Chapter 1

Peeta

I'm lying backwards on the ground. For a mere second, I believed I was done for. The explosion that took place only moment ago, was so powerful that even I - who must have been standing almost a mile away from it - was blown of my feet. I have no idea of the damage it has caused, but by the smell that is filling the air, I can tell the forest must be on fire.

Slowly, I struggle to get back on my feet and look around. Not far from where I'm standing, flames are licking the leaves of the trees. Animals of all sorts make their way through the bushes, whilst making anxious noises. They're running for their lives: something I should be doing too, I guess. But I decide I will not run away, because I want to find out what had just happened.

Before I make further movement, I take a closer look at myself. Miraculously, I'm unharmed. However, I'm still in a burning arena full of murderous people, so I don't feel the urge to cheer quit yet. Speaking about murderous people, where are the others anyway? I gaze around, looking for any sign of other tributes, but I can't see them. Maybe it's because my eyes cannot distinguish the environment because of the smoke that's slowly spreading through the arena. Or maybe, there is just nobody there.

I take my bets on the last option. Otherwise, someone would have found me by now - or more likely, someone would have killed me. I conclude that the others must probably be in no condition of looking for me right now, or worse… I shake away the thought, but a feeling of intense fear suddenly hits me like a bullet. Katniss! During all the chaos, I lost track of her! What if she was caught in the fire? What is she's hurt? Without thinking, I shout her name:

"Katniss!"

But I do not receive an answer. Although I'm totally aware of the insanity of my actions and about the fact that it will probably get me killed, I set out towards the burning trees. I have to find her and make sure she is safe!

As I get closer to the fire, my skin starts to heat up and my vision gets more and more blurry. On the other hand, sounds are getting clearer. I hear the dying breath of several animals, the ones that didn't outrun the fire. As I listen to their desperate screams, I can only think of myself as a lunatic. Because I'm heading to the place they're desperately trying to get away from.

Besides the animals, I can also hear something else - a strange, buzzing sound, like a propeller. I wave my hand through the air, in an attempt to make the smoke disappear, but it isn't worth the effort. I look up, because I assume the sky should still be visible. Only, there is no sky to see. Instead, I stare at a huge hovercraft drifting not far away from me. It's flying pretty low and it looks like it's picking up something. A body. That means at least one person didn't make it. But I did not hear the canon. That little fact makes me realize something is wrong. Maybe...

Before I can even start to figure out what's really going on, something bumps in to me and I smack down. As I hit the ground, I feel a sharp object piercing my left arm and I let out a painful groan. The thing that ran me over is lying on top of me. I push it aside and sit up, so I can take a better look at it.

It's Johanna Mason. And she looks anything but fine. Her face is all sweaty and covered with burns, her clothes seem to be torn apart and her swollen fingers are wrapped around a very bloody knife. When she sees me, her expression goes from troubled to really confused. She opens her mouth to say something, but all she can do is cough. Tears stream down her face, drawing wet lines on her cheeks. Her eyes are red, likely because of all the smoke. When she finally catches her breath, she croaks: "What are you still doing here?" I stare at her: "I'm looking for the others." "That's foolish," she replies and she nods at the woods, "You will not find anything in that fire except death."

Johanna gets to her feet and she reaches out her hand in order to help me up, but I hesitate. Why doesn't she try to kill me? I'm in no position of defending myself: I am unarmed, as I lost my weapon in the fight with Brutus and Chaff, and because of my wounded arm, I can't to put up a decent fistfight. Now is her chance to finish me off, but why doesn't she take it? Johanna must have noticed my confusion, because she bends over and whispers in my ear: "The others will be alright. It's over. You gotta trust me." She looks me in the eye, gives me a reassuring look and grabs my good arm. I allow her to help me up, but still, I feel a little bit suspicious. Suddenly, she does something I didn't see coming. She throws me her knife.

"Catch."

I catch it with my left hand and almost instantly, a feeling of pain starts to spread through my arm. I look at my wound: a piece of metal is sticking out of it and a decent amount of blood is dripping down my arm. Anyway, I should be worrying about that right now - I must focus on Johanna.

"Thanks," I give her a weak smile. She nods and points at the hovercraft.

"Come on, we got a plane to catch." She looks up at the sky, where the forcefield is still burning and crumbling down. "I don't know if they can spot us," she adds. She starts to scream and keeps jumping up and down, clearly in an attempt to the draw the attention to herself, but her voice gets lost in the air.

"They don't hear you," I tell her, but Johanna ignores me, and goes on with her attempts to draw the attention of the hovercraft. I sigh. Is she becoming suicidal? Why does she want to be noticed by the Capitol? I grab her right arm and turn her around. "What are you doing?" I demand.

But Johanna doesn't seem to hear me. She keeps looking skywards, still waving with her left hand. With every second, she starts to becomes more and more impatient. Finally, she ceases her attempts.

"It's useless," she whispers, more to herself than me.

I feel distracted, like I'm missing something really big here. Johanna's behavior is just so … not Johanna-like. I ponder about what she whispered in my ear earlier.

"The others will be alright..."

But they've been picked up with a Capitol plane! How can that be alright? Unless...

My train of thought is interrupted by Johanna's voice. She starts screaming anxiously. The sound of that stuns me. It's not the sound you'd expect Johanna Mason to make. Johanna drops to her knees, as if she's having a nervous breakdown. She's still looking up at the sky and tears are welling up in the corner of her chocolate brown eyes. I follow her gaze and I see what caused her sudden desperation: the hovercraft is leaving.

The vision of Johanna, sitting there, like the world has resolved into despair, helps me to put the puzzle together. The events of the last days start to become meaningful. The explosion, the way the other tributes have been acting, the fact that they kept as many people alive as they could, no sound of the canon, Johanna who did not kill me... That hovercraft is obviously not manned by Capitol people. The Quarter Quell had ended. This whole chaos, everything that's been happening around me, is an escape. Johanna is no part of it. And neither am I.