We're here! The Bloodbath! Time to start ripping tributes away from you! Um... Enjoy?

Cedar Green, 17, District 7

The night drags by, which I guess is a good thing. I wish I could put off the Games forever. But of course I can't. After hours of restless tossing and turning, it's time to go. Our stylists take me and Jewel up to a roof. "Uh… Goodbye," Jewel says. "And good luck."

I nod. "You too." And that's it. We're separated. Then it all passes in a blur. I'm frozen to a ladder by some sort of current, and a small metal thing, which I'm told is a tracker, is injected into my arm. We're in a helicopter for about half an hour. During that time, my stylist gives me my arena outfit. It's fairly simple: a black, cotton, short-sleeved shirt that goes under a warmer green jacket. Black, comfortable pants. Lightweight brown boots that shouldn't be too hard to run in. Plus, a black belt with little slots and pouches that will be good for holding things like weapons and water bottles. The clothes are fine, but don't give me a lot of clues as to what the arena will be like. Not that knowing at this point would make that much of a difference.

The hovercraft engine's hum begins to grow lower. "We're landing!" My stylist tells me excitedly. There's a tense pause, and then I feel us hit the ground.

We're here.

Fiona Hayden, 15, District 5

We're in the loading room. The stockyard, I've heard it called. But this stockyard has a shower. I take a shower, hoping it will calm my nerves. I step out and put on my arena outfit. I pause, wondering if that was the last shower of my life. I frown, vowing that it won't be. And this won't be my last outfit.

I step out of the little bathroom. My stylist, a flaky man who I never liked, is sitting there, looking almost bored. There's a table with some food and water on it. I drink as much water as I can keep down, remembering what my mentor told me: that I should drink as much as I can going in, since there's no way of knowing when I'll have access to water again.

"Ten minutes," a calm female voice announces.

And suddenly, it washes over me. The reality of it all. My fingers grow numb and weak. The plastic cup I'm holding falls to the floor.

Ten minutes. Less now. In less than 600 seconds, I'm going to be out in the open, with nothing between me and my other competitors. A minute after that, and I'm fair game. The rules will no longer apply. The rules that kept us from hurting each other during training. From lashing out at the people sitting next to us during the interviews. Suddenly, everyone is going to turn on each other. And there's nothing I can do to stop it.

I'm on the floor. The stylist tenses up, unsure what he's supposed to do with me. I curl up. I can't go out there. I'm so, so scared. My breathing grows uneven. Tears fall from my eyes. I'm freaking out. I'm having a panic attack.

"Five minutes."

Half of my time before I'm out in the open, gone. Even just the presence of the Capitol citizens everywhere kept me in a false sense of being safe, at least for a week. But they're all gone. Just me. Just me against 23 enemies.

No, I remind myself. Not 23 opponents. 22. 22, 22, 22.

I force myself to concentrate on Felix's face in my mind and I remind myself that I'm not alone. Felix, who's been there for me from the time I was reaped and is still going to be there for me now, is going to protect me. He promised me that, again and again. Not only that, but I promised I would protect him, too. I can't break down like this now. I have to be there for him just as much as he is for me.

It's one of the hardest things I've ever done, but I struggle as hard as I can to pull myself together as the voice tells me I have two minutes left. I pull myself off the ground and breathe deeply. My stylist stares at me, relieved. I glare at him and march right over to the metal plate that will take me to the arena. I stand there until the voice says one minute. My stylist comes over, looking at me sadly, like he wants to say something. I just shoot him another glare.

"I… I'm sorry if this is scary for you. Good luck," he says quietly, and turns away. My glare fades. I'm surprisingly touched.

"Thank you," I say sincerely. He turns back, surprised, and gives me a small smile. I manage to smile back as the tube slides down around me, and the plate starts to rise. Caught up in the moment, I wave to my stylist, but then turn, forcing myself to focus again. I can do this.

May Avriel, 14, District 11

My eyes adjust to the sunlight fairly quickly, and I look around. I can't believe it! There are trees everywhere. This is exactly what I was telling Caesar about in my interview—that my ideal arena would have woods everywhere. They would let me be safer and more comfortable, because I work in the forests of District 11, collecting berries and mushrooms, and sometimes fruits in the treetops. And there are trees here! We're in a grassy clearing, and it's surrounded by trees on all sides. A lot of it is regular trees, like oak or pine, but I can see an area of evergreen trees, another patch of willow trees, and in the distance, I can even see redwood trees looming over the rest of the forest. I think this arena has more trees that any other arena I've seen on tv growing up.

I can't help it. I feel a smile creep onto my face.

Devera Spring, 14, Capitol

Liliana, Charlene, and I are together again. This time, we're at my house. They came over last night after the interviews, slept over, and this morning, we're watching the beginning of the actual Games!

But of course there's a pregame show first. I just hope they make it quick.

Cynthia Sunshine's yellow skin seems to be glowing in excitement. Her orange hair is spiked and pulled away from her face, going around it and making her look like an actual sun. Cute!

"Good morning, Panem! This is Cynthia Sunshine, here with Caesar Flickerman, ready to give you your pregame show! The tributes are preparing to enter the arena at this very moment! I'm very excited, and I know the citizens of Panem are, too, so Caesar and I promise to make this as brief as possible!" Caesar nods in agreement. "Okay," Cynthia continues, "I would just like to say that rumors have been flying all over the Capitol about which tributes will be doing well, and I have to say, just about every tribute's name has come up!"

Caesar nods. "I've been hearing great things about everyone too! We have a great group this year. If they keep their wits about them, I think every single one of them has the potential to win."

"I certainly hope so!" Cynthia says. "I'm sure they won't disappoint us!"

"Ah, yes, they've all greatly impressed me in this past week. We'll just have to wait and see if they live up to our expectations!"

Cynthia nods. "Right!" She turns to the cameras. "Well, that certainly felt as brief as possible to me! So let's not make it a minute longer! Without further ado, let's switch over to our tributes! And of course, may the odds be ever in your favor!" The camera cuts away to an aerial shot of the arena. The three of us all scream. Suddenly, it's finally happening! Yes, yes, yes!

Now we get a close-up of each of the tributes' faces, one by one, as they, along with everyone else in the country, wait the 60 seconds for the gong that means the official start of the Hunger Games.

It starts with a shot of May Avriel from District 11. Her eyes flicker around the arena, and a small smile spreads across her face. Then the camera slowly turns to the right. Next to May is Frederik, who looks nervous, but still ready to run for the Cornucopia. Next to him, Phoenix is staring with a determined look at a pair of socks about five feet in front of her. Pip looks scared, and ready to run straight for the woods. So does Adrielle next to him. Bruce is eying everyone around him suspiciously. Destiny looks impatient and almost bored. She absently takes her hair out of its ponytail and puts it back up again. Simon and Jewel look ready to run for the woods. Emmanuel is looking around, probably for Sierra. Jasmine and Scorpio are right next to each other. Jasmine grins at him, while he just nods seriously. Fiona is leaning over, probably trying to see Felix around the Cornucopia. Cedar looks a little unsure about what to do, but is facing the Cornucopia. Roxy's got that signature evil smirk of hers. While most of the girls have their hair up, hers flows free, as always. River is braced to run into the fight. Clara and Tison are next to each other, looking ready to do the same. Sierra looks terrified; she's got Clara and Tison on one side of her and Marius on her other side. Marius, however, isn't paying Sierra any attention, his eyes pointed forward. Ella looks that way too, eyes trained ahead. Crunch is standing up straight, looking bored, almost as if he's ready to stroll into the bloodbath. Harmony's looking right at something a little ways in, but there's a lot of stuff, so I can't tell what she's looking at. Felix, like Fiona, seems to be looking for his ally.

And now, the camera has spun back around to May, and by now her expression has morphed into one less of relief and more of terror. There are only a few seconds left now! Here we go…

10…9…8…7…6…

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

The gong sounds.

Jasmine Welsh, 17, District 4

I dash forward. I focus on running as fast as I can, but I do watch out of the corner of my eye and take note as May, Pip, Adrielle, Simon, and Jewel all turn and flee right away. Phoenix grabs a pair of socks before escaping too. Six gone already. Seriously? Oh well. Many more victims to be had.

Speaking of which… I'm at the mouth of the Cornucopia, along with a few of my fellow Careers. I ignore them. They can do whatever they want. I grab a handful of knives and whirl around. I grin. It seems Scorpio leapt to the side and grabbed the boy who was on my other side: Emmanuel from 9. He's still struggling, but Scorpio's got him in a headlock. Good boy. Scorpio calls out to me, but I'm well on my way. I let one of my knives fly, straight into my first target: Emmanuel. I just made the first kill of the Games! Yay for me!

I turn. Who's next? Ah. How about Little Miss Harmony from 3? She's run in and gotten her hands on a thick coil of rope. I let another knife fly. She must hear or see it coming, though, because she twists to the side, and the knife embeds itself in her thick coil. She continues to run to the woods. Dang. I basically just gave her a free knife.

Oh well. We'll get them all eventually, even if it's not today. Although it seems we'll get at least a few today: I turn to see Tison take out Ella with his sword. Idiot. She should have run away like the others.

But there are still plenty more deaths to be had today.

Roxy Benvolio, 15, District 10

A whole line of us ran right for the Cornucopia. Ella already got taken out, but others, like River and Crunch, are getting stuff. I have a knife, myself. With his back to me, Crunch scoops up a bag and lifts his head, with that indifferent yet almighty look of his. I shake my head. He doesn't even notice me. As he turns toward me, my knife hits him right in the neck. He falls. As I grab the stuff near him and run, I do catch a glimpse of the Careers' surprised faces.

Yeah, that's right, kids. Respect the Roxy. Respect it.

Bruce Turner, 17, District 10

I sprint for the Cornucopia right at the gong. I reach a pile of stuff at the same time as Frederik from 12. We get our hands on an ax at the same and fight for it. It starts as a tug fight, and then we're letting go of the ax with one hand at a time to throw punches. He actually puts up a good fight for a minute, but I can see him losing energy. Alright. He wants the ax? Fine. I swing it around and sink it into his chest.

I look around and see that there aren't that many people left. Time for my little plan. I see Destiny a few feet away, still digging through supplies. I lunge at her and get my arm around her neck. I have a knife, and I hold it to her throat. She struggles, but there's only so much she can to without me cutting her. She begins to scream for her fellow Careers, who all seem to be on the other side of the Cornucopia. Soon all five of them come running. Good.

"Don't come closer," I warn them. They stop. They know they'll lose Destiny if they make a move to hurt me.

Tison scowls. "What do you want?"

"A deal," I say. "I want you to let me get away without attacking me. I'm gonna back up to the edge of the woods and bring her with me," I say, gesturing at Destiny with my head. "Then when I get there, I'll let her go."

Tison frowns as I grab a few bags and tuck weapons into my belt. But he knows he doesn't really have a choice. "Fine," he says. "But if you harm her, you will die."

I nod. I don't doubt it. But I plan to do what I said. True to my word, I back toward the woods, keeping a firm grip on Destiny, who's forced to stumble backwards with me. When I get to the woods, I let her go. She whirls around, glaring at me, like she wants to attack me or something, but she doesn't even have any weapons. She just makes a little growling noise and stalks back out to the Cornucopia.

I did it. I'm free.

Sierra Reilly, 16, District 9

A few of us stayed on our plates when the gong sounded, waiting to see what's going on. I can see Fiona off to one side, Felix on my other side. Cedar waited on his plate, too. River ran in right at the gong, and he's still there. But then shrieks rose from the other side of the Cornucopia, and it was pretty clear that it was Destiny. Now all five of the other Careers are on that side, leaving this side open. Fiona and Felix both run around towards me, and they see each other. They both look so relieved. They grab some supplies and disappear. River finishes up and runs off too. Cedar seems to be ignoring me, so I sprint in, grab two packs, and run back out. I stop, turning, looking around for Emmanuel one last time, but I can't see him. He must have had to run into the woods before he could find me. I have to go, though. I'll find him as soon as I can. I run for the woods. The last thing I see when I glance over my shoulder is Cedar running away too, with three packs on his back. Luckily, he's running off to my left, and not towards me.

Phoenix Jefferson, 17, District 8

Everyone else probably has run deep into the woods by now. But not me. I grabbed the pair of socks in front of me and ran just to the edge of the woods. I crouched down right there, and went to work. First I tore the socks into thin strips. Then I quickly wove these strips tightly together, forming a small but fairly strong rope. I've worked in the factory weaving room back home, which has clearly paid off.

Now I turn back to the clearing. I can't see the Careers, but I can see people grabbing supplies and disappearing into the woods. Cedar from 7 is the last one left, with three packs. And he's coming right towards me. Perfect. He enters the woods a few feet to my right. I silently creep after him. I can tell he doesn't hear me. I leap up behind him and tighten my rope around his neck. He flails and struggles for a moment, but I hold tight, and soon he falls to the ground. I guiltily avoid looking at his face and whisper a quiet apology to him as I take his supplies.

I feel awful, but there's something else I have to do. I stand and look up at the sky, letting some camera somewhere zoom in on me, and flash a confident smile. Ha ha, Capitol! And you all thought I was done for! Well, I just proved you all very wrong.

But I do feel awful about killing anyone. At least I made it quick. Because as much as I hate it, it has to be done if I want to survive. And I do plan on surviving.