I'm back on my pedestal, like when the Games first began. All the other tributes are on their pedestals, too. Until the gong sounds and they all jump off and start moving towards me. The twenty one that are dead have blank white eyes, while Gossamer and Dock have full black eyes. I don't know which one scares me more.

I try to move, but my feet are stuck to the metal. I begin to panic as everybody pulls wicked looking knives, all serrated on one side. Eventually, I just stop struggling because I know it's helpless.

The first one to approach me is a girl wearing a yellow jacket. There is a small spot of red on the front of her jacket, right in the middle. Then I recognize her as the District 3 girl, the one I killed in the bloodbath. She whispers to me, "Revenge." Then she takes her knife and slashes my back.

Just like how I killed her.

Then a boy wearing the red of District 6 walks up to me. He says the same thing as the District 3 girl, then slashes my chest. Then Thistle, and she slashes my chest again. The three tributes I killed, the way I killed them.

Then they all swarm me. I can't tell who is who, all I know is excruciating pain. I look down, and my body is covered with bleeding gashes. A blade cuts into my cheek, my arm, my stomach. It all hurts.

I look up, and almost start screaming in horror and crying from joy at the same time. In front of me is little Tellin, with the arrow still in her stomach. Behind her is Fletch, and he's so much bigger than her that I can see how he died. A long, but deep, slice right across his chest.

Then Tellin takes her knife and stabs me right in the stomach. She doesn't pull it out. She just looks at me with her blank eyes, a look of blame on her face. I try to say something to her, but only a terrible choking sound comes out.

Next is Fletch. He just shakes his head in disappointment and cuts my chest. That one hurts the most because so many cuts have been made there. But it hurts on the inside, too. Fletch would never hurt me. This just shows how much the Games change people.

Then Gossamer and Dock approach me. Gossamer smirks and twists the knife in my stomach. I want to scream, but no sound comes out. Gossamer trails the top of her knife around my face, cutting as she goes, before finally slashing her blade multiple times on my forehead.

Finally, Dock. "You are weak, Seven. You are nothing to me," he whispers. Then Dock cuts my throat.

I can barely breathe. I'm choking, choking to death on my own blood. The other tributes surround me until all I can see are flailing limbs, blank eyes and knife blades. Slowly, everything fades to black…

My eyes click open, and for a moment I'm too terrified to move. I glance down at my chest, expecting it to be bloody and slashed to ribbons. But it's not. I grab my axe, wipe part of the blade and use it as a mirror and examine my face. No blood, bruises, not even a scratch. I must be paranoid. It was just a dream.

I pack up my supplies, and jump from the tree. I have to be extra careful today. Dock and Gossamer will be hunting me, so if I'm not cautious, they will kill me. I'm so close to going back home. I can't lose now.

I crouch behind the tree and start camouflaging myself. I rub dirt across my face and dead leaves on my clothes. I keep my axe ready at all times. One mistake, one false footstep, one instant of not being ready could mean my death.

I creep along in the shadows. Every five minutes or so, I stop and look around. Once I think I hear footsteps, but it's nothing. Well, nothing I can see anyways.

This goes on for about two hours. I haven't gone very far, but I can never be too cautious.

It must be noon now, or a little after. I take a break to drink some water and eat something. Then I stay hidden for a few more hours, until it looks to be about three in the afternoon. That's when I hear real footsteps. And see the faint outline of two people through the leaves, one tall and muscular, the second slender and shorter. But I know who they are.

As quietly as possible, I try to get out of my little hiding spot. I step on a twig, and it breaks with a loud snap! I freeze, then bound away, not caring about stealth anymore.

Gossamer's voice. "I see her!" Whoops and cheers. My feet pounding on the ground. Deep breaths. Lungs burning. Little snapshots of my surroundings enter my brain. Fear overtakes the rest. Fear of being caught, fear of facing the last two Careers, fear of dying a long and painful death at their hands.

I push myself to the limit, running so hard, my throat begins to close and throb from sucking air through it at such a rapid pace. I try to be as unpredictable as possible, but Dock and Gossamer are right behind me. At one point, a ninja star flies past me, and it cuts my ear. Gossamer is aiming for my head. The thought makes me run harder.

I'm so tired. It feels like I've been running for hours. A part of me wants to just stop and let them get me. It scares me.

After a few more minutes, I can hear Dock whispering to Gossamer. Then their footsteps disappear. Just to be sure, I glance behind me but they aren't there. I stop and fall to the ground, trying to catch my breath. I drag myself into a small bush to hide, but I don't fit and end up just sitting next to a tree. I stay there until the sky begins to turn dark.

"You're really making this too easy for us, Seven."

Instantly, my axe is in my hand and I'm on my feet, turning to see Gossamer standing there, a ninja star in her hand.

"Where's your partner in crime?" I ask Gossamer, both genuinely curious and trying to bide my time. It works.

"He's out," Gossamer says, gesturing to the rest of the arena. "Looking for you. The victor of these Games are coming soon." Gossamer twirls her ninja star in her fingers. "It's going to be me." She throws the star.

It pierces my shoulder before I can react.

I yell out, and slash my own blade at Gossamer. She easily avoids it, and hurls another star at me, hitting my other shoulder.

I try to kick her legs out from underneath her, but Gossamer jumps out of the way. While she's still off balance, I pull out the two ninja stars and cut her in the side. Gossamer yells in pain, and I push her against the tree. I backhand the ninja star out of her hand.

"You don't deserve to win," I whisper to Gossamer. My arms are trembling and tears blur my vision. "You're a Career. You enter the Games for the glory. The kids from the outer districts go in and hope they can go back to their families." I can feel the tears running down my face now. My mind wanders to Trill and Hickory. I wonder if they're watching.

All of a sudden, Gossamer looks scared for her life. She doesn't look like a trained killer anymore. She just looks like a scared girl.

"Please," Gossamer begs. "don't kill me. I can help you get Dock. He's the threat. We can take him down. Then we battle it out."

For a second, I hesitate. But I know that's what Gossamer wants.

"I'm sorry," I whisper. "I want to go home." Gossamer's eyes widen and I dig my axe into her chest. When I pull it out, Gossamer crumples at my feet and her cannon sounds. I don't even get her weapons, which could help me. I just walk away from the fallen girl from 1.

The anthem plays, and Gossamer's face is shown in the sky. She's dead. So are twenty-one others.

Which means it's the final two. Me and Dock. Time for the climax of the Hunger Games. Time to end the 4th Quarter Quell.

I'm so sorry this update took so long! I was hit with a serious case of writer's block halfway through this chapter, so I didn't write for like five days. I wrote a majority of this chapter on a bus because I'm at rec camp this week and we just went to the city. Also, I had a sports tournament last weekend (we lost) so I didn't have much time to write.

Anyways, how did you guys like this chapter? Review and let me know. I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP. Three, maybe four more chapters until this story is finished!