Based off The Hunger Games; Against All Odds.

Chapter 11

I thought it was going to be easy. Barley was a smart one though. He dove away. As I swung my axe, he dove away. He knocked the axe out of my hand and pushed me up against a tree.

"Do you really think i'm that stupid? You killed my sister and you expect to get away with it?" he said, shaking my body viciously against the tree. I was screaming and crying. I began to scream Clark's name, hoping he would come to my rescue.

"You can't be saved." he said laughing. His face got serious again. I tried to get out of Barley's grip, and he fell to the ground with an arrow sticking out of his back. Behind him was a tall dark figure holding a bow. He was dirty and bloody, but he was really there. It was Clark.

I ran into his arms. He dropped his bow and hugged me tightly. I was sobbing into his t-shirt, babbling about how happy I was to see him.

"I'm just happy you're still alive." he choked out. I noticed he had various cuts in his skin.

"What happened to you?" I asked. He looked at himself and then at my boot.

"Nothing really, minor battle wounds. What happened to you?" he said, pointing at my foot. I was about to tell him, but I realized that I would have to notify him about my alliance with the Careers. I had promised him I wouldn't ally with them; but I did.

"I can't really explain." I stammered out. I scaled the tree and dropped the backpacks filled with supplies to the ground and then crawled back out. "Let's make camp." I said.

"Era, wait. Who said we were going to ally?" he said. My face dropped. "I'm pretty sure there are only four of us left. I don't want it to come down to the two of us." he said. He was right. The other two girls, Maggie and Heather, could kill eachother now, and it would just be me and Clark forced to kill eachother. I gave him a look of sadness and turned around. I slowly began to walk, tears running down my face. He didn't come for me.

I sat down in the cave I started out in. There I sat and cried. Sobbed, actually. Clark didn't even bother to say goodbye. I was exhausted from my long day. I ate the rest of the squirrel and some bread. I drank some water and went to sleep. I was awoken to a body laying next to me. I clamped my hand over my mouth to keep from screaming.

"Second thoughts on that alliance?" he asked. Immediatly I knew it was Clark I was so happy to see him. I put my hand on his face and hugged him close.

"How many people did you kill?" I asked him. I wasn't proud of the big number of people I killed, but I wanted to know how many he did.

"3." he said. He was disgusted at the fact that he killed that many. "What about you?" he asked

I took a while before I replied "8."

"What? he said. "Were you the one that killed all the Careers?" he asked. He was heartbroken. So was I. I killed 8 children that all had families, without caring. I regretted it soon after, but I still did it.

"Yes. I-I broke my promise to you." I said. He sighed and hugged me tighter.

"You're alive, aren't you?" he asked.

"I'm pretty sure. Not one hundred percent sure, but almost." I said giggling. He kissed my forehead and looked outside the cave. I sat up and he did too as Claudius Templesmith's voice boomed about the feast that they have every year to drive the tributes together.

Usually, the feast has something that the tributes all need. I told Clark not to go and I promised I wouldn't either. In the morning, we began to walk around to hunt. We found a flowing stream. It was refreshing to cool off and clean myself. I slowly slid off the boot and winced in pain. My ankle was way worse. It was swollen again and deep purple.

"That looks like it hurts." Clark said. I unbandaged my ankle and sat it under the water and yelped in pain. I closed my eyes as the water spashed the wound.

"This is really bad." Clark said examining my leg. He was trying to wrap it again, but I screamed at his touch. He looked through the supplies and found a tube of pink liquid. My eyes widend as I realized what it was. It was sleep syrup, I knew automatically. Evie used it when Chism got injured in the woods and she had to give him stiches.

"I guess you're going to have to take this."  he said handing the the tube. I sipped it slowly until it was empty and began to drift off. It didn't taste bad at all, it was very sweet. As I was in a heavy trance, vivid images of bright meadows and tall pine trees filled my dreams. Images of Clark and I together, how I longed it could be true. I felt as light as a feather and smooth as silk. I didn't feel pain, fear, or sadness. I felt dead actually. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Clark wrapping my leg again. It didn't hurt badly anymore. Clark slipped on my boot and I could walk perfectly normal again.

"You look tired." he said. I was actually I sat down and collapsed onto my back due to fatigue. He filled our water jugs and purified them, then we returned to our cave. We lit a small fire outside the cave door. Clark cooked some fish he must have caught at the stream. We ate in silence until Clark began to speak.

"Was that all true?" he asked.

"Was what all true?" I replied.

"All that stuff you said at the Training Center on the last day. About being in love with me." he said, looking into my eyes.

"Yeah." I said, escaping his glare. He grasped my hands and leaned his head towards me, pressing his lips against mine.