Fiona Fierry, D5

Fiona watched from her and Zane's cavern along the beach as lava and ash spewed from the volcano, flowing down the sides and catching a good deal of the forest on fire. She wondered if anyone had still been in the mountains. If so, they were surely dead now.

Zane was out, hidden at the edge of the woods, looking for any sign of oncoming fire or other threats. Fiona hated to admit that at the moment, she was terrified to leave her shelter. She sat, for hours, as the smoke billowed. Finally, as the sun was beginning to set, the smoke, and the fire, suddenly stopped. The gamemakers must have reached the number of deaths they were hoping for. When Zane came back, she was assured that there wasn't a wall of fire heading their way.

"Why would they have done this now? There are still so many tributes left." He said, crawling back into the hole. Fiona just shrugged.

"Maybe the gamemakers have something bigger planned for later on." Fiona's statement frightened her. What could be more devastating than a volcano? She shuddered at the thought of some threat that could prove worse.

Mariposa Dulark, D7

Maria ran as fast as she could away from the mountains. Her arm was sprinkled with small burns from falling debris, and she wished that she'd stuck with Reyes and Mykal. Jansen was gone, killed by another tribute after his leg was pinned to the ground under a fallen rock. She was alone, even with three – well, hopefully three – others from her district still alive. Her only hope would be to find Mykal and Reyes and try to ally with them again. Right now, though, she needed to get as far as she could from the volcano. Night was falling, and she didn't want to accidentally run into another tribute in the darkness.

She could see the edge of the forest, the Cornucopia within view. The trees there were nice and tall, even if they weren't the strongest. She could climb and watch for an ally. She would risk using her knife, though, if an enemy walked by. It would both give her away and leave her defenseless.

Maria found a sturdy looking tree right on the edge of the woods. The strongest branch was one that hung out over the plain, right before the ground sloped down into the cornucopia. The Cornucopia! There had to be weapons, or food or something, down there. She watched the area for about half an hour, before climbing back down her tree and crawling through the tall grass to get downthe hill.

The Careers had looted the place. It was almost entirely empty. A bow was lying on the ground, but there were no quivers of arrows anywhere. A bent sword, a small pack of knives, and a weird rope were the only other weapons. Maria pocketed the knives and rope, and then dug through the bags for food. They'd taken most of it. All she found were two loaves of stale bread, and even then, one had mold on it from exposure. Maria tossed them aside, not wanting to risk her health on the other loaf. She'd have to find food somewhere else. She dug for anything else, particularly medicine for her arm but found nothing.

As she was leaving, Maria tripped over on of the packs, landing flat in the grass. She pulled herself up, but got a good look at the long blades of yellowed grass as she stood. They were thick, and sturdy-enough. They could be woven. She opened up an empty backpack and began to fill it with the grass. Maria would think of something to do with it when she got back to her tree.

Rachel Beta, D7

"Is it finally over?" Rachel asked as Sarah climbed down from the higher branches. She nodded. Rachel was glad that Cicenna had thought to move deeper into the forest. They would have been dead for sure if they'd stayed close to the lake. But now they were out of water, and the only other source they'd seen was the river. Soon they'd have to find it, and Rachel was starting to feel a numbing feeling in her arm. The poison was setting in.

"We should move now, then." She said. The others agreed, and Cicenna helped Rachel climb down from the tree.

"Is your arm feeling better?" Asked Sarah, who hand bandaged it earlier to stop the bleeding. They still hadn't told her about the poison. Maybe Rachel could pass it off as an infection.

"Much better. Can't even feel any pain." It wasn't a lie, but she felt equally as guilt telling Sarah that. They walked in the opposite direction of the volcano, towards the cornucopia, knowing that the river cut through that clearing. Hopefully they wouldn't see anyone along the way.

Veris Sphene, D3

Veris sat and waited with the others from Three as the Capitol anthem played in the sky. He'd seen the volcano blow, and luckily they'd been far enough away to avoid any of its destruction. He watched the faces that play in the sky. First was a girl from One, with black hair. Three tributes from Six. He kept track in his head, and knew those were the last from Six. One boy from Seven. The last was a girl from Nine. Veris was sad over the last face. She looked so much younger than a tribute should. He guessed that she had been twelve or thirteen.

"How many was that? I wasn't keeping count," said Alyssandra. Veris went over the number of faces in his head again, but Aaron answered first.

"Six. That leaves thirty-six of us left." He said.

"It's a huge arena. The gamemakers will want to draw everyone closer. We should have someone on guard at all times now. Not just looking for tributes, but for traps and mutts, too." Veris offered to take the first watch.

"And we'll stay away from the mountains altogether?" asked Tinkra, who had been terrified when the volcano erupted. Veris nodded, and allowed the three of them to get some sleep while he scanned the forest.

Amber Ryan, District Six Mentor

Amber hung her head. Usually she'd only have to face two angry, grieving families when she returned from the Capitol. Now she would have to face Eight. She wanted to leave, right now, to get away from the horror of this quell. But she had a job to do, even with all of her tributes gone. She'd have to speak with the other mentors, and determine how to divide her district's sponsor money. Right now, she was holding a personal hatred for one of the girls from One, but she was friends with the mentors. Well, she was civil with them. She saw the mentors from Seven beside her, frantically flipping through the screens on their computers, looking for something.

Amber remembered that one of the tributes had been injured, and that she was Colin's daughter. He'd been a wreck this whole time, after realizing that one, or both, of his girls would die in these games.

"Vale, Colin? Johanna?" Only Vale looked her way. Colin was too focused on saving his daughter, and Johanna was Johanna.

"I'm sorry, Amber." Said Vale. They were used to this by now, losing their tributes. Amber already had her cry for her tributes, but now she had the chance to save her friend's daughter.

"Take my sponsor money." She saw Colin turn around. This was the miracle he needed. Almost every other mentor in the room turned around, as well, knowing that Amber had a lot to give.

"What about us?" called Mason from Three, who also had an injured tribute. Other mentors shouted their needs.

"All of it?" asked Colin. Amber nodded, transferring her pool to his. He stood up and ran from the room. Trying to find a Gamemaker, probably. Hopefully there was a solution to save his daughter.

Colin Beta, District Seven Mentor

"Nothing? What do you mean nothing? The Capitol has the technology to do anything when it comes to the games!" The three gamemakers in charge of speaking with the mentors simply waited him to finish his question.

"I did not say there was nothing, Mister Beta. I simply said we cannot help you." Colin towered over the woman that spoke to him, and he wanted nothing more right now than to knock the wind out of her.

"This is my daughter, you insensitive assholes!"

"She is a tribute, like any other. We cannot help you because there is already an antidote in the arena. Control your temper, Mister Beta, before we call security to escort you back to your District."

"What cure? Where in the arena?"

"You won't like it."

"It's my Rachel." The woman paused for a moment.

"It's the saliva of the lizards." Colin froze. The mutts were the cure. How was he supposed to get that for Rachel. "I told you that you wouldn't like the answer. Good luck, Mister Beta."

The Fallen

Shine Lumenis, District One. Killed by volcanic debris.

Ilenia Scrall, District Six. Killed by natural disaster.

Jovane Smylithe, District Six. Killed by natural disaster.

Jansen Redwood, District Seven. Stabbed by Luxe.

Amber Stalk, District Nine. Killed by volcanic debris.

Sixty tributes are gone. Thirty-six left to play. What do you think about this chapter? Will Rachel be able to get the cure from her dad? How will Amber face the eight families back in Six. Six is the first district to lose all of its tributes? Was it the district you expected? Don't forget to send sponsor gifts, and root for your favorite tribute(s).

Please Review! I'm glad I had time to get this update in. I'll have another by this weekend.