You had been doing well on your own. You’d somehow scored a ten in training and managed to secure a bow and two quivers of arrows. You’d found water and have been able to use your snares to capture rabbits. Not to mention the fatty goat cheese and almonds you received from a sponsor.

Considering you thought you’d be a goner the first few hours, this is an accomplishment. And for 12? Let’s just say it’s a rarity for both tributes to still be alive.

That all comes to a glaring halt when the remaining girl from District 10 ambushes you. She has fashioned a cattle lasso from thick rope, something that doesn’t surprise you as 10 handles livestock. The rope loops around your neck, securing and yanking.

A choked gasp leaves your lips as you’re ripped to the ground, being dragged by her burly frame. The rope chafes into your skin, rubbing it raw as it tightens due to your body catching on tree roots and weeds. Your nails attempt to find purchase in the loose soil, but it’s either grip the rope to breathe or try to catch a tree root to stop the dragging.

There is no need for a decision when you hear a loud grunt and 10 scream, the rope going slack. A thud registers in your brain as black dots clear from your vision. When you sit up, gagging and coughing, you see Simon Riley, your district partner. He had run off at the sound of the gong with nothing and now has two backpacks and a sinister array of weapons at his belt.

He looks down at you with hooded eyes, expression unreadable. Even back in 12, he mostly kept to himself. He was a month out from being 19 when he was reaped, but he may have a chance. Working in the mines has at least taught him to wield a pickaxe, the current weapon in his hand, dripping with red.

You’ve caught his eyes on you all through school and on days you trade at the Hob before he goes to the mines. For a split second, you think he may end you now.

But then he holds his hand out. “It’ll be one of us,” he decides, as if that will make it so.