Sometimes I put the countdown and Bloodbath in one chapter, but this one had a lot of stuff going on. I also noticed that I was neglecting Ryker, so I gave him a longer POV.

Ryker Merlin POV

My chest was so tight my heart seemed to lurch sideways instead of beating. I wanted to smash through the glass or brace myself on the sides of the tube so it couldn't rise. Before I could see the Arena, its smell hit me. I quailed inside and crouched lower to ward off the outside world. It's a cemetery. They're dead, I thought. I didn't dare cover my eyes as the platform rose the last few feet. I laughed through a sob when I saw it wasn't a cemetery after all. The Arena was made of piles and piles of garbage. The smell wasn't rotting bodies. It was rotting garbage. Instead of a shining gold beacon, the Cornucopia was a black plastic sheet stretched over a rusted wire frame. It held weapons in varying states of disrepair and garbage bags full of mystery items. It didn't matter what was in them. I was good at one thing, and that was running. I watched as the air over the Cornucopia blinked into a clock. I willed the seconds to slow and stop, but they ticked on, taking my life with them.

59...

Adair Outridge POV

Why I gotta be between Vera and Alex?

51, 50, 49...

Priscilla Piscot POV

That's disgusting! Puddles of stinking green liquid surrounded the platforms. Chunks of rotting food and what was obviously human waste floated in it like revolting soup. I had to hand it to the Gamemakers. They obviously wanted to slow the Bloodbath down, and I, for one, was going to oblige.

43, 41, 40...

Wyatt Sparks POV

I burst out laughing. The great Alex Mason, the undefeatable Margo Caspian, the cream of the Career crop... were going to be wading through crap with the rest of us.

33, 32, 31...

Yasmine Jackson POV

I felt lightheaded from hyperventilation and the smell. My hands held each other and flew to my neck. The pearls in my necklace, smooth and round, gave me comfort. I pulled the chain up to rub it against my cheek.

It snapped.

My breath stopped as the beads fell to the platform, slow as a dream. They cracked against the metal like a gunshot. Everyone turned at the noise and saw what happened. Dominique screamed, and before the explosion cut her off, I looked into the eyes of my ally next to me.

"Emm-"

I didn't feel what happened next. Something roared in my ears and I was flying through the air. My head hit the ground, and I didn't hear anything.

25, 24, 23...

Emmeline Blythe POV

Yasmine didn't have any legs. Something long and white trailed out of her. The rest of her, everything below the waist, was on me. I trembled as I looked at the bloodstained hand I'd reached out to her. I shifted and something squished under my foot. The world faded and out of the corner of my eye, a light blinked.

18, 17, 16...

Castiel Wickham POV

A little girl just died. I should be crying. It made me one person closer to winning, but that was a horrible thought. I was a horrible person to think it. There were a few seconds left on the clock. I folded my hands and whispered.

"Please take Yasmine's soul with you and bless her in Heaven. And please forgive me for not loving her."

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

I bet no one saw this Arena coming. I was thinking about a field of tall grass or a castle. Then I thought "Wouldn't it be just evil if it was a dump?" Turns out I'm evil. If a Career ends up winning, they're never going to live down winning the Garbage Games.

24th place: Yasmine Jackson- neck broken after explosion due to beads

Yasmine was submitted to die this way in a reference to something Katniss mentioned. I felt bad for the little walking corpse and tried to give her a full character in the little time she had. She's definitely going to be remembered, even as far as the 75th Games. Can't blame me for this one, since her submitter planned this. Sorry she died anyway. Thanks JeantheHorse98 for being the real hero and spending time and energy to create a Tribute meant to be a Bloodbath.