PAIN BLASTED THROUGH IKO'S SIDE as the District 9 girl slammed a crowbar into Iko's ribs, smashing the wind from her lungs. Involuntary tears sprung to Iko's eyes, and the office space with its wooden desk and glass windows and the face of the girl, snarling and livid with primal instinct, warped together in a smudged watercolour of bright panic. If she wasn't so stunned by the impact, she might've been galvanised into action by the fact that the girl wasn't going to go down without a fight. She wasn't a boring opponent. Though hopeless and manifestly lacking skill, Iko could respect that she wasn't rolling over and exposing her belly to her teeth.

Iko blinked to clear her vision and brought her arms up to block another crushing blow as the girl took another wild swing. This time, Iko locked the crowbar between her wrists and gritted her teeth as another wave of pain shuddered down the bones of her arms, down to her shoulders. Without hesitation, Iko slammed her foot against the girl's gut and wrenched the crowbar from the girl's hands when she doubled over and stumbled backwards. Iko cast the crowbar out of the office and kicked the door shut behind her as it clattered to the ground, cutting off the exit. Silence seethed between them, a desolate tension thickening the stagnant air, as both girls regarded each other like predators in the prairie.

Fear flickered over the girl's features—bruised and dirt-slicked, like she'd been tangled with the jungle for days until she'd become something untamed and wild—for a moment so brief Iko thought she'd imagined it, and, in a blink, had been replaced with resolve, a steely determination. Iko's expression didn't shift, but she stood straighter, flicked her eyes over the girl's form in a glancing once-over, tracking the tension wired in her muscles, the scrawny arms, the awkward stance, the palpable lack of a killer's confidence. Through the window behind her, Iko spotted the sky darkening like a new bruise.

With a wild cry torn from her throat, the girl lunged, arms outstretched as she moved in to tackle her. Iko sidestepped, and at the last moment, seized the girl by the wrist and twisted, hooking her shoulder under the girl and flipping her over. A winded grunt escaped the girl's chest as she hit the ground hard on her back. She was a fighter, but she was also untrained. Amateurs got careless, got in over their heads. The girl from 9 knew it, but rather than succumbing to her fate, scrambled back onto her feet as Iko stood over her, already bored. Teeth bared, the girl raised her arms, hands clenched into fists. Three days of crash-course combat training in the Capitol couldn't match the years Iko had on her. Killer instinct was drilled directly into Iko's bones the way it was imprinted in the girl's head to steer clear of people like Iko.

"No," Iko said, firmly. She unstrapped the belt of knives from her waist and dropped it on the ground beside her feet. Shucking her pack off her shoulders, Iko dropped that on the ground, too. Her rifle, which was rendered useless since she'd found out she'd used up all her ammunition already and hadn't brought any spares with her, she discarded on the desk atop a stack of papers. Flummoxed but wary, the girl pinned Iko with a piercing stare, her wide brown eyes darting over Iko, clocking her actions. Iko flipped the two knives in her hands over her knuckles. She tossed the one in her right at the girl's feet and dropped the other on top of her pile of possessions on the ground. "We're gonna do this right."

The girl let out a harsh laugh as she snatched the weapon up. "As if you care about what's right," she snapped, raw hatred glistering in her eyes.

"I've done enough," Iko said, and Alex's face—the lack of recognition in his eyes after he'd watched her kill the District 5 boy—flashed across the forefront of her memory. Bile threatened to rise up her throat.

"Fuck you," the girl spat, fury creasing her features. "I don't want your false pity."

"Then keep your guard up."

Weaponless and without warning, Iko struck. The first jab, the girl ducked out of, but Iko bore down on her like a hurricane, a tempestuous storm raining punches and kicks, a flurry of power and unmitigated vehemence. Each strike landed, and no matter how her opponent responded in kind, slashing and slicing, Iko had the upper hand. Back home, she'd trained until she'd perfected the art of disarmament with just her bare hands. But this girl was fast and amateurs weren't like seasoned fighters. They could be unpredictable when desperation called for it, and Iko could see it in the girl's frantic strokes. She was at the end of her tether. And Iko wasn't the one with the knife in her hands.

The girl brought the knife down in a stabbing motion. Iko threw up an arm, catching her by the wrist. Without wasting a moment, Iko caught her by the back of her head and drove her knee into her face. A loud crack resonated in the room as the girl's nose broke. A gurgled cry loosed from the girl's mouth and a sharp pain ripped across Iko's forearm. Instantly, Iko recoiled, and the girl shot back up, backing away, swaying on her feet, blood pouring from her nose as she held up the knife, shining with Iko's blood.

Seething, Iko narrowed her eyes. Knife fights were a war of attrition. Exhausted as she was already, Iko couldn't afford to lose blood or mobility in her arm, especially with the Career pack out to hunt her down. No matter what she had to do, Iko was going home. She was going to live, because coming here had already cost her everything. She couldn't let them take this from her. She was going to show them all that she was still fighting.

Time to end this.

Fighting through the searing agony that tore an inferno through her arm, Iko snapped into action. Her leg came down in an arc that slammed the knife out of the girl's hands and broke her fingers. It clattered to the ground and the girl let out an anguished shout, but Iko didn't stop to pick the knife up. Knowing that she was fighting a losing battle, the girl made to dart towards the door in a last ditch attempt, abandoning all pretences. But before her unbroken fingers could wrap around the door handle, Iko slipped up beside her and, with one fell swoop of her leg, shattered the girl's arm at the elbow. The sound of bone breaking muted the distorted roar of her blood in her ears, and Iko hooked her arm around the girl's neck and cradled her chin in her other hand. For a second, the girl fought so hard Iko felt her heart pounding against her skin, beating, beating, beating, so full of wild, so full of life. Without thinking twice about it, Iko gave a violent jerk and snapped her neck and it all went quiet.

A canon went off, signifying the tribute's death. Iko felt the sound jerk through her chest, and the chill of what just occurred ran through her, but she shook it off.

Releasing the girl's limp body, Iko tipped her head back and let out a sigh. When she rolled out her aching neck and tested her injured arm, she felt the cut throb. She revelled in it, savoured the pain that served as a reminder of what she'd done. Of who she was. These were her battle scars and collectible trophies. She had fought, tooth and claw, and she had won.

* * *

FOR A SILENT, ENDLESS MOMENT, Alex forgot how to breathe as he stared at the pack of green lizards and their beady, blinking eyes glowing in the shadows, reflecting the light of the torches they'd leant against the walls of the cave to illuminate the dark. Bow clutched in hand, Alex slowly moved to nock another arrow until Sage lay a hand on his and shook her head, pinning him with a warning look. There were too many of them, and if Alex dropped one, the rest would descend on them and who knows how that would turn out? Their numbers, their swift invasion of the tributes' territory, was a warning. But how else would they survive? In the wilderness, the rules were clear. Kill or be killed.

One of the lizards hopped forward, as though testing out the waters, it caught the gleam of Alex's arrow, and let out a hostile hiss, the previously neutral atmosphere quickly acidifying.

Alex slung his bow around his shoulders slowly, pushing the arrow back into the quiver. Backing towards the end of the cave slowly without taking his eyes off the mutts, he fumbled for his backpack, which lay against the wall of the cave, and from it, drew out the electrical baton that'd been gifted to them on the first night by a sponsor. He hit the button on the side of the handle with his thumb, and at the sound of the electricity snapping, the lizards recoiled. In periphery, Alex saw Opal's expression shift. She, too, looked surprised at their adverse reaction. In all of Hunger Games history, mutts were merciless and relentless creatures culled of animal instinct except for their bloodlust. They were every tributes' nightmare. Programmed to do nothing except drive tributes out of their hiding places towards each other. By principle, only the strongest, the most desperate to survive could live through this. If the batons could ward them off, Alex could clear a path out of the cave. He didn't know how many more were outside, waiting to devour, but they were already backed into a literal corner. Their chances otherwise didn't look good.

"What's the sitch, captain?" Sage asked, her tone wary as she swept her gaze over the mutts, who were standing erect and jumping about nervously, like small chickens. But they'd all glimpsed their teeth—jagged and razor-sharp, built to shred flesh—and knew that no matter how small these mutts were, they outnumbered the Career pack. Or, what was left of it, anyway.

Alex swallowed, steeling himself for an attack. He glanced at the mouth of the cave. Only a good ten feet away. If they all struck at the same time, chances were, he'd be able to make it out alive. At this point, there was no pretending he cared about the alliance anymore. Of course, as guilty as he felt about the thought, since he actually liked the two girls and respected them as people, he couldn't afford to let it impede his judgement. Whoever didn't make it out now wasn't going to be mourned.

"The batons," Alex said, voice low, fear pounding its feet into his veins, the adrenaline turning his blood turning to slush as the mutts loomed closer as a swarm, and Alex saw now that they weren't much of lizards, considering that their leathery hide was neither composed of scales or the uneven amphibian skin, but glossy green feathers. Sage and Opal traded alarmed looks. Alex cut them a warning glance. "No sudden movements. Slowly."

But the moment Sage stepped back, her heel collided with a pebble that went skittering down the cave. All hundred heads snapped towards her. One of the mutts let out a menacing hiss, setting off a chain reaction as the other mutts bared their teeth and hissed back.

The attack came from the left.

Without thinking, Alex swung the baton the moment he felt a searing pain pinching his arm. The response was automatic, and the mutt dropped to the ground, twitching uncontrollably, as were his instincts kicking into overdrive. Jamming his thumb against the button on the handle, Alex slammed the electrified baton against the mutt attached to his arm, its teeth raking through his flesh, and it popped free with a high pitched whine. Its pack members chittered, humming with aggression as they circled the tributes.

"Go, now!" Alex commanded, surging forward with Sage and Opal on his heels. With his eyes half-closed, arms raised to ward off the gleaming claws aimed for his head, Alex darted like a broken field runner towards the mouth of the cave. Head-splitting shrieks emitted from the mutts, filling the cave.

In a flash, the mutts pounced, their assault a relentless wave of claws and teeth. Pain sliced through his body as teeth clamped down on flesh and sharp claws raked down his skin, and the baton crackled with electric charge pumping enough volts into the mutts to immobilise them. Sage let out a furious war cry as they charged through the relentless assault. Blood cascaded down his arms and legs, sticking his clothes to his body. A cut on his forehead burned as he blinked the blood out of his vision, but to no avail. There was too much of it flowing down his face. Swinging blindly, as though he were slashing through the jungle, feeling the shock of the baton slamming against the mutts vibrate up his arms, which stung with cuts and bite marks, Alex lunged for the waterfall, diving head-first into the water, praying that the mutts couldn't swim. Instantly, the shock of the cold water staked icy needles into his body, and he felt the teeth fall away. Pushing himself further downstream, following the rushing current, Alex kicked desperately. When he remerged on the other side, breaking through the surface with a gasp, the river frothed pink with blood.

Coughing, Alex clambered onto shore, baton clutched in his knuckle-white grip, his bloody wounds stinging so badly he couldn't bear to look at them in case they were worse than they felt, and watched in abject horror as Sage launched herself at the waterfall, tumbling into the river. Through the little gap between the water and the rock face of the cave, he watched Opal fall, her cries for help dampened by the waterfall. Nothing could save her now. Watched the shadows of the mutts swarm the cave until the light winked out and there was only darkness and a darkness marbling the water.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Sage gasped, collapsing on the sandy embankment next to Alex. Illuminated by the light of the full-faced moon, Sage's wounds weren't too serious. Her left arm, which she'd used to shield her head when the mutts attacked her, was in ribbons, a bloodied mess of mangled flesh that made Alex's stomach roil. Her sword was still strapped to her waist, and she had her backpack clutched in the other hand. Her baton was nowhere to be found, and Alex thought it must've washed away in the river.

Alex let out a shaky breath and scrambled to his feet, ignoring the pain in his arm as he reached back to feel for his quiver. All the arrows were still there. He counted fourteen by feel alone, though the uncontrollable shaking in his hands marred his certainty. Making quick inventory of all his supplies still on him—the arrows, his bow, his baton, the walkie-talkie in his pocket and the shredded clothes on his back were all he had left—Alex shut his eyes and felt the world tilt beneath his feet. He didn't want to think about how much blood he'd probably lost tonight, or how vulnerable to attack he was right now. All he knew was that he needed to make it into the forest before the rest of the mutts came prowling out of the dark, before the ones that killed Opal decided that they hadn't had their fill yet. They needed to clear out of the valley for the hovercraft to come clear Opal's body from the arena.

On unsteady feet, Alex stumbled into the tree line, plunging into the undergrowth without waiting for his vision to adjust. Panic flooded his chest as he reached blindly, feeling for tree bark and tall shrubs to regain balance on. The light filtered down to an impenetrable gloom where the moonlight no longer shafted down to dapple the ground in dim patches. He'd walked these forests for days, but the roots still caught on his shoes and the undergrowth kept reaching up to trip him. Chest heaving with fear, Alex recoiled each time he felt a low-hanging branch brush against his face, fearing talons and teeth. Between his shoulder blades, there was a pressure as the deeper he went into the forest, the more it closed around him. Each creak and groan was a predator stalking him, each gust of wind was its breath, close against his neck. Disquieted by the knowledge that there were eyes turned his way stole the air from his lungs, and Alex had to resist the impulse to break and run in any direction, just so long as it was fast. Heartbeat pounding against his skin, Alex barely heard Sage crashing through the forest a couple paces behind him, the monstrous amount of noise she was making almost made him turn around and shoot her in the head, which was the smarter option, considering he had his back open to her now, and there were so few of them left.

But he'd had enough of blood today. He didn't know if he could handle more.

A canon went off and Alex had to bite down on the side of his cheek to stop himself from flinching, reality sinking into his dread-soaked bones. He stopped suddenly and felt Sage crash into his back, sending bolts of pain shooting through his body.

"She's gone," Sage rasped, a muddled disbelief tinging her tone as she righted herself. "She's really gone."

At that moment, the anthem blared across the arena. While his eyes, wild with terror and primal desperation, adjusted to the encroaching darkness threatening to swallow him, Alex felt his vision recreating the forest around him, resolving monstrosities into chance alignment of unconnected branches. Through the canopy cracking the sky into distorted fragments, Alex spotted the first face that appeared—Titus', followed by Opal's. The third was the face of the District 9 girl. Relief punctured Alex's gut, washing over him in a cold wave that nearly brought tears to his eyes. Iko was still out there. Of course she was. Survival was all she knew. He hadn't known how happy he could be to know that someone wasn't dead until tonight, when he didn't care that he was grinning, despite the nightmare that'd just transpired.

The click of the safety coming off a gun brought him crashing back down to Earth.

In a flash, Alex had his bow drawn, arrow nocked quick as a reflex. He didn't miss the surprise that gleamed in Sage's eyes as she held the gun level with his head. Between them, the blood and wounds could've been fatal, but only one of them was going to walk out of this alive now that the stalemate was over. Now that the hostility had begun to set in and the illusion of an alliance no longer needed to be kept up.

"Guess it's you and me now, Guppy," Sage drawled, teeth bared in a menacing snarl. Her wounded arm shook, but her aim was steady, and so was Alex's, the adrenaline icing his veins, numbing the pain. "It was an honour fighting with you, but your time's up."

"You would've shot me with my back to you," Alex said, his tone rough with animosity, every nerve in his body awakened, attuned to his surroundings. "Don't fucking talk to me about honour."

Sage smirked. "It's everyone for themselves in these games, man. Honourable or not, it doesn't matter what you do as long as you're the last one standing. We are the monsters, Alex. There's no running from that reality. Iko got it. That's why she's still alive, albeit, she had all the prime opportunities to off Titus and took none of them because she wanted to make a show of it. Why haven't you?"

Eyes narrowed, Alex felt the realisation dawning on him. "You killed Titus."

"I did what I had to," Sage mused flippantly. "Opal was another casualty. It was so easy, y'know. Her death required less planning, but I saw the chance and I took it."

"Killing people in their sleep, attacking the vulnerable—that's cowardice."

"Wrong," Sage snarled, eyes flashing. "It means I don't pretend to be some sort of saint in a game of survival. You might think you're better than me, but we'll see who comes out alive. You don't win these games by being kind. Feelings are the sickness, and I know you're practically a contagion." The smile that crawled over her lips, gleaming like the wicked curve of a blade, was chilling, and Alex felt it cut down to the bone, sucking the air from his lungs. "Oh, yeah, I've been watching you and Iko, you know? You guys act like you're strangers but I can tell. There's always more. There's always been something more between you. I don't know if you're lovers or friends, but I do know you love her. You may have everyone else fooled, but not me. I see it. I see it all."

"Shut the fuck up," Alex growled, feeling the creak in his bowstring, the anger that tore up his veins. But he needed to keep her talking. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Sage let out a humourless laugh.

"Oh, but I do," she said, amusement glimmering in her tone. "There is no girl back home because she came here with you. And once I kill you, I'll make her suffer."

Time's up.

At the same time she squeezed the trigger, Alex let the arrow fly.

Two gunshots rang out through the air.

* * *

THROUGH THE GLASS WINDOW facing out over the arena, Iko watched the faces appear in the sky. At her feet, the girl's body lay limp and lifeless, her features drained of colour. Of fight. Iko cocked her head. The girl couldn't have been older than sixteen, but girls with paper-yellow skin and eyes like Iko's tended to look younger than most, and yet, they were nothing alike. Her hands had been unblemished and uncalloused, and Iko had felt the smoothness of her palms as she'd been struggling to pry Iko off her, refusing to submit to her fate. As much of a fight that she'd put up till her last moments, these were the hands of a girl who'd never trained a day in her life. When the Capitol seal faded, Iko had stopped thinking about the beating heart she'd held between her arms before she felt it go cold.

Three deaths tonight. Opal's face in the sky had been a surprise. Though, the moment Opal's face faded in the sky and skipped right to the District 9 girl, the tension Iko didn't even know she had inside her chest loosened. Alex was still alive somewhere in the arena. Relief trickled through her veins, but Iko didn't want to think too much about it. He was the one who'd driven her away. He was the one who'd trusted the arena to eliminate her so he wouldn't have to. He was the one who betrayed her when she did nothing except trust him with her life. Anger flickered through her. He should've had her back like he always did. So why did he force her out the moment she needed him most? Iko couldn't dredge up an answer to that. The longer Alex survived, the closer the inevitable loomed. Before, she'd always made the assumption that she had the ability to do whatever it took to secure her win. Even if it meant being haunted by the crippling guilt in the years to come. Now, the mere thought of what she might have to do repulsed her so much her vision went black. When it really came down to it, she didn't think she could kill him.

Subconsciously, Iko felt her fingers gloss over the bracelet around her wrist, the cool beads now crusted with blood and grime. Throughout this complete shitshow, it'd somehow clung to her. Iko felt a thrill of shock ripple through her. Nothing good ever survived between her hands. Not even herself. Someone out there cares, the old crone who'd gifted her the bracelet had said. But once Alex was gone, who was left? His family wouldn't be able to survive the loss of their eldest son, their golden boy. Iko would just be a reminder of what had been snatched out of their hands.

Stepping over the body, Iko picked up her things. The cut on her arm screamed for her attention, and Iko stumbled out of the ruined office, down the corridor, towards a door labelled 'bathroom'. Under the pharmaceutical lights, Iko glimpsed her reflection in the rust-desecrated mirror. She blinked, hardly able to recognise the girl staring back at her with haunted eyes and lips that didn't know how to smile. In the mirror, the girl stood swaying on weary feet, slathered in blood and dirt, streaked with the touch of the wilderness. What happened to you? she asked, suddenly feeling the full weight of her exhaustion crashing down on her shoulders, a whole world of it and she wondered if she was strong enough to survive this one. Death, came the quiet answer, the harsh reality, the ugly truth.

Swallowing down the lump that formed in her throat, Iko dumped her possessions on the marble sink, rooted through her pack for the medication. Her fingers closed around the silver pot, and the panic rising in her chest subsided like the tides. Her throat itched and scratched, and Iko realised just how thirsty she was. She hadn't been diligent enough to monitor her own water intake, and her water bottle was half-empty. She took a tentative sip and used the rest of the water to clean out her wound, watching the blood marbling in the sink. Biting down on her tongue, bracing herself for the sting, Iko unscrewed the lid on the pot of medication and slathered a generous amount over her cut. A thin film of tears sprung to her eyes, but she blinked them away, clearing her vision, careful to avoid meeting her own gaze in the reflection.

Hope burned in her chest and Iko tasted the acrid tang of desperation as she flicked the taps on, praying that something miraculous would happen. And then, almost immediately, she felt foolish for even thinking such things. All her life, she'd grown up counting on herself. Miracles were the stuff of mythology. At first, nothing happened. For a few seconds, despair clawed at her stomach, curdling her guts when no water came out. Not even a tiny leak. And then the tap gave an ancient shudder, and brown water came gushing out of the tap. Iko nearly wept with relief, but forced herself to wait a minute or so until the water ran clear before filling her bottle and dropping a tab of purifier into it.

While she waited, Iko threw the lock shut on the main door and checked the bathroom stalls. She was the only one in here, but the sleep deprivation seemed to be making shadows in periphery dance. Logically, she knew that it was the paranoia gripping her, but she couldn't help the feeling that there was something off. Before leaving, Iko checked the colour of her piss. It came out a dark yellow puddle in the toilet bowl. A sign of dehydration.

Iko shoved her things back into her pack. She still had twenty more minutes before the water was safe to drink, and so she crammed herself under the sink and curled up, head resting on her knees. She thought about her mother, and the cold void that accompanied each memory of her mother, who'd been nothing but cruel to her. Love didn't exist in the Moriyama household, a crumbling establishment of paper-thin walls and water-damaged ceilings. Storms that passed over the house threatened to blow it down. When she was a child, Iko always dreaded those storms. Whenever she noticed that the clouds gathering over District 2 were greyer than usual and swollen with rain, she ran over to Alex's house, quick as the winds blowing the first rumblings of thunder in, to hide out under his blankets, and even when it passed, he'd hold her there, telling her stories of another world where other monsters ruled the sky.

For a brief moment, Iko felt herself dozing off and jolted awake when she heard the sound of glass breaking.

On reflex, her hand flew to her belt of knives, drawing out two blades before she was even fully awake. When she regained her bearings, Iko realised the commotion was coming from beyond the door. Something was out there. Or someone. Whatever it was, Iko couldn't stay here. If it was another tribute, she was in no shape to face them. Already, she was running on fumes, and if she were facing Sage or Alex down, she'd have no chance of surviving it. She wasn't going to take a chance on fighting them, despite the fact that they could be in a debilitated state, too.

Slowly, and as soundlessly as she could, Iko slung her backpack around her shoulders and unlatched the lock. She pressed her ear against the door, noting the heavy footsteps against the floor tiles, the clicking of what sounded like sharp talons against the linoleum floor. In the silence, she heard a low hissing sound that rose and fell so quietly it was barely audible. It might have even been the wind, or a draft filtering through a window, but Iko knew it wasn't.

There was a mutt outside. Whether it knew her location or not was unclear, but as Iko tracked its footfalls, she knew that it wasn't retreating anytime soon. In fact, it only seemed to grow louder. Through her sleep-addled brain, Iko grasped for memory of the layout of this floor, where all the corridors led, which end the emergency stairs were. If she acted now, she would be able to make it to the elevator without being seen, but there was no telling if she had enough time to wait for it to reach this level without being ripped to pieces. But she had to try. The emergency stairs were on the same side, which meant that she could have another exit route if the elevator doors didn't open in time.

Steeling herself, Iko sucked in a stabilising breath before pulling the door open, praying that it wouldn't creak on its hinges.

Unfortunately, luck wasn't on her side, and Iko had a feeling that she walked a fine line of omens as the door let out an ear-splitting whine as she slipped into the corridor. The silence was jarring as she stood impossibly still for a second, just listening out for the mutt.

And then she noticed its shadow—the reflection in the glass wall—and there it was, disappearing smoothly into the office where the District 9 girl's body lay, silent as a ghost except for the hissing of its breath, the flick of its thick tail the last of it that Iko saw before she noted the broken glass littering the floor. It must've smashed one of the glass walls as it explored the corridor. Iko glanced down the long stretch of the corridor, down to the elevator lobby. If she moved fast, she could make it.

Jaw clenched, Iko darted towards the emergency exit. The elevator wasn't going to get there in time. Fear flushed through her veins, turning her blood to slush as she heard the mutt give an agitated shriek. A threat. Too late. Iko was already throwing her bodyweight against the door and yanking it shut behind her as it came thundering down the corridor. Without hesitation, Iko rocketed down the stairs, illuminated dimly by fluorescent green light. She heard the echo of its body slamming against the heavy wooden door again and again and again. Felt its fury reverberating in the stale vessel of the concrete walls. That barricade wouldn't hold for long. She needed to get out fast. When she reached the bottom floor, Iko wasted no time in pulling the door open and lunging out into the lobby.

Until another mutt whipped round to face her—not a winged mutt, but a bipedal reptilian-esque concoction with teeth and claws—its yellow eyes fixed on her as its claws gleamed under the lights and it stretched its maw wide, displaying an impressive row of razor-sharp teeth, and let out a blood-curdling shriek. Fear shot through her tenfold, and Iko nearly felt herself lock up completely, muscles refusing to cooperate, until her brain screamed at her to RUN. RUN NOW. Nearly blinded with terror, Iko barely had time to think before she sent one of her knives flying towards its head. As it buried itself to the hilt in the mutt's left eye, Iko kicked the door shut, and heard the mutt's heavy body crash against the heavy wood, its aggressive shriek promising ravage and ruin shattering the air around her, and stormed back up the stairs, pulse thumping against her teeth. The hinges squealed, but held. But Iko wasn't so certain it would hold for much longer. The second floor had to have something for her.

When she threw the door open, Iko reemerged into a more familiar scene—she'd been here before with the Career pack. Through the open doors, Iko spotted the shelf of amber glass rocks and the laboratory equipment on their oddly shaped desks. There were the different rooms labelled EXTRACTION and FERTILISATION, and the big capsule-like device attached to a control board beside the large tanks labelled Liquid N2.

Iko darted into the room labelled FERTILISATION as she heard a loud bang resonate from the upper floors. Assuming one of the doors splintered into smithereens, Iko didn't have much time to think about her hiding spot. The mutts could be driven by the Gamemakers, remote controlled to work their way towards her. Iko was thankful that, on this floor, the walls were made of plaster, which meant that the mutts couldn't see her.

But, adversely, that also meant she couldn't see them approaching.

Another primary problem was that the doors were thin, and her only escape, now, would be through the floor-to-ceiling window, which Iko didn't think had any means of opening. She glimpsed the big capsule-like device attached to a control board separated from the large tanks labelled Liquid N2 by a glass barrier. Iko seized the bulkiest microscope she could find and pitched it against the window. The glass shuddered, but didn't give, but Iko spotted the little cracks spiderwebbing from the point of impact. If she kept working at it, it'd break, and a two-story jump wouldn't be too damaging. The direction of which her exit plan was facing spat her right into a thicket of trees. More forest. Surely the undergrowth would disappear her.

In the chaos of her escape, she hadn't noticed that it'd begun to storm. Rain lashed against the glass, and she might've missed the calamitous crash as the mutts broke down the door to the emergency stairwell if it hadn't been for the lapse in the thunder. Iko froze. The silver microscope in her hand gleamed. Outside, she heard the clicking of talons on the linoleum times, and the thump of what must've been the mutts' tails flicking against the walls. Heart ramming against her chest, Iko winced as she wound her arm back and launched the device at the window with every ounce of her might left in her ragged body. This time, it splintered further, but still didn't give. A couple more strikes and it'd crumble like ashes.

Instantly, Iko heard the mutts stall further down the corridor.

Iko picked another piece of bulky equipment up and launched it against the glass once more before diving under one of the desks. She didn't think they knew where she was yet, and that was her only saving grace, but the door handle was a flat steel knob, and it was only a matter of time before the mutts figured out that hitting it would knock the door open.

When it did, Iko pressed her face to the floor, watching the shadows that slipped in under the desk. Iko was fully hidden, and there was still the shelf of books and three more desks with laboratory equipment between them. Iko peered over the desk. The window hadn't completely shattered, but if she could just hit it with one more heavy item to break it, she might be able to make her escape. But the mutt—now that Iko could see it properly this time—might be able to follow her after all.

In the room, the tension was so thick Iko thought she might choke on her terror. The mutt was six feet tall, and built for power. Its strong legs and tail were hidden by the desks, but, through the shelf, Iko saw the muscular upper torso and the two forearms held tight alongside the body, its claws dangling. Flicking its large head from side to side, the mutt came forward on high alert, its head bobbing as it moved, and its tail dipping. It walked like a huge, silent bird of prey. It turned, and Iko spotted both its eyes. This must've been the one she'd come across on the top floor. It'd been looking for her.

Iko ducked as the mutt turned, its hissing breaths slicing through the silence.

Iko felt for her knives. Hitting the mutt had done nothing, but if she could find some sort of poison, like she'd watched in one of the previous Hunger Games, when a girl tribute dipped her blowdart into poisons she'd collected from the plant life in the arena, she might be able to shake this mutt off her tail. She poked her head over the desk again, searching frantically as the mutt turned towards the capsule and the control board, its tail sweeping over a desk, and knocking sheets of paper and equipment onto the floor with a clatter.

That's when she saw it—on one of the desks towards the back of the laboratory, a metal hood in the back of the lab marked with a skull and crossbones. On it, a sign read: CAUTION: BIOGENIC TOXINS / A4 PRECAUTIONS REQUIRED. The hood lay flush against the table, but there was no handle on it. Iko sucked in a slow inhale and crawled over to it. There was a small box with a round cover beside the metal hood, and Iko kept her eyes trained on the mutt as she flipped the cover and hit the button beneath it without thinking. With a soft hiss, the hood slid upward, rising towards the ceiling like one of the contraptions in the bathroom containing toiletries in the apartment in the training facility that they'd stayed in for the first three days upon their arrival at the Capitol. The extension had glass shelves marked with names and numbers like tetra-alpha secretin and thymolevin x-1612 that Iko couldn't pronounce, let alone understand. The mutt cocked its head, and Iko reached out to grab whatever she could get her hands on before ducking down for cover. The syringes were capped with plastic, and filled with a pale green fluid that glowed in the ultraviolet light cascading down from the shelves.

Flicking off the cap of one of the syringes, Iko pressed her back against the leg of the desk, legs tucked beneath her, ready to spring. She heard the mutt approach, curious about the new contraption, its talons clicking menacingly against the floor like a warning. Just as Iko was ready to spring, the door creaked open again and the second mutt slinked into the room. Her heart lodged in her throat. One mutt, she could take down alone. But two in the same room? This was essentially suicide.

But Iko wasn't ready to give up yet.

Iko peered round the edge of the desk. The second mutt was built exactly like the first, and had both its eyes intact as well. No knives protruding from its head, which meant that the one in the lobby hadn't found its way to her yet. This was a completely new mutt. One that she hadn't seen yet. Where had it come from? More importantly, just how many of them were hunting her down?

Through gritted teeth, Iko laid out her options. Try the window again—a plan that might not work—or risk trying to inject a syringe full of toxins—that may or may not kill the mutt, depending on the dosage—into a mutt that might be able to sense her approach. Cold sweat beaded her forehead, and Iko didn't like the horrible knot that her guts had formed as she heard their hissing breaths loom closer and closer towards the desk she was huddled beneath.

Two syringes filled with toxins. This was going to be her first plan. Holding out of the syringes over one of her knives, she pushed the plunger and watched as the liquid spurted over the blade, careful to keep it away from her skin. The first theory to test. What other options did she have left? Clutching the toxin-soaked blade in her left hand, Iko was about to brace herself to pop up like a gopher and throw the knife before she heard a burst of static from the walkie-talkie in her pocket.

"Iko?" Alex's static-studded voice leaked through. Iko felt the entire world stop. "Iko? Can you hear me? There's not much time left, but—"

The mutts were nearing now, and Iko was running out of time.

An idea struck her. Iko hit the button on the side and said, "Alex. Keep talking."

"What?" His voice was tinged with disbelief. The storm raging outside meant the reception wasn't at its peak, and his words kept cutting out intermittently, but it was all she had to work with. "Where are you?"

Slowly, Iko set the walkie-talkie on the ground and kicked it as hard as she could, sending it skidding across the floor, towards the furthest corner of the room.

"Nevermind," Alex kept going, and Iko silently thanked him as the mutts halted in their tracks. "Sage still has her walkie on her, so don't tell me. Please tell me you're okay. Did you get hurt?"

Iko felt her chest ache with the inability to answer him, and now that the mutts were approaching the walkie, they seemed too distracted, as if sensing a second person in the room, completely bypassing her. Slipping over to the other side of the desk, Iko swallowed down the shards of fear stuck in her chest.

Across the room, Alex continued. "I'll find you. I promise. Iko? Listen, I'm so sorry—"

The moment the first mutt opened its mouth, Iko sent the poisoned knife hurtling through the air, its trajectory proving true as it struck the mutt in the tongue. It let out an agonised shriek and Iko dove for cover as both mutts turned towards her. The second mutt snarled menacingly, and Iko knew her plan had failed when both mutts began stalking towards her. Alex's voice became a distant crackle of static muted by the pounding of her heartbeat as Iko backed away slowly, dread poisoning her veins.

Until, suddenly, the first raptor made a gasping, gurgling sound, and its big body pitched forward onto the ground with a resonant thud. Its heavy tail thumped agains the floor in spasms as the mutt started convulsing violently, making choking noises punctuated with loud shrieks that had Iko shielding her ears. Foam frothed at its mouth, bubbling pink with blood as its head flopped at unnatural angles, the tail still slamming against the ground. The second mutt seemed confused, cocking its head at its slowly dying partner, and Iko glanced at the window, now that the attention had been taken off her. Iko seized another microscope and launched it at the window.

This time, the window exploded in a shower of glass and the wind began blowing in, the rain quickly filtering into the room.

The second mutt snapped round. When it spotted her by the window, it opened its jaws and let out an enraged shriek. As it lunged towards her, Iko launched herself out the window, not caring that she might break a few bones if she wasn't careful. Heart between her teeth, Iko forced herself to resist the urge to screw her eyes shut as she fell. She'd been put through enough agility courses to know how to fall in a controlled manner that would result in minimal damage. Below, the ground swirled with mud, and the moment Iko felt the soles of her combat boots come into contact with the ground, she pitched herself forward into a roll.

Albeit, the ground beyond the undergrowth behind the building sloped downhill, and Iko couldn't stop herself from slipping as she tumbled down, down, down, rainwater and mud stinging her eyes, little sediments and gravel in the mud slashing up the surface layer of skin, for what felt like an eternity. Finally, the ground evened out into another dirt path, and Iko didn't stop to gather her bearings, didn't stop to breathe, as dazed and disoriented as she was.

Blood dripped down her chin from a bottom lip split at the seams and pulsing red-hot with agony. Bruises screamed from prominent bones, lacerations ribboned her skin; her entire body felt like a fissure in raw flesh. Despite the pain and the ruins of her fall, the dirt smattered across her exposed arms and the bleeding nose (she was half-certain it was somewhat broken) and breathless lungs still reeling from the impact, she felt alive. Eyes blazing, an inferno scorching her insides, she picked herself off the ground, aching and faltering with the strain. Through the lightning bolt of agony searing her mouth from a split bottom lip after she'd practically bashed her face into the ground a hundred times coming down that slope, she smiled; this entirely fearless smile, both terrifying and real, made of broken glass taped together momentarily, constructed of wings ripped from butterflies, a mouthful of blood gleaming like burning rubies staining her teeth. For the cameras, she smiled like she wasn't afraid of anything. The cut on her arm had reopened and her chest felt like it was seconds off from exploding, but she rocked back onto her feet and broke into a sprint towards the nearest building. She couldn't stay here. Not when the mutts were already being set on the tributes, driving them back together.

Without a clear sense of direction, Iko ran. The moment she spotted the squat, two-story building marked 'MAINTENANCE SHED', she headed straight for it, not daring to stop. Her muscles were ready to give out, but her head kept screaming for her to go, go, go. Iko pushed on, sprinting blind through the rain. Around the maintenance building was a chainlink fence. Iko tossed her backpack over it first, and scrambled over it, unable to find a clear entrance. The moment Iko tumbled over the side, ignoring the pain as the barbed wire slashed up her palms, the mutt with the knife stuck in its eye jumped, its jaws closing around the place on the barbed wire that Iko had just been in a split second ago. Fear thrummed in Iko's veins, and she let out a vicious curse as the lightning forked across the sky, making the mutt's razor-teeth and talons flash in the light. The second mutt she'd left with the dead mutt appeared by its side, and both let out twin shrieks, the sound tearing Iko down to her spine.

Without having to be told twice, Iko snatched her backpack off the ground and took off towards the garage door, darting inside just as one of the mutts leapt over the fence, its powerful hind legs extended as it landed in the mud.

There was no light in the maintenance shed, and everything was drenched in an impregnable pitch-black. Iko felt along the walls, fingers grasping along the rough shaft of rusted pipes lining the walls. Her skin blazed with alarm as she heard the telltale click of talons on the concrete floor. Iko felt her boot hit something, and she put an arm forward. It was a set of stairs leading up to a higher level. Without hesitation, Iko scrambled up it on all fours like a feral animal, attempting to stay as silent as possible. When she reached the second floor, she noticed the open space, and the fact that it wasn't so dark anymore. Lightning flashed, illuminating the area, and Iko saw more pipelines running up the walls, and a few bulky metal boxes cemented to the floor. Electrical power outlets.

Lightning flashed again, and Iko spotted the mutt lunging up the staircase, its talons extended, seeking to slash her to ribbons.

For the second time tonight, Iko took a running start and leapt off the ledge of the second floor, her stomach lurching as she made the two-story jump, launching into a hard roll to absorb the impact that could've shattered her knees. But the second mutt was already there, waiting for her. It must've jumped over the fence while she was inside. Mud sloshing against her calves, her heels slipping in the stuff, Iko scrambled back, clutching the syringe of toxin to her chest. She wasn't going to die tonight. Not here, not like this.

The mutt with the knife jammed in its eye landed directly behind her, cutting off her exit. They loomed over her now, and Iko wondered why they weren't attacking yet. They biding their time, no longer intent on killing her. They were circling now, playing with her. Waiting for the moment she let down her guard to strike.

Out of the blue, Iko heard the crackle of electricity snapping through the air and a familiar voice yelling for her to get up. Iko rolled clear as the half-blinded mutt slammed its foot down in the space she once occupied, its talons raking through the mud. Alex's blonde hair flashed like a halo as lightning lit up the sky, and he put himself between Iko and the blinded mutt. Electricity snapped as Alex jammed his baton against the mutt's side, stunning it with the charge. It let out a vehement shriek, and Alex powered up the baton and jammed it down its throat, with drawing his hand just as its teeth clamped down on the space where his arm was. Iko didn't have time to dwell on what he was doing, or how he'd found her as she faced off the other mutt.

Its assault was vicious and fast, as relentless as it was agile. Monster to monster, Iko knew she would lose if she even so much as gave up ground. While it came at her with the fury of a thousand suns, talons slashing, teeth gnashing, Iko ducked and dodged, keeping on the defence. Frustration tore at her. She wasn't used to being the hunted. With the flick of her wrist, she sent a knife flying at its head, and the blade struck the mutt square in the eye. When it lunged again, Iko hurled another knife at its last eye. Off-balance and blinded, the mutt let out a roar that threatened to peel the skin off her bones.

Angered by the assault on its senses, the remaining mutt launched itself at Iko, but she jammed her backpack between its teeth and plunged the syringe into its gums, screaming in sheer agony as its talons raked down her arms.

Blood gushed down her arms as the gashes gaped open, but Iko knew she'd won. The mutt went still for a second. With trembling arms, Iko shoved it off her, snatching the backpack out of its mouth and rolled away as its body racked with violent convulsions. Clutching the backpack to her chest with no plans of letting go, Iko didn't dare to get up, even though the mutt showed no signs of consciousness by the time it began to foam at the mouth. Her arms burned with white-hot pain, and as the darkness ebbed at her vision, Iko didn't fight. For the first time in her life, Iko stopped fighting the current threatening to push her under.

Her eyelids drooped, and the world crackled in and out of view as she felt herself slowly begin to slip. A lone figure stood over her. Alex, illuminated by the lightning, his blonde hair plastered to his forehead, his expression indecipherable as he crouched down. One moment she was lying in the mud, certain that the consuming darkness was about to claim her, the next she felt his hands pulling her upright, felt him dragging her away, felt her feet plod after him as he shouldered her weight, each step they took shaking her back into consciousness.

"Hey, hey, hey, Iko, stay with me," Alex murmured, his hands cradling her face. "Your wounds aren't that deep. You'll live. Don't go away, now. I'm here."

"You..." Iko swallowed, the rain stinging her cheeks, unable to fully comprehend what just happened. "What are you doing here?"

"Did you really think I'd leave you like that?"

Jaw clenching, Iko opened her mouth to retort, her mind fuzzy with pain and exhaustion, but she wasn't on the brink of losing it anymore. "You drove me away. Why come back for me when you—"

"Don't talk," Alex commanded, sounding winded, his breaths coming out in wheezing pants, as he helped her through a hole in the fence that she'd missed earlier. A couple yards away, a smaller maintenance shed stood. It was only one floor, a cubic block that contained more electrical outlets. Iko didn't know where they were, but if Alex was thinking about taking shelter here, he was insane. There could be more mutts hunting them down. Alex cut her a warning look. "You're losing blood, and I need you to listen to me. If you remember the map in the control centre, you'll know that those two mutts were labelled velociraptors. There were only three of them in the arena. We just killed two. We don't know where the third one is—"

"It's dead," Iko said, as Alex pushed open the door that read CAUTION, which he promptly ignored as he shouldered her into the cramped shed, roughly the size of her old bedroom back in her house. "I killed it."

Alex nodded, stiffly.

Iko collapsed against the wall, sagging down to the ground, and Alex shut the door. Inside, there were fluorescent tubes of light attached to the low ceiling. Grimacing, Alex crouched down beside Iko to inspect her wounds. Pain lashed up her arms as she flexed her fingers, and the panic set in, until she realised that the gashes weren't deep. It was just the mud caked on her arms that made it look so. She'd been lucky. This could've been her end, but she'd narrowly escaped another close shave with death.

"You still have your medication?"

Iko shook her head. "I left it in the other building. Didn't have time to pack up. It was that or my water bottle." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Now that we're here, you answer me. Why'd you come back?"

"I can't lose you," Alex said, his voice rough, his wounds throbbing against an uncertain pulse.

Iko's arm stiffened under his calloused fingers. An instantaneous reflex—there and gone. Automatic as an impulse, Alex's touch responded in kind, pulling away to fumble with his quiver of arrows. They'd run out of ammunition, and all he had were his bow and arrow, and the stun gun in his pack. But his limited arsenal of weapons was the furthest thing from his mind. Wrong. He'd said something wrong, struck a tender nerve that should never have been grazed. Not in front of the cameras. It'd been too soft, too imbued with feeling. Iko's recoil from anything with a flicker of emotion wasn't just training drilled into instinct, but a form of defense, as though if she touched him any more, it would spread like an infection, a disease transmitted from one sick fool to another. If she were any other girl from back home, he might have winked it off, but all that charismatic coolness he channelled to copy off someone's homework back in school, the suave tongue that kept him in the limelight of so many sweethearts he never wanted, was gone. Extinguished like a candle flame.

"I can't lose you," Alex back-pedalled, gathering his thoughts again, recovering, remembering where they were. "Our plan to take Sage out takes two. She's our biggest threat."

She flexed her fingers again, feeling her shredded skin move, the gaping flesh that wouldn't stitch itself back together. The pain roiled up her arms in waves, but it didn't seem like she could ignore this one. Alex rooted through her backpack, fished out her water bottle and unscrewed the cap. He pressed the rim to her lips and tipped it, letting her sip slowly, before pulling it away and taking a single gulp. Then, he poured the rest of it over her wounds. Iko hissed in pain.

"Sorry," Alex muttered, setting the bottle down. Iko pushed her hair out of her eyes, hiding a flinch as she reached for his hands.

Iko fixed him with a searching look. Under the fluorescent lights, she noted new wounds. Bite marks, teeth slashing through flesh, but without taking chunks of it out. His face was pale, and now that they were inside, Iko felt his skin razing against hers. His body temperature was unnaturally high, and although he wasn't showing it, Iko knew that he was in pain. And then her eyes snagged on the holes in his shirt, the blood soaked into his shirt. Alarm rang through her body as she pressed a finger against his abdomen. It was rock hard. Swollen. Iko clenched her teeth.

"What happened?" Iko gritted out, her voice low. "What did she do to you?"

"It's not my blood," Alex lied, a small grin flitting over his lips. It didn't reach his eyes. "It's Opal's. Don't worry about it, I'll be fine."

For a moment, they were silent, staring each other down. Dread seeped into her veins, but before she could press him further, a shadow flickered across his face, and he tugged her into his arms. Iko let herself be pulled into the embrace, sank into it despite the pain screaming up her arms. She'd forgotten how good it felt to be held like this, by him. Closing her eyes, Iko wrapped her arms around his neck, not caring the sopping clothes sticking to their bodies in the most uncomfortable way, not caring about her stinging wounds, not caring that they were on national television. She'd almost died twice today. She needed this. She was allowed this.

"I didn't mean to push you away," Alex whispered, his thumbs tracing small circles over her back, his breath a ghost against her neck. "I believed you. I know you didn't kill Titus. I just had to get you out of there. I was going to come find you, but I got... held up."

Iko swallowed down the fear thickening her throat. Alex—he didn't have much time. He'd said it himself. It was all slipping away so quickly. Too quickly. Whatever happened between this morning and tonight, whatever had transpired between Sage and Alex, it'd cost them.

All that blood and the whispered ghost of the three words they needed to say to each other, but couldn't, let slip, let go of because there would be no point pursuing something like that, all the words flung at each other in-between.

I can't lose you. But he would, if not tonight, then tomorrow. There were only two more tributes left to cull, and then the hovercrafts would come collect the victor, and the bodies would go home in boxes. Once Sage was out of the picture, the gladiator's battle would be down to him and her. First and second, neck to neck. They'd expect them to duke it out, make a new bloodbath of their own vehemence, the last two standing, the finest of District 2. No more laughter and childhood memories stubbed out by the campfire.

No more Iko and Alex, inseparable until the end.

Because the end was coming sooner than they'd bargained for.

AUTHOR'S NOTE.
iffff you made it all the way here..... thanks for not giving up lol. this shit is the LONGEST chapter ive ever written. could i have broken it up? yeah. do i want to? no.

PLS SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS!!! this fic is Ending. we're all going to cry together