| " L O S T " |

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"Taylor! Wake up!" Tamora says in a whisper. I open my eyes, and blink rapidly, as I'm faced with the hot sun.

"Why?" I ask groggily. "It's too early to be up."

"No, Taylor," She rolls her eyes. "You've slept for most of the day. I let you sleep in."

"WHAT?" I sit up quickly, looking at her like she's a psychopathic serial killer rapist. "Tamora, why wouldn't you wake me up?"

"You just looked so peaceful," She sighs. "I didn't want to wake you up."

"Well, why did you wake me up?"

"There." She says, pointing to the large fire not too far away from us. Fireballs are shooting from nowhere, and heading straight for the trees.

"Shit." I curse, standing up to grab my backpack. "Come on! We need to hurry."

Once Tamora grabs her things, we sprint off in a random direction, hoping to get away from the fire. On the way to nowhere, I end up tripping on three rocks, and two tree roots.

Nice, huh?

Yeah.

I put my hands on my knees, panting for breath. "Do you think we're okay here?" I ask Tamora between deep breaths. "I mean- do you think those fire things will shoot over here anytime soon?"

"I don't know." She answers, leaning on a tree trunk. "I think the gamemakers were shooting those at someone."

"But who?" I ask. "Who would be hiding so close to us, and not attack?"

"Maybe the person didn't see us."

"That's probably true." I nod.

"So are we going to go find Zach, or what?" She raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah." I steady myself by laying my hand on a tree. "Lets go find him."

___♕___

3rd Person P.O.V.

Across the arena, at a clearing, the careers perch themselves on ground, exhausted from all of their walking.

"Where could he be?" Clove groans. "It's like Zach has completely disappeared."

"Well, Taylor sure knows how to stay hidden." Marvel snorts.

"And we onto know where Katniss is." Glimmer adds. "I thought you said she went this way, Peeta."

"I did." He defends himself. "And I know for sure that she went this way."

"Wait," Cato scowls. "He's tricking us."

"What?" Peeta's eyes widen.

"We're crazy for believing that he would tell us. She's he's lover. He'd do anything to keep her safe." Cato growls. "He's a trader."

"What?" Clove snaps, staring at Peeta, a deadly look on her face. "You're lying?!"

"No!" Peeta puts his hands up in surrender. "I promise I'm not!"

"Lets go," Cato commands, glaring down at Peeta. "But if you know what's good for you, you won't betray us. You're only alive because you're friends with Taylor."

Glimmer snatches Peeta's packpack, sends him one last glare, and follows behind the other careers.

___♕___

Taylor's P.O.V.

"I think we're lost." I sigh, looking at the forrest surrounding us.

"Taylor!" Tamora whines, throwing her backpack to the ground. "I thought you remembered where the cave was."

"I did," I state. "Key word: did."

"Nice job." She plops onto a log. "Now there's no way we're going to find Zach."

"Zach's fine," I assure her. "By now, one of the careers are with him. There's no doubt."

"Well, we're not going to be fine." She huffs. "We're exposed to every tribute in the arena."

"What are you talking about?" I scoff. "I can take down anyone who comes our way. We're just fine."

"Sure," She rolls her eyes. "But right now, I need food."

I toss her the berries in my backpack, and climb onto a tree limb. "Give me a canteen."

She hands a canteen of water to me, and I sigh in content when the cold water hits my tongue.

"Taylor, where did you get these berries?" Tamora asks, eyeing the container.

"Don't know," I shrug. "I was out hunting for food, and found them. Why?"

"I think they're posing posinous." She chuckles, dumping them out.

"Oh." I frown. "Good thing I didn't eat those."

"It's night lock." She says. "It's a berry that kills you almost the instant that it hits your digestive system. It's basically makes your body and organs self-destruct."

"Wow." I wince.

"Yeah." She nods. "But it's suicide. It's a fast death- decided upon many tributes. Instead of getting slaughtered, they just eat one."

I lay my head against the trunk of the tree, and stare up at the sky. "Do you think Katniss is dead yet, Tamora?"

"One can only wonder."

___♕___

3rd Person P.O.V.

"Cato, we're running low on water." Clove states. "We have to find a river."

"Wait!" Marvel shoves Clove to the side. "You hear that?"

"Hear what?" Glimmer asks.

Nearby, the sound of a flowing river echoes, reaching the career's ears. Clove, Marvel, Cato, and Glimmer don't waste time on waiting. Instead, they take off sprinting in the direction of the noise.

Meanwhile, Katniss Everdeen runs through the trees, away from the balls of fire that are being sent her way. She leans on a tree, and smiles to herself when she sees the river in front of her.

She doesn't wait another moment, before diving into the water, determined to clean her wound from the fire.

The careers perch themselves at the clearing of the woods, their attention on the river.

"Who's that?" Glimmer hisses, staring at the figure inside of the river- which is only feet away from them.

"It's fire girl," Cato smirks.

The careers burst from the woods, hoots and hollers leaving their mouths, as they run to Katniss.

Katniss notices them, then a look of pure dread appears on her face. She swiftly moves out of the water, and shoves past trees, trying her best to get away from Cato and his crew.

Cato follows near behind Katniss, the others close behind. A grin of pride is spread on his lips, as he taunts Katniss.

Katniss finds a large tree in the middle of the forrest, and places her hands in the right places. She begins climbing the tree, despite the burn that aches on her thigh. Once she reaches a branch that can hold her weight, she let's her legs dangle over, as she watches Cato try and climb the tree after her.

"Kill her, Cato!" Clove encourages him.

Cato lifts himself onto the tree, making his way up to Katniss. Clove, Marvel, and Glimmer yell at him, to finish fire girl off.

But as he wraps his hand around a small tree limb, it snaps, sending him to the ground. He grunts as he lands on his back.

Glimmer, fed up with everything, grabs her bow and arrows. She moves around the others, and begins shooting arrows at Katniss. To her aggravation, Katniss dodges the arrow.

"Throw the sword." Katniss says with courage, staring down at them.

"Just let her be." Peeta says.

"What?" Cato turns to him.

"I mean- she can't stay up there forever, right?" He asks. "She'll come down eventually. Either that, or she'll starve to death. Let's just wait her out 'till then."

Cato sighs, keeping his anger down. "Fine. Someone get wood for the fire."

___♕___

I wander through the trees, with Tamora by my side. Finding Zach hasn't been an easy task for us, considering that we've been looking for hours, and still come out empty-handed.

"Someone's here." Tamora whispers, nudging my side. I nod, knowing exactly where the stalker is. Tributes are so stupid.

Everyone is hiding in the trees. I mean- come on. Be clever. Don't hide in a tree. You're gonna get caught.

It's more than one person.

It's a group!

My instinct tells me to move. I comply, almost immediately dodging a knife that flies down from the trees.

"Tamora! Move out of the way!" I grab her hand before she gets stabbed, sprinting away from the knifes and objects that are being thrown at us.

Tamora yelps as a small spear lands in her back. I curse under my breath, dragging her along with me.

I guess these guys are smarter than they seem.

I throw myself away from a container that falls from the trees, losing my grip on Tamora. She falls to the ground hopelessly, flailing to get back up. She crawls underneath a tree, seeking cover.

I look around, trying to spot one of the tributes in the trees. I pick up a knife from the ground, and chuck it towards one of the tributes. He lets out a piercing scream, before falling out of the tree. Once his body hits the ground, I hear a series of 'snap's, signaling that he has broken bones.

He wails out, before his cannon sounds.

Tamora gives me a thumbs up, grabbing a weapon from the ground. She throws it at another one of the tributes, resulting in her death.

The last tribute runs off, leaving Tamora and I alone. I take a deep breath, and rush to Tamora. I wince as I see the gash on her back, caused by the spear.

"I dropped my backpack." She breathes. "I don't have any bandages."

A 'ding' sound echoes around us, making the two of us look up. I grab the parachute that comes from the sky.

"It's medicine and gauze," I reply after opening the container. "From a sponsor."

"Good to know that I'll live another day," She smiles softly. "Now, hurry up and get my wound patched up. We need to get to Zach."

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