Note- I was reading Alice's chapter for her reaping. Her encounter with Wade isn't going to end up anything by the way, unless she wins, then who knows. It's only to make her appear likable if that makes sense.

Mica Mendel(D5 Male)

We set off at a slow pace the next day, slow because there had been no deaths yesterday(the second day) and few on the Bloodbath day. I myself was getting quite wary. Was there going to be some kind of Feast soon or something? I thought that was what it was called, but my brain was so filled with nerves of just surviving today that I didn't try to remember.

We set our stuff down in a cave, all on edge. Nothing could happen to us in here...right? Unless all the caves were triggered with something... or something... I willed myself to calm down and just relax. Re-lax.

We had been arguing earlier that day on what order we should walk in. Finally we had decided that I be in the middle, because I was beginning to hyperventilate on what might happen if I were in the front or back, Calamity go in the front as "scout", and Tyler in the back, who seemed content there.

Calamity spoke up once we got to the cave. "Are we gonna sleep or what?" she asked, her usual layer of sassy just below the surface.

I sighed, so relieved to be in this cave. "Well, if we are gonna sleep, I call the very back of the cave," I stated. I yawned for the umpteenth time.

Calamity bristled with annoyance. "Yeah. Sure," she muttered under her breath.

Regaining confidence at the agreement, I conversed, "Okay, so I go in the back, and somebody can go in front of me, maybe you, Calamity, cause you're the scout and that's what scouts do...and then Tyler, hmm, Tyler, where do you want to be?"

Calamity grunted, "You never asked my input on the matter.."

"Then what's your input?" I turned to her, and our words all began running over each other as Tyler tried to talk, failed as Calamity answered, and resulted in a heavy silence.

I groaned, pointing at Calamity, "You go first." I nodded to Tyler. "You second. Sound alright?"

"Sure," Tyler cut in before Calamity could respond, ending in a stony glare between the two.

I sighed exasperatedly, my fingers twitching like miniature spiders. "Please, quit fighting. Calamity, go. What's your input?"

"Well, personally, I don't think it's fair that I have to be protecting you," she growled. "I think we should all be in the back of the cave- we're not all your protectors, we your allies, jeez."

"Okay," I contemplated slowly, my mind running like a turtle on this matter. It was fair, but I really didn't want it to be true. I knew it was selfish of me but I just felt so unsafe in the front.. I mean, anything could get in there, it wasn't like we had time to build a barrier or anything yet.

"Me next," Tyler raised his voice to get our attention. "Personally, I would appreciate it if you could stop acting like I'm air, thank you very much."

I sighed exasperatedly; this was getting way out of control. "Okay, fine, whatever, we're all in the back of the cave. That sound fine?!" I was silently fuming, but sure enough, my words did the trick and Tyler's arms uncrossed, Calamity's glare lessening slightly.

"Fine, I see it's the best I can get," Calamity accepted.

Tyler shrugged and nodded. "Sounds fairer." He went ahead and unpacked his stuff, laying down on the cave floor with his back to the wall. "We have to work on that barrier soon, though. Otherwise, this home may just be temporary."

"Right on that," I sighed. "Hey, I can go ahead and start on it while you guys get some rest?"

Calamity's eyes narrowed. "And how can we trust you on that?" she fired unexpectedly.

"I won't kill you during the night, I promise," I rolled my eyes.

"Sure." She eyed me with an unconvinced look and settled in, though suspicion still lingered in her gaze. I didn't blame her, though. Out here, in the wild, you couldn't trust anyone, even your allies. I shivered, not because of the cold, and got to work on making a barrier to guard the cave.

First thing I noticed, was that the snow was getting really slippery and it would do no good to pack it into the cave as a guarding spot. All the snow could easily just melt down and destroy us all. So, change of plan: I would stuff it with as much logs and nature things as I could. I found a thick piece of wood and placed it on the ground. Kinda inefficient, but, with the intelligent side of my brain kicking into action, I quickly found a creative way to string the pieces of bark around, like some kind of metal chain. With that, I continued stuffing the opening with wood pieces until, finally, it was all done- the only question being how to get in and out.

I mean, we could always remove one of the pieces of wood, but that would likely destroy the whole thing in the process. Another way would be to poke some kind of hole into the wood and cover it with something lighter but still blending in, however that was going to work.

I exhaled mutely, sending a puff of white into the air. I was starting to consider the second option, poking a hole in the wood and trying to camouflage it when a rapping sound on the wood alerted me. Ears pricked up, I gently pulled apart a piece of wood, praying it wouldn't topple the whole thing. Luckily, it spared my hard work and I felt more steady as I poked my head into the tiny hole and shouted, "What is it, you two?"

I was greeted by just...water, plain water. It was knee-deep and rising fast. How was this even possible? There weren't any holes in the ground as far as I could tell...and the ceiling was totally packed in with earth. The back of the cave and all the walls were completely solid...

Oh, no, I thought, my heart sinking. "TYLER?!" I yelled. "CALAMITY?!"

Where were they?! Panic was taking the place of common sense and so I ran around acting like a maniac. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"I'm right here, you weirdo." Calamity's snide tone drifted out from the cave and I paused for a second, never so glad to hear the sound of her voice.

"Calamity?" I said in a low whisper.

"Please don't make this emotional," I could hear her sighing. "Just get me out of here."

"Wait, did you just say 'me'?" I began freaking out again. "I swear...WHERE IS TYLER?!"

She breathed hard and hissed between her teeth, "He's gone."

"GONE?"

Suddenly we could hear a splashing noise and Tyler came to the surface, spluttering and choking the whole time. "Ugh...guys...," he groaned, his hair plastered to the side of his head. I was so relieved to see him I almost hugged him except that I couldn't reach. "I'm not dead and insane am I..." he mumbled.

"How did you freaking almost die?" I cried out angrily. "The water was knee-deep, for goodness sake!" I clapped my hand over my mouth suddenly, realizing what I had said in my temper. "Gosh...don't listen to me...I'm acting weird... Um. Bye."

"You're leaving us now?" Calamity glared. "We need you to get us out of here!"

"I'll try. Just stay calm. Stay. Calm." I began taking apart the wood so that there was a small hole, though large enough for the two thin tributes to clamber out. Calamity climbed through the hole almost immediately, cracking her limbs as she got out.

"Thank goodness," she muttered, taking off her wet boots and throwing them into the snow.

"What about Tyler?" We met each other's gazes and I dashed over back to the cave. The water level was definitely super high now, though not affecting out here. It was almost to the opening I had made however...

The water wasn't deep enough to drown in but I was still worried he would do something stupid. "Tyler?" I called out, my fear hushing my tone.

He was gagging again. Seriously?! How did this happen! Without thinking, I crawled into the hole and into the water. It felt freezing against my pants and quickly the cold got to my legs. I shivered involuntarily.

"Tyler..." I whispered. My lips were blue from cold.

A giant round of coughing came up from the water and I swiveled my head around, my heart beating like crazy. My arms shaking, I said softly again, breath barely stirring the air, "..Tyler...?"

"Help me...I can't... Control." The last word bubbled up from the water and then Tyler was pulled back under, bubbles greeting me as I marked the spot he had disappeared. My mind running twice as fast, I dove under the rising water and grabbed ahold of Tyler's arm, not caring about the moisture stinging my eyes like crazy. Barely seeing through the blurriness, I held my breath and tugged at his arm, managing to get him above the surface and pushing him toward the entrance.

But then..the waves started sucking me down. It was the weirdest feeling ever, like there was some kind of suction cup binding me to this place, or like it was metal and I was metal and it was affected by magnetism.

I was pulled beneath the surface even as I tried to kick my legs upward, and as my breath was stolen from me and I began gagging like Tyler had, I felt an odd feeling of peace. Like I had to accept this. Like it was my destiny.

I had never believed much in destiny.

Jokes. Jokes I had believed in, because they made me happy.

Plus I didn't want to be labeled a nerd of course.

The water tore me under and as my breath disappeared, so did my soul, so did feeling. My nervous system was shutting down, as was the rest of my body, starting from my lungs until everything else wasn't functioning right...

I thought of Tyler, and how I had sacrificed my life for him. I sure hoped it hadn't been for nothing. And Calamity...

I would never tell her that, but now a pang in my heart told me oh, how I missed Calamity.

"I'll try. Just stay calm. Stay. Calm."

I remembered those fateful words and wanted to take them back because I was definitely not calm right now and I couldn't see how anyone could ever be in a time like this. When I was drowning.

"Help me!" I gurgled, but the words were lost to the endless churning of the water, the sucking of the waves pulling me down against my will. By now my strength was failing, and I gave up, everything dropping to the ground, dropping until the last stone plummeted...my heartbeat.

Dahlia Rhodes(D10 Female)

Boom.

I heard the cannon roar and my heart froze. I hadn't heard that cannon in what felt like a long time.

Murray. I thought. Murray had disappeared, killed by who knows what, loyal to us forever by the looks of it.

A picture was displayed in the sky as the stars came out, and I saw who had died that day. Mica. His beaming smile burned in my heart, just like that fateful letter.

A/N: Oml, I don't know why but I hate this chapter so much lol, anyway, enjoy y'all!

QOTD: Do you guys know what Flight Rising is or have an account? I'm GraceKat99 btw if you do.

11/10/17

~Happy Veterans Day :)