𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐆𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐘 || 𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐔 ¹

𝐓𝐄𝐍 • 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐄

• • •

SARAPHINA HOPED TODAY WOULD BE THE LAST IN THE ARENA. Her goal was to be back in the Capitol by tomorrow afternoon.

She slept in a tree while Augustus stood guard on the ground. When she woke up, he was eating food.

"Hey, where'd you get bread?" Saraphina asked him.

"Sponsor. You want some?" Augustus asked, holding up the bread for her.

"Is that even a question?" she said grabbing her half. It was still warm, they must've received the parachute not too long ago.

Saraphina climbed down from the tree once she finished her piece of bread. They also still had some fresh berries that their sponsors had sent last night. They were both too cautious to eat anything that wasn't sent to them.

They both watched the night before as their ally appeared in the sky, alerting the other remaining tribute of exactly who was left.

She had to be lethal in some way, the girl couldn't have made it this far otherwise. Saraphina wondered what her name was. She never even bothered to learn.

"Do you think they're going to give a show for the finale?" Augustus asked as they stepped carefully through the woods.

"They have to, everyone's watching." Saraphina answered. She held two knives close to her, she was absolutely going to get out of here alive.

The only sounds in the woods was from the animals that inhabited the arena. Birds, rabbits, squirrels. Nothing harmful in any way.

Saraphina and Augustus started for the Cornucopia. They hadn't been there in days. If the girl from 3 had set up camp there, they would have an easy shot.

It was unlikely she would be so out in the open, but since the career alliance got smaller and smaller, she would be less likely to remain hidden.

They both didn't know what kind of weapons the girl had, or if she wad even good with them.

Saraphina looked up at the back Augustus' head. She wondered what he was thinking. If he would betray her if they were the final two. She hoped it wouldn't come to that.

In the instance that it did happen, she would immediately throw a knife aimed at his neck. If that didn't work, she had to come up with something else to beat him. Her betrayal plan was something she thought of last night in the tree. Thinking about possibly breaking an alliance to win wasn't something at the very top of her "to-do" list.

It felt as if they were stalking the woods for hours before they spotted the Cornucopia. Empty and lonely.

They each grabbed a water bottle and went to the river to fill up. It was still flowing smoothly, no different from their first few days in the arena together. When they were all still alive.

"What will you do with it?" Augustus asked, Saraphina looked at him, confused, "when you win, I mean. Like your new life."

"I haven't really thought about it. I've been trying not to." said Saraphina, "But most likely what I'll do is finish school and help my mom and uncle at their fishery."

"You don't have to do any of that, though. You could sit at home and do nothing all day long," Augustus suggested.

"I don't want to do that. I want to keep living the way I was before all of this. I need something to do or I'll lose my mind. The only difference will be mentoring and Victory Tours." she explained. It was her plan all along, to live normally after winning.

"I get it, I think it's different for me because I'm always doing something, there's no downtime in Two unless you are a victor." Augustus said, taking swig of the water he just filled.