The 74th Hunger Games.

Arena, Day's 15 and 16.

Day 15.

Lola's POV.

It's been four days since I discovered my infection. Emily tries to hide it, but I can tell that I'm getting worse.

I'm sweating in the cave, though I can see mine and Emily's breath. My body shivers but I feel hot, and Emily insists that I stay in the sleeping bag.

Emily's lips are blue, and I'm sure that mine are too, as well as our fingers under the gloves.

Wind wips and the snow is no longer pretty. It is cold and angry and relentless. Ice pellets hit the roof and I am thankful that the hideout is made of solid highway rock.

Though Emily demands I stay in the sleeping bag, I will not wear my blanket. She doesn't fight it, and instead uses it to hold back some of the wind. It doesn't do much, as Emily still shivers and her lips are slightly blue.

I moan as pain suddenly racks through my body. I have been having these flashes in my body since yesterday. The infection has spread all the through my arm, and a little through my hip.

I wimper and curl into a ball until the pain receds. Emily hovers over me, a hand on my neck murmuring soothing words.

I groan and roll over onto my back again. "I-I'm good now. It's gone."

She sighs. "You're not getting any better. We can't do anything in this storm and nobody else can. You can't wait it out."

"Well I'll have to try." Rolling onto my side, I cozy up to get some sleep. She kisses my forehead and goes back to her spot against the wall.

**

Emily's POV.

I hear a beeping that is all too familiar now. I've heard it twice, once when I was with the Careers and got my armor, and another since I've been with Lola when we got the basket.

It's a sponsor gift. I pray that it is medicine for Lola. I grab one of the largest knives we have, which is only a small dagger, and quickly wip asside the blanket. I run into the blinding snow, an ice pellet nicking the skin just below my eye.

The wind catches the parachute and I cry out and leap, my fingers barely pulling it back down before the pricelss gift can float away.

I long to open it to see if it really is what Lola needs to survive, but the cold nearly makes me pass out.

I rush back in and place the blanket back over the opening. Lola has stirred, but not woken. The sound of my fingers fumbling with the latch wakes her up.

"Here, let me," she says.

I nod, handing it over. It really is medicine. One small needle and a container, which upon opening, is a sort of cream.

I tremble as I move to pick up the needle, shaking from cold.

"It's okay. Start a fire first."

"But-" I protest.

"With this storm, no one is out, not even Celeste. Even if they are, we'll see them first."

I reluctantly nod, quickly starting a small fire. Warming my hands, I ask Lola to read the note.

"'Upper arm; apply generously and stay alive"".