[ jesus this is the fourth part in like three days let's gooooo

same warnings apply!

stay safe,
lew. ]

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Lewis quickly warms up to Logan and Ruby. He's not happy about the reason he got to meet them, but he's glad to be around them. It makes him miss home, though, seeing the soft affectionate smiles and touches they share.

He points out a few things as they move, like which plants can be eaten, and which ones are to be avoided. He marks their path with broken twigs and small mounds of rocks, things small enough to be overlooked by anyone else, but enough to be seen if you knew what you were looking for.

Ruby reaches out and plucks a few berries off a vine. Lewis catches her before she can drop them in her mouth. "Let me see one of those before you do that. I just wanna be sure you're not gonna eat nightlock or holly or anything like that."

After a close examination of the berry, he squashes it against the back of his hand. Both Logan and Ruby stare at him out of confusion, but he ignores them for a few moments before smiling back at them. "It's a blackberry. I just wanted to be sure."

Logan speaks up then. "Why'd you—?"

"I'm mildly allergic. No big deal, it's just a slight skin irritation. I'd rather be a lil bit uncomfortable than have her death on my hands because I couldn't use the one skill I have."

"That's... really nice of you." She begins to gather some of the berries, presumably to save for later, tucking them safely away inside an empty first aid box. "I'm glad you caught Logan's attention."

"All I did was run into him at the tribute parade. Literally."

—

Chase drags Bailey away from the Cornucopia as soon as she grabs a backpack and a knife. They go downstream, but Bailey refuses to get within two feet of the stream.

"I can't swim, so I don't wanna fall in," he explains quietly, the end of his jacket sleeve in his mouth again.

She can't help the groan that escapes her lips. "Seriously, kid? What can you do?"

"Um... I'm good with—"

"I'm talking skills that are applicable here, by the way."

"Oh." He has to pause and think about it, finally coming up with: "I know how to tie knots. And maybe make a fire."

"Wow! It's all bullshit that I already know!" She snaps.

He goes silent, but eventually takes a deep breath and tells her, "You don't have to be my ally. If you don't wanna deal with the idiot who got a 3 for his score, go ahead and kill me. I don't care."

Within seconds, she has the knife at his throat, but she doesn't dig the blade in. She just stares at the resigned look on his face, then sighs and sheathes the blade again. "I'll keep you around for a while, I think."

—

Ezra and Ronnie make their camp in the middle of a briar patch. It's not comfortable, not in the slightest, but Ronnie didn't want to argue with the other boy.

"So... pretty boy, tell me about yourself."

"I'm Ronnie, I'm fourteen, and you scare me." He answers, ignoring the fact that as the sun goes down, it starts to get colder. Ezra's body heat would be so nice as the night goes on, but... Ronnie really doesn't want to lower himself that far to ask.

"Ezra, also fourteen, and I scare everyone so get over it."

They lapse into silence, until the anthem starts playing and the pictures begin to appear in the sky.

The tributes remaining, Ronnie works out, are himself, both from Two, the boy from Three, Ezra and the girl from Four, the girl from Five, the boys from Seven and Eight, both from Ten, the boy from Eleven, and both from Twelve.

There's ten dead, and fourteen left. At this rate, in two days, this horror will be over.

—

Lewis can't quite bring himself to care about the girl from his district being gone. He and Logan are too busy anyway, trying to find a safe place to camp.

Ruby advocates for staying on the ground, but Lewis refuses. "There's coyote tracks. They're way bigger than they're supposed to be so it's probably a muttation."

"Logan could keep watch—"

"Those things are fast normally. I'd hate to see how fast they get when the Capitol modifies them. I don't doubt that Logan's good, I just want us all to stay in one piece for now."

The three of them are silent for a few moments, then Lewis suggests, "Maybe two of us can keep watch and the third can sleep? And we can keep switching off?"

"That's probably our best option at this point," Logan sighs, passing Lewis a knife from his backpack. "Ruby sleeps first."

"Fine by me."

Lewis and Logan both give the girl their jackets, folding one of them under her head for a pillow and the other going as a small blanket. Lewis tells her goodnight, and Logan takes the time to kiss her and tell her he loves her.

As the two boys settle into their spots to keep watch, a rustling noise overhead scares Lewis into leaning against the other tribute. But it's nothing to be scared of, the silver parachute drifting down.

They're lucky it didn't get caught in the trees. It's a sleeping bag, along with a note marked with the number two. Logan's quick to get Ruby settled in it. It's a generous gift, and Lewis takes it as an omen that the nights are going to be bitterly cold.

But unfortunately, this is The Hunger Games. Things don't go the way they should in the eyes of the tributes.

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[ literally i could finish this in the next part but i think we'll have like one or two more of the actual games and then maybe the victory tour / recovery of the victor?? idk y'all i do have this substantially more planned than i did yesterday