It's been eleven months since we first left Panem, nine since we've reached the point of no-radio return, although nobody back home knows it yet. We knew when the trip was first plotted that we would have to go beyond the contact range if we were going to find anyone else, simply because if anyone else had radio technology in our radius we wouldn't need to meet them on-foot in the first place. So to keep people from worrying, the government made sure to release "new" tapes just often enough that it seems we're all right, even if we aren't, necessarily.

I was worried at first that this trip would be a suicidal venture, but between the seven of us we've had few problems. There's enough edible fruit and berries out here that we've never had to worry about testing something unfamiliar, and we've never had any trouble finding rivers to follow. Every water source we run out of, we find a new one before half of our reserves have been depleted. As far as wild animals and meat is concerned, none of the animals out here seem to have seen humans before. Time and again Katniss would complain of how easy it was to find food. By making sure we never leave anyone alone what few predators we've run into have been easily killed or scared away.

We finally make some headway into our mission when one day, something truly bizarre happens. As we approach an open field, making some light rustling sounds in the bushes, animals we can only barely see in the distance hurriedly run away. This, we all quickly agree, is a good sign. We set up camp right in the middle of the field, making our apparent location obvious and bide our time until nightfall. When everything is at its most silent, we set off a firework. We only brought a dozen with us – small as they are, every bit of space is precious. In each location we think might be viable, we launch two of them half an hour apart, so that any other people don't just think it's a strange random noise. We figured from the start that if there was anyone out here, we'd find them within our first six best guesses.

That first night, we don't meet anyone. A week later, when we run across an old, probably forgotten cart, we don't meet anyone then, either. But ten days after that, when we run across an actively used pump in the river we're following, that's when it happens. Through a light in the distance, we see people coming to meet us.

Of course, there's only three of us here actually at the camp. The others, including Katniss, are hidden in shrubbery nearby in case things go bad, but I'm trying to think optimistically. I have an easy time of it when I see four figures approach. When they see the light at our camp, the one holding a lamp starts waving.

I take a deep breath. Technically I'm the least qualified person to be on this trip- I didn't survive the Hunger Games because of my outdoorsmanship. But, I'm told that I'm a good talker. And now after all this time is my chance to really do some good. No, make some good. Because for the first time in a long time, if things go badly, I'm free to just cut my losses and go home.

This is the story author writing now. As you can see (and as I'd like to confirm), the story is now done. My motivation for writing this has been pretty simple- I was trying to see how well I could convey a sense of general despair (and eventually, hope) using an established set of characters not my own. How well I did, honestly, I'm not sure. I tried multiple different storytelling tracks in this story, and while I tried to keep things consistent thematically, there's only so much to be done. Peeta may be an established character, but I'm not the one who came up with him, hence the flaws as I second-guess myself.

I'd like to thank everyone's who read this story, generally, but particularly those who offered negative criticism- word to the wise, knowing what you do poorly is how you improve as a writer. I don't know right now if or when I'll do another story, but it won't be set in the Hunger Games universe, though you might be able to expect a similar emphasis on basic themes. Until that happens, I hope you enjoyed, to some extent at least, my story.