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He was panicking; he couldn’t die here. He had to go home and take care of his father, of Savera. He had promised her he’d win for her. He suddenly remembered his token, and he pulled his hand back from underneath Alva’s, half registering what she was saying, but his mind was all over the place now that he knew that he was about to die. He reached inside his jacket, squeezing his hand through the other armhole, pulling the dull dark blue ribbon from his arm and balling his fist, holding it. ‘You just... d-did what you had to do,’’ he eventually said, feeling himself slip away. He had to lay down, his stomach hurt too much and he was too exhausted to care about sitting up any longer. He laid on his back, his face scrunching up in pain as the berries did their work in his stomach. ‘’Whoever wins... y-you or Gem, please m-make sure that Savera get this on the v-victory tour,’’ he said, opening his hand  with the ribbon and holding it out to Alva. ‘’All I w-wanted was to...t-take care of...’’ He couldn’t finish his sentence, as his arm dropped to the ground and his head slumped to the side, his eyes open, but dull. He had broken his promise.

Alva had tears in her eyes now running down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, I didnt want to do this, I swear.” She shook her before placing a hand on to of his. “Gem has to go home and I was scared if you were still around, you would get better and kill him. I wanted us to be okay, but I cant trust you.” She felt awful bringing up the word ‘trust’. He trusted her, they were in the middle of the games and he actually trusted her. She shook her head again, rubbing his arm. “I wanted to help you, I wanted to keep you with us as an ally but the possibility of you turning on us was weighing hard on my mind. I didnt want to hurt you, I didnt want to just kill you while you were hurting. I wanted to bring you here and at least have you comfortable.” She felt crazy, she knew sounded crazy but she is in the process of killing a human being. An innocent human being who didnt deserve this, someone with family and friends back home waiting to greet him when he gets back. “I-I’m sorry.” A tear fell off her face.

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‘’Oh...’’ Huck stopped chewing for a second, his stomach dropping when Alva said that she was pretty sure Amphie had died. He would have liked to see her win the games, if anyone. The feeling in his stomach intensified, and he wondered why he had such a stong physical reaction to Amphie’s death. w;;What do you mean?’’ he asked, distracted by the news and the sick feeling in his stomach, and he looked up at her. He was thrown off by her expression. She couldn’t take the chance... \

He looked down at his hand, two berries remaining, and he understood. His stomach was aching by now, sharp stabs of pain pulling at his insides, and he dropped the remaining berries. He shouldn’t have trusted her, of course he shouldn’t have, this is the Games. But he had been so desperate for means to get better that he hadn’t realised that he had walked into his own tomb.

Alva’s heart was beating faster but she tried her hardest to stay calm. “Amphie? No.. I cant say that I have. I think..” Biting down on her lip, she hesitated. “I may be mistaken but I dont think Amphie is.. with us any longer..” She told him sadly before sitting down next to him, deciding to give up from looking for the food. Gem must have them. “I’m.. sorry, Huck. We all deserve to go home but I couldnt take the chance..” She was talking about berries, not sure if he would catch on or not.

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‘’Thank you,’’ he said as she put the blanket around his shoulders, and gave him the berries. He suddenly had to think of Amphie. If she had stayed with him, they borh would have found shelter. Was sge hiding somewhere else? Was she dead? He had no clue, and he thought over th possibilities as he popper the berries into his mouth one by one. ‘’Have you seen Amphie around here by any chance?’’ he asked, the berried s little sour and tangry on his tongue, but not near bad enough to stop him from eating them. 

Once they were inside, Alva helped the male sit down. She unwrapped the blanket from her body and rested it on Huck. Her heart was pounding her chest. She wanted to start crying from what she was about to do but she knew she needed to this. Smiling, Alva crouched down in front of him and grabbed him hand, putting the berries into his hand. “Here you go.” She smiled before standing up. “Now where did Gem put the trail mix?” She asked aloud before walking around slightly. It would hurt her too much to watch him actually put the berries into his mouth.

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‘’I know...’’ he mumbled, but he didn’t care anymore. They surely werent going to kill him off now that he had found other tributes. He stopped and waited for Alva to grab the berries, which looked heavenly to Huck by now. ‘’I can’t wait until I can eat,’’ he said, his stomach growling at the idea alone. He entered the cave with Alva and sat down when they got to the spot where they had set up camp. He groaned, every muscle in his body hurting, and more than anything he just wanted to eat, and sleep. 

Alva bit down on her lip as he said that could be counted as disrespectful. “Huck..” She warned. “Yeah, thanks to Gem. He’s been a lifesaver, I wouldnt be this far without him. That’s why he’s the one who’s going to win.” Alva would be sure to have Gem be the winner, he deserved it. Once at the cave, she smiled and looked at him. “Wait, before we go in, I’m going to grab some of these.” She kept him steady before running to the berries that were in front of the entrance. Orange-red yew berries were rested on it. The seeds inside a yew berry are poisonous, rather than the fruit itself, and are known for causing death very suddenly. All species of yew contain highly poisonous alkaloids. She gathered about ten in her hands before wrapping an arm around the male again. “Let’s go.” She brought him into the cave.

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‘’Yeah, it’s sick,’’ he spat, not caring whether he looked disrespectful towards the Capitol or not. ‘’You got the good hiding spot, he said, a smile on his lips. ‘’That sounds amazing,’’ he sighed, longing for everything the girl just mentioned. ‘’Well you’ve come this far... you’re doing something right,’’ he said, relaxing a little when he saw the entrance of the cave. ‘’Good, because I don’t know how much longer I could have walked,’’ he said seriously, arriving at the cave’s entrance. 

“I’m sorry to hear that. Some of these things that the Gamemakers are doing are insane. Like the storm and stuff? Or the lights? Luckily I havent had to witness too much of it, or at least didnt get any damage from it.” She shrugged. “We will get you back to the cave and you can use the blanket. I’ve also got a medical kit, we will see if we have anything that can help you get your strength back. There are also some berries in front of the shelter, you can have some trail mix and berries.” She said looking up at him with a smile.

“You’re welcome.”“ She walked with him more. “I guess so. We’ve sort of stayed in the same spot, It’s a cave and we are safe. I also am too scared to leave it, Gem has been out and about actually. Seems like it’s done us some justice.” The cave was in their view now. “Look, there it is.”

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‘’Yeah, it just flooded and I hit something, a tree maybe. It busted up my arm pretty well,’’ he said, wincing slightly at another stab of pain in his arm. ‘’At least there’s that,’’ he chuckled softly, appreciating the girl’s optimism, but he didn’t see it. All he could think about was Savera, the small girl from back home, who had to see him like this. 

‘’Thank you,’’ he said as Alva supported him, leaning onto her a little bit, as they walked on. ‘’You and Gem have kept quiet pretty well, huh. Haven’t seen you around once.’’

Alva smiled and nodded her head. She knew she couldnt take him back to the camp but she couldnt just leave him like this. Her plan was to start walking there and see where that takes her. “Please dont thank me, it’s okay.” She smiled and giggled at what he said. “Well, we will get you there, dont worry.”

“Not too far, just back there a bit.” She said pointing behind her, showing the way she came. “From the river? Wow. Well, you may be hurting but you’re still alive, right? You still have a chance. Come on, I’ll help you.” She walked towards him and wrapped her arm around her waist to give him more support. “We will be there before you know it.” She said beginning to walk back.

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Huck’s heart leapt at her words, and he slowly walked over to her. ‘’Thank you, thank you so much,’’ he said, the smile on his face turning into a grimace at the pain in his head and arm. ‘’I’ll do anything to be at any place called ‘’camp’’ right now,’’ he said, surprised that he was still able to joke around a little. 

‘’Is it far? My legs are fine, it’s just my head. I took a hard beating... from the river, no less,’’ he grumbled, slightly angry that his physical state had gotten like this because of the Gamemakers rather than a tribute.

Alva pouted and looked at him up and down. He really didnt seem to good at all. There was no way that he would be able to win the games like this. She couldnt remember who else was still alive but she knew herself and Gem were doing fine. “I’m glad you arent, I’m not either. I’m alone at the moment, Gem went out by himself to go do something.” She shrugged, he was checking the traps but she didnt know if that information was important or not. “Would you like to come back to our camp? You’ll be safe there, and when Gem gets back, I’ll make sure that he doesnt do anything to you.” Alva said softly. “We have trail mix!”

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Huck recognised the girl; it was Alva. He hadn’t spoken to her much, but he knew enough about her to know that she did not get a high score, and that she seemed pretty friendly. He had finally caught a break. 

He chuckled lightly at her question. ‘’How am I? Not.. not very good,’’ he said, surprised that she’d even asked. ‘’I’m not looking for trouble. Just a place to rest. Are you by yourself?’’ he asked, hoping that maybe she’d be willing to take him to wherever she was keeping herself hidden, as she looked pretty well taken care of. 

Alva was out walking on her own. She know that Gem went out on his own told her to stay at their camp but she needed to get out and walk around. Just like back home, staying in one place was getting to her, even though she was safe. Considering how far into the games she was, she was feeling good. No injuries, not that hunger, and not feeling too weak and cold. While walking around, she kept the blanket around her to keep warm.

As she walked further, she saw someone in front of her. It was Huck. By the time he saw her, it was too late to run. Dont give up. “Oh, hello! Umm..” Alva felt her heart speed up. She didnt have weapons. “How are you?”

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Wounded, tired and weak, Huck walked around, almost aimlessly, looking for a place to hide. He needed to sleep, and he needed something to fix himself up, but more than anything he needed to stay as far away from tributes as possible. He couldn’t feel his fingers and most of his lower arm anymore, the pain replaced by numbness. His vision was blurred, the blood from his head wound getting into his eyes, which he kept wiping away with his good hand

When he heard something behind him, he whirled around, knowing that if it was one of the stronger tributes, he’d surely be done for. 

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When Huck woke up, Amphi was gone. For a second he worried that she might have been killed while he was asleep, but he hadn’t heard a fight, nor a cannon, so she must have decided that it was time to part ways. He packed up the things that she had left behind and made his way further east, following the river. 

He stopped walking when he heard a sound, getting louder and louder. He couldn’t place what it was, but it sounded like water rushing, when he saw what was coming towards him-- which was a giant wave of water. It took him a second to snap out of his daze, and he started running away from the river into the land, but the water reached him before he got away far enough. Panic flooded into his body; he couldn’t swim. He got knocked to the ground and a large gulp of water filled his mouth, almost choking him. He held his breath, frantically trying to get up. The flood couldn’t last forever, could it?

He hit his head on something hard, and a sharp pain surged through his head, as if his skull was split in to. He screamed, air escaping his lungs into the water, and when he closed his mouth again, the salty water stinging his eyes and dirty in his mouth, he knew he needed to get air as soon as possible. He finally his the ground and pushed himself up with one arm, the other hurting too much to use, and he gasped for air when he lifted himself from the water. The wound on his head stung, the salt in the water only making it worse, and it took him a few minutes to compose himself again. 

When he got up he realised that he had lost everything; the little bit of food, his gloves, the spear, and worst of all, his knives. Washed away by the flood. He was injured and unarmed. He looked own at his hurt arm, his elbow bent awkwardly and a bump right under it on his lower arm, that definitely wasn’t supposed to be there. 

He walked on, desperate to find a place to rest, when he reached the beginning of the mountains. He looked around, desperate for a place to take shelter and just hope that his mentor would send him something that could help him out in what seemed to be a hopeless situation. 

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It soon became a struggle to walk through the picking up storm, and Huck sometimes looked up to see if Amphie was still doing okay. When his eye fell on A tight ring of what seemed to be bushes, he quickened his pace and walked over to them. They were definitely able to crawl under them and keep some of the snow away, but it would be cold. "We can hide from the snow under here!" he raised his voice over the wind. "We'll have to stay close for warmth!"

‘’That sounds good,’’ he nodded, looking around to see if there was a place they could take shelter. ‘’I don’t know, I’m not that much into pets. Especially dogs. Also, I think we should head for those mountains ahead. This storm is picking up quickly and I don’t think we’d last long if we don’t find a cave or something.’’

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A silver parachute drifts slowly to the ground. Attached is a small box and a note. Inside the box is a medium meal of hot soup, bread, and an apple. The note is from mentor Forrest Blackwood, and reads: "I've got your back."

.

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‘’That sounds good,’’ he nodded, looking around to see if there was a place they could take shelter. ‘’I don’t know, I’m not that much into pets. Especially dogs. Also, I think we should head for those mountains ahead. This storm is picking up quickly and I don’t think we’d last long if we don’t find a cave or something.’’

“That sounds good. We could spilt the food rations equally then.” She knew their alliance wasn’t going to last forever and in fact it had lasted longer than she had originally thought so she thought it best to divide on amiably terms. “Agatha? Maybe, she’s awfully crafty that one.” She shrugged. “I think I’ll get pets. Rabbits…three of them and we will happily ever after.” She grinned at the thought of it.

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‘’Yeah probably. Maybe we could stick together until there are only a few of us left and then split up?’’ he suggested, not liking the idea of her and him being left as the last two. ‘’Her mentor might help her find it, you never know,’’ he added. ‘’I think I’ll just go on a diet of donuts and chocolate milk,’’ he said, a smile growing on his face at the thought. 

“We should probably make a plan about that.” She said absent-mindedly. “What we do if something happens…like someone attacks or whatnot.”She nodded. “She probably won’t even know where to find it, it’s not like she has a tracker on it.” Amphie dismissed, shivering. “When and if I get out of here, I’m eating nothing but blueberry pancakes for two weeks and taking hot showers every other hour.” She grumbled. 

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Huck looked down and nodded, knowing she was right. He hadn’t known Nox very well but he didn’t know that he always had seemed friendly. ‘’So am I,’’ he said in a dry, humourless chuckle. ‘’I certainly wasn’t planning on anything like that happening, that’s for sure. But now we have food, and a few knives which I am most comfortable with. I should have put the spear on Nox’s body now that I think of it. They would have taken it out of the arena, which would have meant that Sylver wouldn’t have been able to get it.’’

“No I completely understand, you have to do what you have to do…he was just …very nice.” She commented looking down. “But I suppose they all are…in their own right, save a few.  And it kept you alive so I’m happy about that…I guess. I suppose I’m just surprised it happened.” She reasoned. 

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Huck registered the change of tone in Amphie’s voice and he turned to look at her, worried that she might not want to continue as his ally. ‘’I had to... it’s survival of the fittest after all. It had to come of it sooner or later,’’ he said with a nod. 

She stayed silent for a moment, processing what he had just said. “You…you killed him?” She asked quietly, her voice suddenly lacking the humor it had previously held. 

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Huck held up the bag of food he had taken from Nox, not looking at Amphie. ‘’I came across a tribute... Nox, I think his name was. You must have heard the cannon,’’ he mumbled, feeling like he should just be honest about it, but not liking having to say it out loud at all.

“Alright.” She nodded, agreeing that the snow would provide enough water for them both. She bent down and picked up the two remaining fish before running to catch up with him. “Did you find anything interesting when you were out hunting?”