Chimera Ilium

I couldn't stop crying. I didn't know things like this happened in Panem. It was monstrous. It was sickening. Diggory was the sweetest, dearest boy I'd ever met. If he'd only lived, I'd have adopted him myself and I would have loved him forever. I only knew him a few days, but he never left my mind. I loved how he pulled me behind him, eager to know the names for everything. I wanted to be with him on the train again when he tugged on my buttons and my earring. I wanted him back.

How could things like this happen? We were people here, not animals. What that boy did to Granja- it turned my stomach. Why did they do it? We knew they were in charge. They kept Panem together. They didn't have to do this. I watched a boy tear a girl apart and eat the broken bits. I watched a boy who never hurt anyone scream with terror. They didn't have to do that to Diggory.

District Nine

Forty years the Games had been going on. This was the hardest one yet. First there was a boy who never had a childhood. The Games took his adulthood as well. We knew Granja would die, but not like that. Nothing like that had ever happened before. It was a new low, even in Panem. Nobody was going to forget this year.

Theo Kasius

We had one day left. After that, we all knew it was over. We huddled around the keg as Careen exactingly poured the same amount of water into five tin cups. We all examined the contents.

"Everyone all right? They're even?" Careen asked. Nobody protested. Each of us sat by our cup, but no one moved to drink. It was obvious what we were thinking. That much water wouldn't last any of us any decent amount of time. If the others weren't around, there would be more water for the survivors. It was less obvious, but nearly as clear, that we all had the same target in mind.

I didn't want to start a fight with all of us sitting so close together. Anything could happen in such close range. Careen, in particular, would have an advantage with her short knives. I moved slowly as I picked up my cup.

"Here's to us," I said, and I swallowed the water. The fragile peace remained as the others looked at each other and made their decisions. Valerie was about to drink her serving when I fell back onto the ground. A horrible exploding pain burst from my chest and I gasped. Something stopped the air from hitting my lungs, and foam oozed from my mouth.

He knew. He knew all along we were all gunning for him. If he didn't win, nobody was going to. The others clustered around me, but I knew it was too late. I had to hand it to Angelo. He was in it for the long con, and it had worked out perfectly.

Karyssa Evans

"You poisoned it!" I screamed at Angelo. Theo was flopping on his back as white foam smeared across his face. His cannon went off in seconds.

The cannon wasn't even done echoing before the next one was loaded. Valerie stuck her knife through Angelo's ribs before he could even stand. I wasn't going to let an opportunity pass, even in such chaos, and I stabbed her in the back with my sword. I stood over Angelo and berated him as Valerie lay dying.

"You stupid idiot! What were you going to do when we were dead, drink the rest of it? Now you've killed us all!" I yelled. He flashed me a maddening grin and his cannon sounded before I could make him pay. Careen bolted the second before Theo's cannon sounded, grabbed a pack, and ducked behind the Cornucopia to avoid any ranged attacks. I'd have gone after her if I hadn't been so mad at Angelo.

Valerie wasn't dead yet. I thought I couldn't be more surprised, but then she started whimpering. It was a cowardly, whining noise like I'd expect from a weakling from Twelve, not a seasoned Career. She started to cry and I was so dumbfounded I just stared at her for a minute.

"No, please! I don't want to die! Please don't!" she begged. I would have been disgusted if it wasn't so bizarre. The only explanation was that she'd drunk some of the poison and it attacked her brain. I'd kill her quick before she embarrassed herself more.

Angelo Tempest

Any one of them could have walked off with the last of our water if they'd taken a second to think. How stupid did they think I was? I didn't poison the water. I poisoned the cups.

I took out one of them. The rest wouldn't last long without water. Let the meek inherit the Earth.

Valerie Lenn

I was dying. I could feel the blood flooding my lungs. Even if I rallied and took Karyssa down with me, it wouldn't save me. But I didn't want to go that way. I'd lost my chance to save myself. There was still someone else I could save. If Jason saw me bravely getting to my feet and fighting, he'd want to finish what I started. I couldn't let the Games be that for him.

"No, please! I don't want to die! Please don't!" I begged, forcing my voice as shrill and pathetic as it could be. I thrashed and scooted myself back, cowering away from Karyssa's sword. I let my eyes and nose run and gave away every scrap of dignity I had. Karyssa looked at me with more confusion than contempt, but I knew she'd get the job done.

I left no stone unturned. I begged, wailed, whimpered, and let a stain spread across my pants as I dragged out my last few minutes. When Karyssa stabbed me in the throat, I knew she was trying to make it quick. I dragged it out as many last seconds as I could so the camera would hear me gurgling and gasping for breath. I didn't want anyone to look away.

My dignity and honor weren't as important as Jason. Let him hate me and despise me. Let him think the sister he idolized was a sniveling coward. Anything to turn him away from the Games. He'd see our shared dream amounted to nothing but a shrieking girl begging for one more second. The Academy would never let him volunteer after the disgrace I brought the District. For Jason, I would become anathema.

Careen Ellis

I didn't want to get mixed up in that. It's good to win battles, but better to avoid them. When I saw the water was poisoned, I saw I'd already won half the war. All the Careers knew about hunting and fighting, but not all of us knew about surviving. The Hunger Games were about to live up to their name, and it was my time to shine.

Our supplies were sorted in bags that lined the Cornucopia. I didn't need the food. That would run out. Teach a man to fish, he eats forever. I took the bag of survival supplies- the stuff we didn't think we need and tossed in a bag so it wouldn't litter our camp. I ran around the Cornucopia to avoid Karyssa's arrows or spears and ran like a rabbit into the rocks.

Three cannons went off for the battle. I heard Valerie's wails and wondered what I was missing. She was stronger than that. I'd seen candidates break in the Academy, but that wasn't her. Whatever happened, I was sorry that was the way she'd be remembered.

Three cannons meant me and Karyssa. Me, Karyssa, the outliers, and the Arena. And I was the only one prepared to fight them all.

10th place: Theo Kasius- cyanide poisoning by Angelo

Theo was levelheaded and strategic enough to try to quell the tensions so he could escape at a better time. Unfortunately, drinking first meant he was the one who got the poison. Had they all gone together, as Angelo expected, he would have wiped them out in one swoop. Theo was a good, sturdy Career who didn't regret what he did like a lot of Careers I get and yet wasn't so cruel that we couldn't like him at all. Thanks to AturtlenamedConnor. Theo defied pigeonholing and was harder to write and more fulfilling to portray because of it.

9th place: Angelo Tempest- stabbed by Valerie
Really it takes longer to die from a stab wound, but there was no need to make it unnecessarily drawn out. Angelo was a quandary. He was a Career who hated bullies. In the end he resolved it by turning against his own in an act that, had it fully succeeded, would have been legendary. As it was, he caused the death of two Careers and severely lessened Karyssa's chances. I've had this in mind for a long time, and now I finally reached the right point. Thanks PrinceofCorinth for Angelo. He was unique among Careers and I get a lot of repeats in strategy, but I've never had anyone like Angelo.

8th place: Valerie Lenn- Stabbed by Karyssa

I've had this in mind for a long time as well. I'm sure you were all shocked when Val went yellow like that, but now you know it was an act. She loved Jason so much she was willing to be a dog for him. I can't take credit, since this is a very similar storyline to an old movie called Angels with Dirty Faces (which I really like). Valerie went back and forth as the Games went on between heroism and villainy, but in the end she found something Careers almost never do: integrity. Thanks ItsaCatsWorld for Valerie. Panem may not recognize it, but that was one of the noblest and bravest things in Games history.