It's a miracle. I was so excited to keep writing that POOF another chapter shot out of me… similar to Megan's bathroom incident in Bridesmaids. Explosively and all at once.

IT'S COMING OUT OF ME LIKE LAVA

I automatically jump off my pedestal in one long leap and lunge for the first backpack I see. At first, I am dazed and clueless. This all feels wrong. I glance towards Thresh, who seems momentarily confused. He notices me looking over and with surprisingly scared eyes, begins to run into the Cornucopia. My legs pump fast, trying to get to that bow before I'm met by an attacker. I wasn't closest to the mouth of the Cornucopia; Cato was, and Thresh had a small head start. And yet I enter and am able to snatch up a few weapons, including the bow and quiver, before either reaches it.

"Throw me that sword!" he barks, and I do as he says unwillingly, because although I know he'll be using it to slaughter someone, I know that if I don't he'll be suspicious and might even target me. As soon as he gets the sword, he turns and runs toward Daisy, the girl from 10, who is slower and unable to evade the lethal end of the weapon. Birley, her district partner, meets the same fate. At the same time, Thresh grabs a large sickle that he's probably used to using, since he comes from District 11. He reaches out warily for other packs closer to me, but regardless of what Cato told me, I'm not going to attack him for trying to get Cornucopia loot.

"Go ahead, Thresh, I'm not one of them," I say under my breath while lunging for a bow. He runs away before it would be possible for me to get a clear shot at him, so Clove, Marvel, Dorian, and Orabel are not suspicious when they arrive to get weapons. Three of them linger to find the best weapons, but the 2 girl is out of there fast with a set of knives, ready to kill. Her green eyes match the daggers she's holding as she locks Katniss into her lethal radar.

I have to act fast. "Clove!" She spins around quickly, her bubble ponytail swinging around. "Let me get her later!" I yell just loud enough for Clove to hear and quiet enough so Katniss doesn't. She raises her eyebrows at me in ridicule and gains an evil glare when she turns around. She's after Katniss.

That's not the only problem – Avenall, the boy from 9, is standing over Katniss with a large rock, ready to strike, and I'm about to run to her aid when suddenly a knife comes out of nowhere, right through the back of his neck. Kill shot by Clove. And another to Piers, the boy from 6, who apparently couldn't get out of Clove's way.

Those two tributes serve as distraction enough for Katniss to gather her bearings, but Clove grips another shining knife, and suddenly all the action seems to slow. I'm tunnel visioning towards Katniss and Clove, but I can feel a disturbance behind me; Alice from 3 and Capala from 5 are gathering supplies. Clove's blade sparkles in the sun as she reaches back in a windup. Move, Katniss! Move! My mind screams. I pull back an arrow and am about to send it flying to kill Clove, but I'm so jumbled and can't think fast enough.

Lub-dub. Lub-dub. Lub-dub. All I can hear is pounding in my ears, my heart threatening to explode. It feels like the end. It feels like this is all that's left of both Katniss and I. I've seen Clove throw knives. She never misses.

She never misses. And she doesn't miss her target. The knife punctures exactly where Clove aimed, and my knees go weak, my stomach drops, and I almost let my weapon fall to the ground. That is, until I realize Katniss pulled her backpack up to shield herself, and is now running away with her life and a new knife. Thank you. Thank you.

"Let's go for that little 12 year old," I hear Marvel say, and Dorian grins back at him as they run towards Rue, who cowers over a large backpack she no doubt intends to bring with her. Marvel takes the lead and raises his spear for the kill. My instincts kick in, and I force myself between the two large boys and Rue.

"Don't!" I yell just before they attack her.

"What the fuck, Peeta?" they scream as Rue shields herself with the pack.

"Guys, she's useful. Have you seen her in training? Most of the stuff here in the Cornucopia is weaponry. We need somebody to help us find food," I remark, even though I know I'd be able to hunt for enough food to feed all the tributes in the arena. Dorian glances at Marvel, who nods assent, and they run away towards other tributes to make another kill, but it seems almost everyone is gone, and they'll have to venture into the forest to see if anyone is lingering.

Rue looks up at me with the biggest eyes, so I help her up and we both go into the Cornucopia. Cato ordered me to guard it, so I just have to stand here with my bow at the ready and act like I'm securing our loot from other tributes. However, with no other tributes in close enough proximity, I have the chance to look around and survey the area while Rue sits inside, hidden from everyone else. Darwin, the boy from 3, is already sheltering himself there, and was probably horrified when I left to protect Rue. He made an agreement with the Career pack too. As long as he guards their camp, they won't kill him. For awhile, anyway.

My stomach turns over when I notice the District 8 boy and District 9 girl, Paisley and Abilene, who lie on the ground spewing blood and dying right next to each other. Abilene's long ponytail is becoming drenched in blood from a gaping wound in her head as she murmurs, "Make it stop… make it stop… make it stop," and Paisley, who has probably never met her, offers his bloodied right hand while he holds his entrails inside himself with the left. "I can't do it," he mumbles, blood trailing from his mouth down his throat as he looks around him.

Looks around him for someone who will take them out of their misery, I realize a moment later. I look back for a moment to make sure Rue and Darwin are okay, and then run towards the two kids dying on the battlefield. How twisted is that? I kneel between them, and they both flinch, obviously still clinging to some semblance of survival instincts. I hold Abilene's other hand while I talk them into death.

I whisper in a soothing voice, "My name is Peeta. You're from 8 and 9 right?" It feels wrong though; they should listen to something beautiful as they die. I don't know what to say, so I start with what I know.

"I'm from 12. We have a lot of coal there. Sometimes miners find diamonds in there, because when you put a lot of pressure on coal, that's what it turns into. My brothers found one once and they brought it home for me. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. It's like a rock, but instead of looking grey like the way the horizon looks on a foggy morning, or brown like brush in a forest, it's see-through and shines like billions of stars all pushed into one little space." They're both starting to become distant so I know I just have to keep talking until the end.

"And when the sun shines on it, it turns into all kinds of colors, reflecting this beautiful rainbow. I once tried to paint a rainbow, but I could never get it right. It's there one second and then the next it's gone. It's like an illusion. The colors all fade together and mingle into one big strip of color. But then you look again and the mist that makes it show up is gone."

Abilene's face is plastered in tears. Paisley's has glazed over, but I noticed that about 10 seconds ago. He's gone. I focus solely on Abilene and wipe the salty tears from her face with a soft brush of my thumbs. She sighs and falls victim to the Hunger Games.

By now, all that's left of the center of the arena are the dead bodies, empty pedestals, the Cornucopia, and the Career pack. Thankfully, they haven't been paying attention enough to notice my heartfelt sentiments and softness, so none of them know what I was just doing.

"The area's clear," I casually remark as I walk over. "Nothing left but dead bodies." The words stick in my throat but I manage them.

A moment later, Glimmer skips over to me with a dumb smirk on her face. Her demeanor is out of a dream, because regardless of the killing spree going on around us, she appears to be out on a Sunday stroll rather than fighting for her life.

"Who'd you get, Peeta?" she sing-songs.

I raise my eyebrows slightly in mockery, but she doesn't seem to understand that she's acting ridiculous given the situation. "Abilene and Paisley," I say, pointing with my thumb behind me.

"I got two little brats, from 6 and 9, I think," Clove adds.

"Cato and I got both from 10," Orabel says with a wicked smile as she wraps her right arm around Cato's left, "but he did most of the work." Cato laughs a little and smiles at her while Clove fumes.

Clove is quick to shoot back at Orabel, "You're not going to get very far if you can only kill when that brute helps you," and then walk away. I'm surprised that Cato seems genuinely hurt, although, like Clove, he conceals his emotions fairly well.

Clove herself is trying to shield her jealousy, but I can read her easily. I wonder what they were back in 2. Training partners? Friends? A couple?

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

Curse the Capitol.