A/N: And here's our first bloodbath! It's not terribly long, just because I don't want to include POVs of every bloodbath survivor, but I hope the ending gives you all a general scope of what went on. Tributes and alliances will be explored further as we continue. Enjoy!


Brigitta Channel, 18

District 8 9th Female

I board my hovercraft alone. The moment I step into the cabin, I am assaulted by freezing-cold air conditioning. I jump a little as two peacekeepers drag me by the shoulders, and I blink hard as they steer me toward the chair that looks like an ancient torture device.

"Put your hands up and sit," they say, and I blink hard as they strap down my ankles and my waist, just to make sure I'm not going anywhere. The peacekeepers leave, switch off the light, and leave me alone.

I think back to everything my father has told me over the years. A peacekeeper is often afraid, but never lets fear get in the way of his duty.

I won't pretend I'm qualified to give you advice about the games, he told me in the goodbye room, but I know you'll have to use both your mind and your body. You're such a strong girl and you have such a strong mind. Use them, and stay safe, my love.

I take a deep breath in and out as the hovercraft lifts off. The only light comes in through a small window on the left wall. The Capitol looks extremely scenic from above. In a matter of seconds, it's gone, and all I can see are the large, snow-capped mountains in this distance.

I'm headed to the arena now. I could die there. But a peacekeeper doesn't allow herself to die. I'm not going to die. I won't allow it.

The ride lasts for at least three hours. It's a smooth journey with only minor turbulence. I won't say it's over before I know it, but it does go by surprising quickly. I have so many things I'm thinking about right now.

Two peacekeepers enter when the hovercraft lands. One of them points as gun at my head and the other one unstraps my bonds. I focus on the thin crack of light shining in from the edges of the door when my heartrate increases again. I won't panic. I won't let myself panic.

"Put your hands behind your back and follow us. There are two guns pointed at you," one of the peacekeepers growls. I follow quickly behind. The door that I entered through is now connected to a downward-slanting hallway with an accordion rubber seam. The peacekeepers turn on a harsh light and lead me down the stairs. The door slams behind me the moment I enter the launch room.

Then it's only me, a seat, a cookie machine, and a hook with my uniform. And the glass tube running straight through the center of the room.


Lilith Mercier, 15

District 5 2nd Female

We call this the stockyard back in District 5: the place where animals go before they're slaughtered.

I shiver despite the room's oppressive heat and then take a peach-flavored cookie out of the dispenser. It's only when I try to put the cookie in my mouth that I realize how much I'm shaking. My arms are shaking, my head is shaking on my neck.

I want to cry right now. I want to cry so badly. I want to just curl up and cry until someone comes in here and forces me into the tube.

The only thing keeping me from doing that is the knowledge that I'm probably being watched.

I run into the small changing nook and put on my tribute uniform: a forest jacket, jeans, and plasticky black boots. Then I jog laps around the room. Warming up is a sign that you're ready, right?

I'm tempted to keep shoving cookies into my mouth, but I don't want to crash in an hour, so I content myself with one more pumpkin flavor and then sit down with my arms crossed.

"Sixty seconds until launch," a robotic female voice announces.

I find myself unable to move for at least five seconds. I know I have to step into that tube, but my body itself is holding me back.

"Fifty seconds until launch. Forty seconds until launch." I finally force myself to move with about thirty seconds left on the countdown. The moment I step inside, the glass opening seals shut behind my back.

In a matter of seconds, I stand at ground level, surrounded by deep green grass and a faint, cool wind. The clearing stretches on for at least half a mile before the dense forest starts up. Smoke churns from six locations placed sporadically around the forest. Each pedestal has a line of flowers connecting it to the cornucopia, creating a shape like a wagon wheel with 48 spokes.

60, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, 54, 53, 52, 51.

My first instinct is to head into the bloodbath. That's what all of the other tributes seem like they're planning to do. Most of them are already leaning forward.

50, 49, 48, 47, 46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41.

Then I start to notice the placements of the tributes. Felix is to my left, the tall and muscled boy who scored an 8. Patternia stands to my right, the most cold-hearted psychopath out of the career pack. If either of them decides to target me, I'm dead. Period.

40, 39, 38, 37, 36 , 35, 34, 33, 32, 31.

Moxie, Nimona, and Sasha are lucky enough to have their pedestals near each other. Silky is at the other end of the pedestal ring, desperately attempting to communicate with her allies via hand gestures. I notice the anti-careers crowded together, with Felix, Sybil, Brigitta, and Threada only spaced apart by one pedestal. The gamemakers made sure to spread out the strong tributes. That way none of the weaker tributes, like me, are safe. At first I can't see Boltson, but then I spot him at the far end of the ring, next to Lou and Everly. Everly's boyfriend Looper stands two pedestals to my left.

30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21.

And, of course, the seven careers are spread out evenly. Cosima and Henna hug the left end of the pedestal ring; Preston and Patternia are more toward the middle; Organza, Madras, and Electron are spaced only a few pedestals apart at the rightmost end of the line.

20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11.

Something deep within me calls for me to race into the bloodbath. I want to run into the fray so badly. Then I remember Felix and Patternia, and turn around so I face the distant forest.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The gong rings, and I race off of my pedestal without looking back. It's less than five seconds before I hear the first screams, the first noises of bodies hitting the ground. I don't look back. I don't look back as the chorus of screams becomes deafeningly loud. I don't look back when I start to pick up on the stench of blood. When I reach the first line of trees, I take a quick peek backward. The cornucopia is already out of sight, concealed by a tall hill. Unseen, I disappear into the darkness of the forest.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

That's twenty-one cannons. There are only twenty-seven of us left. Fifteen of us need to die before this first stage can end. There are a rough few weeks ahead, but as I settle down for a short break, I start to seriously appreciate the fact that I've survived the bloodbath. There are twenty-seven tributes still kicking, and Lilith Mercier is one of them.


Bertram Kerler, 5

Capitol Citizen

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Bertram, happy birthday to you!"

I put on a big smile and blow out the five candles on the light blue birthday cake. Mom offers to help me blow them out, but I can blow them out by myself because I'm a big boy now.

Dad cuts the cake and gives everyone a big slice, then scoops some ice cream for everybody. It's my favorite kind of cake, but I try to finish as quickly as I can. That's because the bloodbath starts in fifteen minutes, and I don't want to miss it.

"Can we watch the games now, Mom?" I ask, licking the frosting off of my fingers.

"You should wait for Aqua to finish his cake. You can play with Uriel if you want."

"I want to play too!" Aqua shouts, leaping off of his chair. "I'm finished with my food. I want to watch the games with Uriel and Bertram."

Aqua's mom rolls her eyes. "Okay. You boys have fun."

We race to the living room and pile onto the couch. Uriel's dad is also on the couch, drunk and asleep. We just ignore him and turn the television on.

"Who do you think will make the most kills?" Aqua asks. "I think it'll be Madras."

"No, it'll be Electron," I say.

"It's going to be Preston," Uriel says.

"No. It's going to be Electron. He's the strongest," I say.

"Shhh!" Aqua hisses. "The bloodbath is starting!"

The gong rings, and the tributes run off of their pedestals. The careers are the fastest, obviously. Electron grabs a sword and tackles 12 year old Lou, who tries to run away but can't run fast enough. As Electron puts the sword in his back, Patternia throws two throwing knives at Violet and Indigo. One of them misses, but the other one hits Violet in the back of the neck. She falls to the ground, choking and dying and everything, and Indigo kneels next to her. Another career, Madras, approaches and stabs a spear into Indigo's neck. He's dead right away.

At the same time, the peacekeeper's daughter, who has a sword, attacks Henna from behind. Brigitta and Henna fight for a little while with swords. At first, I think Henna is going to win, but then Brigitta knocks her sword away, and Henna screams loudly as Brigitta's sword pokes out of the back of her neck. Brigitta scoops up another pack and runs for her life. Madras throws his spear at Brigitta, but misses and hits tiny Lily instead.

"I told you Madras would get the most kills," Aqua says. "He's already in the lead."

"Yeah, with two kills," Uriel says. "Preston will catch up soon. Look at him now!"

Cosima and Preston, who both have spears, attack the three tributes who are inside of the cornucopia: Dressal, Marble , and Angora. Dressal and Marble are part of a bigger alliance, but Angora is all by herself. Angora is the first tribute to die as Cosima puts her sword through her chest. Dressal and Marble try to fight back. Eventually, Marble punches Preston in the chin. Marble and Dressal try to run, but Cosima closes in, spearing Dressal through the gut before she can run far enough.

Marble runs away as fast as his legs can carry him, but he runs straight into Electron, who has his sword ready. Marble screams and holds his hands in front of him, but he can't protect himself from Electron's cool sword. Electron cuts his abdomen open with two heavy chops, killing him.

A second later, Electron hears a sound behind him, and he turns around. There are two tributes standing there, Tasha and Burnie, and they're both trying to kill him from behind. The brother and sister can't react fast enough before Electron cuts open both of them, spilling out their gross insides.

"Electron is winning now," I say, crossing my arms.

"Shut up," Uriel says. "Preston is just taking a little break."

Aqua jumps to his feet. "Mom! Mom! Uriel said shut up!"

My eyes stay trained on the television as Patternia makes her next kill, throwing two knives into tiny Genera, who wasn't going to survive very long anyway because of her injured arm. Organza makes the next kill, gashing the back of Wyatt's neck open with her spear. Wyatt falls to the ground, shaking like a dying fish, and Organza keeps poking holes in his back until he stops moving.

Aqua runs back into the living room and falls on the couch. "Uriel's grounded for ten minutes. Now, who's winning?"

"Electron," I say. "He has four kills. Cosima, Madras, and Patternia have two kills. Organza and Brigitta have one kill."

Organza's one kill changes to two kills. A boy, Nelson, starts to run away from the cornucopia, but Organza chases after him, pushing her spear into his back. Nelson falls down, and he knocks over another tribute, Damon, as he falls. Damon squirms out from under Nelson, but he can't run far before Madras closes in on him, swording him to death.

Patternia, who's starting to run out of throwing knives, throws one knife into Linen's back, who I honestly forgot existed up to this point. Soon after that, Preston makes two kills at the same time. He kicks Vida to the ground, and she holds her stomach because the air was knocked out of her. He pushes another tribute down a millisecond later, Archie, then stabs his spears into both of them one after the other. Vida and Archie die at pretty much the same time.

The cornucopia field is emptying fast. The big alliances of boys, Cloth, Velvet, and Crochet, are far away from the cornucopia now. The only alliance left besides the careers is Hector, Dawson, Thred, and Rollag. The four of them have lots of backpacks. They run away as fast as they can, but Electron chases after them, cutting Hector's back open with his stabby sword. Electron tries to keep running after them, but they run fast because they're scared. Eventually, Electron turns around and goes back to the cornucopia, grumbling bad words.

"Which one of you said that?" Aqua's mom shouts from the kitchen.

"Electron from TV!" I shout.

Patternia makes her fourth kill. She trades out her throwing knives for two long hunting daggers, and she quickly attacks Edison, who's been trying to find a way to escape without being noticed. Edison doesn't see Patternia until it's too late. As Edison falls, Madras attacks little Needle, who only scored a 2. Needle is dead pretty much right away, and Madras runs away, smiling.

The careers, Cosima, Preston, Electron, Organza, Madras, and Patternia, gather together at the cornucopia, waiting for the cannons to go off. The cannons don't go off. Then they see why. Flossie, the wheelchair-bound girl with the lowest training score, is just laying there on her pedestal, crying. I guess she wasn't allowed to bring her wheelchair into the arena. The careers don't want to kill her, but they can't stop Electron, who just runs up to her and stabs her in the back. Flossie dies without even flinching, and then the twenty-one cannons go off.

"Am I un-grounded yet?" Uriel says from the kitchen.

"Yes," his mom says. Uriel rushes into the room just as a list of the dead tributes appears.


Hector Starling, District 5 2nd Male

Henna Norcross, District 5 3rd Female

Edison Rye, District 5 3rd Male

Vida Aslin, District 5 4th Female

Genera Coover, District 5 5th Female

Wyatt Kluss, District 5 5th Male

Tasha Spark, District 5 6th Female

Burnie Spark, District 5 6th Male

Nelson Griffiths, District 5 7th Male

Needle Rhys, District 8 2nd Male

Lily Cardigan, District 8 3rd Female

Damon Malone, District 8 3rd Male

Flossie Peller, District 8 4th Female

Linen Topher, District 8 4th Male

Lou Singh, District 8 5th Male

Dressal Maddox, District 8 7th Female

Angora Cards, District 8 8th Female

Archie Walker, District 8 9th Male

Marble Congrutts, District 8 10th Male

Violet Savageau, District 8 12th Female

Indigo Savageau, District 8 12th Male

Remaining Tributes (27): Cosima, Preston, Lilith, Felix, Ashleen, Francina, Dawson, Moxie, Thred, Sybil, Looper, Everly, Electron, Nimona, Boltson, Organza, Madras, Patternia, Lycra, Silky, Cloth, Velvet, Rollag, Brigitta, Sasha, Threada, Crochet