All you could register as you ran after the Career pack was your feet pounding hard on the ground, your breath coming out in short strangled gasps. You felt the backpack slipping from your back and hastily pulled it up, but you never stopped running. After a bit, you noticed everyone stopping and panting as they put their hands on their knees, breathing hard. You, in the meanwhile, collapsed onto the ground, the world spinning around you somewhat.

"Well. Looks like our ally here has passed out somewhat," you heard another girl say above you, and you looked up to see a girl you didn't recognize--probably from District 4--hold a hand out to you. Gratefully, you accepted it, and she pulled you up.

"(Y/N), right?" Glimmer asked, approaching you with a smirk on her face.

You gulped and nodded. "Y-yeah. Um, yeah. Hi."

"Hi," everyone chorused.

"Where's Cato?" Marvel suddenly asked.

Clove shook her head. "No idea. Probably going back for more supplies. Or something."

"I haven't seen him," Glimmer answered him also, shaking her head.

"Whatever the case though, well, we're alive somewhat," you eventually noted. "Wait, what have you guys got from the Cornucopia?"

Glimmer pulled out her backpack filled with matches, a sleeping bag, and an empty water bottle. Clove held up several knives and a sleeping bag as well. Marvel had several spears, and in his pack he got knives, spearheads, a first-aid kit, and some extra socks. The girl from District 4, whose name was Pearl, got herself a long piece of rope and a sword.

"What about you?" Pearl asked.

You shrugged. "Uh..." You slowly took off your backpack and pulled out a roll of white cloth, a small packet of gauze, and several safety pins, as well as an empty water bottle, a lighter, a sleeping bag, and 2 pairs of sunglasses. You also took out your loaf of bread and sheet of plastic from your pocket.

Pearl immediately gasped when she saw the sunglasses. "Oh my god! Guys, look! (Y/N) has the high-tech glasses!"

"What? Where?" Clove ran over to you and glanced at the contents of your pack. Her eyes widened at the glasses.

"What's so special about these?" you asked, thoroughly confused.

"These," Glimmer clarified for you. "These are not your typical sunglasses that block out the sun. They are night-vision glasses! Put them on, and you can see well in the dark!"

Now you gaped at them. "Wow. Must be really high-tech."

"Try them on when we hunt at night," Clove advised you. "They help a lot."

You nodded as you stuffed everything back in your pack. "Thanks." Then you turned around wildly. "Hey, where's Peeta?"

To this, everyone else glanced at each other shiftily. "Peeta...you mean your district partner?" Marvel asked. "The one who we assumed you were so close to?"

You nodded. "Yeah. I..."

"He's alive."

You all turned around to see Cato come back with a sword and a backpack on his back, his expression grim as he approached you. "He's alive, (Y/N)," Cato repeated. "I saw him run off to the other end of the woods."

"You sure?" you asked. Sure, maybe you won't forgive Peeta yet, but you still cared for him. He may not care for you as much as you wished, but he's still your friend, even if time in the Capitol changed you both and cost you your friendship.

Cato nodded. "Yeah. Now come on. We have some tributes to locate."

So you all set off again, trudging together through the woods. Glimmer and Marvel took the lead, followed by Clove and Pearl, and then you and Cato took the rear. As you went through, you caught sight of a few animals wandering around, and you quickly shot them with your bow and arrow, and then you put all your kills in your plastic sheet in your pack.

Later on in the afternoon, you were all resting by a river when you started to hear the cannons. Every cannon that goes off signals the death of a tribute. As if the cannons were like alarm clocks, everyone jumped as they started going off, immediately stopping what they were doing as they froze. You silently counted the number of cannons that boomed.

7, 8, 9, 10...11.

11 tributes have probably died in the initial bloodbath, leaving 13 more to go. You knew one of these tributes killed was the boy from District 5, the one whom you shot down with your bow and arrow. Of course, you didn't want to kill anyone at all, but this is the Hunger Games, and this is a test for your survival against all the other districts who were suffering under the same fate. If Cato was right, that Peeta survived...a light weight was immediately lifted from your chest, and you let out a relaxed smile.

"You alright, (Y/N)?" Clove asked you, looking up from the river and at Glimmer's filling water bottle.

You nodded. "Yeah. Just...relieved." You quickly glanced at Cato, who only smiled back, giving you a warm feeling through your chest.

"(Y/N), you got some food there, right?" Pearl asked.

You nodded as you brought out your kills. Three squirrels, a rabbit, and a huge wild turkey-like thing that you found in the trees that dropped by your feet the moment you shot it.

"Awesome. All we need is a fire," Marvel marveled. "Then we can start cooking things up and voila!"

"Allow me," you heard Glimmer say, running off to gather a pile of wood and returning with a pile of twigs and sticks. She then started the fire with her matches, and soon you were all cooking the food over three separate spits--one for the squirrels, one for the rabbit, and one for the turkey-thing.

"Groosling," Cato murmured. "Dang, (Y/N). I should have known."

"Groosling? Is that supposed to be a kind of joke?" you asked incredulously.

Cato laughed as he shook his head. "No no. The bird you're cooking? The bird I saw you shoot? That's a groosling. It's pretty rare, but the meat is really good. Kind of like a turkey."

"Which explains why it looks like one," you shrugged, feeling a smile tug at your lips. Hanging out with Cato made you suddenly feel a lot more relaxed, unlike the times Cato tried to flirt with you in the training centre. Probably the conversation on the balcony was part of the reason. But he seemed a bit too much like...

You clenched your fists on the spit so that Cato wouldn't see your conflicting emotions, turning it around so that the other end of the groosling would cook. Meanwhile, Pearl started to look for roots to roast as well, and Clove went ahead and speared some fish from the river.

Dinner that evening was pretty hearty. You all shared the loaf of bread that you picked up from the Cornucopia, and also ate it the meat and roots that Pearl gathered and the fish Clove speared. Overall, it was a filling meal, but it made you feel easy and relaxed. Never have you experienced anything so filling since your typical District 12 life.

"I never imagined life in the woods to be like this at all," you remarked, leaning back on the tree trunk behind you. "This is probably what it feels like to be a hunter in the woods."

"It's amazing!" Pearl exclaimed, and you nodded.

"I honestly wonder what everyone else would be up to," Glimmer simply remarked, shining up one of Clove's knives. "We got ourselves some meat and food, and what would everyone else snack on?"

Marvel and Cato shrugged. "Maybe they could hold out," Cato remarked offhandedly, obviously thinking about Peeta.

Soon, it was getting dark, and so you put out the fire immediately, thrusting the spits onto the other end of the riverbank so that no one would notice them. Then you packed up whatever was left of the meat and roots in your plastic sheet, wrapped it up, and put that in your pack.

"Shall we move on?" Pearl asked.

You all nodded. "Let's go."

Once again, the same positions were assumed as you moved through the woods. For some reason, Cato told them to go in this direction, separating you guys farther and farther from Peeta, you hoped. As you walked, you felt Cato lightly put a hand on your shoulder, and you turned.

"You know why we're going this way," he murmured to you.

You nodded. "Everything is so complicated, Cato. I can't believe I'd say this but...I'm scared for Peeta. I really am."

"Which is why I'm here to say that I'll protect you and him from harm," Cato told you firmly. "I'll make sure you both end up being together again. Give it some time."

To this, you nodded and smiled up at him, at his promise that he said he was going to keep. "Thank you, Cato."

Cato only hummed and nodded in agreement.

Soon, you all reached a secluded close wooded area by nightfall. The trees were literally clumped together, offering a very snug place for you all to camp out.

"This is adorable," you heard Pearl breathe, and you nodded again.

"No fire. Don't light a fire," Marvel said, and you smiled to yourself as he said this. Somehow, he must have read your mind, that lighting a fire at nighttime is dangerous. Haymitch reminded you. You knew that.

Somewhere off in the distance, the Panem anthem began to play, and you all looked up to the sky to see a projected presentation of the fallen tributes. The first one was the girl from District 3. Then the boy from District 4. It wasn't hard to miss Pearl's gasp of horror. Then the boy from District 5--your kill--flashed up in the sky, and you only nodded grimly. Both from 6 and 7. The boy from 8. Both from 9--yes, the one who fought for the pack was there. There was one more, right? The girl from 10. Then it was the seal, and the presentation disappeared.

"No...no..." Pearl gasped quietly, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Shh," Clove whispered. "It's okay. You have us, remember?"

Pearl nodded. "Yeah. I suppose."

You and Glimmer soon spread out the sleeping bags on the ground, and frowned when you realized there were only three.

"Seems like a few of us would have to share," you shrugged. "I don't mind that. I guess." But you did mind. You didn't want to be seen snuggling with tributes who were not from your district, but you really had no choice. If you wanted to stay warm, this was the best way to do it.

"I'll share with Clove," Pearl volunteered. "Uh, if you don't mind," she added sheepishly.

Clove shook her head. "No, not at all," she smiled.

"I'll stay with Glimmer," Marvel volunteered as well.

This left you and Cato staring at each other in uncomfortable silence. "Well?" you asked.

Cato only shrugged and gave you a look. "I don't mind," he simply said.

Within a few moments, you were all able to set your packs off at a distance that you were still able to see them if any tribute would discover you guys and try to start an ambush. Glimmer and Marvel soon got themselves snuggled down, and Clove and Pearl seemed to fall asleep within minutes, their bodies all pressed together like sardines. You climbed into the last sleeping bag now, feeling extremely uncomfortable, but then Cato slid in and he put his arms around you, and you felt yourself relax as you hugged him back, recalling the night before when he comforted you after Peeta's confession for Katniss.

"You still have the sweater?" he asked you so quietly, you hoped the cameras didn't catch any of your conversation with Cato. His breath tickled in your ear, sending a pleasant warm feeling through your body.

You nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for that."

"Hey. You know I care for you," he whispered back. "You and Peeta, I mean. Now get some sleep," he murmured, raising his hand to your hair and playing with it absentmindedly in his fingers as you dozed off, comforted by Cato's gentle breathing and his steady warmth that made the night more bearable. Soon, he closed his eyes too, and he pulled you closer to him as he slept too.

SNAP!

A few hours into the night, your eyes flew open at the noise. What was that?

"Oy!" you whispered to everyone else, who were also awake and alert. "You heard that?"

Glimmer and Marvel both looked very suspicious. "Sounds like a fire."

Cato stirred as his arms shifted, and the brief movement sent shivers up your spine as he awoke. "Think there's a tribute somewhere close by?"

You shrugged. "Only one way to find out."

So the four of you got out of your sleeping bags, leaving Clove and Pearl still asleep and completely undisturbed, and began to head in the direction of the snapping noise.

"I swear it was there," Glimmer whispered.

"There!" Marvel confirmed, and your eyes widened. Sure enough, there was a soft fire glow, and a female tribute was sitting in front of the fire she set up. You didn't recognize her at first, but soon you remembered seeing her before. She was a tribute from District 8.

"What--" she muttered before coming face to face with all of you. "Oh no!"

Cato frowned. "Oh no?"

"Don't kill me!" she shrieked. "Please, don't kill me! Please!"

"Sorry," Glimmer said, raising up a knife that Clove gave her. "But this is the Hunger Games. Welcome to your demise." Then the knife was embedded into the girl's body, and she let out a final scream as the cannon went off again.

That was kill number 12.

You blinked as you looked at the girl's lifeless body, almost feeling sorry that she had to lay there, dead. Then you remembered it was the Capitol who started this stupid thing in the first place. At this point you felt like yelling at the Capitol for letting you guys kill each other for their entertainment, as punishment for fighting them, but you kept your mouth shut. It was punishment, after all.

You felt Cato gently grip and tug on your arm now, and slowly, you retreated as a hovercraft began to descend from the sky and pick her up.

"I won't do that to Peeta," he whispered, and sensing that you were about to cry, he pulled you close to him in another embrace as you silently sobbed into him.

"I look too much like a softy, don't I," you muttered.

Cato shook his head. "No no. We all have those moments, remember?"

It took you a few moments to calm down, and by then you let go and looked up at him. "I'm sorry," you murmured.

"Don't be," Cato smiled gently, wiping your tears away with his thumb. "Ready to join the others?"

You nodded, and Cato put an arm around you protectively as you both went to catch up with the others, who were already on their way back to the camp. The simple gesture made you smile, and you hoped that Cato would stick true to his promise, that he would make sure you and Peeta would go back together again.