For those of you who felt that last chapter was the calm before the storm, you were right.

Bravo Turner, 15
District 4 Male Tribute

"Four empty water bottles, ten iodine drops...no food. We have to go hunting."
Rowena ran her fingers through her hair, then frowned when they got stuck in the tangles. "Easy. Just get us some more coconuts. There's plenty of them."

That sounded good to me. After spending a few minutes knocking down coconuts and carving them open, we managed to replenish our food supply. Rowena and I each dug into a half, drinking the milk and pulling off pieces of the flesh. As we packed up, we ran into a slight problem. We had no space in our bags to shove the coconuts in. I didn't feel like carrying them either.

Rowena dug through the supplies. "Let's see...can we get rid of something we don't need...like the tarp?"
"Are you kidding me? We need the tarp!"
"For what? I don't see you using it."

"For..." I gave it some thought. "What if we just dump all the coconuts in there? We can tie a knot and one of us can just drag the tarp behind us. Then, there's more room in the bags."
"Bravo, you're a genius! Why did I think of that sooner?"

Easier said than done. The tarp was huge and hard enough to drag on its own, especially after it was weighed down by coconuts and crossing the rough and uneven sand. But I preferred that over carrying everything on my back. A spinal injury would be pretty unwelcome.
Rowena marched in front of me, hefting her spear. She seemed pretty happy today. "This way to water! I think...whatever, we'll figure it out."

After a long march, we didn't seem to be any closer towards water. That didn't discourage Rowena. She turned around and led me in a different direction...until we heard distant voices and both of us stopped moving. I wanted to hide, but I couldn't risk any noises. The tarp would certainly alert the tributes of our location. The voices echoed in and out of earshot; I only caught bits of the conversation.

"...hurry up!"
"I'm coming...coming!"
"Let's go...way this time."

There was a huff of annoyance form one of them, then they were gone. Rowena lowered her spear. "It's that power alliance."
"Which one?"
"You know...the alliance between District 1 and 2? The ones killing everybody back on Day 1?"

The memories came flooding back. "I see. I'm guessing that we might not be too far from their base if we were able to run across them. There's a lot of space in here."
"We should go after them!"
"Are you crazy!?"

Rowena flashed me a smile. "We need to thin out the competition somehow."
"Fine, but there's at least three of them. We don't know what kind of weapons they might have. Even if we attack them by surprise, they still have a good chance of overpowering us."
"Honestly, you're no fun. But I wanna get closer to their base. That way, when time comes to kill them-"

"If."
Rowena sighed. "Bravo, I can't tell whether or not it's intentional how much you suck at this. We've gotten far standing around and doing all of Virgil's bidding, but it's just us now. That's gotten boring; we really can't lie about any longer. We need to take action! If we start eliminating some of the other tributes, we're proving ourselves to be contenders. And there's less of a risk of us getting attacked. It would be better in the long run."

"Are the risks really worth the trouble?"
"Well, I think they are."

I understood where Rowena was coming from. I understood her strategy. Part of me agreed, but another part was still on the fence. "I have a better idea. We should try and camp as close to their base as we can, without them noticing. Study their tactics, their routine, stuff like that. We could try training each other to learn their signature moves so we know how defend ourselves against them. And at some point...maybe when they're all sleeping...we can launch a surprise attack. But without either of us dying."

Rowena tapped her chin in thought. "That's...that's crazy enough to work. See Bravo, this is what I'm taking about! We're taking risks, we're making plans. Come on, let's go set up camp before they come back."

Kyliana Carter, 15
District 7 Female Tribute

I can see my rib.

My clothes felt bigger than they did a few days ago. I lifted up my shirt and examined my chest. It looked thinner then I remembered and there was a small lump of skin visible. A bone. My bone. I poked it and instantly recoiled at my own touch.

Picking up my water bottle, I sloshed around the water inside it. Half full. Half empty. Didn't matter. It would all be gone within the next day and I'd have nothing left. Time to go look...for something. Food. Water. Anything. Anything to keep me alive and kicking.

Get up. Move about. Look around. Find a bush, no edible berries. Find a line in the sand, no water trickling through. Tip the water bottle as much as you can, hoping to catch a drop of something. Tip back the spile, looking for a drop of liquid you may have missed. You hear an animal. You can't find it, you can't catch it. You want to climb the jagged trees to reach what's at the top, but you can't.

Your stomach feels empty. You feet feel heavy. Everything has been drained from you. Physically, mentally, emotionally. You don't even know what's happening anymore, just going through the motions. You would cry yourself to sleep over your situation, but you're just too tried. Everything about you screams tired. You're so tired, you could drop dead and never wake up.

Yet you keep on surviving.

It would be easy to just die, wouldn't it? I could just die. I was already on my journey to death's door. But I didn't want to die, not yet.

If I died, I'd let everyone down. My parents, my brother. My friends. My district. Seine...oh Seine...what would she say if she knew I gave up and died because I couldn't handle not having an ally next to me? Eagle...what would he think, if he knew I rolled over and let myself go because I couldn't stand being alone?

What would I think about myself?

As usual, I wandered about, looking, looking. Look for something, beneath that tree, behind that rock. Nothing. It's always nothing. There's nothing there for you. Just move on with your life and keep searching because you haven't looked over here yet and-

Someone's here.

I saw them before they saw me. I only a brief glimpse of dark brown skin and a shiny blade before they ducked behind a large rock wall, leaving me standing by myself.
"Um...hello?"
I got no reply.

"Hi..." My voice sounded hoarse. "I...I don't believe we've met before...I'm Kyliana...from District 7. Remember?"
All I could see was the hand holding the blade. A hatchet. It shook slightly. The other person didn't reply.

"I'm sorry...you probably think I'm going to kill you. I'm not! I swear! It's just...it's nice having someone to talk to again."
Half a face peered at me. The brown eye blinked. I noticed the dark circles underneath it this person looked as exhausted as I felt.

"You must be...I'm not sure. I'm sorry."
the face disappeared as the person jumped back, out of my view.

"Wait, wait! I said I was...okay...I'm going to approach, okay? I'll be slow. If...just tell me, right? We don't...we just have to talk."

I put one foot then, and the other right in front of it. Bit by bit, I made my way towards the tribute. Slowly, carefully. They peeked out at me again and their eyes narrowed.
"Are...are you alright? Can I do something to help-"

Suddenly, I felt something slam into my chest and the world exploded with pain.

Everleigh McArvin, 16
District 7 Male Tribute

BOOM!

Shit, shit, shit!

Some sort of instinct kicked in and I found myself running for my life. Someone was dead. Someone was dead, killed by an unseen force and now, they were coming for me!

What are you running from!? You're all by yourself! Nobody cares enough to try and come kill you! And so what, another tribute bit the dust. Big stinkin' deal. You're in the Hunger Games, honey. You've seen it before. You know how this works.

"No! Stop! Leave me alone! I'm not gonna die!"

In my haste to escape, to get away from whatever was after me, I tripped. Dazed I stumbled to my feet. "Ow...oh no."
I tripped over a human leg.

I got to my feet and immediately felt the urge to vomit. The remains of a dead girl were all around me.
"Ky...Kyliana!?"

It wasn't my district partner. It wasn't Kyliana. It was a corpse that looked like her, with a giant gash in the forehead and severed limbs. The arms and legs lay far away from the rest of her body, as it her killer tossed them about once they hacked them off. Her body had been ripped open; I could see some of the internal organs showing through. Her head had also been chopped off from her torso and her face permanently stuck in an expression of pain.

"Oh Kyliana...who in Panem did this to you?"

Careful not to step on her remains, I reached over and pressed my fingers against her eyes, forcing them shut. If she wasn't so mangled, she would've looked like she was in a peaceful eternal sleep. I bowed my head and moved on.

A small tear trickled down the side of my face. I brushed it away and continued to stumble about. Suddenly, I stepped on something soft but narrow and my foot slipped off it. I glanced down; rope circled my foot. Before I even had a chance to react, it tightened and I felt myself flying upwards before I jerked to a sudden stop and slammed against a tree. Hard.

I wanted to scream. The tree's rough edges tore at my clothes and skin. There was something dripping down my back. I caught sight of tree from the corner of my eye.
It had my blood smeared all over it.

"Mark!? Mark! It worked!"

A young girl eagerly ran up to me, the bag on her back bouncing up in down. She gave me a sly grin. "I can't believe it. That dumbass actually invented something that worked."
"Let me down! Let me down!"
"Josie?" A slightly older boy, perhaps Mark, approached us. He fiddled with something in his ear. "Oh, I didn't think...oh my god."

"Please!" I tried to grab at the rope around my foot. I couldn't. "Let me go, please! I'll do anything! I'll give you all I have!"
A hand slipped into my pocket and pulled out my dagger. "It's not like you have much," Josie said. "But I'll be keeping this. Mark, get our dagger!"

"Yeah..." Mark hesitated. "Alright...let's...let's bring her down-"
"Yes, please! Put me down! I'll do anything!"
"Are you kidding!? The one time your stupid trap finally worked and now you want to give your game away!?"

My back felt like it was on fire. "No! You can't! You can't kill me! I don't wanna die!"
"I can't kill her, Josie!"
"She's going to die anyways! Look at all that blood!"

Blood!? To my horror, the blood was traveling down my body and dripping onto the sand. I felt slightly dizzy. Oh shit...oh please, no...no!
"I can't...I can't do this..."
"Hurry up, you idiot! Would you rather you let her painfully bleed out all over the place!? She's not going to survive!"
"I...I..."

I'm going to die I'm going to die I'm going to die-

"Please don't! Don't kill me!"
Mark gripped the dagger with shaking hands.
"Please no...I don't wanna die...please...no..."

"I'm so sorry."

Mark Giblet, 15
District 3 Male Tribute

What have I done!?

I killed someone. I slit the dagger across her throat and thought nothing of it. I killed and it all seemed to easy. But it wasn't. I wanted to scream, wanted to cry, wanted to punch the tree, wanted to run away from everything and throw myself into the water.

"Is...is she really...?"
Josie finished the deed with a plunge of a dagger into the heart. Th cannon sounded off right after. "She didn't have to suffer for long."
"I...I killed someone."

"Mark."

I killed someone. Me. I killed an innocent who was already on the verge of death and had nothing, yet I went and took away her life because I thought she would suffer less. Did she suffer? I had no idea. But what a coward I was. I could've let her go, like she wanted, and she could've died in peace, not spending her final moments in my stupid trap with my dagger in her face!

"Mark?"

She probably died hating me. Her district probably hated me. Her family...her friends, she had people rooting for her to come back alive, just like I did. And I forced them all to watch her die. I tortured them, leaving her hanging and bleeding out in my trap while I debated which way I was going to kill her and I still didn't make the right decision!

Josie grabbed my arm. "Mark!"

"Don't touch me!"

I slipped in the sand and tumbled over. With trembling arms and sweaty palms, I grabbed the dagger and pointed it at my chest. Josie's eyes flew wide. "What are you doing!? Stop!"
I'm a murder...what have I done...I'm a murder.

hands grabbed my wrists. Josie. She wrestled the dagger form my grasp and threw it in the sand beside her. Clutching each other's hands, we lay on the ground. Josie was muttering something. I couldn't hear her at all. Minutes passed. They felt much longer than that.

Finally, Josie spoke. "I killed her too."
"I know."
"I'm just as guilty as you."
"You're awfully calm."

"Well...one of us needs to be calm about it. Since you're a mess right now..."
I let Josie yank me to my feet. "Let's...hey might need to collect the body...let's just go..."

Carefully, we lowered the body down. I just looked...perhaps, if it wasn't for all the blood...it might have been easy to believe...
"Mark, you coming!?"
"Yeah...in a second..."

Blinking back tears, I just stared. At the girl whose throat I just slit. "I'm...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...if you can, forgive me...if not...I understand..."
"Mark! Hurry up!"
"I'm coming! I'm coming."

Current Alliances:

Careers Plus a Pipsqueak: Leonidas, Challis, Victoria, Thames

D4 Loyalty: Bravo, Rowena

Shit Just Got Real: Mark, Josie

Loners: Christopher, Virgil, Shana

Kills:

Leonidas: 1 (Brady)

Challis: 1 (Seine)

Victoria: 2 (Brynnelle, Nicolyn)

Mark: 1 (Everleigh)

Axis: 1 (Nestor)

Virgil: 2 (Axis, Zeke)

Shana: 3 (Desdemona, Kyliana, Gaya)

Josie: 1 (Everleigh)

Other: 2 (Paisley, Eagle)

13th place: Kyliana Carter, District 7. Dismembered by Shana.

I really feel bad for Kyliana, because I personally think I could've done better with her. I had some ideas, but they never worked out properly and she kinda flatlined when it came to character arcs. She got some development and stepped out of her shell a little, but got lost in the story a bit. I had a hard time figuring out what would happen with her, like a puzzle piece that doesn't quite fit. District 9 Tribute, if you're reading, I'm sorry that I could've done better with Kyliana, but I hoped you enjoyed her journey.

12th place: Everleigh McArvin, District 7. Trapped and throat slit by Mark and stabbed by Josie.

I didn't want this, you didn't want this, we all wanted Everleigh to live. She was such a dynamic character with a lot of potential for so many amazing arcs and helped me to grow and learn as a writer, especially when it comes to properly portraying trans individuals. I loved her a lot and toyed with the idea of her becoming my Victor, but I couldn't find a way for it to realistically work. I took a look at some plots that were currently happening and decided to use her death to develop Mark and Josie a little more. EllaRoseEverdeen, thanks for this spectacular girl; this isn't the last we'll hear of her and I hope you keep reading to see what happens next.

Looks like everyone has been hit with the dreaded exam season. And for me too. I'll probably slow down on the writing a bit, especially, because I'm dividing time between this, Psycho Circus, and some other stories, but I will likely have the next chapter out in February. So yeah. See you guys next chapter!