Miall Piscot- Aged 18- District 1:

The tube rose towards the surface like my mentor told me it would, however, no light blinded me like I expected. Even when I rose to the surface, I was still trapped by darkness for as far as the eye could see. How did they expect me to fight in darkness?

The stench of rotting meat filled my nostrils straight away and made my stomach weak. We was taught in the academy to be able to handle the smell of blood but not rotting flesh. Guess they just assumed that we would never meet that smell seeing as the tributes are taking away moment's after they die.

I placed my hand in my pocket to feel the small leather bag my stylist had given me under the promise that I would not touch the object inside until I was above ground. I blindly placed my hand inside and pulled out the bulky metal and glass object. My cold fingers fiddled with the it until I came to the conclusion they were some sort of goggles.

I listen to the other tributes screams as I placed the goggles over my head only to be met by a green haze. After a few seconds of adjusting, I noticed bodies, what at first I thought were black bags, covering the floor from where I was stood now, all the way to the entrance of the cornucopia. To my left and right was a burnt out forest with the odd ruined building standing tall above the dead trees. High in the sky was the countdown, hidden from the naked eye.

32 seconds left.

I wasn't too sure what I was meant do if the arena was in darkness all the time. I guess it would be easy to catch tributes off guard because no one would be able to sleep in these goggles but that meant I couldn't either. All I could hope was that the sun would rise in a few hours, I might have a chance then. I had been kicked out of the Career pack for many reasons but mainly because the leader didn't really like my lack of skill with spears. I didn't really help matters by getting one of the highest scores thus putting a target on my back.

12 seconds left.

At that moment a loud growl erupted from the forest that sent cold chills down my spine. A small girl next to me mumbled about it being a bear but I had heard bears and that wasn't like any I had come across. Either way, I hoped I wouldn't have to come across whatever it was.

The gong caught everyone off guard thanks to the growl drawing everyone's attention towards the right section of the woods. My guess was that it had been set off by the Gamemakers to confuse us.

I was the third person to run for the cornucopia, the other two I couldn't make out but they were most likely career's by their build and speed.

Our feet kept sinking into the pile of bodies making it hard for any of us to run at our full speed and for once, the career's had a disadvantage. Our builds made us sink faster than the small thirteen year olds that seemed to almost glide over the dead bodies, when they was screaming and crying at them.

I spotted a small girl run past me and the two people next to me, heading to the cornucopia. Although I couldn't see it, I could tell she was crying by the small whimpers she kept letting out. The male figure grunted from in front of me and leaped at the girl, dragging her down the ground. As I got closer, I could tell it was Kane Led by the large number two on the back of his camouflage jump suit. I watched as he punched the small girl over and over again in head before making her to beg for mercy and her mother. He then turned her over and forced her small head into one of bloody dead bodies. After a few moments of struggling the girl became limp.

I then met the eyes of Kane as he smiled menacingly at me. At that moment I knew I was his next target but as he rose to his feet, the tall girl from eleven, I think her name was Abbi, crashed into him forcing him back onto the ground.

I turned back towards the cornucopia only to find he girl from ten already there sorting through the weapons and supplies. Smart girl. I quickly joined her and grabbed an axe, two backpacks and a small, sharp knife. Hung up on the shelf was load of small egg looking things with metal clips sticking sideways out of the top. Not trusting what they were, I left them behind.

I was prying open one of the crates when a loud bang from my right startled me. The girl from ten had tripped over, banging her head and smashing her goggles on the cornucopia. I watched as she wondered round blinded with blood staining her face.

"Mattie!" A small boy screamed as he pushed past me, seeming to miss the fact I was a career. He was the short eighteen year old from seven who was a bit of an oddball. My guess was O.C.D but it wasn't the kids fault, he shouldn't of been bullied like he was. "You didn't meet me where we agreed, you wasn't meant to go for the corni-" he screamed as the held my axe on his throat. I believed in letting someone have last words and as I might not be able to do that all the time here, this was my only chance.

"Run Mattie, just keep going straight...I am sorry ma" he screamed making me sighed as I pulled the axe over his throat, covering his mouth. I closed my eyes as I dropped his body. I was trained to kill but didn't mean I wanted to see someone take their last gasps for air as blood pored out of their wound.

I was so focused on the girl running away like her ally had just said that I hardly had time to react as a blade came into view, forcing me to drop my axe in order to save my right hand. I stumbled backwards onto the ground, being winded by a stone cold hand hitting the back of my chest. I looked up at the culprit to see Diamond, my District partner. She was holding her blade towards me but wasn't doing much when it came to killing me. Instead, she was looking round as if she was waiting for someone. Taking my chance, I lightly kicked her in the ankle making her grunt in pain and took off towards the woods.

A few moment's later a throwing knife missed me by centimetres and landed in one of the faceless bodies. I knew she wouldn't kill me, too much honour between District partners. In District one, it is classed as almost a crime to kill your District partner if you are not in the final two. So, I wouldn't kill her either...not yet anyway.

It didn't take me long to find a large, hollow tree to hide in. No point building a shelter in the dark and not so close after the bloodbath either.

I had only been asleep a few minutes when the cannons for the bloodbath sounded, shaking the arena. I counted ten in all, fourteen left. I wondered who's cannon was who's as I started to drift off into my dreams again but once again they were interrupted by the sound of a girl cursing. I discreetly popped my head out of my hiding place to see the girl from ten slumbering through the dead bushes. She seemed a lot more weaker than when I had last seen her and to be honest, I was shocked that she made it out of the bloodbath. She was shaking like a leaf in the wind and she came near me and fell onto the floor, her breath seeming forced.

"Are you okay?" I whispered, making the girl flinch with fear.

"Yeah, I am just a bit sleepy" she said weekly "are you my ally?" I had to think for a moment as I watched her eyes lids grow heavy

"Yeah, that boy from eleven told me meet you all here" I said, lying out my teeth but she looked too tried to notice.

"Oh that's good then, at least you are a friend...I am going to go to sleep now...can you keep watch?" she asked but before I could answer, she was fast asleep. I listened to her faint breathing as I went back into my hiding place, contemplating what to do with her. She still had an axe and a few supplies so I could maybe ally with her...or just killed her in her sleep, she might not want to know me once she finds out that I am a career.

Before I could decide anything, a eleventh cannon sounded. I quickly looked outside to see the girl, her shallow breathing gone and her body still. She looked so peaceful that I smiled I hoped that whenever I died, that is the way I would go.

I collected her weapon and supplies before the hovercraft picked them up and went back into a deep sleep.

Deaths in order:

24th-Velma Trench- aged 12- District three: Killed by suffocation.

23rd-Abbi Frost-aged 17- District eleven: Neck snapped.

22nd-Keifer Long-aged 18- District eleven: Throat sliced.

21st-Owen Benton-aged 15- District nine: head smashed in.

20th-Dorian Vernon-aged 12- District twelve: stabbed in the eye.

19th-Glenn Harding-aged 14- District five: shot in the head with an arrow.

18th-Edgar Chalmers- aged 15- District four: killed by grenade.

17th-Detibe Jackson- Aged 12- District twelve: killed by grenade.

16th-Irylath Faith- aged 18- District nine: killed by grenade.

15th-Anerut Luli- aged 16- District seven: killed by an arrow to the neck.

14th-Ihuet Jones- aged 14- District six: Killed asthma attack.

13th- Mattie Franklin- aged 16- District ten: Killed due to bleeding in her brain.