District One's Jenriko "Jen" Florence's POV

As we walked down the corridors again I couldn't help but think about everything that had been thrown at me in such a short period of time.

My neck had been sliced open, one of my good allies had been killed, and I had just recently been kissed by a girl, and I couldn't tell if I liked it or not. But that didn't matter, I kept on telling myself that as we walked. What mattered was that we were going to continue on like we had this entire time. We were going to continue to play this game and everything would work out in the end.

Everything would work out in the end. Just because there had been one set back didn't mean that everything was going to end badly. After all, lots of bad things happened, but people were able to go on, continue on with their lives. Just like what we had done when Jeremiah had been killed, and when Dylan had betrayed us. Despite those two things happening to us, we had been able to continue on.

We were going to do the same, even if it was just Tanner and I together against the rest of this artificial world.

As Terry used to joke: 'It's you and me against the world. We attack at dawn.'

Right now, it was literally that, just replace Terry with Tanner and replace training dummies with real people that want to kill you, and vola, you have a you and me against the world situation for real.

A real, dangerous, life threatening you and me against the world situation that could slit your throat at any moment.

It'll be fine though, because just like the training dummies I had trained with back home, I'd beat any of them in my way. Stick a knife into their chest like I had been trained to do, or snap their neck like I had with Daria, I'd win against them. Just like I had won so many times before.

Sure real people moved and thinked, but I'd still be able to beat them.

Timber had been no problem, even if I had been with Dylan at the time. But I had easily countered his attack, on my own, before I had thrown him to the ground before Dylan simply finished the District Seven male. I could have easily done the same if I felt like it, or if Dylan hadn't been the one to kill him first.

Then there was Daria, whose neck I had easily broken. It had been so easy that if I hadn't just woken up it would of been almost effortless. It had been easy to run up to her, grab her with my legs, and smash her head onto the ground. I had killed her within a span of a few seconds of awakening.

But even though it was easy, it wasn't satisfying. Back home, when I was training with either my mom, my dad, or Terry, I would challenge them to see who could get the highest 'kill' count. If I won, I'd be really happy that I was able to beat them, even if they said that they were holding back. They would of been proud of me. I would of been proud of me.

But right now, I didn't feel like celebrating, didn't feel any pride, I didn't even feel like saying anything. For some reason, I just wanted to forget about it. Forget about those deaths and move on, because nothing good would come out of thinking about Adrian's decapitated head and those two dead District Twelve tributes behind us.

It wouldn't make the situation unhappen, and it wouldn't prevent us from getting attacked, and it wouldn't help us in anyway. It was best if I just forgot it.

I had to forget about Adrian, I had failed to protect him, but I could still protect Tanner from whatever threat was coming towards us. After all, with me by Tanner's side, there was no way that he...She, was going to be in danger.

I turned to the side to look at Tanner, only to see that he...She, wasn't around me anymore.

What the hell? Wasn't she just here a second ago?

I looked around to see if she was just behind me or something, only to see that she wasn't anywhere in sight. Where had she gone? I knew that she had just been with me a second ago. It's not like she could just disappear into thin air.

"Tanner?" I asked the empty room, hoping that she would answer. I got no response. "Tanner?" I called out, only to hear nothing again. Strange.

I walked back and looked in the open rooms that were near me, and if the doors weren't open, I'd open them and see if my ally was in there. Maybe she had found something and just hadn't told me. Maybe she was in one of the rooms crying.

I didn't hear my name being called though, and I didn't hear any sobs occur. What was going on?

Five rooms later, I still wasn't any closer to finding her. "Very funny Tanner!" I called out, finally exposing her for what she did. "Hide and seek! I'd love to play your game, but I'm not in the mood!"

Again, no answer. I opened another door, and saw nobody in the room. I closed the door, not wanting to play hide and seek with her right now. This wasn't the time for stupid, childish games, didn't she know that? Why she was playing a game like that at a time like this I didn't know. All I knew right now was that she had better come out, because it wasn't funny, or a good idea right now. "Come on out Tanner!" I shouted, not finding it funny anymore. "I don't want to do this! Come on out!" Tanner didn't say anything. In fact, it felt as if I was the only person around, and that was kind of scary.

My thoughts went to Tanner. She meant a lot to me, she was kind of my friend, and I cared for her, just like how I cared for the rest of the career pack except for Trim, who we were planning on betraying, so I didn't get too close to him. Tanner, Adrian, Dylan, Jeremiah, Selene, and Victory, were different stories. As different, or similar, we all were, we were like a group of friends in my opinion. So why had all of this happened. Accusation. Betrayal. Paranoia among each other. Attempted murder. Splitting from the career pack because of incidents that had happened.

Why? Why had all that happened? Friends acting like enemies so much that we tried to kill each other. It started with Jeremiah's death, and then just seemed to spiral out of control. All that happened, leading up to where we were now, with Tanner all alone out there. Somewhere.

I didn't want anything to happen to her, something like what had happened to her and Adrian not too long ago. If I hadn't woken up, would she of even survived being attacked by Daria and Zeal? I feared for her safety, I wanted to protect her, and right now, I was doing a lousy job if she wasn't messing around with me. I really, really, really hoped that she was just messing with me, but something told me that something far worse was happening.

I didn't want to believe it, but I felt sick to my core. "Tanner!" I shouted angrily. "Get out here! Right now!" Stop messing with me! It's not funny!

It was at that moment that the world went pitch black. The lights had gone out, eclipsing the world in darkness. I felt even more fear occur in my body as I thought of being trapped in darkness, alone, while my friend was probably out in the arena somewhere, alone, and in danger. I didn't want another Adrian. Please. Please be joking around. "TAAAANNNNNNNEEEEEERRRRR!" I shouted as the familiar red emergency lights came back on, blighting up the halls in its eerily dim lights.

No response expect for my own voice in the background, and the light hum of the lights.

This was bad and I knew it.

I started to run and search for Tanner, hoping that nothing too serious had happened to her. Please God, if something is happening to her, please make me be on time.

District Ten's Tanner Hart's POV

Jen had been so lost in thought, something that I had never seen her in before. She never seemed to think, so this was an odd sight. She was always the one that talked and skipped and acted happy go lucky. None of that was seen on this new Jen. What's more odd about her though, was that her smile was gone now, wiped completely from her face.

Back in the Capitol, back in the beginning on the games, she was almost always smiling. The only time she broke that face was when Adrian had lied about that cunt licker, Selene, betraying us. It had been a shock to me then, and it had been a shock to me now.

Jen, ever since she had gotten her throat cut open, was a different person. I don't know what about that cut had caused her to change so suddenly, but I hoped that it was for the better. Because right now, I don't think that I'm going to see her become who she will become. I saw change in Adrian, and I changed myself, so I guess it wasn't too much to say that Jen would change. The two of us changed, why wouldn't she?

She wasn't acting like a little girl, at least, not at much from what I could see. She seemed to take things more seriously as she wasn't joking around. That air of confidence that seemed to radiate around her like an overpowered light seemed to of faded. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was for the better. Though, I could be wrong, I was never the smartest person around.

As I looked up at my attacker, I thought of how utterly stupid it was that I hadn't gotten Jen to come with me so that we could team up and maybe kill this person together. But that would of gone against my plan. Besides, my friends had always said that I acted before I thought.

My plan wasn't to get Jen to fight this person with me. No. It was to lead the person that was stalking us away from her. Jen was quiet, and as long as she stayed quiet, the person that was stalking us wouldn't know the difference between one quiet person or two. At least, that's what I hoped.

I took a gamble, and without thinking, I lead that person away from Jen, into an isolated part of the arena where we could fight one on one.

I should of thought it through, because now I was dying, and it hurt a lot.

I kept on attacking, and attacking, and attacking, until I had nothing to attack with. My legs were broken, my arms were broken, and I couldn't move. I guess I was too injured to move. My guts and sides and face also hurt. A lot. And let's not even get started on what my attacker had done to my teeth and nose and right eye.

It's funny, my mind said that I could keep on going, keep on fighting, but my body said otherwise.

Fuck. I hated when this happened. Get into fights and think you can keep on going, but in reality, you really can't. My friends always told me that I overestimate my body, and while I can take a lot of punishment, there was a limit to what I could do. My body was past that limit now.

Now that I think about it, I think my ribs might be broken, I could feel my ribs grinding against ribs. And I beside the pain in my chest, I felt warmth boiling inside of me.

I had fought with all my might, but it still wasn't enough. But still, I had helped my friend escape death, so that was okay, I guess.

Jen better not waste her gift from me, because if I find her in the after life the same age as she is right now, she was going to have to answer to both me and Adrian, and probably Dylan and Jeremiah. She was probably going to have to answer to all of us if she goes to the after life early.

One thing I knew for sure though, was that when Victory did go to the after life, she was going to have to answer to all of us, and more.

Me, Adrian, Dylan, Jeremiah, Trim, and whoever else she killed, she'll have to deal with the five of us, at least.

Through the comforting thought of Victory coming down to Hell with the five of us, I was able to give out a short laugh, even as my enemy started to pull things from the backpack beside them.

Jen...You owe me, for the rest of your life.

So live. Live, so that my sacrifice won't be in vein.

Ilia. D'ardaigh. Tarbh. I'm sorry, but I'm not coming home. I hope you all understand.

District One's Jenriko "Jen" Florence's POV

Have to find Tanner! Have to find Tanner!Have to find Tanner!Have to find Tanner!

How could I of let this happen? How could I of lost sight of her? How could she of slipped off without me noticing when she had been right beside me?

Was she alright? Was she in a fight right now? Was she winning? All those questions, and more, rushed through my head as I continued to run through the dimly lit hallways, checking every single room in my search for the District Ten transgender, hoping that I'd find my ally.

I knew that I'd find her eventually, she couldn't of gone off that far. After all, how long had she been gone? Thirty seconds? One minute? Two at most, but even that was pushing it in my opinion. She couldn't of been away from me for that long, there was just no way that I couldn't of noticed her being gone for that long.

She had somehow slipped through me, but I was going to find her, I wasn't going to have another one of my friends die on me. Not this time. Not on my watch. Not when I could do something to prevent it.

I continued to sprint down the hallways, turning around corner after corner, looking into room after room, wanting, needing, to find my friend before it was too late.

Thoughts of Terry and the other sixteen year old boys going into a frenzy back during the reapings. If I didn't get to Tanner soon, I feared that he'd be ripped apart like Terry had been.

I kicked open another door, and saw nothing. Cursing my luck, I ran off again, and rounded another corner and started to sprint down that hallway.

The pulsing in my neck was burning, threatening to open up and start bleeding again, but I didn't care. Let it burn, it wasn't going to open up, I made sure of that by pressing my right hand on top of the bandage, keeping pressure on it and keeping it closed. Pain hadn't stopped me in a long time, I wasn't going to let it stop now. Not in a situation like this.

I kicked open several more doors with the same result. No Tanner.

I could feel myself growing increasingly frustrated, and worried. Where could she be?

I ran down the narrow path when I saw someone exiting one of the rooms. He was holding something, but it didn't appear to be a weapon, so I wasn't too worried about him, all I knew was that I needed to get past him. And I was. He wasn't going to stop me. "Out of the way!" I shouted.

He turned towards me with a surprised expression, and I recognized him, Kendrick Reeves of District Three.

He was supposed to be one of our threats, but right now, I couldn't see him as such. He was horrible injured with makeshift bandages wrapped around various parts of his body, and was looking stupidly at me. "Move!" I shouted, wanting him to just get out of my way.

He didn't move out of the way. Instead, it looked more like he was getting ready to fight me.

I didn't have time for a fight, but I doubted that I could get out of this situation without having one.

With my left hand, I grabbed my knife and continued to run at him at full speed. He wanted a fight? He was getting a fight! Nobody, and I mean nobody, was going to stop me!

I closed in on him, and just as he swung a fist at me, I ducked under his arm, and while still running full speed ahead, I stabbed him in the stomach, sliced it open in a horizontal line until the knife exited through his side, ran around him, and then speed off.

I wasn't going to kill him just yet, I didn't care for that at the moment, I had something much more important to deal with first.

*Twenty minutes later*

Tired. I was so tired.

My lungs were screaming at me, threatening to explode if I didn't slow down. I didn't want to, but I was forced to slow down due to the unbelievable agony I was feeling in both my lungs and stomach and sides. Though I guess it shouldn't of been a surprise due to what I had just done. I had sprinted, not ran, sprinted, at full speed, kicked down doors, and rounded corners for what felt like the end of time.

My legs slowed down before my body started to feel weak before I got dizzy. My vision turned to haze as I felt myself start to fall. I felt my body hit the ground as I felt, and heard, a sharp explosion occur in my nose.

I cried out in pain as I smelt blood.

I then started to crawl forwards. I wasn't going to stop. I...Couldn't be stopped. I wanted to believe that, and I had believed that up until recently. What had happened to me? I remember feeling unstoppable, top of the world, but now I didn't feel that way. I felt vulnerable. Helpless. Weak even.

Why? Why did I feel that way?

Back home, back in District One, I knew that I was better at fighting then Terry, who was a year older then me. I could have him throw knives at me and not get injured. I could beat anything that he threw my way. The objectives that my parents had given me, I'd do them, and I'd even beat their expectations.

I was a wonderful career that could beat even boys older, and bigger, then me. I could face down a bunch of throwing knives aimed right at me. I could then throw said knives back at my attackers, and hardly ever miss.

There had been very few situations that could stop me. I was a wonderful career, the best in my year. I could do things that few could do. My parents trained me to be the best, and it didn't come easily. So why did I feel this way? Why did I feel so weak? So vulnerable?

I didn't feel this way when I went up against Timber. Or Dylan. So why did I feel it when I was running towards Kendrick? I doubt that he was even close to Dylan's level. I doubt that he was even at career fighting level, his strength being his only career trait.

I had faced tougher people then him. So I shouldn't of been feeling that way. But I was, and I didn't like it.

I pushed those feelings aside. I shouldn't be thinking that way. I was still a fighter, a District One career, and I could of easily killed Kendrick if I wanted to, I had nothing to worry about. Nothing except finding Tanner dead. I pushed that thought away as well. Tanner's not dead, she just got lost, that's all. When I find her, everything will be back to what it was before she got lost. Yeah, that's it.

I continued to crawl like a baby on it's useless legs, breathing in hot, stale air that burned my lungs and sides with every breath. My neck continued to throb painfully due to my increased heart rate. The warmth of blood was coating my neck like a scarf. But I didn't let that stop me, I wasn't weak, I was powerful. I was a career, and a damn good one at that.

I continued to check every room along the way before I rounded a corner, only to see something that might resemble a person. A silhouette of what appeared to be a body. It was in a patch of darkness, so I didn't know if it was who I was looking for or not. For all I know, it could of been someone that had died earlier in the game. I hoped that that was the case.

Tanner? I tried to speak, but all my voice did was catch itself, nearly chocking me.

I couldn't talk, so I crawled up to the thing, hoping that it wasn't Tanner, but worried that it would be.

I tried to speak again, but nothing came out, and all talking seemed to do was scrape my throat with razors. Okay, stop talking, at least for now.

As I got closer and closer, my vision got clearer and clearer, allowing me to see more and more of what was in front of me.

I wish I hadn't, because the more things to clearer, the more I saw that the body, or what I could see of it, looked a little like Tanner. The part of the hand I saw in one of the semi-bright areas of the hall, like it was reaching out for the light, was beige and bony, just like Tanner's.

No. Please. Don't let it be her.

I didn't want it to be her. It couldn't be her. She was tough and could fight, even if she looked like she didn't want to throw a punch for some reason. No. She couldn't be dead.

I got closer and closer, until I was close enough to reach the extended hand on front of me.

I reach out and grabbed the hand. It didn't move at all, and that worried me.

I tried to speak again, only for the razors to drag across my throat again. But right now, the condition of my throat was the least of my worries. "Aner?" I crocked, hoping to get a response.

I pulled the hand, only to discover with horror, that the hand wasn't attached to a body. There was only one thing that I could think of at that moment. Oh no!

I looked past the hand, which I could now clearly see, had busted fingers and a tiny part of the wrist, which looked like it had been smashed with a mace. Tiny bone fragments stuck out of the skin, and many more lumps and bumps that looked like bones trying to escape the skin were showing as well. Fresh blood coated the hand.

Without even thinking, I looked up and saw a horrific scene.

I only managed to get a glace of it before my eyes started to sting and water up, but a glace was all that I wanted to see. Even though it looked like it something that had been run over by an armoured vehicle before sending it off to be experimented on in the most vile ways imaginable before leaving it outside for the rats to feed on.

Pieces of a horrible mutilated Tanner laid everywhere, blood was splattered in all directions.

Whoever, or whatever, killed Tanner, had seemed to want to wipe her entire existence away in the most bloody, and brutal fashion their sick minds could think of.

I reached out and wanted to touch her, to hold her, like she was still alive and in enough pieces for me to hold. Some other part of me told me not to reach out for her, and my body followed the directions of that part of me.

I turned around, and started to crawl away as water continued to build up in my eyes as my stomach started to churn, adding to the intense pain my body was already feeling before looking at what used to be Tanner.

I had seen the games played out in front of me on live T.V, but nothing that bad.

Flesh, muscle, organs, lungs, bones, thick yellow liquid that had came from someplace unknown, everything was in plain sight, and blood. So much blood. And things were in the blood was well.

It may have been in a dark spot, but it was still too much to look at. It was worse then looking at something straight out of a nightmare.

I felt myself vomit.

A/N: Update: Because I wanted to celebrate the final five tributes, I decided to gather pictures of them and post said pictures on my profile. Look at them at your own risk, some of them might not be head canon.