Lanie Mather POV

I felt different, like I'd done something so terrible I could never be the same. Luxen attacked me. I shouldn't have felt guilty. But there was no getting around that I'd killed him. It was one thing to know someone deserved to die, and another thing to do it yourself.

My side was throbbing and it felt warm. I knew it was getting infected, no matter how much I tried to keep it clean. It was getting harder to walk. I knew if the Games went on much longer, it would kill me. There just wasn't anything I could do. I could try to kill everyone else first, but I didn't know if I could bear it.

It was like a sign from the heavens when I saw the parachute. I stretched up to grab it and winced at the pain in my side. I sat back down and pressed one hand to the wound while I opened the package with the other.

I knew it could only be one thing, and I was right. A tub of cream was inside the package. I daubed it on my wound and it went numb right away. Somehow, I could feel it healing me. There was a blanket along with it. It was folded tight, and when I unfolded it, it was big and thin. If I sort of draped it over some broken grass, it could make a makeshift shelter. It wasn't cold enough that I needed one, but it would be amazing to stay dry when it next rained. I felt my spirits rising as the cream rejuvenated me. Things were looking up.

Troy Cahill POV

Olivine slipped away sometime last night. She knew we didn't have much time before we'd fight, and she didn't want to fight me next. I preferred to save that battle for later as well, so it all worked out.

I was almost annoyed when I got my first parachute. In six days, they hadn't sent us anything. All I'd eaten in that time was two eggs and half a chicken. I felt my strength flagging and wondered if they were going to let us all starve.

I tossed aside the water bottle I found in the package. It had beenr raining enough that I hadn't had to worry about that. I eagerly opened the other package, expecting to find the food I needed. When I saw the contents, I groaned. It was a box of stupid chocolates. They smelled great and I was happy to have food at all, but I needed fuel, not sweets. Trust the Capitol to send that. Crag was probably tearing his hair out. How are those people the ones that run the country?

River Summers POV

It was almost a thrill to hunt. It never seemed to sink in that I was hunting people, and I vaguely comforted myself with the thought that I wouldn't hurt someone who couldn't hurt me, like Alice. If it had just been animals I was hunting for food, I could have come to enjoy it. But I knew when the time came to actually kill, I'd remember what I was really doing.

In this Arena, I had to keep moving, since I left a trail. As I avoided the Careers, I wondered who I'd next cross paths with. All but one of us were going to die, and I would possibly be the one to kill some of them. When I next saw someone, which of us would kill and which of us would die?

I wasn't expecting a parachute. I had food and water, and my knife was good enough. I hope it's socks, I thought as I opened it. My own socks were crusty and rough against my feet from getting wet and sweaty so many times.

It was something even better: three tarts filled with different types of jam. It was silly of the Capitol to send food like that, but I was glad they did. They all smelled amazing, and I couldn't help myself. I ate one in three bites and savored the huge mouthfuls of flaky crust and raspberry jam. It tasted like the berry patches back home. There was another package with it, and I opened it. It held a bottle of water, some bug spray, and a knife. I set the knife aside and sprayed myself with the repellant. The mosquitos weren't so bad, but every night I felt the ground under me squirming lightly with creepy-crawlies. I hoped it worked on all of them.

I picked up the knife and examined it. We see a lot of knives in Seven. This one wasn't like my whittling knife. It was lighter than it looked, and its blade was six inches long and an inch thick. It tapered at the end and stopped at a sharp upward hook. There was a groove on the side that I knew was to funnel blood away from the handle. It wasn't a knife for bringing things into the world. It was a knife made to take them out.

Bambi Kirkland POV

I saw what Velvet was talking about. Those other Tributes weren't like us. They weren't important, and I could kill them when the time came. I didn't even have to be a cold, scary monster. Mars could be nice to the people he cared about. He just had to be brave when he needed to be.

"Hey," Velvet said. She pointed out a long package in the sky. It had a box at one end, like they were sending us a really long trident. I saw the 10 on the bottom and knew it was mine. When it reached the ground, we opened it.

"Why did they send you flowers?" Velvet asked when she saw the boquet of rainbor striped lilies.

"They're for you," I said. I picked them out and handed them to her on one knee. "But they are not as fair as you." She took them and sniffed them dramatically.

"You're too kind," she said. Luckily, there were practical things in the box, too. The long part was a staff, and there was a bottle of bug spray under it. Velvet cheered as we spritzed ourselves. I'd caught a tick crawling up my sock, and that was enough for me. It felt good to have a weapon. I could better protect Velvet with it. I could do whatever I had to.

Velvet Tek POV

Bambi must have made peace with what we had to be. He seemed cheerful again, and I was glad for him. My own package appeared not long after his. We cheered when we saw the steam rising off it, and we cheered more when we saw the four loaded backed potatoes inside. I was even happier when I saw the crossbow. I'd never seen a Tribute use a crossbow, but I'd fallen in love with it in training. It was easier to aim than a normal bow, and it wasn't flashy like a sword. Between that and Bambi's staff, we were ready to fight close up or far away. I almost missed the slip of paper around its handle.

Please come back. I miss you.

Miss you too, Toby, I thought. I hoped he was all right, and I'd do my best not to break his heart.

We sat together and ate potatoes like two kings, sour cream on our faces and bits of bacon in our teeth. We watched the stars come out and they looked wonderful, even if we could only see a little bit past the grass.

"What are you going to do first when you get back home?" I asked.

"I'm going to read some books," Bambi said right away.

"Is that all you ever do?" I asked with a giggle.

"Yeah, pretty much. I know a ton of stories though," he said.

"Tell me one?" I asked.

"Okay. Let me think of one," he said. He paused for a moment and went on.

"... After that, Edmund knew there was no room for love anymore. His heart grew hard and he prepared to fight. All around him there were enemies, in the prison and outside. He couldn't show any of them mercy if he wanted to win back his love. Most of all, he had to kill Danglars..."

I waited a while to write this because I keep tabs on the reviews to see who's in and who's out, and I wanted to make sure I got them all. I ended up just stringing together all the sponsors anyway. I think I got them all, and if I missed any I can put them in the next chapter.

I noticed Troy's POV was a little short, so I have him penciled in for more attention soon.