Yesterday was a shockingly good day…for everything EXCEPT writing. I am definitely not going to finish either of my writing projects this month, but that's okay, I am going to live with it.

Horse Madge touched my hand for the first time last night! She likes food but she does not like people so it's a big moral debate for her I imagine.

Primrose

The wolves flee right after the explosion, howling and yipping with pain. We're all in pain too- my eardrums feel like they could burst from the boom, and I'm pretty sure I'll be hearing church bells for a number of weeks- but I know we have to run.

We run in the opposite direction, partially because distance between us and the wolves is good and partially because I'm certain now that taking down the arena was Hiron's plan from the beginning. Also, because I'm certain the Gamemakers will be after us soon, and we've given them no reason to show us mercy.

There's a stark line between the arena and the outside world. The snow drops off right where the force field dome once stood, although it is melting rapidly in the summer heat. I also feel like I'm melting rapidly, but there's no time to peel my winter coat off. We cross the line and keep running, with no end in sight.

You know what is in sight? Mountains, enormous ones. We reach the foothills almost soon as soon as we cross the force field line; the arena- well, what remains of it- is nestled perfectly in the valley of the peaks. While I don't really feel like climbing hills right now, I'm grateful it offers places to hide.

Hiron directs us to one of those places right away, ducking us all behind a crag. "We need to get these trackers off," he announces, which is one of those things I would have thought of if I had spare brainpower with which to think logically. "Maris, find some rocks. Big ones."

"On it," she replies grimly.

Panting, I finally unzip my coat and toss it to the ground. I'm covered in sweat beneath it, equally from exertion and fear. I can't imagine ever feeling clean again, but since this might also be my last chance to feel alive, I try to ignore the grimy sensation.

Maris produces a couple baseball-sized rocks that Hiron deems satisfactory. Unfortunately, he chooses me for his demonstration, and I have to lay down with a rock next to my ear. Then he brings his rock down on the tracker cuff while I just try not to puke or panic. It- the cuff, not my earlobe- breaks with a satisfying crunch and I sit up as quickly as I can.

The process is repeated, and we throw all the broken pieces down the slope just in case they're still functional in any way. The coats, too. It seems wrong to throw away perfectly good coats, but outside of the arena's artificial winter, they're not necessary, and they'd only make us easier to find.

I hear the roar of hovercrafts in the distance and shudder. Jewel takes charge, pointing up the mountain. "I saw a cave further up- let's go, now!"

Great, more running. I guess it's better than the alternative, which is being captured and then killed or tortured. It's a little more comfortable without my coat, but I'm still way too warm. My boots and leggings are well-insulated.

My every muscle burns, muscles I didn't even know I had. Mountain climbing? Not my thing, apparently. I feel naked and vulnerable scrabbling around on the slope, knowing the hovercrafts could find us any moment and grab us or bomb us or exact whatever horrible punishment they think we deserve.

That said, I do not relish crawling into another cave, either. I might go so far as to say that I have had enough cave experiences to last me for the rest of my life.But what other choice do I have? Rejecting the cave more or less equals certain death. I scramble into the crevice with everybody else.

It's not so a cave as it is a niche- I don't know if that's better or worse. We can barely get the five of us in there, but nobody complains about the close quarters because we're all so scared of dying. We all press even closer together, hoping to render ourselves invisible from the outside. It's kind of a hopeless case- if they want to find us badly enough, they will, no matter how tightly we tuck ourselves into this crevice.

The hovercrafts are in the valley now. I can feel it as much as hear it; the very walls are vibrating from the roaring engines and turbines. I have to fight the urge to peek out at them through the cave entrance- it's so much scarier to know they're here but not be able to see them. As frightening as it is, I want to know what's going on, but all I can do is wait and hope we aren't blasted with fire bombs.

It's like my prayer is answered- the bombs never come, raining down on us or otherwise. I slowly let out the breath I've been holding as the roar of the ships fades to a distant hum. They're leaving. They didn't find us.

"They're giving up that easily?" I pose the question to the group. "I mean…I know this is a pretty good cave and all…"

The truth is, I'd really expected to be found. I'd thought, after every narrow escape we've made thus far, this one would really be the end.

"Guess they have more important things to worry about," Rye offers.

Maris snorts. "What could be more important than a quintet of tributes escaping the arena…again?"

"A war, maybe?" Hiron suggests. "I can only imagine the people are going mad right now."

Maris silences him with a dirty look. "You can shut your mouth now. Who else is mad he didn't tell us what was really going on?"

"I didn't have a choice!" he protests. "The Gamemakers were watching our every move- and obviously if they had known, they would have put us down ages ago! It had to be this way; trust me."

I just groan. "Hiron, quit asking us to trust you. It seems less and less possible every time."

He grins at me, like he knows I'll forgive him eventually. I will, of course. Jewel clears her throat. "He's right."

If Jewel thinks something is right, it probably is.

"...and it is, in many ways, wonderful that we have escaped," she concedes. "But that still leaves us with a difficult decision: what now?"

A moment of silence before Maris pipes up. "Well, I'm hungry."

Rye shuts her down immediately. "We can't leave here yet- no way! We have to be sure everyone else is gone."

"Well, I think they're gone," she reasons.

That's not good enough for me, and it's not good enough for anyone else, either. That would be the dumbest way to go- leaving our hiding place before the coast is actually clear. I, personally, think it's worth the wait.

Hiron clears his throat, and his suggestion- for once- is a lot more reasonable. "Prim, I got a little burnt when the bombs went off- will you look at it?"

I think he knows letting me use my healer skills is a great way to fast-track my forgiveness. I really cannot say no, and he moves into the light so I can get a better look. It's not terrible, all things considered; it's like a sunburn but a little worse. Of course, there's nothing I can do about it now. As far as supplies are concerned, we're the worst off we've been since the Games began. Another thing not to like about caves: they never have what you need, when you need it.

"You'll be fine eventually, Hiron," I assure him. "I'm sure it hurts, though, and I wish there was anything I could do! See, now the snow would be useful…"

"I can handle it," he replies cheerfully. Now I know he was just trying to make me feel better, and against my better judgment, it is working. "Maybe it'll scar! Maris, you and I can be facial scar buddies!"

She curls her lip. "You'd better hope that it doesn't. I would hate for us to have anything in common."

"We already have lots in common! We're both fourteen…we both have five letters in our names…we both have black hair…"

There's a lot more to that list- typical Hiron- and the rest of us move on. Jewel and Rye have some burns for me to look at as well, and Jewel's is bad enough that it's already a little bit blistered. Once again, there's nothing I can really do, but she does take to pressing her forearm to the cave wall for the little bit of coolness it offers.

The second hour passes slowly, but wisdom trumps restlessness, at least in this case. Finally, when the sun is high in the sky, we agree that it is probably safe to go out. Shading my eyes, I slip out of the cave right behind Rye, and I am greeted with the full force of the summer heat. That's all that greets us, fortunately- there are no Capitol officials lurking just beyond the wall, waiting for us to get cocky enough to show our faces.

"I wonder what happened to the rest of the tributes," Hiron murmurs. I'm sure his plan had little regard for them- heck, it barely had any regard for us. "If they're still down there, I can't see them."

I look back behind me and scan the remains of the arena. We're up pretty high, but I'm sure we'd be able to see people moving around, stark blue against the melting snow. "I'm sure they're gone. One way or the other."

"Maybe they escaped too."

I don't answer. It's better than saying the pessimistic truth: I highly doubt anyone else got very far. The only reason we got as far as we did is because we were close to the edge of the arena when it happened, and we had the one person who knew what was going on on our team. It's hard to imagine anyone making it without those advantages, considering the thin margin by which we scraped by.

And yet, it's hard to be pessimistic in the outside world, surrounded by green grass and sunshine and all those other nice things they kept from us in the arena. Even hill climbing doesn't seem so bad now, as I take a deep breath of fresh air. I swear I can smell the wildflowers that grow in the meadow in District Twelve, although I'm sure that's my imagination.

"I think I know where we are," Jewel announces. "Well, sort of. Not exactly. We have mountains like this at the edge of my district. Maybe we're close to my home."

Judging by the empty miles around us, we are not very close to anything. But it's a nice idea, really.

"Maybe someone will come rescue us," Rye suggests optimistically. "I mean, the rebels kind of owe us one, don't they?"

"If the Capitol couldn't find us, I doubt the rebels could either," Jewel points out.

"Okay, but we wouldn't be hiding from the rebels."

"How would we know which was which? You think the ships are labeled? What if it's a trap?"

"I'm just saying-"

I gasp with excitement. "Hey! This is aloe! Everybody with burns, get over here!"

I think it's a pretty big deal, but then Maris finds a stick she likes and the level of excitement is the same, so maybe I'm reading the room wrong.

Hiron is grateful, at least. I think Jewel and Rye would be too if they weren't still bickering over how to identify a rebel versus Capitol ship- and to think they are supposed to be the most mature of all of us. No wonder it's been such a train wreck so far.

Once I've dabbed aloe juice on everyone's burns, Maris insists we take a break she can work on her "spear", which is just that long stick she found in the grass. She's trying to sharpen it with a rock. It's not going very well- the rock is approximately zero percent sharp- but if it will make her feel better, I am happy to let her try.

The rest of us sit down in the long grass, enjoying the cool breeze and reveling in the knowledge that we will no longer be forced into killing each other at some point. Finally, it feels more like a camping trip than the Hunger Games- albeit not a very good camping trip, because we have no supplies or shelter, but the situation is still better than it was. We just have to…well, I don't know what we have to do. Survive the next few hours, I guess?

Still, it's a lot easier to feel hopeful than it was when we were in the arena. It's not a guarantee- not by a long shot- but finally, after ups and downs and more disasters than I thought I was capable of dealing with- it feels like we have a chance.

I love writing Prim. It took a while to get used to a different POV but at this point I'm vibing with it.