tell me about it," I say. As I hear the Careers' loud conversation drift off into the distance, I feel the urge to do something, and then it hits me. I know exactly what we need to do.

"Come on," I say, standing up. "We need to go, now!"

"I can't walk," Russell says, pointing to his leg. "Not sure if you forgot."

"I'm going to carry you," I say, scooping him up into my arms. "I think I've just figured out your way out of this Arena."

I tell Russell my plan as I carry him through the Arena. It's so perfect, I'm surprised we hadn't thought of it before.

"The only tributes left in here are us and the Careers," I tell the boy in my arms. "If they want to win the Games, they'll have to hunt us down and turn on each other."

"Right," Russell mutters. "The question is, which will happen first."

"Well, let's say we hide in the perfect spot," I huff, straining to carry Russell's weight. "Somewhere where they'll never find us."

"Then they would eventually turn on each other," Russell says, deep in thought. "But where could we hide where they won't find us? They've been training for this."

"There's only one place they won't find us," I say with a grin. "They won't be chasing us through the Arena. We'll be chasing them."

It takes a second for my plan to click in Russell's mind, and when it does, I see a smile grace his lips. He understands what we're about to do; if we can follow the Careers through the Arena long enough, they'll eventually give up on trying to find us and try to kill each other instead.

"The pain is coming back," Russell groans. "I think you have to reapply new treatments to it every time the pain returns."

I glance up at the sky - already, it's starting to darken. "Hold on just a little longer," I tell him. "At night, nobody can hear you scream."

"Okay," Russell exhales, laying back in my arms. Finally, I spot what I'm looking for. Through the trees, I can see Calista's blonde hair as it bobs behind Midas and Amanda.

Helvius Athanasios may want me to die, but I won't give up that easily. If he wants to trap us in a fire, he'll have to trap his precious Careers in there with us. Two can play that game, Helvius... and I'm ready to play.