IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE, PLEASE DO NOT SKIP!

HELLO! I actually managed to update twice this month! Exams are now over so now I just have to start preparing for university interviews (I already have two offers and an interview at the end of this week :D) and the exams in June!

So, there weren't very many voters on the poll, it is still up there and PLEASE go and vote! I want to know who you want POVs from! So, as requested, Aiden and Romeo have POVs in this chapter as well as some others we haven't heard from in a while! The poll is still up and all those who died and have POVs in this chapter have been taken off the poll. Remember you can vote for up to 6 tributes!

Also, I've decided to change the sponsor points system. In total from all the reviews, there are 182 sponsor points on offer. What I intend to do, is that ANYONE can use these sponsor points to send any of the tributes items. As people review, there will be points added with the same policy of 1 review = 1 sponsor point. So don't go all rushing now otherwise it'll all be gone soon. So that means that you are welcome to sponsor tributes as much or as little as you wish and you can sponsor those who aren't your tributes. I am sending my tributes nothing so those who want to send Archie, Carlie or Electron something are very welcome to! At the beginning of each chapter, I will say how many points are left.

WARNING: the mutts are things that many people have a) guessed correctly already and b) will be familiar with. I apologise in advance.

Also, I would like to give a shout out to fanfic author belle of the ball s2. They are running an SYOT, the first ever Hunger Games, and they need tributes! Please go and check out their profile and fill in the form, it is a great idea and I've entered a tribute!

Oh and THANK YOU for surpassing the 200 review mark! It made me so happy and I had the biggest grin on my face! I hope you enjoy the chapter and please leave your thoughts!

County 17 – Aiden Felmerson (15)

Phillip is getting restless. As the undisputed leader of the alliance, over the last few days, has it really been nearly a week since we entered the games, we have got to know each other rather well. Phillip has this thing where he plays with his token, a gold locket that he must have something inside because he won't let anyone see it. Obviously it can't be anything awful or dangerous because everyone who had tokens had them inspected and checked to make sure they couldn't give anyone an advantage in the arena. I heard that a couple of people did get their tokens confiscated, I feel lucky that I didn't get my token confiscated. It isn't as if it would be very useful, a thin rope bracelet that little Enya gave me to 'keep me safe' as she put it.

The 'sun' has just risen to see the new day in the arena. Phillip was on watch and I can see him looking out over the arena. We are fairly near the edge of the arena; at least we think we are because everything just seems to keep stretching out beyond us. We travelled for a good day, the three of us did rather well at the Cornucopia, with Phillip grabbing two backpacks and Lia turns out to be rather resourceful by grabbing her preferred weapon, throwing knives. None of us have spoken about Tylin since we saw her face in the sky on the first day, none of us can really bring ourselves to. That is what she has said although I am not so sure about her; there is something that doesn't seem so right about her. She got a seven in training which isn't bad, I mean I got an 8 so she is nearing in my ability, but that just doesn't seem right when she has done practically nothing since we formed an alliance with her merely out of pity. She reminds me a little of Enya and she seems to be a little on the joking side which I think is why we have bonded.

"How much food have we got left?" Lia asks as she sits up.

We've all been slightly wary of how much food we eat as the arena has seemed to provide no food of any sort and no sponsors have been near us just yet. However I have a feeling that the arena will change like it did and I'm trying to formulate as to how the arena outfit we have will help us. It makes us stand out from the rest of the green arena and seeing as the three of us are from different districts and have exactly the same costume design, it is most likely that the other tributes are the same. We haven't come across any other tributes since the bloodbath which has been a small mercy but it is strange seeing as, beside the three of us, there are 39 other tributes in the arena.

I check the backpacks that are near me. "Not much." I admit. "Enough for us to last two, three days maximum."

Phillip nods. "Let's stick with those beef jerky strips."

And no one can dispute with him. I can tell from the glint in his eye that we will come across some tributes today or the next, just who or where will be a more interesting thought.

County 3 – Romeo Montgomery (16)

"A plague on both your houses." I groan, recreating the moment from Shakespeare's most famous play.

Giyran and Sebastian are watching with amusement as I recreate the scene I was going to do for the County 3 talent show. Both of them know the play well; I am glad I have allies who appreciate Shakespeare as much as I do. If we had lived in County 3 or the Capitol with each other, I think we would have been good friends. It has taken a couple of days for Sebastian to open up to us, he has been reclusive and silent for the most part but now he is used to us and we have convinced him enough that we are not hell bent on killing him as soon as his back is turned, he is an amusing and extremely intelligent gentleman.

I fall back and hold my freeze frame of not moving or breathing before the boys applaud. I sit up and grin at them. "Impressive, I must say." Sebastian lets a rare smile slip through. "If any of the others are good in comparison to you, I would bet that you would have won the competition."

I shrug. "Yeah, but this was a county where the specialism is books and therefore people are more in tune with this kind of thing."

Giyran cocks his head. "Well I thought it was good. Who took over your role?"

I smile at the memory of my goodbyes, the kiss from Maria and the present from Thomas. "My best friend, Thomas Fairbanks." I take the book out of my backpack; well at least the one that I got from the Cornucopia when I had finished fighting…gosh, what was the name? I feel so bad all of a sudden; I can't remember the kid that I killed. Miri would be so ashamed of me…

"Graphite." Sebastian can tell what I'm thinking about, it is slightly creepy. "Graphite Mark Grey. That was the name of the kid, and Robin Robyns."

"The boys who will forever be on our conscience." I reply, bowing my head slightly before holding out my token. "This was my token, the complete works of Shakespeare, it was my father's."

Giyran reaches out and takes it as I stare into the distance, thinking about the boys. The Graphite kid was my age; will I ever be able to forgive myself? "And then in dreaming," Giyran read, randomly opening a page, "the clouds me thought would open, and show riches/Ready to drop upon me."

I laugh, shaking my head and finishing off the monologue. How brilliant that Giyran should choose Caliban's speech from The Tempest. "That when I waked/I cried to dream again."

County 16 – Nuse Riobe (16)

I'm completely and utterly bored. This arena bores me, there is no one around, and everyone seems to have been hidden by the Gamemakers around the arena. How could I have been here for five days and not seen a soul? Of course I have seen the Careers; it isn't exactly hard to notice them. How dare they not taken me into the Pack, they don't deserve my presence there. They should have been grateful that I was even gracing them with their presence and their rejection will mean their demise. I will ensure that will occur, for I will be the one to do it.

I am fairly sure that I am reaching this mound that I've been seeing grow ever since the start of the Games and I am intrigued. I am sure that I am not the only one who will be heading there but of the 42 tributes that are left, myself included, I know that I am by far the most superior tribute here.

The mound seems to be strange, there is something not quite right about it. The door in the side of the mound is one thing for certain and I can either go straight to the top and survey my domain, the land that is mine. Or I can go inside and find out what is waiting for me, riches and plenty of sponsor gifts which I am disgusted not to have received yet.

I can survey my kingdom later, right now my inquisitive instincts are taking over and I dash into the mound. I managed to salvage a backpack from the Cornucopia, there were so many of them that it wasn't hard to grab one and go before I could be bothered with dealing with the tributes that need to be killed. That is everyone else's job until they are all dead and I am the winner. Oh, no doubt I will have to kill when the time comes, but now is not my time. Reaching into my backpack, I grab the flashlight that I found in there; for once it seems as if the Gamemakers are being nice to me. They have bothered with something that might be useful.

I switch it on and am surprised by the mossy walls that seem to surround them. I walk deeper, it seems to be some sort of passage, and it has to lead somewhere. And sure enough it does and I have to stop myself from screaming. For there, right in front of me, is a mass of colour. I can't tell exactly what they are, but they are huge teddy bear sort of things with strange rectangles on their stomachs and a weird something on the top of their heads. And there are dozens of them, all asleep. Are they waiting for something?

I have to get out of there. "A friend!" I recognise that voice and I stop right in my tracks. For that is the voice of Aledy, my little sister.

Turning back around to face the monsters, I see that one of the smallest type of…oh gosh they're mutts…things, one of the red ones, has opened their eyes and is standing. I can't move, I don't have any weapons on me and I can't defend myself from whatever they are. And so I do the only thing I can, I run.

"Please Nuse, please don't go." It is the pleading voice that stops me again; I can never refuse my little sister anything. But it isn't her! I shake my head, this isn't Aledy, they've used her voice or something, and it isn't actually her there.

I turn to face her; perhaps replying is the best option. "I'm sorry Aledy, I have to go. I'll play later." I try to sound reasonable.

And then the mutt does something that I don't expect. The rectangle that is in its tummy, opens, the grey flap seems to slide up. And my eyes widen in shock as I see what is inside. "No, you can't go." The voice is firm and the mutt reaches down, scarily human like, and presses a button.

County 18 – Reid Shackleford (18)

BOOM!

The first cannon of the day sounds. Wow, these deaths are happening fast and furiously. That must mean there are 41 of us left in the arena, that means that is just over half of us still alive, after five days. This so called most epic Games ever will be so short. I suppose that when there are fewer tributes in the arena, hopefully it'll become bigger because why do I get the feeling that this arena is REALLY small? I don't really get why the Gamemakers have made it so small, perhaps they want it to be over as soon as possible. If I make it out of this alive, I'll make sure that I forget about this whole experience as soon as possible. That was why I made only one ally, and I only made an alliance with her so that she could be protected. I don't want her to be let down. But as soon as we make the top 20, I'm going to have to split with her. I don't want to have to be the one who will kill her, I can't do that.

Every night, the Damien kid from 15 comes to haunt me. I killed him; I killed an innocent boy in cold blood at the bloodbath. Cordelia has never asked me about it and I am grateful, I don't want to talk about it, however much I may think about it. He was just 15 for crying out loud, how could I have been so inhumane?

I don't want to think about it, I can't think about it. You have to be reasonable to be able to survive something like the Hunger Games, I should know as I've been watching them ever since I was three. I was fascinated by the mutts and now? Now that I'm actually taking part in them were although I haven't seen any mutts, the possibility of them making an appearance any day now is fairly high. I mean, in the Quarter Quell they had the right from the start, in all those different sections, that was extremely clever. I wonder what kind of mutts they're going to have this time. Perhaps more than one type, different from anything I've seen.

"They've already released the mutts." Cordelia speaks; she knows what I'm thinking about. "The Trei girl from yesterday, it said mutation underneath her name."

We both shiver; the poor girl cannot have had a pretty death. In fact, I do vaguely remember seeing a girl's body being lifted up yesterday that did not look pretty, but I don't remember whether it was Selena or Gina. I feel for whoever it was. "Do you think they've been released into the arena or something different?"

Cordelia frowns; she is good at logical things whereas I am far more practical. "I don't think they are quite into the arena. The body was lifted from over by the mound and the other body yesterday morning was lifted from the other mound. If they are both mutts' deaths then…"

She trails off and I know exactly what she's saying, they are sending the mutts to get the tributes from both ends of the arena, there is no escaping them.

County 7 – Lorelei McAdams (14)

I am thankful that there have not been any great fights amongst our alliance and that we have not encountered many tributes. There have been a couple of scrapes with a couple of loners but they were no trouble and mainly out of fear, we have not had to kill and peace has been the reigning factor over the last few days. It has been fun getting to know my allies, they are all really lovely people and Carlie is a little sister to all of us, I'm so glad to see her again. Archie is a sweet boy; he is our big brother and looks after us all, being level-headed and surprisingly calm due to his circumstance.

"Are you alright Lorelei?" The voice of Nobie, our fourth and weakest member of the alliance, sounds and I turn. We have settled a good way away from the Cornucopia but, after the deaths at either end by the mounds, we are confined to the middle left side of the arena. Or at least that is what we think it is. It is hard to say.

I nod, bobbing my head in thanks. "Yeah, I'm okay, don't worry Nobie." I turn to Archie who is sorting through what we have.

We managed to do fairly well seeing as none of us were required to kill and yes, Nobie did join us a little later, but we did all run. Archie managed to grab a bow and quiver of arrows which is what he is best with and two rucksacks. Carlie, the resourceful girl, managed to get a couple of throwing knives and I got a third backpack. So we are well stocked. Except for the fact that we have not seen anything living and none of us really fancy turning to cannibalism any time soon, our food supplies are running out fast.

But before I can ask about our supplies, we all at the same time hear two sets of feet. They are slow but they are coming towards us and Carlie hides behind me, Archie grabbing his trusty weapon and Nobie fumbling with the knives, they aren't his strongest point but they are still weapons. I will just have to use my bare hands although the likelihood of the boys allowing us to be near a fight is very unlikely. It isn't that they are sexist; they just want to protect us, valuing our lives above theirs. As they get louder, I hear a panting and moan and I drop my defensive stance.

"Guys, someone's injured." The concern in my voice is evident and Archie frowns slightly but doesn't drop his stance.

"They might be pretending." He speaks with a lower voice than I have ever heard him; he's concentrating on defending us.

The people seem to have heard us because they stop, they can't be more than two mounds away from us. "Please, please help us." I frown as I recognise the voice.

"Who are you?" Archie doesn't raise his voice above his normal tone but it is laced with waning and threat.

The boy's voice is raspy as if he has been travelling for a few days. "I'm Rowan Waxis, county 1. My ally was attacked in the bloodbath and we don't have any supplies. I think he's dying."

My eyes widen as I register who Rowan is and who his ally is. "His ally is Ranen." I speak before Archie can ask and he immediately lowers the bow. We don't attack one of our own, that is the height of disloyalty.

Grabbing our stuff, we managed to salvage a first aid kit out of one of our backpacks; we rush over to where they are. We cannot abandon those we are sworn to protect.

County 1 – Rowan Waxis (14)

Finally, we have managed to come across some people who are willing to help us. No matter how hard I have tried, it has been fruitless trying to get Ranen to safety; we are in the middle of the Hunger Games. But I see Ranen's face look that little bit brighter when he spies Archie and Lorelei come around the corner, I recognise them from his county. I know they won't kill a fellow person from his county or attempt to kill me unless I attack. And with no weapon of my own, I have no intention of trying to attack. I've seen Archie in training with that bow he has in his hand and quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder. He hit the bulls eye every time.

I can't carry him for much longer and Nobie rushes over as I look ready to collapse and we both place Ranen on the ground. Finally I spot the last member of their alliance, little Carlie, one of the two 12 year olds left in the competition. Thinking about it, Ranen is only 13. He's just a kid, a year younger than me.

"Who did it?" Carlie asks timidly as she hands Lorelei the bandages which she is waiting for. The girl seems to know what she is doing and is trying to clean the wound.

It is Ranen who speaks, brave kid. "One of the Fray sisters. She's lethal with her throwing knives."

"Nicolette." Nobie nods. "Or at least she prefers Nikki, I agree." He looks down at the wound and then recoils in disgust. "Hate to say it but she did a good job of cutting you up."

At least someone is trying to lighten the mod as Ranen starts to look paler than normal. Lorelei has her brows furrowed, she is not speaking and she is biting her lip. "I don't know how much this'll work."

Ranen's breath is getting shallower and I hold onto him tighter, I can't lose him. "No Ranen, keep breathing. You have to live, don't slip!"

I can tell that my voice is getting louder and Archie glances me into silence. Ranen looks up at me. "Rowan, you have to keep going, without me. I'm not going to make it this time."

And he closes his eyes; I can feel his body go limp and the cannon sounds. BOOM! Night has fallen around us. "Stay with us." Carlie offers as the first words after I've lost Ranen.

I shake my head, still reeling from seeing the death of someone I cared about. Getting up, I start to run, away from the alliance, away from Ranen, away from it all. And as I do so, I barely notice the faces of Nuse Riobe and Ranen come up in the sky, the word mutation under the former's name and NF2 under Ranen's smiling face. The one thing I do notice, just before I black out, is the ground starting to shake and my blue uniform turning into a solid coal black before I fall to the floor and I black out.

Do you recognise what is happening?! Judging by the outfits of the arena, what do you think is next? The total points score will gain an extra 15 points if anyone correctly guesses what the next arena is!

RIP to the dead tributes:

County 16 - NUSE RIOBE - mutts

County 7 - RANEN HOLLOCK - wounds inflicted by Nikki Fray