More like day 50 with how long it took me to update!

Preji Soultier, District Three male- 17

Two Victors. It increased my chances, which was all I cared about. I didn't care who the other Victor might be. Probably Kjole or Des, I'd guess. Kjole was the last of the career pack standing, judging from the faces in the sky last night. I wondered if she'd killed them, or if they'd just broken apart and she was the last one left. If that was the case, she was probably wounded. I still didn't want to fight her, but it did increase my chances of getting out of here.

Maybe I should try to ally. I was never much for friends, but this was survival. Two people could get out, which meant we didn't have to worry about betrayal. Or at least, not as much. If I was in a fight with my ally, I'd probably backstab them so me and the guy we were fighting would win. Not because I was mean, but just because I wanted to get out of here. But if I did it, the others probably would, too. Oh well, allies weren't really for me anyway. Maybe Bess, though, if I had a chance. She seemed a bit slow. I could probably trick her into not betraying me.

It was crazy how many of us were gone. The careers all went practically on the same day. Just like that, the rest of us went from no chance to half a chance. Yeah, almost half a chance- there were five of us left and two winners. Just one more gone and it would be fifty-fifty. The unfortunate thing was, of the ones left, I was one of the weakest. Not in brains, obviously, but this arena was better suited to strength. Omar and I were the odd ones out. We'd just have to fight smarter, not harder.

Unfortunately, I had to go out and look for food. My chips and beans lasted a long time, but there was so much to find in this arena that it was going to last too long. I left my house armed with my throwing knife. It was so little and seemed so fragile. Maybe someone with training could use it, but I just felt like I was running around with a little shard of pottery or something. It didn't even look like a knife up close. It was oddly shaped and barely had a handle. If I stabbed someone it would probably slip and cut my hand.

On the bright side, with such a big arena, I was less likely to run across someone else. On the bright side, it was really, really hot in the sun. I couldn't imagine living in Nine or Eleven, where they had to be out in the sun all day. I hoped no one chased me, or I'd probably get heatstroke.

The first store I went into had some soda bottles. I could never afford soda at home, so that was kind of cool. I opened one right away and enjoyed how insanely sweet and bubbly it was. If I won this, they might have to replace some of my teeth, but they probably would have anyway, since they were kind of yellow. One year I heard they pulled out every one of the Victor's teeth, and his hair. Glad to see our tax dollars hard at work.

I groaned as I brushed off some dirt from one of the bottles. Imagine being a gamemaker and spending a day making everything dirty just to make life harder for the tributes. I couldn't imagine they actually went out and touched dirty water. Heaven forbid a Capitolite get messy. No, they probably took clean water and added germs one by one just so we'd get sick or die if we tried to get something every human needed for survival. Bunch of rich jerks. I hoped in the next revolution they all died.

Not long after I'd left the store, I heard the sound of distant footsteps. I turned around and saw Kjole hauling ass right at me from down the alleyway I walk walking through. She'd clearly been through some wicked fights, judging from the scar cutting across her face, and she'd clearly both survived and escaped with enough strength to run. To run right at me, that was.

Sometimes you have to be smart enough to know not to fight. I turned and bolted for the nearest store, which was inconveniently some feet away. I slammed into the door and yanked it only to find it was locked. "Damn," I said, looking over my shoulder again. I'd lost all my momentum and Kjole was almost on top of me. I whipped out my throwing knife and chucked it at her. She raised up an arm reflexively and the blade sank into it.

She yelped, but didn't even stop running as she yanked it out, a little line of blood forming from the hole. My mouth fell open in fear as I realized she just wasn't going to stop. She hit me like a football player, knocking me to the ground. I raised my hands defensively just as she slashed down with my throwing knife. It impaled me through the hand and I had just enough time to reflect on the irony, since I'd just said I'd probably stab myself in the hand, before I had to roll to the side to not get cut in half by her sword. She kicked me in the stomach and I lay at her feet huffing.

"This is murder!" I protested up at her.

"I know." She said, her face determined but still a little sad. "You'd do the same."

It was true, I really would. But I was still mad about it.


Bess Carver, District ten female- 17

"So, since I'm new here, I thought we could all go around and tell a little about ourselves." Des said, sniffing a little around her stuffed nose.

"God, you sound like my college prep teacher." Omar said.

"Very good start. Now we all know Omar's a nerd," Des said. I cracked up, then looked guiltily at Omar, who looked down.

"No, no, it's true." he said. "Don't feel bad."

"I'm Bess, I'm from Ten and I'm seventeen." I said.

"Oh, I thought you were younger than that." Des said.

"I'm fifteen." Omar offered.

"Oh, I thought you were older than that." Des said.

"It IS weird I'm older. Omar seems older than me." I said. Probably it was all his school and science stuff. He seemed like he should be in college.

"What's life like back home?" Des asked.

"I have a pretty big family. I was supposed to go to college but, well." Omar said.

"I have little twin brothers and also my family shares a room with another family, so it's pretty crowded. I'm definitely not going to college." I said.

"Any boyfriend?" Des asked, looking more at me than at Omar.

I felt myself blushing. "I dunno. Maybe, like, someday. I felt so young but lately I've been thinking more about that."

"Thinking about maybe... girlfriend?" Des asked, having already perked up at my first answer.

I hid my face in my hands. "Maybe." I said, and laughed nervously.

"I don't think that question was for both of us." Omar said in the background.

"What's your type?" Des asked.

"I never really thought about it. Maybe..." I said the first thing that came to mind. "A girl with freckles."

"Well it looks like you came to the right place." Des said. "Or more accurately, I came to the right place." She laid a hand on her cheek and tilted her face to show her freckles.

"Might you have someone in mind?" Omar said.

"I might. If someone was even interested in romance in the arena." Des said.

"I guess it would be kind of silly, but..." I started. How could I tell Des I'd been sneaking looks at her since she got here? She probably knew. Oh gosh she probably knew and thought I had a huge crush on her. I didn't have a HUGE crush...

"I don't know, I just think maybe, sure nothing will happen, but we only have a few days, so like, what COULD happen? We could just... see where it goes." I finished.

"You only live once." Des said. "And in our case, you don't live very long. It would be sad for someone to die without ever even having a girlfriend. Except those people who don't want one."

"It will all be very proper, since I can chaperone." Omar joked.

"You can be the best man when we get married in an hour." Des joked back.

I didn't know what to say. I knew I was smiling like a schoolgirl, even though nothing had even happened. Like Des said, what could possibly happen in a few days? We'd barely even know each others' favorite books by then. It would be nothing but a passing encounter. But life is short, and I was young, and I didn't want to die without ever kissing someone.

"You've probably had lots of girlfriends." I said, but not judgmentally. I just wanted to keep the conversation going.

"Lots of practice." Des smiled.

"I haven't had any." I said.

"Gotta start somewhere." Des said.

"I guess we can at least get to know each other and see where it goes." I said again. "What's life like in Seven?"

"I live in a tree. Every day I eat trees for breakfast and then go to work at the tree factory." Des said. "But seriously, there really are a lot of trees. I work in the lumberyards though."

"Do you really eat pancakes every day? That's what I heard." Omar said.

"What are pancakes?" Des asked.

"You don't have pancakes there?" Omar asked. "They're flour and water cakes you fry in a pan?"

"Flapjacks?" Des asked. "Who calls them pancakes?"

"My mom always called them griddle cakes, but most of my friends called them pancakes." I said.

"Guess Panem is a diverse place." Des said. "But everyone agrees flour and water covered in syrup is good." She looked concerned. "You guys DO have syrup, right?"

I nodded as Omar responded. "Sometimes we use dulce de leche, but we use syrup too."

"We have fake syrup. It's not really maple, even though it comes in a maple-leaf-shaped bottle. It's corn syrup and coloring." I said.

"That's so sad." Des said.

"I've never had the real stuff so at least I don't know what I'm missing." I shrugged.

"Tell you what. If we get out of here, that can be our first date." Des said.


5th place: Preji Soultier- stabbed by Kjole
I don't think anyone thought Preji would win. I kept him around longer to change things up but I never intended for him to win so here he is. Preji was kind of rude and kind of obnoxious, but it's still sad he died. Nice to see Kjole still being badass but not so nice for Preji.
50/50 now! Three ladies left and one gentleman.