Here's a short chapter. Apologies for the long wait. Review and give me your opinion. A little birdie keeps telling me that short chapters sooner are better than long chapters longer. I guess they're right. Here you are:

The careers woke early in the morning to an anticipated bright-and-early sunrise concocted in the first games. It signaled night was done, and a new challenged had arrived. But more so, everyone knew it's real purpose. The sunrise in the games was simultaneous to the sunrise in the Capitol. It was always about the Capitol.

This way, the early birds in the luxury zone would be able to flip on their sunshiny television and have a big bowl of child's death for breakfast. Perfect, wasn't it.

Claire rose bright and early, blinded by the rays cast into her line of view. She blinked twice and glanced around their huddle, in the small clear-out they inhabited for the night. Pacing, she realized her steps were hard to take and her shoes were glued to the ground.

"Oh, there's something sticky," she groaned. Looking down, the blood on the ground was unmistakable, large quantities puddling around her feet. She screamed.

Richie jolted awake and slammed his head into the bark of the tree he rested against.

"Who's fucking watch was it?" Adonia hissed, rushing to the seen, dazed by the morning glow and the eerie presence the scene gifted.

"Hers," Ben pointed, patting her arms. The small bodied blonde with the large hair, now a retched shade of crisp pink, laid with her eyes open and and her mouth bubbling blood as some air escaped her system.

"We got that jackass," Dray intervened, awakened by the arguing and taking in the heavy atmosphere. Attempting to loosen things up, knowing the folks at home were watching, he pulled out a knife, attempting to 'cut the tension'. They could use some cheering up by the sponsors right now.

Claire giggled from across the small area they resided in. She knew she shouldn't be happy in a time like this, especially under the particular day's circumstances, but she just couldn't help it. It was evident in the first place that she hated Aqua, that much was for sure, and she really didn't feel like grieving over a death she wanted to cause in the first place.

Adonia and Ben stood near each other, close to Dray and Claire. The group turned when a muted sniffled escaped Richie's lips. His deep coffee skin was tear stained and he held a knife up to his wrist.

"No!" Adonia shouted, suddenly fearing for someone other than herself. She thought back home to her district, where her family waited for the prize of her returning. The least she could give them was a winner from her district. Richie had to be kept alive, considering he was the male from district one with her.

Wasn't that selfish though? Adonia thinking only of herself? No, she told herself. No, it's for my family. And my district. We can't let all our dignity and pride go.

Hoping to woo some sponsors to whip up a mental stabilizing potion for this kid, she knelt down with an academy award winning speech.

"Richie, I know it's hard, and I know you're tired and hungry. It's rough out here. But all but one of us is going to perish, love." She whispered in his ear, turning him on immensely. "But I hope to God it's you. You and I…nobody can feel the chemistry we have together. If you're going to die, you're hurting me as well. Now do you want to do that?" She bent over slightly, letting him catch glimpse of her body.

The four people behind them starting packing their things. It was customary to clear the ears before the body was evacuated. Not leaving Aqua with any dignity, the boys stripped her of her clothes, loading them in the bag.

"Shame, nice body," Dray joked, trying to get some laughs out of the folks back home. It was hard though, with a naked dead body.

Claire was momentarily disgusted, then realized what an act it was. There was no way anyone could find the bloated body attractive.

Richie responded to Adonia for a second. "You feel for me…too?" He wasn't acting.

Right then she decided he would need to go, and soon. Screw the district. But as of now, she needed him to guard her, to have her back. "Yeah, but let's keep it a secret," she winked, looking back at Dray and rolling her eyes.

*.*.*

A small little boy and his three teenaged sisters in the capitol sat around the gigantic screen in their home, watching the updates as they came along. A strange man in a blue suit narrated and commented on the Games as they played out. "Ye-hess folks! It looks like some drama is unfolding with this group. Will Adonia betray Dray for Richie? Or will she stick to her first true lover?"

The children scoffed.

"Oh God," one of the girls yelled.

"You stupid bitch!" The other threw a marble vase at the screen, cracking the glass.

The third one had a tear down her cheek, as the young boy watched it all play out.

Their powerful father walked in and saw the whole event unfold. "Ladies, calm down. Pricinellina, this is the third T.V. this month! Good, I wanted the new model. Anyhoo, girls, how can I help! I just hate seeing you in pain!" He put a hand over his heart and pretended to faint.

"This group is splitting up! Make it stop daddy!" She cried.

"I'll see what I can do," he retorted, business mode on, and left the building, planning to head to the Games headquarters. Something wasn't right, he could sense it. A lower class district had killed a Career member, and the Capitol needed to set things right.

*.*.*

Unchanged, the group made their way through the forest.

"Who do you think got at her?" Claire questioned.

"This isn't a game you know," Richie told her.

"What, you liked that whining airhead?"

Adonia stopped. The whole group followed her lead. "Claire, you seem very sketchy about this whole incident. You didn't…..oh my GOD!"

"No! No it wasn't me! I swear, I would never!"

Richie swung at her face. "You animal."

"No, stop!" Claire pleaded.

"God, killing your own kind," Dray sneered. Ben laughed behind him, both looking as intimidating as ever.

Ben walked over and put a hand on his newly found lover's shoulder. "Look. Guys. She has motives but no intentions. You have to believe this," he sided with her, going for the Capitol's love, a romance approach.

"I did not," Claire pouted.

"Guys -" Ben's voice boomed as a large cascading ball of fire crashed to their feet.

*.*.*

"This shouldn't happen. That Lettie girl is way out of line."

"No, leave her," the lawyer argued.

"No!" Another Games maker countered. "We have a demographic of very young girls this year. It's the romantic aspects that are hurting us!"

"No, no, no! That [Career] group is what's causing the ratings to drop," the layer argued again. His persuasive techniques won the case. "Now think fast. Sabotage them. Those kids know what we want, and they'll act for us. It's common sense," the man was bold, and his argument passed.

*.*.*

The Careers ran from the flaming balls of fire that fell to their feet. They'd seen these before. They were deadly, and aimed precisely by the game makers…somewhere, for some reason, someone was very angry. And in this case, it was at them.

Dray and Adonia ran hand in hand. Maybe for once, this approach could save them.

Richie ran behind, feeling smug because he knew the 'truth' about her feelings, which was in fact a lie.

Suddenly a flame erupted between them. It angled back on Richie, and he knew he needed help to escape - but it was too late.

"Adonia!" He pleaded. "Please! If you really love me and weren't just using me for the sake of winning the Games, being fake and making your rating go up then save me!" He suddenly realized that epiphany.

Whether she saved him or not, it was pointless. He'd already given her away. "That asshole," she screeched under her breath, bashing him in with a rock and escaping the fire of the moment.

A cannon shot. Richie was dead.

Adonia coughed in the smoke and searched for Dray, who was nowhere to be found.

Meanwhile Dray, Ben, and Claire had met up and were running away.

Adonia was searching for her guy, when a streaming ball of light hit her right arm. The whole thing seared off suddenly. She was terrified, and screamed, pools of blood forming around her. She didn't know if it was her delusional imagination or not, but the fire seemed to diminish as if the Capitol was apologizing for their huge mistake,

"Help!" She cried, but it was useless. She lay there, a wreck in her own blood, trying not to cry out too much in fear that someone she didn't trust would do her in.

Claire and Ben heard the cannon, thinking it was Adonia's when in reality it was Richie's. Dray heard nothing, catching up with them.

The couple looked at each other and frowned. They had decisions to make.