We used Fiona and Bloom's method. We turned and bolted. And just like we had, Callipher and Bloom stayed put.

We ran until we came across the rock that we had slept on the night before. It was getting dark, so I laid out the tarp. The anthem started to play and the faces of Tulie, Blaze, Hazelia, and Jacoby appeared in the night sky.

"I'll take first watch." Phoenix offered.

"Okay." I paused. "Why do you think they didn't chase after us?"

Phoenix shrugged. "I guess they were as tired as we had been."

"I suppose." With that, I lay down on the tarp, suddenly struck with grief. A tear escaped my eye as I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

When I awoke, it was not by Phoenix, but by the rising sun peeking out over the trees.

"What the... you didn't wake me?" I questioned Phoenix.

"No, I decided to let you sleep," He replied simply.

I stared at him incredulously. "You stayed awake all night?"

"Yeah."

"Well... thanks."

He nodded.

I got the meat and water out of the backpack and offered Phoenix some, but he shook his head.

"Come on you haven't eaten since yesterday. Aren't you thirsty?" I urged him.

Somewhat reluctantly, he took a piece of meat and a drink of water. I did the same. We sat in silence for a moment. Then abruptly, I asked him, "Why? Why did you stay up all night when you could have woken me?"

"Because. I thought I..." He trailed off.

"Phoenix," I said slowly, "am I missing something?"

He sighed. "Jacoby and I, we... we made a pact to help you, that's really why we wanted you to be our ally. And when Tulie and Hazelia wanted to join, I thought it would be better, you know, more protection. That's why I agreed so fast."

I had to process this. "What if they wanted to kill me in my sleep while they were guarding?"

"I stayed up with them when they kept watch. Just in case."

"You should win. I mean, your brother-"

Phoenix cut me off. "What about all of your siblings? My parents don't care. They didn't cry when they came to see me. Your mother was probably bawling."

I remembered back to the reaping. My mother had been bawling. My father did most of the talking. I felt a little guilty about it, so I said, "I'm sure your parents care. If they didn't, they wouldn't have even said goodbye to you. And they probably didn't cry for your sake, they were probably just trying to maintain composure so they wouldn't scare you. To be strong." I paused. "And maybe Callipher or Bloom will go home and we'll both die."

"No, I won't let that happen, I won't let you die."

"Why not? Why can't I protect you? Why do you even want me to win, anyway?" I wasn't sure if I was mad or just upset at the thought of losing him. "I can't lose you." I confessed, hanging my head.

"Well, I can't live with the guilt of knowing I let you get killed."

"Like I said, maybe neither of us will have to live with guilt." I retorted.

"Look, do you really wanna know why I wanted to protect you?" Phoenix looked me straight in the eye.

I silently pleaded him to continue.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, looking away. "You reminded me of my sister."

"You have-"

"Had."

I stared at him, shocked. "What happened?" I wasn't sure if I was crossing a line, but surely he wouldn't have brought it up if he didn't want to talk about it.

"She died last year. She was eleven. I don't know, she just got really sick and we couldn't help her. She was blonde, too. She had your fire, that same spark in her deep blue eyes." Phoenix fell silent.

"I'm sorry." I breathed.

"It's okay. It's just... when she died, Reagan and I got a closer. Sure he's younger than me, but it was just the two of us. At the reaping... that's why he was so shaken up. He didn't want to lose me too, but I didn't want- how many siblings do you have?"

"Five," I answered numbly.

"That's seven people grieving versus three. I do feel extremely bad about making my brother go through it again, but I don't know, it just seems right to let you win."

I shook my head. "Phoenix, I'm not as close to my siblings as you are to your brother. Please."

"Alaria, I can't explain it. All I know is that the one leaving this arena is going to be you." He stated firmly.

I gave up. Just then, I was struck with a new horrifying thought. What if it came down to the two of us? I couldn't kill him, but I could sacrifice myself. Could I?

We walked back to the stream for water and explored for the better part of the day.

Night fell and the anthem played, but no faces were displayed, only the seal of the Capitol.

"I'll take first watch," I decided.

"Fine," Phoenix responded reluctantly. "But I don't want you doing what I did. If I wake up and it's past my shift, I will force you to sleep."

I held my hands up defensively. "Alright, alright."

Phoenix fell asleep quickly. After a while, I got pretty bored, so I messed around with the compass and practiced tying knots with the rope. I discovered I was facing east.

Phoenix woke up and insisted that I sleep. I did, but it took me awhile to get there.

I awoke to Phoenix violently shaking my arm.

"Alaria, wake up!" He whispered harshly.

"What? What?" I stammered.

"You were screaming." He stared at me, eyebrows knit together. "Were you having a nightmare?"

"Yeah," I breathed, still slightly shaken.

"What was it?" Phoenix asked cautiously.

"Well," I hesitated. "First, I was at the reaping. They were taking me away from my family. They didn't let me say goodbye to them. Then all of a sudden I was in the arena. The careers were killing everyone right in front of me. I couldn't move at all. Right before you woke me up, they came after me."

"Wow. That's awful."

I nodded mutely.

After a minute of silence, Phoenix said, "Why don't you try to sleep again, I'll wake you if you start screaming again."

"Okay." I fell asleep quickly then, and Phoenix woke me in the morning.

Just as I was packing up the tarp and taking out the meat, Callipher and Bloom burst through the trees. I grabbed my knife and Phoenix and I ran. I had the backpack, but the meat and tarp were still on the rock.

"Stop!" Phoenix yelled. I did as he said, and turned around to see him, Callipher and Bloom glaring at each other.

In one swift movement, Bloom whipped two knives at me and Phoenix.