𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘺.

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Fourteen tributes remained. Ten people were dead already. It was on the fourth day when the careers had started to grow tired of waiting for people to come to them.

"Can't we go and try to kill at least one person?" Adrian groaned, laying back in the grass and twirling a dagger around his fingers. 

Juniper had started to grow tired of spending all of her time with the four, since all they did was seem to complain about the quality of food and not being able to stick their swords through someones stomach. She had wondered why they had such a lust and rush to kill.

"We should." Livia said, grabbing her bow that was laying on the ground and standing up, putting it around her shoulder. "I don't want to be stuck in this arena for any longer than I need to be."

"I'm dying of thirst over here!" Maverick said. He had been laying face up on the ground for hours, sweating.

"Maverick is going to pass out if he even stands up." said Wade. "Maybe Juniper could go get us some water while we prepare, then when he's good to go, we'll go out."  Juniper was a bit confused, but Wade gave her a knowing look. She still didn't understand. 

"Juniper is going alone?" Elysia rose her eyebrow. "Is that really safe?"

"I can handle myself, plus I know the way to the pond. It'll be quicker, before it gets dark." 

"I don't care!" Adrian yelled. "Just hurry up!" Juniper flinched at his outburst, she stood up and grabbed her stuff and was off immediately. She looked back and saw Wade mouthing 'warning' to her.

Making her way through the flowers without Wade's sword was a struggle, but the path they cut through last time was still there which made it a bit easier for Juniper to get through. 

Juniper made it back to the tree Wade and herself had met Sylvia and Sawyer at just the day before. She made her way around the tree, nobody was there. 

Remembering where they said they would set up camp, she ran over to the meadow and saw a few people sitting there. Juniper was cautious, but a bright red head caught her vision and she continued making her way over.

"Sierra? Colby?" Juniper voiced. All four heads turned to her at an instant and she saw Sawyer reach for his weapon, but once he noticed it was her, he relaxed himself.

"Juniper!" Sierra waved. Juniper smiled and sat down with them. 

Sierra and Colby had caught Juniper up in what had happened their past four days in the arena. It turns out on the first day, the boy from District 10 had tried taking Sierra's things, and the two worked together to kill him. Sierra was a bit shell shocked at first, but with the help of Colby, she calmed down pretty quickly.

The five friends caught up very quickly, but when Juniper realized some time had passed, she needed to go.

"Actually, I can't stay very long. I came here to warn you guys." Juniper said, making their heads turn in confusion. "The careers are very kill hungry, they're going on a hunt when I get back. You should find a hiding spot, maybe in the caves? You could even steal some stuff from the cornucopia if you need." 

"That'll be a good idea, I doubt Maverick would want to go down there." Sylvia mentioned, everyone had a look of confusion. "During training I heard him talking to a trainer about his fear of the dark." She shrugged.

Everyone had started to laugh for a moment before Juniper went to leave. Sylvia filled Juniper's bottle with water and she was on her way back to the cornucopia- through the tall flowers and avoiding the landmines.

"What took you so long?" Adrian said, he was punched in the arm by Livia.

"She was gone for like 10 minutes. Can you be patient for once in your life?" 

"I saw District Eleven, I was outnumbered so I had to take a minute and let them leave." Juniper lied, throwing the water bottle at Maverick, who quickly sat up and started downing the water. 

"Where were they last? We can take them all together, the female is young." Adrian stood up, grabbing his sword. The rest of the careers stood up too, following his lead.

"They disappeared into some flower field." Juniper lied. "I can lead the way."

The careers followed Juniper right after. She started leading them the opposite way of the arena from where the entrance of the cave was, in case her allies weren't there yet. 

Adrian and Wade swung at the flowers in front of the group, chopping them completely in half. Juniper walked in front of them, leading the way. She didn't care about the flowers anymore after walking through them so many times.

Juniper had finally led the group to an area completely new to her. It was open, and she realized there was a giant hole in the ground. She made her way over to it, looking down into it- realizing it was the cave system Sylvia had showed her.

"Is that a giant cave?" Maverick asked.

"No." Elysia spat, waiting a moment before continuing to answer. "Of course it is, what else does it look like?"

"That's probably where a lot of the tributes are hiding." Adrian pointed down, noticing a bag at the bottom of the cave. 

"I am not going down there." Maverick yelled. "I'm sure there's some people camping out up here, nobody wants to stay in a cave underground, that's so weird."

Juniper and Wade gave one another a look. The careers weren't as tough and smart as they seemed. 

Everyone drew their weapons when there was rustling in a bush, followed by a whispering curse. Adrian immediately rushed towards the bush, readying his sword and swinging through the bush. 

There was a scream that followed after, making everyone run towards the scene. Juniper noticed two people running off into a wheat field.

"Get them!" Adrian yelled, running after them.

Soon enough, all the careers were now in a tall wheat field, lost.

Juniper remained quiet and still once she realized she had separated from the rest of the group.  Her feet rested into the ground and she calmed her breathing, trying to see if she was able to locate anyone.

There was a few vibrations, but there was a close one to her left, and she started running in that direction. She noticed a tall brunette man she didn't recognize, he was running the opposite way of her, and he turned to see her, running faster.

Juniper ran as fast as she could, taking a Kunai from her belt and holding it tightly in her hand. She realized throwing it now, it would probably be stopped by the wheat, so she held off.

Eventually, the man seemed to trip and Juniper took this chance to gain some ground, and once she saw his leg, she threw the Kunai into his ankle, making him yell in pain. Juniper smirked and walked a bit slower- realizing he wouldn't get up She eventually ended up standing over him, and she forced him to face her.

Juniper held her chakram in her hand, kneeling over the boy. He didn't fight back, just looking up at her with pure fear in his eyes. 

"Please, make it quick." The man begged. He had tears coming from his eyes. Juniper relaxed her hand and her smile had completely disappeared from her face. 

What was she doing?  Juniper thought in her head. She seemed to get a rush when she was chasing him, but seeing his face right before his death brought her back. He's a teenager just like her.

Juniper tightened her grip on her weapon and slit his throat, killing him immediately. A boom went off through the arena, a moment later, it was followed by another one.

Juniper looked down at the man. He died smiling. She looked up at the sky and realized beyond all the wheat, the sky was full of pinks, reds, and oranges. She looked back down at him, noticing some flowers. She picked the flowers from the ground and laid it on the boy, closing his eyes after.

She noticed there was a snake on the ground too, it seemed to be looking at her. Juniper had read in the survival section of training that these snakes were poisonous. If they were to bite you, it'd be fatal. 

Juniper also read that they seemed to attack people immediately, but this one was calm. It made its way through the dirt and crawled up the girls hand. Juniper stood up, and the snake wrapped around her wrist and rested its head in her hand.

"You're cute." She whispered. The snake didn't move and remained where it was. Juniper remained calm, knowing it could sense her fear. 

"Juniper!" She heard Wade's voice call for her. Juniper looked around, not seeing anyone near her. She looked back at the snake, noticing it had a small arrow on its head. Juniper leaned back down, letting the snake back into the dirt and watched it disappear into the field.

"Wade!" Juniper yelled after a moment. Making her way towards his voice, finally meeting with him on the border of the field.

"Thank god you're okay!" Wade ran up to her and hugged her, which Juniper wasn't expecting. "I heard the cannon go off and we couldn't find you." Wade kept Juniper in his arms for another moment before letting go and looking down at her, keeping his hands on her shoulders. They both smiled at each other before Livia cleared her throat.

"Well, now that we have everyone here. We should head back. We got two of them." Livia said. Everyone agreed and started heading back the way they came. Wade and Juniper walked alongside each other. 

"Are you okay? You seem a bit out of it." Wade whispered. Juniper looked up at him and noticed the worry on his face. 

"I'm fine." Juniper looked ahead of her at the other careers. Wade raised an eyebrow at her, not believing her. She noticed his silence and saw his face. "What?"

"Nothing." He shrugged. "I just don't believe you." 

Juniper sighed. She didn't want to exactly tell Wade what was going on. She felt as if she was some sort of monster for the way she chased down the boy before. But maybe talking about it would help.

"When I was chasing the guy, I just felt some sort of rush. Like I was happy chasing him, it was weird." Juniper whispered under her breath. "I only came back to myself when I was standing over him and saw how scared he was."

Juniper was a bit surprised when Wade stopped walking, grabbing her hand and having her face him.

"I know what you're thinking, and you're not what you think you are. You're doing what you have to do to survive. We all are. You're surviving." 

Wade smiled and Juniper didn't answer. He just smiled and continued walking, and Juniper followed close behind him.

Eventually, the group made it back to their spot and settled in. Juniper noticed some of their things were gone, and she knew her other friends must've followed her advice.

When night hit, music started playing in the sky and projections began showing. The girl from District Five showed in the sky, Juniper noticed Elysia and Livia high fiving and Elysia had a bright smile on her face. It clicked with Juniper that Elysia was probably the one to kill her.

Next, the boy from District Six that Juniper had killed showed. Her heart dropped, but her face remained neutral, not wanting to show how deeply she was actually effected. 

"There's twelve people left." Adrian said. "Half the tributes are gone, and we still have the six of us. We have an advantage.

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