Jay Dallas POV

I didn't even make it out of the Bloodbath. Not like I had a chance. All the Careers swooped in on me before I could so much as run. Usually they split and went after the weaker Tributes. They all wanted the highest kill count, so they took the easy picks. This year they wised up and went after the strongest Tributes together. I suppose one of them won.

And then I was alive again. I was still shivering and toweling off as a man explained why I wasn't dead and what was going on.

"It wasn't right the way you went. We all wanted to see what you could do if you had a fair chance," he said.

"Thanks," I said. Looked like I got to play again. Oh boy. A woman handed me my necklace and I put it back on. The same jaybird pressed against my skin and I almost felt normal. I held it up and looked at it. It was the only thing that stayed the same through all of this.

They'll probably do the same thing again, I thought. I didn't relish the thought of a Career pack twice the normal size running straight for me at the gong. As I looked at my necklace, an idea started to form. Two could play at the Careers' game. They wouldn't be so brave if they were the outnumbered ones. Maybe it was time for the outliers to fly in a flock. Even an eagle can be mobbed by enough crows. Or enough jaybirds.

Frankie Disney POV

Even in death I didn't feel anything. Where would someone like me go? I tried to do what was right, but it didn't make me feel good to do it. Was I good for trying, bad for not feeling, or just neutral?

I wasn't going to find out the answer after all. What I thought were judges turned out to be doctors. They told me I was going back into the Games. Like always, it seemed to go over my head, but it was big news. I hoped they'd let me talk to someone back home first. I wanted to see how they remembered me. I didn't want to be remembered as a monster. Maybe that meant I wasn't all bad.

I didn't know what I should do for strategy. It was hard to even want to stay alive when everything was so empty. Maybe I should let someone who actually valued life win. Or maybe I could at least do something worthwhile with my second chance. I could join an alliance and be loyal to them. When it came time for dangerous tasks I could volunteer and when I died it would give someone else a chance to live. Maybe I could even get some of the more vulnerable Tributes and keep them safe for a while. If one of them won, maybe that would be enough to make me "good".

Why do I even want to do good? It was just because it was right. That's why you do right things. Because they're right.

Willow Trill POV

Someone pulled me out of a pool of water and I curled inward reflexively. I'd thought I was already dead but I must have had a little bit of life left. I hoped my killer made it quick.

"Willow? Can you hear me?"

I looked at my killer and saw it was just a doctor. Did they call the Games off?

"What's going on?" I asked. I was wet and cold, and I was shivering with fear as well.

"Everything's all right. You've been resurrected," the man said. I wanted to cry with relief. They'd called it off. It really was too horrible to go through with.

"Can I go home now?" I asked.

"You're an All-Star. You're going back into the Arena," he said.

Back into the Arena.

Electricity shot through me and I ripped myself from the man's arms. I ran for the door and darted down the hall. If I could just get around a corner I could slip away and they'd never find me. I'd never have to go back.

Someone grabbed my arm and picked me up by my waist. I thrashed and clawed at the walls as another woman helped haul me back into the room. My nails slid across the smooth surface of the door as the man pulled it shut, locking me inside.

Zach Connouis POV

To use positively outdated slang, this was totally trippy. After being dead for who knows how long, suddenly a bunch of Capitol stiffs decided to dig me up and put me back on display. I felt like a museum exhibit.

"You have that kind of technology now?" I asked after the shock wore off.

"Wait until you see the muttations," one of the doctors said.

"You mean like jabberjays?" I asked. The man smiled.

"Yeah. Like jabberjays."

Was everything so different? Apparently this was the thirty-third Games. I thought they'd be done years before that. What did home look like? I left behind a scorched wasteland barely fit for planting soybeans. Maybe now it was a metropolis.

"Who else is here from Eleven?" I asked. The doctor listed a bunch of names I'd never heard before.

"Jay Dallas-"

"Jay?!" Not him too. Jay and I were friends back before... well, before I died. He was a neat guy. I could see why they'd want him back. Maybe we could even meet up. We could take this thing on together.

Apollo Wilson POV

"Let me see him!"

"He's not awake-"

"Let me see him!"

Something splintered and crashed. I sat up and noticed that I was wet, that the door to the room was shattered, and that Peppermint was running toward me. She jumped into the vat I was sitting in and water sprayed everywhere.

"Apollo! I missed you so much," she said as she squeezed the breath out of me. She was crying all over the place and I awkwardly hugged her back.

"Where have I been?" I asked. I thought I remembered dying, but here I was. They must have decided to let us both win.

"You've been dead," she said. "But you're back now. I love you so much." She pulled back, and I saw how different she looked.

"How'd you get so old?" I asked.

"It's been nine years, Apollo. I'm twenty-four," she said. She stopped, overcome with emotion, and I tried to process it. She put her head on my shoulder and we sat like two pieces of a puzzle.

"Nine years? You must have a whole new life by now," I said. I just wanted her to be happy. I wouldn't hold her back.

"What are you talking about? I missed you every day. You can't die this time. I can't take it," she said. I'd never seen her so radiant with emotion. She was shaking and for a long stretch neither of us said anything.

"Did you win?" I asked.

"Yeah, I won. I got your back, too. I personally killed the great Venus Lorieta so you could rest in peace. But now you can't, because you can't die again," she said.

"Wait, are you my mentor? This is too weird," I said.

"Orchard agreed to take the girls this year, so you're mine. I'm going to get you home one way or another," she said. Home. Wasn't that where I was right now?

Another sausage fest. Maybe because girls keep winning, so there's not as many of them to resurrect.

I'm still doing the parade and all that stuff. I might skip training and go straight to the sessions, though. It's going to be hard enough writing about all their scores, much less how they got them.

I think Zach was supposed to be Jay's friend. If not I'll retcon it.