You'd think I'd be embarrassed about getting my butt kicked. You'd think I'd be moping about how I brought shame upon my family name.

I'm neither of those things. I'm annoyed and I'm angry.

No one says a word as we go back to camp, aside from Drake informing me that my angry walking is too loud.

Camdyn, Giemci, and Drake have outdone themselves. Our new camp is another cave, smaller than the one before, but slightly higher above the ground. The rocks are damp from the moisture in the air, but not completely soaked with rainwater. There are enough rocks in the area to mask a fire, so we're able to warm ourselves up and dry out our clothes. The whole time, I'm going over the idea I had in my head, thinking it over, adding to it, and figuring out how I'm going to pitch it.

After the anthem, Camdyn throws together a stew with some of the food we gathered, along with some broth that she received earlier. "Brutus must have taken over," she muses. "No doubt Enobaria cut me off after I left the Careers. This is the first gift I got since I joined you guys."

"You said you had something to explain?" Giemci eventually asks.

"Yeah," I reply. "Jax decided she was going to try and recruit me."

"Amber?" Lincoln looks skeptical. "She…yeah, we saw her slam your head into a tree. She knocked you out. I'd hardly call that recruiting."

"She wanted it to 'look good,'" I explain, using air quotes. A fresh wave of rage washes over me as I recall the events. "Then she took my knife."

"I can't help but feel like you're more offended by that than the fact that she tried to kill you," Drake points out.

Heat rises in my cheeks for a moment. It does seem silly in hindsight, but something about that stupid, smug face makes me wish I had gotten the chance to mess it up.

Oh well. Stranger feelings have been felt in the Hunger Games.

"I don't think she was going to kill me," I say. "She just wanted to test me or something."

"If she and Bronze have a brawn-brains dynamic going on," Bran sighs, "then she's doing a good job. I mean, you could have killed her."

My face twists a bit. "Yeah, I would have."

"Did you accept her offer?" Giemci asks nervously.

I sigh. "She didn't exactly give me a choice. It was either accept the offer or get skewered. I was able to buy some time though."

"How much time?" Camdyn asks.

"Two days," I reply. "I have to be there in two days. And there needs to be some cannons. Obviously, that second part isn't going to happen, but hopefully, the Career pack will leave us alone long enough for us to come up with a proper plan."

The rain that had been falling all day begins to pick up and thunder rumbles in the distance.

"Good thing we have this cave…" Bran mutters.

"I'll say," Lincoln sighs.

"Do you have any ideas of how we should proceed?" Giemci asks. "You do realize that once the time limit's up, they'll hunt us down."

"Yeah, I'm well aware of that," I reply. "I have an idea, but this needs to be unanimous. Either we're all in, or we don't do it."

"Is it really that risky?" Bran breathes.

I nod. "If it goes without a hitch, we'll be fine, but if it goes wrong…" My voice trails off.

A heavy silence settles over us. Lightning strikes in the distance, followed by another low roar of thunder.

Lincoln looks down. "Let's hear the plan first. Then we can decide from there."

The plan seems relatively simple. I tell the Careers that I spiked our meal with water from the river. Surely, they know what it does by now. If not, I'll demonstrate using one of Emily's leftover flasks and some of the herbs. Then, I'll lead them away under the guise of getting to kill the others themselves. Then, it's ambush time.

For a moment, it's silent. Everyone stares at me either in awe or like I've lost it.

"That's…crazy!" Bran breathes. "This is crazy. You're crazy!"

"I don't know," Camdyn muses. "It does seem pretty clever to me."

"I'm open to any other ideas," I add, "but this seemed like the best course of action at the time."

Drake gives me a nod. "I trust your judgment, Ames. It's kept me alive this long."

"I'm the one who said I wanted the Careers dead," Camdyn adds. "I'm in."

I look to Lincoln, Giemci, and Bran, who all look skeptical.

Lincoln thinks for a moment, then sighs. "I could climb one of the nearby trees, be a sniper or something. Plus, we might be able to sway Cedar back on our side if we pull this off."

Bran looks reluctant, but he also nods. "I'm with you. All the way."

All eyes are on Giemci. Her gaze drops to the ground and her eyes narrow, clearly thinking hard about this.

I can't help but feel nervous. She doesn't trust me. I don't know if she'll be on board.

Finally, she looks up at me. "I don't want to die, Amber."

"None of us do," Camdyn replies. "But we need to-"

Giemci holds up her hand. "Let me finish. I don't want to die, and if you think this is our best chance of surviving, then I'm in."

I sigh with relief. "Okay, good. Good. We can take the next two days, figure out a proper plan of attack."

We decide to turn in for the night. Drake and I take the first watch together, watching the rain fall outside through our glasses. Without the fire, it's freezing. I realize never asked Bran for my vest back, and I honestly don't plan to. It doesn't help that I'm down to one sleeve.

"Are you sure about this?" I ask him.

"Are you?" Drake replies jokingly.

I let out a dry laugh. "I can't think of anything else."

"You came up with all that with a rapier at your throat?"

"Just the playing both sides part. Honestly, I'm shocked I didn't think of it sooner."

Drake squeezes my shoulder. "How have you been holding up? I know the past few days have been a lot."

I close my eyes, Nero's final words once again bouncing around in my head. "I guess we both have some soul-searching to do."

"I've been alright," I lie. "As alright as I can be anyway."

Drake stares at me for a long moment. "What happened back there anyway, with Nero?"

"You saw what happened. He killed Emily. Krystian killed him back."

"No, I mean, what happened with him after we left?"

"He seemed different," I reply. "Less…violent. Like he genuinely regretted everything."

"You stayed with him while he died?"

I nod. "I couldn't just leave him there. He was in pain, but…it was surprisingly peaceful. You...don't think I turned out like him do you?"

Drake's eyes go wide. "No, Amber. No. How could you even think that?"

I wrap my arms around myself. "I guess…once the anger was gone…it was like looking in a mirror."

Drake opens his mouth to say more but something catches our eye in the rain. The chimes are faint, drowned out by the storm, but a package labeled with a "9" falls into my lap.

I carefully open up the package and find a nice-looking, dark grey jacket, complete with a hood. I inspect the material, rubbing it between my fingers. It looks warm, but also looks like it can wick if needed. At the bottom of the package, I find a small card.

To the Grim Reaper, from Capitol Couture.

I pull the jacket on and sure enough, I instantly warm up.

Drake takes the card, and his eyebrows raise. "Wow. You have a nickname now. The Grim Reaper. That's pretty badass." He flashes me a smile, trying to be reassuring.

"Yeah, it is." I try to force a smile of my own, to show my gratitude, all while that weight on my shoulders grows heavier and heavier.

Morning comes and the rain still hasn't stopped. The light outside settles in that annoying too-bright for glasses but not bright enough without them area.

I'm questioned about the jacket, of course, and when I explain, everyone seems pretty thrilled.

We decide to stay in today, relying on the impending excitement to keep the Gamemakers off our backs.

Then, a funny look forms on Bran's face.

"What is it?" Camdyn asks.

"Do you hear that?" He stands up and walks towards the cavern mouth before kneeling. I frown and listen to the rain outside. It sounds like it's hitting water.

Water!

Sure enough, Bran shoots up. "The water level's rising! It's rising fast! We need to go right now!"

Water begins rushing into the cave and within seconds, it's up to our ankles, then our knees. Lincoln reaches for a backpack, but Camdyn grabs him. "Forget it! We have to go!"

We rush out of the cave right as the water reaches our chests. The current is strong, strong enough to where I have to grab onto a tree just to stay in place. Soon, the cave is swallowed up, and what little vision I have vanishes soon after.

No, no, no! Not now!

Thank goodness I thought to stuff my glasses in my jacket pocket and thank goodness again that the pockets have zippers. I yank them out and throw them on my face. Water spots obscure my vision, but it's better than nothing. We all hold onto something for dear life, but as the current grows stronger, I have to wrap my legs around a tree just to stay stabilized.

Everyone is holding onto the trees for dear life. Lincoln, Camdyn, and I were the only ones who were able to get our glasses on.

Giemci screams as the tree branch that she was holding onto snaps. She is swept towards me and I detach my arm from the tree trunk. I'm just barely able to grab her hand.

The water has stopped rising, but the current is too intense. I keep Giemci's hand in a death grip, but the water is pulling her away from me. "Hang on!" I shout.

Her grip begins to slip. We can only share a look of horror as her hand slides free and she is swept away. "Giemci!" I scream. I push myself from the tree, ready to go after her when another hand grabs me by the hood and yanks me back.

Camdyn pulls me close and moves so that I'm pressed between her and the tree that she's gripping onto. I try to fight her, but she only holds me tighter. "Amber, stop! We can't lose you too!"

Lincoln manages to pull himself and Bran up onto some branches away from the water. "I'll get her!" he shouts. He dives into the water before anyone can stop him.

"Link! Stop!" Camdyn shouts, but he's already gone. "Damn!"

"What's going on? I can't see!" Bran cries.

Drake manages to wrestle his glasses on and begins climbing. "Just hang on, Bran!" he shouts. "We'll be okay! Just hang on!"

It feels like forever, but the current eventually slows to a stop. The water doesn't get any lower, but Drake is able to make his way to Bran. Camdyn pulls away from me just enough to grip my wrist and pulls me towards them. "I can swim," I protest.

"In the right direction?" Camdyn retorts.

Drake pulls us both into the tree. "I couldn't get my glasses…" Bran mutters. "I don't feel so good."

"It's alright," I say. "We got you. Just hang in-"

A cannon fires and my heart leaps into my throat. "That… That couldn't have been them, right?" Drake breathes.

I take a breath and shake my head. "No, no, surely not."

The fog begins to fade, and the sky grows lighter. It's still cloudy, but at least we don't need glasses anymore.

Then, finally, the water begins to drop. It's fast, like water draining from a bathtub. Everyone releases the tree and we let ourselves drop until finally, we're back on solid ground.

The hovercraft suddenly appears nearby. It can't be any further than a couple of miles away. I see the claw drop down, then rise back up. I squint, trying to catch a glimpse of who it might be. It's definitely a boy, too small to be anyone else but Krystian Berg. I sigh with relief.

"Was that Krystian?" Camdyn asks.

"Yeah, had to be..." I mutter. "The fog vanished after the cannon. That's probably what killed him." Why would the Gamemakers target him with the fog? He took out one of the biggest contenders of the year. Surely his odds skyrocketed after that. His popularity too. Brooke also died in the fog, but she was injured. Does it target injured people? Or people who are caught out alone?

None of this makes any sense.

Part of me wonders

"I think we can trust Link to find Giemci on his own," Drake says. "He was able to grab his bow and arrows before we had to leave. He can take care of himself."

I suddenly remember our camp and how it got swallowed up by the water. I rush back to the cave and what I see almost makes me scream in frustration.

Most of our supplies are gone, having been sucked out of the cave somehow. Who knows where they are now?

Obviously, the Gamemakers did this to put pressure on us. Ten tributes remain, all of them in very strong alliances, with lots of supplies. This is definitely going to turn into an alliance war, and the Gamemakers just had to insert themselves into it. They do this every so often, throwing a wrench in otherwise solid plans to remind us all that the Capitol is all-powerful and has the final say in everything we do.

The others appear behind me and begin helping me go through the backpacks.

We still have some food, our weapons, and the now soaking-wet blanket, but the rest of our stuff is either gone or too damp to use.

"You have got to be kidding me," Drake groans.

I sigh. "If the flood did all this to our little cave, then the supplies at the cornucopia are probably gone too."

"Silver linings?" Drake asks.

Not if there's nothing left for us to take.

"Do we find the Sixes or stay put?" Bran asks.

"We know they're still alive," Camdyn says. "We can probably give them some time before we go looking for them. They'll know to come back here."

Bran and Drake hum in agreement, and then look at me.

It doesn't feel right, waiting. I feel like I should be out there, helping, but Lincoln put his trust in me when I told him my plan. It's only right if I reciprocate.

"Okay," I concur. "Let's stay here."

The wait is long and difficult. We take inventory of what we have left, make small talk, and when we get incredibly restless, we see how high Camdyn can lift us off the ground.

The day goes on and on, and eventually, I find myself pacing back and forth. "Something's wrong," I say. "They should have been back by now."

"Give them time," Camdyn says. "And stop pacing. You'll tire yourself out."

"I know, I know, I-"

Once again, I am cut off, not by a cannon, but by trumpets. I'm immediately outside the cave, with the others not far behind.

"Attention all tributes!" Claudius Templesmith says. "Congratulations on making it to the top ten. I understand that you are having supply issues at the moment. To remedy this, and in recognition of your progress so far, there will be a feast tomorrow at noon. Attendance is not mandatory, but I would think twice about refusing. You never know what might happen in the arena."

It's silent again, except for the wind brushing against the trees.

I burst out laughing before I can stop myself, winning me some strange looks from the others.

"This just keeps getting better and better!"

11th Place – Krystian Berg – Died in the Fog
The last Flower has fallen. Oh Krystian, my scrappy, clever little survivalist. I admit, my original plan was to kill you off in the bloodbath, but something stopped me. I realized that this kid had the potential to do something awesome. Having him join Flower Power was a bit of a last-minute change, but one I absolutely do not regret. He had some really cool moments, from stealing a backpack from Amber to offing FREAKING NERO. I actually almost put him in Amber's alliance, but I ultimately decided against it since I wasn't sure what I could do with him there. Unfortunately, beyond that, while there wasn't much reason to kill him, there wasn't much reason to keep him alive either. I needed another tribute for the fog, so I decided to end his journey here. Honestly, had things just gone a little bit differently, he would have definitely made it a lot further. Heck, he might have even won. I think I speak for all of us when I say I will miss this little badass. Goodbye, Krystian. Thank you for being the best background character an author can ask for.

Before I begin…guess what?

They did it! They did it! My favorite baseball team won the World Series for the first time! I may as well reveal them, as anyone with a search engine could figure it out now. The Rangers have been through a RIDE this season. At times, it was awesome. Other times, it was frustrating to the point where I nearly rage quit on the season, but it was so worth it in the end! Unfortunately, this means no more baseball until April… This also means no more status updates but hey, IT WORKED! And now their postseason anthem has a place of honor on my Fall 2023 playlist!

Now, to the author's note:

Remember how Katniss mentioned the year a flood took out the supplies? Surprise! This is the year! Those darn Gamemakers, unable to mind their own business. If I could banish them, I would, but alas…

A LOT has happened here. I thought about splitting it into two parts but the crazy pacing just…worked, I guess? If not, it can be split up easily so it's an easy fix. Feedback is much appreciated.

These kiddos have just been through it lately. If I had a nickel for every time I traumatized Giemci, I'd have two nickels, which isn't much but it's unfortunate that it happened twice. Now we're down to the Careers and Amber's Alliance. It's an all-out alliance war! I imagine that every so often in the Games, alliances form that are dead set against wiping out the other, hence the term alliance wars. I don't know, I just found it pretty badass. However, this means that the Gamemakers needed to put pressure on the tributes, so they wiped out everyone's supplies via flood and called a feast, effectively wrecking Amber's plans and the Careers' sense of security. Oops!

The fog is getting really scary now. It's taken out two tributes now. What does it do exactly? Where in the world is Giemci Weldon? Will Link find her before the feast? How will Amber handle this wrench in the plans…aside from getting very pissed off? Because she is very, very pissed off.