1. I keep forgetting Zinnia's from Ten because she was originally for Eleven and I forgot to adjust the form.

2. Yeah, Peacekeepers can't have families. I keep forgetting that too.

3. Kerry's has more lines because it's mostly dialogue.

Kerry Selmosa

All the Tributes had to take a basic medical exam, but I seemed to be spending more time with the headshrinker than most of us. He'd been droning on for ages.

"Do you often have difficulty with problems that require a lot of concentration?" the man asked. It was hard to concentrate when he had glittery purple eyes and white hair with gold tips.

"What's that even supposed to mean? Yeah, I don't like sitting in school all day, but nobody does," I said.

"Would you say it's mild, moderate, or severe difficulty?" the man pressed on.

"What's moderate and what's severe?" I asked.

"Moderate means you are able to partake in society without difficulty. Severe means the limitations are major," the man said. It didn't help.

"Uh, moderate then," I said.

"Do you often make careless mistakes?" the man asked. Like I'd tell you. No one wants to sponsor a klutz.

"Just normal, you know?" I said.

"Do you have trouble keeping your attention on tasks?" the man asked.

"If they're boring," I said.

"Do you get impatient when reading instructions?" the man asked.

"I'd rather just get started and figure it out myself," I said.

"Are you an organized person?" the man asked.

"Not really. Actions speak louder than words," I said.

"Do you enjoy mostly active hobbies? Exercising, perhaps?" he asked.

"Yeah, I love that kind of stuff. I like rock climbing," I said.

"Do you often lose things?" the man asked.

"Not my rock climbing stuff, but other than that I'm a scatterbrain," I said.

"Hmm," the man said. He leafed through a book and looked at the notes on his pad. He set the pad down and looked back at me.

"Usually I'd need more time for this, but we don't have much. You have attention deficit disorder. It's not usually a big deal, and obviously it hasn't slowed you down," the doctor said.

"Wait, I'm nuts?" I asked. I had no idea.

"No, you just think differently than most people. You prefer to act instead of wait around, and you get bored easily. If you were staying around I'd suggest medication to help you concentrate in school, but it would take too long to find the right dose and mix before you went into the Games, and you couldn't bring your pills anyway. I'll make a note in your file, and that's all we need to do," he said.

After that, I finally got to go. So apparently I was nuts. Maybe everyone else just spends too much time overthinking things. Like he said, it didn't slow me down.

Hoban Tam

Ventrix and I decided to let Kerry onto our team. He was a man of action, and he wouldn't freeze up when the gong went off. He still wasn't back from his medical exam, and Ventrix and I were training while we waited.

I knew it would be easier to kill someone from far off. That's why I ended up at the archery station. I wasn't very good at it, but I only had to be good enough to scare someone off.

Before long I moved to the survival station. I'd seen enough of the Games to know the greatest danger came from Panem itself: from hunger, or cold, or lack of water. The Careers usually forgot that, though they'd been getting smarter lately. Wilderness survival was our best hope against them.

The survival assistant was happy to see me, like he didn't get many visitors.

"Can you show me how to find water?" I asked.

"You bet," the man said. The first thing he showed me was how to make a solar still. I'd always wondered why so many Cornucopias had sheets of plastic in them. No one ever went for them, but this year would be different. He showed me how to use bags to catch the transpiration from tree branches and which plants had the highest percentage of water in their stems.

"What if there's water, but I don't know if it's pure?" I asked.

"Find the fastest moving water you can. Stagnant water has the most bacteria. People disagree about whether or not to drink undistilled water. It's really a matter of judgment. If you think the Games will be over in less than about a week, go for it. Weigh the short-term gain in strength against the long-term possibility of dysentery and parasites," the man said.

When I was done, I looked over at Ventrix as she trained. She was at the knife station using a dagger. I didn't know if she'd be able to use it, but I had a horrible feeling she might. I didn't think she was going to go crazy and start massacring everyone. I knew her better than that, but I also knew empathy was hard for her. She wasn't evil. She just had a hard time connecting with anyone.

We used to love watching birds back home. I always shuddered when a hawk snatched a songbird out of the air. She used to cheer it on. She didn't thirst for violence. She just looked at it like part of nature. Hawks had to eat, and nature didn't have pity.

I didn't know what would happen in the Arena. Ventrix wouldn't hurt me. I'd trust her with everything. She wouldn't hurt anyone she didn't have to. But I knew she wasn't thinking the same things I was as I reluctantly drew back arrows. I didn't know what I'd see in the Arena, and it scared me.

Ventrix Webb

I knew Hoban like I knew myself. I didn't know anything about Kerry. I saw him and Hoban chatting and laughing as we all trained together. They seemed to have made friends just like that. It was obvious Kerry liked Hoban, but I wasn't sure he felt the same about me. He was polite and included me in the conversation, but he might have been doing it just for Hoban's sake.

I felt agitated all day long, like there was a feeling in me I couldn't identify, like a gnat that flew around my head and buzzed in my ear but never went where I could see it. Later, when I was alone in my room, I had more time to think.

I'd never felt so many things at once. I'd seen the way Hoban looked at me when I was training. He was afraid. What was he afraid of? Afraid he'd lose me, or afraid we'd be the last two left? I often felt cold inside, and it had never been easy for me to connect to people. Hoban was my best friend in the world, but I couldn't imagine dying. I didn't know what I'd do if we were last. I'd seen Games where people sacrificed themselves like it was no big deal. I knew I couldn't do that. I couldn't kill Hoban, but I couldn't die for him either. I hoped he felt the same. I didn't want anyone to die for me. Hoban was better than me in a lot of ways. A lot more people would miss him. He cared about people. He'd make Panem a better place. Me, I'd just live my life.

I hated it when Hoban wasn't happy. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what he was scared of and what else he might be hiding so I wouldn't worry. I paced my room restlessly and kicked the walls in agitation. Should I say something? I might make things worse. People were so complex. I hesitated when it came to intimacy because I didn't know what I was getting into.

There were some things I understood. Humor came easy to me. Jokes wrote themselves for me as fast as I could say them. I knew people liked to laugh and I could tell a real smile from a fake one. I understood anger and I knew when someone was scared. It was the complex things that tripped me up. Things like disdain, altruism, trepidation, and politeness. Words that didn't refer to a spectrum of emotions, but one feeling in particular. I knew Hoban was friends with me, but I didn't know what mix of feelings connected him to me. With other people, I was always afraid I'd upset that balance. It took me a long time to know Hoban wouldn't leave me.

In a few days, I wouldn't be worried about relationships and morality. All my time would be taken up with survival. If we were the last two, I suspected we'd let the Gamemakers sort it out. Either way, I was going to lose my only friend.