Greetings everyone!

I'm back from the beach and missing it already

But I'm back and getting into the swing of writing again, which is good news for all of you ;)

Last chapter we followed day one of the games, seeing Ryder and Lisa find a sanctuary in the dangerous arena, and discovering the giant leaves of the trees could supply them with water!

Also, Riker, one of the victors from district one, showed signs of weakness all victors have. Who is Freya? And why does she distress him so? Will Mags learn the truth behind it all?

We'll see… ;)

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Tensions run high

"GET THEM OUT OF THERE!"

The shriek sends jolts down my spine, causing me to bite down a little too hard on my lip. The metallic taste of blood fills my mouth, and terror begins to well up inside of me, as if I'm the one trapped in the arena once again, running for my life.

I hear Dash's voice out in the hall, shouting over everyone else. "El, calm down! It's not their fault!"

I clamp my hands over my ears in an attempt to shut out Eliza's screams, tears welling in my eyes as the tortured sound still reaches my ears.

I can't seem to tear my eyes away from the screen that's reserved for broadcasting the games to everyone, my heart breaking as I see Eliza's tributes being cornered by the careers.

Triss and Yale, fourteen and thirteen years old, they don't stand a chance. Poor Yale is already wounded, his left leg dragging behind him as he struggles to escape the careers cruel grasp.

The minute Trina wounded Yale, Eliza had gone after Tara and Zane, screaming at them to call off their tributes.

Dash, knowing what was coming, had bolted out of the room and made a beeline for Eliza, cutting her off just before she reached Tara.

I close my eyes as Yale's tortured screams mix with the laughs of the careers. They're toying with him, drawing his death out as slowly as they can.

"YOU BASTARDS!" Eliza screeches, her voice raw with fury and pain. "DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL! I WISH I COULD THROW EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU BACK INTO THE ARENA!" Her voice breaks down into sobs, and a ragged scream fills the hall as Yale's cannon sounds.

A few moments later, and it's all over. The second cannon sounds and Eliza's tributes are out of the game.

Her screams have turned to sobs, and the occasional curse. I hear Dash's voice trying to comfort her as he leads her toward the bedroom wing.

I stifle a sob as the hovercrafts come and retrieve the small, bloody bodies of Yale and Triss, their once innocent eyes staring up at the treetops, tears shine in the dead gazes, a silent cry of "why?" in them, one final accusation toward the capitol.

I break down and curl up on the floor, telling myself that at least my tributes are still alive, then hating myself for it, trying to sympathize with Eliza while torturing myself over the fact that a small part of me is glad they're dead because now my tributes have more of a chance.

But what's the point? Even if they do win, is it really worth it? Is any of this worth it? What's the point of living this way? It's all just an endless game now, until we die, we're the capitol's property.

A moment later someone enters the room and lifts me onto the couch.

Kaden quietly sits beside me, one arm wrapped protectively around my shoulders. He doesn't say anything, just sits and lets me cry.

After a little while, I get my tears under control and take a deep breath before wiping my face off.

"Don't feel guilty."

I sniff. "What?"

"About the little part of your brain saying 'at least it wasn't my tributes', everyone thinks that, it's only natural."

"But I feel like a monster for thinking it, like I'm no better than any of them."

Kaden shrugs. "We all want to bring a kid home, the only reason you want your tributes home more is because you know them, the rest of the tributes are just faces and names. Sure we can sympathize with them and grieve their deaths, they are just kids after all, but when you've actually talked to and gotten to know one of the kids…well, they become a real person, more so than the others."

I straighten up and nod. "I suppose you're right."

He smiles ever so slightly. "You tend to be occasionally when you get to be my age."

I roll my eyes. "Again with the age thing? You seriously aren't even that much older than the rest of us."

He shrugs. "True, but I am the oldest of all the victors, Tara's the closest but she's still a few years younger."

"Well oh wise one, any advice you can pass on to this child?"

He gives me a half grin. "I'll tell you what I tell my tributes every year, stay alive."

I nod. "Good advice."

He shrugs again and stands up. "Glad I could help, I'm going to go take over for Dash."

I frown slightly. "With what?"

His eyes turn sad. "Making sure Ellie doesn't kill herself."

I gasp, the breath sucked from my lungs. "Wh-what?"

He shrugs, sliding his hands into his pockets. "Her first year as a mentor was the year Dash won, I found her lying on the floor of her viewing room, the screen featuring the victor was smashed and she used a shard of glass to slit her wrists." He sighs and rubs his forehead before continuing. "Hell, she refused to talk to me for a while after I saved her life. She got better when she met Dash, accepting the fact that at least someone decent one the games. I guess it made her feel like her tribute's sacrifice wasn't for nothing."

"Does…does Dash know?"

Kaden nods. "His first year as victor she tried to off herself again, bunch of pills washed down with a bottle of vodka this time. He found her that time, and since then we've kept her under close supervision during the games. Luckily she's only had one other incident since then."

I'm lost for words, Eliza who looks so strong and composed, trying to kill herself during the games? And not once, but multiple times? It's hard to believe, but I know it's the truth. No matter how put together you appear on the outside, every victor is broken up inside.

"Anyway…I should go and take over watching her for Dash, it's not like I've got tributes to watch anyway."

I nod, and he exits the room.

I turn my attention to my tributes, and see that they're still tucked in their little hiding place, knowing two tributes have died from the cannon fire, but unaware of who or how.

Suddenly, a red light starts blinking and a harsh alarm starts ringing out. I begin to panic, unsure of what it means, but remembering that Dash said something about an alarm going off if our tributes get too close to a hazard.

Could it be another tribute? Or is it something else entirely? A mutt? How could I warn them that they were in immediate danger? They were just talking quietly, completely unaware that their lives were at serious risk.

"What's going on?" Dash is suddenly there, anxiety lining his face as his eyes flicker from one screen to the next, searching for the source of the alarm.

"I don't know what's wrong, it just started going off…what do we do?"

Dash frowns, his eyes fixating on one screen in particular. "Mags…do those trees look funny to you?"

I turn my attention to the screen he's pointing at. "Which trees? They're all a little weird looking."

He taps the on screen image. "These…mainly up near the top, they look almost…" His eyes widen in realization, and his voice is barely a whisper as he finishes. "Withered."

I examine the trees more closely, noting that they did in fact look withered, but still uncertain as to what that meant. "Withered, they are withered…what does that mean?"

He hisses under his breath and scrambles for a sponsor forum. "I've got to get one of them to look outside." He mutters under his breath as he hastily fills out the forum and sends it to the gamemakers.

We wait in tense silence for a few moments.

"What did you send them?"

"Climbing spikes."

I frown. "Why would they need to cli-"

"Shh, look."

I turn my attention back to the screen and see the small parachute float down from the treetops.

Lisa and Ryder poke their heads out of their hiding place, curious and surprised to see the gift parachute catch on a branch a yard or so outside their fort.

"A sponsor gift!" Lisa says excitedly.

Ryder draws his knife and smiles at her excitement. "I'll go check it out, you stay here."

She nods, squirming in anticipation. "Okay, but hurry up!"

He drops to the lower branches and makes his way over to the sponsor gift. He opens it to check that the contents are safe, and frowns as he sees the gift.

"What is it?" Lisa calls to him in as loud a voice as she dares.

Ryder lifts one of the spikes in the air. "It's like a metal spike, the non-sharp end is flat though…"

Lisa tilts her head on the side slightly as she thinks. "My instructor at the obstacle course showed me those, they're climbing spikes, you stick the sharp end into whatever you're climbing and then step on the flat end."

"Why would they send us climbing gear when we've found somewhere safe to…" Ryder trails off.

I dig my fingernails into my palms, willing him to figure it out.

Lisa suddenly sniffs the air. "Hey, Ryder, does the air smell funny to you?"

Ryder's eyes suddenly widen, and he turns to look to his left. "Oh my…Lisa! Grab the packs and run!" He starts to run back to the hideout as quickly as he can, pulling all the climbing spikes out of the canister and stuffing them into his pockets.

Lisa does what he asks without question, and soon she's scrambling out of the hideout with the packs slung over her shoulders. "What's going on?" She asks as he runs up and grabs his pack from her, digging through it before pulling out a rope and answering.

"We need to get to the forest floor…now."

Lisa gasps as Ryder hurriedly ties one end of the rope around her waist, and then fastens the other end to his own waist. "I don't understand, why do we need to go down there?"

Ryder straightens up, the loose rope coiled over one shoulder as he glanced behind them grimly. "Acid rain."