the ruler [THE HUNGER GAMES]¹

Five.

GLIMMER and Marina died on day five. It was the early hours of the morning for us in the real world, but mid-morning in the arena. The day before, Katniss had been burned badly by a fire set by the gamemakers and subsequently ran into the career pack. There was a chase-down where all of the mentors were on the edge of their seats, but Katniss got away by climbing a tree. None of the kids on the ground could get as high as her, and Peeta then just suggested they wait around for her to come down. For once, the careers listened to him. As we all peeled off to go to bed that night, I noticed Peeta laying awake on the forest floor with his eyes not leaving Katniss in the trees. Either he's an excellent actor, or he really does love Katniss and his confession at the interviews wasn't all for show.

I was awoken the next morning by an alert on my phone telling me to get to the training centre as soon as possible. Panic was my first thought, but then as I watched TV when getting changed all I could see was Katniss sawing away at a branch. In my foggy half-asleep state I didn't piece two and two together. Jacinth had ordered me over to sit by him as soon as I walked into the sponsor's room. All hell had broken loose on the screens. The branch fell from Katniss' tree in what felt like slow motion, then it hit the ground and a tracker jacker nest burst open like a terrifying hallucinatory bomb. Cato, Clove, Marvel and Peeta got away with a few stings, but the same could not be said for Glimmer and Marina. The tracker jackers overcame them, taking over their skin with ugly bumps that almost instantly burst with yellow pus. Their canons hadn't fired yet, but I could see through the pain on Finnicks face that this was not a nice way to watch your tribute go. Not that any death in the games was comfortable, but Marina was suffering. Her vitals on his little screen showed her heart struggling against the venom in her veins, fighting to get her through what was probably excruciating pain mixed with horrid hallucinations. In the chaos, I reached out and squeezed his forearm to try and comfort him. He gave me a sad smile.

Then there was more. Katniss forcing Glimmers bow from her stiff hands and dislodging the sheath of arrows on her back. It dawned on me that quick that some sort of weapons skill must have been how she got her eleven in training, and this is it. Katniss is an archer. I didn't voice my opinion to the others. They can find out themselves. Besides, nothing I could get Clove would protect her from those deadly arrows.

The real fight came when Peeta ran back to tell Katniss to leave. He was eager, pushing her with the blunt end of his spear and screaming at her to run. She did, and just in time too. Peeta put up a good fight against Cato, escaping with a deep wound to his upper thigh. Haymitch sat with a steeled expression next to Jacinth. With the arena alliance over, he was no longer working with us. The tribute pool was getting smaller every day and he still has two tributes to look out for, even if one is on his way out. Haymitch got up and left the table, sitting on his own in the corner.

That leads to now. It's been another two days since the attack on the careers. Jacinth, Gloss and I are still working together but there is little for us to do. Our tributes are still recovering from their stings but they are functional. In the quiet that overcame from an action-packed morning there was time for them to pile up all the cornucopia supplies in their camp by the lake. Cato had recruited the district three boy to re bury mines around the supplies, a sure way to kill anybody who tried to steal from them. I had the opportunity yesterday evening to send Clove a salve for her stings, and she took it without the others knowing. She has been applying it ever since, now the most recovered and ready to fight out of the three. I can't help but be a little proud that she is already putting herself apart from her allies.