Trigger Warning- mild mentions of anxiety/self harming/death in the last PoV. Please reach out if you feel uncomfortable reading something like that and I'll totally summarize it for you.

-Also I'm laughing how I normally don't have to put TW anymore due to the fact James's dead. Every time he was mentioned, somehow there had to be a TW every time cause he's a bitch, just like warning James will be featured in this PoV, you've been warned. Yeah just thought I'd include that cause it made me laugh, now back to the story-

Elizabeth Oakseed, Day 4

Time: 6:19 AM (6:19) -yes I know this is technically morning but sue me, it picks up from last chapter-

Quadrant~ 3

I run, pain lacing every step I take, every single ounce of my being. Sage is dead. Cel is dead. Syd is dead. My heart pounds loudly in my chest, drowning out the sound of my footsteps. They're all gone, every single one of them. They left me here, broken and fucking blind. My mother used to say that death was always harder on the ones left behind, how did I end up getting the fucking short straw? It's not like death is anything new, my brother had died in the games only a few years ago, but this hurts like a bitch.

All three of them had so much more to go home to than I do. I deserve to be the one dead, not them. Sage had their mom, Sydney their dad, and Cel had her whole fucking family. What do I have? Nothing, absolutely nothing. I don't deserve to be here now, not after taking Onyx's life like that. A small part of me wishes that whoever killed Cel is hunting for me right now. That they could quickly end my suffering, my blindness. Another part hopes, whoever they are, die soon, but I know that's not how it works. How life words. I know revenge isn't always the goddamn answer.

The pain throbbing in my chest hurts worse than the one aching away at my eyes. I stumble through the maze blindly, tears streaking down from my burning eyes. My eyes are undoubtedly red and painfully swollen but I don't care. Cel is dead. Sage is dead. I don't pay attention to where I place my feet, just keep running.

I don't have a destination in mind, anywhere away from Ciara is fine. That girl is fucking crazy and I'm pretty sure she's the one who killed Cel. Her cannon rang and I took off, knowing I would be next. They're probably following me right now but I have an advantage- we're in a fucking maze. It's pretty impossible to track in the ashes so I'm relatively safe-

Mid-step water seeps through my hiking boots and I freeze. Had I been walking in some sorta water this whole time? I know these are heavy-duty boots so how long have they held out to the water? Without another thought, I quickly bend down and cup the water in my hands. I hold it over my right eye and blink into the water in an attempt to wash out the painful spray. The pain loosens up a tad but agony still radiates. I drop the water and cup another handful of the cold liquid. I can feel a little current pushing against my arms so I'm guessing it's some sort of creak or small maybe even a river.

I hold the water to my other eye and blink into it. I let out a small sigh as some of the pain starts to seep away and my vision comes back. Albeit extremely blurry but I can open my eyes so I'm taking that as a small win. I refresh the water in my hands before going back to the first eye and repeat the process of flushing out the pepper spray. The pain in my eyes starts to slowly seep away with more and more flushing. Of course, not gone but better than before. I can actually open my eyes without having to scream in pain.

I normally have a very high pain tolerance but this pepper spray is excruciatingly agonizing. I blink twice, the blurry shapes around me getting clearer and clearer. Eventually, after at least nine flushing attempts to each eye, my vision returns some-what and my eyes feel less irritated. I get to my feet and look around at the torchlit small brook. I let out a small gasp as I notice the glowing streams of water flowing in its depths. Narrowing my eyes, I make my way to the shore, feet completely soaked but eyes back to at least able to see.

"What is that?" I whisper to myself, sitting beside the freezing water. Looking into the water's clear surface I see the glowing strands of golden light dancing along with the current's soft pull. No fish swim in the water, creating a pure, crystal clear looking glass. "What the fuck?" I sigh quietly.

I let out a small whimper as I tear open the backpack I had been carrying. Cel's bag and Sage's staff got left behind during the attack but this shit is more than enough to suffice. Cel's berries had somehow gotten put in my bag when we cleaned up camp last night, those will certainly come in handy. Along with the berries the bag had the flint and magnesium and the small dagger. My hands shake as I run my fingers over flint, my back up against the icy wall.

"Fire was Cel's thing." I croak, reaching back and throwing the flint as hard as I can over the river. It flies through the air before slicing into a wall and abruptly coming to a stop.

Anella 'Anne' Finch, Day 4

Time: 12:04 PM (12:04)

Quadrant~ 3

"Sunna, listen to me, please," I beg but the girl stays with her back away from me and out into the darkness. "I'm sorry, alright?"

"No, you're not." She sighs.

"You think I want to kill?" I say, trying to keep emotion from leaking into my voice but failing.

"Whatever."

"Sunna, look at me, please," I beg.

"Tell me why you did it. Why you shot her." She whispers, back still turned.

"It was impulsive, I shouldn't have acted in the moment. It's just that Ciara was about to kill you and you didn't have a weapon. Shooting the girl was the only way to stop Ciara from killing you. I'm sorry." I admit, my face undoubtedly flushing a bright shade crimson.

"I could've handled myself, you know?"

"She had a sword and pepper spray while you were weaponless," I say. "But it's fine if you hate me, I was just trying to protect you."

"By taking her side? Not helpful." Sunna sighs.

"I'm not taking her side, I'm taking yours."

"You still shoot her though."

"Fine, if you want to stay mad at me, stay mad. I was just trying to help you. I know, I'm too impulsive for my own good, it just felt right in the moment. Well, not right, I didn't want to kill her, but the best option to save you." I reply.

"Yeah, I guess, I'm sorry. I'm being too harsh. You're my best friend out here, I know you wouldn't do anything malicious like that." Sunna whispers, slowly turning back towards me. She grabs a rubber band we found in the bag Cel had left and ties her dirty blonde hair behind her head. Sunna lets out a small whimper but stares right at me. I can see the pain building behind her eyelids but I don't risk asking her why that is. Syd and Sunna were pretty close, but he's dead so that can't be the only reason Sunna didn't want Ciara to kill Cel. I don't dare ask though, she's upset and I don't wanna push her over the edge.

"No, don't be sorry, she obviously meant something to you. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have killed her."

"Syd…" Sunna croaks.

"Hey, it's alright." I comfort.

"I know, it's just as Ciara said, he's dead." Sunna sighs.

"Yeah, but she was mean about it."

"No, I need to move on. Syd's gone, nothing I can do about that." Sunna says.

"I guess," I reply, not sure how to respond in a way that will make her feel better.

"Wait, Anne, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" I ask, glad to have moved away from Sunna's district partner.

"That beeping."

"What?"

"Just freeze for a second and listen." She says, a small smile forming at the corners of her mouth.

I stop for a second and there's the beeping. A small, soft but steady, ticking noise. "Is that what I think it is?" I ask.

"A sponsor gift?" Sunna asks, excitement filling her voice.

"That's what I'd say."

"Come on, let's go get it," Sunna says and I glance back to Ciara and Zach. Behind us, the two of them bicker back and forth.

"Alright." I nod and Sunna gets up from her seat in the ashes. We both start to walk and turn to the left, Sunna leading the way. Looking for the gift that is creating the quiet beeping.

"Shaboom," Sunna says as I spot a small metal box falling from the sky just to the right of the next section of ice. I'm guessing Sunna sees this too because she starts to jog in its direction. She shoots me a small smile as I run to catch up to her.

"Shaboom." I nod, following her. Sunna seems happier now and I'm really glad she at least sorta forgave me. I feel really fucking bad about shooting the girl from Eleven and I'd take it back if I could. Cel was way too sweet to die, Sage too. They both deserved a lot better and these games were not how they should've gone. Yet, it is. They're both dead and there's nothing I can do besides try and make amends with Sunna.

"Woah." Sunna gasps, bringing me away from my thoughts and back to the giant ice maze. She stood there, hands grasping the small metal box. It's sides lined with forged details of dark green flames. A small, thin line runs the length of the box, separating the box into two equal halves. Sunna takes each half in one of her hands and twists the box open. A warm smile fills her features as a few different bags of what looks like chunky dirt, a small plastic flower pot and a small pouch of corn kernels fall out onto the ashes.

"What in the name of what now?" I ask, taking in the whole set.

Sunna reaches into the box and pulls out a small slip of paper. Her eyes scan it for a second before she looks up at me. "It's from Dakota."

"Dakota? That's the District Nine mentor, right?" I ask.

"Yep." Sunna nods, "now let's get back to Ciara and Zach before they realize we're gone and get even madder."

"Good idea," I say, helping her gather up the potting supplies and put them all into the pot.

"Race you." She laughs and we both take off.

Allegro June, Day 4

Time: 4:33 PM (16:33)

Quadrant~ 2

My stomach lurches at the sight of Kinnik choking on the vile vomit forcing its way out of his mouth. He is paler than a sheet of paper and his breaths come in small collections of wheezes. I feel almost nauseous just seeing puke dripping from his chin. I sigh and kneel beside him, wiping it away with the stiff sleeve of the extra coat I'd wrapped around him earlier. Kinnik heaved again and again. How is he able to choke up so much vomit? We haven't even eaten much while in the arena, haven't even drunk any water. I'd offer him something cleanse his mouth but we don't have anything close.

"Al?" Kinnik croaks, sitting back on his heels. He looks like a ghost, his skin extremely pale and small red dots cover the length of his left arm. The wound itself is not entirely bad, just a lot of blood. I'm nowhere near as good as he is with treating injuries but I know to clean shit. His wound wrapped in the extra jacket to keep more blood from pouring out.

"Yes?" I ask.

"What's happening?" he lays back, eyes staring up at the bright stage lights. Kinnik's breaths come in frantic gasps and no matter how much he tries to breathe deeply, it comes out shallow and small.

"I don't know, something's wrong with your wound," I say.

"I feel so nauseous and really dizzy." He sighs, eyes still pinned to the ceiling.

"That's not good."

"Of course not." He sighs, slowly sitting back up. "I'm also really cold but that's not too strange with the arena being cold and shit, it's just I run like a heater. My body's often really hot so I don't know."

"That's so weird why?" I ask, my voice slightly shaking. None of these signs are adding up, something's really wrong with him.

"I mean, if I was watching these from home I'd say it's a type of blood poisoning, but let's really hope it's not."

"Like sepsis shit?"

"Yes, like sepsis shit." He sighs.

"Wait," I say, his words dawning on me, "isn't sepsis really bad?"

"Yeah." Kinnik nods.

"Then why are you so calm about it? If you get sepsis, there's no cure."

"Just hoping I don't have it, I guess."

"What if you do?" I ask.

"Then I'm gone." He sighs.

"Why are you so calm about dying?"

"Becau-" he starts but grabs his stomach and lets out a gurgled painful scream. Vomit drips down from his mouth as he turns back over, puking all over the ashes.

"Kinnik," I say, scrambling to my feet.

"I don't feel good." He moans, reeling back and throwing up even more.

"Oh no, I'm sorry." I comfort.

"Why the fuck is this happening?" he asks, dropping back onto the ground so he could lay down.

"Kinnik, are there any cures for sepsis?" I ask urgently. I try to keep emotion from leaking into my words but as he clutches his stomach, my voice shakes.

"Water can help, vasopressors as well, but we don't have either of those." He says, eyes squeezed shut.

"Take a deep breath, please." I usher and he tries, only to choke on more uprising vomit. Kinnik gags on it and sits up, puking onto the ashes around him. "Bitch, no," I say.

"No?" he asks, heaving a sigh as he wipes the vomit from his cheek.

"For fuck's sake Kinnik, something's wrong."

"But it can't be, we've come too far to let blood poisoning take me out."

"I know." I sigh, "is there any way we can find some sorta water?"

"I don't think that'll help and besides, I can't get up."

"You can't get up?" I ask, trying not to sound panicky.

"Yeah, shifting to bend over and puke is all my muscles can do." He says, giving me a terrified look. "I'm gonna die, aren't I?"

"That can't happen. No." I reply, pacing back and forth as he lays on his back. He shoots me a scared sideways glance.

"But it's gonna. Al, you have to win."

"No, you were supposed to be the winner. I can't believe I let her axe hit you."

"Whatever, it did, forget about the past. What's your plan?"

"What?" I ask, confusion lacing my words. "Plan?"

"If you're gonna win, walk me through your plan." He says, staring at me with determination labeling his eyes.

"I don't have one, the plan was for you to win."

"That's not an option anymore, you need a plan B."

"Not if you're fucking gone," I say, still pacing across the small section between two ice walls. Maybe it's not blood poisoning and he can survive? How long does poisoning take to set in anyway? If it's like a week, he can still win. There's gotta be things in the Capital to save him after that, right? Of course, the Capital has literally everything. He could be saved then, the only thing is how to get him to win when he can't move-

"Al!" Kinnik screams, grabbing his stomach. His voice pulling me back to reality and I stop pacing. I kneel beside him as he coughs and blood comes sputtering from his mouth. I can't help but let out a whispered shout as he rolls to his side. He curls his legs up, forming his body into a ball, cradling his stomach wound.

"Kinnik, no no, no," I say but he doesn't answer. His body shakes and I gingerly touch his non-wounded side.

"Al…" he croaks, his body coming to a still and his eyes slowly folding shut.

"Kinnik, no. No." I cry but he doesn't answer.

Kai Morgan, Day 4

Time: 5:17 PM (17:17)

Quadrant~ Cornucopia

Boom.

The fourth canon today booms, ringing in my eyes. I shoot a look at Misty, tributes are dwindling. That's a really good thing, the fewer tributes there are, the closer I am to getting home. The closer I am to seeing my family again. Instinctively I reach down to my wrist and finger the small beaded bracelet Maya had made for me before I had to go.

"Who do you think that was?"

"With a total of four canons, I hope it was Zach's alliance," I say. "But it probably wasn't."

"Still butthurt that he rejected you?" Angel chuckles, beside me. The three of us sat close to the bonfire in an attempt to stay warm for the night.

"No." I counter.

"I think so." Misty teases.

"Whatever, both of you suck."

"Not a chance." Angel laughs.

"She's right, loser," Misty says, smiling.

"I feel ganged up on now," I chuckle.

"Good," Angel says.

"That's the point."

"Whatever." I sigh, turning back to the crackling flames. I can't help but stare, mesmerized for a second by it's light golden glow.

"You guys hungry?" Angel asks, slowly getting to her feet.

"Yeah, I am actually."

"Cool, Misty you?"

"Yes please," Misty says, shooting Angel a smile. The girl from One slowly retrieves a backpack from our pile and opens it up, digging her right hand through its contents. She pulls out a small plastic pouch of dried dark meat and turns back to us.

"Jerky work?" Angel asks and both Misty and I nod. "Great, also Misty, you still got that canteen?"

"Yeah," Misty sighs, turning to her right and pulling out a small metal canteen from her pack. Yesterday we'd thankfully found a small glowing stream with clean water. We'd gathered as much as we could but unfortunately, we didn't have many empty canteens on us. We should probably go back and try and find it again tomorrow.

"Can I have a drink please?" I ask and Misty passes me the bottle of water. I take a small sip of the refreshing liquid, letting the still ice-cold water drip onto my tongue. I relish in the moment before tilting my head forward and closing the cap on the canteen. I sigh and hand the water back to Misty who takes it gently. She holds the canteen to her lips and drinks a sip as well. She quickly shuts the lid, not wanting to tempt herself with any more of the water. We both know how sparing we have to be with our resources. This water has to last us three to the finale.

"Here you go," Angel says, handing me two and a half strips of jerky.

"Thank you." I nod, popping a piece into my mouth and chewing slowly.

"Misty," Angel nods, handing Misty her portion of jerky.

"Thanks." Misty sighs, the tension between the girls could be cut with a knife. It's impossible not to notice how much we've started to fall apart after Onyx's death. It's so very easy for us to go from laughing and teasing to glaring and hating. That's all it's been between us lately and I feel like I'm in the middle of a silent war. Of course, if it came down to it, I'd take Misty over Angel. Misty is my district partner, we've known each other before volunteering. Both of us trained in the same academy so I'd often pass by her when with my friends-

"Do you hear that?" Misty asks, finishing up her last piece of dried, tough meat. Her voice bringing me back to reality.

"That pinging noise? 'Cause yes, I do." Angel says, eating a small piece of her jerky.

"Pinging noise?" I ask, confused.

"Listen, there's a beeping noise."

"Look at the sky." Angel gasps and I look up, still extremely confused about what the girls mean. There I see what they're talking about- a parachuted sponsor gift floating down towards us. It creates a small constant beeping noise as it reaches the ground. Misty gets up from her seat next to the fire to inspect the parcel. It's on the smaller side as far as boxes go but that's alright. It tells of breathtaking details, forged deep in the box's outer design. A set of light blue flames embroider the dark grey metal.

"Sponsor gift?" Angel asks as Misty sits down beside her.

"That's my guess." Misty sighs, twisting open the box's two halves to reveal a roll of stiff, cream-colored toilet tissue.

"What the heck?" Angel asks, her eyes narrowing.

"I don't know at this point," Misty says, taking out the paper and letting Angel pick up the small slip of paper that came with the gift.

"For you to have a better arena experience." Angel reads. "Rock it out there. Love, Pasha."

"Out of all the things she could've sponsored us, she gave us toilet paper?" Misty laughs.

"Well look around, we've got food, water, and weapons. Toilet tissue is just a luxury item to make our games that much cooler." I say.

"I guess so," Misty says, setting down the small roll.

"What do we do with the box?" Angel asks.

"We can just leave it here, it'll be fine," I say.

"Sounds good." Angel laughs.

Lily Rosett, Day 4

Time: 11:01 PM (23:01)

Quadrent~ 4

"The pair from Eleven, the girl from Two and the boy from Seven, all today," I say, hanging my head sadly.

"I know," Abram whispers, gently laying down beside me. Kinnik's face fades from the sky and I can't help but let out a small sniffle. Not for him in particular, just all the tributes that have died. Abram and I have made it through the first twelve tributes, only ten more to go. The cold and bitter wind sends a fierce shiver down my spine.

Sooner or later either Abram or myself is going to have to die. A small tear drips slowly down my face but quickly I wipe it away so Abram doesn't see it. He stays looking up at the star-less sky but smiles at me. "You good?" he asks.

"Yes," I sigh. Obviously, I'm not good but it's not his problem. It's not his problem there's this crushing feeling in my stomach every time I look at him, knowing he has to die for me to make it back home. We can't both win and no matter how much I try to forget, death hangs in the air. It's sharp scent sends needles up my nose. But he doesn't have to die, if I just embrace death like a friend. All I have to do is stop fighting, give in to the feelings pressing down upon me. Death. Death. Death. My heart pounds in my ears and my chest lights on fire.

My breath comes in a shuttering gasp, some invisible force pushing on my chest, making it hard to breathe. I could just go, let death take me, so he could win. He deserves it. Another tear drips down my face but I don't bother to wipe it away and let it fall to the ashes beneath me.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Each breath harder than the last, as pain slithers about in my chest. I try to push away the thoughts of death but they just dig their dangerous claws deep into my chest cavity. Gripping my body as another tear starts to drip down from my already puffy eye. Death isn't even that bad, why am I scared of it? It's certainly no stranger, an old friend more or less. Because to death, it is always the protagonist. Every time, every breakdown. The main character, whilst I settled on the side, cast out. It is the hero, and it was fighting me off as if I am the antagonist. I am the antagonist, simple as that. I deserve to let death win the fight-

"You're not, please, what's wrong?" Abram says, his voice shattering death like glass and bringing me back to reality.

Inhale.

Exhale.

"It's nothing," I sigh, surprised I'm able to string words with this giant boulder pressing into my chest. I stare up at the pitch-black sky, holding my breath.

"You've been saying that but it's certainly something that's causing you pain. Please just talk to me, do you want a hug? I will hug you, don't think I won't."

I don't answer him, my chest on fire too much to form any more words. My left hand starts to shake badly but I pay it no mind.

"Lily?" he asks, sitting up to look at me. I sit up to face him as well, trying to keep the pain from affecting my eyes.

"Yes?" I croak.

Inhale.

Exhale.

"No, I don't need a hug, it's fine, everything's fine, I'm fine." I lie, but even though I know it's not true, saying those words makes the painful claws dig a little less deep.

"I feel like that's an inaccurate sentence but it's fine, if you don't wanna talk, I'll respect that. I just want you to know, whatever you're going through, I'm here. Let me go through it too."

"I-I." I sputter, the words rolling off my tongue but no sound escapes out.

"Lily? What's wrong?" he asks, concern filling his features as if he sees something is wrong. Something is very much wrong.

"I-I." I try again.

"It's alright." He comforts, rubbing my back lightly. "Is it the faces in the sky?" I look at him sadly for a second before simply he nods. "One of us is gonna die." He says, knowingly. I nod at him, another tear dripping down my face as I stare past him and at our trap. "You'll feel better soon, just breath, alright?" I look back at him and a small piece of the lump pressing on my chest fizzes away.

Inhale.

Exhale.

More pieces start to break off, shattering the pain once blossoming in my chest cavity.

Yes, death is fighting me. It's running at me at full force but I guess I just have to run back at it. I can't let myself fall into a pit of self-harming, gosh, no. I can't let that happen, I have to fight. I have to beat death itself, determination pulsing through my veins as the boulder on my chest, shattering into a million pieces.

11th place- Kinnik Verdugo, killed by sepsis from Liz Starr's axe (I'm giving this kill to Liz because that's what caused the infection)

Awww Kinnik. I have always had a love-hate relationship with his character/character arc. I had a lot of fun developing it over the course of almost a year. I originally planned to make you go farther but somehow your death just fell here. I feel like it's the best place for you. Honestly, I went back and forth so many freaking times on whether I liked you or hated you. And it did quite a number on my mental health buttt really you were still such a cool character to write. Of course, it had to be Liz's axe is what killed you, she somehow managed to get her revenge so I can't really blame her. RIP... Kinnik

Alliances-

The Bread Queens (and Zach), That Are Starting to Divide a Tad: Sunna, Ciara, Anne and Zach

Just Your Local Band of Idiots: Lily and Abram

Extremely Interesting Cause Numbers Have Shifted: Angel, Kai and Misty

Sub-alliances-

Hospital Gang: Abram, Lily, Ciara and Zach

Just a Pact: Anne and Abram

What's Left of Launch Team One: Lily and Sunna

Interesting Rollercoaster of Emotions: Sunna and Anne

Just Keeping Ciara From Murdering Everyone In Her Sight: Zach, Ciara

Loners-

Pepper Sprayed But Not Giving Up: Elizabeth

Wtf do I do now: Allegro


Kill Count (underlined ones are gone)-

Sasha: 1 (D5F, self)

Ciara: 1 (D6F)

Kinnik: 1 (D3F)

Misty: 1 (D9M)

Kai: 1 (D5M)

Abram: 1 (D12M)

Angel: 1 (D3M)

Tyree: 1 (D6M, self)

Elizabeth: 1 (D1"M"-NB)

Anne: 1 (D11F)

Zach: 1 (D11"M"-NB)

Allegro: 1 (D2F)

Liz: 1 (D7M)

A/N: Annnnnd we're back, shaboom! Starting 2021 off with a bang! This chapter was pretty easy to write because a lot of the events carried over from the last chapter. Not to mention I actually found a good chunk of time to write so guess what? BOOM. Final 11! Any predictions on who's gonna die next? Thoughts on the two sponsor gifts written in here? Of course, they'll be featured more as time goes on but I had a lot of fun writing them in for now xd.

Well, that's all I got besides- have a good day/night/afternoon.

Bye for now,

Marie