The next day, I return to the ashes of the supplies. The Careers discarded it, but there are some useful things. A knife blade, a metal pot. There isn't much else, but I collect a couple of twisted metal pieces. They might come of use.

I laugh. With their advantage gone, I stand a chance. I've saved enough supplies to last, but I'd bet all of it that the Careers didn't.

I return to my hiding place. The next day, two cannons go off, and I figure the Careers must have found Katniss and her accomplice. But when night falls, I learn that it's actually only Katniss's accomplice, Rue, and Marvel, from One.

Thinking back to who's dead, both from 1 are gone. Cato and Clove are still alive. Both from 3 and 4. Rift. All from 6 through 10 are gone. Thresh and the romantic duo from 12 are living. Not that the two in an alliance.

Who are the threats? All of them. We're down to the final six, and none of us survived this long for nothing. My odds of winning are five to one, if you don't take into account anything but sheer numbers.

I set traps. Not animal traps, but human traps. Ones that can catch someone by their ankle if they approach where I'm hiding. A rock marking where a snake's nest is, enough to warn me to stay away but not someone else. A stick that when snapped dislodges a boulder. No one has triggered any yet, but it's got to be somewhat adequate protection.

Another day passes, and I search for more food. I don't dare light a fire. I have to be on my guard now. The audience won't go too long without expecting more entertainment, and I doubt my plant-gathering is riveting. If I'm lucky, someone else will be holding the camera's eye.

I'm correct. The next day is uneventful, but trumpets go off in the evening. A feast? I wouldn't go, I'm well stocked and that'd be inviting death. But it would help eliminate some of my competition.

No, it's not a feast. A rule change. Two can win- if they're from the same district. My heart sinks as I cup a hand over my mouth to keep from swearing. I'll have almost no chance now! The Careers from Two were already paired, and I bet that Katniss is running off to find her lover now.

I didn't want an ally because of the risk of betrayal, and I figured it wouldn't be worth the help they might give. But now there's no reason for either of the two alliances to betray each other, since they can both win.

I keep to my cave as much as possible after the announcement. I work on making a handle for the knife blade, and I twist and sharpen the metal scraps to make maces. I braid reeds to make handles for them. It's dark in the cave, but I use the night glasses instead of my tiny flashlight. If someone looks in, it'll be dark.

On one of the few times I do venture out, I take a wrong turn to the pond and find a smoking fire. It's obvious that no one has been here for awhile, and I return later to take a few minutes to roast some of the roots I found. By laying them on a grille I made from sticks, I can hold them over the fire without getting burned. I use up the contents of my water bottle to make soup, along with a squirrel I nicked from someone's trap and the plants near the fire.

It's getting hotter and hotter during the day, and I'm running low on water purifying pills. I'm careful to ration out my water now, only drinking when I actually feel thirsty. I don't make soup again. If I'm lucky, Claudia will send me some. If I even have sponsors. I haven't exactly done anything worth sponsoring, unless you count sneaking into the supplies.

That night, trumpets go off again.

"Attention, tributes, attention. Commencing at sunrise, there will be a feast tomorrow, at the Cornucopia. This will be no ordinary occasion. Each of you need something, desperately, and we plan to be, ah, generous hosts."

I know what will be there for me. But I'll need to get there before anyone else does, because there are no rules with feasts. I'll need to get what I need before anyone else does, and leave before there's a chance to chase me. The feast will hopefully allow some of my opponents to eliminate each other, and if I get there soon enough, I won't be caught in the crossfire.

I pack up my supplies once again, and do a quick inventory. For food, I still have my salt packet, half a tin of nuts, the package of dried fruit, and mulberries stored in my satchel, along with some greens I've collected and the roots I roasted the other day. For weapons, I have two daggers, a serrated knife, and the fan, along with my makeshift knife and three maces. For supplies, I have the remaining soap, the night glasses, and the tiny flashlight. Two water bottles, one a cupful and the other enough for a pint. The near useless blanket and the sleeping bag. To store it all in, I have to use Chloe's backpack. I tuck the daggers up my sleeves and keep the fan in my hand. I put on my glasses and backpack, and head out after filling up my water bottles and using the last of my purifying pills. I'll have to come up with a plan on my way to the Cornucopia to stake out the area.

I take the tree route. It's safer than the ground. Although I don't know who has long distance weapons, there aren't many. There was only one archery set at the Cornucopia.

Stopping to rest, I think for a few minutes about possible ways to beat the others to the feast, and then it strikes me. The only way to beat them there is to already be there.

It's nearly dark by the time I reach the clearing, but combined with my glasses, there's just enough light to see by. The canopy is gone, and it's obvious that no one is staying there anymore. Keeping an eye on my surroundings, I make a mad dash to the inside of the Cornucopia.

It's a lot bigger than expected, and I make a round inside with my weapons drawn to make sure there are no other inhabitants. It's empty, and I settle in near the back to wait. I'm tucked away, out of sight unless you actually come in.

I've got twelve hours to kill, and I keep watch for the first few. I braid some of the reeds I had left over from making the maces, wondering if I could make a whip. I daydream, and I doze off for a few minutes here and there. Putting my backpack on under my jacket will ensure that it won't fall off, so I do that. Eventually, the sky starts to lighten. I eat some nuts and some of the mulberries as breakfast. I inch my way closer to the front of the Cornucopia, careful to stay out of view. The others are probably hidden around the clearing, just waiting for the feast to begin.

I review my plan over and over. Snatch what's for me, then hightail it out of there. Just like a fox.

As the sun begins to shine through the trees, a table rises through a break in the ground. On it rests four bags- two black ones marked 2 and 11, a miniature orange one marked 12, and a green one marked 5. The green one must be for me. As it clicks into place, I take off. I snatch my bag and run off into the direction I first came from. As I reach the trees, a fight breaks out.

I scale the nearest tree, making a split-second decision that now would be my best chance to learn about the others. Stupid, maybe, but why target me when there's a good and bloody fight happening right in the clearing?

It's Katniss and Clove. They're wrestling now, but Clove gains the upper hand. Katniss screeches "Peeta!" but her voice is cut off.

Clove pulls out a knife, and I can see her lips moving although I can't hear her. She puts it to Katniss's face, about to cut. But the boy from 11, Thresh, beats her to it. He yanks her off the ground, a large rock in his hand. He's yelling at her, and she's screaming for Cato until he slams the rock into her head.

Thresh whirls on Katniss, and she's scrambling backwards on the ground, but not trying to run. After a minute, Thresh leaves, with both black backpacks. Katniss leaves the dying Clove on the plain, no doubt running back to her lover.

Cato is approaching, calling for Clove. I take this as my cue to leave, figuring that someone is bound to be hunting tonight. The cannon booms soon after.

I sit down on the sheet of rock that serves as a roof to my shelter. You'd never know about the hollow space underneath if you weren't looking. Opening my bag, I pull out the water purifier, a large black thing with a pump on one end.

The rain starts out light, barely sprinkling. But I can tell from the sky that it's going to get worse, so I take the tree route back to the pond. The branches aren't wet and slippery yet, but they'll be soon. At the pond, I fill up both of my water bottles. The plastic one might have been made for being disposable, but that doesn't mean I have to waste the container. I don't know how long the rain'll last, and I'll need to find a new place to stay too. It's not a good idea to stay in a ditch during the rain. I'd rather not be in a tall tree, either, but these are the Games. Lightening won't strike unless the Gamemakers want it to.

I take a few minutes to move everything from my backpack to the green one, since it's bigger. I store one of my daggers in it, keeping the other and the fan up my sleeves. I pull out Chloe's blanket. Although it's mine now, I keep thinking that it's hers, along with everything I got from her backpack.

While the blanket is near useless as an insulator, it's waterproof. It's really more of a tarp than a blanket, but it's soft enough to be either. I could have solved my water problem by collecting rainwater, but I remind myself that it wasn't raining and I had to stay hidden. For now, I keep it inside my jacket and pull my hood up.

I use my tree traveling method until I find a decent one. The branches themselves aren't very wide, but there are a cluster arranged to look a bit like a scallop. They're close enough together that I won't fall through.

I cover myself with the blanket and pull up my hood. I'll have to wait out the rain. I pull some vines off of the tree and embark on making a net for fishing. The vines are easy to twist together, and in no time I have the beginnings of a net.

The rain doesn't let up. I use up half of my mulberries and a few of my roots for lunch and dinner, but it's difficult to judge the time without the sun.

As the anthem plays, I duck out from under my cover to watch the sky. Clove's picture shows, and then it's over. But I have a surprise.

A silver parachute floats down from the branches above. A sponsor gift! But what could it be? I don't particularly need anything, but I know better than it turn down help.

It's a pair of gardening gloves. They vaguely remind me of the ones I used the morning of the reaping. But I know the gloves aren't what Claudia was trying to give me. The parachute itself is the gift.

"Thank you," I whisper towards the sky, and begin thinking back to when I last saw a bush of nightlock berries.