Merry Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate). I suspect that by the time I'm posting this, it's no longer the 25th for a lot of you, but I doubt anyone's going to read this on Christmas anyway. This is a pretty action-packed chapter with a LOT of cliffhangers, so… you have been warned. Make sure to vote on the Day 8 poll after reading, as well!

District 2

Glorian Stafford

I woke up very early this morning, and since I was unable to go back to sleep, I decided to go hunting. I'm not sure who was supposed to be on guard duty by the time I woke up, because we were all asleep. Cecelia had the first watch, and I suspect she just didn't bother waking anyone else up when her shift was over. We've started to become more lax about guarding because, at this point, it's unlikely any tributes will try attacking us while we sleep. And we've established enough trust with each other, that we don't have to worry about betrayal, either.

It may be a bad idea to quit guard-duty, but there's only four of us to keep guard now. When there were more people to take shifts, no one had to stay up for very long. But now, any shift takes a big chunk of sleep away.

I'm hoping I can get something for breakfast. Even berries or plants would be nice. It would probably be better, actually, because I don't want to have to build a fire to cook whatever meat I skewer.

I'm scouring the ground, but it's difficult to spot any food in the darkness. Even when I do come across berry patches, it's impossible to tell whether they're edible or not. If I want to know for sure, I'll need to wait until the sun is out. I'm not sure if I'll know even if I can see the berries since I'm not very familiar with plant identification, but perhaps one of the other Careers will.

I take a seat on a log sitting conveniently close to the bush and begin picking off berries. I made the mistake of not bringing any bag with me, but luckily, my pockets are big enough to hold several handfuls of berries. And this bush isn't too far from camp, so if they are edible, we can always return and get more.

I'm starting to feel like I'm the only one taking survival seriously in the alliance. Even before we were dwindled down to four, I felt like the only serious one. I'm the only one thinking about food and taking initiative when it comes to gathering it. Everyone else either wants to sit around doing nothing or hunt for other tributes. Why am I the only one who remembers that this is called the Hunger Games? We don't have the luxury of plentiful food like the Careers in past Games, so we have to give up some of our privileges as Careers - including laziness.

Why don't my allies understand that if everyone contributes and focuses on survival, we could be one of the most unstoppable alliances in these Games? If we were to gather food at a quicker pace, we could then have more time and energy to hunt tributes and take them out until we were the only four remaining. We could breeze by these Games. But instead, they choose to be lazy and leave me the only one searching for food.

It's not like I'm bitter about it. Well, I try not to be. But I can help but feel a bit irritated whenever one of them complains about the lack of food or the fact that we're not out hunting tributes. However, I still have to try my best to bring in food and be productive, even if I'm the only one doing so. I'm the leader of the Careers, so it's my duty to try and provide them with food and water.

When I've filled my pockets with as many berries as possible, the sky is still dark. Instead of heading back so soon, I decide to sit back and relish the solitude. I don't think I've been alone for longer than ten minutes at any point in these Games… so for the past week or so, I haven't gotten to be by myself and collect my thoughts.

The jungle isn't as eerie as I thought it would be. I expected a dense jungle designed specifically to kill us would be pretty spooky, especially when it's dark out, but I don't find that to be the case at all. Maybe I'm just so desperate for solitude I somehow find it acceptable, but it's actually somewhat peaceful and relaxing. The only thing jarring is the crickets and clicking of bugs, which never shut up and drive me insane, but I've begun to learn how to tune them out. While the chirping of insects makes my skin crawl, the consistency of it dilutes the fear a bit.

I'm still shocked we're so close to the Final 10. I'm not sure why, since the Hunger Games certainly haven't gone by fast and I've encountered my share of pain along the way, but I still feel surprised there's so few tributes left. The thought makes me excited, but also a bit uneasy. I know that when the numbers begin to get low, people's loyalties are tested. Especially in the Career pack. Usually, they break up around this point.

I feel pretty confident in our alliance, but I still have a bit of doubt. I feel pretty solid with Noelani and Cecelia, but it's no secret Trajan hasn't been much of a teammate. He's the person I probably trust the least - but, I do think I can trust him. At least enough that I think our alliance will make it to the Final 8 - at least.

The biggest issue is the conflict between Cecelia and Trajan. They're very open about hating each other, and they've come close to physically fighting on multiple occasions. It hasn't come to that yet, but mostly because the rest of us have been able to restrain them and the knowledge that they'd be out of the pack if they killed the other is enough to keep them in line. But as the consequences lessen and the hatred grows, I'm beginning to think that this is an issue in our alliance if we want to go all the way to the finale.

What if I were to return to Cecelia and Trajan fighting? Not only bickering, as they have for over a week now, but full-on trying to kill each other? I chuckle to myself at the thought - how over-the-top would that be?

As if on queue, a shrill scream breaks the peace. I can't tell for sure who it belongs to, but it's female and coming in the direction of the Cornucopia. I leap to my feet, drawing my sword. Even though the sky is barely orange, I suppose it's time for me to head back.

It's fortunate that I didn't settle too far from the clearing, because the moment I burst through the trees, Cecelia and Trajan are about to rip each other to shreds. I don't even have time to appreciate the irony as I rush forward to stop them.

Metal clangs on metal as Cecelia and Trajan clash their weapons, pure rage filling their eyes. Noelani can only watch in terror as they swing at each other. There's no way this is just a friendly spar - they're trying to kill each other.

Cecelia swings her sword at Trajan's neck at an incredible speed, but he responds with the same agility and blocks her attack with his spear. Wasting no time after the contact, he points to spear toward her and lunges forward. Cecelia dive-rolls out of the way just in time, sending a slice toward Trajan's shins before standing back up. Trajan steps back, and aims to strike again -

"Noelani, help me!" I demand, yanking Trajan's spear away just before it enters Cecelia's heart. Trajan shoves into me in an attempt to get it back, but I loop an arm around his waist, locking him in place while I hold the spear just out of his reach. Trajan struggles to break free, likely to attack Cecelia again, but the exhaustion of the fight coupled with his various injuries renders him too weak to escape my grasp.

To my terror, Cecelia lunges at Trajan again with her sword outstretched before Noelani can hold her back, but Noelani manages to grab onto her wrist just in time. I would have expected her to break free, which I'm sure she could have, but the moment Noelani touches her, her rages melts and she lowers the sword. She still sends a murderous glare Trajan's way, but backs up, effectively ending the fight. Trajan limpens in my grip, so I decide it's safe to let him go and release him.

Trajan snatches his spear back, his face red in embarrassment of getting pinned by me, but I could care less about his pride.

"What the hell happened?" I demand, picking my own sword back up. I storm into the Cornucopia, where the other three have gathered. Cecelia and Noelani sit on one side, glaring at Trajan, who leans against the wall on the other.

"Trajan started it," Cecelia spits.

"Do you realize how childish you sound?" Trajan retorts. "Besides, I merely made a suggestion to improve our alliance. You're the one who flipped out and attacked me." I look to Noelani, hoping for a straight response, and to my relief, she gives me one.

"Trajan mentioned that we kick me out of the alliance since he claimed I wasn't helping out much. Cecelia got mad and began to fight him," Noelani explains.

I look from one person to the other, trying to decide what to do next. Why do my allies have to act like children? Why can't they understand that with cooperation and hard work, we can thrive in this arena? If it weren't for their short tempers and petty arguments, we'd be doing so well. And how am I supposed to resolve this conflict? I can't kick either one of them out, especially since it sounds like they're both in the wrong. The best I can do is hope they grow up.

"Let's just eat breakfast," I sigh. "I collected some berries earlier."

I reach into my pockets and bring out handfuls of the berries. I can now see that they're quite large, colored red and reddish-green. I don't recognize them as any of the poisonous berries we were told to look out for, but I could just be forgetting them. Before I can warn everyone that I'm not sure if they're edible, they swarm me and begin grabbing handfuls. Trajan immediately shoves a handful into his mouth.

"Man, I'm starving," he remarks.

"These are poisonous," Cecelia announces, holding one up. Trajan's face turns pale and he immediately begins spitting them out.

"I swallowed some! How poisonous are they? Is it okay if it was only a few?" he begins stuttering in a panicked voice, but pauses when he sees Cecelia and Noelani giggling. He narrows his eyes suspiciously. "Are they actually poisonous?" he asks.

"Nope," Cecelia says, popping one into her mouth.

"They're just blackberries," Noelani informs him.

"But… but they're red," Trajan says, looking baffled. The pair of girls laugh some more and walk off, thanking me for the berries as they do so. Trajan's face turns an even darker red as he looks at the berries he spit out on the ground. He then looks up and glares at me, as if it's my fault. "Why don't you do something about them?" he asks angrily in a hushed voice.

"Because there's nothing I can do." Rolling my eyes at the group's childish behavior, I take my remaining berries and decide to eat them outside of the Cornucopia, where I can be by myself. It won't be as good as the jungle, but at least I don't have to listen to their bickering. And besides, this way I can be there to stop another fight from ensuing. I hope it won't, though - because otherwise, this alliance is doomed.

District 9

Hadley Moreau

One of the most unfortunate things about this ledge - it's super tiny, so it's practically impossible to get any sleep without falling to your doom. It's also slightly slanted, so rolling off isn't out of the question. It's not dangerously slanted, but if we leave a water bottle on its side or something, it will roll straight off. We learned that the hard way, which is why we're down to only one bottle.

Axel and I are stuck in a tough space - climbing up the side seems nearly impossible, and death is likely. One wrong placement, and our picture will be in the sky tonight. We're also extremely low on supplies, since we barely had any to begin with. The only upside is that no tributes can get to us, either. This is like a temporary safe spot… until we start dying of dehydration, that is. Or acid rain falls again. We may be safe from other tributes, but we're still extremely exposed to the elements.

Axel's taking his sleeping shift right now, even though it's pretty bright outside. We decided we should sleep during the day, since someone needs to be awake at all times to make sure the other doesn't fall off. Because of this, we only get to sleep for half of the night each. We don't have much else to do during the day, either, so it just makes sense.

I quickly figured out what a good idea it was when it was Axel's turn to sleep, because, boy, this kid rolls around in his sleep a lot. If it weren't for me holding him place, he would have plummeted off the edge immediately. He thrashes around a lot, so I'm guessing he has nightmares. Occasionally he'll mumble something in his sleep, but it's difficult to make out. I have heard my name, "help", "Mom", and even "Tristana" once. He's not a peaceful sleeper. No wonder he's so open to guarding at night.

Axel rolls over again, but my arm is locked in front of him and blocks him. I gently push him back toward the wall, but hesitate when I notice something. There's a small hole in the wall behind Axel, big enough for a mutt or small animal to crawl out of. It makes me uneasy, so I look for a rock or something to block it. I can't find any rocks, so I position the satchel in front of it, instead. It doesn't block it completely, but reassures my mind.

I let my mind wander for a while, until Axel finally wakes up. He yawns loudly and stretches his back.

"Good morning," I greet him.

"'Morning," he says through another yawn. "Do we have any water left? I'm parched."

"I think so. Check."

I'm still staring in the opposite direction as I hear Axel ruffle through the bag. Suddenly, he disrupts my calm by shrieking, "Snake!"

I jump up on impulse, dangerously close to the edge. Axel tries to back away from the red serpent that slithers out of the hole I was so wary of, but there's not much space for him to go. The snake moves right into the center of the ledge, leaving Axel and I teetering on the edge. I stupidly left my weapons in the bag, since I decided I wouldn't need them on the ledge. So we're both useless right now.

The snake hunches back as it narrows in on Axel. The poor boy gurgles nervously, backing closer to the edge. Not looking where he's going, one of Axel's feet drops into open air. Axel yelps and begins to teeter backward, but I quickly grab his arm and yank him back onto the surface.

Axel breathes a sigh of relief, but it's short lived because the snake chooses this time to strike. It launches itself at Axel, and impulsively, my hand jolts out to grab in in midair. I somehow manage to snatch his neck, stopping it from plunging its fangs into Axel. I'm so surprised by my quick reflexes that I forget I'm holding a live snake in my hand.

Instead of biting Axel, it turns its head and sinks its fangs into my forearm.

"Agh!" I scream, dropping the snake. It dangles from my arm for a second, but I launch it out into the canyon. The snake is gone, but it's a little too late. I can already feel the venom coursing through my veins. The venom burns. I feel my limbs weaken and I collapse onto the small ledge.

"Hadley?" Axel asks in a scared voice, kneeling down beside me. He grabs my shoulders, shaking me. "You're alright, right? You're not going to die?" I try to open my mouth, but my vision goes spotty. Axel's face blurs until I can no longer see his big brown eyes and everything goes dark. "Axel?"

District 7

Vincent Elm

I awake around noon, which isn't good for me. I forget that now that I'm on my own, I have to be carefully and sleep very lightly. But I can't always control how late I sleep. I know that Day 8 isn't going to be very pleasant when I open my eyes and see someone leaning over me.

A haggard-looking man wearing war paint has his face only inches away from mine, studying me curiously. It takes a few seconds for his face to come into focus, but when it does, I yelp and automatically sit up.

Our heads collide with an aching pain. The man leaps back, holding his head, saying a bunch of words I don't understand. Based on the tone, though, I'm guessing they're curse words. I look around me, and notice with horror, that a circle of war-paint-wearing people have gathered around me. Most are armed with crude weapons. They don't look too pleased with me.

One of them points at me and shouts something in a foreign dialect. It must be a command, because everyone else immediately begins to close in on me.

"Whoa!" I shout, jumping to my feet. I unsheath my sword, panicked. I know I can take all of these individuals, but the sheer number is probably too much for me to handle. They caught me by surprise, so now I need to do the same to them.

I charge at a specifically scrawny member, slicing down with my sword. My plan is to cut him down, then break through the circle and run away from the rest. Step One is easy; my sword slices through the guy with ease and he crumples to the ground. I'm beginning to run away when I feel a sharp pain in my leg and I trip. I crash to the ground painfully.

I turn around and see an arrow sticking out of my calf. It's not too bad, but the fall gave the group enough time to get right next to me. I try to run away again, but this time they're prepared. One of them is holding a giant stone, which he smashes into my head.

I don't even have time to think before blacking out.

District 12

Rachel Ivy

Yael just stares blankly at the trees, not noticing when I move past her to grab the box of matches. She doesn't notice when I walk directly in front of her, to the firepit, and begin trying to light a fire. Tristana went out to check the snares for dinner, and it's my role to get a fire started so we can cook whatever she brings back. We didn't bother giving Yael a role.

Yesterday, we woke up and Yael was gone. We had no idea where she went. I would have suspected her to have ditched us, but all of our supplies were still here and Tristana reasoned that if she had the opportunity to ditch us, she would have taken some supplies. Even if she felt guilty, she likely would have taken at least her share. No sane person is going to sneak off into the jungle with nothing but a whip.

We were slightly concerned, even more so when a cannon went off in the afternoon. But shortly after that cannon fired, Yael stumbled back into camp with a broken ankle and a dead look in her eyes. She sat in front of the fire and stared at the flames all night long, not moving at all. I would have thought she was dead if not for the fact she was sitting upright. I have no idea what happened, and the cluelessness is bothering me. I want to know why my ally's acting so strange. Why she's acting all dead and useless…

I glance at Yael again. Tristana's gone, likely for another half hour or so. We have a lot of snares to check, so it's unlikely she finished checking them quickly. No one would know if I just slit Yael's throat right now. I suspect even Yael won't know.

I always promised myself that the moment my allies outlived their usefulness, I'd kill them. Yael seems to fit that description right now - all she does is sit still and stare blankly into nothing. She might as well already be dead. Whatever happened to her, she seems traumatized. Maybe it would be kinder if I just put her out of her misery.

I know I'm kidding with myself. No one will look at me killing Yael as an act of kindness. They will see it as callous and a betrayal. Even when it's everyone for themselves, people still frown upon breaking people's trust. Just look at what happened to Cardea Legis - she didn't even directly kill her ally, and she's still scorned upon throughout Panem. What would people think of me if I slit my ally's throat?

I promised myself that I'd do whatever it took to return home when I was Reaped. I'm not usually such a cruel person - I have a heart. My family can back me up on that. They know I'm a kind girl. But I'm not selfless. And there comes a point when a line is drawn - I need to look out for myself and only myself in the arena because otherwise, I won't survive. I can't worry about morality and loyalty when my life is on the line.

I have reasons to make it back home, and not a single one of those reasons requires Yael Harident to be alive. Even if I'd be breaking the alliance's trust and my promises, it will still help me get home. And home is the only thing that matters to me right now. I am the only person I should be loyal to. I promised myself I'd make it home. And the promise to myself is more important than the promise I made to my alliance.

I strike the match against the side of the box, and the flame catches. It quickly devours the matchstick, so I drop it into the pile of dry sticks I've collected. Fortunately, the flame takes and with moments, the fire is roaring.

Fire is selfish. Fire works only for itself - it has one goal, to grow larger and expand. And it doesn't care who or what it destroys along the way. I need to be the same. I can return to being a good person when I get home, but right now, I can be the monster I need to be. In the Hunger Games, rules change. Morals don't matter. One thing matters - survival. And in order to survive, I need to ignore my heart and listen to my head.

I look up at Yael's face. She hasn't noticed that I started the fire. Her brown eyes are glazed over, and it takes a while before she blinks. Blinking is the only type of movement she has done. My heart doesn't want to kill Yael. But my head assures me that it's necessary to do if I want to get home. And I do want to get home. I just hope Panem won't hate me forever. Maybe they'll understand.

I stand up and walk behind Yael. Her eyes don't follow me. She doesn't know what's about to happen. I draw my dagger from my belt and calmly press the edge of the blade against Yael's neck. My hand's aren't shaking, but there's a battle of emotions inside me. I know this isn't a good thing to do… but I have no choice.

I quickly slide the blade along Yael's throat and feel a gush of warm blood cover my hands. I grimace as it pours out onto my dagger and skin. Yael splutters a bit, choking on her own blood, but quickly slumps down next to the fire.

BOOM!

The cannon is expected. Yael's gone. But I should probably wash my hand before Tristana returns or else she'll know…

Our eyes meet. Tristana is standing on the other end of the fire, gaping at me in shock. There's a dead rabbit in either hand, so I suppose the traps were successful. She's returned sooner than I thought. I stutter for a few seconds, trying to think of an excuse, but I know it's futile. Tristana can see the blood on my hand and dagger, and she likely saw me slice Yael's throat open.

With no possible way Tristana could forgive me, I realize that Yael isn't the only one who's outlived her use. Before she can come to her senses, I leap at Tristana with my dagger poised high.

District 6

Tristana Rockett

Rachel leaps at me with her bloody dagger aimed for my heart. It takes me a second to realize what's happening. Rachel killed Yael, and now she's trying to kill me now. I knew I shouldn't have trusted her!

My momentary pause while I was trying to wrap my head around everything that's happened almost gets me killed. Rachel's dagger is almost in my heart when I finally think to move out of the way.

Rachel still crashes into me, but her dagger misses me, sweeping down in an arc to my left. I grab Rachel's dominant wrist immediately so that she can't stab me. Without hesitation, she uses her left fist to punch at my face. The lack of coordination weakens the hit considerably, but I still feel enough pain in my cheek to let go of Rachel's wrist.

I pull my hand up to my stinging cheek automatically and don't notice Rachel's foot until she sends it into my stomach. The kick knocks the breath out of me and sending me flying into a tree, which makes it even worse. My back hits the tree sharply, and I crumple to the ground in pain.

"Why?" I manage to gasp when I've regained my breath. I open my eyes and see Rachel's black shoes in front of me. She lifts one of them and pushes it into my body, keeping me pinned to the ground.

"It's nothing personal. I just want to survive," she says in a calm tone.

"Don't you have a heart?" I ask. There are tears at the edges of my eyes. I want to believe that it's just from the pain I've encountered in the last minute, but I know that a part of me is very upset over being betrayed by Rachel… even if I had a hunch it would happen.

"Not in the Hunger Games. It's a shame we had to meet under such circumstances, because I did like you, Tristana. But there can only be one Victor, and I intend for that to be me."

"What about the jewel?" I ask her. "We can both survive!"

"They don't win, they survive. And while I want to survive, I need money. My family is broken and the only way I can fix it is if I win. I didn't think it through when I grabbed the jewel. But I need to be a Victor."

I still think her logic is poor, but I keep my mouth shut. I'm not sure I want to win with her, anyway. I look up at Rachel, who stands above me with a solemn but determined look on her face. It's difficult to see her with the sun shining brightly behind her, but I can see her arm raised, preparing to strike the dagger into my heart.

I start to brace myself, but then I realize I'm being stupid. I'm a fighter. I'm not the type of person to lay down and accept death. Even if the odds are stacked against me right now, I know that I'm not dying without fighting back.

I sweep my arm around, knocking Rachel's leg off my body. She tilts for a moment, but I don't give her the chance to regain her balance. I grab onto her leg and yank it, knocking her to the ground.

Rachel's the one with the wind knocked out of her this time. And the wind isn't the only thing knocked out of her… her dagger falls from her hand and goes sliding several feet away from us. Immediately, I see my opportunity. I run toward the dagger and I'm about to snatch it up when my legs get caught on something. I faceplant on the ground, the dagger still several inches from my fingers.

I flip onto my back to see what tripped me, and to my surprise, Rachel is holding onto my legs. She must have grabbed them to stop me from getting to the dagger. I send a kick toward her face, and while she tries to hold my foot back, she can't stop the sole of my boot crunching into her nose.

Rachel lets out a cry and released my legs. I begin crawling toward the dagger again, and this time, I manage to grab ahold of it. More confident now that I'm the one with a weapon, I turn around, ready to use it on Rachel and -

BANG!

I immediately drop the weapon the moment I feel an indescribable sudden pain in my forearm. I look at it in shock and see a penny-sized hole in my arm that's bleeding heavily. I look back at Rachel in shock, and she's holding her gun with a determined look on her face. I completely forgot she had a gun. She aims the gun back at me, and now I move.

I run away from her, trying to stay out of the line of the gun. I duck behind a nearby tree, glad at the size of the tree. It covers me up - at least until Rachel gets closer. My arm is aching badly, but I try to ignore the pain. I dropped the dagger, so I need something to defend myself. Luckily, the jungle floor is littered with rocks of all sizes. I don't have time to be picky, so I pick up the first rock I see - a round one that I can hold with two hands.

I peek around the tree and see Rachel standing on the other side. Her gun is aimed at me and she shoots it again. I barely manage to dodge it. She must have been waiting for me to look for her. I jump around the tree again, this time my rock ready. She tries to fire, but I slam the rock down on the gun and the bullet is sent somewhere in the ground. The gun falls to the ground.

I want to slam my rock into Rachel's head next, but the momentum from hitting the gun doesn't give me the chance to bring it back up before Rachel slams into me. We both fly into the ground, but I absorb most of the impact for Rachel. She no longer has a gun or dagger, so resorts to her last weapon - her hands.

Rachel's fingers wrap around my throat and begin squeezing tightly. However, my hands are still free so I reach them up to my throat and begin attempting to pry Rachel's hands away.

But Rachel is squeezing hard. Her fingers are locked around my esophagus in a steel grip, and no matter how much I claw at her hands, she refuses to let go. Her eyes are wide with concentration and she's biting her lip. I begin to see black dots in my vision, which can't be good. My hands drop lose and I start to grope the ground next to me for anything I can use. My hand closes on another rock just as my vision goes dark.

Will I have the chance to strike Rachel with the rock before I run out of oxygen?

District 6

Axel Woodleigh

BOOM!

Another cannon fires within minutes of the last one. Panicked, my fingers fly to check Hadley's pulse. To my relief, he's still alive. The second cannon wasn't for him either.

I sigh in relief, but it's short-lived. We aren't in a good position. Hadley and I are stuck on this narrow ledge above a canyon, and I have no clue how to get back up; especially now that Hadley's injured.

After getting bitten by the snake, Hadley passed out. The snake is definitely venomous, but I don't know how fast-acting the poison is. He could die any second. I only hope he manages to hold out long enough for a sponsor gift… because at this point, it's our only hope. I doubt I could find an antidote in the jungle, even if I knew what it could be.

But sitting on this ledge definitely doesn't help. The snake that bit Hadley was kicked off the edge, but the hole where it emerged from haunts me. I don't know if any other snakes are in there, and I don't want to stay here long enough to find out. If there are others, it's only a matter of time before they come out and bite me. I need to get out of here.

I look up the side of the canyon. Safety isn't too far above me… only about six feet or so. And there are some good hand-holds… I'm a decent climber, so it's climbing it wouldn't be out of the question. It seems achievable. But the real issue is how to get Hadley up here, because there's no way I'm leaving him down on the ledge.

Could I tie him to a rope and pull him up after I make it up there? I don't know if I'll be strong enough, but the main issue is the lack of rope. The top of the canyon is about ten feet above the ledge, so the lasso won't stretch. And I can't reach the rope from the bridge to cut it, or anything… not from here, at least.

But if I climb up first, cut the rope into something long enough that I could pull up Hadley, then climb back down to attach it to him, it could work. I don't fancy the idea of making the climb multiple times, but I don't have much of a choice. Taking a deep breath, I begin to pull myself up the rocky face of the canyon.

I won't reveal whether Tristana or Rachel was the second cannon yet… I was going to, but decided that it would be more fun to end on a cliffhanger. Well, fun for me. We also have another literal cliffhanger in Axel and Hadley's case.

QUESTIONS:

1. Do you think Rachel or Tristana survived?

2. Who would you rather survive: Rachel or Tristana?

3. Do you think Rachel's a bad person or not?

4. When do you think the Careers will collapse?

5. What will happen to Vincent?

6. Who will be the next to die?

GEM CARRIERS:

Emerald - Axel Woodleigh (D6M)
Ruby - ?
Sapphire - Lennox Porter (D3F)

DAY 1:

24th: Zaira Quentin (D7F)
23rd: Nikola Allegra (D3M)
22nd: Savanna Davison (D9F)
21st: Kade Anderson (D11M)
20th: Macey Aderyn (D5F)
20th: Tracey Aderyn (D5F)
19th: Quinten Fredericus (D12M)
18th: Felix Camacho (D8M)
17th: Buck Hayford (D10M)

DAY 2:

None.

DAY 3:

16th: Linen Baird (D8F)

DAY 4:

15th: Lucretius Marlo (D4M)
14th: Glitter Monique (D5F)

DAY 5:

None.

DAY 6:

13th: Arabella Cantros (D10F)

DAY 7:

12th: Dennis Fielder (D5M)

DAY 8:

11th: Yael Harident (D11F)
10th: Tristana Rocket (D6F) OR Rachel Ivy (D12F)

ALLIANCES:

Cecelia/Trajan/Glorian/Noelani
Axel/Hadley

SOLO:

Lennox
Tristana or Rachel
Vincent

KILL LIST/REMAINING TRIBUTES:

Cecelia Hart (D1F) - 1
Trajan Seth (D1M) - 2
Glorian Stafford (D2M) - 1
Lennox Porter (D3F) - 0
Noelani King (D4F) - 0
Tristana Rockett (D6F) - 1 (possibly)
Axel Woodleigh (D6M) - 0
Vincent Elm (D7M) - 0
Hadley Moreau (D9M) - 1
Rachel Ivy (D12F) - 2 (possibly)

- Lilah