Hi all! I hope you enjoy this next chapter. I wanted to change things up and end this chapter off on a twist.

James POV (District 11)

The explosion devastated the arena.

Fire has been quickly spreading across the forest and the valley, burning down trees and anything that has come in its path. When the first explosion happened, I was inside the mansion at my base camp and hiding out somewhere near the third floor. For the past few days, no other tributes have shown themselves to come in my direction – Elijah was the last tribute I saw and I killed him. The explosion shook the house and I heard a girl scream in the distance. When I was packing my supplies to run, another explosion occurred in the floor below me and fire erupted to the ceiling. The next half hour or so was a state of fear and panic. Fire was bursting through walls, windows were shattering every few minutes and areas of the mansion were collapsing in front of my own eyes. I made a dash for it down a flight of stairs, just in time to see the magnificent and elaborate chandelier in the main foyer unhinge and crash to the ground. Pieces of glass went flying in every direction and one large shard scrapped the back of my leg. Suffice it to say, the pain hurt immensely.

I ran down another hallway but my path was blocked by a pile of rubble. The only shot I had to escape was to find an open window and run through it before the mansion came crashing down. In the middle of the hallway, there was a body of a fallen tribute. From its shape and the outfit it wore, it had to be a boy but I had no time to look back and see who it was – the adjacent room and hallway was on fire. I entered into a small sewing room and saw a shattered window to crawl through. Just as I was about to be free and out of the mansion, another explosion occurred and my body caught on fire. It took me about a minute to pull the burning clothes off me and roll to the dirt but the damage was done. The fire had singed my skin and now I'm in a weakened state unless a sponsor sends something my way. Unfortunately, I haven't received a single parachute since I started the Hunger Games – guess I'm not one of the favourite tributes this year.

Five hours have passed since the mansion came crashing down. I don't know how many tributes have died; night is only a few hours away and the Capitol signal will appear soon. All that's left of my supplies is half a bottle of water, a rusty throwing knife and a slightly burnt piece of bread. Smoke and ash are floating to the sky, clouding what used to be a beautiful view. The remaining tributes must be hiding or running the edges of the arena and trying to escape the looming forest fire. I haven't seen a single rain drop since the Games have started – the Gamemakers must be using these explosions and the fire to eliminate most of the tributes in the Games. I pull myself up a hill and make camp between two overarching trees. In the distance, I can see what used to be the mansion – burning rubble is all that's left. I shift myself on the ground and pain sears up the side of my left leg. Both the cut and the burns make it impossible to continue running, I need to heal and sleep before I travel further.

The music is what wakes me. Night has fallen and the Capitol signal appears in the sky. The pain is serious when I move, but I shouldn't risk it to get up. I can catch the faces from where I'm sitting.

District 3 boy...

District 6 girl...

District 7 boy...

District 12 boy...

That's a bit of a surprise. Merrick (District 7) seemed like a powerful threat in the Games this year; his sponsors must be outraged to see him dead. Suddenly, I hear rustling in the bushes and the two districts from District 10 are standing in front of me.

Both of them holding deadly weapons and looking at me ready to fight.

Payton POV (District 10)

From the moment we got into the clearing, we could tell that he was in pain.

James from District 11 has shreds of clothing bandaged around parts of his body and there are burn scars that cover most of his hands and legs. This is most likely a result from being inside the mansion when it exploded. After Juliette (District 10) pressed the button on the beach, nothing happened – we thought it was a gimmick or a failed ploy from the Gamemakers. We realized that we were wrong once we heard the first explosion in the distance, then the next few followed and fire erupted into the sky. We raced through the forest to get a better view but it was too late, the mansion already collapsed by the time we got up the hill. Even though I told my cousin to not press the button, I'm happy that the same fate that occurred to James didn't happen to Juliette and myself – this was a pure act of luck. James shifts himself slightly, but we can tell that he's in pain.

"Look, I can't move. I can try to run away but it's too much without time to help. If you're going to kill me... do it quick."

I look at Juliette and she's unsure of what to do. As a team, we've only scored one kill and that was against Claudia from District 2 (only because she was trying to kill Juliette). James seems like a nice guy but something about him has always made me a little uneasy. It might be the way he held his interview with Tobias Hammersmith, his performance in training... or it could be that I just don't trust him. Juliette takes a step further and we lock eyes again, she raises her weapon and points to James.

"How many have you killed?"

"Only one."

"Who was it?"

"It was the boy from District 6. He attacked me on the first night of the Games and I had to defend myself."

"Do you have any weapons?"

At this point, he shows us a tiny blade – it's a small throwing knife that has rusted from the fire. He drops it to the ground and starts to breathe a little heavier; he obviously needs some time to rest and heal. Juliette yells to him to throw the knife into the bushes and he follows her demands. We look at each other again and understand what we have decided: we're going to make a temporary alliance with James. I move forward to his side and untie one of the bandages on his left leg; the wound is still fresh and the burn must painful to every touch. James cringes as I reapply the bandage and he can't stop looking between me and Juliette.

"Why are you two doing this? You could get rid of me now and trim the numbers."

"We're not the like the Careers. You're in pain. Killing you wouldn't make this situation any better for any of us."

James stares off into the darkness and falls back to sleep. It's still the middle of the night and we make a temporary base camp around the overarching trees. I don't know what we're going to do with James in the morning but that decision will wait for when the time comes. Juliette offers to take the first round of guard until the morning so I decide to rest for the time being. Every time I look back at her, she's keeping a somewhat close eye on James; she doesn't seem to trust him as much as I do. Who would have guessed that Juliette would be the one I depended on the most in the Games? Back in District 10, people close to me know that I can't stand my step-cousin Juliette. There isn't something specific that really irritated me about me; she was just that annoying. Spending close time with her and relying on each other have helped to make us closer as cousins; she could be someone I that I would depend on. Juliette arms herself with a knife, sits next to a tree and I drift off to sleep.

"Payton!"

The sound of screaming wakes me up in an instant. I jumped off the ground and arm myself with a sword, ready to fight any enemy that was heading our way. To my left, James is equally confused and scared, he's still sitting on the ground and bandaged from last night. For a small fleeting second, it had crossed my mind that he could have betrayed our generosity and tried to kill us but the look on his face made it clear that he had no idea what was going on. I search for my Juliette but she's nowhere to be seen – where did the scream come from? At that moment, Juliette comes running from behind a tree with a knife in her hand and a panic look on her face.

"Payton, what's going on?"

"What do you mean? You screamed out my name for help."

"No... I was doing a quick guard around the camp and I heard someone yell your name. I thought it was James screaming for your help."

"James has been sleeping. Who made that noise?"

"I don't know but... ugh!"

We both turn to Juliette in shock. She falls to the ground and screams out in pain, stuck to her back is small throwing knife. I'm about to run and help my cousin when the Careers walk effortlessly out of the woods – they're armed with weapons and ready for a fight. The District 1 girl, Emerald, casually stands over Juliette and presses her foot on her back, keeping her down on the ground. The knife most definitely came from her. The other person standing beside her, Garrett (District 1) raises his sword and keeps himself ready. Emerald places her foot on top of the blade and stomps down on the handle causing Juliette to scream in terror.

"Garrett, look what we have here... some fun."

Garrett laughs as Emerald takes the knife out of Juliette's back. As he turns his head, I take the opportunity to defend our camp and fight off the Careers. I grab my sword and slash at Garrett but he quickly defends my attack. In the distance, I see Emerald continually strike at Juliette with her knife. She screams out in pain but it's too late to save her – Emerald is killing Juliette and I can't stop her. Garrett makes another attack with his weapon, trying to slash at my wrists but I can block his next attacks. James moves himself off the ground and searches for his rusty throwing knife in the bushes, he can't seem to remember where he threw it last.

I swing my sword at Garrett and make another attack. He defends himself well, but he ends up knocking the weapon out of my hands. Unsure of what to do next, I run in the direction of Juliette's lifeless body and I grab the hunting knife off the ground that she was using. Emerald notices that I've run passed her and she gets up off my dead cousin. Both Careers are staring me down until James comes out of the bushes with his rusty throwing knife and willing to fight. Emerald smiles and turns to James. She arms her weapon and runs to him with all her force, knocking him against the tree and tackling him to the grass. Garrett notices my distraction and swipes again. I back away but he comes moving forward with his sword.

James tries to put up a fight with Emerald, rolling around on the ground and slashing with his knife. The problem is that she already has the upper hand against him. Every punch and kick she makes causes him to scream out in pain – the cuts and burns he's been trying to heal are working against him now. I couldn't save Juliette from the Careers and in a couple of seconds, James will be the next victim. Garrett rushes forward with his sword and I counter by pulling it away from him then punching him in the face. He stumbles down to the grass but as I run to help James, Garrett grabs me by the foot and pulls me to the ground. Over near the overarching trees, James screams out for help as Emerald digs her fingernails into his neck. He punches her to the side of her ribs but it's no use against her, she's strong and ready to kill. In the last few moments, Emerald raises her knife and delivers one last fatal blow – James is dead.

Two of my allies are dead and I'm left to fight against both Careers by myself. Garret continues to grab onto my foot and swing his weapon in for the kill. I kick it out of his hand and free myself from his grasp. There's only enough time to make one last final decision: try to fight against both Careers or make a run for it. Emerald is finishing with James' dead body and at any moment will join to help Garrett finish me off. I grab my hunting knife, make one final slash at Garrett and run off into the woods, away from the Careers and the impending confrontation. This was an embarrassment to my training and reputation. I'm one of the strongest tributes this year in the Games and yet a young boy like Garrett was able to fight me off. Some would say it might be because of his Career training but I'm not so sure. I turn around for a brief second and see that Garrett is writhing on the ground, clutching his neck and shoulder in panic. Emerald has run over to him and is helping to keep pressure. I'm not sure if my last attack was fatal, but I have no time to wait and see.

For over a minute, I've been running into the woods. No one has chased me since the Career attack and that might be a sign I can stop. Exhausted and tired, I sit on a nearby rock and catch my breath. Water and the sound of birds are in the distance until I hear the sound of the first canon.

Boom!

That one was obviously for Juliette. If I do make it back to District 10, I hope her family forgives me for not saving her. I really tried to help.

Boom!

The next canon marks James' death. Even though I didn't fully trust him, I was starting to warm up to the idea of him being around. In some way, I think he understood that. The next canon fire will be for Garrett and my last attack. He put up a good fight and I have to hope that he is finally dead. I don't know where Dylan (District 4) was during the attack with the Careers but this arena cannot deal with three Careers left alive.

The third canon fire will mark his death. I wait and then I hear...

TRIBUTES LIST

Emerald Gattes - District 1

Garrett Perryl - District 1

Lucy Watts - District 3

Dylan Port - District 4

Hannah Karlyle - District 9

Payton Huxley - District 10

07. James Mara - District 11 (Killed by Emerald Gattes – District 1)
08. Juliette "Julie" Spencer - District 10 (Killed by Emerald Gattes – District 1)
09. Seraphil "Sera" Jakoby – District 6 (Killed by explosion)
10. Kieran Lux – District 3 (Killed by fire)
11. Merrick Millweed – District 7 (Killed by falling rubble)
12. Dante Rye – District 12 (Killed by Merrick Millweed – District 7)
13. Bryson Nash - District 2 (Killed by Lucy Watts – District 3)
14. Addison Frost - District 5 (Killed by Bryson Nash – District 2)
15. Sutton Rayne - District 4 (Killed by Emerald Gattes – District 1)
16. Capricorn "Capri" Armstrong - District 8 (Killed by Garrett Perryl – District 1)
17. Autumn Birch - District 7 (Killed by Sutton Rayne – District 4)
18. Elijah "Eli" Auckland - District 6 (Killed by James Mara – District 11)
19. Miles Crescent - District 8 (Killed by Bryson Nash - District 2)
20. Claudia Sinclair - District 2 (Killed by Payton Huxley -District 10)
21. Samuel "Sam" Egan - District 5 (Killed by Claudia Sinclair - District 2)
22. Marcus Rhodes - District 9 (Killed by Miles Crescent - District 8)
23. Ember Alcott - District 12 (Killed by Merrick Millweed - District 7)
24. Arden Cutler - District 11 (Killed by Garrett Perryl - District 1)