When I woke up, someone was shaking me. My eyes fluttered open and the light almost blinded me. I absentmindedly yank the covers over my eyes. "Five more minutes." I mumble.

"Cmon Syd. We gotta go!" Said a voice in an annoyed tone.

Someone else yawned. "Do we really need to go at the crack of dawn, Neeks?" This voice was slightly lower.

"You don't wanna die, do you?" Said the first boy harshly.

Then someone picked the whole sleeping bag up with me in it and dropped it in cold water. I jumped out of the water and everything came back to me. The games. My allies. 

"I agree with Nico." I say. "We should get going."

Dallas groaned and rolled his eyes, but he helped us pack up camp and get moving anyways.

The morning breeze kissed my face and birds chirped in the trees. I barely even noticed my stomach growling like crazy. 

Around noon, we stopped to eat some of our food and get a drink of water. Then we kept going. There were no cannons all day. I was surprised that it was hours before Nico collapsed and we decided to set up camp in a huge pine. We tied the sleeping bag to the tree and squeezed in for the night. No ones face appeared in the sky tonight. 

"Where are they?" A shout causes my eyes to fly open. Neither Nico or Dallas was awake. Everything was dark. I figured it was probably an hour or two to dawn. I looked down. Right below the tree were five people- the career pack and one other person. If they happened to glance up, they'd see us. So I'm totally still. I try to make out the face of the other kid with the careers. But I couldn't tell who it was. The five appeared to be arguing about something. 

"Getting Twelve is out top priority." Says a loud authoritative  male voice. "Once we kill her, I win." Blood runs cold through my body.

The others make sounds of agreement.

"I think she's with District 9." Says a female voice. "We'll get him too." 

"Duh!" Says another male voice.

The five laugh as they walk away.

I let out a breath I hadn't even realized I'd been holding. I couldn't get to sleep after that. By the time dawn broke over the horizon, another cannon had gone off. I could only wonder who died.

I shake the boys awake. Nico jumps right up and starts to pack up camp. Dallas lagged behind him but once we hit the ground, he was wide awake. 

None of us had any idea which direction the edge of the arena was- and Nico pointed out that that might not be a very good idea anyways- so finding a stream became top priority. 

We must've walked for several hours. By the time we finally heard running water, the sun was already slipping down in the sky and our stomachs rumbled so loud, I was afraid everyone in the whole arena could hear us. We sat down on a fallen log and had a quick snack. 

Nico rubbed his ankle and groaned. "I think it's gotten worse." 

"Dallas, help me carry him." I order.

We continue towards the sound of running water with Nico's arms draped around Dallas and I's shoulders. The branches scratched my face and my feet repeatedly got tangled in thick vegetation and stuck in mud. We found several places where there was a rocky clearing as big as a football field. We went around it. It seemed we weren't even getting any closer to the water. We decided we should tie ourselves to a tree for the night instead of trekking around in the dark.

 One face appeared in the sky: Steve from District 7. 

I closed my eyes and drifted off.

___________________

Sorry it took so long.

Writers block + vacation = #lagspike.

Love ya!

CC