Maizie Nash, 17
District 9 1st Female
"That's my face!" Cordaire complains.
"Sorry."
I shift my leg slightly, and as I do, the entire raft rocks to one side. Socket grunts under his breath as he's almost thrown off the raft. It was a bad idea to fit three people on this thing. It only has room for two. At least we don't have to fit all four of us on this thing; Sorghum is back guarding the cornucopia.
As we drift slowly across the water, I sweep my flashlight beam back and forth, illuminating the dark, soupy surface.
Tributes are unlikely to be out and about this early in the morning, but there's always the chance we could catch a poorly hiding outlier, groggy or even asleep.
I hand my flashlight to Cordaire and take on the role of paddling duty, taking a deep breath of mist as our raft glides onward into the unknown.
Taure Sooks, 12
District 3 2nd Male
The tears stopped coming a long time ago. I don't think I have any left to cry.
The only sensation I feel is the bobbing of the water. My ears sit underneath the water as I float on my back, so all I hear is the dampened roar of the underwater. If a mutt or a career found me right now, I would be dead instantly. I might not even know what had happened to me.
Death is a blissful release. That thought floats through my head like my body on the surface of the water. If I really wanted to, if I really wanted to, I could end myself of my own free will. I think I've tried at least twice. But I never have the guts to do it.
Milly Lockwood, 13
District 3 3rd Female
"Apples for breakfast?" Gwenith asks, as though we have a choice. "Again?"
"Yep," I say, grabbing the first one. "They're good apples, you gotta admit."
The next moment, all four of us have an apple in hand. I can't bring myself to look at the empty basket as I dig in, eating even the seeds and the core. When I finish, I look up. Fusae, Gwenith, and I are now empty-handed. Katya has only taken one bite out of her apple.
Fusae raises an eyebrow. "You're gonna regret not eating that thing later."
"It's… it's so many calories, I don't know."
"It's an apple."
A tear slips out of her eye as Katya slowly eats the apple.
Kaicee Mitchell, 18
District 3 4th Female
I got a hatchet from the cornucopia. It was a huge risk. I almost lost my life. But I did survive, and now I've got a pretty sick weapon. I have to be grateful.
The island I've made my home is actually pretty spacious, with enough room for lying down, working out, and running in circles. I was washed over with the tidal wave yesterday. I had to hold on for dear life to keep from being swept away.
Luckily for me, I knew that it was coming. I woke up early enough to see the waterline receding. If I hadn't had time to brace myself, I'm not sure I would have survived.
My training score is only a five, but I think with enough confidence I just might make it to the final twelve.
Bolt Reuben, 16
District 3 6th Male
Oshea and Bryony aren't exactly a match made in heaven. I can tell Oshea is really upset about that boy from 9 escaping right under our noses yesterday. I want to say something to call him down, because while he isn't exactly the short-tempered type, I really don't want his anger to escalate any further.
As we continue moving, our feet lightly touching the bottom of the water, I make brief eye contact with Bryony. I can tell she's really pissed too. I guess Oshea is making all of our spirits fall.
"Unbelievable," Oshea mutters.
I open my mouth to say something rash, but quickly close it.
"We almost had him," Oshea continues. "Imagine the sponsor gifts, imagine the screen time, imagine the…"
Bryony loses her cool. "Imagine if a deadly tidal wave swept through the arena right afterward, immediately killing like four people."
Oshea whips his head around, and Bryony flinches, regret flashing over her eyes. But Oshea doesn't do anything. He just mutters, "Let's keep moving" and continues wading through the bog.
Laurisa Caver, 17
District 3 6th Female
I can't stop thinking about the white silk dress I wore for my interview. It didn't just look beautiful, it felt beautiful. I remember the way it moved when I moved, the way it fluttered as I stepped onto the stage. It was a magical feeling, wearing that dress.
Now I'm stranded in the middle of the swampy arena, more lost than I've ever been before. I don't have a single knife or a single scrap of food to my name. I'm lucky I managed to survive the wave yesterday. Even using all the energy I had in my muscles, fighting against the relentless waves was an unimaginable struggle.
I could be wearing a white dress right now, just floating, spinning, drifting away into a quiet place where the flowers lay thick on the water.
Coco Dorsin, 16
District 3 7th Male
Verney was in my dreams last night. I remember thinking how weird he was acting. Normally, when he saw me, his eyes would light up, and he would run into my arms. But he didn't. He just stood there, staring off into the distance like he had seen something far away.
When I was a little kid, I always wanted a brother. It was the day after my fourth birthday when my parents told me I was going to have a baby sibling, and as far as I was concerned that was the greatest birthday present I ever could have asked for.
But even as a baby, Verney acted strange. When we spoke to him, he wouldn't move or react. He never really look at anything; he just stare forward, like he couldn't see us.
He wasn't normal, but he was perfect to me.
I never knew that sixteen years later, I would effectively commit suicide to save his life. But that's what I did. I'm going to die in here. I don't know how, I don't know when, but it's probably going to be soon. I hope Verney isn't watching when that happens. It would shatter him.
Ronan Stuart, 16
District 9 12th Male
Telata, Spurr, and Kenneth are good friends. Back on Day 1, I didn't really trust any of them. We just banded together because we felt safer in a large group. That was when Caden, Teff, and Lena were still alive. There were seven of us.
Telata has always acted sort of distant, but never as much as she does now. I imagine she's kind of like an alien, dropped in the middle of a social situation to make observations about human behavior. She always acts very distant. Aloof. Dreamy.
Spurr is more down-to-earth. This morning, he was getting sort of annoying, moping around until we forced him to get moving. But when a school of fish with sharp teeth attacked us, he got right to business. You wouldn't believe how quickly that guy can punch.
Kenneth isn't being terribly useful, but he's really funny. He likes to tell us jokes, in a vain effort to raise the mood. Some sponsor sent him a box of cookies for his "comedy".
"Keep moving, Ronan," Spurr says.
I hadn't realized I had stopped moving. For the past few minutes, I've been trying to calculate the number of tributes remaining in the arena. I think seventeen tributes died in the bloodbath. Or was it nineteen? Eighteen? Twenty? And I remember hearing four cannon shots the day of the tidal wave. And three died yesterday. That means somewhere between 22 and 24 of us are left. It's like a normal Hunger Games now. That's what I tell myself to quiet my fears a little.
Othello Brooks, 18
District 9 6th Male
The sunset explodes in a display of goopy color as the sun begins to set. We survived. Even if Demi and I are growing further and further away from one another, we survived. We are still breathing. That's something to celebrate.
I have to admit I was scared for my life yesterday. I knew we had the advantage over the group of tributes who attacked us, but in the midst of battle it's hard not to let your fears distract you.
Silicon is dead now.
Desdemona is dead now.
I can't bear to think about her any longer. It just hurts. I try to push my memories of her away, but they just shove their way back in, crawling into my mind and making my blood run cold.
"Break time yet?" Demi says, in a matter that's sedated if not exactly servile. The events of yesterday changed her somehow. I guess she realized she would run from a fight to save her life. That changes a lot.
I nod in confirmation, and we come to a stop. It might be a good idea to search for cover rather than just drift aimlessly out in the open, but we're both too tired to do that for now. After a few minutes of rest, we can search for a more permanent hiding spot.
Elodie Pike, 15
District 9 8th Female
When I was reaped, I screamed. I screamed because the fate I had escaped for the past three years finally found me in the end. I screamed because I was going to enter the Hunger Games. I screamed because I was going to die.
Now, I don't really have it inside me to scream any longer. I'm still screaming inside, of course, the deepest and most visceral kind of shout imaginable. The deafening silence of the arena begs to be shattered by a loud noise. It is only pierced occasionally by a ripple of water or the sound of a mangrove branch falling into the water.
I come to a stop in a cluster of white flowers and run them through my fingers. They look beautiful, and they smell beautiful too. The aroma is hard to make out until I get very close. They smell like vanilla and sleep. They smell like home.
My name is Elodie Pike, and I am in the final Hunger Games. My name is Elodie Pike, and I am going to die. But the flowers smell so beautiful. When I die, I'll never get to smell them again. That's the scariest part.
Harvey Reynolds, 17
District 9 8th Male
As I paddle gently over the water, I'm reminded of Day 2's tidal wave; the way the water fought against me like invisible arms, fighting to push me under. The way I would have died if not for the sudden moment of clarity that inspired me to follow the path of the bubbles. Four tributes died that day. I was not one of them. For that, I must be grateful.
It's hard to map out this arena. Every part of it seems to look the same. Probably a trick of the gamemakers to make me lose my mind from confusion. If anything, the mangrove trees are thicker toward the outskirts of the arena. The water is also colder.
A few hours before nightfall, I came to a spot where the mangrove trees ended suddenly. Beyond, there was a seemingly infinite stretch of water. Undoubtedly the border of the arena. I wasn't stupid enough to venture onward. That's how you get killed.
I lie on my back, letting myself float on the murky water. The national anthem begins, but there are no faces in the sky tonight. We all made it. Not that there were any powerful natural threats today. But it's still something to celebrate.
Remaining Tributes (23): Cordaire, Socket, Taure, Milly, Kaicee, Oshea, Laurisa, Bolt, Fusae, Coco, Telata, Katya, Spurr, Maizie, Sorghum, Kenneth, Bryony, Othello, Gwenith, Elodie, Harvey, Demi, Ronan
