I mill around in the square with the others, waiting rather impatiently as they broadcast the betting odds, and I grin at Clove's odds of 5 to 1, the highest of all the girls and second highest overall behind Cato. Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith appear on the screen and introduce the 74th annual Hunger Games. Then they cut to the arena, and the whole district erupts in a roar of elation. It's very natural, and of the many screens put in place by the Capitol, there are two focussing on each Cato and Clove, while the others flit around the other tributes and Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith's commentary. The countdown begins, and every eye in the District is one those screens. When the countdown reaches ten, everyone counts with the Capitol, cheering as their time is up. The tributes leap from their plates and have at each other, and Clove is the focus of one screen, and Cato the focus of another. Cato runs for a tribute and attacks them with his bare hands, but he isn't my focus. I watch as Clove runs for the Cornucopia and snags a black vest lined with knives. She quickly kills one of the tributes and then fixes her gaze on something out of the camera's shot. She starts running, and I see what she's seen. The girl from 12 and the boy from 9 are grappling for a backpack, and Clove sends a single knife hurtling in their direction. It digs deep into the boy's back and he collapses to the ground in a pool of his own blood. The girl from 12 looks terrified, and springs to her feet and runs. Clove sends another knife flying at her, but she pulls up the backpack she grabbed and the knife lodges in it. Clove yells as the girl, Katniss I think her name is, disappears into the woods, but returns to the Cornucopia, the lure of blood too strong for her to ignore. In her anger, she sends a third knife hurtling at the girl from 7, and she drops dead instantly, blood pouring between her fingers from the gaping hole in her throat. The bloodbath continues for another hour or so, the Careers checking that everybody lying on the grass is dead, kicking at all the bodies. Two aren't dead, and Cato finishes them off with his sword, grinning as they scream. As the Careers are going over their supplies, they start, grabbing their weapons and standing back to back with them raised; Glimmer with her bow, Marvel with his spear, Cato with two swords, and Clove with three knives in each hand. A boy emerges from the trees, and I just have time to see that it's the boy from 12 before Cato launches himself on him.

They tumble over the bloodstained grass until they lose momentum, and Cato comes out on top with a sword held against the other boy's throat. Clove smirks, and sashays over to them, slipping all but one of her knives back into her vest. Cato pulls the boy to his knees and removes the sword, but keeps a tight grip on his hair. The boy is panting and shaking, but doesn't put up a fight, looking down at the ground as Clove approaches. She squats down in front of him and places the tip of her blade at his throat. He looks up, fear etched into his pale face.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't put this out the back of your neck." The boy remains silent. "I'll give you three seconds, and if you don't start talking, then my face will be the last thing you see. One. Two."

"Alright, just please, don't kill me," the boy pleads breathlessly.

"Nice to get one that listens," Clove sneers, her trademark smirk adorning her blood streaked face. "Who are you?"

"I'm Peeta Mellark, from 12."

"What are you doing here?"

"I can help you."

Cato and Marvel snicker, Glimmer giggles, and Clove smirks again. "I doubt that."

"You want Katniss, and I know her better than anyone in here. She's good, and you won't be able to find her without me."

"You underestimate us. We can find her; we don't need your help." She starts to dig the knife into his skin, and a bead of sweat appears on his forehead.

"No, wait!" he exclaims. "Please, you don't know her like I do. She can hide herself better than anyone else in the arena. Plus, I know exactly how she got that 11."

Clove looks shocked, and looks to Cato in confusion. He shrugs, and Clove furrows her brows in concentration, trying to decide what to do.

"You help us find her, and we won't kill you," she finally says. "But you have to prove yourself; otherwise I will kill you, right here, right now." There's a low moan from a few metres away, and Clove smirks again. She removes her knife and slips it back into her jacket, nodding to Cato, who releases Peeta. Clove pulls out a plain looking knife and hands it to Peeta, and then wanders over to the source of the moaning. It's a young girl, no older than thirteen, with blood soaking her clothes and body, matting her hair and filling her mouth. Clove grabs her by her hair and drags her to the others, holding her up in front of Peeta.

"Kill her," she says simply.

"I-I can't do that," Peeta stammers helplessly, hands shaking.

"You will do it, or you will both end up the same way, Lover Boy," she snarls. "Now kill the girl."

He sighs, whispering a few words into the ear of the nearly dead girl, before painstakingly driving the knife through her heart. A single teardrop rolls slowly down his cheek, and Clove tosses the corpse onto the ground, turning back to Cato.

"Seriously?" he says. "You let him stay?"

She shrugs. "What else was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. Maybe, kill him?" he replies sarcastically.

"You heard him. He knows how she got that 11, and he knows her better than anyone else here. If anyone knows her tactics, it's him," she hisses, gesturing at Peeta.

"You know I'm in charge here," Cato says gruffly, massive arms folded firmly across his chest.

"Then why did you leave the decision up to me, huh?" Clove counters, leaning back on one foot, twirling a knife absentmindedly around her fingers with ease. Cato remains silent, and Clove laughs silently. "Didn't think so. By the way, you missed one."

I watch for another few hours, though nothing more happens. Nobody else has formed an alliance, and while most are looking for a hiding place, one tribute, Katniss, continues walking, making no effort to hide. The cannons start going off late in the afternoon, and there are eleven dead. The main screen focusses on the Careers again as a second figure emerges from the trees, no more than a shadow in the quickly fading light. Cato raises his sword, but Clove puts a hand on his chest, stopping him.

"Who's there?" she calls into the shadows.

"Madison," the shadowy figure replies, stepping towards them, her face now visible to both the Careers and the cameras. She's the girl from 4, probably in their alliance already, since they aren't attacking her. She eyes Cato. "You killed Spencer," she says tightly.

"He would have died anyway," he retaliates.

"He was my cousin," Madison yells.

"Calm down," Glimmer says. "Come with me, and we'll talk about it."

"Not right now you're not," Cato says, handing Madison a sickle. "It's time for us to go hunting."

The gang of Careers lets out a raucous cheer and gather their weapons, and Cato and Clove hand out three flashlights, one each for Glimmer, Marvel and Madison. It's completely dark by the time they leave, and Cato takes the lead, the three with torches in the middle, and Clove brings up the rear. People are setting up tents in the square now, settling in for the Games. Satari has agreed to let me do this, and she goes home to bring in my pack, which I packed before I left this morning. The tents are allowed around the outside of the square, and I continue watching until Satari returns. I quickly set up my tent and sleeping bag, head closest to the door, and say goodnight to my friends, who leave me for the night, and change into my sleep clothes. I watch the deaths, all eleven, and check the screen once more, before slipping into my sleeping bag and closing my eyes.

I wake to the sound of screaming.

I quickly roll over and unzip the door, poking my head out of the tent to watch the screen, the cool night air chilling my skin. The Careers have found a girl, from District 8 I think, who's lit a fire without thinking of the consequences, and have surrounded her, weapons raised. She's pleading with them, but they're just laughing. Peeta's standing off to the side, his spear dangling by his side. Cato thrusts his sword through the girl's chest and they laugh as she collapses to the ground. They move away and wait a few minutes, but no cannon goes off. They argue until Peeta silences them, going back to finish her. It's then that the camera shows the girl from District 12 hanging from the tree above them. She's listening intently as they continue their argument in hushed tones, this time about whether Peeta should stay or go. They've just made their decision to keep him until they find Katniss when he returns. Then the cameras show Katniss, strapped into a tree, right above the Careers. They leave, completely oblivious to their enemy hanging mere metres above them. I zip the tent back up and lay back down, enveloped in the warmth of my sleeping bag. My eyelids slide shut, my breathing slows, and I fall asleep.

Nothing happens during the morning, the tributes still taking stock of their surroundings, organising their supplies. Nothing happens until mid-afternoon, when the boy from 3 becomes the focus of one of the screens. He's trekking through the forest, exhausted and dehydrated, no supplies with him, and ever so easy to pick off. To my surprise, he emerges from the trees near the Careers' camp at the Cornucopia. The Careers spot him almost immediately, but he simply raises his hands in a gesture of surrender. He continues making his way towards them, hands always raised, until he stands only a few metres from them.

"What do you want?" Madison asks him, a short spear in her hand, not raised, but still a threat.

"To help you," he replies in a nasally voice.

"You know him?" Marvel says incredulously.

"I met him in the lift," she replies defensively. "How can you help us, Drew?" she asks him.

He gestures to the pile of supplies. "You want them to last? I can protect them for you. I know a way to keep them safe; without having someone guarding them."

"What do you propose?" Clove asks, lowering her knife slightly.

"I'd need your help to do it, but it can be done. I know how to reactivate the mines under the plates. If you stacked up the supplies and dug some holes where I tell you, then I could make a trap around the supplies. None of other tributes would have a clue."

"Do it. Show us where to put the supplies and where to dig the holes and we'll do it," Cato says.

The boy tells them what to do and they get to work. Glimmer and Marvel move the supplies; Cato and Peeta dig the holes to put the mines in, and Clove and Madison dig up the mines and sit them next to the new holes. The mines are harmless now, but sure to be deadly once Drew gets his hands on them. Drew sits in the shade of the Cornucopia, patching up his wounds and rehydrating himself. Already he looks better, but he'll never win. Cato's given him a spear, and he sits inspecting it until the others are done. He gets to work, leaving the others to discuss him, but Peeta stays with him, gently covering the activated mines with dirt once Drew's finished with them. The other Careers discuss what they're going to do with their new recruits. In the end, they decide to kill Peeta once they've killed Katniss, and they initially decide to kill Drew once he's finished with the mines, but decide to keep him alive a little bit longer, and leave him to guard the supplies while the rest of them go hunting. They don't finish until the light is nearly gone, and then they sleep, leaving Drew to guard. Nobody has died today, but everything's going to start getting interesting pretty soon.

We're getting bored.