TALISE CICERO- Alice Mason

Three circus kids mercilessly slew some kid. It kind of made me want to see what went on at their shows. It was cold of me to let Talise die but cold people win the Games. Talise knew the risks as much as anyone else. Honestly going easy on her would have just been insulting. A Career wants to win or die on their own merits. I'm sure Talise would rather be not dead but I could at least give her the consolation prize of never underestimating her.

Careen Ellis- District Four mentor

We really shot ourselves in the foot this time. Talise came very close to winning. Another two years of training and we might have brought home a Victor. This year we might have brought home a Victor if not for some bad luck. But no, Four had to throw her away for some golden boy who never even went to the Games. Now we have nothing.

Shane Donegal- District Four mentor

In my heart of hearts I sometimes wished all my Tributes would die in the Bloodbath. Just a simple shot to the back of the head they never see coming. Then I could stop waiting for them to die and they could stop waiting to die. This couldn't last forever. Someday I knew this would end.

District Four

A few heads rolled at the Academy. Not literally in this case. A few selection officials got fired and the rest started another revamp that would hopefully be different from all the other revamps and this time bring us more Victors. And none of it meant anything to the Ciceros or the Junipers. The cirucs went on, minus one merman but plus one strongman. Juniper wasn't the only death that opened up a spot for Valentino...

Irina Sokolova, District One female (18)

I didn't know who I was anymore. People say that all the time, especially people my age. I always thought it sounded dramatic until it happened to me. Looking back at the Games and at the time before it, I didn't think any part of me matched between those two lives. I used to love showing off. I loved performing before an audience and knowing all eyes were on me and hearing the roaring applause. Now all I could think of was hiding and disappearing and keeping my friends away from people who wanted to find them and see them and kill them. I used to think I could do anything. Now I couldn't even hold knitting needles. I didn't think I could protect my alliance, that was for sure. Every night I lay awake and wished someone else had gone with them, someone who could keep them safe and not keep losing them like sand slipping between my three fingers.

Lester was sitting up with me, standing watch while Nene and Lester rested. We'd had a grand time trying out all the weird sodas and juices the Gamemakers had mixed in with the water bottles. There was enough to last for weeks, not that the Games would last that long. There was a surreal freedom in my belief that soon I would be dead. The days ahead of me seemed empty and full of whatever I wanted to make of them.

Lester had something on his mind. He sat across the room in the dark, his limbs drawn in and tight. It was like his body wanted to match the contortions I could sense in his thoughts. I thought I might know what he was thinking about but waited until he made a move.

He looked up at me with a face like he was seeing death. "I want Tabitha to win," he said. His voice held age and a quiet love that made me turn away to rub my eye.

"Me too," I said softly, hoping the quietness would hide any cracking.

"No," Lester said. "I want you to take care of Tabitha." Urgency flooded into his tone as he went on in a sudden rush. "If you see me and Tabitha both get attacked you leave me and save her, you hear? No matter what, take care of her. I want you to make sure she outlives me." He leaned forward where he sat, his eyes shining in the dim light, his neck tight.

I breathed deeply, trying to push down the feelings that had already been in me before Lester's outburst pulled them out. I joined the circus to be part of a happy fantasy world. I never wanted to be pulled back into reality.

"Then let it be," I said. "Two lives for one. Both of us doing whatever it takes." I let the conversation die, left Lester to retreat back into himself and pretend he was thinking about something else. I didn't ask the final question. I didn't know if Lester was thinking about it, or if it had even occurred to him. The truth was, there was someone else in our alliance. Lester just told me to let him die if it came to him or Tabitha. I already knew I was ready to kill Alice. But what if the final three was something else? What if I was there, and Tabitha... and Nene? I'd told her she was our friend. I'd meant it. But we were brushing up against something I'd been afraid of. The time was coming when I'd have to weigh my friendships, to put up flesh against flesh. Lester hadn't asked the question but I knew my answer in my heart. Nene was my friend. She'd be my friend until the final three. But Tabitha had to win.

Alice Mason- District Two female (17)

The guns they gave us in the Arena sucked. But... sometimes you have to make do. A good Career can make the best of the most subpar materials. Also, I just had a lot of time. There were a million boxes of ammo lying around and I had a feeling a little birdie would bring me more if I ran out. What to do with all that time? Target practice.

Far, far out into the open plain, far enough away that I could spot attackers coming on flat ground from a mile away and shoot at them at my leisure, I set up my range. It was just a stick I stuck into the ground and leaned a wooden sign over in front of but it was enough for me. Slowly, methodically, I started training.

Four shots, aim center mass. I let the rifle nestle into my shoulder in what felt like a natural pose. I found my position, bone on bone on ground, no muscle support that would waver as I tired. I sat back naturally on my back leg as I knelt, shifting until when I leaned back, simulating kickback, my body relaxed naturally. I breathed out and squeezed the trigger without pulling.

When I walked to the target the rounds were in four different spots, all on the left side of the target. It wasn't great accuracy or precision but it was enough to start with.

The Academy didn't reach me about firearms but all students learned the fundamentals of aiming. Across any weapon there were some overall rules. Shooting positions. Breathing techniques. Trigger control. I'd never used a rifle before, much less an unstable ancient one. The first control round I shot gave me almost nothing. The second gave me almost nothing. But by the fifth round I was putting four rounds near enough each other to find my natural zero with that rifle. Then it was just a matter of moving the zero until it was on center mass.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

I had adjusted my stance, moving sideways so it looked like I would miss the target. The rounds crept closer to the center of the target. "Kentucky Windage", we called it- moving your gun in relation to the target rather than adjusting yourself so the arrow went where you aimed it. It was an inferior method but if all else failed...

I fired another round. Another. Another. The sun crept by in the sky. I got thirsty and drank some water. I wiped some sweat off my face. I fired some more rounds. I stopped to accept the gift of a bottle of water, which I took as a message that the Gamemakers approved of my efforts.

Eight hours went by. It takes a while to learn any new skill. It goes a lot faster if you go all day.

Just a little something for while I'm at work this weekend. The death-row Tribute is still on death row, I just didn't put the death in this chapter because death chapters are longer and require more care and I felt lazy tonight.