Zara Tovar- District Twelve female (15)

Sunlight beat down into the tube before I was anywhere near the surface. I could feel it hot on my neck and face. As I got to the surface I peered through squinted eyes at my first sight of the Arena. On either side of me there was a row of worn-down wooden buildings, most with no doors and opening straight into the interior. Stringy brown grass clung to life on the loose dirt below me. In the center of the ring of platforms there was a gigantic golden wagon spilling over with all the things the Gamemakers put to tempt us into the Bloodbath. As for me, I only cared about where my allies were and which building would hide us best.

59, 58, 57...

Malcolm Royden- District One male (18)

Only one thing mattered. Nothing else even registered in my brain. All I could see, resting on a scuffed saddle, was the six-chambered pistol.

52, 51, 50...

Raleigh Foster- District Ten female (15)

I shouldn't have volunteered. I'm going to die. I will almost certainly die right here in the Bloodbath. So many times I'd watched the Bloodbath. Who was it that died? People just like me. Children who had no business being here and didn't have a chance against the Careers. I was watching the numbers in the sky tick down my last seconds of life.

48, 47, 46...

Alice Mason- District Two female (17)

Someone put a marionette mask in the Cornucopia. I could see it shining white against the browns and sepias of most of the supplies. Some Gamemaker thought they were being funny or doing me a favor. Sure, I'd wear it- after I got real supplies and killed people and everything. Function before form.

43, 42, 41...

Petra Ridley- District Seven female (15)

Is that Veda?

It sure looked like my ally standing five platforms away. It was just her hair. Veda's long, usually tied or otherwise restrained hair ended sharply at her chin. I couldn't take my eyes off it. She looked like a totally different person.

37, 36, 35...

Max DeLoria- District Six male (17)

Lancia thought I didn't deserve this? Lancia thought about me? People thought about me sometimes, sure, but in terms of what I could do for them, or of what I'd done wrong. I couldn't wrap my head around Lancia just saying something nice like that. There was no reason for it.

32, 31, 30...

Tyler Alvarez- District Ten male (18)

In hindsight I should have guessed something along these lines. I was wearing sturdy blue jeans and an off-white button-up shirt that felt thicker and different from normal, like it was cotton instead of synthetics like everyone wore. The biggest worry about the ensemble was definitely the thought of trying to run fast or for a long distance in cowboy boots.

25, 24, 23...

Stevie Pagett- District Eleven female (18)

It was like being in a movie. They'd actually transported us back in time to so far before the Dark Days that no one could have even imagined them. I found Callum four platforms away and even in all the suspense I was distracted for an instant by how strikingly handsome he looked in his costume. We both looked toward a saloon- evidenced by the sign reading "SALOON"- that appeared to have a back door. We could run through it and slip away further into the town.

19, 18, 17...

Skada Socket- District Five female (15)

This was no place for a bunch of circus kids. This was no place for any kids but certainly not for a bunch of entertainers like us. We made people smile. We didn't know about violence and hardship. We were a family. The Games were where families came to die.
8, 7, 6...

Christobal Chanel- District Eight male (16)

My eyes were riveted on Denton as he obliviously shuffled through his cards. Stay still, I silently begged. He hadn't moved yet but there was no predicting when he'd step off the platform for some reason only he understood. Keep standing there. Please don't move. I didn't know what to do if he did. If I shouted would it just scare him? Would he understand if I said to stay still. Just please stay still, Denton. Please don't move.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

"LET THE GAMES BEGIN!"

The first vote is in and by a narrow margin, Wild West has won! By two votes, actually- not many people voted for the Arena, which is fine. It's just a fun add-on. Right now I'm typing up the Bloodbath so we shall see what the second vote brings in! Hopefully no one changes as I'm writing since that would be inconvenient to go back and change the chapter, but it IS allowed and I WILL change the chapter right up to the second I hit "submit new chapter".