*Elvatorix Fox's POV*

The cannons went off, one by one. All of us Careers listened carefully to them – to make sure that everyone we had killed and left where they were, were actually dead.

BOOM. The boy from 1, Colin Shoemaker. He would have joined us as a Career, weakling that he was. But he had been struck down by one of the people from Mazie's alliance.

BOOM. The boy from 3, Nicholas Atom, whom Armondo had killed. I glanced sideways at him. He was running a finger over the patched wound on his upper arm, where Lystra Fay Gull had avenged Nicholas' death by throwing a knife. It had gone deep into the bone, and I wasn't sure we could mend it.

BOOM. They boy from 4, Peter Sumlen. The killing of Peter had allowed Carter James and Salena Flamel to join us Careers. Though they were from 9, and normally wouldn't be allowed to join, Carrie had watched them work together to kill Peter, and had offered them friendship – an alliance they could not refuse. I assumed she had offered the extension to them because the Career pack was so small this year.

BOOM. The girl from 6, Fallen Surk. Though the girl had almost made it to the trees, Carrie had caught her. Despite the girl's screaming and begging, Carrie had finished her off slowly. I could still hear her screams.

BOOM. The boy from 6, Steven Kent. I had finished him off after beating up the homeless orphan from 12, Spade. I sneered slightly. What a silly name.

BOOM. The boy from 8, Tomas Bard. I had finished him off after Steven. Oooh, the scream he had made!

6.

6 were dead.

18 were left to fight.

I grinned and cracked my knuckles.

Then we all piled the supplies in the Cornucopia while the Capitol took away the bodies of the six. After that, we argued for a bit about what we should do yet. After several long moments, we agreed that Salena Flamel would stay and guard the supplies, while Carrie, Armondo, Carter James, and I went to go ahead and hunt down tributes.

We stepped into an ordinary forest, but within moments, we came upon my burnt district. I began screaming insults at the Capitol. I went completely crazy, because I thought that it was my actual district. Eventually, Carrie began screaming at me until I came to my senses and realized that it was a replica. I still screamed insults for a bit, but I stopped eventually.

Once I had calmed down, Carrie addressed all of us Careers.

"All right. We need to start hunting down the others," she sneered "especially Mazie's little alliance. Blech. She makes me sick." We all muttered agreements and Armondo repeated,

"Sick."

"So, who are we going after first?" I asked

"I see you've calmed down," Carrie sneered "And we'll get whoever we can."

"Whoever," Armondo echo, punching his hand.

We all nodded and set off through the trees. We were oddly quiet, staring about the trees. I kept a hand on my many weapons at all times, eyeing Carrie warily. I didn't trust her – Carter James was not a threat – I could take him down easily, and Armondo was a bit of a puppet for Carrie, doing her bidding, and echoing her words. But Carrie was another story. She was quite deadly – she had proved this at the bloodbath at the Cornucopia.

We soon came upon the boy from 10, Satch Collins. Carrie motioned to us, and we spread out through the trees in a big circle, slowly closing in. We sprung him by surprise, cornering him. His eyes were wide, and forehead beaded with sweat. He slowly stood, grabbing a stick and swinging it in front of him as if he planned to fight us with it.

Carrie sneered at him and walked up to him. "You're Satch, right?" she asked

He gulped and nodded. Carrie smiled cruely again and raised her sword, shouting to the sky, "I want this down as my kill!" She brought her sword down, and Satch stumbled back, sticking his stick out. Carrie's sword chopped it neatly in half.

Satch stared at it a moment, and gulped, backing up right into Armondo, who growled and brought his sword up.

"No!" Carrie yelled at him, eyes wide and nostrils flaring. "My kill!" Armondo nodded slightly, averted his eyes, and backed up so that Carrie could get to Satch.

Sneering, Carrie picked up a stick like the one Satch had held, and mimed him swinging it in a cruel manner. Armondo caught on after a few moments, and began howling in laughter. Carter looked uncomfortable, and was averting his eyes. However, I narrowed my eyes at Carrie.

"Just do it, Carrie," I said in a low, deadly voice "We don't have time for this."

Carrie glared at me a moment, but knew better than to cross me. Instead, she returned her attention to Satch. She mimed him again for a moment, before suddenly striking with the stick, sweeping it under his feet. Satch fell to his back with a grunt, and, within a moment, found Carrie's sword above his neck.

"And that," Carrie sneered "is how you use the stick."

Satch's gulp was evident as he wriggled on the ground. "Listen," his voice was wobbly. "let's talk sense. I never wanted to cross you – I didn't join Mazie's alliance, did I?"

Armondo looked thoroughly confused, but Carrie just continued sneering. "Yes, but you didn't join us. That, my dear, dear friend, Satch, was your mistake."

"Well," he gulped again. "maybe we can right that mistake."

Carrie's eyes narrowed. "Are you suggesting an alliance with us?" she let out a barking laugh "You want to join the Careers?" Armondo joined her, laughing. When Carrie quit, abruptly, Armondo continued. She gave him a sharp look and he stopped.

"No, Satch, I think I have to refuse you offer," Carrie said icily.

"But we can cooperate, right?" Satch sounded desperate.

Carrie laughed once more. "Oh, Satch, you have been a joy to kill. But, as you might notice if you didn't have a brain the size of a pea," Armondo laughed loudly at this point, but stopped at another sharp look from Carrie "you might notice that you are in no place to be bargaining." And with that, she brought the sword down.

The cannon was immediate.

"Well," I muttered "took you long enough."

Carrie must've heard because she shot me a hard look. "And you," she said, advancing with her sword. I didn't back down from her, only narrowing my eyes slightly. Carrie put her sword in front of my neck the way she had Satch. "Will never cross me again. You hear me?"

I glared at her a moment until it was clear she was not backing down. Then I smiled at her, and, not answering her question, said, "Oh, Carrie, we're all friends here." She heard the unspoken challenge in my voice, and nodded sharply, turning her back on me to face Carter James and Armondo.

"Let's go," she said gruffly to them, leading the way into the forest. For a moment I considered not following her, but I'd already pushed my buttons far enough for a day. Ruefully, I followed.

We came by the burnt District 12. I clenched my fists slightly, angry with the Capitol for doing this, as we walked through it. The sun was setting when we came upon the ghostly District 11.

"Aha," Carrie said suddenly, as we gazed upon it. She pointed to moving figures in the streets. I peered closer, and a twinge of surprise took me.

"Mazie's alliance," I realized.

"Yes," Carrie grinned "just asking for ambush."

"Ambush," Armondo agreed.

"And," I peered closer "what on Earth is that ridiculous thing they're all wearing on their arms? Bandage?"

Carrie shrugged. "I can't see why it matters." Then she turned to us and smiled wickedly. "They'll have to split up eventually," she said "and when they do, we'll be ready."

"Ready." Armondo echoed.

*Tanner's POV*

That night, Lystra stayed close to me. We held hands, never letting go. I was happier than you could ever imagine.

We all established who was sleeping in what house, and put the sleeping bag in the center of the road. It would be for one of the two people on guard. The other would walk a circle around the houses we were using in the square. We would alternate shifts ever two hours.

When a cannon went off, we all shivered. We knew the Career pack had tracked down someone. They were on the move. We might be next.

We picked through our food bags. We hadn't eaten lunch, by common consent that we shouldn't waste the food. Also, none of us were really hungry, thinking of the ruined districts and the deaths of Nicholas, Peter, Steven, and Tomas. Truthfully, I don't think any of us were then, but we all forced ourselves to eat a small piece of bread, and another small piece of dried meat. I wished that we had water to wash it down, but we had failed to find any yet.

As I lounged against a house after eating, Lystra at my side, I commented,

"Too bad the fields weren't included in this replica." I eyed apples in a stall "Do you think they're safe to eat?"

Lystra shuddered. "Wouldn't count on it. It all seems so . . . wrong here."

I gave her a hug. "Don't worry. We'll be out of it tomorrow at dawn." She nodded, drifting off to one of the houses the girls were staying in.

"Goodnight, Tanner," she said.

"Goodnight," I told her, gazing at her retreating form. I sighed slightly, happy that she had finally chosen me. It seemed a bit odd – finding love in the arena, but I was sure the Capitol crowd was eating it up. It might even have gotten me and Lystra sponsers.

But my mind quickly flicked to the audience at home. How would they feel about this little romance – and even more importantly, seeing us in our ghostly, ruined district? I shuddered at the thought. It was weird to think about the thriving District 11, and then . . . this one.

And then there was the other problem : water. We hadn't seen any since we entered the arena. I knew we would need it soon, least we die from dehydration. I gazed down the lines of houses, to where the fields should be. There was a network of streams in the fields, but, of course, the fields were not included in this ghostly replica.

I shuddered, and wondered if there was any district with a river in it. I wasn't sure. As for a river outside of the district, was there one? I hadn't seen one in our travels yet – of that, I was sure. I gritted my teeth slightly and moved into the house – the misty, fake, stupid replica of my house – that Spade, Julius, and I were sharing. I sighed slightly as I walked into my room. If I ignored the mist that was on the floor, I could be home. I understood Lystra's reaction more than ever now.

I sat on my bed a long moment, thinking of the games and everything else, and trying to convince myself that, outside of these walls, dangerously close, was a Career pack that wanted to kill me. But the thought was so disturbing and unbelievable, I pushed it aside and lay down.

In the comfort of my own bed, despite the unusual chill from the mist, I was quickly asleep.