(A/N: Welcome back, Hungry Gamers! I would like to highly recommend you read Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth. Ermahgerd, AMAZING books!

No deaths last chapter. Let's see if that changes this chapter, no?)

~Ellie's POV~

I shouldn't feel this way… So why do I? I crumble down to the floor beside a heat block and hold my head in my hands, unable to get those booming words out of my head.

"MEAGHEN CULP: GAME OVER."

She's dead because of me. If I had stayed and we'd fought Kyrain together, we might've beaten him. We may even have allied… But I abandoned her to save my own skin.

She had a family you're going to have to face if you win.

She was going to die anyway, and so were you, if you'd stayed.

I grit my teeth as my conscience wars with me survival instinct. I stand and start to walk, ignoring the cold stabbing into my body as I leave the safety of the heat block.

You're a coward.

You had no choice.

She had a family.

So do you.

Better to have died valiantly than to live a coward.

You'll forget about her. Keep moving.

How many Victors do you know who have forgotten..?

"SHUT UP!" I scream at the top of my lungs, dropping to my knees and hugging myself. The voices don't listen, no matter how much I scream. Eventually, I just give up and let them boil my brain with their jeers and cold reassurances.

It was your first kill technically. Be proud of it.

Abandoning her and letting her get murdered is nothing to be proud of.

It shouldn't mean anything to you. This is the Hunger Games.

It always means something. Nobody who wins the Hunger Games really wins.

Coward.

Survivor.

Coward.

Sensible.

Coward.

Logical.

Coward. Coward. COWARD.

I don't even hear the gunshot, but I am thankful for it. As I feel the energy bullet tear through my back and make my body jerk forward before collapsing face down on the ground, the voices recede and I hear nothing. I feel nothing. And feeling nothing is better than what I was feeling a moment ago. My chest is wet with my blood as my vision begins to close in on me.

'I'm sorry, Meaghen.' is my last mortal thought.

~Trexler's POV~

Wow… My first kill… I slowly lower my weapon as I watch the life drain out of the Seven's body. I tried to make myself feel nothing as I pulled the trigger. The scary thing is, it worked… No guilt, no sadness. I just… did it. I turn around and start away from the girl's dying body, waiting for the cannon to fire. I take two turns and come to the halfway point on the arena right in front of the block forest, before I finally hear it.

"ELLIE JAXS: GAME OVER."

I can't stop now. I trudge into the forest before I have time to feel bad for her family. I notice that it's the same temperature in the thicker block forest as it is outside of it. Ecological fault on the part of the Gamemakers, I suppose. Then again, this isn't a real forest. All I know is, I've got to find-

"Warmth!" I gasp aloud, quickly covering my mouth and hoping I didn't draw attention to myself, like the Seven did when she screamed. I probably wouldn't have found her if she'd stayed quiet. She was on her knees… Did I just kill someone who was praying..?

I can't stop now… I shake off the dark thoughts and start to run as silently as I can toward the red glow I see in the distance. After a few seconds, I notice something's wrong. The glow is moving.

There's a metallic roar, and the glow suddenly lurches quickly in the direction it's moving. A mighty crash, and the sound of what I think are blocks falling, maybe? And then I hear a scream. Tixxie's scream.

"Tixxie!" I shout, not caring who hears me anymore. "Tixxie, hold on! I'm coming!"

~Bronwyn's POV~

I fall to the ground, my breath heavy and my heart about to explode in my chest. I just barely flew out of the way of the ringworm's charge, and it blasted into a block tree, causing it to explode and send block shrapnel everywhere. I hear a little girl's scream… Aylau? Rhymer? I crawl on my hands and knees, not daring to look up until I'm sure I'm still not being chased. I don't hear the ringworm as close anymore, so I look up, crouching behind a block, and try to find it.

It doesn't take me long. I see the giant creature in a clearing circling around a tiny form with silver nodes, crouching next to a heat block. The girl from Three. She looks frozen with fear, and her cheek is cut, probably from shrapnel. Which means she doesn't have armor… I can't recall her name, but I don't think much of it. I'm sure I'll be hearing it in a few seconds after the ringworm turns her into a bloody pile…

"Tixxie!" I hear a male voice call. That's her name. "Tixxie, hold on! I'm coming!"

I watch as on the other side of the clearing, the boy from Three charges into the clearing, staring with wide eyes at the ringworm. Then he sees Tixxie surrounded by the creature, and his face changes. With little hesitation, he lifts what's in his hand, a gun, and fires at the ringworm several times. The mutt, which looked as if it would overtake Tixxie had there been a second more of delay, convulses and shrieks as it is assaulted with energy bullets. While it's distracted, Tixxie quickly scrambles up and flees behind her District partner.

The boy continues to fire until the gun in his hands produces clicks instead of energy bullets. The mutt looks incredibly weakened, but it's not dead. It grinds its rings together angrily and starts to creep toward the duo, who back away from it. I feel my grip tighten on the javelin in my hand, and before I know it, I'm standing and throwing the projectile in a dangerous arc. It strikes the ringworm right between its head ring and its first body ring. Both rings stop moving. The javelin wedged between them has stopped all motion in the ringworm, and it is just groaning and trembling with strain. Eventually, the strain is too much and the beast falls apart into a dead collection of rings, as well as several power-ups, including one giant metal box.

The duo from Three look stunned. I look around at the spoils of the ringworm's defeat: an armor power-up with a 10 on it, several ammunition power-ups, two food power-ups, a backpack power-up, and then the giant metal box. Looking closely at the wording on the side, I see that it says 'MEGAWEAPON'.

For a moment, I consider using my last javelin to kill Tixxie myself and use whatever Megaweapon is in that container to finish her friend. They don't look like they have any idea what happened, and now's the perfect time to strike. The javelin is in my hand and aimed… but then I see the two of them hugging. …I can't do it.

A conscience in the Hunger Games is the last thing that I need. But I can't do it, and I couldn't say why if I was asked. I just dismiss the javelin and turn, entering the darkness of the block forest again and looking around for a nearby heat block to rest beside.

~Tixxie's POV~

All I can do is just stare stunned as the metallic mutt falls apart and leaves behind a bunch of power-ups. I notice a power-up with 10 points of armor on it. My first instinct should be to grab it, but it isn't. My first instinct isn't to investigate the large 'MEGAWEAPON' box. My first instinct isn't even a thank you. My first instinct is to turn and jump, throwing myself onto Trexler in a hug.

I had no idea how much I missed Trexler until just now, as I hug him as tightly as I can. I almost knock him over, but he stays upright, much to his credit.

"I'm glad you're not dead, Tix." he says, hugging me back. I don't respond, and just continue to cling to him until my arms tire and I drop down to the ground again. I want to look back up at him, but I don't, and I don't know why. I immediately turn my attention to grabbing the armor power-up and feeling safety and security wash over me as my armor rises to ten again. Trexler grabs some ammo power-ups, and then we both turn our attention to the metal 'MEGAWEAPON' container…

Trex walks up to it and just looks at the box without touching it. It doesn't look like it opens from anywhere, so touching it must do something. Trex turns to me and looks me over.

"Weapon?" he asks.

"None." I answer, showing my empty hands.

"Then you should take it." he says, stepping aside. I trot up to the box and realize to my chagrin that I'm only a head taller than it. The box hums softly as I slowly raise my hand toward it. I'm almost sure my heart is visibly pounding against my chest as my hand reaches out for it. I bite my lip and close my eyes as I touch my fingertips to the container.

As soon as I make contact with the warm surface of the container, something magnetic draws my hand so that my entire palm is pressed against the container. I panic and try to pull my hand away, but I can't. I'm stuck. And I panic harder.

"Trex! Help!" I yell, trying harder to free myself from the box. It begins to hum louder and the surface gets hotter. Trex comes to my aid and plants a foot on the box as he tries to pry my arm away from the box. He yelps as he loses his grip and tumbles backwards, and I'd sigh with disappointment if I wasn't terrified. Within seconds, the box is so hot that it hurts, and silver angled nodes similar to my own begin to spread across the surface area of the box, originating from my hand. The hum is louder. The glowing nodes grow brighter until all I see is light grey. I scream. And then I hear a voice all around me.

"TIXXIE FINNEGAN: MEGAWEAPON."

~Agate's POV~

That doesn't sound good… I look up to the sky as I hear the booming announcement, and I see it nearby: a great silver light. I step away from my heat block and just stare at the light until it dims. Whatever sort of 'Megaweapon' that tiny brat from Three has will be wasted in her hands. Someone, meaning me, should take that weapon from her before she learns how to use it… But can I handle that alone?

I don't have to answer my own question. I lower my head from the glow up in the air to the dark block trees in front of me as I hear a grunt and watch Bronwyn emerge from the shadows.

We meet eyes for a moment before she sighs with relief. "Thank goodness I found someone." Dunno why I was expecting a hug… I shrug and nod.

"Glad I found you, too. Now, let's go." I start to pull her along in the direction she came from, and she blinks in surprise.

"Eat this. It'll warm you up." I tell her, handing her a warming wafer from a food power-up I found. She places it in her mouth and eats it, and immediately stops shivering.

"Where are we going?" she asks, frowning at me. I tilt my head toward where the light came from.

"To kill Tixxie Finnegan, apparently, before she gets used to that Megaweapon." I tell her, picking up the pace a little.

"She's not alone." Bronwyn warns me. "And do you even have a weapon?"

I extend my free hand and call my glowing flanged mace to materialize in my hand The head is still caked with Ariana's blood. "Landed next to me a little while ago." I explain. "What luck, eh? Thought I lost it for good. Good thing it's back. I like bludgeons. What about you?"

Bronwyn summons and grips a javelin. I raise an eyebrow at her. "Just the one?"

"One is all I need to bring someone's armor from ten to zero." she says.

"Good. A quick and clean surprise attack then. You toss your javelin at Tixxie, I brain her, we double up on her buddy."

She doesn't answer, so I turn and look at her, raising an eyebrow at her doubtful expression. "Problem?"

"It's a good plan…" she starts weakly. "but I still don't like our chances."

"Uh huh. Now tell me what's your real problem." I respond with a glare.

"I'm hesitant, okay?" she snaps, glaring back. "I saw them hugging after the mutt carrying the Megaweapon was destroyed, and the human in me came out. I'm hesitant about-"

I don't let her finish. When I'm sure her anger's melted back into wariness, I pin her by the throat against a block tree. She drops the javelin in her hand and raises both to clutch my wrist. When the weapon hits the ground, it flashes and becomes a power-up, a small spinning javelin with an 'x1' beside it.

"Are you a Career or not?" I ask her critically, raising my mace with my free hand. "Because if you're not, I have no problem smashing your head it, too. If you are, you better remember where you are and kill that conscience real fast."

"Yes! Yes, I'm a Career!" she chokes out.

"You sure about that? Sure you don't want to take your time and think about it?" I threaten, lifting my mace higher.

"I'm sure, I'm sure!" she shouts.

I'm still for a moment as I look her right in the eyes. She's impossibly mature for only being fourteen, but she's still got to go cold if she's going to have a chance here.

"Good." I say, letting her go and clapping her once on the shoulder before walking once again toward where the yellow glow came from. I look back once to see her pick up her javelin again and follow behind me.

~Chiro's POV~

I don't keep running for long, but it's still too long. By the time I see a heat block, I can't feel a thing. It's almost like I'm floating, so it's a really weird feeling when I fall forward in front of the warm red cube. I can barely breathe, and even though I'm warming, I'm still cold. I can still hear the metal groaning of that monster worm mutt as it tried to eat me… Where'd it go?

I start to sit up and look around when I notice that I'm not alone. Sitting next to the heat block beside me is the boy from Nine. Salt. He looks at me a moment.

"Running from something?" he asks with the same carefulness I heard in his interview. He watches my lips.

"Yeah…" I respond, looking around. "Mutt."

"I heard it." he says, smiling at his own joke. It's a little funny, but I don't want to laugh. "But honestly, good job. It is odd for a kid to face a mutt, and even odder for a kid to escape one."

I nod, then remain silent for a long while. For the first time since landing in the arena, I can sit and think about where I am and what's happened. Nine tributes are dead. One of them is Ariana. Charitable, bubbly Ariana. The kindest and unluckiest girl in District Eleven. I can still hear her singing her upbeat and peppy lyrics in her melodious high voice. And my last living memory of her is her on the ground, screaming in fear for me to flee, half a moment before her face disappears in a burst of blood…

I lower my head and cry softly. Salt doesn't hear me, of course, but when he does finally look over at me, he frowns.

"Your District partner died, too." he says. I don't know how he catches on quickly, but I look at him, and he gives me a solemn smile. "I know how you feel. I thought about crying for Dawn. She was a good friend. A really good friend, even though she could not speak. I thought about just lying on the ground and crying until someone came and killed me, but that is not how she would want me to honor her memory. I let myself feel sad for a few minutes, frozen in grief, then I moved on and moved forward. I'm sure that's what Ariana would want you to do."

He pats me on the back and I wipe my eyes with a nod. I jump at the sound of a loud voice cutting the air, announcing:

"TIXXIE FINNEGAN: MEGAWEAPON."

Salt blinks at me. "Hear something?"

"Yeah." I say. "Tixxie Finnegan is that girl from Three that's super-tiny like she's twelve. She got some sort of Megaweapon."

Salt frowns and his eyebrows come together. "That does not sound good." he assesses, then stands. "Well, we should get moving and try to find your Anti-Pack friends. There should be a few alive. Unless you think you are better off on your own?"

He grins and holds out his hand, knowing as well as I do that it's not even a decision.

"You have to promise to join the Anti-Pack when we find them." I say with a smile.

"Heh!" he replies. "Only if you promise to not use contractions when you talk to me."

"Okay, I wo- Will not."

I smile back and take his hand. He pulls me to my feet, then kneels as he lifts me onto his shoulders, jogging away from the heat block.

"Now you are getting it!" he chuckles as he carries me into the darkness of the block forest.

(A/N: Wow, I've been gone for over a month… :( Really sorry, guys. I've been having problems with my computer. May get a new one for my birthday, but that's not for five months. .

Another one bites the dust. Rest in peace, Ellie Jaxs! And then there were fifteen. The confrontation between the District Three duo and half of the living Careers is imminent. And with the mysterious Megaweapon in play, there's no telling how this will turn out! I'll tell you one thing, though: It'll be epic. :P

My unannounced hiatus has ended, hopefully. xD I'll put up the next chapter as soon as possible, but for now, a little innocent challenge. Virtual cookie for the first Hungry Gamer who can tell me the one tribute who we haven't heard from since we dropped into the arena. n_n Said tribute will have the first POV next chapter, so you'll know. ;p

Till next time