Mase POV

Yes! Yes, yes yes!

Food was everywhere. The map had led us to a food court the size of most malls back in Two. Signs advertising every kind of food imaginable stretched around us, daring us to try a hundred different dishes. I saw one with the word "steak" in it and hopped over the counter. None of the food was hot, but a refridgerator was packed full of red, juicy meat.

"Jackpot!" I crowed. Kisarna searched through the stores and seemed to be starting an inventory. Emma and Calvary had stayed behind to sweep the first floor before they joined us. I'd go fetch them in a while, but there was no rush. It seemed ironic or something that I was still "stealing" even in the Games. Since there was nobody to stop me, I didn't care, not that I would have anyway. I fiddled with a grill, trying to get it to light. The flames spurted into life and I slapped the steak over it, hoping for the best. Now the Careers had all the weapons they needed and enough food to last a month. We didn't even have to hunt the others. We could just wait them out. Of course, I wasn't nearly that patient or merciful.


Emma POV

I wasn't surprised when Calvary elected to stay with me and sweep the first floor. I knew she wasn't out for blood, but I also saw the way Mase looked at her. I wanted to warn her, but this was the Games. There was no room for friendship. I knew what I should have done was shoot her before she got away. She had to know she didn't fit with the Careers in this Arena. Now that I saw her as a real person and not a target, it wasn't that easy. If it was down to us, I'd kill her to live, but if I didn't have to, I just didn't want to. When she said she heard a noise and was checking around the corner, I knew what she was doing. I pretended not to notice her looking over her shoulders and weaving slightly. It hurt, but she was just being smart. I wouldn't trust me either.

I swept through the rest of the stores on my own. The sheer number of them was boggling. They just kept coming. Finally I started glancing over them and looking for anything out of place. I finally found what I was looking for when I noticed a stuffed sheep lying on the ground next to a neatly arranged pile of them. I drew my arrow back and cautiously swept the entrance, looking for any attackers. I stalked inside and walked the borders of the store. When I reached the far corner, in the corner of my eyes I could see a boy curled under the counter looking back at me.

I didn't recognize the boy. I didn't even know his name. It was easy to think of him as just another number. In my heart I knew it wasn't like that, but I couldn't give myself that luxury. He was my target. I let my arrow fly.


James POV

I never felt the poison on Emma's arrow. The wound was fatal without it. It was a more merciful death than many I'd watched. I had paid the price for my callousness. I could go in peace.


Ashlyn POV

The Careers were on the move. Calvary walked by the shoe store I'd herded Demetria into. She was looking behind her like she thought someone was stalking her. It was probably that preoccupation that made her miss us huddled by a rack of floral-print ladies' flats. When she was out of sight, I crawled to the door and peeked around. No one was coming, but the Careers were far too close for comfort.

"Come on," I whispered to Demetria. She looked at me wide-eyed and crept next to me.

"We have to get out before they come back," I said. We'd have to sneak past the Cornucopia while they were all out looking for us. It was a daring, audacious plan, but it was our only chance. Demetria took my hand and we snuck deeper into the winding halls, hoping to find a back staircase before we ended up back at the Cornucopia. The hallway opened up to a huge intersection. Far in front of us was what looked like a front entrance. The glass was painted over and surely the doors were melted shut, but what caught my eye was a gaping hole in the ground. I ran forward and saw it was just what I was hoping. Here in the recesses of the mall was a staircase leading down. We were probably the first ones to find it, and with luck the Careers would get bored and move up before they came this far. There wasn't really much chance of that, but it was the best I had.

Whatever we expected to find at the bottom, we didn't find it. We certainly didn't expect to find a halfway lifesize plastic pirate ship. It was so bombastically out of place that it seemed like the perfect camp. As we crawled in, I noticed that the whole floor smelled dirty and almost alive. I'd have to explore further, but for the moment, I just wanted to lay inside our ship and pretend the rest of the Arena was far, far away.


18th place: James Gray

I was going to kill James in the Bloodbath and forgot to. Then I was too lazy to add in his death, so I killed him now instead. He didn't have the skills to win, which probably affected your votes. If you pick someone wimpy I'll still have him or her win, but you seem to weigh both story and capability when you make your votes. James thoroughly learned his lesson, and he died at peace. Many of us take dark pleasure in morbid things, so we can identify with a boy who liked The Hunger Games a little (we all do a lot if we're here, of course). Thanks Jms2 for James. He was realistic, had real faults and not that crap "I'm a perfectionist" stuff, and he just wasn't bombastic. He was a pleasure to write.

When I went to Underwaterworld as a littler kid, there was this awesome pirate ship we could play in. It has since been removed for something else, but it lives on as Ashlyn and Demetria's shelter.

It occurred to me that I write faster than you can review, but worry not. I shall assume popular characters remain popular and when I get ahead of you I won't go crazy and kill everyone. Most quick chapters will have no deaths. I knew James wasn't going to be voted Victor, and any deaths will be similar characters.