By the morning, the Careers' fire has simmered down to glowing embers. Midas yawns, poking lazily at the ashes as Amanda and Calista eat a generous breakfast.
"This tinned stuff is really good," Amanda says, examining a can of meat as Calista scoops out some of its contents. "I've never heard of it before."
"Must be new," Calista says through a mouthful of food. "Only the best presents for the best tributes!"
Amanda laughs, and I squint to get a closer look at the tin in her hand. I'd nearly forgotten that the Careers received gifts at the Feast; not only that, but each of them received an extra one as well.
"They really went all out," Calista says, picking up a long knife from next to her. Even from here, I can tell that it's razor-sharp and brand new. "I didn't see anything like this at the Bloodbath."
"Yeah, well, they probably wanted to give it to someone who really knew how to use it," Midas says with a grin.
"Keep it safe," Amanda says as Calista sets it down next to her. "We'll have to show the others how it's done properly."
The thought of Russell and me gets Midas on his feet, and he starts packing his bag. "Let's try and get all that over with today," he says. "I don't want to have to stay in here any longer than I have to."
"Right," Amanda says as Midas helps her up. "That fire yesterday probably pushed them closer to us, knowing Helvius. He probably wants us to run into them today."
I smile at Amanda's ignorance. Oh, if only she knew...
The Careers quickly pack up their camp, and I watch Amanda slip Calista's sharp blade into a holster at her hip. I wait until they're out of hearing range to wake up Russell.
"Time to go," I say, prodding his shoulder. "They're on the move."
Groggily, Russell lets me help him down from the tree. He's able to walk slowly on his leg, so I let him lean on me as we hobble through the forest.
"They're trying to hunt us down today," I inform the boy at my shoulder. "We have to keep our guard up."
"Okay," Russell sighs. "They're getting anxious to finish this. That's good."
I can feel my heart rate spike as we grow closer and closer to the Career tributes. These tributes are trained hunters - every instinct is telling me to turn and run, but I know that we need to do this to survive.
As we walk, I can already envision the Careers' strategy. One of them will surely be watching behind them to make sure that we're not following them. They're bound to predict our strategy. It'll be nearly impossible to hide behind tree trunks without being spotted; we'll probably lose them in the grove. How are we even going to do this?
"My leg is starting to give up on me," Russell groans from next to me. "It hurts so bad."
I can hear Amanda and Midas talking in the distance now - we must be close.
"Hop on my back," I tell him. "Let's go."
Wordlessly, the small boy climbs onto my back, and I carry him through the grove. I weave carefully through the trees, making sure to watch my step, and then the Careers come into sight.
"What are they..." Russell says from my back, and I'm just as confused as he is. In front of us, Amanda and Midas are laughing at something loudly; I watch as Amanda pushes Midas playfully on the shoulder. Ahead of them, Calista is looking through the trees with her knife at the ready.
"They're not even looking back here," Russell says with a tinge of concern in his voice. "It doesn't even look like they're trying."
"They must not think we're hiding very carefully," I sigh, hoisting him higher on my back. "Or they just don't care. We're going to die eventually in their eyes, so it doesn't matter."
I do my best to navigate through the grove as the Careers make their weak attempt to hunt us. Luckily, Russell is fairly light, but his extra weight does eventually put a strain on me and I have to stop to take breaks.
"It's starting to hurt again, Luna," Russell whispers. "I need you to treat it..."
"Just hold on," I say, lifting him back up with a grunt. "We have to wait a little longer until night."
About two hours into the Careers' search, I start to seriously struggle. It becomes harder to watch where I'm stepping, but I do my best to keep up with the Careers. And then, finally, I make a fatal mistake.
Russell sees it before I do, but he's still too late. My foot's already pressed onto the branch beneath it before he gets the chance to call my name, and our fates are sealed.
Crack.
Russell squeezes my shoulder so tightly that I think he's going to bruise me. I whip to the side, ducking behind the nearest tree.
"Did you hear that?" I hear Calista say in the distance. "From back there."
I'm frozen in shock, my feet planted on the ground. I can just feel Calista growing closer, step by step, to killing us and ending the Games right here and now.
"Let me peek," Russell hisses, prodding me to the side and allowing him to duck around. He inhales sharply. "She's coming over here-"
In the distance, Midas and Amanda cheer. "Calista, look!" Amanda calls. "Midas caught a squirrel!"
Curiosity gets the best of me and I peek around the tree trunk to see Calista. She's only a few feet away now; I watch as she furrows her brow, taking one last look around before turning back to join her sister.
I'm so relieved that I nearly collapse. I release my grip on Russell, sending him sliding to the ground.
Russell wraps me in an embrace. "That was close," he exhales. "Too close."
"I can't believe she didn't find us," I admit, still unsure what to do with myself. "She was right there."
"The Careers are starting to slack off," Russell says with a grin. "They're becoming messy now."
"You're right," I say with a nod. "They're getting cocky. We can use that to our advantage."
Luckily, Midas' hunting success leads the Careers to set up camp. I can feel my stomach grumble as I watch him roast his catch over the fire, but I know that I'll be fed soon enough if I can make it out of here.
"Day Thirteen, all done," Russell says, raising a piece of black fruit in the air. I've started to notice that fewer and fewer black fruit are appearing in the trees, instead being replaced by the poisonous purple ones. The Gamemakers are starting to cut off our food supply.
"Cheers," I say, raising a piece of fruit to my ally. "Day Thirteen."
Our thirteenth day has come to a close, and Russell and I made it through yet again. I've been thinking, though... our time may be nearly up. As Russell reminded me yesterday, these Games rarely last longer than two weeks. If tomorrow is our last day in here, Russell and I may not be able to outlast the three Careers. Time is running out for the Careers to turn on each other... someone needs to be betrayed soon or we stand no chance.