Othniel Veiga, 18

District 10 Male

When faced with a choice of fight or flight, you don't have a long time to make it. Staring at the careers standing above me, and considering the accuracy of how Madison just almost got shot, I don't think fleeing the scene is in our future.

However, fighting seems to be a dead-end too. District 4 has two throw knives and a trident. The girl from District 1 has a bow and arrows, and the boy from 2 has a sword. Shoot, even the girl from 9 has a sickle.

So in a case where neither fighting nor fleeing is an option, what do you do?

Anything you can.

I frantically scan the ground for anything that I can use as bait as the careers slowly start descending from the boulders. The girl from District 1 stands on top as the rest of them climb down and point an arrow at us in case we try to run before they get there.

Right below me, the machete we managed to find at the bloodbath sits on the ground, and I drop to my knees in an attempt to pretend to be praying. The girl from District 1 descends toward the ground as I slowly move my fingers to get my hands on the machete.

I manage to grab the hilt and hide it under my thigh right as the girl from District 1 stands in front of me with a smirk. "You're not going to get out of this," she says. "But you seem to have the most desire to live. So what if we kill him, last guys-"

In one quick movement, I have the girl from District 1 wrapped around her waist with a machete placed on her throat. The careers are visibly shaken as I look at Madison and Luster, motioning for them to run.

"DO NOT LET THEM GO!" screams the girl from District 1. I press the blade harder onto her neck, and I hear her gulp, but she doesn't change her mind in what she was saying to do. The boy from District 4 hesitantly walks to the other side of Madison and Luster and holds a trident up in a fighting position.

"What's your endgame here, 10?" she asks me. "Sure, you might kill a career, but you die only seconds later. You let me go, and I let you walk out of here right now."

She turns to me with a sick smirk across her face. "You let me go now, and I let you pick one friend to go with you. The other stays here."

Both Madison and Luster look at me with hope in their eyes as I weigh the options of both of them continuing with me during the games. Who would be the most beneficial? Probably Madison. She has a good head on her shoulders, and she's decent with a knife. My head continues to spin with scenarios as the intense silence coming from everyone in this clearing is deafening.

"You promise you'll let us go? Just like that? No chasing us down?"

"You're free to go until the next time we see you," The girl from District 1 says. "Then I'll kill you myself."

Can you tell one of them they're worth more than the other?

"Let her go, ten or you deal is off the table." says the girl from District 4, bucking up. "You have until the count of five to make a choice, or we kill all of you."

"1," they say tauntingly.

"2," they say menacingly.

"Let both of them go. Take me," I say before I have time to think about it.

The boy from District 2 laughs as he looks at the group, and then looks at me. "Wait, you're serious? That's your choice? You're going to let the other two live, and you're going to die? That's the worst negotiation I've ever seen!"

"Madison, Luster," I tell them. "Go."

Madison has tears in her eyes as she looks at me one last time before slowly walking past the boy from District 4. When she gets by him, she takes off in a sprint and Luster isn't too far behind. I walk back slowly with the girl from 1, giving them a chance to getaway. "Let me go, 10," says the girl from District 1. "Let me go right now-"

I slit her throat with the machete, and she falls to the floor. I take off in a sprint toward the woods in the same direction that Madison and Luster went. If I keep running this way, maybe I'll find them.

I run as fast as I can until I feel a sharp pain in my back. I fall to the ground and get flipped over. My back contorts in pain as the boy from 4 stands over me with his trident ready to strike. "That was a low and stupid move, dude. We were going to honor the deal."

"It had to be done," I manage to choke out. "Yara, I love you-" I manage to say before he slams the trident into my chest.

Alon Harlequin, 18

District 4 Male

"Alon?!" screams Dwindela as she runs toward me. "Alon!"

She runs up to me and wraps her arms around my neck—the cannons sound for Vanity and the boy from 10 as I take a deep breath. Killing isn't easy, and I don't know what came over me, but the second he slit Vanity's neck, I ran after him.

Keep your word. It's as simple as that.

Dwindela pulls away from our hug, and the next thing I know, she presses her lips against mine passionately. I'm not sure where this came from, or why this is happening, but I don't think I mind it.

We stand there kissing for a long time, and when I finally pull away, she clears her throat. "I've wanted to do that since training started," she said.

"Well, thank you," I say, still confused by what just took place.

We walk back to the group, that is hovering over Vanity's dead body. Gerard has misty eyes as he looks at her one last time. "We find the other two, and we kill them. The deal was off the moment he killed her. Let's move."

I almost don't question him and start to follow before I pause and look at Kilee. Somehow, someway, Kilee, and I have managed to get into the top 10. Not only that, but we are the only career pair with their District partner still here. At the end of the day, the only person that has my loyalty in this arena is Kilee, and I do not doubt what just happened, Dwindela will have my back if we were to do something crazy right now.

"Did you not hear me?" asks Gerard as he turns and looks at me. "I said, let's move out."

Kilee scrunches her nose at me in confusion as I look at her and nod my head. "It's time," I mouth to her. Her eyes widen as I direct my eyes to her knife belt that she has hanging off her hip. Gerard is looking at me. Now is the perfect time to strike if we were going to. Kilee can make one swift movement, and we are almost guaranteed to make it to the top 5.

"Am I talking to air?!" asks Gerard, snapping his fingers. "Hello?"

Kilee makes her move, but he sidesteps at the last minute. He has his sword drawn in seconds, and Dwindela and I ready ourselves for a fight as Kilee quickly runs over to our side. Three on one doesn't look like good odds, even for the most trained career.

"Is this seriously happening?!" he says, laughing. "You're going to try and take on me?!"

"Vanity was the reason you were in power," I tell him. "You can't call the shots anymore. You're at a disadvantage."

"This is about control?!" he shouts as he looks at me rolling his eyes. "You want to be the leader? Fine, be the leader, but this is just pure stupidity. We still have-"

"Only ten left," Kilee says. "We have ten people left, and you are a direct threat to the finale."

"Well," he says, bringing his sword up to his defending position. "You guys better bring your A-game because you earned a 5 in training scores," he says, pointing to Kilee, "And you earned a six," he says, looking to me. "You kind of scare me a lot," he says, pointing to Dwindela. "But, I'll take you out first."

Gerard Deluca-Moretti, 18

District 2 Male

I can't believe that this is happening. You take people, and you put them under your wing, and this is the thanks you get? Three people are looking to die. These games have moved a rapid pace, but I guess that's what happens when ten people die in the bloodbath. I wasn't expecting the career bloodbath until at least day four.

"We just going to stand around all day?" asks Alon as he twirls his trident cockily. Dumb kid. I'm going to lay his ass out.

"Fine," I say as I shrug. I swing my sword in the direction of Kilee, who squeals and jumps back before I instantly have to block Dwindela from swinging her sickle into my back. "Didn't take you for someone to stab someone in the back," I tell her, turning my sword with all my might.

She manages to block it, but she barely does. She's not trained. Her technique is sloppy. They're all a little bit sloppy. Alon comes behind me and tries to stab me from behind, but I swing and slam my sword into his trident. He almost drops it and looks at me, surprised, before Dwindela once again is slicing at me.

"You're not really trained, are you?" I ask Alon as I kick Dwindela in the stomach and send her flying back.

"Might not have trained as long as you," says Alon as he jabs at me again. "But that doesn't mean that I can't take you out."

I sweep my leg at him, and he stumbles backward. Someone screams and jumps onto my back, and I'm left dodging left and right as I grab onto their arm and swing them forward over my head. Kilee lands with a loud thud on the ground, and I jab my sword in her direction quickly, but she's agile and manages to sneak away from it in the knick of time.

"Any chance we call it quits?" I ask them as I swing once again at Dwindela and Alon. Both take a quick step back, and I use that chance to get out of the middle of them and back up. Dwindela smiles as she circles around me and attempts to swing, but before she swings, I turn around and grab her by the hair.

I slam her to the ground, and she lets out a scream. Something sharp pierces my hip, and I let out a yell as Alon runs over to Kilee and helps her up. "Time to go!" he says as they run in the opposite direction.

"WHAT ABOUT ME?!" screams Dwindela as she rips the sword out of my hand and slams it into my neck.

It happened so fast; I don't know how I didn't prevent it. I cough blood into her face, and she shoves me off of her and kicks me in the face. "He kissed me! He kissed me, and then he LEFT ME!"

She kicks me again and again, and my consciousness begins to be fuzzy as the world starts to fade before me.

First Vanity and now me. This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

BOOM.

Hazel Fowl, 15

District 7 Female

I cannot remember the last time being this hungry, and my family is dirt poor. So that says something.

We've been walking around since the sun came up, and now that I'm watching it set behind the trees, I realize it's been a long time since I've eaten actual food. We were lucky enough to grab some water at the bloodbath, but that's about it.

"Screw it," says Chrysanthemum as she grabs a few berries off the trees before they begin to rot at the fall of the sun. "I'm hungry. These have just been sitting there looking at me all day, and I'm tired of feeling my insides rub together because I'm so hungry."

She goes to put the red berry in her mouth when Cullen reaches out and grabs her hand. He takes the berries from her and then begins to squeeze them, and he screams as he drops the berry onto the floor.

"That juice burned me!" he says, frantically wiping his hand on his pants.

When he pulls his hand away, he reveals the burns and scabs that the berries left behind. "I just know a sucker tribute ate these already," says Cullen as he shakes his hand.

"You just saved my life-"

Chrysanthemum falls to the floor and puts her face in her hands as she quietly sobs. "I really could have just died because I was reckless."

Something has changed in Chrysanthemum since the bloodbath. I'll be honest, she's way too abrasive for me, but I've seen her soften quite a bit as she's gone through the games with us. I think all of this is taking a harder toll on her than she thought it would. And I don't blame her. I don't know what I'd do if Cullen were to die now.

"Hey," I say, squatting down next to her.

I motion for Emerson and Cullen to walk ahead, and they nod as they shuffle off, and the arena changes from the beautiful garden to the rotted graveyard. "I know that things are going to be crazy right now, but look at me," I say, tilting her chin up.

Her tears are falling at a rapid pace, and I use my shirt to dry her eyes as I pull her into a hug. "You made it to the top 10, Chrys. Out of twenty-four tributes, you're one of the ten baddest bitches in this place. That's something to be proud of."

"I don't want to die," she whimpers, looking at me. "Everyone is dying, and this is so selfish saying this to you, but I don't want to die."

"No one wants to die," I say.

I sit down next to her and bring my knees up to my chest. "I keep telling myself that Spike is in a better place. I think it would be cruel to think that after we died here that there's just nothing. How crappy would that be?"

She snorts, and I nudge her. "And I know you're going to pretend like you don't care, but D was one of the purest people I've ever met. If there is indeed a good place and a bad place you get sent to after you die, he's definitely in a good place. There's no more hunger, no more killings, and no more pains."

"It's perfect," she whispers.

"Yes," I tell her. "He's in a perfect place right now. And even though that's amazing, you're still here. Focus on that. Don't focus on almost dying."

"Thank you."

A beeping sound appears out of nowhere, and a giant box with a seven on it lands in front of me. I open it up and reveal a pepperoni pizza, and my mouth starts to water as Chrysanthemum, and I pick it up, and we begin to find Emerson and Cullen.

"We're eating like Kings tonight," I say to her, earning a chuckle.

My day was awful today, and I started writing in because it was the only healthy way to release some of my upsetness, and while these tributes were dying in these places regardless, I thought that it would come at a later time.

Protip: Do not write hunger games when you're upset. People die.

12th Place: Vanity Mendoza, District 1 Female, Killed by Othniel Viega: Ugh, Vanity was a baddie. Old Caleb would have seen her and been like "HELL YEAH! That's my Victor!" but like, this isn't old Caleb, and I loved her to bits, and she was my inconsistent little queen who didn't handle pressure well, but her need to be in charge was her downfall. Vanity is the villain I always love to write. One day a villain will win.

11th Place: Othniel Veiga, District 10 Male, Killed by Alon Harlequin: Othniel was a great tribute. I liked him a lot, and he was fun to write, but I felt like he ran his course in this chapter. I hope that you guys don't hate him, because at one point I saw him winning as well. He was pretty cool overall, though, and he'll be missed!

10th Place: Gerard Deluca-Moretti, District 2 Male, Killed by Dwindela Aluchi: Gerard was fantastic. I loved him. He was brilliant and funny, and at one point, boy was in the final 3, but that was also when Saiz was still my VictorVictor, and my runner up wasn't my Victor. Everything was one big difference, and you know who we can thank? Maeve and Patrick lol. Thanks for sending Gerard in. He was a great character.

I hope you guys are still enjoying the story. I love every bit of it. I'm expecting to be done entirely by chapter 30! Can't wait to see you guys there!

Also, a small announcement: when we get to the top 5, I'll be releasing my new SYOT and allowing submissions to start. Get ready. It's a doozy. Also, please let me know if you'd like a google form submission or a PM! (Also, can someone teach me how to google form a tribute form?)

Hope to hear from you soon,

Caleb