Don't own the Hunger Games, or the characters, or anything at all, really. That's a bit depressing. Anyway.

Enjoy!

"I can't protect him. I can't move fast or far and my shooting abilities are questionable at best…I scream out, 'Peeta! I'm here! Peeta!' He won't make it. Not with that leg in the night. He will never make it in time." ~Katniss, Catching Fire

Chapter 1

I'm running through the trees, my heart pounding, my false leg slowing me down. I can hear her screaming my name, and I try to run faster, but I feel like I'm running through tar. I hear myself howling her name.

"Katniss!"

I hear her call my name again, and it's closer this time. I hear the panic in her voice. There is fire all around me. I hear a strange whirring sound above my head, but before I can even move my head to look upward someone explodes out of the bushes and crashes into me.

We both topple to the ground. I find myself looking straight into Johanna's eyes. For a moment we both remain frozen, staring at each other, and I wonder if our alliance is over, if this chaos means every man for himself, and whether I should kill her before she has the chance to kill me. But before either of us can do anything, a shadow is thrown over us and we both look up.

It's a hovercraft. That doesn't make sense to my muddled brain. They only come to collect dead bodies, and only when the rest of the tributes have vacated the area. Why are they here?

A metallic claw reaches down from the hovercraft and wraps itself around Johanna. It must have the same paralyzing current that the ladders have, because I know that Johanna would be putting up a huge struggle if she had the choice. I see a glimpse of her eyes, full of fear, and then she is gone.

All I can think of is Katniss, and that I can't go on that hovercraft, not without her. I lurch to my feet and I start running again. But I don't make it far. The claw closes on me, too, and I am frozen as it hauls me into the air, into the hovercraft.

It releases me and I almost jump right back out again, but rough hands grab me from behind. I am blinded by wild terror—not for myself, but for her. She's out there, in the fire, in the chaos. What if Brutus or Enobaria finds her? What if they kill her?

"Katniss!" I scream one last time, my voice swallowed by the noise of the arena being destroyed, and then I am yanked backward and the doors of the hovercraft slide closed, sealing me in. I whip around, ready to fight. I see a lined face with cold gray eyes and then something sharp is pricking into my arm, and I black out.