Okay, sorry for the cliffhanger- I got some disappointed reviews due to that. But no worries, it's all resolved here. Shout-out to MEEEEEEE, because this week's my birthday week! (A little conceited but who cares.) Aaaaand just to let y'all know, I'm taking out the Submitting Tributes chapter because I created the last 2 tributes I needed. Thanks to all who submitted tributes. Okay, now on to the story! (PS, it's Miri's POV.)

We arrived quickly at the scene. By now it was roughly one-thirty and I could hear the sounds of rain a little bit away, but we were running parallel to it and it didn't seem to be coming any closer.

The clearing was essentially bathed in blood from a pretty girl lying prone on the ground. I took a closer look.

Tasi.

Gale was kneeling over her, August's foot on his back to keep him down. His axe was raised high in the air and he looked ready to strike.

I was frozen. We were all frozen as the axe came swinging down.

And then a shape hurtled through the air- Gail! She hacked violently away at August's unprotected neck with her mini axes, screaming, "Leave him alone, you great big bully!"

Thalya and Ebony plucked the writhing, yelling Gail off of August and Thalya quickly fashioned a noose out of a length of rope from her belt. "Where's the rest of your little pack now, lumber girl?" she taunted.

"She can't see us?" I whispered to Madge.

"We stopped just inside the tree line," she replied. "I did that on purpose, because if there were enemies out there, what were we going to do? Charge them with this sloppy lot?"

"I'm not sloppy," Shark protested. Cal clapped a hand over his mouth.

We watched as they strung the noose around Gail's neck and hung her on a tree on the other side of the clearing. Gail clawed frantically at her neck, turning blue.

"Steph, Shark, go rescue Gail," Madge whispered orders. They slipped into the undergrowth, sword and trident ready. "Cal, Poppy, Jerz, Miri, get ready to charge on my signal."

"Charge?" I said in a strangled voice.

"One," Madge murmured.

I saw a sword emerge from the foliage above Gail and start sawing at the branch that the rope was tied to.

"Two," Madge continued.

"Yes, charge," hissed Poppy. "Steel yourself. I'll take Ebony with Jerz."

"I'll take August," Jerz said. "Let Miri help you."

"In that case," sighed Poppy, "I don't need help."

"I feel rejected," I muttered.

"Three," Madge went on. But she didn't give us the signal… why?

The rope snapped and Gail was bowled backwards into the foliage. Luckily, Ebony, August and Thalya were too preoccupied on how to murder Gale.

"Four… wait! I already said three! Oops!" Madge tittered. "Okay, now."

"CHAAAAARGE!" I yelled.

Shark came bounding through the trees on our left, backed by Steph and Gail. Then the rest of us charged head-on.

I saw little tendrils of fog come up from between the stones about thirty yards away.

"Ooh, finally, a refreshing mist," Gail said as we ran.

"It'll make it harder to fight in," observed Wiret.

And then we attacked.

I charged head-on at Thalya with Madge by my side. As we passed Gale, who was being assisted by Gail and Steph, I got a good look at Tasi's wound. Yep- as I'd thought, her throat was cut open in a gigantic red sideways parenthese. It looked like it was smiling.

I shuddered inwardly and watched Shark standing over Ebony as I charged. He brought his trident down but she yelled piteously, "Please, Shark, don't! Can you imagine being killed by the boy I love?"

"Stupid star-crossed lover routine," I muttered as I reached Thalya and slashed at her with my short rapier. I scored a hit on her upper arm- not a terrible wound, but she backed off for a second, right into the fog.

Her leg started to twitch, and she yelled, "The fog! It's poisonous!"

All fighting ceased as we stared at Thalya's blistering, spazzy leg. Then we turned and sprinted as one for the beach.

"Maybe… if we get into the water… it'll be okay," Shark panted as he ran alongside me.

"Why d'you… say that?" I asked.

"Because… rubbing salt in a… wound helps it… heal," he replied.

"Really?... I guess you'd… know that," I panted. "Since you're… from District Four… and all that."

"Tasi… was better at… healing than me," he admitted. "She was… like a big sister… to me. Did… you know that… she was your age?... You're seventeen… right?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "She did… seem like she… knew a lot about… healing."

"It was her… passion," he answered. "Kind of like… how mine's fishing… and it kind of… took her mind off… of her sister."

"Annie… Cresta, right?"

"Yeah… Annie was really… nice but she went… a little off her rocker… during her Games."

"Was that the… earthquake year?"

"Yeah… I hated watching that year… it just seemed… like everyone was going… to die and they… weren't going to have… a victor… much less a sane… one… but finally… Annie survived and they… got her out," he monologued.

"But she wasn't… sane… right?"

"Nope… she kind of… lost her pearls… if ya know what I mean."

"I don't… actually," I panted. "Is that some… District Four version of… lost your marbles?"

"I guess… so."

And then we'd made it to the beach and Shark flung himself into the water. A bloodcurdling scream ripped throughout the air, and then a second.

I looked around. The first scream had come from Shark, who was writhing about in the water like he was having a seizure- or being attacked. Closer inspection saw that the fog was indeed wisping out of his skin in small milky bits of water. It must have been painful. My right arm had started to twitch uncontrollably, and I had to switch my rapier to my left hand. Luckily, I was ambidextrous, but I hadn't had as much practice fighting with my left arm and I was a little shaky.

The second scream had come from Thalya as she charged Wiret head-on. They were fighting, Thalya slashing madly with her throwing stars and Wiret trying hard to parry with his katzbalger, and Thalya was winning. Wiret was already gushing blood from, oh, roughly a dozen small cuts. The edges of Thalya's throwing stars were serrated and so they cut easily.

I jumped to the rescue of my district partner, lashing out at Thalya with my rapier. She parried with one star- she only had seven, I noted, which meant that she hadn't gotten the one from the tree yet. Her leg kept spazzing out and so she kept stumbling and fighting her way back up. Finally she backed off and turned tail to run, shouting for Ebony and August to come follow her.

It was too late for August. When he turned at the sound of Thalya's voice, Gail and Steph, whom he'd been fighting, made a quick decision. Together they rammed into August, causing a few minor slashes but nothing as bad as what happened next.

August stumbled into the fog- at least ten feet into the jungle. Even though it was thickening like the fog was being pressed up against a transparent wall, we could still faintly see him struggle, and could still hear him scream.

"Auggie!" screamed Thalya in reply. But it was too late; he fell to the ground and his cannon fired.

"I guess that once it gets into your bloodstream, you're dead," Shark guessed. He was our expert on water so no one doubted him.

Thalya had started breathing heavily, raggedly, like a wild dog, sometime around the time that August's cannon had fired. She stared at us with a feral light in her eyes.

"She's gone crazy," whispered Ebony fearfully. She turned and ran for her life. Thalya followed her, her hunger for blood making her insane.

I stared at the fog until every last wisp of it disappeared. Then I plunged into the water, screamed, and scrubbed like my life depended on it, which it might have.