Sorrel Harding, 13, D12F:

My alliance, I think, is a good one. We've all been functioning well together, and Ardledge is a fair leader. Chip has been practicing at the survival stations with me all morning, and Emily has trotted off on her own to review what she learned two days ago. Griffin and Ardledge are putting some time into touching up their weapons skills. I think I know enough to survive, but I don't know how to do much of anything besides finding water and getting food. The thing that worries me the most is my growing fear that my allies will die in the Bloodbath and there won't be anyone who knows how to construct a shelter or build a fire. All I can do is hope things turn out okay. As of right now, we have a few minutes of free training while the instructors set up the final two mandatory activities. I've been promised they'll be the easiest of all, and will prepare us for the Bloodbath.

Hortensia blows her whistle and summons us to the center of the room. The alliances have become more clear over time, and it's easy to tell who's friends with who. The Careers are all clustered together, occasionally whispering to one another. Zea, Pola, and Soren are in a clump. Elle and Radley are lined up single file behind Jenna. Thys, Ryan, Damon, and Amiee are huddled inwards. Emily and Chp flank me, with Griffin and Ardledge alongside them, the five of us in a wobbly-looking row. Earlier, Quinten and Harry seemed to be making friends with each other, and now they stand together somewhere beyond Griffin's broad, tall form. Soya, the singular lone wolf, is off to the side, looking lost. Suddenly, the Head Gamemaker traipses in through the double doors. When she was giving us guidance about private session strategy, she singled me out as an example. Now she's next to Hortensia; the other Gamemakers are scattered around the room.

"Welcome back, tributes," says Hortensia. "I hope you all had a pleasant lunch. At the moment, you have two and one half total hours remaining to train as you please. The exercises will be taking up the remaining fifteen minutes. Yes, that's right, they're really short. It's because I want to maximize the time you have left. Today's activities will involve a short forty yard sprint and an exercise regarding your platforms. Those are the steel plates that you'll rise up into the arena on, and we'll explain what will happen at the kickoff. Ladies, you'll be doing the sprint first. Gentlemen, you'll be working with the platforms. Now, I need the female tributes to head upstairs to the track where I'll be supervising the running. Male tributes, head over to that section of wall. Lucent will be with you shortly."

As I make my way up the steps, I realize I'm very relieved for the platform exercise. I don't have the best sense of balance, and I'm terrified that I'll fall off before the timer ends and get blown sky high. Running is good, though. I'm excellent at sprinting. I sometimes carried messages for money in District Twelve, so I can surely handle this short distance. "Two heats, you know the rules," Hortensia announces, "Heat one will consist of Thys Kurono in Lane One, Sorrel Harding in Lane Two, Lyra-Rose Ripley in Lane Three, Elle Callas in Lane Four, Pola Velek in Lane Five, and Livi Carnelian in Lane Six. Now step up to the starting lines. I want you to run as fast as you can back to this taped-down finish line. See the orange cones? Yep right here. Ready? Go!" Every girl launches herself forward in unison, me included. The finish line is tantalizingly close, and unlike the mile, there's no significant difference between the first and last person to be done. The whole thing is over in a few seconds. Hortensia dismisses us immediately to do the platform thing downstairs.

I'm not sure what information she'll glean from such a quick sprint, but she seems satisfied, which is good. Downstairs, the boys are all heading upstairs, apparently already done. Lucent Saccharyn, the Head Gamemaker, has laid out six plates in a circle and orders us to each get on a plate. "I know the metal looks very slick and slippery on television, but you have nothing to worry about. It's easy to stand on, and even the clumsiest tributes don't slip on it. Now, I'm sure some of you have worried about when exactly you get to jump off the plate onto the ground. The answer is once the klaxon begins to sound. I've heard questions like 'So do we go when the timer says one, or when it says zero? And does the klaxon have to be finished before we go? The ultimate benchmark is the klaxon. The second you hear it, go. Alright?" She plays a recording of the last few seconds of the countdown, and when the loud, shrill whine of the klaxon blares out, I jump off my plate. Everyone else does too, and after a few more practice tries, Lucent decides we're done for the day. "The reason for this exercise is so nobody makes a mistake and goes too early or late. This way, we can make sure you're properly knowledgeable about the procedures."

I'm glad that all got cleared up, but there's not much else I can do. Am I really going to retain that much information at this point? I feel like my brain's already at full capacity between the two previous days of training and the major culture shock, but I decide to hit the books again, cracking open a wilderness guide that teaches me all about how to catch the ptarmigan bird. Is it actually that essential that I know how to snare the ptarmigan bird? Will there even be ptarmigan birds in the arena? There's nothing probable about the scenario at all, but I know I'll be grateful I do happen upon a ptarmigan bird, so I keep reading, because I should know what to do, just in case.

Amethyst "Thys" Kurono, 16, D5F:

The problem with figuring out what things I need to study all comes down to the just in case problem. There are some ridiculously obscure skills out there, and I need to decide what I should focus on. Most of us tributes are all facing the same dilemma. We know how good we are using weapons, now there's a last minute panic to read up on as much survival knowledge as we can. The trainers are mainly here to provide practical help and prevent the tributes at the fire building station from burning the Training Center down. They can tell us about pretty much anything, sure, but reading independently is quicker, and our time is in short supply.

I find myself concerned about the tiniest stuff. What happens if I'm bitten by a fly or mosquito and my shoulder balloons to the size of my head but I'm allergic to the medicinal plants that might otherwise bring the swelling down? The odds of that are so infinitesimal that it's not worth memorizing a four page passage that would teach me how to deal with it. I'd be better off reviewing and testing myself on the simpler tricks that I've already gone over so I know I'll remember them right. After all, if I mess up the time it takes for my water to purify and end up bloated and slowly dying of poison in a ditch somewhere, I'll be kicking myself. On the other hand, if the fly problem really does come true, I'll be upset that I wasted my time practicing something I already knew how to do and didn't read that crucial chapter.

Of course, I could also just not do either and go back to something normal and relaxing, like boxing. If I can't defeat a Career in the Bloodbath, survival skills will be of no use at all and I'll have more pressing issues to worry about. Should I learn some more first aid? I'm feeling indecisive, and it doesn't take a fancy Capitol scientist to figure out why. It's because I'm nervous. Nervous about bombing my interview tomorrow, and of course surviving the Hunger Games, but mostly nervous about making a mistake in front of the Gamemakers. Yeah, they're just people, and Lucent might not seem so terrible right now, but my private session score will determine if sponsors step in to send me medicine if I'm injured, antidotes if I'm poisoned, or food if I'm starving. All of the comforts in the Hunger Games either come from the Cornucopia or the sponsor gift parachutes, and I'm not going anywhere near the Bloodbath. Trey Copper has problems with Damon, so the alliance would get targeted by the Career Pack. Skedaddling out of there is the best choice.

I have fighting experience, but my job was kicking angry drunk people out of bars, not facing down trained murderers in six-against-one combat with the added bonus of sharp knives. I may be a little overzealous when it comes to sudden and dramatic rescues, but I listened to the Old Man's advice. This is not the time or place to be impulsive. Morality carries pretty much no weight. Only one person survives, and if it's going to be me, I'll have to do some brutal and inhumane things. I definitely care for my allies, and I want to protect them, but there are limits to what I can do to help them. I can't save the day and thrust myself into danger anymore just because someone's in a jam. In fact, the Old Man specifically made me promise him I wouldn't do something like that.

I look at the book propped up in my lap. It's all about treating infections, and I've been reading for maybe an hour, I even made it through a couple dozen pages, and yet although my eyes skim over the words, I'm not really processing them. My eyes are tired and the words are small and blurry. Still, I remind myself, I have the day to myself tomorrow. The only Hunger Games related event is the Interview Ceremony. The escort and my mentor will tell me what questions I should be ready to answer, what angle I'll play, and I'll be fitted for a fancy outfit of some kind, probably a horrible puffy dress. I would much prefer masculine formalwear, but my stylist put me in bright pink high heels and lipstick for the Tribute Parade, while I was wearing a ball covered in blue spikes. Something tells me he cares very little for my clothing preferences.

Either way, the day will mostly consist of whatever I want. It's the consolation prize for being in the Hunger Games, what, ten hours of luxury before my potential death? My anxiety about entering the arena is growing. Volunteering was exactly the sort of on the spot choice I need to avoid. Every move I make should be planned out. The promise of tomorrow is the only thing keeping me sane. I just have to last out my private training session. Should I conserve my energy for when the time comes or practice so I'm limber and warmed up? I think things would be much less stressful if my mentor was allowed to be here. He would know the best strategy. Coming from District Two and being middle-aged means his Hunger Games took place before I was even born. It also means he has a lot of experience and can help me make a good impression. At least there's time blocked out especially for the purpose of speaking with him and developing a plan.

I decide to head over to the sword station, choose a weapon, and find a dummy to practice with. It stands in position as I shred its rubbery flesh into ribbons, and I spot Rafe, one of the Careers, doing the same thing next to me. If I actually act like this, inflict such suffering on another person, I'll be even worse than the Careers. Still, what else can I do? I don't particularly have a choice, all agency and identity that was once my own has been stripped away since my arrival in the Capitol.

Ellie "Elle" Callas, 15, D8F:

My allies and I have been working together for a while now, and I'm confident in our abilities as a group. District Eight was fun, sure, but I was always squashed into one box. I was a seamstress, and all of my other interests had to be hidden away. Now I've finally been given the opportunity to shine as an individual apart from my job. The way I figure, showing off my skills in the open is a calculated risk. It's what caused Jenna and Radley to want me in the alliance, and if I get a high score, I'll be attractive to sponsors. As a result, I've decided to play arrogant for a while. People might not like me, but my gymnastics will be more than enough to compensate. I haven't had much luck in the way of weapons, but throwing knives are my best option so far.

Perhaps it was going a little too far to sass the Careers. I may have placed myself in a little extra danger, but it seemed to make me a threat in the eyes of some of the other tributes. It could work out in my favor or not, but what's done is done. As much as I would really love to go ham in my private session and do flips and tricks and twirls, that would boost my score up suspiciously high. I can reel in the sponsors once they see me in action during the Bloodbath. The agreement is that I'm going into the Cornucopia for supplies since I'm the most agile and the best runner. My allies will cover for me and help watch my back. Mother said that my strengths lie in what I already am familiar with, so I have an escape routine planned already. I can get away from the carnage and demonstrate my best assets at the same time, and if I succeed, the sponsors will love me. If I fail, I'm dead, as I expected. That would certainly suck, but at that point, sponsors don't matter.

I'm banking on the idea that although I did well on the agility course, nobody will quite realize how far reaching my skills are. I'll be able to sneak around and steal things or lie in wait, undetected, cloaked in tree branches or vines. I can hide, I can run, and I can swing. I can fare plenty well so long as my allies help me keep watch. I'm no fool, I know they might try to get rid of me. I'm the weak link on the team since I'll need protecting if forced into a fight. Radley's in charge of survival. He has a healthy arsenal of existing knowledge, and he's only learned more. Jenna's the leader, and she's in charge of strategizing and making safe decisions. I'm supposed to assess the arena and direct the group based on my understanding of our collective abilities, which is good, because I've been preparing for that. I know what to do if we're in a frozen wasteland, scorching hot desert, poisonous jungle, or arid mountain.

I plan to demonstrate my knife throwing and minimal survival skills. Meager as they are, my score will probably be on the lower side, but if that's the price I have to pay to survive later on, so be it. I need to have the element of surprise, and if everyone knows I'm hiding something, they'll be too interested in figuring out what it is. The smarter tributes from Three, for instance, might even determine that my strength lies in agility based on my performance in the mandatory activities. I've done better in some than others, but I'm good at the basic foundations they represent. Running, swimming, agility, and combat are the things the Gamemakers wanted to test us on. I was unassuming and didn't stand out in the swimming and combat exercises, doing much better with the agility and running, but I've kept a lower profile. I'm trying to hit the delicate balance of strong but forgettable. When people think of strong outliers, they should be thinking about people such as Ardledge, Zea, and Griffin. Jenna and Radley might also come to mind, but I should be that one tribute nobody can recall much about.

I need to present myself as the dull, potentially alright girl who fades into the background. I've been keeping up my veneer in front of the other tributes, with the exception of my allies, but the Capitolites will be paying attention to all the tributes. I'm allied with two of the frontrunners, I'll show up in the camera shots of our campsite. I'll be getting all the benefits of revealing my skills, coupled with the upsides of playing weak in front of my peers. It's not the easiest thing to do, and I might not be the absolute best tribute here, but with my gymnastics and my usage of the Capitol audience, I've got to have at least a sliver of a chance. Right?

Hey y'all!

This chapter took me a few days to get out (I've been having some personal stuff going on) but we're back on track, folks! I'll be posting the next chapter at 9:00 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, which is in roughly an hour or so, and it's the Private Sessions! If you have any predictions about what the tributes will do in front of the Gamemakers, I'd love to hear them. The Private Sessions chapter contains only what the tributes do in their sessions, their scores will be revealed in tomorrow's chapter.

– LC :)