Here's chapter 2! Warning: in this chapter you will hear most of the tributes names, some are waaaaay better than others... And if you have an iPad, do NOT try to figure out the pronunciation of any names, it's not always right. If you have questions, leave a comment/review thingy and I'll try to answer you :)

disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, all rights go to Suzanne Collins and the publishing company (?).

ENJOY! =D

I tried to scream, but the hand clamped over my mouth muffled my voice.

"Open your eyes! We don't want to hurt you!" a voice commanded. It sounded like it was coming from above me.

We? I wondered vaguely. I knew at least one of them was a boy judging by his voice. I slowly opened my eyes. I saw the boy from nine, Phoenix, on top of me. I looked to the side and saw the boy from ten, Jacoby.

"We don't want to hurt you." Phoenix repeated slowly. I saw that neither of them had weapons anyway, although they seemed kind of strong...

"I'll move my hand if you promise not to scream, you'll only get us all killed." Jacoby spoke up. I nodded and he took his hand away.

"Allies?" He asked.

"Well, I might like the idea better if I wasn't pinned to the ground." I told him. Phoenix stood and helped me up as Jacoby rose. I noticed they were both staring at me, so I answered. "Okay. Allies." They seemed satisfied. "But why? Why do you want me?"

They shared a nervous glance before Jacoby spoke. "Well, we saw you in the training center, you were really good at, well, everything, except when you fell off the gauntlet."

I remembered that. Everyone not doing something (well now I suppose not everyone) was snickering. I knew what they were thinking.

"Is that it?" I asked.

Phoenix shrugged slightly. "You looked pretty tough."

"So how did you two become allies?" I questioned.

"We kind of decided that during training." Jacoby answered. We walked along in an awkward, tense silence until I thought of a rather important question. "Hey, did you guys find any water?"

They both shook their heads. Great. No water.

Atter a while we took a break and I gave them each a piece of meat while we talked.

"How old are you both?" I wanted to know.

"Thirteen," Jacoby said.

"Fourteen," said Phoenix.

"I'm twelve." I was the youngest of us, but Jacoby wasn't much taller than me. Phoenix probably had 3 or 4 inches on me. Neither of them looked particularly strong, but I had seen them lift weights during training.

Phoenix asked the next question. "Did you get anything from the Cornucopia?"

"Yeah, I got this backpack and a knife. Here look," I said, tossing them the backpack.

"Rope, wire, water bottle, a compass? Wow." Jacoby voiced.

"You guys kill anyone yet?" I questioned.

"Yeah, uh, the girl from five. Had to snap her neck while she was on top of Jacoby." Phoenix explained. The girl from five. Fauna, I think. She was seventeen. "How about you."

"Ripper, from four." I answered.

Jacoby's eyes went wide. "Him? He's huge! What was he, eighteen?"

I shrugged. I looked over at Phoenix, who was sharpening the end of a stick to a point with my knife. I suddenly recognized him from his reaping. The reaping!

Without considering my words, I blurted, "Phoenix, who was that boy at your reaping?"

He remained silent so I prompted him. "Is he your brother?"

"Yeah." He paused. "Yeah, he is."

At his reaping, he had been walking to the stage when a boy ran up to him, yelling. He looked only about eight or nine. Phoenix hugged him tightly, before the Peacekeepers took him to the stage, and a man came for the crying boy. When they did a close-up shot of Phoenix, you could see that, though he was trying to remain composed, his eyes were getting misty.

"What's his name?" I interrogated.

"Reagan." He answered flatly.

"Is your dad the man that took him away?"

"Yeah." I decided I'd asked him enough questions.

It was getting dark. "We should find a place to camp. Who wants to take the first watch shift?" I asked, gathering my supplies.

"I will," Jacoby offered. We walked back to the rock where I had emptied my backpack earlier. I laid out the tarp and lie down next to Phoenix.

The anthem started to play, and the three of us looked up at the sky. The faces of the fallen tributes appeared with their district number. One by one I saw who would not be my competition.

District 2, Blossom, District 3, Ethelina, District 4, Ripper, District 5, Fauna and Blight, District 6, Kayde, District 8, Emmilou and Viole, District 10, Daffodil, District 11, Theodosia and Aideen, District 12, Basil and Shock.

That meant Blaze was still alive. Good, I thought, he's mine.

I lay there on my side, trying to sleep. To my surprise, Phoenix started stroking my hair, and I let him. Who knew how long our alliance would last?

That was when I heard the rustling followed by a quiet, yet demanding, sshh!

I gripped my knife and sat up.

More rustling. I pulled my knife out and held it up defensively.

Two girls emerged from the bush. The girl from 6, Tulie, and the girl from Phoenix's district, Hazelia.

"Wait!" cried Tulie as Phoenix grabbed his "weapon" and Jacoby picked up a big rock. "We want to be your allies!"

"What? Why?" Jacoby said at the same time I said, "You do?" I was kinda shocked at how many alliances I was forming.

"Okay." Phoenix responded.

Me and Jacoby stared at him in disbelief. Tulie and Hazelia smiled triumphantly.

Phoenix looked at us. "Is that alright?"

"We'll, I guess it doesn't matter much now." I answered, somewhat annoyed.

"Sorry," Phoenix said with a twinge of attitude.

I ignored him. The girls came over and sat on the edge of the tarp.

I took out the bag of meat and offered them each some, taking one for myself as well.

After, I fell asleep, and it didn't seem long until Phoenix was waking me up, saying it was my turn to watch. Nothing happened, of course, and after I woke Hazelia for her shift. I fell asleep quickly again, and didn't wake up until morning.

"Okay, we seriously need water." I warned.

"Water? We found a stream yesterday. And it's potable." Hazelia noted.

"You did!? Where is it?" Jacoby inquired excitedly.

"We can show you," Tulie suggested.

"Yeah, let's just get the tarp." I declared. We folded the tarp and put it in the backpack before following Tulie and Hazelia northeast until we came upon a stream.

"Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed. I quickly pulled out the water bottle and filled it with the cool, crisp water, as the boys drank from their hands. It was so refreshing, I drank over half of the bottle without taking a breath. After refilling it, I shoved it back into the backpack. Phoenix suggested we go back to the Cornucopia to see what -- or who -- was still there, so we headed out.

As we walked, I talked to Hazelia and Tulie, while, behind us, the boys walked in silence. After about a half hour, we took a break. I passed around the meat and we drank from the water bottle. When we started walking again, Phoenix was leading, Tulie, Hazelia, and I were in the middle, and Jacoby brought up the rear. We were getting close to the Cornucopia when we heard Jacoby yell.

"Run!" He cried. Without question, we did.

When I felt brave enough, I looked back and saw Ace, from 1, not far behind. I watched as he caught up to Jacoby.

"No!" I screamed.

Ace tripped him, and as he fell to the ground, I squeezed my eyes shut, knowing what was coming next.

x*~x*~x

O.o ooh, cliff hanger! Guess you'll just have to follow... :P