A/N: Thanks to Vykktor and mangesboy01 for reviewing the last chapter! As ever, the support is appreciated :)

Here's the first chapter of the Games, and as you may expect, it's the bloodbath chapter. Personally, I think this is one of the best chapters yet, but I guess I'll leave that up to you, the readers, to decide.

May the Games begin :)

Chapter Eleven

POV: Alec Flood (18), Male Tribute, District 4

The Arena

9.59 am, Sunday 21st July (Day 1 of the Games), year of the 67th Hunger Games

Sixty seconds. That's how long we're required to stand on these metal pedestals before the wait is finally over and the Hunger Games begin. Move too soon and you'll be blown sky high. Not moving from your starting position for a minute is the only rule in the Games, and rule-breakers face the ultimate punishment.

Making sure to stand perfectly still, I take a good look around the arena as soon as my eyes can stand the bright sunlight that illuminates us. The first thing that I notice apart from the warm summer sun shining down upon us is that we're contained within a circular clearing, possibly a hundred yards in diameter. The golden horn of the cornucopia lies at the centre of the clearing, laden with vital supplies. I already know that I'll be rushing in to fight for them as soon as the gong sounds to signal the start of the Games. A floor of hard-packed dirt and grit radiates out from the cornucopia to the twenty-four pedestals spread out equidistant from it, all positioned forty yards from it in a circle. Behind me, the clearing continues for another ten yards or so until it reaches a near-vertical cliff-face that box all of us in to this small circle. At irregular intervals along the circular cliff wall, there are dark openings, presumably the start of tunnels into other regions of the arena. Damn. Tunnels mean stealth. Stealth is often a weakness of Careers, and I'm no exception. Looking further up the cliff-face, I can see dark holes randomly appearing thirty feet in the air. I presume that there must be a vast maze of tunnels, judging by the amount of dead ends I can currently see.

After what I hope wasn't more than just a few seconds, my attention turns from the arena to the tributes. As I glance around the pedestals, my attire suddenly starts to make more sense when faced with the multi-coloured group of tributes that make up my competition. My jumpsuit is sky blue for no reason other than that it is the colour of District 4. Looking to my left I spot a small boy in the black of District 12 and on the right I spot a tribute in a sandy, limestone colour who I instantly recognise as Orion, the Career who we turn down. For a moment our eyes meet as we stand less than ten yards apart and we give each other respectful nods that I know will count for nothing once the gong sounds. I then look out over the field of tributes and spot both my allies easily in their distinctive colours. Vincent's dark green jumpsuit grabs my attention almost immediately three pedestals to my left. Gabriel, who is in dark blue, is around a third of the way round the circle to my right. I search frantically for my district partner Marline. I can't find her. I presume that her pedestal is impeded from my view by the cornucopia.

With little else to do, I get my feet in position to run in towards the cornucopia as soon as the gong sounds.

I don't have to wait long.

The gong sounds, and all hell breaks loose as the 67th Annual Hunger Games begin. I waste little time from the start, springing from my pedestal with only one aim in mind.

It takes me possibly twenty metres to catch Orion, to tackle him to the ground from behind. Maybe it's that he's not expecting the assault or simply because he's weak that he collapses easily under my attack, the impact as he hits the dirt knocking the air out of him. I scramble off of him as he lands, watching him gasp for air. Kneeling beside the boy from District 2, I punch him once, twice in the side of the head and I hear him cry out in pain. A kick to the stomach on the way up and he's virtually incapacitated. Another firm kick to the front of his face sends teeth flying, a jet of blood streaming into the dirt, and Orion's head rolls back, unconscious.

Well, that was easy.

I stand over the boy from Two's unconscious body, knowing perfectly well that he won't be getting up any time soon, giving me time to find a weapon. I'll be back to finish the job later.

Looking up, I see that I'm around fifteen yards out from the cornucopia, the front just within view on my right. Faced with a rather barren outlook on the arena, the area surrounding the golden horn is crammed with tributes as almost everyone sees the supplies as their best bets this year. As I sprint towards the cornucopia and my allies I almost run straight into the girl from District 6, who's dressed in a crimson jumpsuit. I take a swing at her with my right fist but she ducks beneath me, and no sooner is she behind me than I find myself facing off against Ashe, who already seems to have a bow from somewhere. I just have time to watch a cool smile flicker on to her face before I throw myself onto the floor so hard that I end up with cuts all along my forearms. Ashe's first arrow flies over my head, but I know that I won't have time to stand again before she has another arrow ready.

Just as Ashe reaches back to draw another arrow from the quiver on her back, I notice a figure approaching from her left, diving at her. It's a younger boy - Thatch, I believe his name is - clad in the brown of District 11 who throws himself onto Ashe's back, and the two collapse under their weight onto the ground. As they tussle I continue to move onwards towards the opening into the horn.

Careful not to be caught out as Ashe just was, I stay close to the sides of the cornucopia to avoid lateral assaults, and find myself face to face with the blond-haired boy from District 8, who's holding a knife in one hand. As he lunges at me with the blade I grab his wrist and smash his hand into the hot metal wall of the cornucopia, causing him to reflexively relinquish his grip on the blade. I hear it clatter onto the ground beneath us as I grab the boy's head and, after a moment of struggling, smash his head into the cornucopia with a sickening crunch. The boy becomes a dead weight in my hands and his body crumples to the floor in an undignified heap. I let go of him and run on towards the entrance to the horn, not bothering to pick up the knife that the boy from Eight dropped.

Turning the corner towards the opening of the golden horn, I'm almost taken off my feet by Gabriel, who swings at me reflexively with a longsword. "Oh, it's you," he says, recognising me. "Grab something to help protect this before we end up losing what little we've currently got." Then he turns away from the opening, his attention taken by the small girl from District 12, who he cleaves in half almost effortlessly as she attempts to flee.

Entering the cornucopia this year, I see that the Gamemakers have been rather frugal with giving out supplies. Well, they have in terms of giving out weapons, at least. Nearly everything that I see before me is some form of survival gear, be that coats, sleeping bags, first aid kits, water bottles, whatever. Including the weapons I've already seen out in the arena, I bet there's no more than a dozen. I settle with a machete, the longest blade that's left for the taking, which is leaning against a black crate of something or other. Running back outside to find Gabriel, who's now moved on and is carving up the unarmed girl in the yellow of District 9. I leave him to it as I feel a pull from behind.

I turn round to find myself face to face with Vincent, his eyes shining bright with an adrenaline rush. I know the feeling all too well. "Grab what you can," I tell him. "I'm afraid to say there aren't many weapons left. Not that there were many to begin with." Vincent manages a slight laugh and disappears into the cornucopia.

Standing guard at the cornucopia's entrance, I have time to watch Gabriel - who is the only one of us to bag his favourite weapon - carve through any tributes who are left standing and foolish enough not to run. The body of the girl from Nine discarded in a bloody mess behind him, Gabriel's in one-on-one combat with the Vincent's district partner, a weak, foolish girl armed only with a small dagger. Still, I'm amazed how well she's wielding it, with a cornered-rat kind of courage. I look past them to watch Ashe and Marline scamper away, Ashe still shooting arrows at anyone who's within range. I notice Thatch's body lying crumbled on the floor. I knew that fight only ever had one possible ending, and it was never going to be in the boy from Eleven's favour.

Only then do I notice Orion stagger into my line of sight, his broken nose streaming blood, one hand to his head as he tries to make a dash towards me. I raise my machete, going out to fend him off, when I feel a spear fly over my shoulder. It drives itself into Orion's stomach, and the impact sends him crashing backwards into the dirt where he lies, dead. I turn round to find the spear's thrower, Vincent, standing right behind me, a small combat axe that I must have missed in his left hand, the excitement drained from his face. That must have been my first kill, and for someone like Vincent, that's bound to be quite a shock. Unlike Gabriel and myself, he hasn't had years of training insulating himself against the traumas of murder.

We stand motionless in silence for a few seconds as the news begins to sink in that one of the biggest threats in the Games is already dead. A silence that is broken by the screams of the girl from District 7. I turn around to see her staggering back from Gabriel, a massive gash in her left thigh, pouring blood into the dirt. She screams obscenities that I don't quite catch at him, reeling away in pain. I turn to look at Vincent, all the colour drained from his face. I know it must be hard to let this happen, but he has just stood and watched as Gabriel's taken his district partner down. He must know that she won't last long now. If nothing else, he's proved his loyalty to our alliance.

With her dealt with, we just have time to see the last stragglers, the two tributes from District 5, make their escape from the clearing into the dark tunnels. All around us is a scene of chaos; I can count at least seven bodies, and I'm sure that there must be more on the far side of the cornucopia. I occurs to me that I haven't seen Amethyst since the start of the Games. I wonder what has become of the girl from District 1.

I regroup with Gabriel and Vincent in front of the cornucopia, all three of us out of breath and sweating in the summer sun. I'm glad that my jumpsuit's a better colour than the dark hues of my allies. Adding in Gabriel's long, tangled mat of hair, I don't know how I'd be able to cope if I were him.

"What's the plan now?" I ask as I approach my two allies.

"Control the surrounding area," Gabriel says. "It's a safe bet to say that we'll be weaker in the tunnels, and although we'll need to know where they lead to eventually, for now we should stay around here and make a base for ourselves, if only for this afternoon. Considering there's only three of us, I doubt we'll be able to leave any of us behind when we hunt, so it'd be a good idea for us to have everything that we need with us at all times. That shouldn't be too difficult; there's plenty of large backpacks in there," he explains, gesturing towards the cornucopia.

"Well, we'd better get started, then," Vincent says, walking away from us into the horn.

The next hour passes quickly as we stock up on everything and anything that we can find. Between us, we have enough dried food to last us a week, one first-aid kit that won't do much but helps me patch up the grazes and cuts on my forearms from my skirmish at the beginning of the Games, a few more weapons including a couple of daggers and a second spear - Gabriel retrieved the first one form Orion's body, and thankfully, it wasn't damaged.

Eventually, as we all cram longcoats into our backpacks that will surely be useful through the nights and our time in the tunnels, we exit the cornucopia together and decide what our first real move of the Games is going to be.

"Take a rest," Gabriel suggests. "We'll have most success hunting through the night, when the other tributes are either asleep or running on nothing. We'll have an easy job then. The best thing we can do now is rest up after our busy morning, and be fresh and ready come this evening." Neither of us challenge Gabriel's suggestion. It makes sense, after all.

"Shouldn't we clear out for a little while first, though?" Vincent finally asks. "Just to let the Gamemakers collect the bodies?"

"He's got a point," I say to Gabriel, and the boy from One nods.

"I doubt we'll need to go into the tunnels," Gabriel says. Although it'll be difficult to guard everything at the cornucopia for longer than a day or two, I'd like to think that we can give everyone the impression that we're here permanently if we keep the area guarded for all of today. Shouldn't we just go to the edge of the clearing and wait there, in case someone wants to try their look at nicking some of the supplies?"

"Good idea," Vincent says, and three of us walk the fifty yards to the edge of the clearing. Once we're there, Gabriel sits down with his back against the cliff face and falls to sleep almost instantly. Vincent and I stand guard for him, watching the tunnels for any signs of movement towards the cornucopia. I lean back against the rough cliff wall, my machete resting against my shoulder. Vincent stands tall and alert, gripping one of his spears tightly in his right hand.

It barely takes ten minutes before the first hovercraft arrives, reaching down to extract Orion's decimated body from the arena. Two more appear, and in the space of ten minutes, the three of them clear up the carnage of the morning.

Vincent and I make small talk while Gabriel speaks as the afternoon passes by eventlessly, the sun slowly heating our clearing more and more until we stand in the opening of one of the tunnels to get us some shade. It's probably fifteen degrees cooler out of the glare of the sun, and it's brilliantly refreshing.

I think it's probably twenty minutes after the last hovercraft disappeared with the body of Harold, the young boy from District 9, when I detect movement on the far side of the clearing. A flash of red dashing toward the cornucopia from a tunnel opening possibly thirty yards towards us. It's the girl from District 6, the one who I ran into earlier during the bloodbath. She's probably fifteen or sixteen, but she's a quick runner, and I set of in pursuit, my machete ready to strike. Vincent throws for her with a spear, she's she a much more faster-moving target than Orion was earlier and he misses awfully, the spear clattering to the floor ten feet in front of the girl, who is startled as the weapon flies past her, allowing me to gain five yards on her before she puts on an extra burst of speed.

She scrambles into the cornucopia with an extra burst of speed, picks up the first small backpack that she reaches and picks up a knife that I'd left loose on top of a supply crate. As she does so, I hear the first cannon sound, counting out the dead from the morning's bloodbath, but I have more important things on my mind. The girl senses me approach her and turns to face me. I see that she surely can't be any older than fifteen, and through a sweaty mess of blonde hair I see a certain determination in her eyes as she recognises me and hurls the knife in my direction.

Being only five yards from her at most, I have no time to react as the knife flies past my head, cutting through the thin material of my jumpsuit and leaving a gash in my shoulder as it does so. My hand goes to my shoulder and I stagger forward, cursing in pain, but my hesitation has been enough; the girl is gone, a navy blue backpack slung over shoulder as she sprints for the safety of the tunnels. Vincent is too far behind me to do anything, so I have no choice but to watch her escape.

"Hey, you all right?" Vincent asks as he catches up to me, noticing my bloody hand over my shoulder.

"She threw a knife," I tell him.

"I know. I saw." He holds out his hand, revealing the bloody weapon that injured me. "Thought we might still have a use for it," he says. I take it from him and throw it carelessly into the cornucopia, where it clangs against something. I don't really care what; I have more important things on my mind right now. The wound won't kill me - its probably no more than half an inch deep - but it stings like nothing I've ever known and I can barely move without aggravating it. For a moment, I replay the past couple of minutes in my mind, and something else attracts my attentions.

"I couldn't count the cannons," I say, remembering them ring out over the arena during the chase. "You heard them, right?" Vincent nods. "How many were there? Ten? Eleven? Twelve?"

"Twelve," Vincent says. "I'm certain there were twelve." That sounds about right, even if it means that the body count is higher than in most years. Usually something between eight and ten die during the bloodbath. Twelve is above the average death count, but not unusual. Still, it means I'm halfway to being home within just a couple of hours.

"I see that Gabriel's awake," I say, gesturing to our ally. He's clearly seen us both over here and noticed that the bodies are gone, and is carrying all of our bags and weapons slowly over towards us. I presume he was woken by the cannons.

"Come on," Vincent says, walking slowly towards him, picking up the spear he threw earlier on the way. "Let's get you fixed up."

A/N: If you enjoyed this chapter, please review! Constructive criticism is welcomed :)