Night I

Sarahlee Adoumont, 14, District 3

"I suppose all things considered this isn't the worst arena I could have imagined," Sabrina muses taking a series of slow, cautionary steps to avoid the patch of poison ivy that seemed littered around the entire arena. "Still, it's awfully warm in here. Hopefully, it'll cool down once it gets completely dark."

Sarahlee shakes her head, "It might cool down a little bit, but from what I studied in school, greenhouses tend to hold heat overnight. My biggest worry is that I haven't seemed to spot any vents for cooling…"

"So the more days we're in here, the warmer it'll get?"

Sarahlee nods, "Tonight we'll sleep here but tomorrow we should really start looking for an exit from the greenhouse. My gut is telling me that staying in here for too long won't serve us well."

"I agree," Sabrina confirms, "We can rest tonight and then try and grab whatever supplies we can along our way out. Besides, I think it's safe to say we can trust your gut now. Based on the number of canons I counted, I think we made the right move to get out of there as fast as possible."

It had been quite the gamble to run away from the bloodbath without anything in hand, but for now, Sarahlee was safe with her ally, and that was more than could be said for many of the other tributes. With their headstart on the others, Sarahlee and Sabrina had afforded themselves a moment of exploration and had given themselves the time to find an ideal shelter.

Moving deeper into the greenhouse, they had managed to find a plant nursery. Initially, the door had been hidden, covered by thick moss, but Sarahlee had managed to spot a set of metallic hinges glinting between the greenery and found a way in. Seeing as the location was secluded from the main pathways of the greenhouse, it seemed to be the best place to hideout for the night and avoid any unwanted guests.

"Any chance you think anything here is edible? I'm starving," Sabrina muses, looking at the wall of seeds they had found. At first, it seemed like they had hit the jackpot, but most of the items appeared to need weeks or even months to grow, time they likely didn't have.

"Maybe one of the seedlings is edible?" Sarahlee responds thoughtfully, hoping that the fact that she and Sabrina spent most of their time studying survival and poisonous plants would possibly pay off. Between the two of them, they had already been able to identify a handful of poisonous plants to avoid, which to an untrained eye could have been completely deceptive.

"Although, since we had a full breakfast today, we should be okay without food for a few days. If we do find something to eat tonight, maybe it's best we conserve it," Sabrina replies, "but if I'm being honest, I've never actually gone to bed hungry before."

"Honestly, I haven't either," Sarahlee admits, "My meals were probably never as fancy as yours, but my parents always found a way to make ends meet."

"Well, we may be hungry tonight, but I think I just might have found a solution to our seed problem," Sabrina replies holding up a bright orange packet of bean sprout seeds, "The packet says that if we soak them in water, it'll only take two days for them to sprout."

"Not bad, Sabrina," Sarahlee says, unable to prevent the smile that forms on her face in response to their small victory.

"You know, for two city girls, we are turning out to be quite the survivalists," Sabrina grins, "Maybe, just maybe, we might actually have a chance at this."

Bell Dunkin, 17, District 10

It feels like Bell's taken a punch to gut.

In mere seconds everything had devolved in complete and utter chaos, as she watched her two closest allies be cut down in quick succession. It had been brutal to witness and all Bell could feel was sheer anger.

It seemed like everyone around her was destined to die- first, her sister, Nat, next, Eme, and finally, Aidan. And then, there was Ash- her last hope, the only reason she had left to live.

Whatever pain she was feeling, she couldn't allow herself to dwell on it, so Bell reaches for the only distraction she can find- her supplies. Thanks to her allies' distractions, Bell had managed to obtain not one, but two bags.

Seated on a garden bench, Bell can't help but hope that no one walks by as she begins to unpack the supplies from the first bag- a box full of protein bars, an empty canteen, a blanket, and a small lantern. Peering into the second bag, Bell sighs in relief as she finds a weapon, pulling out a short sword (or a very long knife). It's not the only thing the bag contains, as Bell finds herself pulling out a bag of cookies.

And suddenly, there are tears in her eyes as she's unable to keep it together any longer. Nat had always loved sweet things, a trait that her friend, Eme, had seemed to share. Unable to contain her grief any longer, Bell begins to sob, not caring who heard her, until the sound of rustling bushes snaps her out of her wrecked state.

"Who is that!?" Bell calls out her voice cracking, ever so slightly, "I-I have a weapon. Stay away!"

Much to her surprise, a much younger voice answers as a short, blonde girl steps forward bravely, "Are you all right?"

"I-I'm fine…" Bell replies, lowering her weapon, as the younger girl inched towards her. The girl was small, but had a black bag slung over her shoulder, the large "9" on her jacket peeking out from under it. If Bell remembered the girl's training score correctly, she really wasn't much of a threat and Bell felt herself relaxing, "I just lost my only allies...I just lost my only friends," Bell admits, swallowing tightly.

The girl looks at her solemnly, "So did I. My friend, Oswald, was supposed to sneak into the gazebo and then find me, but that girl from Two managed to get him first."

"The boys from Two and Four got my friends," Bell replies, "They didn't stand a chance."

"Fuck the Careers, am I right?" the blonde girl says, through tightly gritted teeth. Bell's eyes widen momentarily, surprised by the foul language coming from such a young person, but she's hard pressed to disagree.

"Yeah, fuck them," Bell echoes, swallowing tightly, before turning to the younger girl. "What's your name?"

"Rudy."

"I'm Bell," she introduces holding out her hand, "I'm sorry about your friend. He was your district partner, right?"

Rudy nods, "He was the best district partner. He didn't deserve to die in cold-blood like that...neither did your friends. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I didn't think I was going to lose him so early. I feel like I miss him already."

"You know, I have to say, it seems like you're handling your grief very maturely, Rudy," Bell compliments, "Meanwhile, I'm a complete emotional wreck right now."

"I really hope my mentor Ryelee heard you call me mature, but honestly, I don't think it's fully hit me yet, the fact that he's really gone," Rudy replies weakly, her eyes glinting with something Bell can't quite read.

"Rudy, do you want to sit here with me a little longer?" Bell offers, gazing at the setting sun, "I don't really know where I go from here, but I think we could both benefit from not being alone right now."

Rudy nods, slumping into the bench, her whole body relaxing, "Yeah. I would like that."

Jesse Greenfields, 15, District 10

Jesse had panicked.

He hadn't meant to, but the sound of the horn and the rush of the other tributes had caught him off guard and sent his heart racing. His first instinct was to look for Maven, but with all the chaos surrounding him, Jesse realized how impossible it was to separate friends from foes. Thus, when the sound of the first cannon filled the air, Jesse did the only thing his body allowed him and ran as far as his feet could take him.

But now, facing the impending darkness, Jesse realized his decision to flee might have led him astray. His only hope now was to find some of his allies, crossing his fingers that somehow they were all still alive.

Looking around, all Jesse can see around him are plants. There's a few he recognizes from District 10 like the varieties of grass, but then there are the others like the strange flowers and oddly-shaped trees he's never seen before.

Following the concrete pathway, Jesse attempts to retrace his steps, only pausing when he reaches a fork in the path. There's about three directions for him to choose from, but much to his dismay, it remains entirely unclear which path leads back to the Cornucopia and what he can only assume is the center of the arena.

"Which way is that gosh darn gazebo?" Jesse groans aloud, half in frustration, half in sheer confusion.

He continues to mull around for a few seconds, when his thoughts are interrupted by the sound of rustling and out of nowhere, a familiar face arises from beneath a thick pile of leaves in the middle of the fork.

"Jesse?" the voice asks, "I thought I recognized your voice. Sorry for hiding, I thought you were a Career…I've been walking around this place all afternoon but keep ending up back here at the fork."

"Levi!" Jesse grins triumphantly, relieved to finally be reunited with a friendly face, "It's you! You're alive! Do you know where the others are?"

Shrugging off the rest of the leaves Levi stands up causing Jesse to gasp and stagger backwards.

"Levi...you're...you're…" Jesse can't bring himself to say the words as he makes out the dark red rashes that cover Levi's body.

"I know, I know the rashes…" Levi replies, though as far as Jesse can tell, he appears to be slightly out of it, "They just sort of came out of nowhere...I'm not sure if it's the leaves or what, but I think I'm alright. I'm a little short of breath and light-headed, but I think that it might just be because of the heat. It's like a sauna in here!"

"Levi, those plants have three leaves...I think they might be poisonous," Jesse warns, "Here, let's sit down."

Taking a seat beside Levi, Jesse notices that Levi has managed to procure a small bag, "Hey, let me take a look at what's in there. Maybe there's some ointment or medicine we can use to soothe your rashes…"

"Really, I'm fine, Jesse," Levi says, his eyes slightly glazed over as he hands over the bag.

Jesse scans through the bag's contents finding a knife and full canteen of water, but nothing else. Looking up, he sees Levi has laid down on the hard ground, the younger boy's eyes drooping shut.

"Hey Levi, I need you to stay awake, alright?" Jesse says, as he begins to panic mildly. "We have to go find Maven, Penny, and Lotus, alright?"

"Maven…" Levi trails off, "I left him near the gazebo…I hope he's alright...but listen, Jesse, I'm glad I found you but I just need a little break? A few seconds of shut eye sounds great."

"Okay, yes, that's great that you know where Maven is! We can go back and find him but you can't sleep, Levi!" Jesse responds, as he watches Levi's eyes fall shut.

Boom.

"Levi!" Jesse cries out, as he attempts to shake the boy awake, carefully avoiding any exposed skin, "Levi, wake up! Please!"

Seth Sacrosanct, 18, District 2

Seth arrives back at the Cornucopia when the sound of another cannon cracks through the air. To Seth it doesn't matter much, after all, each cannon is just another step closer to victory for him. When it came to the Games, there were no personal attachments to be had or tears to cry, just a single-minded focus on one thing: winning.

Stepping into the gazebo, Seth is greeted by a sight he had never expected to see- Adria's dead body lying limp on the ground and Tamica pressing her infamous bandana against her good eye.

"Seth? Is that you?" Tamica asks, her voice hoarse, tired, and raspy. In all his years of training, he's never seen her like this, and yet empathy is the last thing that crosses his mind. All he can do is debate finishing off the job while the opportunity has so nicely presented itself.

"Yeah, it's me," Seth finally responds, as his desire to know more gets the better of him. If there's a story here, then he needs to be the first to hear it, especially before making any potentially rash moves.

"That fucking bitch, Adria, attacked me," Tamica spits, "She broke the deal, stabbed me in the eye, and now I can't see a fucking thing. I finally got the bleeding to stop, but I've been stuck here for the past few hours with no where to go."

"Adria broke the deal?" Seth asks, lifting a suspicious brow, "Or did you attack her and it spiraled out of control?"

"If I had been the one to make the first move then I would have finished her off and still have my sight. I certainly wouldn't have stayed here, dwelling around like a helpless idiot," Tamica growls. It was a fair point. Based on what he knew of his district partner, it seemed unlikely that Adria would have gotten away with blinding her if not for the element of surprise.

Seth sighs, "Can you still fight?"

"I took her down didn't I?" Tamica retorts.

Seth purses his lips, "Then, let's get out of here before Chris comes back. I have a feeling he won't take kindly to seeing his district partner in such a state. I doubt he'd be willing to listen to your side of things."

"So what? We're working together now?"

"It's not like you have any other options," Seth responds, frigidly, "You can come with me or I can kill you now. I don't really care either way- the choice is all yours."

Tamica grunts, "Fine. I'm coming but we should take as many supplies as we can."

Seth wasn't dumb. Sure, Tamica had a short fuse, but sight or no sight, she could be a useful ally to keep around, especially now that she would be forced to rely on him in some capacity. Besides, once they made it far enough, Seth figured he would have no problem taking down a blind girl. All in all, if Tamica really was telling the truth, then Adria had only done him a favor by breaking their deal.

Combing through the nearest few bags, Seth makes his selection, motioning for Tamica to follow, before reminding himself of her blind state.

That was certainly going to take some getting used to. He just wonders if a blind Tamica can still keep up.

Lotus Mitsubishi, 13, District 6

Sitting with Penny perched in the massive banyan tree, Lotus could almost forget she was in the middle of the Games until the sound of the Capitol's theme fills the air. Up until that moment Lotus could have pretended she was in a book, exploring the most glorious garden she had ever seen, but peering through the large glass panels of the greenhouse, Lotus has a clear view of the sky as the first face is projected among the stars.

"The boy from Three," Penny recognizes, "I think the girl from One got him with her arrows…"

Next are the pair from Eleven, followed by the pair from Twelve. Lotus didn't know any of them personally, but she still felt a pang at her heart seeing their faces in the sky. The arena somehow felt uncomfortably quieter without all of them.

The next face, however, is the hardest one yet.

"Not, Maven," Penny whispers quietly as Lotus reaches out, holding out her hand for Penny to grasp. Lotus can't imagine what it must feel like for Penny to lose her district partner. Maven hadn't always been the most open person, but in the end, he had been a friend and a real ally to the both of them.

Their friend's face is followed by the boy from Nine and then surprisingly, the girl from Four.

"One career down!" Penny cheers softly, in between her tears, a tiny victory that Lotus can't help but smile at too. "I'll bet after all the distrust we caused, they probably attacked each other."

"Levi really did have an amazing plan. If we are able to find him and Jesse soon, maybe we'll cause a little more chaos," Lotus replies, gleefully. Her joy, however, is tragically short-lived as the image of Levi suddenly appears in the sky.

Looking over at Penny, words evade her as Lotus feels her eyes begin to prickle. Perhaps, it was foolish of Lotus to believe that their group of misfits had had a real chance of surviving, but she had wanted to believe there was a way to make it out this mess together. After all, in her books the good guys always came out triumphant. How was she to know real life could be this cruel?

Maybe she should have spent more time reading cold, hard books like The Value of the Capitol. Maybe then she wouldn't be feeling the crushing sense of dread she feels now.

The music stops playing and the sky goes dark once more, but Lotus remains at a loss of words.

"We don't have a chance, do we?" Lotus finally says aloud, staring at the ground below them, unable to look her friend in the eyes, mulling in the grief of the moment.

"Don't say that Lotus," Penny says softly, though her words come out like choked sobs, "At least Jesse is still alive out there. And we still have each other, right?"

"You're an amazing person and good friend, Penny, but we can't possibly stand a chance against five careers…" Lotus replies, "This isn't a little kid's fairytale."

"I'll bet my mentor, Oaklynn, once thought the exact same thing," Penny responds, "But if she can win the Games, then we certainly have a chance. Besides, we spent a ton of time studying plants during training...this arena was meant for us. We can't let ourselves get defeated already. Now more than ever, we have to fight for Maven and Levi."

"But how?" Lotus asks, her eyes wide. As much as she wanted to believe Penny, it was hard to stay positive after experiencing the loss of two friends.

Penny crosses her arms, a fierce look of determination forming on her face, "We have to take another Career down."

Hoffy Doubloon, 18, District 1

"Fuck!" comes the angry exclamation from Delcy. He had been glad to run into her on his quest to hunt down the large outer district alliance, but right now she was displaying an intensity quality of fury he could have never expected from his lovely district partner.

Not that Hoffy could truly blame her, for he, too, was entirely flabbergasted by what they just witnessed in the sky.

"I imagine it had to be Cacat…" Hoffy muses allowed, "Before we parted ways Adria told me she was returning to check up on Cacat and I can't imagine any other tribute would have been able to take her down along the way. The timing of the cannons would line up."

"Of course, that psycho betrayed the deal. I'll bet Seth was in on it too. They've probably been setting us up the whole time," Delcy groans. Patting the spot beside him on the ground, Hoffy watches as Delcy pauses and takes a seat down beside him, "She was the only other person I really trusted…"

The "besides you" part seems to go unsaid.

"What are we going to do?" Hoffy asks with a heavy sigh, as whatever initial excitement he had previously held for the Games seemed to fade away by the moment. He had always liked Adria and it seemed like such a shame for such a bright person to be gone from the Games so soon.

"Well, we certainly can't go back to the gazebo," Delcy replies, "Who knows what might be waiting there to ambush us?"

"Maybe we could try to find Chris?" Hoffy suggests.

Delcy shakes her head dismissively, "No offense, but we don't have any supplies right now, just weapons. The last thing we need is to waste time looking for a third person to take care of."

"I mean, I think Chris could be fairly helpful," Hoffy replies with a small shrug, "His parents are trainers…"

"Okay, well, if we run into him we can consider it, but our priority right now needs to be getting supplies and getting your first kill," Delcy replies, as her face softens ever so slightly, "For now, we just need to focus on you and me, alright?"

Hoffy nods. For some reason Delcy had this natural authority to her, an authority he couldn't help but trust. Perhaps, when it came to Delcy, it was foolish of him to follow his heart so blindly, but if Adria's death had taught him anything, it was that the games were unpredictable and all he could do was go along for the ride.

Besides, Delcy had a point. As far as he could tell, he was the only Career without a kill and although Hoffy wasn't looking forward to the deed, he had known from the beginning what would eventually have to be done.

With that said, if Cacat had really been the one to betray Adria, then certainly she seemed like a proper target, worthy of his wrath. Somehow the prospect of killing another seemed easier to swallow in the context of revenge and retribution. Breaking a deal was a dishonorable action and in Hoffy's eyes, that couldn't go unpunished.

"So it's you and me to the end, then, ma'am?" Hoffy responds, causing Delcy to release a small laugh. After all, in the face of defeat, what else could they do but laugh?

"It's you and me to the end. Let's just hope that hat of yours provides us the luck we need to make it that far."

"I dare say this happens to be the luckiest hat in the entire arena," Hoffy grins.

"I think it's the only hat in the entire arena," Delcy counters, teasingly.

"Well, even if it's by default, it's still the luckiest hat."

"Whatever you say, Hoffy, whatever you say…"

A/N: Omg! Another games chapter has arrived! I had so much fun exploring the fallout of the bloodbath and I hope you enjoyed this chaotic chapter! As always, I can't wait to hear your thoughts! -Anya

GAMES UPDATES

Eulogies:

Placed 16th - Levi Sullivan (killed by poisonous leaves): Oh Levi, I really loved him so much. He was such a sweet older sibling and his light-hearted dynamic with Lotus and Penny was so fun to write. Levi was such a perceptive person when it came to gaging other people but unfortunately, his downfall was his inability to gauge the danger of a natural environment. His Tomato plan was such an iconic moment and I know he will really be missed. A huge thank you to rising-balloons for sending in Levi, I like to think he's enjoying a nice long break now.

Kills List:

Tamica - 2 (Oswald, Adria)
Delcy - 1 (Nick)
Seth - 1 (Emerald)
Chris - 1 (Aidan)
Adria - 1 (Maven)
Daisy - 1 (Tomato)
Tomato - 1 (Daisy)
Arena - 1 (Levi)

Alliance Update:

The Ones: Hoffy, Delcy
The Twos: Tamica, Seth
The Rebels: Michael, Feroric, and Aniela
The Mutual Mistrust: Sarahlee and Sabrina
The Book Club: Lotus, Penny
The Alliance-less Alliance: Rudy, Bell
Lone Wolves: Chris, Jesse