Capri Arello, District 7 (17)

You know that feeling you have when you just wake up? That feeling that's if you're still sleeping and barely conscious of the world, where those first few seconds seem almost dream-like and you exist in a certain numbness. That's how I was feeling. Numb.

I felt lifeless, like someone had hit me over the head with a brick and left me in a state of semi-consciousness. Nothing seemed to register with me anymore, no Hunger Games, no other tributes, no certain death. Nothing. Even my vision seemed blurred together, but that could have just as easily been from my tears than from my dizziness.

Lance's death impacted me much more than I thought it would. I knew that one of us was going to die and that we couldn't survive in our little bubble forever, but now that he was gone my world seemed to be ending too. When had I turned into one of those romantics that you read about it books? Had I really believed that, somehow, Lance and I would both make it out alive? No, I must have known that it would never happen that way. He was dead, and soon I would be too.

I still didn't understand why he had sacrificed himself for me in the way he did. We both knew that he had more of chance of winning the Games that I did. After all, he was a Career from District 4 while I was a nobody from District 7. What chance did I have of winning anyway? All he actually did was give me a few extra days alive in the arena before Sierra came to kill me too. I was going to spend my last few days heartbroken and in fear. I hoped that Sierra would come quickly.

Wiping my wet cheeks with the back of my hand, I slumped down on a small rock that was sticking out of the tall yellow grass. I wasn't going any further. I had given up.

"Chreeeeep."

The strange chirping noise came from my left and I slowly, uncaringly, turned my head to find its source. A large, black-spotted cat was sitting in the long grass besides my rock, looking up at me with its intelligent brown eyes. It blinked at me, its black, tear-like marks running down from its eyes shimmering in the sunlight as it moved its head.

"Chreeeeep."

I sniffed. "Looks like you've been crying too, my friend," I said, smiling sadly at the creature. "What happened to you? Do you also want to die?"

"Chreeeeep."

"I've never heard a cat make a noise like that before," I said, conversationally. "Is that a yes? Have you also given up on everything? I have."

"Chreeeeeeeeeeeeeeep."

The cat swished its tail, turned and disappeared off into the long grass in about a second. Looks like I was abandoned again. I was still puzzling over its sudden departure when I heard a branch snap behind me. Whipping my head around, I turned to face the red-haired girl from District 12. She had a knife in her hand and was pointing it towards me.

I laughed bitterly. "I suppose you're here to kill me," I whispered, looking away. "Well go ahead. I have nothing to live for now anyway."

Vee didn't reply and, when I snuck a glance at her, I noticed that she'd lowered her knife.

"I can't," she said shakily, tossing her knife at her feet. "I just can't."

She stood there, staring at me with her wide grey eyes. She looked a right mess; her hair a mass of fiery tangles and deep lines of dirt drawn across her face, legs and arms. Her clothes were torn in more than one place and the sole of one of her shoes was so badly broken that I could see her toes through the hole in her grey sock underneath. What startled me the most though was her eyes. I remembered those eyes from our days in the training centre. Back then, they had a certain glint to them, like she knew a secret that you didn't and couldn't wait to share. They were the eyes of someone with the spark of life, someone who saw the world with intelligence and had every intention of fighting until the very end. Now those eyes were cold and empty. Lifeless. Those eyes had seen too much heartache in such a short space of time for someone to bare alone, which is what she was doing. They were the eyes of a dead girl walking.

"Would you like something to eat?" I offered, unsure of what to do next. "Since you can't seem to kill me, and I don't really feel like killing you, how about we have some lunch?"

Vee shook her head. "I can't," she repeated.

"Okay…"

We lapsed into silence again. When I looked up at Vee about a minute later, she was still staring at me, her eyes empty.

"Can I help you with something?" I asked, my old temper starting to flare. "Because if not-"

"-Did you know Angela?" she asked suddenly, cutting across me as if she didn't realise that I was speaking to her. "Angela Hopeful Winters, District 8?"

"Um…" I closed my eyes, trying to get a picture of the girl that she was referring to. A small girl with a long black plait came to mind. "Yeah, why?"

"I found her one day, sitting against a tree with two arrows in her stomach. She died while I was still with her. She was only 13."

"People die, Vee, that's the point of the Hunger G-"

"-And Killian Tragster," she continued, interrupting me again. "He died too. Everything was on fire and we were running. He tripped and his hand slipped out of mine and," she sniffed, "and I just left him there. I didn't even try to save him. I could have helped him!"

I remembered that fire too. I fainted from all the smoke and Lance carried me out. That was the second time he's saved my life. The first was in the bloodbath when he let me go instead of impaling me with his spear. Why me? Why was he so persistent with saving me?

I snapped back to reality where Vee was still speaking, her voice raising to a shout as she became more and more hysterical.

"And Shay from District 10! I watched her fall to her death from the edge of a gorge. But the fall didn't kill her immediately and I had to comfort her tiny broken body until her cannon finally went off! And don't forget about Lara Anders. She went crazy after what happened to Shay and attacked the Careers. Sierra shot an arrow right through her neck! But she didn't stop there! She launched herself at her and stabbed her multiple times through the forehead with an arrow. I couldn't even recognise her face when she was through!"

I sat in silence, by eyes wide in horror as Vee started to hyperventilate. Sobs shook the 15-year-old's skinny frame as she wrapped her arms around her stomach, shivering violently. I didn't know what to do.

"I thought Maddie was going to kill me. I wanted Maddie to kill me! But no, I managed to escape by climbing a tree. Maddie tried to climb after me, but slipped and fell back down to where these giant dog-like mutts were laughing, waiting for her. I could have saved her too! She begged me to help her, to pull her to safety, but I ignored her. I let her die! I'm the reason she's dead. I'm the reason they're all dead!" She sunk to her knees. "I don't want to kill anymore. I can't. I want this all to end."

What I did next even surprised me. I got up from my seat on the rock, marched over to Vee and slapped her through the face. She jumped in surprise, her grey eyes widening before narrowing into annoyed slits.

"What the hell was that for?" she demanded, pushing me away. "What the hell? Are you mental?"

"That's for being an idiot," I cried, taking a step towards her. Vee opened her mouth to speak, but I cut across her. "Don't you even think about talking or I'll slap you again!"

Vee abruptly closed her mouth, either too surprised or too afraid of me to offer a retort.

"Now you listen here," I hissed, pushing my so close to hers that I could feel her haggard breath on my cheek. "Stop being so damn right depressing! One thing I've learned recently is that there's no point mourning about those who have left us. They're dead! Dead, dead, dead and not coming back!" I was sobbing too now. Ignoring the tears that had started to stream down my face, I continued. "But we are still alive, Vee! We still have a chance of getting out of her! Back to our families, back to our friends and back to a place where we can just forget about all of the shit that has happened to us here in the arena! We are alive and I intend to stay that way! So stop all this whining and fight! All you need is to still be alive, because being dead really sounds like it's going to suck!"

Then the weirdest thing happened. Vee threw back her head and started to laugh.

"You're crazy," I muttered. "Completely mental."

Vee just continued to laugh, her whole body shaking now as she struggled to regain composure. Suddenly, the crazy district 12 girl leaped forward, flinging her arms around my neck and laughing into my hair.

"What the hell? Get off me! You're crazy! Let me go!"

Vee ignored me and hugged me tighter, roaring with laughter and, before I knew it, I was laughing too. The whole situation was ridiculous. The Capitol viewers must have been so confused to see two tributes, who just met, clinging to each other and laughing their heads off in the middle of the arena. That picture made me laugh even harder, which made Vee laugh harder too.

Maybe I was just as crazy as she was.

Lexus "Lexi" Annette Deryl, District 6, 15

"Good morning, sleepy-head," said a cheerful voice above me. "Sorry to disturb your slumber, but we really should get moving now."

I yawned and, rubbing my tired eyes, sat up slowly to face my district partner.

"Wow I was tired yesterday," I said, stretching. "I must have fallen asleep before the sun even went down." I paused. "I'm starving! What's for breakfast?"

Vitz grinned. "Fruit and stale bread I'm afraid, but you're probably too hungry to care anyway." He laughed as I grabbed the food he was holding out to me. "Yeah, just as I thought. You know, this is probably the most sleep you've had in consecutive hours since the Games started. Feel refreshed?"

"Eh, sort of," I replied, my mouth full. "Hey, I missed the anthem last night. Was it Capri or Vee who died yesterday? My money is on Vee."

"Actually, it was Maddie."

I nearly choked on my piece of bread.

"What?" I spluttered. "How the hell did that happen? I expected her to get right down to the final two."

"Must have been Sierra," Vitz replied with a grimace. "Looks like she's the last Career standing. No surprise there."

"I do feel a little bit sorry for her though," I said quietly. "Losing her brother and all. I wonder if they were close."

Vitz shrugged. "Doesn't really matter now anyway. I guess they both must have known from the beginning how this would end up."

"Yeah." I sighed. "Vitz, pass me the water, please. I'm parched."

He did and I gulped a few sips down immediately. I was instantly refreshed.

"So I was thinking," said slowly as I screwed the cap back onto the bottle, "that now that we're in the final five, it's time to go our separate ways."

I didn't look up. I just steadily put the bottle down and sighed.

"I was wondering when this would come," I said sadly. "I guess this is probably the best time for it. I don't fancy the idea of having to fight you in the end." I left out the part that said that one of us would most likely die soon on their own which left space for the other to win, but I knew that we were both thinking it.

"So today then?"

I smiled sadly. "Yeah, today."

We finished our breakfast in silence as we tried to come to terms with what we were about to do. The Games had really gotten serious now that we had been narrowed down to only five. Who would have thought that both tributes from District 6 would still be standing? I'd been in an alliance for the whole time here in the arena, and now that Vitz and I were going to split up, I'd have to start playing for real. Would I start hunting down the other tributes, or would I wait for them to pick each other off before they came to find me? What would I do if Vitz and I were in the final two? Could I kill him?

Vitz stood up.

"I divided out our supplies equally into our two bags," he said, trying, but failing, from showing emotion in his voice. "There should be enough there for about three days. Water too, if you use it wisely."

I laughed sullenly. "Do I need to check whether you divided the stuff fairly?"

He ignored me, but I knew that he had in fact been fair. He was Vitz after all.

"I'm going to

"I'm going to walk in the direction that the sun sets," he continued. "Hopefully I'll get a significant distance away before dark." He paused. "Goodbye, Lex. I'm glad to have known you."

"So that's it then?" I asked, folding my arms. "That's the goodbye? After all we've been through?"

"I don't know what else to say. I don't want to make this harder than it already is."

And with those words, my eyes started to tear up. Sniffing, I took a step forward and buried my face into his chest.

"I love you, Vitz," I mumbled, hugging him tightly. "If I don't win, I hope we have a District 6 victory."

Vitz hugged be back. "I love you too, Lex," he said quietly. "Good luck."

I drew back, wiping my eyes. "And I told myself that I wouldn't cry when this happened." I laughed, but quickly stopped when I remembered the seriousness of the situation. "I wish we could both make it out of here."

"I wish we could have all made it out of here, all 24 of us." He sighed, smiling sadly. "Goodbye, Lexi."

"Goodbye."

He turned and started to walk away, one arm raised over his shoulder for a last wave. I stared at his retreating figure, remembering the first time I had ever laid eyes on the boy. He used to come watch my street-fighting matches when he was younger. I knew it was him; I would remember that spikey orange hair anywhere. I hadn't said a word to him before I visited him in the training centre to talk about our alliance. Did I regret that? Not knowing him until now? It would have probably made saying goodbye more difficult.

Vitz's outline was becoming smaller and smaller, so I lifted my pack across my shoulders and started to walk away in the opposite direction, my sword swinging at my side. I smiled sadly as I remembered the previous owner of that sword. Lee really was a good guy. All the members of my old alliance were good people; Lee, Vitz, Zach and Evelyn. It seemed so long ago that we were all together.

I hadn't gone very far before the attack came. The arrow came out of nowhere, burying itself into my backpack. A few centimetres higher and it would have gone straight through my neck.

"Damn, I missed," said an all-too familiar voice behind me. "Hi Lexi, it's been a while, hasn't it? I've been looking for you everywhere. And what a bonus! Your district partner isn't around anymore. What happened, he got tired of your constant bossiness?"

"Hello, Sierra," I replied with a grimace, turning to face the District 2 girl while slowly drawing my sword. "I would say it's a pleasure to see you again, but we'd both know that I'm lying."

"Well I'm not lying when I say that I'm glad to see you again, District 6," Sierra answered, her green eyes glinting in the midday sunlight. "I've always hoped to be the one to kill you. You caused a lot of trouble for my alliance, you know."

"Aw come now, I couldn't make this easy for you. You need to fight for your victory."

Sierra smiled fakely. "Oh and I will." She pulled her arrow back. "Pity this will be so quick. I would love to see what you've got."

"Well then put down the bow and fight me properly, you coward," I hissed, my grip tightening on my sword as I struggled to buy myself more time. "Come on, draw your sword. Unless you're afraid, of course."

Sierra laughed. "Oh Lexi, you're desperate attempts to keep yourself alive really do make me laugh." She paused. "But you do have a valid point there. It wouldn't really be a victory if I just shot you down where you stood, now would it? And besides," she drew out the long, thin sword from its sheath across her back. "Nic's sword hasn't really had much action since he died."

Without warning, she lunged forward, the tip of her sword missing me by inches as I leaped aside to avoid it. She was quicker than I thought she would be, but my reflexes were highly tuned from my many hours in the ring, do I quickly spun around and stabbed towards her. Sierra dodged easily, coming at me again from the right. I lifted my leg, kneeing her in the stomach as my sword clashed against hers. She was forced backwards, but wasted no time flying at me again.

"You're pretty fast," she panted, her sword coming at me again. "I had my doubts about the high training score they gave you, but I must agree with it now. You would have made I good Career."

I parried her blow, forcing her to lunge sideways as I aimed a roundhouse kick to her midriff. I nearly caught her, but at the last minute she turned on the ball of her foot and swung her sword towards my head. I ducked, but I was slightly too late and I felt the edge of her sword graze the top of my head. I blinked hard as blood started to drip into my eyes.

"Sorry, did I scratch you there?" Sierra asked innocently. "My bad."

She lunged forward again, catching me off guard as I tried to wipe the fast flowing blood off my face. This time I wasn't fast enough to move out of the way. There was a loud clang of metal and my sword clattered to the ground where Sierra kicked it aside. I looked down at it in horror.

"Looks like it's the end for you," said Sierra, straightening up. "You were a good opponent, Lexi, but we both knew who would win in the end."

"I'm not done yet," I panted, squeezing my hands into fists. "I'm far from done."

Sierra grinned menacingly. "Have it your way then."

She lunged forward.

Nothing in the District 6 street-fighting rings could have prepared me for this. Back home, everything was moderately controlled and no weapons were allowed, but here in the arena I was fighting for my life. Sierra genuinely wanted to kill me and wasn't going to stop attacking until she did so. A part of me knew that I was fighting a hopeless battle, but I was not going to give up. The people I loved were watching me from back home. I wasn't going to let them see me die.

I dodged another well-aimed blow and lashed out with my foot in the direction of Sierra's neck. The District 2 girl dodged, but I'd anticipated that and countered with a right hook to her chin. I felt a brief wave of triumph as my fist connected with her jaw bone, but it was short lived because Sierra quickly kicked me in the knee. It was a cheap shot in the ring, but here in the arena it had done its job. I cried out in pain and stumbled, just as I felt the cool end of her sword enter my stomach.

"Good try," she whispered, glaring right into my eyes as she pushed the sword in deeper. "I think you almost had me at one point. Goodbye, Lexi." She ripped the sword out.

Pain erupted from my stomach, burning white hot as it spread across my entire body. I cried out as Sierra's parting words echoed the ones that I'd heard just an hour earlier, back when everything was still in place. I screamed as the pain flooded through me. Every nerve was on fire and I opened my mouth to make one last involuntary cry.

"Vitz!"

Vitz Morales, District 6 (18)

"Vitz!"

I recognised the scream instantly.

"Lexi!" I shouted, spinning around and sprinting towards the direction of the cry. "Lexi! I'm coming!"

I knew it probably wasn't the smartest idea to go charging off in the direction of whatever was hurting my district partner, especially now since we'd split up and were both trying to win, but I couldn't help myself. She was my friend, and hearing her in pain was too much for me to bear.

"Lexi!"

I heard no answering scream, but her cannon hadn't gone off so she must have still been alive. I just hoped that she could hold on until I got there.

I found her laying in the grass a minute later, dark red blood spilling from the wound in her abdomen and staining the ground besides her. Her eyes were closed, but I could see the struggling movements her chest made as she tried desperately to keep breathing. I didn't know for how much longer she could hold on for. Nothing in my first aid kit could save her now.

"Lexi," I whispered, kneeling down at her side. "Lex, I'm here. I'm here now."

Her blue eyes fluttered open.

"Vitz," she said weakly, blood spilling from her open mouth and running down her cheek. "You're a little late, my friend. You have to go."

I took her hand, shaking my head. "No, not this time." I replied softly. "You need me now. More than ever."

Lexi smiled and closed her eyes again. "Thank you for coming," she whispered. "I don't want to die alone. I'm scared."

"Shhhh," I hushed, letting go of her hand and pulling her onto my lap. "Don't be afraid." I hugged her frail body. "Everything will be okay. I promise."

"It better be, or else I'm coming back to haunt you."

I chuckled sadly. Even in death, Lexi still tried to make things seem lighter than they already her. That was her magic.

"You're family needs you, Vitz," she said weakly, taking hold of my hand again as tears began to leak from the corners of her eyes. "Corolla and Celica need you. Go back to them."

I felt my eyes begin to water and I squeezed her hand tightly. "I will," I promised. "I'll win, for both of us. I'll take care of your family too, I promise."

Lexi smiled and looked up at me gratefully. "Thank you," she whispered. "You're a good guy, Vitz. If anyone deserves to win, it's you."

"You deserved to win too, Lex," I said softly, brushing some of her brown hair off her bloodied face. "We all did."

Lexi was quiet after that, unable to find the strength to speak. I just sat there, stroking her hair and holding her hand until I noticed that Lexi wasn't looking at me anymore. She was staring passed me, as if focused on something in the distance. Her tears were still fresh on her face and a small smile played on her lips. Whatever she was looking at, it made her happy.

Her cannon rang out and I closed her eyes, still not letting go of her hand.

"Goodbye Lex," I whispered, the tears finally spilling over. "I'll win for you. That's a promise." I kissed her wet cheek and crossed her hands over her chest. "Good luck."

"Oh how touching," said a sneering voice behind me. "Now stand up so I can kill you on your feet."

Sierra vs. Vitz…who do you think will win?

This chapter was difficult to write. Lexi has been one of my personal favourites from the beginning, but sadly by victor was chosen by chance and not by my favouritism. If that's how things worked, Nic would have won.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed my last chapter. It really means a lot to me and I hope that you will all review again this chapter. We're now down to the final four and my next chapter might be my last one for this story. Should I write a quick epilogue before starting the sequel, just so you all know how our victor ended up? It might also be closure for the families who lost love ones. Let me know in a review

Oh yes, another thank you to everyone who send me tributes for my next story about the 51st Hunger Games. I was organising them this morning and it makes me happy to see what I wonderful bunch of creative tributes I get to write about next. Thanks for that!

Thanks for reading and please review