Arroyo Cardoso- District Four male (17)

Sometimes you kill two birds with one stone. As I was hunting through the halls, eventually I had to take care of one of those things the camera somehow never shows. It had been a stroke of luck so far to be in such a contained and modern Arena. I hadn't had to go through the painful trials of Careers past who had to pluck leaves and hope they weren't poison ivy. Quarla, Alysanne and I had our pick of dozens of lovely and mostly immaculate restrooms scattered throughout the Arena.

"Hey, uh... bathroom break?" I asked, turning around ahead of Alysanne and Quarla.

"Good a time as any," Quarla said. Alysanne shrugged.

When we reached the nearest pair of restrooms we set to work breaching the doors. It was one of the weirder things Careers learned. Most of us never used it but you just never knew when you might be in an indoor Arena. Quarla stood behind my diagonally as I kicked the door open to trap anyone who might be behind it. I rushed into the room straight and swung around the door's backside and Quarla darted into the open space on the left of the swinging door. When no one was inside that bathroom we went back and cleared the men's room, then went our separate ways.

I was halfway to the stall when something set off a red flag in my mind. I wasn't sure what it was at first and looked over the room until I noticed it was the ceiling. There was a very small but definitely present dip in one of the tiles. I crept over to the spot, carefully treading so I didn't make any noise. I stood directly underneath it and shoved my glaive up. The blade broke through the thin tile and hit a solid but soft mass. I heard a sharp gasp and then my blade jerked around as whoever was up there recoiled. The ceiling tiles jiggled as they scuttled away.

I pulled my glaive down and stood looking at the blood that stood out almost cartoonishly against the shining metal. Names and faces ran through my mind as I wondered who I had just killed. And whoever it was certainly was killed- the brightness of the blood indicated a mortal wound. The thought was confirmed when red droplets started oozing from the ceiling in the far corner of the room.

Better not to stay, I thought. Better not to find out more and not to dwell on it. Thinking about who I'd killed would only make them more of a human in my mind. Better to leave them a potential instead of a person.

One thing was sure: I wasn't about to use a restroom with a dying kid in it. I hoped Quarla and Alysanne were done because I was about to raid the ladies' room.

Vaslav Nikulin- District Eleven male

Blood didn't seem so scary anymore now that I hardly had any left. When the blade first slid in and I felt that sharp slicing pain, I was scared. It was grotesque to see my very flesh torn open and spilling out everything inside. And it hurt. It hurt like a leaking bruise. It was funny how it was more of an ache than a sharp pain.

I wondered who it was that had killed me. We never even saw each other. If I had to guess I would say Arroyo since he was in the boys' bathroom and had a real weapon. Arroyo had seemed like such a normal and even playful guy in the Capitol. I guess growing up in a Career District changes you. He'd probably die soon, too. Not soon soon but within the next few weeks. All of us but one, and so many Careers who thought that one would be them.

I wanted my father. He could fix something like this. He could sew me all up and I'd be all right. He was watching at home thinking the same thing. I wondered if he'd still be a doctor after this. If it was me I'd want to move far away and never be a doctor again. But in a way I was closer to him than I'd ever been. Because my blood looked kind of pretty swirling out against the white tiles. I could understand why someone would want to be a doctor.

Gaius McClellan- District Twelve male (18)

Location is everything. The room I'd selected had a lock on the door and a heavy desk bolted to the floor to make a barrier between me and any Careers who might try to fight as a pair. It also had a vent set into the wall that I could use as an escape route if things went south. As a final touch, whatever upper-level executive worked here must have been big on snacking, since there was a mini-fridge in the corner that would keep my food from spoiling.

Once the room was secured I could start making a weapon. There were plenty of options in the desk. I chose a fancy metal ruler and got to work sharpening it by rubbing it against the metal desk leg. Once it was sharp enough I would cut some upholstery from the leather desk chair and wrap it around to make a handle.

As I sharpened, I planned. Currently there were three Careers left. I had to assume that at least two of them were together. That meant I had to be cautious and couldn't yet go on the offensive. I had to stay in place until one of them- hopefully Arroyo or Quarla- died. Once that happened I could take my chances and go on the attack. It was unfortunate that I was in a position where I had to kill people but it was a cold truth that I valued my life more than someone I didn't even know. Everyone else in the Arena felt the same way. It's just human nature.

A clunking noise came from deep in the wall, reverberating through the vent opening. My head snapped up and I stared intently at the vent. One thump could just be the building settling. When more thumps came at regular intervals I knew someone was traveling through the vent.

I quietly got up from the floor beside the desk and leaned against the wall over the vent. From the timing of the thumps it sounded like two people were in the vent. When the first one breached the vent I would kick them in the head. While they were stunned I would stab them in the throat and they would bleed out while their helpless ally was blocked by their body.

I tensed as the thumping drew nearer. I could almost feel the movement of the Tributes through the vibrations in the vent. I felt a pause as they must have hit an interior fork in the road. The paused resumed, so close they must have been feet away, and then started to get quieter. I slowly relaxed as whoever had been in the vent picked a different path and went on unaware of what they'd narrowly avoided. Somewhere in the Arena there was a Tribute who would die another day.

13th place: Vaslav Nikulin- Stabbed by Arroyo

Vaslav was blessed by this Arena and because of it survived longer than he would have. He made smart choices and theoretically could have easily survived two weeks or maybe more just by sitting there and conserving energy. In some years that would have been long enough to win. But a Career's situational awareness is razor-sharp and Arroyo did what he was trained to do. Thanks LordZagreus for Vaslav, who had the bravest weakness a submitter could give their Tribute- aversion to blood- and was boldly not OP.

Timeline for context: it is now day 5