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Kapera Silliah
District Three Female, 17 Years Old

Holding my breath for a few seconds, I build up the strength, waiting for the right moment to strike. The muttation scampers out in front of me, and as I lay down in the grass, it doesn't see me. When it finally darts right in front of me, I release the air in my mouth, shooting it right through the tube of the blow-dart gun.

The dart flies out quicker than I can set my eyes on it. Landing right in the side of the mutt, it drops to the side, a yelp coming out of its mouth. It's nearly the size of a fox, but I don't think it's edible or anything. I wasn't really killing it for food, anyway. It was just for satisfaction.

It was just to distract me from this boredom.

This boredom that makes me think I'm being ungrateful.

To be in the final remaining eight tributes would be to die for. People would kill – literally – to get a spot here. The Careers would be drooling at their mouths to have their own spot in the Final Eight, granted they're still living. Any tribute would, actually. But, I don't feel the same satisfaction from it.

I haven't won yet, so what's there to be proud of?

If you don't win, any attempt you give would just be in vain. Making it to Second Place wouldn't even be impressive; it just shows you aren't good enough. I'm not saying I would have rather died in the Bloodbath, but it's just that I don't feel any pride from making it this far. I still have a far way to go, so I can't let my pride blind my vision just yet.

I'm not even sure I'll win at all.

I came to that conclusion a while. I didn't come into this arena deluding myself into thinking that I would no matter what, but I figured that if I were to die, I were to die. I don't really have much of a say in that, so that shouldn't stop me. Even after I killed Kace I felt the same way. He was just there, so why wouldn't I kill him?

I never wanted to go out of my way to kill anyone. No one deserves it, but that didn't stop me, either. I do want to win, after all. At this point, I have no other choice but to win.

Only seven more tributes.

Just seven more lives to be claimed.

And hopefully I'm not one of those seven.

Getting back on my knees, I place the blow-gun to my side, taking my eyes off of the mutt in front of me. Standing up, I slip the blow-gun around my back, following by the backpack. I look out into the distance, finally getting fed up with the endless plains. The hills that are still rolling, the fog that still covers the whole arena. That's all this arena seems to be.

A few feet ahead of me, where the dead mutt is, it's another flat plain. There are no hills for a bit, and that's where I want to walk over to. Maybe something is over there? Maybe even a piece of treasure with my name written on it.

I take my time to get to it, not wanting the mutt to jump back up and get me. I'm pretty sure I killed it, but I can't be too careful, especially over something like a mutt. Those things are dangerous, and usually, I wouldn't go near one. But, now that there's one of these flat plains involved, I can't help myself.

There's another hill to go down before the flat land, and as I descend down the one side, the ground begins to get mushier. My boot sinks into the ground, water seeping up from it. My boot goes deep down, and with every step, it feels that the ground is trying to swallow my boot. I begin to walk up the upwards part of the hill now, the ground going back to normal. Shrugging, I get over it, finally setting my foot down on the flat land.

The mutt lays there, dead center of the plain.

And when I take my first step towards it, the ground shifts. Starting from the center, it shoots outwards, each piece of it falling downwards. It collapses right into a large hole, and before I can escape from it, I realize I'm falling. Grabbing onto the ledge of the ground that hasn't fell down, I glance downwards, seeing darkness.

It's a black hole.

The mutt is now gone, falling right into the pit of it. It looks endless, just like this arena. I try to squirm my way back up out of the hole, but I can't do it. I don't have the strength and the ground is too moist. Looking behind me, I see that the whole is rather large, the whole plain now gone.

My fingers begin to slip, and as I try to grasp myself down with my fingertips, it doesn't help. I just slip more, and against my will, I slip downwards. There's a twig in the ground that hasn't fell off, and as I grab onto that, I finally being to get nervous. There's no way I can get back up now, the ground being too far away.

I'm stuck here.

There's nowhere to go… Except down.

I look down, seeing that I'm now closer to the black pit. The endless black pit, the one that will swallow me whole if I were to fall down to it. But, what other choice do I have? To sit here for the rest of the Games? My weight will snap the branch soon enough.

I let out a deep breath and close my eyes. I jinxed myself, didn't I? I told myself that I would make it far in the Games, that I might win. Then, I just had to walk over to this plain, the one that's now a huge black hole that wants to eatme alive. There's no one to blame here but myself.

But, I can't help but let out a chuckle. It's a desperate laugh, one that I don't know why I let come out. It's the type of laughter you have when there's nothing else you can do, where you know you messed up. And, in this case, I messed up.

I messed up big time.

But, I don't feel any regrets.

I made the best of this arena, didn't I? I didn't let it get to me.

I was always going to die, anyway, and now I realize it.

All I can do now is let go.

So I do.

Ceres Milani
District Two Female, 18 Years Old

Audric wasn't what I expected.

And he still isn't.

Who would have known that he had it in him? The anger? The passion? The voice? Keeping to myself was always my priority, never openly speaking up against the alliance. It had its flaws, but perhaps I overlooked it. Perhaps I overlooked what Alamar was capable of, what Constance was capable of.

With Carina and Kace, I knew it was coming. They were too reckless, too naïve. Their death was inevitable, and when their faces lit up the sky, I just looked the other way. There was no reason to feel some remorse for their deaths; as if I had anything to do it. Death was always second to volunteering, and it still is.

I volunteered to win.

I didn't volunteer to die.

And I assume Audric has done the same. Ever since we departed from the center of the arena, leaving the weapons and supplies with Alamar and Constance, it's been rather quiet. In a way, I prefer it; Alamar's bickering demands and Constance's docile statements were getting more and more tedious by the day. Audric is quiet enough, rarely opening his mouth unless he has something to say.

Maybe that's why I respect him now. He only opened his mouth when he had to – when Alamar's authority was becoming too overbearing. The only drawback of this split is that now Alamar and Constance have the essentials, leaving Audric and I stranded. We grabbed what we could, both of us feeling the tension. Alamar could have snapped any second, so getting out of there had to be done as soon as possible.

I always knew of Audric's intentions. That he always had his plan to leave the Career alliance when the time came, but I was never too sure when that would be. So, when the argument came to fruition, I knew I was going to Audric. He's determined. He's level-headed. He has self-control.

He's tolerable.

And this makes him a good ally. The rest had always lacked these aspects, always being too arrogant, too narrow-minded, or too careless. Audric isn't like the others.

Yet, I can't help but feel that I'm manipulating him. That I only went with him because I know in the back of my mind that he won't betray me, that he doesn't have it in them. Dismissing these thoughts, I know I went because it wasn't safe with Alamar and Constance. Alamar's untrustworthy, Constance is a follower.

Audric was the safest way to go. The most ideal and conventional, too. I don't sense any hint of betrayal coming from him any time soon, so did I really have any other choice? Going off on my own would be too risky. There's too much ground to cover in this arena and too many tributes to be a loner at this point.

The time will come soon enough for me to be alone.

"We have to find some other food supply," Audric says, hunched over his backpack on the ground. He pulls out a packet of fruit, opening it to see only a few pieces of it in it. Shaking his head, he rolls his eyes. "We should've stayed."

"No," I say, wanting him to see it too. Food and water won't crown you the victor, and neither will be being backstabbed. Starvation might get you killed, but so will betrayal – and, at this point, what route is more preferable?

Neither. That's the answer.

"Why?" He asks, standing up from, bringing the backpack over his back. "We would still have everything we need back at tree."

"Plus a knife in the back," I reply, watching his movements carefully. "Alamar will snap on Constance soon enough. But, before her, he'd go after the two of us. We are the competition, not Constance. Constance is just his lap-dog, having no meaning to him, nor the Games."

"She would have killed us if Alamar told her to," he comments, his voice sounding as if this thought had just come to him. "Even if we stayed, we would be pitted against each other eventually."

"Exactly," I say, nodding my head. "It was inevitable. After Carina and Kace died, Alamar felt no obligation to hold the Career alliance together. His District partner was gone, as was his right-hand man, just leaving his lap-dog."

And that's the truth. It was clear to me, and maybe even Audric, that the two of us served no purpose for him. Audric was never obedient one, and although I did comply with some of his orders, the two of us were never to give him any satisfaction. I only did it to avoid any premature conflicts, but I always figured Alamar would get fed up with Audric. I just had to wait for the right moment to break from that alliance.

All I have to worry about now is coming across Alamar and Constance in the arena.

This time, I don't think they'll feel any moral obligation to not kill either of us. We were allies once, but this is the Hunger Games; it's not a place for petty ties. We broke away from them, so now we're prime targets. I don't doubt Audric's aptitude, even if I haven't seen him do much.

And now thinking about it, he's the only Career who hasn't made a kill.

There's more to a person than a simple kill, though.

Audric waves his hand for me to follow, adjusting the sword in his belt. As I watch him walk, I look him up and down, silently thinking to myself. If I were to trust anyone in this arena, it would be him. Vaguely, but he's the only one that was raised properly back in his District. He parallels me, in a way, but we have our differences.

And that's how this alliance will work.

Even if there are only seven tributes left, we can attempt to stick it out to the end. Then, if it does come down to Audric and I, I can't let him get in the way. I can't feel any moral obligation to give him mercy, either, just like Alamar and Constance won't. He's a contender, an obstacle in the way of my victory.

The victory I trained for.

The victory I volunteered for.

The victory I'm fighting for.

The victory that will soon be mine.

Damaris Ponte
District Nine Female, 18 Years Old

She saved me.

She saved my life.

Why can't I think of her in the same way? Why can't I help but feel that… that she's turning into one of them? Into one of the tributes that the Capitol wants. She's becoming a murderer.

"Damaris, are you ready?"

Turning around slowly, I see that Halley is packing everything up silently and Katcia is looking right at me. Ever since Silas was eaten by the ground yesterday, Halley's been quiet. She isn't as peppy as she used to be, and I guess that's why I'm not up to beat, either. She was my rock. She kept me from thinking about it all.

Thinking about home.

Thinking about the Games.

And now that Silas is gone, this alliance has changed. Katcia nods her head, as do I, and push myself up from the ground. We're still only a few feet away from where Silas died; after that, we didn't know what to do. We just stood there, his hand being the last thing above ground. Then he went down.

Then he was killed.

By what? I don't even know. It was the Capitol.

And even before that, with Evan… That was something else. I don't know what to think about that, either. Katcia could be having her own thoughts now, and even though she said she had to do it, I don't know. Halley seems to be okay with what Katcia did, but me? I'm not sure what to think.

If she killed Evan, would she kill me? Even if he came after us first, what would stop her from killing me? If it came down to it… She would. She definitely would.

"Come on, Damaris."

The two of them begin walking, and I trail behind, not wanting to get too close. I don't think Katcia would betray me at this moment, or even Halley, but we're down to the Final Seven. There are only a few tributes until the victor is crowned, so what would stop her? Friendship? Trust?

Would that even stop me, then? Would I not kill Katcia or Halley because we're allies? Because we're friends?

Letting my weight bring myself down the hill, I walk sluggishly, feeling like I'm just dragging my body along. I'd rather just sit down somewhere, close my eyes, and dream like I've been doing. Dreaming of what life could have been if I was never reaped, if I was still in District Nine. It'd all be different; one of the main things being that I would have never met anyone here.

Katcia. Halley. Silas.

The Games only have had the perk of meeting them. But, I never realized that this is what it would come on down to. I never really thought about any of us dying; sure, I realized it, but I never wanted to accept it. We didn't deserve that, but what would stop death from taking each and every one of us?

That's it if we all die in here.

In front of me, the fog seems to be getting thicker. It's not the same poisonous fog from the tunnels; it's a lighter fog that only obstructs the view. I can still see Katcia and Halley walking ahead of me, and even though I speed up a little, I still don't want to be too close.

I never wanted to get too close. Yet, here I am.

And, before my mind can rattle off any more thoughts, I see through the fog Katcia and Halley stop short. But, when I squint my eyes, I see it… But, what I see is not what I want. Halley is standing there, Katcia staring back at her, her mouth agape.

There's a spear going right through Halley's stomach.

Who could have done that from far away? Only the Careers would be able to.

Halley drops to her knees, Katcia rushing over to her. And just as I take my step to go towards them, a weight comes crashing down behind me, strands of blonde hair flying in front of my face. I try to turn my neck, but before I can, a hand is pressed down against the back of it. My mouth is buried right into the dirt, the grass making my tongue itch a little. I can't see what's going on in front of me anymore, except for the heavy breaths of Halley.

Another one of my allies… gone. Just like that.

And will I be gone too?

No matter what I do to try to get out of her grasp, nothing works. It only strains my body more from struggling, but I can't give up. Halley is out there, as is Katcia; I can't leave the two of them. The girl on top of me presses my down my head harder against the ground, feeling it's about to crush altogether. The pain soars from one side of my head to another, and before I know it, I'm freed. The first thing I see when I turn my head is Katcia, standing there with her knife in her hand and her hair all messed up. On the other side is Constance, and that only means one thing.

The others are nearby too.

Constance is scrambling up from the ground, and as Katcia gives me her hand, I can't help but grab it. Grabbing the hand of my protector once again, the one who saved my life. Evan and now Constance. The fog is getting thicker, and we distance ourselves from Constance who finally gets back up. She grabs her sword, holding it out in front of her, but we know we can't leave.

Except for Halley.

Glancing over at where she is, I see her lying on the ground now. The fog has laid a gray coating over her, only leaving a darkened figure for us too. The spear's lodged in her too, sticking out of her into the air. And when I see the next figure approach from in front of her, Katcia grabs my hand and runs away.

I'm forced to turn around, but I still look over my shoulder, seeing that it's Alamar. But, there's no Audric or Ceres. They can be around here too, can't they? They might be waiting for us to run out of the fog. I see Halley's body one last time, her death being so quick. So unexpected, so quick.

It only took a few seconds for her to die.

I knew we should've stayed where we were. I didn't want to say anything, but if we stayed near the trap where Silas died, Halley might still be alive. I don't want to blame her, but she wanted this. She wanted us to keep moving, to not stay still and wait for a fight to come to us.

Katcia wanted to leave.

And she led us right to Alamar and Constance.

But, I can't blame her. She saved my life.

She saved my life twice.

She's the only reason I'm still alive.

District Three, Kapera Silliah – Placed 8th

District Ten, Halley Carradine – Placed 7th

Author's Note:

Kapera Silliah: With Kapera, I had a lot of fun. She was careless, immature to a point, and wasn't too serious. But, she was capable of killing someone and doing well in the Games. She had it in her, so I enjoyed bringing that out with her. After I showed her backstory and more of her personality, I realized that there wasn't much for her. I figured that now was the best time to kill her off.

Halley Carradine: Surprisingly, I liked her more than I thought I originally would. She was supposed to die a while ago (18th, to be exact), so that says something. She added an interesting dynamic to her alliance, as well as helping bringing out other characters. But, she didn't have it in her to fight or to be alone, so she had to die eventually. She was weak, and truthfully, she survived longer than she should have. She was still a great character, though.

On a side note, I have a poll up asking for who you want to be victor. Only one choice, so choose carefully!

There isn't much to say, so I'll go straight to questions. There are only a few more chapters until the victor is crowned, so who's excited about that?

Only one more person to die until the Final Five. Who do you want it to be?

And a personal question.

If you were in the Hunger Games, would you risk your life for an ally?