Day six:

Katie Susan Winters, District Two POV:

There were two things I noticed when I woke up: the first was that I wasn't alone, and the second was the pounding sensation that rang through my head like a beating drum. It was almost as bad as that time where I had drank a bit too much during Sally's eighteenth birthday party, after the world's worst hangover and lots of throwing up I had decided that drinking wasn't for me. My eyes snapped open when I realised that I wasn't at home. I was in the Hunger Games, fighting for my life.

"Good to see you're alive," an unfamiliar voice said. Groaning and rolling on my side, I saw who was talking to me. The Eleven boy- memories of what had happened sparked up in my mind and I leant up a bit, trying to ignore the pounding in my head.

"But- what are you doing here?" I stammered, trying my best not to sound rude.

"I was hoping for a good morning," the boy snorted. "Maximotus' voodoo had made the whole corridor cave in. The both of us are trapped and alone. Please don't complain because I'm not happy either."

I was a little insulted. "Not happy? Why aren't you happy?"

"Well, lets see..." The boys expression was screwed up in mock thought. "One, I'm in the Hunger Games, two I'm not having the most pleasant time and three, I'm stuck in a cave with a Career. Would you be acting all happy if you were in my position? I think not."

A frown crossed my lips. "I'm not a Career!"

"District Two girl, good score, hanging with a psychopath... something about that tells me you're a Career." The boy shrugged. "Oh, and the fact you have a bow and arrow and a couple of knives- I know a couple of tributes who'd of given their lives trying to snag the supplies you have. I bet you've been living like a queen."

I tried to think of a retort, but then it had struck me- Spyglys was right. Living like a Career was so much better, despite the constant killing; like Spyglys said, you did live like royalty while other tributes wasted away. It also gave me more chance of a chance getting home, too. With the triıbutes slowly dwindling down, I realised just how much I wanted to win

"I saved your life!" I finally retorted.

"Right after I saved yours." The boy smirked.

"I saved yours twice!" I was a little surprised by how angry I sounded- and I had made that comeback in a split second. That was quite impressive, and true. The District Eleven boy had no reason to be rude to me after I had saved him from Maximotus. But here he was, replying with blunt answers and throwing all sorts of accusations at me. I hated men- they always complain during moments where they should be thankful.

"Technically I saved yours twice." The boy replied, rolling his eyes. "While you were knocked out cold on the floor I helped you- I could've easily grabbed one of your daggers and slit your throat. Or even taken your weapons, but no, I left you sleeping because I'm an idiot with a conscience. I should've left you there to die. But believe it or not I can be a nice guy."

As much as I wanted to be angry the boy did have a point, and a small smile spread on my face before I could stop myself. In an odd way, I was filled with gratitude. Gratitude wasn't something you felt very much during the Hunger Games, even whilst you were a Career being pampered with sponsor gifts and half of the Cornucopia's supplies, but I still wanted answers.

"So... why did you not just kill me?"

"I wanted something pretty to look at." Okay. That destroyed the gratitude, and the boy seemed to notice. "I'm sorry, I am a guy. An honest guy... so, er, what's your name?"

"Katie." I replied stiffly.

"Well Katie," the boy grinned. "My name is Spyglys."

Spyglys. I actually really liked that name- the syllables went together really smoothly. It was a name that I hadn't heard of before, but most of the names from other Districts were kind of strange to me. My name was weird to everyone; Katie was a name that was common in the Pre-Panem era. My mother had named me and Sally ancient names because she thought that they were pretty. I just thought my name was weird, I wanted names like the other girls in District Two, Triella or Valhalla or something really tough. I guess tough didn't suit me. But it had to suit me if I wanted any chance of getting out of these Games alive...

Driving myself out of my train of thought I smiled. "Spyglys. That's a nice name."

Spyglys snorted. "Yeah. My father thought the same."

Spyglys didn't sound pleased, I wondered why. Maybe he didn't have a good relationship with his parents. I wanted to know everything about the boy right in front of me- how did he live? Why did he save me? Did he regret saving me? There were so many questions that were whirring in my head, but there was one question I wanted to ask, and it was definitely the most awkward.

"So Spyglys... since we're alone in this cave-" My throat felt unusually dry.

"You're going to ask to be my ally, aren't you?"

Well Spyglys wasn't afraid to beat it round the bush. Forcing a smile, I nodded. Spyglys' face fell for a second, and then he smiled. What was going through his head? If I could have one superpower it would be to read a boy's thoughts. That way communicating with them would be so much easier- men were either the worst liars or they were horribly to the point.

"Well... I'm already in an alliance." Spyglys sighed. "And you are too, even though you're obviously not best friends with some of your allies. I already have three other allies, and as nice as you are, I'm really not prepared to have any more. But since we're trapped here, alone, and we unanimously decided that we're not going to kill each other we can have a temporary alliance, until we escape."

That's what I meant. Men were very blunt people, but Spyglys' wasn't nasty. "Yeah. I agree." I lied, forcing myself to smile once again. I got on with some of the Careers. Krindle and Selena were always more than happy to talk to me, and of course there was Tristan... but even a small part of me didn't think I belonged there. Tristan and I both cared for each other, or I cared for him at least, but we were too different. And then there was Maximotus. The whole thing was complicated and dramatised too much for my liking and it was just... eurgh.

Why was life so complicated?

Jynx Blackthorne, Hunger Games interviewer POV:

Swallowing my fear I sat down at the nearest table I could. I was in Le Chat Bleu, which was a popular restaurant situated in the center of the Capitol. İt was famous for an array of celebrities dining here; Leein Malpin was sitting across the table from me, obviously taking a break from commentating. The Games were playing on numerous televisions that were spread across the restaurant on the walls and nothing interesting was happening. I ordered a glass of red wine, deciding that this business meeting wasn't going to be a pleasant one.

"Hello Jynx," a cold voice said across the table from me. I glanced across to see Natalya Nystalgia, looking as glamorous as ever. This was why I was here- she had called to request lunch. When the Princess of Panem wanted lunch with somebody, she got it.

"Princess Nystalgia!" I stood up and courtseyed.

"Yes, yes," Natalya giggled, her giggle was girly and fake but it still sounded somewhat venomous. "Sit Jynx, daddy has a proposition for you."

"A proposition? Really?" I took a small sip of wine. The whole fakeness of the situation made me want to vomit, but it was the wisest thing for me to do. "Only last year you asked me to live in the Capitol and interview Hunger Games tributes. You and President Nystalgia do treat me!" Sucking up to someone really made me want to punch myself. I wish I was doing something more recreational like watching the Games.

"We love our victors," Natalya smiled. This was untrue because only two years ago they had made sure each and every one of their victors had died except one- me. Natalya stopped speaking for a second and then glanced to the large television screen, grinning broadly when there was a clip of the dying District Three girl. "Who do you want to win?"

"What?" I was a bit taken aback by Natalya's question but I soon understood what she meant. "Oh. The Games- Katie, obviously."

Natalya sneered. "She's a little too soft for your liking isn't she? Mind you, I guess you're being loyal to your District. I must say, I am liking the District One tributes this year. They're giving us some great screen time. I'm certain that in a week or so one of them will be sitting beside you telling you about their victory!"

I gave a very small laugh. Natalya would obviously support the District One tributes- they were the most bloodthirsty after all. I had interviewed Maximotus and being so close to him was scary, he let off a presence that made you want to cry. Liane seemed sweet but that all changed when she got into the arena. I wasn't intimdated though- I could beat them in a split second. I was the ultimate Hunger Games victor.

"They're interesting." I replied. The District Three girl was still on screen- her allies were sleeping. She wouldn't last much longer.

"I bet you want Krindle and Selena dead!" Natalya joked, giving a cold laugh. "We all know how many run in's you've had with District Four, after all."

Oh, District Four. I've certainly had more than my fair share of dramas with them. Why were they even considered Careers? They were usually soft and they had the intelligence of a goldfish. Well, you are what you eat. "Krindle and Selena do have a fighting chance, though. District One seem a bit more vicious and competitive though."

Being nice was difficult. Rolling my eyes I watched as Natalya ordered some disgusting salad, as usual Natalya made another comment about watchıng her weight, and when she was sure no-one was listening she directed her gaze at me. I knew this meant business.

"About the proposition me and my daddy have for you..." She started, nibbling on a little bit of lettuce. Salad really didn't suit Natalya; with her fang-like white teeth she looked like she should be eating screaming children instead of salad. I supposed enough children had died at Natalya's hand for her to be eating them anyway. "We have suspicions about the things that have been happening in the Gamemakers little lab of horror."

"Suspicions? About what?" I leaned in a little closer, intrigued about what Natalya had to say. If the Gamemakers really were setting up some kind of rebellion, it would be the juciest gossip about. The Gamemakers were The Presidents puppets, so something was up if they were rebelling. It wasn't unheard of though- three Head Gamemakers had done it in the past.

"Rebellion." Natalya uttered, as if the word made her ill. "Mutiny! As you know daddy has set surveillance up in the Gamemakers office and the fabulous Manny Nutt has informed me that he had heard Tobias Harte and Ruth Pierce talk about her freedom obsessed dead husband."

"Harrius Pierce was freedom obsessed?" I asked. This just got more and more interesting.

"Yes, great Gamemaker. It's a shame my daddy had to take steps to remove him..." Natalya sighed. So the rumours were true. "Thing is, I think right now you deserve a place in the Gamemakers department. We've made up a job title for you- you'll be in control of statistics. But what I really want is for you to keep an eye on Tobias and the old trout."

"The old trout?"

"Ruth," Natalya smirked. I wasn't sure if İ wanted to act as Natalya's spy, but something told me I had no choice. It wasn't exactly a dangerous mission. I could kill anyone in the Gamemakers office without a second thought. Then a group of people in the resturant gasped and I turned around to face the television. Natalya gave a small cheer, which only meant one thing- a cannon had fired. Craning my head, I watched the long awaited death.

Lyla Alby, District Six POV:

The cannon fire seemed to make the arena rumble and I was knocked out of my small slumber. I leant up and groaned- I had fallen asleep when I was supposed to be on watch. Great. If Rayann knew that I'd fallen asleep she would've happily spent about half an hour giving me a lecture about how falling asleep was dangerous. The cave we were in was consumed by shadows, and Rayann slept cozily, curled up next to Bethuny who seemed to be quietly sleeping as shadows danced across her face.

I wondered who had died. I had seen Ellis' face in the sky last night, and it sent goosebumps erupting around my flesh. Ellis seemed like an alright guy, and he was my District partner. Now the boy that I had shared a chariot with, talked to and even trained with was a rotting corpse. It wasn't a nice thought.

I crawled over to Rayann and Beth who still seemed to be soundly sleeping. I tried numerous times to heal Bethuny, but with no avail we had all decided that only a miracle could save Bethuny and took turns sleeping and watching. Rayann's shallow breaths were the only thing I could hear- and then it struck me. I couldn't hear any breathing from Bethuny... and a cannon had fired.

No... That just couldn't happen. I went over to Beth and shook her wildly for a second, hoping that she would wake up. Her eyes were still snapped shut, as if she was refusing to awaken. I continued shaking her desperately and I put my hand over her wrist, feeling for some kind of pulse. There was nothing. Beth was... dead. A part of me had refused to believe that she had died, she looked like she could be sleeping. The wound that she had yesterday had been erased by the healing water yesterday, as if it had never existed. I glanced at Beth once more time; she looked so angelic, as if she wasn't dead, just peacefully sleeping.

"Rayann! Wake up!" I moved over to her and shook her a couple of times. This wasn't going to be good.

"Five minutes," Rayann grumbled, moving onto her side and curling up even tighter into her sleeping bag. I shook her again more frantically.

"Rayann! Beth is..." The next few words seemed hard to say, like I was saying something that I didn't quıte believe. "Beth is dead Rayann."

Hearing my words Rayann's eyes snapped open, and she sprang out of her sleeping bag. She was fully awake and I could already see the worry that was etched onto her face. She moved over to Bethuny's body and shook her frantically for a few seconds.

"No... No... Bethuny..." She muttered to herself, still shaking Bethuny's still body. I slumped down to the floor, trying my hardest not to cry. I had volunteered for these Games to help a girl that would've definitely died if she went into the arena, and I was only beginning to acknowledge how stupid I was. So many people died- Felicia, Sarah-Elizabeth and now Bethuny. Closing my eyes I hoped that I would wake up and this whole thing was just one big nightmare.

The next few minutes were filled by silence and Rayann's muffled sobs. The tears had started to form in my eyes, but I couldn't cry. Not now. Crying was like admitting defeat.

"She's dead..." Rayann said to herself, her voice a whisper that barely reached my ears.

"Maybe we should... move or something..." I tried to stop my voice from shaking, but with no avail.

"We are not moving!" Rayann screamed with fury. I cowered back into the cave wall, a part of me was terrified that Rayann would kill me, but she just stood up and glared at me angrily. She was still crying- small tears were pouring down her face like little rivers. I wanted to argue back, but this was Rayann being upset, looking for someone to shout at. Rayann clung onto Bethuny's body and shuddered as she sobbed into Bethuny's fiery red hair. I was just paralyzed as a compound of emotions rooted me to the spot.

We spent the next couple of minutes making sure that Bethuny was ready to be sent back home. I thought it was stupid stupid, but Rayann was adamant that we dressed Bethuny the way Bethuny would have wanted to be dressed. Everything was so precise; Rayann made sure Bethuny's ribbon was tied in so it looked like a perfect loop. And then there was the drama about Bethuny's favourite sleeping bag- Rayann had spent another ten minutes clutchıng onto Bethuny's multicoloured sleeping bag, telling me about how they used to argue over it.

"What do we do now?" I asked once Rayann was satisfied. Wrapped in an array of colourful blankets, Bethuny looked more at peace than ever before. Rayann's face was stained with tears that had probably been supressed for many years. I didn't know how to comfort Rayann, I didn't know if Rayann wanted to be comforted, but me and Rayann had been civil. It was what Bethuny would have wanted.

"We seperate." Rayann replied, using the back of her sleeve to wipe the continous tears. Her gaze was set on Bethuny, as if she were afraid that Bethuny was still alive.

"Seperate... but... people don't seperate until the Final Eight at least!" I protested.

Rayann gave a harsh laugh, but she didn't seem amused at all. "Be realistic, Lyla. The only reason I'm not killing you is because Bethuny wouldn't have wanted it. We don't need each other. You have your ring and I have a gun now; I could kill any tribute with the pull of a trigger. Why don't you just go and leave me here to mourn?"

"Why are you such a bitch, Rayann?" I snapped. This was it, she had finally made me explode. "You go around being cold and cruel to everyone. What is it Rayann, are you angry?" I spun around and moved closer to Rayann to the point where I was practically screaming into her face. "You're angry, aren't you? Well stop taking it out on me because I didn't kill Bethuny."

Rayann blinked for a second, and replied calmly. "I never said you did."

There was an awkward pause and I stepped away from Rayann gingerly. I had enough, I was out of here. I went to stride out the room, but Rayann clutched onto my shoulder and there was something desperate in her tone. "Lyla... don't. Stay if you want. You're right, I am taking it out on you. I'm just... so lost... Bethuny was the only person who's ever been nice to me and now she's gone and I hate it... I'm so angry at Maximotus for stealing her from me, and I'm furious with Bethuny because she... she left me."

"Don't be stupid!" I turned around and patted Rayann's shoulder sympathetically "She didn't leave you."

"She just died when I needed her most- and... and-"

Rayann didn't continue talking. She just clung onto me tighter and cried into my shoulder. At this point I was crying too, I didn't want to, but the tears had escaped before I could do anything. Bethuny was a good person- she didn't mean harm to anybody, she was nice to everyone she spoke to, she was always smiling, even when she was on the verge of death. Rayann wasn't the only person who had lost Bethuny, I had too; she had saved my life, and now she was dead. Me and Rayann would never be friends, but as we watched as Bethuny's body was taken away, despite the grief, there was a large sense of unity.

"I'll miss her." Rayann sniffled.

"Yeah," I sighed. "I'll miss her too."

Spyglys Dorn, District Eleven POV:

Katie had been mortified since the cannon fired. She kind of looked around sentimentally and went on some kind of philosophical speech about how valuable life was. It had kind of bored me. My philosophy was somebody lived, things happened in between, and then they died. There was nothing more to life than that.

"I mean, whoever died... they were someone's child, or sibling, or best friend or-"

"Katie?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you please shut up."

Katie's face dropped. I actually liked Katie, but she was once of those people who hated silence. Katie constantly felt the need to constantly talk, whereas I thrived on whatever silent moment Katie gave me. I was also hungry, thirsty and pretty vulnerable. Feeling vulnerable was awful, it made me feel worthless, and being worthless wasn't a good thing. Especially when you were trapped and in the Hunger Games. After playing with her hair for a few second, Katie felt the need to break the silence.

"So, what's your token?" She asked weakly. I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. You knew that topics of conversation had been dried out when tokens were being discussed.

I just took out my token and placed it on my palm for Katie to see. İt was a stone ring that was attached to a leather cord. It had been given to me by my father. I wondered if my father was watching me right now. If he was, I hoped that he was proud of me. He never seemed to be proud of me, though. The only reason I had brought his damned ring is because it could be used as a last minute weapon. It doubted it could do much damage though, it had been checked by the Gamemakers and been declared harmless anyway.

"That's nice." Katie smiled enthusiastically, but I just shrugged. Katie took out a small pin from her hair and I could see what it was- some kind of hairpin, a butterfly one. It also seemed to be made out of crystal and was probably worth more than whatever money my family had. "This is my token. It belonged to my-"

"To be quite frank, I don't care." I glared at her for a second, and Katie's lip trembled. Oh god, no. She wasn't going to cry was she? I hated it when girls cried. It actually made me feel bad. Katie suddenly stopped and I could see the anger that flashed in her eyes for a second.

"İf you're so horrible to me, you can leave then."

"Fine." I replied, standing up and storming out of the room. Despite being enclosed and trapped, there was enough space to walk away so that Katie couldn't see me. I walked away for five minutes before meeting a dead end of boulders. The whole room was dark, but my eyes adjusted to the darkness a while ago so I could see a slight outline of everything around me. There wasn't much to see, though, unless you counted rocks as something worth seeing.

I stumbled fowards for a bit and grunted when I felt myself fall into some kind of hole. Okay, maybe a torch or some kind of light would've been beneficial. Whatever the hole was, I was pretty sure that it was made by a mutt. The hole was big enough so that my foot fell in, but my whole body didn't plummet into it's dark depths. Summoning the strength in my arms, I pulled myself up and clambered out of the hole, hoping that I didn't wake up whatever monster was in there. It couldn't have been too vicious though, the real nasties didn't get out until the Final Twelve at least.

There was some kind of snort coming from the hole I just fell in. I cursed under my breath when I realised that there was a mutt under there after all. Was it worth running to Katie over? No. She was probably still furious with me. Trying to be as subtle as possible, I slowly crawled away from the burrow that the mutt had dug out. I stood up shakily when I could see that through the darkness, there was something that had just come out of that hole- whatever it was, it was curled up into a brown, furry sphere.

It looked harmless but looks could be deceiving- especially in the Hunger Games. I turned to run, but like a bowling ball knocking over skittles the small brown furry ball sped towards me, knocking me out from under my feet. I cried out as I fell to the ground, coughing as I tasted the sand that was scattered on the ground. I wasn't going to be be killed by a small furry ball- the jokes that people would tell would probably be cringe worthy! My funeral would turn into a comedy festival or something!

I rolled over onto my back and saw that the small furry ball wasn't a small furry ball anymore. It was a mole- and a gigantic one too. About five and a half feet, with sharp fangs and four arms. That wasn't the most alarming thing, though, as each paw had been equipped with numerous sharp claws. When I looked closer I realised that they were metallic- and they were coming my way.

I rolled over just in time as five sharp claws rooted their way into the solid ground where I once lay. That could've certainly done some damage. I kicked out at the horrible mole mutt, but that only seemed to anger it more. I tried rolling aside as another paw swiped at me again, but this time I was much less fortunate, as one sharp claw cut through the whole of my right side. I cried out in pain and watched as the blood flowed out of me. The cut was shallow, but the stinging sensation that followed was still unpleasant.

I gripped onto my token. I always knew that in desperate measures I'd need it as a weapon, and being attacked by some giant, furry animal was desperate. I swung the leather cord a couple of times and whipped the stone ring at the mole-mutt's head. Bullseye. The beast cried out in pain and then stretched out all four of it's paws, ready to attack. Shit. I winced at the thought of those claws and how badly they could mutilate my body. I tried moving but I was prevented by a sharp throb that pulled its way through my body. I was doomed. I just hoped that my death would be painless...

And then the monster let out another pained cry. My eyes widened with shock as the creature froze, eyes wide, and then toppled down like a large building. I leapt back slightly to avoid the tumbling monster and saw that it had two arrows lodged into the back of it's head, and then I glanced up to see who had saved me- oh no. It was Katıe, who was grinning.

"So, that's three times I've saved your life." She said, tearing the arrows out of the mutt's skull.

Another quick update, but my holidays have ended so I needed to update quickly. This chapter was a lot of fun to write! These out of Games POV's are finally going to lead to something! But as you can see my main focus is the Games so a sequel may be necessary.

Question- Opinions on Beth? Writing her death was so hard :( My last and favourite OC. She'll be missed. :(