Hey readers! I had a busy weekend ut still wanted to post this before his fridays! I also updated the past two chapters as well to clerify some details, so feel ree to re-read them if you so wish.

-Miche

Chapter 12: DAY 1, Bloodbath

The bright light of the artificial sun hit my face as the platform slowly rose. It was humid and warm, much like my home in the middle of summer. It took me less than two seconds to adjust enough to study my surroundings, but when I did I found something more terrifying than what I expected.

An island. The land we would fight on was a confining island. Surrounded by salt water and only accessible by the beach which stood about 100 yards from the arc all of our platforms made. The cornucopia stood about 50 yards inland on the beach, and was packed with supplies to survive. There were twelve stands about twenty feet behind that with extra dry cloths that would help us survive in the island overnight. Surely it would be freezing at night if you were drenched in ocean water. A smoking volcano stood in the middle of it all. Looking at it, I had no idea as to when, where, or how it erupted.

We were over water. Our platforms stretched along a thin arc of a sand reef, but in front and behind us was all water, the closest to the beach being almost completely transparent. This was District four's home territory, and that gave me hope in surviving.

I took a look at the tributes which made the arc. I knew all there names and personalities. I knew which would die and which would probably make it through the first day.

From left to right, I was in the middle, it went Zyre, Rose, Titan, Paisley, Lockwood, Terri, Timber, Starle, Orion, Coal, Barley, me, Diamonde, Palmer, Victoria, Sheah, Ginger, Lyant, Maple, Solar, Cassi, Pann, Willow, and finally Grey. All twenty four of us ready to kill. Everyone glanced around as we stood. The clock above the cornucopia was counting down to our destruction.

60, 59, 58…

I watched Zyre and Diamonde's silent conversation with the other careers and knew who they planned on killing. They gave me and Solar orders to just hold the cornucopia while they scared everyone else off and kill if necessary. I didn't want to.

Ginger nodded in Grey's direction to Zyre and Diamonde. He shook his head and then looked at me smirking. "You're safe." He mouthed, but motioned his head to Grey's position next and shook it.

My heart stopped. I started breathing heavy. I didn't care if I was safe. Grey mattered the most and he couldn't just leave me with these people to kill me.

42, 41, 40…

Rose was terrified and looked at me. Much like the others I had befriended. I didn't dare give them a hint to leave me behind. That would only spark suspicion with the other careers that I was against them. Barley was crying and scared, Coal was determined, Palmer didn't look like he knew what to do, and everyone else was stoic and deadly.

Grey locked eyes with me. Every good memory with him came to the surface when I looked in his darkened eyes. He looked scared for me by my expression. It told him he wasn't safe from Zyre and the others. He had to run. Run faster than ever to just live. He nodded his chin to the others and I shook my head ever so slightly. I felt tears slipping past my cheeks, burning my eyes.

20, 19, 18, 17…

Only a few seconds remained until all hell would break loose. Most of the time I just used the training I learned to kill fish or other sea creatures. Finnick had me working on dummied and sparing non lethally with him, but now I'd be put to the test on actual people. People with lives, hopes, plans for their future, and maybe even someone they loved at home waiting for them, but knowing they won't return alive. I would be forced to kill, again.

There were some weapons and bags of supplies scattered around the cornucopia but not as much as right in it. And that's when I saw it.

A trident. Three prongs, it was a trident!

It will be in my favor if I can get to it without being killed first. I can do this. I just need to get to that trident.

5

I took my stance.

4

Any second

3

Would Grey make it?

2

"Breathe…" said a voice in my head.

1

The gong went off and I dove into the water. The adrenaline pumped through my veins making me the fastest swimmer. I saw others trying to swim but not making too far or just barely making it through the waves.

Barley struggled. He was right next to me, so I swam up.

"Please don't kill me! Please!" he pleaded, fighting the current.

"I'll help you to shore, but then you need to run!" he nodded and let me swim with him to shore before a few others joined us. I heard a scream from Rose and then a canon, glancing to see that Zyre had kept his promise and killed her first, snapping her neck. "Shit, no..."

I ran to the trident, before running and getting the clothing pack provided for us at the stands. Three more cannons, followed by a fourth, went off as I ran and I saw again who it was. Victoria was killed by Zyre after he found a sickle sword to decapitate her with, Paisley died by sword on Diamonde's hands, Palmer was shot in the head by Coal with an arrow, Timber killed Cassi by snapping her neck only to be killed with a rock Terri found on the beach.

BOOM.

Five.

All the tributes that weren't careers, and not dead, grabbed their packs before disappearing in the woods that met the beach fifty feet behind the stands.

I saw Grey running to the same post as me. He didn't have a weapon and I did. Starle was close by as was Titan and Maple. Starle looked to challenged me but scurried off, and before I could think of them, Maple had vanished with Titan, their packs taken with them. It looked like Pann had left with Coal, and Sheah made it just as I grabbed mine.

Grey watched me for a second or two, wanting to protect me and save me. He held me one last time, the closest he's ever held me, but I quickly pushed him away and yelled at him.

"GO! They'll kill you!" he eyed my trident, but saw something past my shoulder, striking fear in his eyes.

"BARLEY!" he yelled, encouraging him to move faster. They must've formed an alliance when I wasn't around.

"RAIN!" barley screamed behind me. I turned and saw him running from Orion, who had a terrifyingly large axe in his right hand. "RA-A-IN-!" I aimed my spear, ready to kill Orion and save little Barley, when the worst happened.

Just as Barley was about to take my hand, I heard a grotesque stab (much like when Grey and I would cut open fish), and he fell in front of me. An axe lodged deep in between his shoulder blades. His expression was in shock as it hit the sand, blood enveloping him like a blanket from the wound. I watched him reach for me, choking on something which turned out to be red.

"No!" I shouted and fell to my knees at his head, cradling it in my lap as he took his last few breaths. I held his hand, rubbing it lightly, and watched his eyes as they began to fade. His body was twitching in pain, his voice choking sobs of pain out, and his glasses dirtied and crooked on his face.

"Shh shh shh…. It's okay. It's okay." I whispered, feeling his little hand weaken.

"Th…" I leaned closer. "Th-thank-k…" he managed. I looked at him and saw his eyes turn dark. Barley's body relaxed entirely before a canon made me jump. He was dead.

I willed myself not to cry, but two tears slipped down. They were quickly wiped away when Orion made his way over. He removed the axe from Barley's back and raised it as if he would kill me. My trident was just out of reach in the sand next to me.

'This is it.' I thought of April watching this, Mom and Dad on edge, Saxon ready to riot in the streets, and Troy at home trying not to care too much, but failing. Luck was on my side.

"DUCK!" Zyre yelled, running over here. He threw a sword at Orion, who dodged it, and we watched him run into the forest. When Zyre made it to me, he helped me up, pulling me to stand rather close to him. I grabbed my trident three feet away and stood watching them. "So that's your weapon then?" I nodded. "Alright, cool. I always preferred swords and knives." He said cleaning the blood from his sickle sword in the sand.

"Was he your friend?" Solar asked seeing me look at Barley.

"No, I barely knew him."

"Then why did you hold him like that?"

"He reminded me of my sister. I- I… just couldn't leave him like that." Tears threatened once more, but I fought them back. The attractive boy then tried to console me with a hug, but I wouldn't let anyone touch me, especially him. I pushed him away with a shrug and tip of my trident.

"Hey, hey, hey! I'm just trying to help, Rainy." He held his hand on my shoulder and neck with his hands, and I thought briefly of Finnick when he'd train me. That had been his way of praising me for a good job. We didn't hug much after I kissed him accidentally, so this had been his sign of appraisal toward me.

"I don't need your help." I smiled.

"Why not? Its not like you're afraid of me, right?" he looked sincere, but I knew it was just a mask. I might as well put my own on for show, at least until I figure out how to get away from them.

I kept my trident in my grip, but agreed to hug him tightly. It was nice to have someone care even if it was for show. I did need that much to keep going.

"Thank you." I mumbled, walking away from him to grab my pack.

"Okay everyone! Let's get all the materials together and take a little inventory of what we have." Zyre took charge and everyone played a part in bringing supplies together near the cornucopia. We had about a month or more supply of food and water, four tents, six sleeping bags, and all of our packs in order.

In them were a set of dry clothes: a white long sleeve shirt with thin black stripes on our bicep and wrist areas, the number of stripes for our district number. We had jackets with a specific colour that represented our district, mine being a dark teal green. The jackets were surprisingly very warm already, lined inside with what looked like faux thin and light, synthetic fur. The inner material must have been a wool or heat transmitting material. Black pants with white stripes along the sides were made of similar material to our suits, but again, were very warm feeling and thick. The materials were light weight for all our clothing, but I could tell everyone else knew they were warm when they needed to be. Our underwear and shoes were integrated in our suits before the games began..

There was a sure supply of weaponry which wouldn't be used but was there to entice the other tributes to grabbing. Each of us had a weapon. Zyre had his sickle sword, Diamonde had a broad sword, Ginger had a knife belt with eight different blades at her fingertips, Lockwood had a machete, and Solar had dual swords that swung around his back. A few weapons were missing and I hoped that Grey was able to get one.

"What are we going to do about our little friends?" Ginger asked tilting Paisleys head to the side with her foot. We -okay they- had lined up the bodies half way on the sand and in the water.

"Push them out to sea and hope that they don't sink before the shuttles get 'em." Lockwood noted, speaking for Zyre. It was obvious that physically, Lock would beat Zyre, but Zyre had more agility and smarts in his favor.

Everyone agreed and sent off a body. I picked Barley because I owed him that for helping him die peacefully. I cleaned his glasses, and fixed his hair nice before sliding him into the salty ocean water. Each one of the bodies floated out towards the platforms we jumped from, leaving a trail of blood in the water. That would bring in sharks, or whatever game makers had in mind, so I hoped they would be picked up soon.

As it became darker, I noticed that it became colder and colder as the sun went down. I even had to put my coat on by the time it was almost set.

We set up our tents around the front of the cornucopia, facing the forest, and built a fire in the center to cook any food with. I saw the problem with our sleeping arrangements as there were five sleeping bags and six of us total. Same with the tents. It would be two people per tent.

"So what are we doing for sleeping arrangements?" I asked once we all settled down to eat dinner. The group looked around at each other before someone spoke up.

"Well it's obvious that Ging and I will sleep in the same tent."

"Yeah, we'll share one of the sleeping bags too, so no one else is left out." She smirked and nudged him. Lockwood spoke next.

"Diamonde and I will share a tent-"

She interrupted. "-Rain, you can share with whoever, and you get your own sleeping bag." I looked at the remaining people as she tossed a bag to me: Okay, so just Solar... not very good tent-mates to choose from.

"Guess I'm sharing with you?" Solar offered. "I know you'll protect me." He smiled.

"Okay, just stay in your own sleeping bag." I teased, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"Yes ma'am." He raised his hands in defense and we all laughed. It's sometimes easy to forget that these people are human sometimes.

"Is it snowing?" Ginger started, looking around. To my horror and wonder, it was.

I'd seen snow before, and when it would snow back home around the winter months, we would pay on the snowy beach and walk over the ocean that looked like glass when frozen. I loved the crunch under my boots, and the beautiful crystals the ice would create from the frost overnight. This snow was different. it wasn't resembling the formation of normal snow, but was artificially made. I could tell from the way they looked for they were just frozen shavings, not the delicate, floral, crystallized individuals.

From the lighting of the fire we had, all of us took noticed of the fact some of the snow was a gray colour. I looked to the volcano and saw it glowing red hot and orange. It erupted on the north side of the island, judging from where the sun had set, and remained only on that side.

"Ooh, ooh! The tributes are up!" Zyre pointed at the sky watching the capital logo flashed before the faces of those who died flashed overhead. As we watched they would cheer when their victim came up, claiming them. When Barley came up, his young face, Solar reached out and held my hand. I let him in fear that if I didn't, he'd kill me in my sleep.

They vanished for the last time in the sky.

"Good day! I'm beat though. Bed?" we all agreed we'd sleep soon. The sun had set quicker than it did in four, in half an hour not a full hour. Ginger teased Zyre before they both jumped into their tent.

The fire went out and the rest of us followed their lead in going to bed now. I went in my tent after changing cloths completely into my warmer wear, the snow beating down pretty badly, and found Solar quickly next to me in his own sleeping bag, thankfully. I could still sense he wished to be closer, but I wouldn't let that happen.

Through the wind, we both heard Diamonde and Lockwood in the tent next to ours. I kept my back to him as he set up his bed and lay his weapons next to himself.

"I never really liked the games. I mostly pretended so my parents wouldn't get mad at me and I knew that if I didn't volunteer this year that my mom would punish me again." Diamonde spoke.

"Is that why you volunteered before any names were called?"

"Me and Zyre. I grew up with him and never knew he had a vicious side. I guess we all do deep down." That sounded rehearsed. Both their responses. Their whole conversation. All for show.

"Are you still awake, Rain?" Solar whispered to me.

"No."

"Then I won't tell you a secret." Okay I was curious, so I rolled to my side, seeing meeting his eyes.

"What secret?"

"Okay, so when we were gathering materials and other junk we probably won't need, Ginger spotted a tribute pack in the woods about half a mile in. We found it to be used recently and figured it was a tributes who was still alive. The next morning we're planning on ambushing them by having Ging play stupid and act like she is running from us, like we turned on her. Then when she gets him alone, she'll make him feel like he needs to protect her, and when we come out of the bushes ready to kill him, she'll kill him instead. He won't see it coming." That was brutal. "Great plan, huh?"

"Yeah. Who's the tribute?"

"The boy from six."

"Titan?"

"Yeah, I think. Do you know all the tributes names?"

"Unfortunately, I remember them all." He rolled on his back and looked up at the see-through-roof of our tent. The stars were out, or should I say artificial stars.

"Do you'll make it out if I don't first?" Solar smiled.

"I hope I have a chance." I lied

"Why?"

"Because I know my sister is waiting for me back home, and Finnick is counting on me to win it for the district. He was the most recent Victor in four."

"Do you love him or something?"

"Do I love him?"

"Yeah, with all the stuff they're saying about you too on the news and broadcasts of the games, is any of it true?"

"In a way as friends I do love him, but just before we went into the arena, he basically told me that he was saying goodbye. Like he was giving up on it, knowing I may actually die. If I am going to make it, I hope it doesn't change anything between us."

"That's sad." He reached out his arm as if to invite me to snuggle up. I resisted at first knowing that no one could hold me like that, but I gave in. He was too mysterious to be the enemy of. "You're welcome with us here at camp."

I didn't sleep much…