Sam Nkata Creek, 18

District 4 Male

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Six cannons in total. Noah was fuming.

"That's a pathetic bloodbath," he snapped.

"It's fine," Blitz said. "We'll get more kills."

"Yeah. Calm down," Sam put in. Noah rounded on him, eyes flashing with anger, but glanced at Sam's bloody fists and turned away again.

Sam looked down at his own hands. His knuckles were aching and the skin was stained with blood. He slipped off his knuckle dusters and went to crouch near one of the small streams to wash off his hands.

As he watched the blood swirl away with the soft current, he reflected on his kill. It was a strange, almost surreal feeling to know he had killed someone. And unfortunately, it had been painful too. But this was a game of survival. And bears were survivors.

After thoroughly cleaning his hands and his weapons, Sam rejoined the group. The wind was dying down, but the rain was falling harder now, and he was forced to pull up the hood of his poncho to keep himself dry.

Blitz and Noah seemed to be in the midst of another argument, while Mozu and Helios stood awkwardly off to the side.

"...scored almost as well as half of us did," Blitz was saying. Noah crossed his arms.

"Exactly. Almost. If you're set on not killing him, then send him off with supplies. But he's not good enough to be here."

Sam tensed as both boys' hands twitched towards their weapons, but Regina came limping forward, partially leaning on Wyler for support.

"Alright, that's enough," she said calmly. "You said it yourself Noah. This was a small bloodbath. Which means we have a lot of tributes to hunt down. Having someone to stay behind at the Cornucopia is important, and with Wyler here to do that, more of us can go out hunting."

At her words, both boys relaxed, though Noah still looked angry.

"Sounds smart to me," Mozu put in softly, giving Blitz a smile. He didn't return it though, instead walking over to address Regina.

"Wyler should not be left here alone," he said firmly. "He's… untrained." Wyler frowned, but held back whatever he was about to say.

"So, someone will stay with him," Regina said. "We have a big pack this year. It will be fine."

"You have to stay back," Noah said, pointing at Regina's leg with a throwing knife. "And I doubt you'll be useful if someone comes."

"Must you antagonize everyone?" Helios said, sounding bored.

"How about one other person stays back? Sam asked. "Then five of us can go out hunting."

"Oh look, the bear can count," Noah mumbled sarcastically. Sam narrowed his eyes. The boy from 11 seemed ready to pick a fight whenever someone spoke, but Sam refused to take the bait. It would be silly to have a Career rift now.

"Excellent" Regina said, easing herself down on a crate. "Wyler and I will stay here, along with someone else. We'll get the camp ready."

"Who is staying behind?" Helios asked. Both he and Blitz picked up their axes.

"I will," Adelind said, speaking for the first time. Regina smiled.

"So it's settled," she said. "Good luck!"

The other boys, plus Mozu, began to grab their weapons, so Sam slipped on his knuckle dusters and followed them into the woods.

Alrik Garrison, 17

District 9 Male

Alrik felt dizzy as he stumbled through the forest. And while the ponchos provided were excellent at keeping out the cold and wet, it kept snagging in the undergrowth and on low-hanging tree branches, throwing him even more off-balance. He tripped on a rotted log and nearly went sprawling before deciding it was time to rest.

He continued on just a bit farther, climbing over a large fallen tree and settling behind it. Leaning up against the rough bark, he set his hunting knife down and wiped it off on the mossy ground, where it left dark bloodstains. And though he tried to ignore it, Alrik felt his gaze drawn to the blood. Yale's blood.

Attacking Wyler had been more instinct than choice. As soon as Arik saw the boy, his training score flashed in his mind, and he lunged. Logically, he knew that Wyler was his biggest threat, besides the Careers. And logically, he knew only one person could make it out of the arena alive. But he just killed someone. And it wasn't even who he intended.

Alrik had experienced more death than anyone should ever have to experience. But he'd never been directly responsible for the death. Now, he was a murderer. The thought made his head spin even more, and he pulled his knees up, dropping his head between them.

He forced himself to take deep breaths until the dizziness and nausea passed. Then he scooted away from the bloody moss and opened his backpack. Inside, he found a sleeve of crackers, a bag of jerky, a magnifying glass, an empty water bottle, and a large tarp that took up most of the space. It seemed he wouldn't have to worry about staying dry.

Something snapped in the bushes nearby and Alrik grabbed his knife, pressing up against the fallen tree. Very slowly, he turned his head to the left, expecting another tribute. Instead, he was met by the sight of a large buck.

For a moment, the two of them stared at each other. The buck seemed surprisingly soft, and larger than Alrik had expected it to be. Most of the deer around District 9 were small and skinny. This one seemed quite healthy and happy.

He knew it would make for good meat, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to kill it. It seemed so soft and innocent, and taking another innocent life felt like a sin he could not commit again. At least, not today.

He half-heartedly tossed a rock in the buck's direction, aiming to startle, not injure. And sure enough, the buck turned and leaped back into the woods. He listened to it bounding away.

"Auf Wiedersehen," he whispered. Then he shoved everything back into his backpack and stood.

After a bit more walking, Alrik came across a small copse of young birch trees. It seemed like a good place to set up a small camp for himself. He leaned his backpack up against a tree and got to work covering a small area with his tarp. When it was done, he had a sheltered area beneath the trees to stay hidden and dry. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty damn close.

Ellie Porter, 15

District 6 Female

Ellie lay curled up amongst the roots of a massive tree, crying. For Annie. For Josko. For everyone else who died today. And for herself. She'd fallen here after running for what felt like hours, after bumping to Lana from 3. She'd expected Lana to kill her, but the other girl seemed just as scared, which gave Ellie the courage to get back up and run.

But she couldn't run forever, and so she'd chosen this old tree as her temporary sanctuary. She knew she'd have to move eventually, but her lungs ached and her legs were sore, and the knife wound in her arm was still bleeding.

She wasn't sure who threw the knife, but she assumed it was Noah. He was the one who practiced the most with them in training. She was desperately trying to recall any first aid knowledge she might have learned, but everything she remembered required supplies. She just had a knife.

She had to stop the flow of blood. That was the first step. But she couldn't just press on the wound forever. Looking around, she debated scraping some moss off of a nearby tree trunk, but she doubted it was sanitary. An infected wound was the last thing she needed.

Cutting off a piece of her poncho could work, but it would be hard to tie a tight knot with only one hand. She needed something that was already tight. Looking down, she sighed. And then she got an idea.

Ellie slipped off one of her boots and examined her sock. It was tall and made of thick wool. If she cut off the top part, she could use it as a cuff for compression. So she slid the sock off as well and used the knife to cut the top of it off.

Carefully, Ellie slipped the band of fabric up her arm and settled it around the cut. It was tight, but not painfully so, and the woolen sock seemed to be effectively soaking up the blood. Satisfied, she put her slightly shorter sock back on, followed by her boot.

Now that she no longer had to fear actively bleeding out, at least for the time being, she could focus on other tasks. While all she wanted to do was curl up and sob again, she knew she'd need food and shelter.

The tree she was under had huge, gnarled roots that stuck up above the ground. If she dug out some of the earth underneath, she'd probably be able to climb inside. So she got to work, using her good arm to scoop out soil and leaf mulch until there was an Ellie-sized hole. Limbs aching, she crawled in and curled up into a ball. It wasn't very comfortable, but with her hood up and her poncho wrapped around her, she wasn't freezing. And the roots blocked most of the rainfall that made it past the tree's canopies. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to drift off to sleep, allowing herself to at least get some rest.

Lavinia Danse, 13

District 7 Female

Colette had been whimpering and whining for the entire hour and a half the girls had been walking, and Danse was sick of it. She had to give Colette credit though; she hadn't once complained about the walking. It was just general griping and moaning.

They'd left the trees for a meadow-y area a few minutes ago, and Danse decided she'd had enough. She stopped in her tracks, wincing when Colette ran into her.

"Hey," she snapped. "Careful!"

"You just randomly stopped walking!" Colette protested, crossing her arms. Danse opened her mouth to yell back, but stopped. While she preferred arguing to listening to Colette cry, she didn't want anyone to find them. And besides, arguing might make Colette cry again.

For a moment, the two girls stood in silence. Colette tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Then she looked Danse in the eye.

"Why did you save me?"

"I didn't save you," Danse said. Colette shook her head.

"You could have just left, and I would have panicked, and Noah or someone else would have killed me. But you didn't leave."

Danse crossed her arms and looked up. Why didn't she leave Colette? In the Hunger Games, it was every girl for herself. And on paper, Colette didn't seem like a valuable ally. But for some reason, Danse wanted her to be safe. She'd do the same for Copper and Heidi and Dahlia, wouldn't she?

But she'd known them for years. She only learned Colette existed less than a week ago. For once in her life, Danse was at a loss for words. So she just shrugged.

"I don't know," she admitted, frustration evident in her tone. Colette nodded awkwardly and looked at her feet.

"Are you going to be okay?" Danse asked.

"I miss Gaia," Colette said, tears filling her eyes again. Danse sighed.

"Yeah, I know," she grumbled. "But sitting here and crying about it won't do anything. If Gaia can't win, she certainly won't want Noah to. We can't let that happen."

"Then how do we kill a Career?" Colette asked, wiping her eyes.

Danse gaped at her. While that wasn't quite what she'd meant, she found that she appreciated Colette's enthusiasm.

"I don't know yet, but we'll think of something," Danse said. "For now, let's set up a camp. I'm freezing, and I think you found a tent."

Colette looked down at the rolled-up tarp under her arm.

"Oh," she said, looking surprised. "That's… lucky."

Twenty minutes later, they'd set up a sheltered area amongst the trees at the edge of the meadow. Their tent was small, but so were Danse and Colette, so they were able to squeeze in fairly comfortably. Danse managed to grab a pocketknife in the bloodbath, and Colette's fanny pack had crackers and dried fruit and nuts. They would be set for a little while. Now they just had to figure out how to kill Noah Brimms.

Hey everyone! Here is the rest of the first day in the arena. Last chapter, I made a mistake saying Ellie had a spear. She actually has a knife (and an injury from it). Sorry about that!

Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, and I promise we'll see Ray and everybody else who we haven't seen next time. Also, I have no idea if Ellie's makeshift bandage would actually work, but let's pretend it does.

Questions:

1) Do you think Regina and Blitz are going to be able to manage Noah's temper?

2) Do you think Danse and Colette stand a chance against Noah?

3) Who are you most looking forward to hearing from next chapter?

Current Alliances

Careers:
- Regina
- Helios
- Mozu
- Blitz
- Wyler
- Adelind
- Sam
- Noah

Adelind's Secret Gang:
- Adelind
- Fritz
- Theo
- Thalia

Small but Mighty:
- Danse
- Colette

Loners:
- Lana
- Ellie
- Alrik
- Ray
- Saoirse

Have a nice day, be kind to each other, and never stop reading!

- Fiona