Manel Lobos, 22, District 10 Mentor POV

I wake up on my feet. When I open my eyes, the light sears into them. I try to move my hands to rub my eyes but I can't. My arms feel like they're chained to the wall above my head.

That helps me shake off the fatigue. Passing out and waking up in chains is bad news.

I blink until my vision clears and look down. I'm still wearing all of my clothes. My relief gives me the strength to speak.

"Where am I?" I ask. "What's going on?"

"I was wondering if you could help me, Mr Lobos," I hear President Snow's voice echo though the room but I can't see him. It must be playing through a speaker. "You see, your little boyfriend has been saying some very dangerous things and I need your help to show him how dangerous he really is."

"Fawkes?" I ask. I have no idea how President Snow found out about us.

"Yes. Security footage from three years ago shows the two of you kissing."

"Do you have any security footage from this year? Fawkes dumped me. He broke my heart. I... I just want to forget about everything he made me feel. Can you let me go?"

"No," Snow says, with a voice like ice. "It's time to see how selfish your Fawkes really is."

The far wall slides away to reveal another section of the room. In that room is a tangle of writhing, green tentacles.

I gasp. "No..."

"Don't be afraid yet, Mr Lobos," Snow says. "That mutt is on a chain keeping it from harming you. But, if your boyfriend doesn't change his rebellious ways, that chain will get longer and longer. Now, we are going to make a little video and then my head gamemaker will send it to Mr Chau. All you need to do is beg for him to save you. Can you do that?"

"He doesn't love me anymore!" I cry. "This is insane! Find someone else! There has to be someone else!"

"There is nobody else, Mr Lobos."

"Why me?" I whisper. Because it's always me. I'm always the victim, whether I'm losing someone I love to mutts or being preyed upon by Capitolites. And now, just when I thought I could break free from Fawkes' spell, just when Maia had given me hope that I could fix my life, Fawkes turns out to be a rebel and the only person who can save me from the mutt. I have to rely on him again.

I can feel a camera being trained on me from one of the walls. I can't see it but I'm so used to cameras that I know it's there. I wonder what to say to it.

"Fawkes..." I begin. "I..."

I can't say it. I can't tell him I love him. Because I don't. He was just a dream, a dream that became a nightmare. I imagine him watching me in the arena. It's too easy to imagine him tossing back his midnight-black hair and laughing, laughing at his stupid, lovesick, pathetic ex-boyfriend.

"This isn't about us anymore," I say. "I'm not sure if there even was an us. All I know is I'm in trouble because of you and I'm scared. I need your help, Fawkes. Please. This isn't you. You're not heartless."

But the truth is I don't know Fawkes. I don't know him at all. He could be heartless. He could be a monster.

The pleas for mercy keep tumbling out of my mouth but I know that Fawkes will never save me. I can't rely on him.

The only person I can rely on is myself.

I remember who I used to be before I won my games, when I was working at a ranch. When I was a little kid, work was the only place I could see my brother. When I was a teenager, it was the only way I could distract myself from grief over my brother's death. I dedicated my life to work, made myself a machine.

I must've been fifteen or sixteen when I'd managed to drag a stubborn bull into a pen. All the other workers were impressed by my strength. I'd liked the attention but I couldn't see what the fuss was about.

I wonder how strong I am now. I wonder how strong the chains holding me are, how deep they're buried into the wall.

What if I could tear myself free?

I think of Maia's words to me earlier, her promise to help me. My life could be so much better in the future but only if I make it that far. I face the mutt in front of me and I feel like one of the animals in the ranch.

That's the carrot and this is the stick. Now work.

Jiro Ethridge, 16, District 2 Tribute POV

It hasn't even been two days and there are only ten tributes left. Things are going well for me. If I can hide from danger a little bit longer, I'll win easily.

My eye is drawn to something small and blue resting on a leaf. A frog. I almost laugh - I'm much better at hiding - but then I remember that brightly-coloured animals are often poisonous.

Even though I know I'm going to win, I decide to keep an eye on the frog. Just in case. One can never be too cautious.

So, when it leaps at my face, I raise my knife fast enough. It skewers the frog as it leaps. Liquid sprays from the frog and a droplet lands on my hand.

It burns.

I scream and drop my knife. Blind panic takes over. I have a fear of acid that's deep and primal, buried in my bones. I've had countless nightmares about how Lopez' face looked after that girl from Three broke a bottle of acid in her face.

I scramble backwards and, suddenly, something leaps onto my back. Something small and dense that burns me. Another frog. There are more.

Pain eats away at me as I run through the jungle. I need to escape. I need to get away from the frogs.

But they're everywhere. They fly at me from every angle.

I run until I don't have the strength to run anymore. My body just gives out and more frogs crowd around me.

I'm going to die again. I did everything right and I'm still going to die.

"Why…" I ask, with the last of my voice. Why are you killing me, gamemakers? I gave you everything you wanted, didn't I?

Didn't I?

I die knowing that I didn't. I might've killed the mockingjay but there was one rule of the Hunger Games I could never follow - put on a show.

I decided to give the two District 10 boys POVs this chapter. Manel is probably the unluckiest man in Panem. He's in danger because of his relationship with Fawkes even though that relationship is over and it's unlikely that Fawkes is going to give up on the rebellion to save him, especially since he doesn't even know that Manel's in danger and there's a certain head gamemaker who intends to keep it that way.

10th: Jiro Ethridge, melted by acid frogs

Jiro probably could've lasted a lot longer. He was a massive loner but that lent itself well to a man vs nature storyline that would've worked well in this arena. I also found him strangely relatable because of his social anxiety. I think I made him more sympathetic than I did in my first daft. He was a villain but he was also a scared kid who just wanted to live. In another world, Jiro could've even won the games. But not this world. I realised that I couldn't think of what to do with him had he survived the games and knew that I needed to kill him off. I suppose I could've kept him around a little longer but I also couldn't resist death by frogs. I love frogs.