Day One
Polyphony


Polyphony: A style of musical composition employing two or more simultaneous but relatively independent melodic lines.


Opal Granite, 14
District One

"You know there's still someone in there, right?" the boy from Eight asked, leaving the rest of the question hanging in the air. You're going to deal with it, right? You are a Career, right? You do deserve to be here, don't you?

Opal swallowed hard. She was a Career, and she did deserve to be here. At least, she hoped she did. And right now, that meant she had to deal with this. In fact, the audience would probably be impressed if she dealt with it on her own. Anyone still hiding inside the cornucopia would have to be desperate. Terrified. All she had to do was go in there and kill them.

Right.

Opal glanced down at the bow in her hand. Not exactly the sort of weapon for inside the cornucopia. Instead, she reached down and picked up the first weapon she could find – a long, thin rapier. Yes, that would do nicely. She hurried to the mouth of the cornucopia and darted inside.

Immediately, something sliced across her stomach. A dagger. Whoever was inside, they had been waiting right there, at the edge of the cornucopia, for whoever came along. Opal gasped, barely catching a glimpse of the girl from Five as she raced out of the cornucopia and down the road. Opal slid to the ground, clutching at her stomach.

Blood. So much blood. It was warm and wet, coating her hands as she tried to staunch the bleeding. "Help!" she called, but even as she did, she knew it wouldn't do any good. The girl from Five was gone. The boy from Eight, the one who had told her there was someone inside the cornucopia, was disappearing into the distance with some supplies he had gathered. Everything had gone wrong. And it had gone wrong so quickly. It wasn't fair...


Aurora Flash, 16
District Five

It had all happened so quickly. Too quickly to think. Too quickly to do anything but react. She'd heard voices outside the cornucopia – one person telling the other that she was inside. If she'd stayed, she would have died. If she'd just tried to sneak out, they would have chased her. Her only choice was to kill.

Aura gasped, trying to catch her breath as she raced down the street. She hadn't heard a cannon yet. Was that good or bad? On the one hand, the longer it took the other girl to die, the less likely they were to chase after her. She had too much of a head start already. On the other hand, the longer it took her to die … well, the more painful her death would be.

Aura clenched her fists as she ran, trying to shake the thought away. Staying to finish the other girl off quickly hadn't been an option. The other Careers had been right there. She was already lucky none of them had decided to come after her. Staying any longer than absolutely necessary would have put her in even more danger.

Boom. Aura was surprised by the wave of relief that flooded through her at the sound of the cannon. It was over. The Career was dead. Three tributes were already dead. And she was alive. She had made it.

But Vicarys hadn't. She had no allies. No plan. Only whatever supplies were in the backpack she'd slung over her back while she was hiding in the cornucopia and the dagger in her hand. She had no idea what she was supposed to do next, or where she was supposed to go. But she was alive. That was a start. And it would have to do for now.


Corin Palmer, 14
District Four

Opal was dead. Corin stared at the body, as if willing the other girl to get up and laugh it all off, willing it to be a trick or a joke. But the cannon had already fired. For a moment, she'd hoped that maybe it was someone else's, but there was no one else around. No one but the other Careers.

Careers. Right. That was what they were supposed to be. But Opal was dead. Octavia and Quint had left during the bloodbath, as had Lark. The boy from Eight had disappeared. And now Opal's district partner, Baoba, was hurrying off into the distance with a pack of supplies.

Maybe that made sense. He'd never really been part of the pack. Maybe Opal had invited him to stay after the bloodbath, but now Opal was dead. That meant he was just another tribute. Just another person who had to die sooner or later.

Just like the rest of them.

Breathe.

She was alive. She still had allies. They had plenty of supplies.

She was still alive.

Alive.

But Opal was—

Corin felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Sebastian beside her. He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "She's gone. But we're not. It's time to get to work. Let's get these supplies sorted out." He turned to the rest of the group. "Actually, let's get this group sorted out first." He glanced at the boy from Seven. "Elemeno, right?"

The boy nodded. "Yes, and this is Ebony."

"I'm Sebastian, and this is Corin. And you are…?"

"Rose," the girl from Eleven answered quietly, as if still surprised she'd been allowed to stay.

Sebastian smiled. "I guess that's us, then. Everyone else seems to have…" He trailed off for a moment, as if realizing just how small, how vulnerable, their new pack really was.

Corin took a deep breath. "Everyone else left. That's their loss. We've got all these supplies, and they're scattered all over the place. We're in a good position; all we have to do is not ruin it." She smiled up at Sebastian. "You were right; it's time to get to work."


Fabrion Morrison, 16
District Eight

Boom. Fabrion breathed a sigh of relief as the cannon sounded. The Career girl was dead; that would have to be good enough for now. Three deaths so far, and at least one of them had belonged to the fractured Career pack. That left them vulnerable – even more so than they already were. That meant they weren't very likely to come after him, even though he'd grabbed a good share of supplies before taking off.

Still, he couldn't keep running forever, and it wouldn't do to stray too far from the other tributes. Gamemakers had a tendency to crack down on anyone who got too far away from the action. Fabrion ducked inside a building, gasping for breath. He wasn't used to running this much. Hell, he wasn't really used to running at all.

But maybe he wouldn't have to. Fabrion glanced around the building, which appeared to be a medical center of some sort. There were beds, chairs, and plenty of medical supplies – something he hadn't thought to grab from the cornucopia. Excellent.

He made his way to one of the shelves and stuffed some gauze and bandages into his pack, then tucked a few scalpels into one of his pockets. He'd already taken a dagger and a few knives from the supplies at the cornucopia. Nothing too big. Nothing that would slow him down or hamper him in a fight. Just enough to give him an edge over someone who might not see him coming.

Fabrion glanced out a window. Don't let them see you coming. That was his play. He wouldn't be able to overpower many of the other tributes by sheer force – especially the ones who were working in a group. But as long as he had the element of surprise, he had a chance. And right now, that was all he needed.


Rose Thornton, 12
District Eleven

"There you go. Good as new." The girl from Four, Corin, beamed as she finished bandaging the cut on Rose's forehead where the boy from Three had struck her. "Head wounds, right? Always look worse than they really are. Plenty of blood, but that one didn't cut too deep. How're you feeling?"

"Better." The five of them had taken a break from sorting the supplies to eat some of the food they'd found. There was plenty to go around, and the Careers seemed strangely happy to share. Well, probably because they weren't really Careers – not most of them, at least. It was just her, the pair from Four, and the pair from—

Seven. Rose glanced around the cornucopia. "Where'd they go?"

"Who?"

"Ebony and Elemeno. They were here before, but—"

"But I was busy patching you up," Corin finished. "Sebastian!"

"Yeah?" Sebastian's voice came from inside the cornucopia, but he quickly hurried out, darting towards the pair of them. "What's wrong?"

"Ebony and Elemeno. Were they in there with you?" Corin asked.

Sebastian shook his head. "I thought they were out here with you." The three of them glanced this way and that, looking for any sign of their allies. "That doesn't make any sense."

Rose held her tongue. It did make sense. The two of them weren't Careers. Heck, she might have done the same thing if Corin hadn't insisted on bandaging her cut. Now there was no way these two were going to let her out of their sight. If she was going to leave and find the rest of her group, it couldn't be now. The others would just have to wait.


Elemeno Pereira, 12
District Seven

Elemeno couldn't help a glance back at the cornucopia as he and Ebony made their way along one of the streets. They weren't running – not anymore. Running might attract attention. They'd managed to slip away from the cornucopia without anyone coming after them, but he couldn't help wondering if maybe they should have waited a little longer. They'd grabbed a backpack and a dagger for each of them, but they could probably have taken more if they'd waited a little longer. It wasn't as if the other Careers were likely to turn on them – not with that small a pack.

Except they weren't Careers. He certainly wasn't. Ebony at least was old enough, but he was twelve. Then again, so was the girl from Eleven, and she'd stayed. The girl from Four wasn't much older, either.

Maybe that made it even sillier to stay and try to pretend they were a pack. Any group that large – even if it was made up of younger tributes – was a target. He and Ebony, on the other hand, could probably manage to be ignored for a while on their own. Probably. There were no guarantees, but it hadn't taken him long to decide to follow Ebony away from the cornucopia. The two of them were district partners, after all. Maybe that did mean something in the end.

It certainly seemed to mean more than the fact that he'd found allies during training. They apparently hadn't thought twice about leaving him during the bloodbath. Wherever they were now, they probably weren't looking for him. Not that he was really looking for them either. If they happened to find each other, all the better. If not … well, maybe staying with Ebony was good enough for now.


Octavia Branshaw, 18
District Two

"The canteens are empty," Quinta mumbled as the pair of them sorted through the camping equipment that had been in the boy's bag. "There's no water. I was hoping there would be…" They trailed off, staring down at their hands. Clearly, they'd been hoping to wash away some of the blood. They'd managed to wipe some of it off, but their hands were still stained quite red, as was their name badge, which they'd flipped over several times, as if trying to decide which was right before finally settling on one.

Octavia clapped Quinta on the shoulder. "Hey. It's okay, Quinta. I saw a fountain on the way here. We'll head back that way and fill up. Okay?"

Quinta nodded, flipped their name badge back to Quint, hesitated, glanced down at their hands, then nodded again – a little more confidently this time. "Yeah. Okay. Water. Fountain. Got it."

Octavia gave Quint's shoulder a squeeze. "Hey. You did good. Once we've got some water, we can decide whether we want to head back to the pack or stay out here. Sound good?"

"Yeah. It's just…" They looked back at the body again. "I wasn't expecting … I don't know. I mean, I knew I was going to be part of the pack, but I guess I wasn't expecting to have to kill anyone this soon."

Octavia nodded. She hadn't expected them to have to either. But the plan had made more sense that way than the other way around. The boy from Eleven probably wouldn't have run from Quint if they'd switched places. It might not have worked. As it was, they were both alive, and the boy from Eleven was dead. As far as she was concerned, that was a win. But Quint…

Octavia shook the thought from her head. Quint was young. They were unprepared. But they were learning. They were catching on. She just hoped they would be able to keep up.


Quint Delgado, 13
District Two

"Think that's enough water?" Octavia asked as water from the fountain began to spill from the third canteen they'd filled.

Quint nodded, capping the canteen and running their hands under the fountain's water. Octavia had filled her canteen, as well, and was watching them with … what? Curiosity? Disapproval? Confusion? Quint wasn't entirely sure. Octavia was doing her best to be kind, but it was clear this wasn't quite the reaction she'd expected from them after making a kill. This was part of the Games, after all.

"Tell you what," she said at last. "I'll sneak back towards the cornucopia and see who's still there. You stay here and scout out the area. See if you can find a good place to camp for the night in case we decide not to go back. Deal?"

Quint nodded silently. But as Octavia turned her back, they called out again. "Octavia?"

She turned. "Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Octavia nodded crisply and left. Quint rubbed their hands a bit harder. The blood was starting to come off. Maybe once they didn't have to look at it anymore, didn't have to smell it anymore, they would feel a little bit better…

"I don't think it's coming off that easily, kid," came a voice from behind Quint. Quint drew their dagger and whirled around to see one of the older tributes – the boy from One. Quint's mind raced. The boy from One. Baoba. He'd been working with the boy from Eleven. The boy Quint had just killed. The blood was still on their hands. Of course, Baoba had no way of knowing whose blood it was. They just had to stall. Just long enough for Octavia to get back. How long had she been gone?

Baoba took a step closer, dropping his pack and flourishing a cleaver. "Found this in one of the restaurants nearby – after I finished checking out a bowling alley. A bowling alley with a body outside." He cocked his head, glancing down at Quint's hands. "You wouldn't know anything about that, now would you?"


Baoba Pitblossom, 17
District One

It didn't really matter what the kid said, in the end. Baoba took a step closer, and his opponent took a step backwards – towards the fountain. "I can explain," they babbled. "I … I just found the body. I was running from the bloodbath, and I found the body, and he was already dead, so I wanted to see if there was anything useful, so I looked through his supplies, but that was it, but I must have gotten some of the blood on my hands, and—"

Baoba cocked his head. "You sure that's what you want to go with?"

The kid took another step back. Then another. Their feet brushed the fountain. One more step, and they might even tumble over backwards into it. Baoba took a step closer. The kid glanced from side to side, maybe wondering whether they would have time to run. They wouldn't. They straightened up a little and drew their dagger. "You're right. I did it. I killed him. That's what the Games are – a fight." They gripped their dagger. "So let's fight."

Baoba was expecting the lunge, but not the speed. The kid was quick. Maybe they would have been quick enough to get away. Instead, they dove for Baoba's legs, their dagger slicing across Baoba's left calf. Baoba brought the cleaver down hard, narrowly missing his opponent's shoulder. The next time the kid swung, though, Baoba was expecting it, and kicked the dagger out of their hands. Their arms immediately wrapped around his legs, toppling him into the fountain. The cleaver splashed into the water. Baoba kicked and thrashed, trying to free himself.

One of his blows must have landed right, because the kid let go. Before they could get up and run, Baoba's hands were around their throat. They squirmed, rolling, trying to get away. Baoba held on tightly, pressing down. Down into the water. Harder. Harder.

Finally, the thrashing stopped. The cannon boomed. "Quint!" called a voice, and Baoba looked up to see the older tribute from Two racing towards him.

Shit. He'd assumed the kid was alone. Baoba scrambled to his feet and took off, the girl's voice fading into the distance. He'd reached the next building before he realized he'd left the cleaver. And the backpack. But it was too late to go back now.


Lucinda Tweed, 15
District Eight

Boom. Lucinda jumped as the sound of a fourth cannon echoed off the walls of the restaurant they'd found. After resting for a little while, the three of them had decided to keep moving, and that was seeming like a better and better decision all the time. They'd already found the restaurant's kitchen, which was brimming with food. Bread, cheese, meat – more than they could ever have grabbed from the cornucopia.

Part of her was screaming that it couldn't be this easy, that there had to be a catch. But it was hard to see what it could be. They'd already eaten some of the food, gambling that if it was poisoned, it was better to find out now than wait until they were truly desperate. She'd volunteered to go first, and after fifteen or twenty minutes with no ill effects, Aloe and Percy had eaten their fill, as well.

"We should see if there's anything to put some in, so we can take some with us if we have to go anywhere," Lucinda suggested. There had to be some sort of bags somewhere, didn't there? "I'll check the other cupboards."

"I'll check this other room," Percy offered, reaching for a door handle. "We haven't even looked in here y— Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit."

"What?" Lucinda asked, but she could already hear a low growling from the other side of the door Percy had just flung open. Then a barking sound. Dogs – and not happy ones, from the sound. So that was the catch.

But they hadn't attacked. Not immediately. Maybe that was part of the drama. The Gamemakers didn't want a quick fight. They wanted the three of them to be frightened.

It was working.

In one movement, Lucinda took a step forward, grabbed Percy, and pulled him behind her. Aloe was already hiding behind a chair nearby, but that wouldn't do her much good if the animals decided to leap. Not that Lucinda would be much of a shield for Percy either, in a pinch. But what else was she supposed to do?


Aloe Brittle, 13
District Twelve

"I have an idea," Aloe whispered, trying not to draw attention as she reached towards the pile of food they'd stacked nearby. Slowly, carefully, not taking her eyes off the dogs, she chose a hunk of meat.

"You throw that and we run?" Percy whispered, fiddling with his necklace.

"No," Aloe hissed. "There are too many of them for that." She took a step closer to the dogs.

"Aloe, what are you doing?" Lucinda's voice was barely a whisper.

Aloe swallowed hard. "If this doesn't work, you two be ready to run." Then, before Lucinda could make a move to stop her, she strode towards the dogs, meat in hand. "Who's a good doggy?" she called, and was quite satisfied that her voice only shook a little. "Who wants some meat? Lots of meat here for a good doggy."

For a moment, there was silence. Silence was better than growling. Maybe the dogs were deciding what to do. Maybe the Gamemakers were deciding what to do, what would give the audience a better show. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, the dog at the front of the pack began to whimper. It took a few steps towards Aloe and nuzzled her hand gently. Obediently.

Aloe held out the meat, and the dog gobbled it up. Lucinda was already reaching for some more. Percy quickly followed her lead. "Good boy," Aloe crooned. "That's it. That's a good dog. Plenty to go around for all of us."

She stroked the dog's neck. It still wasn't the sort you would want to snuggle with. It was lean and bony and had far too many teeth. But they didn't need dogs that would cuddle with them. They needed protection. And this … well, they couldn't ask for much better than this.


Sebastian Banks, 18
District Four

And now there were only three of them. Sebastian shook his head as Corin and Rose milled about the cornucopia, unsure of what to do. He wasn't sure of what to do either, but he couldn't say that. Couldn't even think it. With Octavia gone, the other two would be looking to him to lead the pack.

Right. The pack. Three of them. That was about the same size as quite a few of the other groups out there. But they had supplies, and a defensible position; they had that going for them, at least. But that wouldn't be enough. Not for long. Even with only a few of them, they would be expected to go hunting. The Gamemakers would be looking to them to keep the Games moving.

Would they be able to do it? Maybe. Maybe for a while. Sebastian relaxed a little. 'For a while' was all they needed, really. No Career pack stayed together forever. They didn't have to pretend for long – just long enough for the other tributes' numbers to dwindle a bit. There had already been four cannons. That was certainly a good start.

Except one of them had been Opal's. She was dead. Octavia and Quint were gone. He was left with Corin and the little girl from Eleven. But at least she had stayed. Maybe she was too scared to leave. Maybe she wasn't sure where her real allies had gone. Maybe he was her real ally now. Maybe—

Before he could even finish the thought, he heard a gentle pinging noise. A parachute. Already? They already had plenty of supplies. But a package landed at his feet all the same, and Corin and Rose crowded around while he opened it. There was a box of some sort, with a watch on the outside. A timer.

A timer that was counting down.

48. 47. 46.

Sebastian set the package down and grabbed Corin's hand. "Run!" He and Corin took off. He didn't see where Rose went. He counted in his head as they ran for the nearest building, ducking behind the wall as quickly as they could. 3. 2. 1.

Boom.

An explosion. But not a cannon. Rose must have gotten away, too. "What was that?" Corin gasped.

Sebastian shook his head. "A message, I think. It's time to get moving."


Squirrel Tail, 18
District Nine

"What was that?" Squirrel hissed as the sound of the explosion finally died down in the distance. "That didn't sound like the others."

"That wasn't a cannon," Malachi agreed. "And it sounded like it was coming from the cornucopia."

"M-m-maybe the C-careers b-b-blew themselves up," Eddie muttered.

Fermi giggled. "Want to go see?"

Malachi shook his head. "No. I haven't heard any cannons, so whatever it was, they survived. Which means they'll probably want to get out of the area."

Squirrel hesitated. "Or it could mean that they were injured in the explosion, but didn't die yet. If we go back—"

"Easy kills," Fermi agreed, nodding along.

Squirrel bit her tongue. She wouldn't have put it like that. She'd been about to say that if they were hurt, the four of them could put them out of their misery. But Fermi had the right idea, even if Squirrel didn't like it. "It won't do any harm to go and see what happened."

"It could," Malachi pointed out.

"We could split up," Squirrel suggested. "Four people heading back to the cornucopia could attract attention. I'll take Fermi and head for the Cornucopia. If we run into trouble, we'll turn around and come back. You and Eddie get a feel for what else is around here, see if you can find anyone else, and we'll all meet back here … what do you think? An hour before sunset, just to be safe?"

Malachi glanced from one face to another, then nodded. "All right. Be careful. Don't go after anyone you're not certain you can handle. There are still plenty of tributes out there, and some of them might be armed, too. Any questions."

Fermi raised their hand, bouncing up and down and giggling excitedly. "Ooh, me, pick me."

Malachi rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help a smile. "Yes, Fermi?"

"How are we supposed to tell when it's an hour before sunset?"

"I th-think I saw a c-clock t-t-t-tower earlier," Eddie volunteered.

Malachi shook his head. "No telling how many of those are around, either. But if you take your hand, hold it out like this so that your arm's pointing away from you, and make a fist, once that's the distance between the sun and the horizon, you've got an hour left until sunset – more or less."

Fermi cocked his head. "Will that work with all the buildings around?"

"I'm not sure," Malachi admitted. "I'm usually in the fields when I do it. But it should be close enough. If you're a bit early or late, it's not a big deal. We just want to be back together before sunset."

Together. Squirrel grinned at Fermi as the two of them headed for the cornucopia. It felt good – being part of a group again, even if it couldn't last. Whatever else happened, she was glad she hadn't ended up alone out here.


Lark Lucas, 18
District Twelve

Lark glanced over at Dario as the pair of them headed towards one of the nearby buildings. "Good thing we got away from the cornucopia while we had the chance, huh?"

Dario smirked. "Good thing you got away from the Careers, you mean. From the sound of it, the Gamemakers aren't too happy with them."

Lark nodded. It wasn't hard to imagine why. There had only been four cannons since the start of the Games. Most of the Careers probably weren't even at the cornucopia anymore, unless Octavia and Quint had headed back there. Whoever was left definitely had their work cut out for them if they were still alive.

Except … well, they were – or at least, whoever had been alive before the explosion was, because there hadn't been any cannons afterwards. So maybe the explosion had been an accident. Or a warning. Maybe someone else had even blown up the cornucopia. Maybe that meant none of the Careers had been left there – or that none had decided to stay.

Dario crossed his arms as they reached the door to the building. "Looks like a hospital."

Lark said nothing. He'd heard of hospitals, but there weren't any in Twelve. There were a few healers, but they didn't have access to the sort of technology or medications that some of the other districts did. Dario's guess was better than his, so he simply nodded along.

As he followed Dario inside, however, something else caught his eye – a flurry of movement near one of the other doors. "Look!" Lark called, pointing to where one of the other boys – the boy from Eight, he was pretty sure – was high-tailing it away from the building as quickly as he could.

For a moment, Lark was worried that Dario might want to follow the other tribute. Instead, Dario chuckled and pointed to something in the corner – a backpack and a pile of medical supplies that the other boy had probably spent a lot of time gathering together. "Looks like he did our job for us, huh?" Dario observed with a grin.

Lark nodded. Maybe the boy had been counting on that – that given the choice between following him and taking his supplies, they would choose the supplies. The gamble might just have saved his life.


Dario Baretti, 18
District Five

"We're in this for the long haul," Dario explained as he and Lark dug through the supplies the other boy had left. There seemed to be plenty of medical supplies, as well as a few small surgical knives.

Lark nodded. "Given the choice between maybe catching up with the other boy and definitely having supplies now, take the supplies. Bird in the hand and all that."

Dario raised an eyebrow. "Bird in the hand?"

"Yeah. You know, a bird in the hand beats two in the bush?"

Dario turned the strange saying over in his head for a moment. "Yeah, exactly. Better to take what we can have now than what we might have a chance of getting later. There'll be plenty of time to catch up to some of the other tributes."

Lark nodded again. They both understood, but hopefully spelling it out for the audience would get the point across: They weren't passing up an opportunity, but choosing the better of two opportunities. The Games had only just begun; they would have plenty of time to make their mark.

They. Their mark. Dario shook the thought from his head. Lark was a means to an end, just like Lucinda and the others had been. Once the opportunity came, he would have no trouble leaving Lark, just as he had left the others. They would have to die anyway, eventually, if he wanted to make it home to Petunia. He couldn't afford to get attached. Not when his life was at stake.

Still, he couldn't help wondering what had happened to the others. Lucinda, Aloe, Percy, and Rose. He would find out soon enough, of course. Or at least, he would find out if they were dead tonight when the faces appeared in the sky. It wasn't much to go on, but at least it would let him know whether they were alive.

He hoped they were.


Fermi Schoenberg, 15
District Three

There wasn't much left at the cornucopia. Some of the weapons had survived the explosion, but nothing that was much better than what they already had. She'd found a blowgun and some darts and added them to his backpack, but pretty much everything else seemed to be blown to bits. And to add to the disappointment, all of the tributes were gone. Maybe there hadn't even been anyone there when the explosion had happened. Maybe the Gamemakers had simply blown up the cornucopia in frustration at the small bloodbath.

Fermi giggled, which garnered an odd look from Squirrel. "What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking, maybe the Gamemakers blew up the cornucopia because they were upset."

Squirrel cocked her head. "Why would they be upset?"

"You know, because of the small bloodbath?"

"Small?"

"Yeah. Only four people are dead so far."

"And that's … not a lot?"

"Not really. Usually more people die at the start. But this is more fun. More tributes left means the Games will last longer."

"And that's … a good thing?"

"Obviously."

Squirrel shook her head, trying to keep up. Fermi rolled his eyes. "Look, the longer the Games last, the longer we stay alive, right?"

"I guess."

"And the longer we're alive, the more fun we get to have."

Squirrel opened her mouth to say something, but something caught her eye. "Over there!" she called, pointing at something in the distance. "There are two of them, coming this way – fast! Let's get out of here."

"But—"

"No buts, Fermi. You just said the longer the Games last, the better. And I bet they'll last longer if we don't stick around for a fight. Let's go."

Fermi shrugged and took off after Squirrel. There would always be time to fight later.


Whisper Collins, 16
District Ten

"I don't think we're going to be able to catch them," Arti gasped as she and Whisper neared the cornucopia.

Whisper said nothing. As far as he was concerned, not catching the other pair of tributes was perfectly fine with him. He'd chased after them, of course, because the audience would expect it. The Gamemakers might be upset if they didn't at least try to catch the other pair. But if they tried and just weren't fast enough to make up for the other group's head start … well, the Gamemakers couldn't blame them for that.

Whisper slowed down as they neared the cornucopia, and he and Arti glanced around. There didn't seem to be much left. Here and there were bits of food, which Whisper quickly gathered into his pack. They would need all the food they could get. The bag, which had seemed full when he'd grabbed it at the start, had turned out to contain only a large blanket. But there didn't seem to be much more than scraps here. The other group had probably already taken anything else worth taking. But at least now they would know better than to try to come back to the cornucopia later to look for supplies. What they had now was all they were going to get, unless they managed to last until the feast.

The feast. Whisper shook his head. Don't get ahead of yourself. It was still the first day of the Games. Only four tributes were dead. Right now, they just had to focus on making sure they weren't next. "Which way now?" Whisper asked.

Arti thought for a moment, then pointed at one of the larger buildings. "That way. Looks big enough to hide behind, maybe even a good place to set up camp for the night."

Whisper nodded. The sun was starting to get lower in the sky, and they certainly didn't want to be caught in the dark without a place to take shelter. "Sounds good," he agreed, trying his best to sound optimistic. The truth was, it didn't sound good. But it certainly sounded better than staying here. And that would have to do for now.


Malachi Thorne, 18
District Nine

"We should probably head back," Malachi suggested, holding his fist out in front of him. The sun was dipping lower in the sky. There was still a bit more than an hour before sunset, but he'd rather be early than late, and the later it got, the less likely they were to find someone else. Most of the other tributes would probably be settling down for the night.

Eddie nodded. "It'll p-probably t-t-take us a wh-while to g-g-get b-back anyway," he pointed out.

Malachi shrugged. "Not too long. We've almost circled back to where we started."

"Y-you l-led us in a c-circle?"

"Why not? It's not as if we have an idea of where any of the other tributes are, so a circle's as good as anything else. Besides, we got a good look at the area around here, and that's what we wanted, right?"

Eddie said nothing. He seemed distracted, but as far as Malachi could tell, that wasn't all that unusual. He hadn't said much since the others had left, and seemed content to follow Malachi's lead. So Malachi had led them in a loop, passing a clock tower, a cemetery, and a water fountain before circling back towards the restaurant where they had started. It was efficient. It made sense. And they were almost back to where they said they'd meet Squirrel and Fermi. So what was Eddie's problem?

Unless … maybe he didn't want to meet back up with the others so quickly. He hadn't seemed to upset about splitting up. What was it between him and Fermi? Whatever it was, of course, he wasn't likely to tell Malachi, so he might as well keep his nose out of it.

Except if there was something going on – if there was some sort of tension or animosity between them – it could affect the alliance. That made it his business. Malachi rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, if you don't want to head back yet, we can make a shorter loop around—"

"N-no, it's f-f-fine," Eddie insisted. "W-we should g-g-get b-back. The others m-might b-b-be w-waitng f-for us."


Eddie Hyde, 14
District Three

As it turned out, the others weren't waiting for them at all. In fact, it was nearly dark by the time Fermi and Squirrel finally made it back to the restaurant. "What happened?" Malachi asked. "We were starting to get worried."

"There wasn't anyone at the cornucopia," Squirrel explained. "But two other tributes showed up and started chasing us. We ran, but we wanted to give it enough time to make sure we'd really lost them. So we zigged and zagged a little bit, then made our way back here. Pretty sure we lost them."

Malachi raised an eyebrow. "Pretty sure?"

Fermi shrugged. "They probably stopped once they reached the cornucopia to take a look around. There wasn't much left there. Good thing we got some stuff when we did, huh?"

The others nodded. Eddie looked away. They had grabbed supplies from the cornucopia. He'd grabbed a sword. A sword he has used to kill someone.

No. No, a sword Hyde had used. Hyde had killed that girl. That was what he was going to have to do, if he wanted to get out of here. He had to let Hyde do … well, what Hyde was good at. He didn't like it, but it was better than him having to kill, or getting killed because he was too scared. Better to let Hyde do the work.

But if he did … who would be left at the end of the Games, once it was all over? Would there be anything left of Eddie, or would it all be Hyde? If he let Hyde take control long enough to get the job done, would he be strong enough to take control back once the Games were done?

Eddie took a deep breath. He was getting ahead of himself. There were still twenty tributes left. With any luck, it would be a while before anyone found them, before he would have to make that choice again. For now, the best thing he could do – the best thing they could all do – was get some rest.

Suddenly, a quiet pinging sound interrupted his thoughts. It was coming from outside. The four of them hurried out, where a little package was floating down from the sky. Malachi caught it, turned it over, then tossed it to Fermi. "Looks like it's for you."

Fermi caught it with a grin. Sure enough, their name was on the bottle that was attached to the parachute. Fermi screwed the cap off and poured some of the contents into her mouth. "Looks like it's just water," he said, almost sounding disappointed.

Eddie shook his head. What would Fermi have done if it hadn't been water? What if it had been poison? They'd just drunk what was in the bottle without a second thought, without thinking of the consequences. That sort of thinking was going to be dangerous eventually. Eddie just hoped he wasn't around when it caught up with her.


Percy Allen, 12
District Six

"We should probably find somewhere to settle down for the night," Lucinda suggested as the three of them watched the dog pack chasing the few pigeons that had been stupid enough to wander back into the park. The dogs had been quick to sniff out one of the few areas in the arena that looked like good hunting ground. Well, good hunting for a dog, at least. With the food they'd found in the restaurant, it would be quite a while before the three of them had to resort to eating pigeons.

Three of them. For a while, he'd actually managed to forget that it should have been four. Well, either four or five, depending on whether you counted Dario. The others seemed to have forgotten entirely about looking for either him or Rose. Or maybe they were just trying to distract themselves, since none of them really had the first idea where they would even start looking.

"What's wrong with here?" Aloe asked, gesturing around the park.

Lucinda rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably. "It's a bit … open. Exposed. Anyone who wandered by would see us."

"And we would see them," Aloe countered. "We could sleep under one of the trees, I guess, if that makes you feel better."

It didn't. Percy could tell that it didn't. Lucinda was like him – a city kid. Why would they choose an open park when there were buildings instead? Then again, Aloe had a point. Being out in the open meant they would be able to see people coming, rather than being trapped in a building looking out a window to see who might be coming from one direction at a time.

Lucinda turned to him. "What do you think?"

Percy glanced around, then pointed to a clump of trees and a playground set a bit further into the park. "How about over there? Something to take shelter under, but still open enough to be able to see people coming. Best of both worlds."

Lucinda grinned. "Perfect."


Arti Aveneuro, 16
District Ten

"Maybe they have some supplies," Arti whispered as she and Whisper crouched behind a building in the growing dark. The voices were getting closer. Two tributes, she was pretty sure from the sound, although she couldn't make out either of the voices. They didn't seem too concerned about being heard, either.

Maybe that meant it was a bad idea to attack them, but she and Whisper were going to need some supplies – and sooner than she'd thought. The bag Whisper had grabbed at the start had been filled with a blanket. That might come in handy if it got cold later, but it wasn't as if they were going to be able to eat it. He'd managed to gather a few scraps of food when they'd returned to the cornucopia, but there hadn't been much left. This was a much better opportunity if it turned out the other tributes did have food.

"We'll have to be quick," Whisper hissed as the voices grew closer. "You're the one with a weapon."

Arti nodded, silently agreeing with his unspoken plea that she should go first. The footsteps were growing closer. Closer. She could see an outline in the dark – one of the younger tributes. Now or never. She leapt out, throwing him to the ground, but before she could strike with her axe, something sank into her chest. A dagger. The other two had been expecting an attack. Maybe even trying to trick someone into attacking. Clever. She wished she'd thought of it.

Arti heard a gasp as the dagger was yanked out, but the voice wasn't hers. She struck out blindly with her axe, and could tell from the scream of pain that the weapon had sunk into flesh. The boy beneath her squirmed, finally managing to free himself, and took off into the dark. Arti sank onto the ground, trying to stop the blood spilling from her chest. Why hadn't her attacker just finished her off?

Then she saw Ebony's face.


Ebony Timberough, 18
District Seven

She saw Arti's face too late. Too late to stop her blade from sinking into her ally's chest. Too late to stop Arti's axe as it swung towards her. Too late to do anything but shift a little, just enough for the axe to strike her shoulder rather than her neck. Pain swept through her shoulder, down her arm and through her chest. She was screaming. Arti was screaming.

No, not just screaming. Apologizing. "I didn't know it was you," Arti gasped, her breathing ragged. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I just – I just saw the boy. I didn't know you would be with him."

The boy. Elemeno. He had run off. Probably assumed the other two would finish her off. Ebony sank down beside Arti, mumbling an apology of her own. "No way you could have known. We thought it would be a good trap. Trick someone into attacking, take them by surprise. Didn't even think that it might be you."

"We just left you – during the bloodbath. We should have waited for—"

Ebony shook her head weakly. "I should have followed you at the start. Wanted to grab something first. Stupid."

"I'm sorry." Arti's voice was fainter now. "This isn't … how it was supposed to end."

No. No, it wasn't. But it was how it was going to end – for Arti, at least. Ebony could see more blood now, pooling around the younger girl. She grasped Arti's hand as tightly as she could. "I'm sorry." There was nothing to do but hold on as tightly as she could as Arti's cannon sounded.


Here's where placements currently stand:

24th - Vicarys Flask, D6. Stomach sliced with a sword by Hyde.

23rd - Nirel Jackson, D11. Stabbed in the chest by Quint.

22nd - Opal Granite, D1. Stomach sliced with a dagger by Aurora.

21st - Quint Delgado, D2. Drowned in a fountain by Baoba.

20th - Arti Aveneuro, D10. Stabbed in the chest by Ebony.


Current Alliances:

At least two Careers are still together: Corin & Sebastian

Currently the biggest alliance: Fermi, Eddie/Hyde, Squirrel, & Malachi

Making friends with stray dogs: Percy, Lucinda, & Aloe

In it for the long haul: Dario & Lark

Alone for now:

Baoba

Octavia

Aurora

Elemeno

Ebony

Fabrion

Whisper

Rose


Whew. I'm back. Sorry for the long wait. It's been a rather stressful summer, but I should be able to get back to updating fairly regularly now. Thank you for your patience.