The First Night

Dionne Pierson (18) D5F

I stumbled a bit under the weight of the bag. I had managed to grab a tent and a spear and it was all too heavy. I had heard five cannons earlier and wondered who had died. Merle and Romeo had died right in front of my eyes. I knew she wouldn't last, being paralysed and all but Romeo! He was a Career and Careers rarely died in bloodbath. I was shocked, to say the least.

These woods were really dense and… strange. I felt a bit too calm here, as if I believed that everything would be okay. I didn't but this place was playing tricks on my mind.

It was a dense undergrowth with little to no scope for sunlight to filter in through the thick branches and leaves. There were no wild beasts here, no mutts. That was good, I didn't think I had enough strength to fight anything.

I settled down against a tree trunk and shut my eyes. "Sheila," I whispered, "I'll find you. I'll find you and everything will be alright. I just need your support."

My eyes flew open. There was a rustling nearby. Slowly turning my head towards my right, I saw a pair of red eyes staring at me. They were luminous and I didn't like it. I got to my feet swiftly. I backed away slowly, clutching the spear tightly in my hands.

I didn't know what I had expected but it was definitely not a spotted hyena. It looked so innocent… apart from the glowing eyes that is. It started towards me and I backed away.

And then it lunged.

My reflexes acted and I swung my spear defensively. It seemed to threaten the mutt and it fell back, eyeing me suspiciously. It started moving in circles around me and I knew it would attack from behind. I didn't turn back, making my spear ready. I shut my eyes and listened for its motion. It attacked again and I whirled around and pushed my spear in the general direction of motion, the spear escaping my hand and moving in a trajectory. It went right through its skull.

I thought that was it when its eyes exploded. No, it wasn't a bomb. It was a very… disturbing sight. The red eyes were nothing more than small spheres of red gel-like substance which splattered everywhere. That sickly thing hit me right in the face, the arms, the whole body. It was disgusting, to say the least.

When it stopped I trudged to the hyena and pulled out the spear. I wanted to put as much distance as I could between the mutt and myself. A part of me wondered why it was so easy to beat this mutt. Weren't they supposed to be ferocious? This wasn't even a proper fight.

As I ran between the rows of trees, my knees buckled and I fell down. I was so tired… No, I wasn't this tired when I fought that mutt. Now it seemed as if my legs were paralysed. I just could not move. But it wasn't my body. My toes were moving. Then why couldn't I get up?

Something was strangling me. A string… but there was no string! And then I remembered. That sickly red thing… it had formed a network of strings to bind me here. I was trapped! There was no way of getting out!

"NO!" I cried out in frustration. This was why defeating the mutt had been so easy. I felt tears sting my eyes but I fought against them. Pulling my spear closer, I started working on freeing myself.

Cassander Likorus (17) D8M

"Why does everything have to be this _ hard?!" Deme roared as he worked to set a fire.

"Let me do it Deme," I said with a small chuckle, watching him struggle.

"Do it my foot!" he grumbled, "Only I will start this fire."

"That means this fire will never start," Kimaya exclaimed dramatically. She reached out for my hand and brushed it gently. I squeezed it.

Physical contact put me on edge but I didn't mind close to her or Deme. They were both special to me in their own ways and it just made my heart ache that I was here, in the games, with them. I could take comfort in the fact that I would die with my loved ones by my side.

"DONE!"

I was snapped out of my thoughts by Deme's triumphant yell. A small but warm fire burnt, its flames reaching out to Deme. There was a huge grin on his face and he turned towards me.

"See? I know how to get things done!"

"It took you over an hour," Kimaya muttered softly. Deme glared at her which made her laugh.

"Angry expressions suit you Deme," she said, "It feels natural."

"You foolish girl," Deme said in a wise tone, "You will never understand the thoughts of a majestic and tough guy."

"Why don't you help me cook then?"

"What nonsense! I started the fire, found these berries, and now you want me to cook?!"

"Well this potato…" Kimaya said, holding up the single potato we had found in the bag we had grabbed. I didn't want to recall the bloodbath. It was too quick and gory. Five people were dead and the mere thought of it made me shudder.

"This potato," Deme said, "I'm tossing it away."

"NO YOU WON'T!" Kimaya said and lunged at him. I didn't know why she was so possessive of that potato but it was funny to look at her try to get it out of Deme's grasp, who kept the thing way above her reach.

She threw herself at him and he lost balance, falling on the ground and taking Kimaya with him. She was on top of him now, trying to snatch the potato when he coughed. Kimaya stopped as she realised how close she was to him. She froze and Deme chuckled stupidly as she blushed.

"Let me give you a hug," he said cheerfully.

"No," she said, standing up quickly, the potato already forgotten. In the fire light I could make out the redness of her face and I laughed.

"Relax," I said as I took the potato from Deme and handed it to her, "See, the object of your affection is right in your hands."

"It's not the object of my affection," she replied sourly.

"Exactly," Deme said, "I'm the one she dotes on."

"I've not been bitten by a mad dog yet."

Chime!

The silver parachute descended to where Kimaya was standing. I grinned. A sponsor gift! Yes!

"Open it K- Darah," I said. She excitedly opened the package only to find-

"- more potatoes?" she asked in a somewhat disappointed tone but then covered it up by smiling, "Cool!"

"There's a torch here as well," I said as I picked it up, "And a rope."

"Well then, it's settled," Deme said sadly, "We're stuck with potatoes."

Charles "Chip" Chevrolet (16) D6M

I might be a Capitol favourite. They had actually sponsored me with field glasses. My preys were quite close by and I just had to throw my little surprise their way.

Marie's body was lying next to me. Ideally, I shouldn't have found it. And when I did find it, I shouldn't have kept it. I had heard the hovercraft but I didn't budge. Instead I dragged it along with me, decapitating it even more than it already was. The corpse was too bloody and I didn't like it but I had to survive. And this appeared to be the easiest way.

Now the trio would come this way, only to find her here. But I didn't want all the three to be here. I could see that they had camped out in a clearing, next to a stream. The younger boy was sitting against a tree, his legs pulled up to his chest, his arms wrapped around his knees. He was crying, or so I thought by looking at his trembling form. His friends were with him, telling him something. I wondered if the boy had killed someone.

Sighing, I lowered my field glasses. I didn't want to do this to him. I guess he didn't deserve it. But I wanted to survive, to go home. Back to Arden, back to my business. And also to ensure whether Lila was alright.

I watched his friends leave, probably to get some food. The girl said something but he refused, beckoning them to leave. I smile played across my lips. This was perfect.

I dragged Marie's mutilated body near their campsite. I watched him from behind the bushes to find that he really was crying.

"I'm sorry Dane," he whispered, rocking back and forth where he sat, "I didn't want to. I'm sorry."

Poor Cody. With all my strength I pushed Marie's body towards him. His head shot up and he stared at the body of his District Partner. He was frozen for a second before a blood curdling scream escaped from his lips. It was guttural; I didn't even understand what he was saying. As fast as he could he ran towards the direction his allies went, yelling for them over his choked sobs.

His reaction was as I had desired. I ran over to her corpse and dragged it away. I needed to leave before they came. With all my might I took away the corpse as far away as I could. Looking at the sky I grinned.

"Now you can take her away!" I giggled, "We'll play more tomorrow!"

With that I fled. Now when Cody would return he would find that Marie's body was absent. His allies would console him. But slowly they would be convinced that Dane's murder had driven the boy mad. And Cody would think he was hallucinating and feel that his allies didn't understand him. Slowly he would go mad. I would do this with some other tributes too. I grinned. They would tear each other apart and ultimately only two tributes would be alive. I would end the other's suffering as quickly as I could. I didn't want to torture anyone.

All I was doing was trying to survive.

The Capitol

Cress Woods Jr (26) Victor of Sixtieth Games

Cress didn't understand why they had to give their blood samples. The doctors had said that Snow wanted to have a health check-up for the mentors but Cress found the idea bizarre. This had never happened before and it worried Cress. He hoped his DNA would not be used to make those clones Alan was talking about.

Speaking of Alan, Cress didn't like how close he always was to Haley. He certainly didn't like it when they shared an embrace. He wanted to punch Alan at these times and he didn't even know why.

All the three of them were in Alan's room. The said man looked shocked right now. Cress noticed that he didn't even pay attention to what was going on. He sighed. There had always been differences between Alan and Marie and they didn't like each other. That didn't mean Alan didn't care. He was trying not to show it but Cress knew he was an emotional man. He was shattered by his tribute's death.

There was a sharp knock on the door and Haley opened it to let Sasha in. All the three of them had voted unanimously that they could not make him a part of their rebel group. He was an addict and too traumatised. Haley had out rightly said he was not reliable. So he had been informed that the Capitol was doing something big against the Districts and it had to be stopped otherwise they would all be wiped out. The idea was presented to him in the form of a mission to save lives instead of a proper rebellion. It was only then that he had agreed to help them.

"Haley," Sasha said, "I have found the blue-print of the clones they were planning to make."

"But how?" Cress asked.

"I had Ruby's help."

"What?!" Haley almost shouted, "Have you gone nuts?!"

"No," Sasha replied shyly, "She was drunk. And drugged. So I managed to get it from her."

"Wait," Cress said, "Ruby had the blueprint?"

"Yeah," Sasha answered, "She had stolen it too. I don't know how, but she did."

Without a word Alan took the blueprint from his hands and studied it silently. His eyes widened so much that Cress fared they would pop out of their sockets.

"No…" he whispered, "No…"

"What's wrong A- Julius?" Cress asked. Sasha had not been told about Julius being Alan. That would be risky.

"This design… They took your blood samples for cloning. Your clones would look just like you except they will have powers. Dangerous powers-"

"Obviously," Cress muttered, "Everything bad happens to us."

"-and explosives. They are going to be mutants and…"

"And?" Haley asked, resting her hand on his arm. Despite the situation Cress frowned. He grabbed her other hand and squeezed tightly. She gave him her 'what's-your-problem?' look to which he simply shook his head.

"Ah, we're in trouble."

And that was all the news Cress needed to hear.

No deaths. So, I said I won't update this month but this was already half written so… I hope you enjoyed this. Thank you so much for your reviews! 240?! You made my day, dear readers.

I feel a little rusty and I don't find this to be very good. Anyway, have a good day and see you in March.