Sorry for not getting this posted sooner. I had a valid excuse at first, and then I got lazy. Last week, a bunch of the power in my region got shut off to avoid fires so I couldn't write. Then they turned it back on and I was too lazy to write.

Most of these POVs are pretty short, but some are way longer than I expected. I got carried away with a few.

I know I should probably proofread this, but I think we all know by now that it isn't going to happen. I need to leave for school soon, anyway, and I want to post this before I leave.

District 6

Axel Woodleigh

I feel guilty as I reach into my pocket and hold my emerald tightly. It's very comforting to have it in my hand. I'm terrified I'll somehow lose it. And if that were to happen, then Hadley and I couldn't survive together. It would be one or the other. I bite my lip. I couldn't kill Hadley. And I know he wouldn't kill me. But Linen would.

Linen wouldn't betray us for the sake of betrayal - but she probably wouldn't hesitate to kill one of us if it meant her own life. And if it could help her greatly, then she may calculate it and come to the conclusion to kill us.

I'm talking about the jewel. And how if she discovered I had it, she might kill me in order to obtain it. Hadley and I both agreed on that. We like Linen, and we're pretty sure she likes us, but she's not as… trustworthy as us. Hadley and I wouldn't dream of killing our allies for our personal gain, but Linen probably would.

Which is why we decided not to tell her about the jewel. Hadley's hoping we can find another one for her, that way we don't have to be concerned about her stealing mine, but until then it's a secret.

I look around the crude shelter we constructed last night. Hadley is curled up in the corner, holding tightly onto his weapons, as is Linen. I had the last guard shift, and I'm guessing it's coming to a close. However, I don't want to wake Hadley or Linen up yet. Hadley told me to, so we could get a head start on the day, but I think it would be better to let them sleep.

There aren't a lot of opportunities to sleep in the Hunger Games, and it's going to be a long day.

District 12

Rachel Ivy

Tristana and I are hiking through the jungle when we come across a clearing. We immediately stop dead in our tracks.

"Is this it?" Tristana whispers, and I immediately shush her. We tiptoe closer to the clearing until the only thing between us and the clearing is a thick tree which we hide behind. Carefully, and as quietly as I can manage, I poke my head out from behind the tree to look into the clearing.

Sure enough, we've reached the Cornucopia. The golden horn is shockingly bright - I suppose my eyes have become accustomed to the darkness of the jungle. Unfortunately, the Careers are still occupying it. I do a quick tally and realize that all seven Careers have inhabited it. The clearing isn't too large, so we can hear a lot of what they're saying if we strain our ears.

The big guy from District 2 is giving orders right now. I can only make out bits of what he's saying, but it sounds like the Careers are going to go hunting soon and he's splitting them into pairs.

"Is that Vincent?" I hear Tristana whisper. I angrily press my finger to my lips to remind her to shut up, but she's not looking at me. "If they leave Vincent in charge of the supplies, maybe we could go over and talk to him. He could give us some supplies or even come with us."

"Are you insane?" I hiss, giving up attempting to remain silent.

"He's nice. And he didn't want to be part of the Careers. I'm sure we could convince him to ditch them -"

"No," I say. "Even if he did want to join our alliance, we'd just be inviting the Careers to hunt us down. We have to stay under their radar. Now be quiet."

I look back at the Cornucopia, and to my alarm, the boy from District 7 is making eye contact with me. He quickly tears his gaze away and turns back to the District 2 boy.

Quickly following this incident, in which my heart nearly stopped, the Careers begin to leave the Cornucopia in pairs. The boys from 1 and 4 walk in the opposite direction of us, looking quite unhappy with the pairing and the District 2 boy (who I've pegged as the leader) walks with the girl from District 1 toward the jungle somewhere to our left. To Tristana's disappointment, Vincent and the girl from 2 walk off, leaving the District 4 female in charge of the supplies. To my disappointment, 7 and 2 are walking directly at us.

Afraid that Tristana will want to say hello, I yank her back, away from the route 7 and 2 seem to be taking. We hide behind a tree, not even breathing, as they pass. Thankfully, they don't notice us and walk right on by.

"All right, where should we go now?" Tristana asks when they're completely out of our sight. I stand up and tiptoe back to the clearing. I look around and groan when I see which direction we must go in. "What?"

"After the Bloodbath, we left in the opposite direction of the mouth of the Cornucopia. Which means we're going that way," I explain, pointing in the required direction. Tristana gulps when she realizes the problem.

"You mean exactly where Glorian and Cecelia went?"

"Yes."

District 2

Glorian Stafford

"Do you think it's going to rain today?" Cecelia asks. I shrug.

"Probably. I hope it doesn't kick in this evening, though, because I really want to cook the rabbits," I reply. I look up at the sky nervously, but to my relief, it's not cloudy yet. We're in a part of the arena where the trees are more sparse, so we have a decent view of the sky. Sunlight fills our path, so we don't have to worry about tripping on anything, as long as we keep one eye on the ground.

Cecelia and I don't talk for a while, simply keeping an eye out for other tributes and such. Our silence is partly due to the fact that we want to sneak up on any tributes that may be nearby, and partially because we have no idea what to say to each other. I consider asking Cecelia about her home life in District 1, but decide against it. It will probably sound forced and cliche, anyway.

We take a large step over a fallen tree, but when lifting my second leg over, my red boot gets snagged on a stick.

"Damn," I mutter as I try to shake it loose. I turn around to face the way we came, and for a second, I think I see a tribute behind a tree. It looks like a flash of violet before disappearing. I stop bothering with the shoe and focus on what may or may not be a tribute, but I can't see them anymore.

"What?" Cecelia asks. She's standing beside the log, waiting for me.

"What District is wearing purple? Do you remember?" I ask her, referring to our jackets and boots, which are different colors depending on our District. Cecelia's wearing white (which is now more of a light brown) and I'm wearing red. Cecelia shrugs.

"I don't know."

"District 8, maybe?"

"No, they're wearing indigo," Cecelia says. "Why are you asking? Did you see someone wearing purple?"

"I thought I did… it may have just been a trick of the light, or a mutt or something, though."

"Go check," Cecelia insists. I jump back over the tree, unsnagging my shoe in the process, and head over to the tree I saw something disappear behind. I poke my head around it, but there's nobody there. "Well?"

"Nothing," I call back, slightly embarrassed that I made such a big deal out of it.

"Then let's get going!" Cecelia shouts. I rush back over to her. This time, I pay special attention not to get stuck on the log. We continue through the forest.

As we trek through the jungle, the trees and plants gradually become denser until we can barely see the sky. We've had to slow our pace considerably to prevent tripping over roots or stepping on anything like snakes or other dangerous creatures that may be crawling around the forest floor.

"I think I see something," Cecelia mutters, pushing away a group of vines dangling in front of our path. I squint in the direction she's looking in and see what could possibly be a structure a little ways away. It's off our path, to the right.

"Should we go see what it is?" I ask. Cecelia shrugs, but we both change our route to head toward the structure. The ground has become wilder, and Cecelia and I have to be careful not to snag our feet in any of the vines snaking around the floor. There are also many vines hanging from the tree branches, which keep getting in our way. Sick of having to brush the vines our of my face every two seconds, I begin to use my sword to chop them away. Cecelia follows suit, and soon we've created a path behind us filled with severed vines.

We reach an opening in the trees, where they suddenly part and reveal a very small clearing mostly filled with a large, mossy building. It's very tall and seems old. There are stone ruins littering the ground around it, suggesting some of it had collapsed at some point. I quickly correct myself - we've only been in the arena for three days, so they were definitely placed there by the Gamemakers. The stone structure has some moss, but is mostly covered with those damn vines. There are many windows and possible entrances, but the clear doorway is the giant arch in the center of the building.

"Should we go in?" Cecelia asks me.

"I don't know," I mutter. "It might be dangerous."

"The whole arena is dangerous," Cecelia reasons. "But there may be something useful in there. Gamemakers don't place random landmarks in the arena for no reason."

"But do the risks outweigh the rewards?"

"I don't know," Cecelia shrugs. "You're the leader. What do you say?" I nearly miss the subtle sarcasm in her tone. For a moment, I'm offended, but when I look at her, there's no malice in her gaze. I'm just going to assume she's joking because the alternative would cause tension I don't want to deal with so early in the Hunger Games.

"Let's go in," I decide. "But we need to keep an eye out."

Cecelia nods and we both walk toward the entrance slowly. I stay on my toes, ready to flee or fight at the first sign of trouble, but nothing out of the ordinary happens as we enter. After climbing a few stone steps, we reach the main archway. I peer inward, but it's impossible to see anything in the darkness.

"Wow, that's dark," Cecelia whistles.

"Do you still want to enter?" I ask her, slightly unsure. Walking blind isn't something that appeals to me, even if it could help me in the long run. However, Cecelia nods.

"There will be light in there," she states with surprising confidence. When I look surprised, she explains, "the Gamemakers wouldn't have anything exciting be impossible to film. They have night-vision cameras, but they have bad quality and the Capitol will want to have a good view if there's anything in there waiting to kill us. Either it will be safe, or there will be decent lighting at the dangerous part."

"Okay…" I say, still unsure. However, when Cecelia tentatively steps inside, I follow close behind. When I realize she's ahead of me, I speed up a bit until I'm walking next to her. I don't want to look like a coward by hiding behind Cecelia. I hold my sword in front of me, but it's not much use since I can't see a single thing except the doorway from where we just entered.

I wish the Gamemakers gave us new, decent weapons because then the reflection might have provided us with a bit of light. But both of our swords are old and rusted. They work, but there's no light shining off of them. I can't rely on them to brighten my path.

All I can hear is our echoed footsteps and our heavy breathing. One set of footsteps suddenly stops, and I pause, concerned. I'm about to ask why Cecelia stopped when I see a glint of silver. Cecelia holds out her dagger, and I can see a bit of her face. The light from the doorway reflects off of the dagger's shiny surface (it's actually new, despite the swords' age). I silently applaud her thinking. I don't have a dagger I can use, but I didn't manage to think of using one.

Cecelia moves closer to me so I can see the light from the dagger as well, and our path is slightly lit. It only shines enough to light a few feet ahead of us, so we can't see what's coming, but it's better than nothing.

Cecelia and I walk a bit further, then come to a direct stop when the ground suddenly stops. There's a giant hole in the center of the floor that we definitely would have fallen in, had we not had the dagger to see. Thank God for the dagger. At first, I think it's going to be a direct drop down that would kill instantly, but when I look over the edge, I see a pool of water several yards below. It doesn't look like a dangerous drop, but there's no visible way out.

I'm glad we didn't drop.

The hole is only in the center of the hallway. There's about two feet of pathway left on either side which leads to the full path again. Cecelia and I shuffle along the edge carefully, clutching the wall. It's not a super skinny walkway, but the ground is slightly slippery and we can afford to be careful in this situation. My fingers dig into the cracks in the bricks as I slide along. Cecelia is in front of me and reaches the other side first. I stand next to her slightly after.

We walk a few feet before the path sharply curves to the right. We continue following it, but unfortunately, the dagger isn't doing much good anymore. We're so far from the entrance, barely any light is reflecting against the blade of the dagger.

Cecelia pockets her dagger, sighing when she realizes after we make the turn, the dagger is completely useless. I suppose we couldn't depend on it forever. We walk along the corridor, and now there's no light at all. I'm walking slightly ahead of Cecelia, so I'm the first to crash into the wall of vines.

They're not just dangling from the ceiling anymore. Now they've been weaved together to form a tough wall that would be difficult to get through if we didn't have weapons. I easily use my sword to cut a path through the vines. Immediately after breaking them down, my vision is flooded with light.

I blink in surprise. My vision had gotten accustomed to the darkness and the sudden brightness is shocking. I gradually open my eyes, slowly adjusting. When I'm used to light again, I can see that the next corridor, the one behind the wall of vines, is lined with many torches.

"This is the dangerous part, isn't it?" I ask Cecelia. She gulps and nods.

We debate for a moment, then decide to continue through the path. After all, we're armed and can see what we're doing now. I take a few steps forward and shout in shock as two arrows shoot from a small hole in the wall. I leap back at the last second, and the arrows miss me by inches. They embed themselves in the stone wall to my left.

"Be careful," I warn Cecelia. I look down at the ground and see that the foot-wide brick I've stepped on has lowered a few inches into the ground, creating a sizable indent in the floor. "It looks like they're pressure plates," I note. "If we step on them, there's a trap that will likely kill us."

"How are we supposed to get by without stepping on them?" Cecelia asks. I consider this, but after a few moments, it's Cecelia who has an answer. "The Gamemakers probably set it up so some are trapped and others are safe. In order to figure out which are dangerous, and which are not, we can throw things on them."

"Like what?" I ask.

"I don't know," she shrugs. A second later, she groans and smacks her forehead. "Oh! Remember all of those scraps in the Cornucopia that we deemed useless? This was probably their purpose - or one them, at least. We could have used those coins or sandbags to figure out which bricks are safe."

"Huh," I say. Then my face splits into a smile at my small victory. "I was right! Remember? I said that they had to have a purpose, while the rest of you kept wanting to throw them out! Thanks to me, they're still in the Cornucopia." Cecelia frowns.

"Well, that doesn't do us much good now, does it? Besides, Trajan still wasted most of them. He created some stupid game with the sandbags and coins to entertain himself…" her voice trails off. I can't help but feel slightly peeved that Trajan disobeyed my reasonable instructions, but I can't worry about that now. Instead, I slip off my red shoe and throw it at a nearby brick. Nothing happens.

"This one looks safe," I decide, hopping upon it. Cecelia follows. We're now both standing precariously on a brick that's only about a square foot. "Wait," I tell her.

"Sorry."

I toss my shoe at another brick and this one stays firm as well. I leap onto it while Cecelia stays on the other brick, heeding my instructions. I throw my shoe at another brick, and once again, it's safe. As I leap onto the new brick, Cecelia takes my place on the old.

I'm beginning to feel quite lucky. How awesome would it be if we managed to get all the way across without facing any trouble? Immediately after thinking this, however, the brick I've thrown my shoe at sinks a few inches and a space opens on both sides of the walls. Fire shoots out from both side in overwhelming heat, burning exactly where I would have been had I stepped onto that brick. My proximity cause my face to feel the burn, as well. It's nearly painful, and I'm considering hopping back a few bricks, when it stops.

I groan - I doubt I'll be able to grab that shoe again - and I reluctantly remove my other shoe. I toss it onto another brick, and to my dismay, this one sinks as well. I wait for something to shoot out of the walls, but instead, the brick sinks lower into the ground until there's a gaping hole.

Nothing happens for a few seconds, and I get ready to throw something else upon another brick, when a hissing snake launches itself out of the hole. It flies a few feet into the air and lands a few bricks away. I hold my breath as it glides along the brick and looks around. I immediately recognize it as a rattlesnake, and my body freezes. What do I do? If I stay here, it may bite me, but I could get into danger if I step onto another brick.

The rattlesnake sits up and begins looking from Cecelia and I, as if decided which it should attack first.

"Stay still and don't blink," I advise Cecelia through tight lips. She immediately disregards my instructions. When the snake looks in her direction, she runs across the rest of the bricks at a shocking side. "Cecelia!" I shout in alarm, but even though she's stepping on multiple sinking plates, she's going so fast, the traps are missing her. She reaches the other side without harm. The snake launches itself at her, but somehow, it gets caught in a delayed arrow.

One of the bricks Cecelia stepped on was slightly slow and the arrow didn't shoot until now. It's incredible luck that it managed to strike the snake in mid-air and pin it against the wall.

"Wow," I mutter in awe. Cecelia waves me across, and I follow her lead by running across all bricks. The only close calls I get are when I nearly trip, and when another fire trap singing the back of my head. It doesn't hurt, but I smell the unmistakable scent of cooked hair. My nose raises in disgust and I wince. I keep forgetting that's it still broken, and I have to stop moving it.

I reach the ground, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Well, that's one way to cross," I shrug. Cecelia takes one look at my face and bursts into laughter. "What?" I ask.

"Your… eyebrows," she gasps through giggles.

"What about them?" I pat my face, trying to feel what the issue may be.

"The fire must have burnt them off," she explains, beginning to regain her composure. "They're almost completely gone."

I try looking at my reflection in my sword, but the rusted blade is no good. Cecelia offers me her dagger, which I gratefully take. I angle the blade carefully so I can see my face reflected back, and sure enough, my eyebrows have been reduced to extremely short strands of hair that barely count as eyebrows.

"What about the back of my head?" I ask, nervously, remembering the incident as I was running through the hallway. Cecelia moves around so she's behind me. "Well?"

"Yep, your hair's pretty short back here. It almost looks like you have a bald patch."

I reach my hand back and carefully touch the hair on the back of my head. It's short and spiky. Without warning, I burst into laughter. Cecelia joins in. We continue laughing as we walk down the rest of the corridor.

The hallway takes a sharp left, and then the corridor changes into a large, cavernous room. Despite the space, all that's occupying it is a decent-sized statue of a tall man with a mane of curly hair. At his feet is a small pedestal in the center where something red seems to be glowing.

"Should we go see what it is?" I ask.

"I don't know…" Cecelia says. "What if it's a trap?"

As if on cue, a large beast jumps out from a corner and strides toward us, snarling. The jaguar doesn't look friendly.

"Well, there's the trap," I mutter under my breath.

District 8

Linen Baird

"There hasn't been any rain today," Axel notes cheerfully. He's been dreading another downpour ever since he and Hadley returned from the building yesterday, missing shoes and hats. I was immediately pleased with my decision to stay outside because it's not a good idea to go trekking around a jungle with nothing but a pair of thin socks covering your feet.

"I wouldn't depend on the rest of the day being clear," I say. "It will likely rain at least once before the sun goes down."

Axel frowns, but doesn't respond.

I duck under a low-hanging branch as we continue walking. I'm actually leading our trio for once. Hadley and Axel are following me, and Hadley isn't even complaining about the pace. I'm glad he finally came to his senses and realized the ridiculousness of his paranoia. The jungle is so large and dense, the chances of someone finding us is tiny. It seems like all of the other outer District tributes are having equally good luck, because no canons went off yesterday.

So far, my biggest issue has been hygiene. We've had a bit of drinking water (which is almost gone, now) but we haven't come across a water supply. Which means we haven't had the opportunity to bathe. My hair has become extremely greasy and matted, despite my stylist putting it in braids. The humidity and heat have made it so that all three of us are constantly sweating. My skin feels sticky and gross. And the best part of all - I'm covered in small bug bites. Luckily, Axel did the poisonous bugs station in training so he's identified the bites as harmless. However, they still itch and are extremely annoying.

The worst part is the smell. Axel (bless his heart) barely smells at all, but Hadley and I are terrible. I'm pretty bad, but I've completely given up being within five feet of the boy from 9. My desire to take a bath, even in a dirty pond, is what's driving me to hike. Before, I would have preferred to lay down in one place, but now I have a reason to walk. Even if Hadley suggests we settle down, I'll force the boys to continue walking.

"Linen, can we slow down? My feet -"

"No," I demand, cutting off Axel. He frowns and glances down at his socked feet. The socks are covered in holes and I can see several scratches. However, I feel no sympathy. I warned them not to go in the temple. They insisted and came out with nothing but soaked clothes and missing clothes (though, I am slightly envious they got to be submerged in water and wash off a bit of the dirt covering them).

Hadley groans. "Linen, we don't have shoes! Walking all day is incredibly painful and -"

"Then you should hope for a sponsor," I say with a tone of finality. I turn to continue walking, but Hadley immediately grabs my sleeve and yanks me back. "Hey!" I shout indignantly, but he shushes me.

"I think I heard someone." His turquoise eyes dart around nervously, filled with paranoia once again.

"Hadley…" I begin, but he claps his hand around my mouth. I'm about to push him away, but then I hear a branch snap. It sounds like a human walking, and it definitely wasn't Axel. I don't bother hitting Hadley's hand away, even though I wouldn't dare make a noise now. I look around us.

The direction of the sound is difficult to tell, but it seems close. The area we're in right now is very dense, with many tall plants that make it nearly impossible to see past our small circle. Hadley pulls me behind a tree, still covering my mouth. Axel's chest is heaving in terror, though I thankfully can't hear him breathing. Axel is still in the open, but doesn't dare move to join us behind the tree. His wide brown eyes look to Hadley in terror. Why does he suddenly seem so young? Usually, he's so mature, but right now he really seems his age.

SNAP!

The noise is so close, it might as well be on top of us. I suddenly realize that the tree Hadley and I are pressed against seems very climbable, with the low branches and vines hanging down. I look up nervously - at this point, I'm almost sure I'll see the entire Career pack sitting at the top. But when I look up, the tree is clearly unoccupied. I look back at Hadley, who is facing me, and let out a strangled gasp through his hand.

Directly behind Hadley is the tall boy from District 1. He towers over Hadley, who doesn't seem to realize anything is wrong. The boy has a triumphant smile on his face as he raises a spear. Hadley shushes me angrily, still unaware of the Career behind him.

I break out of my paralysis and let out a scream. I break free of Hadley's grip, and on impulse, begin scaling the tree. My blood's pumping and I don't bother worrying about my allies. I hope they're following my lead, but it's not like I'm going to help them out.

The tree is slick with moss, but the vines help me climb. Thankfully, they're quite thick and can support my weight as I yank myself up. I hear the unmistakable sounds of screaming and fighting behind me, and then I hear someone behind me. I glance down nervously, but it's just Axel trying to heave himself up. He's blocking my view of Hadley, but it sounds like he's fighting with the Careers.

What I can see is another Career, this time, the boy from District 4, come running out of the bushes with a spear propped in his hands.

"Hadley, run!" Axel screams shrilly. I look away from the scene and face the top of the tree, resuming my ascent. I'm small, but normally I wouldn't be able to pull myself up as fast. My adrenaline must be kicking in. I stop climbing when I'm a decent height above the ground. I perch on a sturdy branch, clutching to the trunk with one hand. With the other, I slide my dagger out of my belt. Just in case.

I now feel safe enough to look down at the scene below. To my shock, Hadley somehow managed to break away from the Careers and is climbing the tree. Axel is only a few feet below me, but looks to be struggling to pull himself up the last few feet. We're dangerously high - if Axel were to fall, he could die. Best case scenario, he breaks both legs. And then the Careers would kill him anyway.

He's sweating profusely as he yanks himself up a bit more. His small arms are trembling. I can see his sweaty hands start to slide down the vines.

"Help," he chokes as he tightens his grip. I could pull him up the last bit. Or…

Or I could let him fall. I could use my dagger to slice the vines and let both of my allies fall to their dooms. That would give me time to escape…

I snap out of my hesitation, shocked at the fact I'd even considering killing my allies. I've never considered that before, and I never thought I would.

I wouldn't kill Axel, I assure myself. At least, not directly. No, I wouldn't kill him indirectly either.

Chastising myself for the surprisingly dark thoughts, I reach down and clasp my hand around Axel's slick wrist. Holding tightly, I yank him up the last foot or so until he's sitting on the branch next to me. He mutters thanks, and then hugs the tree tightly, looking ready to pass out from fear. Hadley is only slightly below us now and a moment later, he has pulled himself up next to us. To my surprise, the boy from District 1 is also climbing up the vines, though he's not even halfway yet. I thought he would have had enough sense to stay below.

Without hesitation, I use my dagger to cut the vines. His eyes widen in fear when he realizes what I'm doing, then he and the vines drop down a bit.

To my disappointment, he immediately pops back up to his feet, looking unhurt and angry.

His anger scares me a bit, but then I remind myself that he can't hurt us while we're up here. He can't reach us, so they'll probably just leave. I doubt they'd wait us out. There are only two of them, which likely means they won't be willing to stay overnight.

My confidence immediately turns to fear when the District 1 boy's face changes into a triumphant grin. I feel uneasy. He couldn't get up here, I assure myself.

…Right?

The boy reaches into his pocket, and pulls out… a gun. I hear Axel let out a gasp. He can see it as well. The One boy aims the pistol directly at me. Despite the height, I can see the little black hole where the bullet will emerge from. My head swishes back and forth in fear as I look for where I could possibly go. There are no ways back down…

I notice a thick vine hanging midway between our tree and another. I glance back down at Trajan, who looks ready to pull the trigger. Without thinking, I leap for the vine.

My stomach seems to disappear when I'm in midair for a second, with nothing to support me. Luckily, I crash into the vine and my hands grab onto it desperately. I stop falling and swing across the vine. I hear a loud gunshot behind me that startles me so much, I nearly let go. However, I manage to keep my grip on the vine. I swing until I'm right beside a second vine, and I grab onto this one.

I let go of the first vine as I swing along with this one. It carries me to another tree. I grab onto a branch firmly and look behind me. Axel and Hadley are gaping at me in shock, but are snapped out of their gaze when the boy from District 1 shouts something. I can't hear what he says, but shortly after, he runs to my tree, still aiming his gun at me.

I jump to another vine and begin swinging across to a second tree. As I do, the boy from District 1 runs below me. I glance back and see Axel and Hadley also moving across, but at a much slower pace. They are pursued by the boy from District 4 (Lucas? Lucius?)

I should wait for them, so we don't get separated, but I don't have time for that. They're moving too slowly. I think I can outrun the boy from District 1 by myself, and then I'll survive. Even if I'm without Axel and Hadley, I'll be alive. And that's what's most important. Surviving.

I resume my speedy pace. I can feel myself flying through the trees, almost like a monkey. I'm escaping the Careers. I can tell by the lower volume of their voices. I'm also leaving behind Axel and Hadley, but… this is better.

At first, each leap was terrifying, but I'm beginning to enjoy it. I almost feel like I'm flying. I've always wanted to fly. Paired with the excitement of escaping death, it's enjoyable.

I can barely hear anyone else anymore. All I can hear is the whistling of the wind as I whip by. I reach another tree, and don't hesitate before reaching out and grabbing a vine. I swing along, flying again, and grab a second vine. I immediately let go of the other, so all of my weight is on this one.

I immediately feel something wrong. This one is thinner. Before I can contemplate this situation further, I hear a snap, and suddenly I'm falling. I tighten my grip on the vine uselessly, but it's falling as well. There are no vines nearby. I grasp at the air in panic, but the ground races toward me at a terrifying speed. I catch a glimpse of the leafy ground and just have enough time to think, maybe the plants will cushion the fall, before I make contact.

At first, I don't feel anything. The shock is enough to make me feel fine. But then a sharp, impossibly painful ache spreads through my mid-back. Without thinking, I let out a large scream. I try to sit up, but the pain that comes from the effort is almost enough to make me pass out. I collapse back so I'm lying on the ground. I feel tears in my eyes as I try to think of a way out of this, but pain clouds my thoughts.

"Ha, she fell!" I hear someone shout nearby. Panic is now added to the pain - it's unmistakably the District 1 boy. It's now that I try to get up and run away.

I use my arms to pull myself away from where I was, and the pain is incredible. My vision goes white, but I don't give up until I've yanked myself a bit away from where I initially fell. I can see exactly what I hit - apparently, there was a giant rock hidden beneath a leaf directly where my back hit the ground.

I need to ignore the pain and stand up. I convince myself to try and run away, but for the first time, I realize that I can't feel anything below my waist. I sharply inhale in fear at my suspicion. I look down at my body - my back is twisted at a crazy angle, and when I try to move my legs, nothing happens.

The tears fall even faster. I can't do anything. I'm hopeless now.

No! I tell myself. You can hide from them, and then maybe the Capitol can fix you when you win. You just need to hide.

I try to ignore the crazy amount of pain shooting down my body as I pull myself along the jungle floor. If I get under one of those large bushes, maybe the Careers couldn't find me? I don't know where they are, but they haven't reached me yet.

"Look, Marlo, she's trying to crawl away!" the District 1 boy shouts. Based on his volume, he must be directly behind me. However, I refuse to believe this. I can still escape…

The District 1 boy may have been able to sneak on me, but the District 4 boy has no such stealth. I hear him crashing through the jungle and toward me. At this point, I have to face the fact that there are two Careers behind me.

Perhaps they have pity? Maybe they won't hurt an injured thirteen-year-old girl? Everyone has a heart. Trying to ignore the pain in my back, I flip back over so I'm facing them. The District 4 boy is closer, and his expression is clear - pity. However, the tall District 1 boy is towering over me. Grinning. How could he be grinning right now?

I'm a good actress, but I don't need to act right now. All of the tears streaming down my face are 100% genuine.

"Please…" I choke through tears. I focus my pleading on the District 4 boy, who seems much more sympathetic. "Please don't hurt me. Please… I didn't hurt you. I wouldn't. Please don't kill me. P-please, I - I have a family. M-my sisters, and m-my mom and dad. I-I can't die. Please…"

The District 4 boy frowns down, looking sympathetic. I feel a dim flicker of hope, but I can't deny that my chances are abysmal.

"Please…" I repeat, my voice softer now. For a second, I think he's going to help. Then he turns away. The boy from District 1 walks up, still smiling. Why is he still smiling?

I don't have time to beg anymore. I know I've lost. I've lost the Hunger Games. I promised my family I'd come home… and I - I didn't. I broke my promise. As the boy raises his spear above his head, I reach my hand into my jacket pocket. My token is in there. A scrap of silk is in there. Real silk. Magenta gave it to me. She had been so excited to find real silk.

Magenta's tears roll down her face as she stands in front of me. The rest of my family stands by the door, ready to be ushered out. Their time is nearly up. Magenta holds out the scrap of silk and presses it into my hand.

"Please come home," she whispers. I feel my chest ache. I don't want to leave - I don't want to go into the Hunger Games, where I may or may not die. "You have to come home. Promise."

"I promise," I say after a few seconds, pocketing the piece of silk. She bursts into tears and wraps me in a hug which I immediately return. Her bushy hair gets in my face, but I don't mind. I tighten my grip, not wanting to let go.

"Time's up."

The District 1 boy's spear glints. A bit of sun has snuck through the branches where I fell. It nearly blinds me as the reflection goes into my eyes. I take a deep breath, preparing for the impact. My hand tightens on the bit of silk.

I'm sorry I couldn't come home.

The point of the spear comes down in a whoosh.

District 5

Dennis Fielder

BOOM!

A cannon fires for the first time since the Bloodbath. I grin. About time. I was afraid we'd have another day devoid of death. Unfortunately, the cannon also means one less person I can torture…

But I'll have enough. There are still fourteen others left, I'm sure I can find enough to kill or torture.

I resume my walking at a careful place. I've needed to move slowly all morning, because I suspect I'm getting close to my next victim. About three hours ago, I realized there were fresh footprints in the ground. They could only have been left by someone who had traveled along this trail early today.

I can't always follow footprints, which is why I've mostly had to depend on broken shrubby to find where to go. The jungle is so dense, it's impossible to move very far without knocking down several bushes and trampling plants. Fortunately, whoever I'm following left an obvious path to move along.

I have to restrain myself from breaking into a run and simply chasing them down. I know that if I were to do that, I'd be warning them that I'm nearby and they'd just find somewhere to hide. No, I need to be stealthy like a hunter - I can't alert them of my presence until there's nowhere for them to hide.

I tiptoe through the jungle, only stopping when I hear something. I freeze, straining my ears to pick up on more. The rustle of a leaf, a few footsteps, then silence.

They're ahead. They're right ahead.

I can barely conceal my excitement. They must be so close now…

Unable to resist, I speed up my pace a bit to rush toward them. I push away some more leaves, and come to a stop. I've entered a clearing with a large river snaking through. The river is actually quite wide, and I know swimming across it is an unrealistic goal. I glance to my right, and suddenly see a girl crouching on the riverbed. She's refilling her water bottle. I think it's the girl from District 3.

I smile, and retreat back behind a tree. It's not time to kill her yet - I need a plan. I want to savor this death - I wasn't able to savor the death for my District partner. But I'm not going to waste any opportunities now, especially since I have one less person to kill since the cannon fired.

I watch her fill up her water bottle as my head begins running with potential plans.

District 1

Trajan Seth

Lucretius has refused to talk to me ever since I killed the little girl from District 8. He wasn't super chatty before, but now, he's completely ignoring me.

"What's wrong?" I ask him. "Is it the spear? Do you want me to clean it off?" I hold up the spear, which is still coated with the little girl's blood. Lucretius looks away, slightly green. After a second, he nods. "Fine."

I wipe the blood off on the knee of my pants. Lucretius's eyes flicker to it, and then he says, "that's not what I meant. I didn't want to look at it anymore. Just transferring the blood to a more permanent position doesn't do much good."

"So you don't like looking at blood?" I clarify, smirking slightly. Lucretius hesitantly shakes his head. "Why'd you Volunteer for the Hunger Games, then?"

"Winning. Honor. All of that," Lucretius responds, refusing to look at me. He kicks a small pebble and it flies a few feet in front of us. "I Volunteered for what comes after, not the Hunger Games myself."

"Well, if you don't learn to accept seeing death and blood, the 'what comes after for you' will be laying in a wooden box six feet under the earth." Lucretius glares at me, but I don't care. It's the truth, no matter what he says. "Death is part of the Hunger Games. You don't get to pick and choose which parts you want and which you don't. If you want the Victory (which isn't going to happen, from what I've seen so far) then you have to kill. Can you kill, Lucretius?"

He pauses for a few seconds, then says, "yes?" in a voice that makes him sound incredibly unsure.

"Really?" I smirk.

"Yes," he repeats, his voice still quivering.

"Fine. The next time we find someone to kill, I'll let you have the honors," I say. Lucretius looks alarmed. "Even if it's one of the twelve-year-olds - the boy from Six or the girl from Ten. You get to kill them."

"You don't have to do that," Lucretius mutters.

"No, no. It's my pleasure."

"Do you have any empathy," Lucretius barks angrily, finally turning to face me.

Still grinning, I simply say, "Nope."

There's a poll on my profile for your favorite characters for Day 3, so please go vote on that.

What did you think of the death? It's our first death (not including the Bloodbath) and I know they were popular. The eulogy will be next chapter, because I don't want anyone skipping to the bottom to see who died (because I do that as well and I know it usually makes the story less enjoyable).

Please review!

- Lilah