Tanner Kelly, District Seven

Tanner had dealt with a lot of pain over the years. He had experienced strain and injuries multiple times at the lumber yard. The first time he had cut himself on the job, the other workers had laughed and said he was officially one of them now. There was even pain at home, thanks to his brother. Pain was merely a part of life, if an unpleasant one. But what Tanner felt right now made him wonder if he had ever truly felt pain before.

Stomach wounds were nasty. They were almost always fatal, but it took a while. Sometimes it took hours of agony before a person finally died. Tanner had seen it, if only once, after an accident at the mill. A man had tripped and fallen on one of the was asked to help carry him to the nearest medic. The man screamed the whole time. Sometimes late at night, Tanner would hear the screaming and see the blood splattered across the walls of the mill. He had never seen so much blood.

Until today.

He pressed his arm tightly against his abdomen, trying to stop the bleeding. It felt like he was keeping his organs from falling out. Most likely he was;the thought made him queasy. Still, he wasn't going to just sit around and die. If there was a way to survive he was going to find it.

He wasn't entirely sure how long he had been walking. The fields of ash seemed to go on forever, a sea of black dunes. The sun moved in the sky, but that was the only way he knew time had passed at all. There had to be some sort of landmark in this arena. The Capitol would be boring if there wasn't. Wouldn't it? He had to hope. Hope was all he had left at this point. Hope that he would find something soon. Hope that he could find water. Hope that he wasn't accidentally going in circles.

If he was going in circles, would he know?

Tanner felt delirious from the blood loss. If he wasn't going in circles, his thoughts certainly were. He couldn't concentrate for very long before his thoughts slipped away from him.

He was also pretty sure he was seeing things. From the corner of his eye he caught a blur of movement and turned to get a better look at it. Heading towards him was a person dressed in black. Tanner couldn't quite remember why, but he knew someone wearing that color was impossible. Was he seeing Death? At this point it was the only thing that made sense.

The figure took his hand and Tanner didn't have the strength to resist. They led him to a cave, where he finally passed out from the blood loss.

Tanner was surprised that he woke up. But he did, with his pain reduced to a dull ache and the feeling of a breeze sending shivers down his spine.

"You're awake then?"

The voice started him, and he tried to bolt upward before he was stopped by a searing pain. Right, the stomach wound. He looked down and saw that the large gash was wrapped in bandages, then looked to his side. A girl was sitting there, leaning against the wall of the cave they were in.

"Who are you? Where are we? Where are my clothes?" Tanner asked. He knew that some of those questions were more important than others but his head was still having problems making thoughts work at all.

"Astra Porter. The Hunger Games. And they're over there."

He was not happy about her flippant response. He knew he was in the Hunger Games. He wasn't particularly great at remembering things at the moment, but it was a difficult thing to forget.

"Over where? I can't really look right now. Why did you even take them off? That's kind of creepy." Tanner said.

Astra stood up and walked behind him, which he found frustrating since he couldn't turn very well. Then she returned, holding some black cloth.

"I couldn't tend to your wounds with them on. Believe me, there was nothing sexy about it."

What she was saying made sense, even though Tanner couldn't help but feel a little violated. He squinted at the fabric the girl held in her hands.

"How did you get it black?"

"I stained them. With the ash." She said, "I got the idea from this." Astra reached behind her and dragged a black briefcase so that it was between them. She opened it up, then turned the case so that Tanner could see what was inside.

He almost gasped. The briefcase was much larger than he had realized, with pockets and hidden places to store things everywhere. There were bottles of water, dried food bars, and small packages of nuts. He could also see several clearly labelled medicine bottles, a lighter, a needle and thread, bandages, a foldable knife, and a thermal blanket that was attached to the top wit a velcro strap. It was one of the largest bags Tanner had seen outside of the Cornucopia.

"How did you get that?" he asked.

"I fell on top of it actually." Astra said, "If the girl from Eleven hadn't pushed me, I probably never would have found it. It matched the color of the ash exactly. So I thought to myself, maybe I should try to blend in too. So I stained my clothes. And yours, since I had to take them off anyway. What do you think?"

Tanner thought quite a few things. Mostly he was impressed. Though he was also scared, which was reasonable. His injury was bad, even with Astra's bag of Capitol medicine. And he didn't know if she was someone he could trust. There was a small seed of suspicion that he couldn't ignore.

"Why are you helping me?"

"Do you want me to stop?" she asked.

"No. But… only one of us can win. You could have saved these for yourself. Let me die."

"If I won like that, I don't think I could live with myself." Astra said, "Although I admit it will be nice to have some help around. At least for a little bit."

"In that case, thank you."

Astra nodded, then threw Tanner his clothes.

Anthracite Amber Weitz, District Twelve

"Demetri? Demetri!" The loud voice shook her awake. Anthracite felt a little woozy, and she had a terrible headache. She must have been knocked out somehow. Her memory was fuzzy, but she felt like she remembered being hit by a career, some time shortly after she had pushed Seaward into the pit.

Shoving him had been an accident. She had just been acting on emotion. Seeing Mattock shot like that had awoken something inside her, and all she could think about was protecting her friend from harm. After the boy from Four fell, she had returned to Mattock. He was limp and bleeding. She had tried to carry him away but someone had caught up to her. Anthracite didn't see them, as she was turned away from the center of the bloodbath. But before everything went black she heard a voice say 'This is for Seaward'.

It was a bit of a wonder she was alive at all. The career must have assumed she was dead and left her unconscious in the desert. Anthracite knew that she was lucky, but she didn't feel like it. Instead she felt like something great and unfair had happened to her.

She sat up and opened her eyes. She was exactly where she had been attacked, about fifteen feet away from the podiums they had all come in on. After the chaos that was the bloodbath, it seemed eerily empty. The only other person who seemed to be around was the person who had been shouting. The tribute turned and caught eyes with Anthracite and started to run towards her. Soon she was face to face with Carlotta Piece, who looked incredibly disappointed.

"You're alive then." The girl said. Her tone made it sound like Anthracite was some ugly thing, like a frog, or a piece of garbage.

"Yes. I guess I am." Anthracite whispered, "How many?"

"Casualties? Only three. Sort of surprising really. The careers this year can start the job, but it doesn't look like they can finish it."

"Do you know who any of them were?"

"I saw Issa's body lifted up. And Arachne. Arachne's gone."

"Are you sure?"

"I am." Carlotta started to smile, a wide predatory grin, "I've killed things before, of course. Wrung the necks of chickens, hit a cow between the eyes. They're different, but you start to be able to feel it. When a life goes. I'm not the kind of person who botches my murders."

Anthracite felt like she should have some sort of reaction to Carlotta's confession. This girl had just proudly admitted to slaughtering a thirteen year old girl. Yet all she felt was numb.

"So the third death must have been Demetri." She said.

"No!" Carlotta yelled it so fiercely that Anthracite jumped, "No he's alive."

"He was right next to an explosion. You can still smell it."

"It doesn't matter. He's alive. He's a clever one. He'll figure it out. He didn't die."

Anthracite wasn't sure why she was pressing it this hard. It's true that the explosion made Demetri's death likely, but the bloodbath had been complete chaos. Several people had been injured. If the girl from Ten wanted to believe that her ally was alive, what was the harm?

Except Carlotta spoke the truth. Death was a physical thing. Anthracite knew the minute Mattock stopped being himself and started being a body. He had called her name, then let out one last gasping breath. But she refused to believe it and tried to carry him away anyway.

If Demetri wasn't dead, Anthracite knew who was. But she refused to believe it. She wanted to live in denial for as long as she could.

"See? Look there." The girl from Ten said, breaking Anthracite away from her memories, "Proof that he's alive."

She turned and looked. In the distance, there was black smoke curling into the sky.

"How do you know that's Demetri?" She asked.

"Because that was our plan. So either Demetri or Lucien did it, and I can't see Lucien figuring out how to make a fire in this kind of place. So you can stop saying it's Demetri. He's alive. Clearly he's alive." The hopefulness in her voice was clear, and Anthracite couldn't understand how someone who had killed a child in such a cruel manner could be so desperate to see someone else survive.

"If he is, that mean's Mattock's dead." She said. Saying it aloud gave weight to the truth, and it filled her with a pain sharper than the one on her head, "Kill me. None of this means anything without him."

Carlotta stared at Anthracite for a moment, cold and unreadable. Anthracite closed her eyes, preparing herself for death. Instead there was just a moment of pain as she felt a slap across her face.

"Seriously?" Carlotta yelled, "That's it? You're going to give up just because a man can't protect you anymore? No, you're too pathetic to kill. Too easy, and you already know my bar is super low for that. You really want me to kill you? Find a reason to live. Otherwise it's just boring."

Anthracite touched her cheek. It was still warm from the impact of the smack. "You don't make any sense." she said.

"I don't have to." Carlotta answered, "Now get up. Demetri and Lucien will be here soon."

Elixane Marcus, District Three

Only three deaths. Elixane couldn't believe how low that number was. She was not entirely sure there had ever been a bloodbath with only three deaths. Four, maybe, she could remember numbers that low. But Three? Could that even properly be called a bloodbath? A blood sprinkle maybe. A light blood drizzle. The Capitol was probably already complaining about how boring these games were, and since Elixane was in charge of combat, it was her fault.

"I'm sorry." she said to Titania, who was sorting all of the loot in the Cornucopia. The cavern was cool, which perplexed Elixane. Given the black rocks, she would have thought it would absorb the heat of the sun. The capitol must have some sort of technology to keep that from happening, since inside the pit was actually quite comfortable. They had all decided to set up camp in the main rotunda of the cavern. There were four dark tunnels at the edge of the cavern, each facing a cardinal direction. The careers had decided they would explore those later, after they had combed through all of the supplies and recovered slightly from the bloodbath.

"What for?" Titania asked, looking up from the pile she was working on.

"For such a disappointing bloodbath."

Titania actually laughed at that, which made Elixane feel worse. It was getting very difficult to keep smiling. She was already reeling from the pain in her neck and the smell of blood and the realization that killing was not at all theoretical. But even at the bottom of the pit, there were cameras all around. She couldn't show a sign of weakness, not ever. Elixane had to be just as much of a career as everyone else, twice as much even. Otherwise District Three would never be respected.

She wondered if the other Careers weren't bothered by all of the death, or if they were just pretending to smile too.

"Except it worked perfectly." Titania replied, "We managed to keep everyone else away from the Cornucopia, there was a giant explosion, and none of us died. We're trained, but the bloodbath is tough for everyone. Usually at least one Career dies."

"I'm not sure that this exactly counts as a victory." Elixane said, looking over at Seaward. Dash and Cordelia had taken the boy from Four off of the top of the Cornucopia where they had found him and wrapped him in a blanket, where he remained unconscious. He had broken so many bones he barely looked like a person any more, and that was just the external injuries. No one knew how bad it really was.

"He's still alive, so I think it does." Titania said, "That reminds me. There was a girl at the training center. Her first aid was phenomenal. Maybe we should go find her."

Zella was walking by them at this point and joined in on the conversation, "Why do we need a medic? We have all of these supplies."

"Do you know how to use them?" Titania challenged. Zella's silence was a clear answer.

"There's smoke." Diamond yelled from his position on top of the pit where he was acting as lookout, "Do you think it's a trap?"

Ever since the Seventy Fifth Hunger Games, many tributes had attempted to use fires to lure the Careers away. For a while, the careers caught on and stopped investigating obvious fires. That was until Hebe Dagnus insisted to her allies that they light a large smokey fire. The careers had considered it an obvious trap and their camp had been safe for the entire day.

"We'll probably have to investigate it regardless." Titania said, "Zella? What do you think."

Zella processed the situation for a moment, then started to speak, "Cordelia and I will go investigate the fire. Kill any moron still there. Titania, you and Dash can go look for this medic. I think we should just slash Seaward's throat instead of getting more people involved in this fucking huge alliance, but what do I know. Elixane and Ashlar can protect the cornucopia. And Diamond?"

"Yeah?" the boy asked.

"I want you to walk in one direction for five minutes then double back. If someone does try to come for the cornucopia, we'll have bigger numbers than they realize."

Diamond nodded, then left the pit immediately. Cordelia and Zella gathered up a few weapons and supplies for their hunting mission, then left as well. Dash and Titania didn't leave immediately, consulting a map they had found in the back of the cornucopia to try and decide where they should search for the medic first.

Ashlar had been tasked with finding a safe place for their food stores, but had finished some time ago. He now sat on a blanket near the south edge of the cavern, playing with a deck of cards they had found. Elixane sat next to him, trying not to sulk. She knew Zella had kept her back at the cornucopia because she was injured. She even knew that it was the right call. But she was supposed to be the combat leader. It was her job to be out there fighting.

"You want to be in the hunting party, don't you?" Ashlar asked.

"Is it that obvious?"

"A little. But this is a pretty good assignment if you think about it."

"A good assignment?" Elixane scoffed, "She benched us. Probably thinks that us Threes can't do anything."

"Not necessarily." Ashlar said, placing a card down on his solitaire stack, "Let's say this is a trap. Someone is trying to lure the careers away. If that's true, where would that person go next?"

Elixane wanted to kick herself. If it was a trap, the tributes would go straight to the cornucopia. She had thought that Zella had put her out of the way, somewhere she couldn't fight. But she had actually put her right in the middle of where a battle would most likely break out. She hated to admit it, but Elixane was starting to like Zella.

"So you don't know where she went at all?" Titania's voice was loud enough for Elixane to hear it even from the other side of the cavern.

"I was busy getting to the Cornucopia. Ashlar was the one guarding that zone."

Titania looked over at Ashlar. Her gaze was so full of fury that even though they were quite far away from her, Ashlar looked at the ground.

"I… was a bit preoccupied with the girl from Eleven."

Rage bubbled up inside Elixane, "So you just left a giant hole in our defense?" she said, "She could be anywhere. She could be in here with us, right now, and none of us would know."

At that exact moment, a pebble skipped across the ground and hit up against the cornucopia. Everyone turned in the direction it came from, near one of the tunnels that they had yet to go inside. Standing in the mouth of one was a small girl looking at them all bashfully. She waved.

Titania laughed and waved back.

"Hello there Serena May. We have a proposition for you."

AN: Hello everybody! This chapter is a bit of a slow one, but they can't all be stabby ones. Everybody is dealing with the aftermath of the bloodbath, and trying to sort out what happened. Which means that I am now going to give the obituaries for people we've lost so far.

24th, Arachne Weber by Sherazade96- This girl was so sweet and wonderful and I wanted to hug her and keep her forever. But her skills were one of the weakest Games wise, and I kind of knew that she wasn't going to make it out of the bloodbath. I am going to miss her shy nature and her understated work ethic. Goodbye, darling Arachne.

23rd, Issa Williams by Civilwarrose- Issa was a great character with a lot of dreams and a skill set that he was never really able to show off, although I did try to show off a little of it with the colored pencil stunt. This one really did come down to luck. I semi-randomized the cornucopia order, and he ended up right between Elixane and Carlotta. Which… well you can see how that turned out. He was a dreamer through and through, and he will be missed.

22nd, Mattock Coccia by CuriousClove- I feel like since the bloodbath is so wild and unpredictable, someone who probably didn't deserve it will end up dying. Mattock was my 'surprise' casualty. The one that probably could have gone farther. But I am a bit of a sadistic writer, and I knew that I was going to break up the Twelve kids early. Mattock was brave, loyal, and prepared to make great sacrifices for Anthracite. Maybe this one will pay off, we'll just have to see.

So I am enjoying this story so much and am hoping to get the next chapter out soon. I thank everyone for reading. Please comment, and if you haven't joined the discord yet please PM me, I'll send you a link. Thank you!