District 5: Dexter Hassleback's POV

Raw.

It can describe two of the things I see before me right now. The hall's once mirror like floors are now drenched in blood despite the lack of cannons going off. The battle has been going on for at least ten minute without a single casualty. The battling must be fierce enough though for the Capitol for they have not interfered. Still, the gift with its shiny packaging and red bow still sits on the table amongst platters of food. That is the second thing, raw food. The Capitol must have thought that was hilarious. Not one tribute has even noticed.

I am laughing with the Capitol though. I feel amongst them at the moment. I have concealed myself behind a pillar and one of the larger plants. I do not want to rush into the battle. Any moment now a cannon will go off and it will not be my body hitting the floor. It isn't worth it…yet. I will just simply observe before making a decision about the feast. There will always be one tomorrow.

I must say, I have learned a lot already. The food for example. Not one tribute has thought to even touch the food. Sure, some might be under the impression it is poisoned and the Careers are much too busy battling it out to take notice to a valuable resource. However, the food looks perfectly edible despite its lack of cooking. I can't imagine it is much less valuable than the gift in the middle of the table everyone is so desperate to grab.

The boy from 1 is desperately fighting off the boy from 10. This battle interests me. I have seen little of the boy from 10 aside from the moment at training when the topic of racism was brought up. The two are evenly matched, but as the boy from 1's ego deflates so does his talent. The scale is teetering in 10's direction. However, the boy from 1 makes one final jab with his sword and hits the other in the thigh hard. I expect the boy from 10 to fall to the ground, but instead he manages to avoid the next blow and make a break for it. 1 knows better than to run after him and goes back to fighting for the gift.

The strangest part of this feast is the lack of 2. Neither the boy nor girl has made an appearance. I wouldn't expect to see the boy. He is smarter than that. The missing girl is the odd part. She seemed to be the type who couldn't resist a good battle for possession. Maybe I underestimated her slightly. However, the feast is still young.

Many others have shown up by now. I see both from 11 trying with all their might to claim the coveted prize. The boy from 6 and my District partner have shown up too. The boy from 9 is fighting the boy from 4 at the moment and his District partner is across the room hashing it out with the boy from 12. 7 is not here though. That is slightly disappointing considering the talent they had shown is previous years. It is more disappointing that 14 is not here. I wanted to see if the pair has any fighting chance. Tomorrow, I suppose.

I check the large clock above the staircase. The battle has been raging for twenty minutes without one death occurring. Blood has been spilled, yes, but not enough it seems. I feel now it is only a matter of time before the Capitol shows up and crashes the party with a mutt or two. How they have waited this long, I don't know.

An ear splitting cannon sounds through-out the hall and the boat rocks fiercely because of it. I lose my balance and fall over. I peer out to see I am not alone. Most of the tributes are on the ground, now covered in others blood besides their own. The ones who have not fallen only managed to stay standing by clutching on to chairs and table edges for dear life.

The next moment is full of confusion and shock. Many of the tributes are twisting their necks back and forth to find the tribute that hasn't risen to look around. Some begin to stand up, but are too disgusted by the blood on their backs to run for the weapons. I believe I am witnessing a rare thing, a moment in the arena where almost all the tributes are in the same room not trying to kill one another.

The Capitol and the Districts must be assuming the next moment will be filled with bloodier battling. They are so wrong. This moment that follows the confusion is one for the history books. And I get to witness every minute of it. The girl is a blur as she rockets across the dining room, passing tributes with ease. She barely slides when she hits blood covered regions. She reaches the table and snatches the present up before all the tributes eyes. She spins on her heels and rushes out of the room faster than it took for all the tributes to fall when the boat rocked.

The Capitol gift just got stolen by the young girl from 3. Isn't that priceless?

District 5: Kat Peters's POV

Who could even begin to register what just happened? Almost all of us tribute just fought what must have been one of the longest feasts in history just to have the gift be stolen by the tiny girl from 3 of all tributes? I can't help, but smile. I know the girl will do better with that gift than any of us would have. It is hard to hate such a little girl anyway. Though, I bet most of the people here are there at the moment.

"Wow," Finn whispers from next to me. "Who would have thought, right?" I nod along with Finn. We are both still on the ground. That is when the whole moment clicks and what will happen next. Suddenly I feel as if everyone is only a few precious feet away from each other and the whole room is covered in sharpened and ready weapons. We are all so vulnerable. But the minute one person gets up and grabs a weapon, this may be become a second bloodbath.

Some of the less tough tributes around us have realized what I have figured out in my mind. Soon, we are going to be sitting ducks. Most are scrambling to get out of the room. Many are succeeding as well. Finn is one of them. He grabs my wrist and pulls me up. He is frantically looking around for something, a weapon. I know we are far too weak without it, but looking for it is making us weak as well. I haven't felt this fearful since…

"Well, it looks like you're pregnant, Miss. Peters," the doctor tells me. I feel my jaw drop, but I can't scream this away. I can't make a single noise to share my feelings anymore. Pregnant. I wish I could pretend I didn't know how this happened, but the memory is forever etched in my mind. I can't scream that away either.

The doctor notes the fact I have not said anything. "Miss. Peters? Are you okay?" I swallow back my tears as I nod. "I know this must be coming as a shock to you. It comes as a shock to most young mothers. There are ways to take care of this if…"

My head immediately shakes at the motion. Just because I can't blame the men who did this to me, doesn't mean I can blame and take this out on my baby. My baby. Just like that, the idea settles in. This will be my baby, not anyone else's. I just hope I can be a mother. Can I be a mother?

"Miss. Peters, you are going to need to schedule some check-ups to make sure the baby is healthy. I would suggest more than the usual since you are so young. Can you afford this?" I nod my head. Whatever it takes, that is what I need to tell myself. "Well, I guess there will be a new baby girl or boy in District 5."

Baby boy. Please, don't let it be a baby boy.

I realize my eyes have been closed this whole time. They shoot open only to find Finn missing. I turn helplessly around to find him, but the next person's eyes I meet is not what I wanted it all. The boy from 1 looks at me with a sly smile and raises his knife.

"Kat!"

…..

Capitol Question of the Day: Would you have gone for the expensive gift or gotten some of the raw food to cook later if you were at the feast?

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-Emma