Gigi Sampson, District Five female (16)

Our fire was smoldering to faintly glowing cinders. We didn't exactly need to hide, since we wanted to find Anthony, but all the same we waited until the embers were small enough to scoop dirt over before we got ready for bed. I shuddered thinking about how Anthony could be just outside of our camp right now, waiting for just this before he attacked. But it had to come eventually. I think we were all about to go crazy if it didn't.

"I can't sleep, so I might as well watch first," I said. I couldn't imagine how Anthony and Soleil had been holding up all this time. I'd had an ally since the start of the Games. I'd never had to sleep alone. I couldn't imagine what it would do to someone to go to sleep every night with no idea if they would get killed before they woke up. To just go to sleep and wake up in heaven...

It seemed like Dionysus couldn't sleep either, from the way he pulled his blanket entirely over his head. It was more a matter of resting than really sleeping. Probably Careers had some mental tricks to help them sleep, since rest was so important in the arena. I should have asked him about that for when it was my turn to try to sleep.

Something is going to happen soon. My time in the arena had been strangely peaceful. Other than the first few days of thinking Dionysus was going to kill me, not much threatening had happened. The worst was watching Mazie die, but that was more of a sad thing. I'd never been afraid she was going to hurt me.

The night grew quiet as I sat in the dark. But really instead of quietness I noticed the subtler sounds that had been drowned out before. A bird called out in a sound like a wail. A bat flew overhead, barely visible as a blurred outline as it shot from place to place, its wings rustling like weathered paper. In the place where the fire had been, a single ember peeked out from the loose dirt we'd thrown over the fire. It was just the very corner of the ember- a tiny shard of still-glowing light only visible from a narrow angle. I found myself staring at it while I waited in the night. It still glowed orange with its own internal heat, despite all odds. I wondered how long that fragile little ember would keep its light.


Soleil Kingston, District Eleven female (17)

Anthony knew I was there. He didn't know where I was but he knew he should be looking for me. I lay on my stomach on the ground, one leg painfully folded under me so I could more easily run if he found me. He methodically searched a widening circle, getting closer to me every round until he was two feet from me. My head hurt as I tried to breathe slowly. All I could think about was playing hide-and-seek with my friends as a kid and finding out they could see my breathing when I hid under a blanket. If that proved true here as well, it was too late. I'd put in all my cards for one last desperate chance at survival. I still couldn't believe I'd done something so bold and open. I never would have thought it of myself, just like the first time with Oberon. There was so much I didn't know about myself. I didn't know who I would be if I got out of the Games.

Anthony was standing over me. His foot was on the outer fringe of my suit. From where my neck was painfully twisted to look at him, I could see he was looking over me, at the jungle beyond. At least I thought he was. In the dark I couldn't see his eyes- I could only see where they were pointed and hope he was looking in that direction. His trident was in his right hand. Its points dangled inches from my head. He must have been able to sense me. I wondered if I shouldn't look at him, since people can feel that, but I couldn't make myself look away. I wondered if he could smell me. We were all dirty and sweaty here.

He raised a foot and dread shot through my core when it came down on my thigh. He was going to pin me in place so he could stab me through. I imagined the feel of three prongs sticking through me and into the dirt under my stomach. They would tear out like razors when he went to stab a second time to be sure. My brain sent the signal for my body to tense and run but something pulled me back just before I did. The rolling motion of his foot told me he was walking over me, not stepping onto me. I winced at the pinching pressure as he shifted his weight but kept still as he stepped over me and starting to search beyond me.

I lay shaking and trying to regain my breath for half a minute before I continued my plan. While Anthony's back was turned I slowly reached for my pocket. I closed two fingers around a pebble and angled my arm out flat near the ground, my hand just outside my suit.


Anthony Morgan, District Two male (18)

Something rustled in the grass ahead of me. I froze, listening and triangulating the source of the noise. In an instant I had it and was moving toward it, my eyes snapping from place to place to catch anyone who might be sneaking up on me. I reached the spot the noise had come from and crouched by a tree. Gigi or Soleil, whichever it was, was on the move. I couldn't see her, which meant she knew I was hunting her. She hadn't run, which meant she was close enough she thought I would catch her. I must be almost on top of her. She was hiding behind one of the trees, probably shaking and praying I would look somewhere else. I crept from tree to tree, partly looking but mostly waiting for her to move when my back was turned so I knew which way I should face from then on.

Another tiny noise came from behind me. I turned slowly, not wanting to alert her that I knew which direction she was moving. I moved almost causally, like I had no idea where she was and was half-convinced it was just some animal making the noises. I searched in a circle near where the noise had come from, slowly closing in on it. Another noise came when I was looking away. I smiled and kept closing in.


Soleil Kingston, District Eleven female (17)

Not yet. We were still too far from Gigi and Dionysus' camp. Creeping on the ground like a caterpillar, my weight spread out across most of my body pressed against the dirt, the grass on my suit muffled and spread the noises of my movement enough that I could sneak alongside Dionysus if I moved carefully. I was nothing but a tiny mound of grass, my outline so blurred and my shape so hidden in the dark that I was essentially invisible. In the light he would see me. Careers were trained to recognize camouflage. But in the dark of night in an arena where the moonlight is choked out by the trees, even an expert didn't have a chance.

Not yet. I was between Anthony and Dionysus and Gigi's camp, slowly leading him closer with the pebbles I was throwing. Their camp was maybe fifty feet away, hidden by the darkness and vegetation. Just a few more throws and we would be close enough. Not too close- then they might see him first. Not too far- then in the last minute it might all be for nothing. One last minute that would determine everything. Not too close- he might find them on his own and plan his attack. Not too far- he might catch me.


Gigi Sampson, District Five female (16)

The night exploded into snapping twigs and swaying branches. I launched myself sideways at Dionysus, who must have finally managed to fall asleep. I yanked violently on his foot and then fell backwards onto my backside to avoid the kick I'd known would be coming. He sat up and threw off the blanket as I dodged the punch he threw at me. We locked eyes and both looked sideways at where the real threat must be coming from- just as it came.

A shivering mass of fur barreled toward me. I screamed as the mutt sprinted into our camp. I put up my hands to defend myself, but the figure breezed past me some feet to my side. It didn't even stop to notice me as it tore past me and out of camp, disappearing into the jungle. I looked after it in bewilderment, noticing at last the distinct humanity in the shape and movement.

Dionysus was leaping to his feet beside me. I noticed then that the noises hadn't stopped from behind me. I whipped my head around from my half-sitting sprawl to see another figure silhouetted by where the first had broken branches and crushed grass underfoot. At last we and Anthony had found each other.


...But it could be better. This is not the ending I originally planned but two days ago I had a killer idea and changed everything. The chapter would be awkwardly long if I did the whole fight so here's a massive cliffhanger.