Cicenna Arlenos, D8

"Rachel?" said Cicenna, as she shook the girl who'd been sleeping in her lap. "Rachel, wake up. We need to move you to another tree." She shook her harder, but Rachel remained limp in her arms. Cicenna realized what had happened in the night. How would she tell Sarah? She tried one last time to wake Rachel, but her eyes remained closed, her chest unmoving. It took all she had not to start crying.

"Cicenna, are we going?" called Sarah, scaling the tree to reach them. "Do you need help ca…" she stopped talking suddenly, catching sight of Rachel, probably. CIcenna helped the girl up onto the branch. She could feel Sarah shaking, but she didn't know what to do. They had to move on, so the hovercraft could take care of the body. She felt water hit her arm, and knew Sarah was crying right now.

"I'll go pack everything. Take a minute, but we need to get going," she said softly, trying to help Sarah in any way she could right now. She gently moved Rachel off of her lap and climbed down from the tree with the whole of their supplies. It was going to be a difficult day.

Tinkra Bram, D3

"Get down!" Hissed Alyssandra. Tinkra ducked behind a rock at the edge of their small cavern, pressing as much as she could manage into the side of the wall. She could hear it, the fight taking place outside. She didn't know who was out there, but it was Veris and Aaron they were dealing with.

"We have to help them," she whispered to Alyssandra, and before the girl could protest, Tinkra had grabbed a spear lying on the ground and peeked her head out of the mouth of the cave. It was two tributes, and by the white-ish color of their shirts, she guessed they were from Ten. Veris was fighting the boy, and Aaron was handling himself well against the girl. Tinkra motioned behind her for Alyssandra to hand over the knife they had in the cave, and when she felt the leather hilt safely grasped in her hand, she let the spear fly.

It dug itself into the boy's chest. Tinkra saw him look down, as if to examine what had happened. Unfortunately, the motion caught Veris off guard, and the girl managed a deadly swipe against his stomach. The boy from Ten and Veris fell together into the grass, and Tnkra caught the eye of the girl. She watched in horror as Ten pulled a small knife from her belt and whip it at her head. Tinkra ducked, missing the blow by just inches. She owed her life the the blow Aaron was able to make from behind. The girl coughed loudly, spraying blood, and fell to the ground, red stiaining her white shirt.

One cannon, and then another. Tinkra saw Aaron run to Veris, who was hanging on by a thread. Everyone knew he would be gone soon. Tinkra knelt down beside him and took him by the hand.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Veris. I shouldn't have thrown the spear. It's my fault." She was crying.

"It's not your fault. I shouldn't have turned away from my fight. And besides, you two managed to take out both of them. Three more down, you guys are that much closer to the end." His breathing was shallow, his words coming out in bursts of forced air. Tinkra gripped his hand until she felt no reciprocating force. Veris' eyes stared above them into space, and Tinkra zipped his jacket up over the gash in his stomach.

"Come on. We need to clear out so they can take the bodies." Aaron took Tinkra back to the cave, and they waited for the hovercraft.

A cannon rang out, and the ship appeared in the sky.

Haelle Windsor, D12

Haelle lifted her head up off of the stone floor. She could hear the distinct sound of voices coming from just outside their shelter. Haden and Evie were both asleep, and she wasn't about to wake them if she didn't have to. From the edge of their burrow, she could make out shapes of people moving through the trees. She heard the clang of metal on metal. They had weapons, whoever they were. There was only two of them, but with all the metal she could hear, it didn't seem wise to try and attack. She backed further into the burrow and waited for them to pass. Unfortunately, the pair decided to set up camp. Right outside the entrance. Haelle was thankful Haden had camouflaged the mouth of the burrow with vines an rocks. She had a good view of the tributes now, and she could see the bronze color of their shirts. District Two. They were Careers.

Haelle quickly woke up Haden and Evie. She motioned for them to be as silent as humanly possible, and pointed at the two Careers sitting outside their hideout. Evie immediately began to tremble, but Haden held her close to him to calm her down. Haelle felt a little hurt by this. The two of them were so close, would they ally against her if it came down to it? She let the thought go and moved back to the edge of the burrow. She wanted to listen to the Careers.

"We'll go to the beach later tonight, look for people there." the boy was saying. Haelle could make out a head of dark hair on him.

"It's been so boring the past few days. The game makers won't be to happy with us, and I don't feel like dealing with any more mutts."

"Less tributes means less action. We're looking. They'll have to make the others show themselves if they don't like the way we're hunting."

"Fine. We'll search the beach. I just want to rest for a bit."

"You rest. I'll keep watch and search the area." Haelle froze. Hopefully he didn't find their cave.

Reyes Keldon, D7

Reyes swing his blade out at the boy from Four. He'd come alone even though there were still others from his district, and Reyes was glad. He wouldn't be able to handle any more. Even with the wound Mykal had made to his left shoulder, the boy was still difficult to fend off. He was so glad Mykal was better now. He'd be dead without her help.

Maybe even with her help. Reyes suddenly felt the worst pain imaginable in his side. He looked down so see the axe Mykal had been using stuck into his abdomen. The Career had redirected her blow and was now running away. Reyes knew he was going into shock. The pain suddenly seemed to cease. He saw the blood, and had a moment to examine the wound before he collapsed to the ground. Mykal tried to catch him, but he pulled her down as well. She was crying.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Reyes, don't leave me." He reached up to touch her face, but pulled his hand back when he noticed the blood. She grabbed his hand and put it back where it was. "I don't care," she said. "It's my fault. I'm so sorry. Don't leave me. You'll be alright. You'll be alright." Reyes could feel itself losing consciousness. He knew what was coming, and gripped Mykal's hand tightly.

"It's not your fault," he choked out, eyes half closed. "You'll be fine. Stay strong. Strong as the trees." He gave her the old saying back in Seven, because he had confidence that she could make it back there alive. "I love you," he said, before it all went dark.

The Fallen

Veris Sphene, District Three. Killed by Valeria

Reyes Keldon, District Seven. Killed (technically) by Mykal. Induced by Ruben.

Valeria Groulx, District Ten. Killed by Aaron

Nolan Hinkley, District Ten. Killed by Tinkra.

Sooo, what did you guys think of this chapter? I had an hour of free time, so I thought, 'why not write a new chapter'. A large number of deaths this chapter. Well, large in proportion to the amount of tributes left. Any idea on who might make it to the grande finale?