At daybreak, the fire reached their camp.

Felix could've kicked himself for forgetting about that small not-so-small detail. There was no time to pack up — the fire had already started eating at the parachutes. Samantha just grabbed her stick while Felix put on his backpack, and then they ran for their lives; Rue up front, followed closely by Felix and Samantha.

Ideally, they would've stuck together. But, unbeknownst to them, the Gamemakers were set on seperating them.

So when Sam tripped and Felix waited up for her, they got their chance.

"No!" Rue cried out as a burning tree crashed down in between them.

"Keep running Rue!" Felix, shouted, helping Sam back up. Her injured leg, which had been almost completely healed, was torn open again a little.

"Can you run?" Felix asked, and Sam bit her lip.

"I... I don't know."

Felix made his decision quickly and picked her up bridal style. There was no way he would be able to get over the flaming tree, so he dashed off to his left and broke through the forest.

Rue turned around to see Felix disappearing out of sight because of smoke and flames, and kept running.

-

As the anthem played that evening, Rue was in a tree, with Katniss in sight. She watched as the girl awoke, dividing all her attention between Katniss and the nest of tracker jackers that was dangerously close by. Although it posed no danger for Rue at this distance, it could definitely by lethal for Katniss, or if it were to fall, the Careers down below.

Then she got an idea.

"Psst!" She hissed, trying to catch Katniss's attention.

-

Felix and Samantha weren't too far off. In fact, towards the evening they strayed into sight of the Careers' campfire. Nobody saw them, and Felix backed away slowly. He wasn't sure what the minimum safe distance was when it came to exploding tracker jacker nests, but he certainly wasn't going to take any chances. Rue would take care of herself, and he had Samantha to worry about.

Samantha, the girl who had passed out due to stress, exhaustion and blood loss.

He set Samantha down on the leafy floor, taking off his backpack, which was covered in scorch marks. They'd lost the parachutes to the flames, so they had nothing to shield them from any possible rain. Felix took off his jacket for the second time, putting it over Samantha. He glanced at her leg. This time, they didn't have a parachute to bandage it with, and it really needed bandaging.

There were two things he could do; play the hero and use his own shirt or something, or leave the wound untended.

Neither seemed like a good option.

He was saved from having to choose by Samantha waking up again.

"Do you... water..." Samantha croaked with a dry throat, and Felix slowly allowed some water from his bottle to pour into her mouth. He had no idea how close the river was, but until they found it they'd have to be careful with their water supplies.

"How do you feel?" He whispered.

"I'm fine," Sam reassured, "where's Rue?"

Felix gestured into the direction of the Careers' camp. Even from this distance they could smell the smoke of their campfire.

"She'll be fine, I'm sure of it," he reassured her.

Sam sat up, wincing and putting a hand onto her leg.

"We need to bandage that..." Felix muttered, hoping Sam had a suggestion.

"I think there's a scrap of parachute in the backpack," Samantha recalled uncertainly, and Felix unzipped his bag to find the whitish material. It wasn't much, and it turned an eerie red when he wrapped it around the cut.

But it served its purpose.

-

"What is your plan?" Sam asked the next morning.

It was extremely early, and Felix was pacing up and down through the leaves. He was starting to get used to permanently being in a state of tiredness, if not exhaustion. The worst part was that he had no idea about when exactly Katniss would drop the tracker jacker nest. He knew she started sawing at the branch holding the nest in the evening and finished the job the next morning, but at what time?

He didn't dare approach the campsite for fear of being attacked by the furious mutant wasps, and just kept pacing. He paced in uncertainty until he was once again saved from making a decision, this time by Katniss herself, who collapsed before their eyes, clutching a bow and arrows.

She hadn't seen them, and it was clear that she was hallucinating. Not for long though — after collapsing, she lost consciousness. Sam rushed to her side, while Felix searched for Rue.

Rue showed up a couple of minutes later, carrying a few big leaves.

"They'll help against the stings," she explained, and together with Sam she applied the leaves to Katniss's stings.

One of these days, Felix, you're going to have to make a decision for yourself. There won't always be circumstances to save you.

I know... Felix thought to himself. He was getting used to having conversations with himself, he realized.

Unless it's not myself, was the first afterthought.

Who else could it be? Sam? Nah, I'd recognize her voice. I'm talking to myself, otherwise I wouldn't use my own arguements.

Are you sure?

Stop arguing with yourself Felix.

He glanced at Samantha and Rue, and observed that together they were managing just fine taking care of Katniss.

"I'll go hunt for some food," he told nobody in particular, and he took his dagger out of his boot. He shot one glance at the bow that Rue had wrestled from the unconscious girl's grasp, and then decided that Katniss might just need every arrow later on. Besides, he wasn't really a good shot with the bow anyway.

-

Katniss slept for two nights, feverish and clearly having nightmares under the effects of the tracker jacker stings she'd attained. Felix hunted for food while Sam guarded the camp and Rue looked after Katniss.

When Katniss started to awaken, Rue climbed a tree to watch from a safe distance. Felix and Samantha followed her example by sneaking off into the forest, hiding behind a large bush. Felix could probably have had light bend around them, but it cost him too much effort, and he needed all the energy he had.

He watched as Rue followed the girl with the bow, and the pair shadowed them carefully. They kept safe distance, and a few times Katniss turned around with an arrow already nocked, and each time again Felix was sure they'd been spotted. But either Katniss ignored them, which was highly unlikely, or they remained unseen.

When Rue showed herself like Felix had instructed her to do, she and Katniss joined forces.

Everything was going according to plan.

Looking up, Felix watched the stars come out one by one.

If everything went according to plan, this would be the last time he'd see them in the Hunger Games.