The rain makes sleeping nearly impossible, but somehow, I manage to get some rest. As the sky grows lighter, the water level rises and we find ourselves packing up and moving our stuff higher.

"You don't think it's going to flood, is it?" Giemci asks nervously.

"With the way it's been raining since the gong?" I reply. "It's probably inevitable."

Giemci looks down, and I catch a brief scowl on her face. "Right…" she replies. "You're probably right."

"We should find a way to dry out our clothes," Drake points out. "With how cold it is, we could be inviting all kinds of nasty things."

"Like trench foot," Camdyn points out. "It's a common issue in Two, especially in the spring when the quarries flood."

"I imagine that heals up pretty quick, right?" Lincoln asks. "With all the fancy medicine you have there."

Camdyn shrugs. "Depends on if you can afford it. Two isn't some mini-Capitol, contrary to popular belief. Yeah, we're lucky enough to have more than most, but we have our own issues too."

Despite this revelation, all I can think of is that this conversation is definitely going to be censored. What Camdyn said is relatively harmless, but portraying Panem's most loyal district as anything but perfect would not do at all.

"Anyway, we should also take inventory," Camdyn continues. "We might be running low on food."

Sure enough, the food supply is lower than what I'd deem comfortable. Between me being unconscious and Decida being sick, we haven't really been able to dedicate a day to getting more.

"We should split up," I suggest. "Some of us can look for shelter and the rest of us can look for food."

"Isn't splitting the party bad?" Giemci asks.

"Well, when you're desperate, I guess," Drake replies.

"If this anti-Career plan works and we take the cornucopia," Bran replies, "we'll have plenty of food. And a decent shelter."

But what happens after?

It dawns on me that we're a rather large alliance. If we somehow manage to kill all the Careers, the audience will expect us to turn on each other. We may have some leniency until Nero is dead, but after that, the Gamemakers may start putting the pressure on us, if they already aren't planning to do so already.

"I can go gather some berries," I say, standing up quickly. "I know what to look for."

"I'll go with you," Bran says. "I can help."

After some discussion, we decide to split into two groups and meet back up at sundown. Giemci is quick to not group with me, citing that we should have no more than one non-fighter in a group.

It would make perfect sense, if not for the elephant in the non-existent room. As much as don't want to prod, this particular elephant may be worth addressing. I don't want Giemci thinking I'm going to kill her too.

"If our faces aren't in the sky," Camdyn says, breaking me from my thoughts, "assume we're okay."

I nod. "Will do."

We split up after dividing the supplies between us.

"Is she going to be okay?" Bran asks.

Lincoln sighs. "I don't know."

"She must really hate me," I mutter. "After what I did..."

"I don't see why," Lincoln replies. "You saved her life. What happened to Decida…it's horrible but it was the only way to save them both."

As we make our way through the woods, we are sure to watch our steps so as not to trigger any traps or scare off any game. We find a few berry bushes. Most are safe and even tasty, others not so much. If there are any traps in the area, we don't trigger any.

"I've been thinking," Bran says.

"A dangerous thing to do," Lincoln replies.

"Do you think we should be disarming the traps as we find them?"

"I don't know," I reply. "We've done a pretty good job avoiding them so far. Maybe someone else won't be as cautious. Not to mention that if Flower Power finds out that someone's been finding and disarming their traps, they might hide them better."

"Not to mention that we don't know what those two are capable of, even without Bridgeteri," Lincoln adds. "I'd rather not upset them by ruining their handiwork."

Bran shrugs. "Just thought it would be funny."

I shake my head and try to stifle a laugh. This kid. How he manages to stay so positive in a fight to the death is beyond me. The silver lining is nice to have though.

Very few animals appear. There's only the occasional bird, but they're dubbed too scrawny to be worth shooting. "How are we supposed to get protein?" Lincoln mutters.

We do manage to find some plants with suitable roots. It still boggles me that there is very little wildlife in this forest. I have to wonder if the rain has something to do with it. We find plenty of nuts, but I'm no nutritionist. I have no idea how much protein we're taking in, making deficiency a huge concern.

"I think we struck out on the meat platter…" I say after a few hours.

Bran sighs. "Darn. And here I was looking forward to a fine groosling dinner."

"Groosling?" Lincoln asks curiously. "Is it good? I've never eaten it."

Bran nods. "Occasionally. We could never afford chicken."

It's a brutal reminder of how little money Bran must have had growing up, and a reminder of just how lucky I was. I really wish I had met Bran before the Reaping. We've only known each other for a couple weeks, but he's become the little brother I never had. The older sibling feeling is so foreign to me. Even though Sunny was two minutes younger than me, you could be forgiven for thinking the opposite. Now that I've gotten to know him, I find myself wishing I could have done something to help Bran back then. I wish there was more I could do to help him now.

Our conversation is interrupted by a commotion cutting through the rain. Call it morbid curiosity, or a need to make sure whatever this is doesn't reach our camp, but the three of us follow the sounds. Bran holds his hand up and steps in front of us. I'm about to protest when he holds his finger over his mouth and flashes me a shaky, nervous, grin.

I barely manage to suppress a chuckle and nod. "Lead on, kid," I whisper.

We follow Bran's lead, stepping where he steps, trying to stay as quiet as possible.

A loud, animalistic scream cuts through the air, causing us to jump.

We move a little faster. I brace myself for a cannon, but it never comes. Eventually, we stumble across a clearing and the scene in front of me causes my blood to run cold with shock.

Nero is on the ground, groaning in pain. The sickening scent of burning flesh and blood makes his way through the rain. His entire neck and chest are burned and bloodied. I notice similar burns on his leg. The most severe wound of all, however, is the bloodied wooden spike sticking out of his torso.

"Holy crap…" Lincoln mouths.

Krystian has his own fair share of wounds but seems to be the least injured. He is kneeling beside Emily, who is lying in a pool of blood. He is pressing his hands against her stomach, begging her to stay with him, not to leave him alone. But the pool of blood is too large. There's no saving her. Krystian must know that. He's too smart not to know that.

Emily lets out one last gasp and goes completely limp. Her cannon fires and Krystian tenses. He bites back a scream. His face twists into a grimace as he tries hard not to cry. "I'm sorry," he chokes quietly. He rises and turns towards Nero. He gives Nero one last angry, hateful look. "See you in hell, monster," he growls. Then, he vanishes.

For a moment, it's almost quiet. The only sounds are the sounds of the rain and the dying boy nearby.

Nero is still gasping on the ground. With all that anger and hatred on his face, it was easy to forget that he was still a teenager, just like the rest of us. Now, he just looks vulnerable and scared. I could just walk away, let him die alone and in pain, and it would be well deserved, but somehow, that just doesn't seem right.

"Go back to camp," I say to the others. "I'll handle this."

I turn back to Lincoln and Bran, who are staring at me, shocked. Bran gives his head a slight, slow shake. "With him?" he breathes.

"I don't think he's a threat anymore," I reply. "Besides, I…I have something I need to do."

Bran looks like he wants to protest but I cut him off gently. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

Lincoln gives me a nod. "Just be careful, yeah?" He then places his hand on Bran's shoulder and leads him away.

I slowly walk towards Nero and stand over him for a moment. I know he's not going anywhere, but I make sure to kick away any weapons that might be nearby. I then sit down next to him without a sound.

It takes a moment for his gaze to lock onto me. When it does, he tries to laugh but it comes out as a gargled cough instead. "Of course, it'd be you," he says, his voice raw from the poison in his throat. "I guess this is what I deserve."

I can't help but raise an eyebrow at this. Of course, I know why he would say something like that, but why would he admit it? "What makes you say that?" I ask.

"Those two girls," Nero groans. "The ones I killed. The little one who screamed for her brother. The one who drank from the river. Could have made it quick but I didn't. I drew it out for no reason, not even for the crowd. And that boy I attacked when I volunteered…" Nero coughs and gasps in pain as he does. "Did you know that he died too? I was a terrible person, wasn't I?"

Nero's a Career, a trained killer. I don't know how it works in Two, I'll have to ask Camdyn later, but the process doesn't strike me as a pretty one. Still, Nero allowed his hatred to drive him to do terrible things, going far beyond what he needed to do to get the job done, and it wasn't even for the cameras.

"Why are you admitting all of this now?" I ask.

Tears begin to well in Nero's eyes. "I took a long look in the mirror. Made me realize…after my brother died, there was no one left who loved me. I had no one else left to love either, so…" His voice trails off. I gently finish his sentence. "You filled that void with hatred."

"How did you keep going after your sister died," Nero asks. "How did you avoid becoming like me?"

Did I really avoid that? I definitely don't hate Careers, but I can't claim I'm not a killer anymore either. "I don't know," I reply. "I guess… I had people who cared about me. I'm sorry you didn't have that for yourself."

Nero shakes his head. "I wanted to be better. I really did."

"Then why did you attack Flower Power?"

"I didn't. They attacked me. I was…just defending myself. Like I said, exactly what I deserve." Nero chokes back a sob. "I really wasted my life, didn't I?"

I sigh and try to think of an answer. "I… You can't change the past. What's done is done. What matters is how you move forward."

"Do you really believe that?"

Images of my mother holding a picture of my sister and I as she died in Brutus's arms, of the life leaving my sister's once vibrant eyes, of Decida's blood on my hands, flash in my head. All in the past, all out of reach, yet still weighing on me heavily. How can one move forward from that? A thick lump begins to form in my throat and tears of my own begin to well in my eyes.

Nero picks up on my hesitation and laughs one more time. "I guess we both have some soul searching to do. I just…I just wish I had more time…for mine."

His voice trails off and his head drops a bit. A few seconds later, his cannon sounds and I'm alone in the rain.

I press my hands over my face, trying to fight the burning tears behind my eyes.

Don't you dare break down now, I tell myself. You have to be strong, like them. It's the only way forward. It always has been.

I take a deep breath and listen to the rain for a moment. Once I'm calmer, I reach out and close Nero's eyelids, mindful of the chemicals that splashed onto his face.

Then, I stand.

I take a moment to take some of the items left behind. Anything I don't take is stuffed into Emily's pouch to be removed from the arena when the hovercraft arrives.

I turn and slowly make my way back in the direction I came.

It's not long before I hear a branch snap behind me. I whip around, knife raised towards Jax's neck. I feel the tip of her rapier poke into my chest, not enough to break the skin but enough to get the message across. My hand freezes midair, and we're at an impasse.

Jax just grins. "Hey. Do you have a moment to talk?"

So that happened. First, the eulogies.

13th Place – Emily Wren – Slashed by Nero Mortis
When I made the choice to have Flower Power take on Nero of all people, I knew Nero was going to take at least one of them with him. Emily was a background character, but like the other background characters, she had quite an impact. If it weren't for her, Nero would have killed Krystian too and that would have been the end of Flower Power. Chemists and the Hunger Games go together so nicely. When I decided to make Emily a chemist, I knew she had to have an awesome moment even if she didn't wind up in Amber's alliance, so she got sponsored some deadly chemicals and Nero seemed like the perfect choice for her to use them on. For the record, this was one hundred percent an ambush. While Amber's Alliance was planning to take out the Careers, Flower Power had their eyes on Nero. After Emily was hurt, she used the last of her strength to throw a bottle and cause burns on Nero's leg which allowed Krystian to throw the second bottle on his face and shove him into the spike trap, so without her, the plan would have failed entirely. While she didn't get to do much on screen, she had a dying moment of awesome. Goodby,e Emily. You were the best up-and-coming chemist in Panem.

12th Place – Nero Mortis – Killed by Krystian Berg (with assistance from Emily Wren)
Technically, Krystian was the one who was credited with Nero's death, but let's face it, Emily helped a lot. When I was coming up with this cast, I knew I wanted an angry Career who hated outliers due to losing family to them in the Games. Unfortunately, the only feasible place for the character was the District Two Male, so I was left with a typical District Two Brute. Despite the fact that I gave him the backstory I wanted to do more with him, so instead of having him go down in a fight with Amber's alliance like I originally planned, I decided to give Flower Power the moment of awesome they deserved and gave him a drastic personality change that will be explained later on. When Nero lost his stepbrother, he filled that void with hatred and anger and let that drive him to all the terrible things he did. However, at some point, he realized he was wasting his life. Unfortunately, it was too late for him to try and fix things. However, I was able to give him a peaceful death with Amber at his side, and they were able to have a conversation of sorts, from one legacy tribute to another. Goodbye, Nero. If only you had more time.

Poor Amber can't catch a break, can she? She and Giemci are not in a good place, food is low, the weather is awful, etc. This is the chapter where she officially goes full Grim Reaper though. I did quite a bit of research, and the Grim Reaper doesn't necessarily kill people. Rather, he comes to claim the souls of the dying, granting them peace in their final moments, which is what Amber did for Nero. Many of the tributes that have died so far have died while she was nearby, and people are taking notice of this.

Flower Power had an epic moment! They were originally going to be a background survivalist alliance that slowly died off in the background, but then I got attached and next thing I know, Krystian and Emily are taking on freaking NERO! NERO!

Also, a wild Jax appears! The next chapter should be very interesting. Why is she wanting to talk with Amber instead of killing her outright? Where are Link and Bran? How is the shelter hunt going with Camdyn, Giemci, and Drake?

That is all for me to know and you to find out next time!