My knife pressed against the throat of the tribute, and she let out a strangled cry.

“…Clementia?” I said, weakening my grip “Sorry, I thought…”

We both got to our feet, staring at each other. She had her slingshot aimed at my head, and my knife trained itself over her heart. I wasn’t sure what to do, and I don’t think she was either. We had been friends in the Capitol. Didn’t that count for something? I sighed and let my weapon clatter to the ground, holding my arms up in surrender.

“Let’s not do this, Clem. I know you don’t want to kill me, and I’m not going to hurt you.

Clementia’s face was panic stricken. I was terrified that in her fear, she might kill me anyway. But she dropped her slingshot and threw her arms around my neck, crying loudly.

“Hey, hey! Cut it out! You’ll lose sponsors if you cry. It’s a sign of weakness,” I hissed in her ear. She managed to pull herself together, and wiped her face with her sleeve.

“Sorry. Where is Logan?”

“Not far from here. Let’s go wake him,” I suggested. Clementia picked up the dead squirrel, and we walked in awkward silence to where we’d set up camp, ashamed that we’d almost killed each other. I kicked Logan lightly with my boot and he woke with a start.

“What? What is it?” he panicked.

“Calm down, Logan. I just found Clementia.”

“Clem?” the two of them embraced quickly.

“I was out hunting and me and Raven crossed paths…” Clementia explained.

“Have you been alone since the beginning then?”

Clementia bit her lip “Not exactly. Come on, I’ll show you. It’s not safe here anyway. We’re out in the open.”

I wavered. I wasn’t sure whether to fully trust Clementia.

“Come on. It isn’t far,” Clementia insisted. I looked at Logan, hoping he’d give us a reason to stay. He didn’t. He shrugged at me and followed Clementia through the trees. Rolling my eyes to myself, I set off after them. Once again, a certain sense of jealousy clouded over my brain, as I watched Logan and Clementia laughing and talking. It was a good job the walk was short, or I would have started feeling seriously hacked off at Clementia. She led us to an area back near the water, where there was a cluster of bushes. I guessed that was where she had made camp. Sure enough, she beckoned us to duck into the centre of the bushes. After a short battle with some twigs, we were in a small, well concealed area of land. And right in the middle, whimpering, lay a tribute, covered in blood.

“What did you do to him?” I demanded to know, horrified by the mangled mess of a boy before my eyes. Clementia shook her head wildly.

“No! No, it wasn’t me! One of the others got him…”

“Clementia, is that you?” the boy mumbled.

“Yes, it’s me, Kai. I brought Raven and Logan,” she said, kneeling beside him and taking his hand, one of the only places on his body unaffected by wounds. He closed his eyes, a smile playing on his lips.

“That’s nice,” he said.

“A fever’s got to him,” Clementia told us, feeling his head. “He’s red hot. It’s better this way, though. Before, he was constantly screaming at me to kill him. It was unbearable…”

“Then why did you take him with you?” I asked.

“Well, wouldn’t you?” Clementia asked, wide eyed. I shrugged. For me, the answer was no. I thought she was stupid at the time. Why save a person you don’t know in a game of survival? Didn’t she understand that everyone was against her?

“I don’t think he’s going to last much longer. He won’t eat, and he’s getting worse every hour.”

I knelt down beside her, and took her hand, which had been rested on Kai’s head. She was quivering, partly with fear, I think, but also with weariness. I insisted that she got some rest.

“I’ll cook the squirrel for when you wake up.”

“Will you nurse Kai for me? Please?”

My smile faltered slightly, but I promised. I didn’t see why I should. It didn’t seem worth it. But my opinion changed a little later on in that day.

Logan went to set some snares and hunt while Clementia slept. I allowed her to have my sleeping bag, though it was still day time and wasn’t really cold. Kai was mostly very quiet, his head propped on my lap as a pillow, and his breathing raspy. I ripped a piece of material from his jacket, which was lying beside him unused, and wet it to put it on his head. It didn’t help much. In fact, it didn’t help at all. He progressively worsened as evening drew in. True to my word, I cooked the squirrel and saved some for Logan and Clementia. While I chewed my own, I woke Kai up and attempted to feed him.

“I’m not hungry,” he mumbled.

“Please eat something. You’ll make yourself worse,” I pleaded.

“I don’t care.”

I sighed. “OK. If you won’t eat it now, I’ll save it for later. How do you feel?”

“How do you think?”

“I can help with that. I have pills to stop pain and infection. But you can’t have them on an empty stomach…”

He rolled his eyes, but did as I asked. It was obviously an effort for him, but he managed to swallow a few bites of squirrel. Then I let him take some of the pills.

“Can I take a look at your…leg?”

Kai laughed, before coughing loudly “Don’t know where to start, hmm? Go on then, take a look at my leg. Save the best til last.”

I cleaned the blood of his leg, and found that his leg was hardly a problem. The wound was clean, and not very deep. Wrapping it up in a bandage, I worked my way around his body, doing what I could with the meagre first aid kit. Then I got to his shoulder, and almost threw up my dinner. It was by far his worst wound, the skin shredded and hanging on to him. It was a deep, wide cut, and blood and pus oozed out. I held my breath, and attempted to clean the wound, but Kai’s screams were unbearable. I surrendered, and managed to get him to stay still long enough for me to wrap it up in bandage. I knew it wouldn’t help, but at least I couldn’t see the wound anymore. I tried to distract Kai.

“So you’re from District 9?”

He nodded.

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“Two sisters. They’re twins. Both twelve now. It was their first reaping this year. I remember sitting at home with one on each knee, holding them close and telling them it’d be alright. What are the odds, I’d ask them. But of course the Games touch us all, don’t they?” Kai wiped his eyes on his sleeve. He was crying. “At least they’re safe. I couldn’t bear it if they were in danger…”

“Hey, hey,” I soothed, stroking his hair “They’re safe. Nothing is going to happen to them.”

“Then that’s all that matters,” Kai whispered, closing his eyes. His hand fumbled for mine, and he clung to my fingers. A lump formed in my throat, and I checked his temperature. He was hotter than ever. I lay down beside him, so that only he would be able to hear what I said next.

“Kai, I don’t know what to do. Tell me what to do to help you,” I said. A tear fell down my cheek and landed on Kai’s face. He smiled, in such a serene way, that I was almost fooled that everything was fine.

“There’s nothing that can be done. There can only be one winner in this game, and it isn’t going to be me.”

I buried my face in his shoulder. I knew he was the one who needed to be soothed, but I couldn’t hold myself together.

“Kai? Do you ever wish you could turn back time?”

I felt him nod “Every day. I’d go back and I’d run away. But it seems that no matter what we do, the ending is still the same. Running away wouldn’t help in the long run. We’d still be running into the fire.”

“I know. But I’d run too. I almost did. I could have done it. There was no one to stop me. No one to hold me back. No one who needed me enough for me leaving to matter.”

“So what changed?”

I laughed bitterly “Logan. Logan changed me.”