I bounce on the balls of my feet as I stand on the silver circle, waiting to be carried up into the arena. My stylist gives me one more longing look but I tune her out. She isn't my problem anymore. No, now my problem is survival. And not my own survival either. Hers. And his.

I'm not really sure how I ended up one of the rebels. Well, I take that back. I guess I do know. I became a rebel the day I turned sixteen. When President Snow showed up at my house in the Victor's Village in District 4…

My mother announced him. I was upstairs, with Annie. We were talking; just talking. I didn't know why President Snow would have come to see me but I went downstairs anyway. And what happened was something no one could control.

He made me come to the Capitol each year and do whatever he wanted me to do with whomever he had chosen. And if I didn't, he said, Annie would die. I know he made her name come out of the ball the year of her reaping. That was his warning to me. I don't think he cared if she survived or not. It was a warning.

And now another life hangs in the balance and I know that if I succeed on my mission, Annie will be in danger. But I can't shrink back now; I have to carry this out to completion. The rebels must win. I feel the electric current begin coursing through my veins and I know it's almost time for the silver circle to shoot upward and bear me into the Quarter Quell.

Wonder what the arena will be like? A forest? A desert? Somewhere hard and bare, I bet. With none of the things that make it easy for Katniss Everdeen to survive. No edible plants, no easily-accessible rodents to shoot, cook and eat. And twenty-two victors yearning for her death. Well, that's what the Capitol wants anyway. But that's not what they'll get. Sure, Brutus and Enobaria, Cashmere and Gloss, they'll be gunning for Katniss, but they don't know they'll have to go through me. And Mags. Kezzian and Jymizzo. Seeder, Chaff, Cecilia and Woof. They don't know we've made an alliance.

Then I'm shooting upwards and I have to focus. The Cornucopia; that's where I must find Katniss and get her allegiance. I rub the bracelet Haymitch gave me last night. He said he didn't want Katniss to know I have it until it's necessary. Said it would make her trust me. I hope so. She doesn't seem like the trusting type and after the sugar cube thing, I wouldn't be surprised if she tries to skewer me.

Suddenly, the sun is glinting in my eyes and I squint. The patterns of light are instantly familiar to me and I know without a doubt where I am. The sea. It must be the sea. I have just sixty seconds to get adjusted, to find the Cornucopia and prepare myself. Then the gong will sound and time will move faster than ever. My eyes adjust and I look around. There's a victor to my right and a victor to my left. Also to my left is a small spoke of land that stretches out across the water to an island in the middle, upon which sits the Cornucopia. I look right – there's Beetee. He winks at me and jerks his head at the Cornucopia. He's gonna head in. To my left is Seeder. She also nods. Well. At least I'm not next to a victor from 1 or 2.

Then the sixty seconds are up and I rush for the spoke nearest Seeder. She reaches it at the same time I do and we pound up the sandy stretch together.

"8 and I have guard duty here. 1 and 2 are ours. Get out." She spits, her words so low that I can barely hear them and I know the Gamemakers cannot. The waves are too loud. But I know what she means. She and Woof and Cecilia are going to hold the others back while I get Peeta and Katniss away. They have to know that will result in their deaths. But they're going to do it anyway.

"Chaff," she hisses as we near the island and the Cornucopia. "At the end, he'll be watching." Then we're there and she goes left while I go right. I whisper a quiet 'good luck' even though she's out of sight. And then I'm in the weapons pile, looking for that which will help me succeed.

*Seeder's POV*

I snatch two knives from the pile of weapons and circle the Cornucopia. 5, 9 and 10 must die here or at least not get close to the Mockingjay. Woof passes me and I wink at him. There isn't anyone else here at the Cornucopia, not yet. Guess most of the other victors can't swim.

But here they come now. Down the spokes, into the middle. I barely spot Finnick hauling Mags out of the water and then the two of them, along with Katniss and Peeta, race off down a spoke towards the jungle. The Careers are racing after them and I dash around the Cornucopia, hoping to cut them off before they can reach Katniss and Finnick and the others.

I nearly trip over a body. A quick glance shows it is the drunk from District 5. He's dead. No time to think about that now; I have to stop the Careers. I yank a knife from my belt and hurl it at Brutus' back. Somehow, he hears it or senses it or knows it's coming somehow and whirls, raising that ridiculous belt and the knife wedges itself in the belt. Then they're onto the sand beyond the sea, rushing for the jungle where Finnick and his group have disappeared

They won't get far though. Cecilia and Jymizzo are converging on them, holding them up. I hear a noise behind me and turn in time to see the woman from District 10 pulling a knife back by her ear. In that instant, I know it's too late for me.

As the knife lodges itself between my breasts, I see Woof decapitate the woman. My knees give out and I sink to the ground. Woof's lips are moving but all I hear is a weird whooshing noise. All this…to have failed. All this…

* Woof's POV *

I didn't reach her in time. She wasn't from my district but right now, there's not a whole lot I can do for Cecilia either. Besides, she was a rebel. And now she's dead. There's no sense waiting for a cannon blast; there won't be one for Seeder or the woman from Ten that I just killed.

Water sloshes all around me and I spin, slowly, on my old legs. I never intended to win the Quarter Quell. I only hope that my death will mean something to the rebellion.

A quick glance out at the jungle shows the Careers changing paths, running off towards a different part of the jungle than where Katniss went. That's good. But there are bodies on the beach…one looks particularly familiar.

"Cecilia!" I shout. I leap over a long, wooden staff and jerk two long knives from the ground as I land, somewhat unsteadily, on my feet and race down one of the spokes. My feet slip in the sand but I keep my attention on the goal.

Two bodies lie in the sand right there, with one more person kneeling over them. Jymizzo's already dead, that much is obvious, but Cecilia is hanging on. She writhes on the sand, until I kneel and take her hand. Focusing on my eyes, she calms.

"The…Mockingjay…" she whispers.

"I know." Is all I say. I can't give anything away, not now. Not when the Games have begun.

Kezzian places her hand on Jymizzo's forehead, then stands and dashes off towards the trees. She, at least, will fulfill her part in the plan, even if her partner is gone.

"Father…" I hear Cecilia whisper. This, this is the thing no one in these Games knew about us. How interconnected we were. They were never to know. Now the people in the Capitol will be eating this up. My one goal in giving my daughter away at birth those years ago had been to keep her from the Games. It hadn't worked. But I had managed to keep her alive until now. I feel the life leeching from her body and know that it's time to let her go.

"I love you," I whisper and kiss her on the forehead.

A sound behind me alerts me to someone's presence but I don't have time to get up. I only stare at my beautiful daughter and wish…

* Johanna's POV *

My axe barely misses its target. The man from District 9 has shifted out of the way, leaving his knife hanging from the back of Woof's head. I know there is no hope from the old man from District 8. Another rebel dead. The man from 9 is turning towards us and Blight is rushing to meet him, engaging him in hand-to-hand combat.

A quick thrust with Blight's knee into his gut sends him wheezing for breath but he's a victor. He knows how to play. The man throws a punch and I want to jump in and help Blight but I know that I can't leave Nuts and Volts. My job is to protect them. Especially Volts. I must never let him out of my sight. He is the key, even more so than the Mockingjay is at this point. Besides, I know Blight won't die. He won't leave me alone in here.

Sure enough, the fight is over pretty quickly and we are about to head into the jungle when Volts starts jabbering about something.

"What?" I ask. Really, this job is not something I am suited for. Finnick should have had this job. Not me.

"The Cornucopia." He answers and heads for the one of the spokes, Nuts right behind him. I sigh and look to Blight, who jerks his head with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Follow the nutters." I mutter. At least the bloodbath's over, I think. I won't have to worry too much about protecting them.

Blight and I head up the spoke after Nuts and Volts. They've already reached the Cornucopia. Neither I nor Blight says much. We don't really have to. We've been training together for years, since both of us know what the other's been through.

A scream.

A shout.

I don't look at Blight; I just break into the fastest run I can and round the Cornucopia. What I see nearly gives me heart failure. I've already screwed up the plan. If Volts dies because of me, the plan dies because of me. Katniss dies because of me and by extension, Peeta. The rebellion dies because of me. This is why I hate moralizing. And plans. Especially plans involving me.

Blight has his sword out and I have my axe ready as we come around the tail of the Cornucopia to see Volts reeling away, blood streaming from his back. The woman from 9 has Nuts up against the edge of the water. She's waving her knife in Nuts' face. Taunting her.

This time, my axe hits its target. Her head splits open and Nuts screams as the enemy hits the ground.

"Shut up!" I shout. I'm worried about Volts. Honestly, Nuts could kick it and I wouldn't care. But Volts…he's the key.

And now, he's on the ground. Blight is kneeling over him, probing a wicked-looking wound on his back. Nuts is up, moving around in circles, repeating the same phrase over and over.

"Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock." She mutters.

I move over the Blight. "How is he?" I ask.

"He'll live. But this gash is bad. I'll have to carry him." Standing to his feet, Blight puts Volts over his shoulder. I grab Nuts' arm and pull her after me.

"Into the jungle. We gotta go after Katniss and the others. I want my alliance with them." I move towards the jungle, Nuts stumbling along behind me.

"Oh yea. The jungle. That'll be fun," Blight deadpans as he follows.

As long as we survive…all of us…it'll all be okay.

Author's Note: So there's Chapter 2. Next chapter, we'll be back in Finnick's POV, backing up a few minutes to right after Seeder and Finnick split. Hope you liked this chapter! Please review!