Laken Dervissey, District Four male (18)

As silly as it sounded, I felt weird having cameras on me all the time. I'd never liked people looking at me, even before... the thing with my mom. It just felt unnatural. I wasn't a cinematic person like Charm or Isabella. I preferred to get my work done quietly and I didn't need any praise for it. I was very aware that people were watching me all the time, judging all my actions and probably wondering why I hadn't killed more people yet. Of course I couldn't expect a Capitolite to understand that in this arena, just staying alive was a full-time job.

If I pulled this off, things might get easier. I'd seen Wren once or twice in the last few days. The first time she'd been too far away for me to attack, and I'd lost her trail when she waded down a river for a while to break up her footprints. The second time she'd startled at some tiny or imagined noise and shot off without even seeing me. I wasn't done trying yet, though, and if I got another kill, maybe all those people staring at me might send me some supplies. I could live off fish and raw fruit, but life was nicer when you had a little extra.

The second time I'd seen Wren, she'd been holding a pink egg-shaped fruit with spikes. I'd found a tree of them later and discovered they were very watery. It seemed that was how she was staying in decent shape, though I suspected she had some stomach bugs from along the way, judging from how she'd rubbed her stomach a few times when I first saw her. It was hard to avoid in a place like this. I was trying not to think of the little worms that might be swimming around inside me now from all the raw fish. They could wait until I got to the Capitol, but it was still gross.

I felt something like a greedy businessman as I tracked down all the pink fruit trees in the area and plucked all the ripe ones to toss in a nearby river. I left only one covered in cheery pink fruit and all I could do was hope Wren was still in the neighborhood. With some difficulty I climbed into the tree, and then I waited.

The long boring wait for Wren was not worth describing. When she finally did wander into sight, my sore muscles tensed under me from my perch on a branch mostly hidden by greenery. Through the gaps I could see her, but she'd have to look right at me to see me. It was like the legendary Twenty-Eight Games, when Pray Jager turned into Pray Jaguar. Not many Tributes had come close to that animalistic savagery since, and I wasn't really aiming to. Wren wasn't a Career I needed to tear to pieces. She'd die a lot easier, though I still wasn't going to underestimate her.

Wren Humboldt, District Five female (17)

Maybe they're going out of season.But that would be stupid. It wasn't getting any hotter or colder in here. We'd only been here about two weeks. I'd never heard of an arena changing seasons before, though as soon as I thought it I vowed never to mention it out loud so I wouldn't give them any ideas for the next poor batch of Tributes. But for whatever reason, there were definitely fewer dragonfruit than usual.

Oh nice, there's one. After hours of wandering, I finally saw a feathery pink egg dangling from a dropping branch. Must have matured late, or else the lack of fruit on the other trees was just a coincidence. Or there was another Tribute around who also liked dragonfruit, which creeped me out, since Charm was the one most likely to know what they were.

As I reached up for the fruit, there was a cacophonous crash of greenery. Jaguar!I thought in panic. Do jaguars live here? This is some part of Asia, right? Leopard? Tiger? Some sort of-

Whatever it was, it hit me like bricks, while the thought was still flashing through my brain. I saw a glitter of metal and then a human form as it collided with me. It knocked me flat and I felt a tooth jar loose from an elbow colliding with my face. As I tried to sit up, my attacker- the boy from Four- took my leg in the crook of his elbow and turned sharply, bracing it against his leg. There was a wet pop and then the feeling of liquid flowing inside my leg, along with breathtaking pain. Before I could even register the implications, there was a hook pressing into my throat. Someone dumped hot water on my chest, I thought, until I saw it was red.

Oh my god I'm dying. Just like that, I knew it was all over. I weakly bucked at Laken, trying to get him off, but as soon as he slid off me, I grabbed the edge of his shirt. I don't want to die alone, the thought came to me. Laken flinched at my hand but then glanced up at the blood gouting out of me. He sat awkwardly, not removing my hand but clearly wishing he was anywhere else. It was good enough for me.

Beth Crissino, District Four female (18)

Mike and I were standing watch together. He seemed to be enjoying how he at least had someone to talk to now that we watched in pairs, but the real reason for it cast a pallor on his good mood. It seemed silly anyway. Pairing up was the best defense we had, but suppose I was the killer? I'd just kill Mike and get the rest of us at my leisure. Same if Isabella was on duty with anyone but me, and to be honest she'd probably be able to kill me too, if not without rousing everyone else. But none of us ever really had control over our fates in the Games. We were just doing the best we could with what we had.

Mike wasn't in danger tonight, though, or at least not from me. For the last few minutes I'd been sitting in our piles of supplies, pretending to organize them. I was organizing them, but every few minutes I was nonchalantly putting something into my backpack when Mike wasn't looking. Nothing the rest of us needed. Just the basic supplies in every area. A water filter. Some salt packets for hydration. Some packs of the energy gels the Careers usually hoarded. Spare socks. Ultrathin waders that fit in my bag. Antiseptic wipes. Antibiotics. Some thread and some medical glue. There was plenty left for everyone else. I only took what I needed.

I jumped as Mike sat down by me suddenly. The light of our little fire cast orange pinpricks in his eyes, like tiny suns.

"You think it really might have been Charm?" he asked, his tone pleading with me to agree. "She just got the wrong person? Charm's not too smart- maybe she didn't look at how tall he was."

"Yeah. Yeah, it might have been Charm," I said. Stranger things had happened in the Games. We didn't have any evidence it wasn't Charm."

"Or..." I started weaving together the story as soon as I thought of it. "You don't suppose the gamemakers were mad we're all so friendly together that they sent a mutt or just did it to Jack themselves somehow so we'd all get paranoid?"

Mike's face lit up. "I bet that's it," he said. "We're sticking together pretty well, though. I know it won't last forever but it's really special we made it as long as we did."

"By now we have almost an even chance of one of us winning," I said. "That would be pretty special."

"Yeah, you or Isabella have a really good shot. Zeb and I do too, but not as much,"Mike said.

"Whatever happens, we can't let Charm win," I said.

"Boy, wouldn't it be really messed up if it was me who did it?" Mike said mischievously. "It wasn't, but wouldn't that be messed up?"

"I'd sooner believe it was Sky's ghost," I said, smiling. "Whatever happens, you'll always be one of the good ones."

"Just doing the best a moth can do," Mike shrugged. I got up to patrol the border of our camp and Mike followed me. I slowed down, pretending to tie my shoelaces, and he got ahead of me. I trailed after him, letting the distance get bigger, and when the time was right, I slipped into the forest. I hated to leave. I hated leaving my friends. It was like walking out on my family. But it wasn't safe for me there. Eventually, as much as we wanted to stay friends, we'd turn on each other. If I wanted to survive, I had to do things I didn't want to do, even things that would hurt other people. So I slipped away into the night and left Mike and the others behind with their ghosts. But the ghosts followed me, too. No matter how far I walked, I kept thinking of them waking up the next day and knowing I hadn't even cared about them enough to say goodbye.

14th place: Wren Humboldt- throat cut by Laken

There was really no reason for Wren to die, so she lasted this long. But in an Arena with so many powerful Tributes and alliances left, there wasn't mcu reason for her to win, so I cut her here because it was going to happen eventually. Wren was a fun, fast-moving Tribute with a lot of energy. She knew her weaknesses and was content to run from a fight instead of losing it. Laken managed to fight smarter instead of harder, popping the fluid sac in her knee so she couldn't run in case she broke free of him, but that's what happens in a stacked fight. Thanks Fiona for Wren, who made herself into more than the sum of her parts and outlasted a lot of power players.