You guys don't know how sorry I am for not updating for such a long time. I feel really bad for keeping you all waiting for a month. Just like I promised, someone in the career alliance will die. Will it be the tribute that received the most votes in the poll I created? Or did I switch things around and kill someone else? This chapter is long, I promise you and there is no cliffhanger. Again I am very sorry for not updating for a long time and thank you to Liilac Alyssa Halliwell for beta-reading this chapter!

Response:

Amanda: I am so sorry. I appreciate your love for the story and I feel so bad for not updating for a really long time. I will try my best to update sooner. I am so sorry. I hope this chapter will make up for it!

morganbishop: Sorry for the wait. I was really busy with school. Here is the update you asked for, hope you like it (:


With all the commotion going on in my mind, I start to get a headache. My brain is too tired to handle all of this right now, so it's best that I get some sleep and try to forget about it. What if it never leaves me? What if Terraine's words are scarred into my brain forever and there's no way I can forget about them? I need to distract myself and refrain from thinking or talking about it. No Terraine, no problem. Yeah, maybe that's all I need; to stop thinking about her words and her herself. I'll shut everything out. Don't think about anything and sleep.

XXXXX

The second my eyes open I instantly feel some hair sticking to the back of my neck. It's disgusting, but I was trained for this. I remember when we had to stay at the training center back home for a month. It was to prepare us for the harshness of the Hunger Games. For one week we couldn't bathe, another we couldn't eat a full meal, only little snacks that didn't really help much. For one week we had to stay up the whole day to help prepare ourselves for staying awake when we had to keep watch and whenever someone fell asleep their food ration was reduced to half a protein bar. All of this plus we weren't able to sleep on comfortable mattresses. When it was bed time, we would go to the back of the center, in the grass and dirt, and lay on a single bed sheet. Yes, a single bed sheet, meaning only one thin sheet to cover the ground under us. Most of us, including myself earned a sore back from that. If you thought that because we are from district 1 the training would be luxurious, you're damn wrong.

I take my jacket off and get out of my sleeping bag. With the heat, my sleeping bag isn't helping with its thick fabric, which is meant to protect us from the cold. It just makes me feel sweatier. I throw my jacket onto the sleeping bag and stretch. I look around the small cave and then rub my eyes to make sure I'm not seeing things wrong. Nope, my vision is fine and what I see is Vinera and Caiden cuddled together in one sleeping bag. I feel bad for them. They're probably sticking to each other from the sweat. Near them lays Marina, who is unconsciously swatting a fly away from her ear. They are the only ones asleep. The others might be outside, not wanting to stay in and endure the body heat.

I'm proven right when I find Evan, Gary, and Sebastian outside talking with their weapons clasped tightly in their palms. The three are sitting on a boulder and are in deep conversation, but I can't hear what it's about. I survey the area. Ten yards to my right is a mockingjay bird perched on a boulder bigger than the one the boys are resting on. The mockingjay is a bird that wasn't planned to be created. From what the Capitol says, they are an accident. In school my teacher told us that they come from two different breeds: Mockingbird and Jabberjays. Jabberjays are birds that were made by Capitol scientists to record conversations. The Capitol made it to record the rebels' plans and the birds reported everything to the Capitol. But the rebels eventually discovered this and said false things to the bird who then fed lies to the Capitol. The Capitol got rid of the Jabberjays in the woods, but the male Jabberjays mated with the female Mockingbirds, thus a Mockingjay is born.

"Damn, it's hot." Evan fans himself with his free hand.

"Hey Amethine," Sebastian acknowledges.

I nod in response. "When did you guys wake up?"

"An hour ago," Gary answers. Whoa, what such early birds they are.

"Have any of you had anything to eat?"

"We ate a pack of trail mix," Sebastian speaks.

'What's that?" I ask.

"It's that small bag full of different nuts inside," Gary clarifies.

"That's it?" I question. They nod.

"Are you guys hungry?" If three boys shared one snack for breakfast, surely they're still hungry.

"A little," Gary admits. My eyes go to Sebastian and Evan. They both nod. I head back into the cave and look for the container that Vinera had stored the leftover meat from last night. I find it on the ground five feet away from the foot of my sleeping bag. I open it up and see two left. Though there are only two left, there will be a lot when it gets chopped up into pieces. I get four bowls out of the utensil bag and use a knife to cut both of the meat. I spill the sliced up rodent into each of the bowls. Now with the last of the game being finished, we need to hunt today. We may have finished the game, but the others can eat the few remaining cans of oatmeal.

"Thank you," Evan says gratefully when I hand him his bowl.

"Welcome," I mutter and give Gary and Sebastian their food and they thank me too. I nod and start eating. No one says anything while we eat. Good, because I don't feel like talking that much and if Gary was yapping away while I'm trying to enjoy my meal, I'd slap his face with a rock.

I shove the last piece of food in my mouth and put it back in the cave. Water. We need water. Not only will we have to hunt for food, but water as well. The three people who are still sleeping need to get up. The color of the sun is telling me that it's late morning. I walk over to the sleeping bag Vinera and Caiden are sleeping in. Caiden has Vinera in a bear hug and there's a smile on her face. They must be happy to have a chance to be like this. I wonder what the people in Two are saying about their relationship. Judging by the personality of past tributes of previous games, I'd say love is the last thing they need. Maybe Vinera doesn't care about what others say. She's just happy with Caiden.

I use my left hand to shake Caiden's shoulder. When he doesn't move, I shake it harder. I use both hands to shake his shoulders awake. Finally, he stirs. He opens one eye and closes it when the sun's bright light leaches in. "Get up. We need to hunt and find water." I turn away, but in the corner of my eye I see him turn to the girl next to him. A smirk spreads on his face. I wonder if Vinera is Caiden's weakness. It's hard to believe that a big brutish boy like Caiden has a weakness, let along it being a girl. But she's probably just not any girl to Caiden. Maybe there's more to this relationship than I think.

I'm folding my jacket when Vinera jumps out of her sleeping bag and runs outside so fast, that when I turn around to see what's wrong she is already out of the cave. Caiden goes after her and I just stand there like an idiot trying to figure out what the hell is going on. I walk out of the cave and hear someone gagging. Then I get it; Vinera is vomiting. Sebastian, Gary, and Evan are still on the boulder, but they're looking at Vinera. They were as clueless as I was. Vinera appears from the side of the cave and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. "I knew I shouldn't have eaten that boulder rodent." she says quietly.

"You okay now?" asks Caiden. Vinera nods.

Vinera opens the last three cans of oatmeal and heats it up. I notice that she only pours herself a small portion. She probably doesn't want to risk throwing up again. Caiden serves himself and eats beside Vinera. They're almost done with their breakfast when awakes. She greets the three of us with a tired smile and gets her food. I walk out of the cave and leave the three who have just woken up to eat their food. I scan the boulder the boys are situated on. Compared to the Cornucopia, it's not huge. I'm guessing that they managed to get to the top by placing their hands and feet in the small cracks. I decide to go back in the cave and start preparing for the hunt. I grab my pack and toss my sheath of spears over my left shoulder. I exit the cave and sit on the ground parallel to the boys and wait for the three to finish eating so we can start hunting.

We didn't have to wait that long. No one had a second serving of breakfast, which meant that all that's left is for the others to get equipped. I get the packs of Gary, Sebastian, and Evan and hurl it towards them. I didn't give them a heads up, so I want to laugh when I see Gary's eyes widen as the pack gets closer and closer. When everyone is armed and ready to go, I want to have a quick discussion.

"We're not familiar with this part of the arena, so I want everyone to stay close. Any questions?" I ask the group.

"What if a mutt chases us?" asks Vinera. "That's when we split up. Splitting up will make it harder for the mutt to get to us-that's if it's a gigantic mutt. If it's a big mutt, we split up. If it's a size we can take on, we run and hide. We wait for it to approach and kill it." I tell her. "Any more questions?" I ask everyone one last time before we leave. Everyone shakes their head.

"Well then, let's go." We start in the direction beyond the cave. I take up the front of the group and Sebastian guards the rear. I always have him posted at the back because I know that he'll act quickly if something tries to attack us from behind.

No one says anything as we walk. The only sound that fills the air is our boots trudging on the hard, flat ground. My allies are probably quiet either because they aren't familiar with the place and are reluctant to make any noise that could trigger a mutation attack or they're just not in the mood. My reason for not talking is due to my mind developing a list of possibilities to where there might be water. My hand goes to my token-the necklace with an Ametrine stone hanging. I rub it gently. The sight of it reminds me of home and when it does, it gives me a boost of encouragement. It reminds me why I'm competing in the Hunger Games. I am fighting for pride, glory, and to remind the Capitol and all the other districts of Panem that district 1 is strong. They produce your typical careers that are just as strong as those of district 2 and 4.

I may look like you're stereotypical district 1 female, but I stand out in my own way. My victory will serve as a reminder that not everyone in my district is just a pretty face.


The trainers have taught me many ways of locating a water source. One is listening for a sound that indicates that there is water. This sound may be a water current, a drip, and much more. There could be water underground. Scratch that, we're standing on hard ground not grass. Another way to finding water is following animals. Frogs, rabbits, squirrels; who cares. As long as there are animals, there has got to be water lying around somewhere or how else will they get hydrated? You can follow an animal and if you're lucky and just in time to tag along while they take a water break, it will help. I don't see any woodland creatures here, just some poisonous insects. Take this scorpion that's the size of my boot cut in half for an example. There's no point of following it around. I squash it with my boot and continue on the trek.

The last method is mud. Mud is made up of dirt and water. Key word: water. If there's mud, there's water. The water won't be too far away. I don't see any of the brown, mushy substance anywhere here. I'm about to give up hope when my mind goes to something. Water can run through a crevice in a rock and there are a lot of rocks around me. Hope springs from my chest. Maybe I won't have to spend a lot of time searching for water. Most of that time saved can go to hunting for other tributes. This will be fun.

Where can I possibly find water in a rock terrain? There are rocks everywhere. You barely see a tree or a strip of grass in this section of the arena. Nothing but boulders, stones, crevices and…wait crevices! Water can be found in crevices! Maybe if I listen closely, there might be some running underneath the ground. Vinera's axe might be strong enough to make more room for us to gather some water.

I decide to stop the others. I get on my knees and put my right ear to the ground. Before the others can question this, I put a hand up, a signal for them not to speak. I stick a finger in my left ear, making it easier for my other ear to pick up any sound beneath the ground. Nothing.

"Let's keep moving." I get up and dust my clothes off.

"What was that for?" Caiden questions.

"Checking for water."

We continue moving north. I know it's stupid, but I start to think about worst case scenarios. A worst case scenario would be hunting for things that are less likely to even be found: Water and animals. If we don't find any water and keep walking under the scorching sun, one by one we'll fall like dominos. If we can't find food, then we'll have to live off of plants and the snacks we have in our packs and when there's none of that left, we may get desperate for meat, maybe even become cannibals. I start to shudder at the thought. Will I ever be so hungry to the point where I'd sink my teeth into bare human flesh? I hope not.

I'm on the brink of giving up when I hear a bird chirping. Make that plural, judging by the mixed tones and how the sounds aren't in unison. I stop and look around for the creature that is responsible for the noise. There they are perched on a branch on one of the rare trees we find in this section of the arena is a family of mockingjays. I assume that the biggest one is the father, the second biggest the mother, and the three small ones are the babies. The parents are the size of a sword cut in half and the babies are as big as a medium dagger.

"Marina, would you like to do the honors?" I ask the small district 4 female tribute. She smiles and loads her bow. She closes one eye and takes aim. She pulls the arrow back and sends it flying towards the family of Mockingjays. Marina's arrow pierces the mother in the stomach and its lifeless body falls off the branch and onto the ground. Terrified of being the next victim, the family leaves the branch. I pull a spear out of my sheath and hurl it towards the father. The spear reached its target. Caiden jumps in and throws two stars. One baby Mockinjay falls victim to the shuriken stars, but the other one flies away just in time.

I walk over to the dead birds and pick up their limp bodies. I place my spear back in its sheath and return the other weapons that helped catch the birds to their owners. We caught three birds, which is not bad. It won't fill our stomachs, but that's why we have to keep hunting. I attach one bird to my belt with some string I found in my pack. I have Vinera and Sebastian attach the others to their belt since the throwing knives occupy most of the space on mine. Just a few more game, then water.


With the birds attached to our belts, I was filled with confidence. But now with the heat and our empty flasks and canteens that confidence has been shattered. Most of us are practically dragging our feet, but as leader I need to keep everyone's head up and keep moving. We've come to a halt here and there because Gary needed to 'catch his breath'. It was slightly annoying due to the fact that we all felt the same way, but didn't whine. It is such a shame that Marina could endure it more than him.

"20 minute break. Sit down, relax, and catch your breath. After that we keep moving." I take my pack off and set it on the ground.

"Out here in the open?" asks Gary. I've chosen a spot behind an enormous boulder. There are no trees around and with the boulder we'll only have to guard three sides. Front, left, and right.

"Yes, out here. Where else would we go?"

"Not sure who or what's here, so I'll keep watch while all of you relax." I say. I sit on the ground and cross my legs with my sheath of spears sitting on my lap.


Someone taps me on the shoulder. I quickly turn and shove the person back.

"Don't do that. Don't catch me by surprise." Gary gets up and pats the dirt off of his pants. I did the same thing to Evan when he woke me up. I grabbed his hand when he shook me. This is the Hunger Games, every move matters. One move can get you killed; one can pave the road to victory. You can't blame me. That's just how instincts work.

"You've been on guard for about ten minutes. I was just gonna see if you want me to take over so you can go and relax."

I nod. "Thanks." I make my way to the boulder and sit down, with my back leaning on the huge rock. I close my eyes to keep the suns bright light out. The boulder doesn't feel comfortable at all. I lay on my side and put my left ear to the ground, not worrying about the dirt. I close my eyes again and try to imagine being in a peaceful place. I try to concentrate and block everything out, but there's a sound in my ear. Curious, I place my ear a little closer. Sounds like a current. A current…water! Yes, I've finally found water!

But there's no crevice in sight. I guess we're going to have to break the ground open ourselves. Marina's arrows won't do a thing, my spears will probably break, Caiden shuriken stars are useless, Gary's slingshot won't afflict the slightest damage, Sebastian's trident aren't made for it which leaves Vinera's axe to do the job.

"I found water! Vinera, bring your axe!" I inform the others. They excitedly gather around. Vinera has her axe in hand and a determined look on her face. "What if my axe isn't strong enough?" she asks. I have thought of that, but it's worth a try.

"Hit the boulder. Everyone get back."

Everyone gives Vinera space and she lifts the axe. She brings it down with all of her strength. The boulder isn't affected. I nod for her to continue. She hits it again and again and I see a cut slowly appear. It's working.

"You can stop now." I tell her.

"Now, hit here." I bend down and pat the spot that I heard the current. I put both of my hands out to my sides and back up, pushing the others back as well.

"How long do you think it'll take?" Sebastian asks me.

"Long." I respond. Vinera starts to get tired. I look at the ground to see what she has done. The outcome doesn't look too impressive. It resembles what would be a clean slash on skin.

"We're all going to take turns doing this." I take the axe from Vinera and order the others to give me some room.

When the axe comes into direct contact with the ground I realize how hard this will be. The axe slightly vibrates every time it I hit the blade against the hard earth. I'm hitting the ground for the second time when sweat starts to pour down my face. I ignore it and push myself more, adding more and more strength with each hit. The faster we do this the sooner we'll get the job done.

I start to tire and decide to stop and give it to someone else. I've made the cut a few inches deeper. I get on the ground and listen. We probably need to cut eight inches deeper to get to the water.

"Gary, come on over." I place the axe in his hands when he reaches me. "Hit it with everything you got, which isn't much by the way." I smirk. He scowls at me as he takes the weapon. He must've tried to prove my comment about him being weak wrong by displaying his physical strength. The first hit was okay and I start to scold myself for underestimating him. It seems that underestimating others is an annoying and dangerous habit of mine. Gary hits the ground repeatedly and not only does he hit the area that Vinera created, but he starts to hit a few inches under, making the line longer. I watch the earth underneath the axe get a little deeper. Then Gary starts getting slow, breathing heavily.

Sebastian volunteers to go next and Gary gives him the axe. The minute you first see Sebastian you already know he's strong. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. That's why I wasn't surprised when his first hit made the cut in the ground a few inches deeper. Somewhere around his 15th hit, he starts perspire. His face is like a waterfall by the time he reaches he 30th hit, but he doesn't stop. The cut is getting deeper now, and Sebastian is making it wide enough that we can stick our flask and canteens in. Sebastian probably doesn't want to wait out here in the hot sun, so he's taking things into his own hands by opening up the ground himself. That he does, now the ground is open and the water is in sight.

"Good job Sebastian." Marina pats Sebastian on the shoulder and he smiles at her in return.

Everyone crouches near the water hole and dip their flask in. "Don't forget to purify it," I remind them. I ask Evan for a purifying tablet after I've filled my flask up. Everyone sits around, waiting for the purifying tablet to fully clean the water. When the waiting is over, we take a drink of our water, refill it, then purify it once more for later.

"Now we need to figure out how to protect this from animals." I say before we leave and hunt for more food.

"I already have something to cover it." Marina unzips her pack and pulls out a small, dark blue plastic tarp.

"That could work." I take it from her and examine it. It might be used for wrapping small game in.

"We cover the water hole with this and place rocks on each corner so it won't move." I tell my allies. They all agree. Evan fetches four medium sized rocks and Vinera lays the tarp over to hole and puts a rock on each corner. Perfect.

Now all we need to do is kill a few animals on the way to camp.


It'll be just another day in the arena. Wake up, get water, hunt for tributes, hunt for food, cook the food, and go to sleep and do the same thing the next day. After we've cooked the game a tribute hunt is definitely going to happen next. My next victim is definitely going to suffer.

"Do you hear that?" Vinera stops and asks.

I have been too occupied in my thoughts that I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. "No, what does it sound like?"

In response, she puts a finger to her mouth telling me to be quiet. Then I hear that sound she's talking about. Have you ever experienced an earthquake? When everything in the house is shaking? It sounds just like that, but louder and the things that are shaking are all of the rocks around us. It all clicks now. The Gamemakers and audience are bored, and they want one of us to die. I'll tell you that it sure as hell won't be me.

'Run back to camp!" Without hesitation, everyone breaks into a run at full speed. The rocks we run by start to tumble after us. "Faster!" I exclaim, but not too loud. I don't want to start an avalanche.

Marina, Vinera, and Evan are in front of me and Sebastian is right beside me. Gary is behind us. "Pick up your pace, Gary!" I tell him over my shoulder.

The tree that we spotted the Mockingjay family in comes into view. We keep running and running with the rocks still close on our tail. I no longer hear Gary's footsteps and I look back to see what's wrong. He has tripped and not only is he on the ground, but there is cut on his right leg. His pants are ripped and it reveals a nasty, deep cut with blood trickling down. He holds his hand out, his eyes pleading with me to come and help him. I continue running when a boulder squashes Gary, his blood squirting everywhere. The last thing I hear from him is his pain filled scream.

I catch up with the others who haven't noticed my short absence. We keep running even though the sound of rolling rocks dies down. We finally reach our cave and hurriedly scurry inside. I peek out and find that the rocks have stopped. It's over.

"Where's Gary?" asks Vinera.

"Dead." I reply, panting heavily.

"Give me the bird. I'll start cooking." Vinera puts her hand out. I look down and detach the dead Mockingjay from my belt and put it in her hand.

No one seems to be affected by Gary's death. Not even Marina. I have to admit that he was a good ally, but in order for me to win he had to die.

Evan restarts the fire that we had put out before we left and the others sit down to catch their breath. I sit down too and take my pack and sheath off. One ally is down, who will be next? I wonder if the next ally will die from another Gamemaker trap or for another ally, including myself.

17 down, 6 more to go.


The Fallen:

District 3: Electra and Bolton

District 5: Augustina

District 6: Latteine and Nick

District 7: Sequoia and Tanner

District 8: Amber and Derek

District 9: Terraine and Gary

District 10: Bonnie and Timothy

District 11: Maggie and Feltrix

District 12: Calvin

The Remaining Tributes:

District 1: Amethine and Evan

District 2: Vinera and Caiden

District 4: Marina and Sebastian

District 5: Marcus

District 12: Mina


Gary has been added to the dead tributes list. What do you guys think? I have a question for all of you reading. It's okay if you're a guest reader, just listen and leave a review with what you think. Should there be another career death in the next chapter? Or do you want the careers to either find Mina or Marcus?

I hope you guys liked the chapter. I seriously feel bad for not updating for a long time guy, so I'm sorry! Thanks for reading. And if you want, check out my Clato one-shot Yours Truly, Cato. It's a High School AU. Please review (: I have two other one-shot ideas in mind, for more info visit my profile.

Have a great day/night (: