Chapter 8 – The Split

D10M - Matt Tanner - 18

I look out of our little cave and see the sun rising, I shake Casper awake - he's been muttering in his sleep. Something about his Mam, and his little sister Maudlin. 'Casper, you 'kay?' I ask. He makes a grunting noise and rolls over, only to wince in pain because of putting weight on his bandaged leg. I go outside and two minutes later Casper joins me. 'Have we got any food?' He asks; I shake my head. 'We could try to fish…' he murmurs 'Casper, we tried yesterday, the gamemakers have got rid of the fish now and anyway the streams nearly dry…' I trail off at the end, we both know we have to move now, honestly we should've moved two days ago - back when Victor and Carlos attacked us. I grab both of our bags and start stuffing our things in them. We seem to have accumulated a good portion of Victors swords over the past few days. He appears to have a tendency to (after realising he can't kill us within 5 minutes) drop all his belongings and run away.

'Do we need all these sharp things?' Casper asks, I shake my head and hand him a knife 'You can't carry a sword can you?' I say and Casper rolls his eyes and replies 'No need to call me out like that Matt!' I feel myself smile as I bend down to pick up one of the swords. In Casper's bag I put a couple of the throwing knives Carlotta left behind as well as the fishing equipment, which he insists we should bring even though I don't think the gamemakers are gonna let us have that food source anymore. I pack my bag up with the packet that once contained crackers, my knife, matches and our water, along with a small bottle of iodine to purify the water. Finally Casper hands me a little scrap of fabric and mutters 'We'll bring her with us'. As I accept the dark piece of cloth I ask Casper 'When did you get this?' He shrugs and replies 'When I got an ally, she has some of mine. I hope they bury her with it. I hope they bury me with this…'

'You have to win this Matt, it's impossible for me to. You have your brothers, your girlfriend, your daughter, you can't let your child grow up without a father.' I shake my head and pull Casper into a hug, then hear myself whisper 'We can't know it's impossible until we try.'

D10F - Arabella Daunt - 14

I wake up as I feel myself falling and hit the ground with a thud. As the pain sinks in I lay there, and slowly convince myself to stand up. I look over my shoulder and see my thighs covered in mud. 'That's gonna bruise pretty bad kid' I cock my head up at the voice and find myself looking into Tegan's eyes. I maintain eye contact as I clamber back up my tree and grab my knife. 'Bella if I was gonna try to kill you I would've by now!' Tegan shouts. 'What do you want Tegan!' And she rolls her eyes 'To ally with you idiot, why else would I chase you around?!' I give her a look of fake confusion and reply 'Well seeing as we're in the hunger games maybe to KILL ME!' As I finish my last syllable I hear a crack next to me. I jerk to my left and see Tegan's axe wedged in the branch next to me.

I try to pull it out, but it's just too difficult. I look down and see her climbing nimbly up to where I am. I scramble up further, trying to avoid Tegan. As I reach the end of climbable branches I realise my mistake, 'Tegan is there any way I can convince you not to kill me?' I plead. 'No I don't think so kid!' She replies cheerfully, just then she reaches her axe and tries to yank it out. For some reason she won't just look down so she can pull it out…

I suddenly remember the knife in my hand, and Tegan's exposed chest. I aim my blade towards her and try to forget that this is the only chance I've got. I release the knife in one sharp movement, aiming towards Tegan's heart. As she realises what's happening she starts ducking down but the blade hits its target.

Well, not quite its target.

My knife lodges in Tegan's shoulder, and it looks like it hurts. I climb down to where she is and she raises her hand, like a signal to stop. 'Jeez…' she breathes heavily, 'Why so aggressive Bella?' Is she okay in the head, doesn't she realise that she threw a weapon first? 'Tegan you threw your axe before, you tried to kill me!' She yells in pain as she tries to look at me, and I look down guilty. 'Bella… Bella… Bella…' I interject 'Don't call me Bella.' She rolls her eyes, 'Well I promise you that I didn't try to kill before, but now you can count on me being ready to behead you at any moment!' I shudder at that thought, I don't doubt that she would do it at all.

All of a sudden Tegan yanks her axe out of the tree and lifts it up. Instead of trying to climb away from her I lunge towards where my knife is sticking into her shoulder and pull. As I rip the blade out of her arm her blood starts flowing, and she drops her weapon. I see it fall to the ground as she lets out a scream, of both pain as well as anger.

Tegan grabs onto my ankles and as I try to kick her away her grip just seems to tighten. I attempt to stab my knife into her back but as she thrashes I only manage to slice through her bloodstained jacket. I raise my weapon ready to strike again when I feel a weight off my legs.

I wait a minute before I cautiously look down and see a trail of blood, with Tegan dragging her axe at the end. I consider trying to kill her from this angle but decide against it after realising how far Tegan is from me.

As I start climbing back up my tree I hear Tegan's hoarse cry out 'Jack! Oh Jack! What do you think of me now!'

D4M - Damian Kaimana - 18

I'm going to fucking murder Victor.

This is second day in a row that I've had to endure Marina and it not been easy so far. Vic came up with this 'Brilliant' plan to pair up with our district partners. I'm certain he was trying to be subtle about that fact that he's worried about the pack splitting, and is trying to get Sapphire on his side, but he is failing miserably. Honestly even his dumb bitch district partner could see what he's doing.

I turn my head as I hear the rustling of a tent only to realise it's just Marina. 'I'm going to go get some water…' she mumbles, I grin at her as a response. She gives me a quizzical look before picking up two canteens and some iodine. I watch as she walks in the direction of the little stream, and once she ducks out of sight I smile.

'Marina… Marina… Marina… What is it you have in here?' I mutter to myself as I crawl into the girls tent, then I see it. Peeping out from underneath her sleeping bag, Alon's token. I pick up the little half shell and feel a tear at the corner of my eye.

I was there the day he made it.

'Stop it!' I hear myself urge, Marina's the emotional one, not me. I look at the jagged edge of the shell, and the tatty string that is barely holding it together. I need to weaken my district partner to kill her, and this is the way I achieve my goal. I duck out of the girls tent, with my hand clasped around the fragile necklace.

As the light of the sun hits my face I hear Marina yell 'What the fuck Damian! Why are you in my tent!' I grin and dangle the necklace in front of her face as she tries to claw at my face while crying out 'You piece of shit! Give me my token bitch!' I try to hit her away as I calmly respond 'I think you mean Alon's token Marina. Correct me if I'm wrong.'

I release my grasp and see the necklace fall to the ground, before I stamp it into the ground.

I look up, expecting to see Marina crying but instead I see something completely different. I see my fellow 4 - spear in hand - running towards me, fury on her face. I open my mouth to yell at her to stop, but it's too late.

I feel an overwhelming pain in my neck and see the end of her spear dripping with my blood. I gasp for air as I hear Marina shout something along the lines of 'I hope you're really fucking exited to be seeing Alon again!'

Alon…

Marina's right, I am excited to see him. We're always taught in 4 that when we die, we become one with the ocean. If that's the case, I just hope that the ocean will let me be with the one person I have ever truly loved…

D4F - Marina Mannix - 18

Boom.

I look down at the corpse at my feet. It seems to have a small smile on it, instead of its usual smirk.

Suddenly it hits me.

I just killed a boy. I just killed my district partner. I just killed Damian. Sure I killed that kid in the bloodbath, but I didn't know him at all, I didn't even look him in the eyes. But Damian…

I seen his eyes countless times, not just on his face but on our district, on myself.

I guess this is why you don't kill your district partner.

I stand over him for what feels like eternity, when I hear footsteps. I look over my shoulder and see my allies, a look of shock on their faces. 'M-marina?' Carlos stutters, edging closer to Carlotta. 'Marina Mannix… WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!' Victor yells, as I open my mouth to defend myself. 'Don't even try to deny it Marina' Sapphire interjects 'His bloods on your hands, literally, and it's your spear through his neck. We all know you killed him.' She finishes.

Well shit…

'MARINA JUST FUCKING TELL US WHAT YOU DID TO DAMIAN!' Victor shouts, 'Marina. What did Damian do that you thought was worthy of his death?' Carlotta rephrases, her tone neutral. 'I- he- he…'

D1M - Victor Opulence - 18

The murderous bitch is stammering in front of us and yet no one is doing anything. I grip my sword tightly and step towards my former ally 'I- I- He-' I mimic 'I REALLY DON'T GIVE A SHIT!' I raise my sword and shove it as deep as I can into Marina's chest. Her screams getting cut off as…

Boom.

I turn around to my allies and shrug 'It had to be done. Now let's move away so the hovercraft can collect the bodies easily' However instead of following my instructions I see Carlotta grab Carlos's hand, 'Stuff a couple bags full, okay?' She mutters, her hand tightening on her throwing knife.

Then I realise, she doesn't trust me.

'Carlotta, you have nothing to worry about!' I say but she holds up her knife 'Carlos and I will be leaving now. Do not come after us.' I open my mouth to speak 'Do NOT interrupt me.' She glares in my direction 'Do not attempt to kill us until tomorrow, as that's just bad manners. And finally, may the odds be ever in your favour, you're going to need them.'

At that she yanks Carlos and the two bags he's holding backwards, before adding 'Oh, and don't try to shoot us Sapphire, I've got all your arrows apart from the one your holding, and you might want that later!'

I scowl and run towards where Carlotta is quickly walking away, but I feel a hand on my shoulder. 'Victor, Carlotta said to not go after them. She has a long distance weapon, you have a sword, she'll win easily.' I turn around to face Sapphire, 'Let's just pack up and move on.' She says, before I respond 'Wait. No! We're not leaving the cornucopia!' She rolls her eyes, before saying 'Vic, two people can't hold the cornucopia safely. Also, Carlotta and Carlos will assume we're here, don't think that they'll spare us.' She looks down at my feet to where Marina's body is lying and retracts her hand quickly, before grabbing a bag and starting to fill it up.

D9M - Casper Dagan - 13

As Matt and I huddle close together we see a bright light in the sky. And the girl from 4 shines in the sky. Wow. The first Career of this year. Not as impressive as two careers dead in the bloodbath - like last year - but not all the careers are gonna make it to the final 8. I look up at the sky, and feel Matt tense up. We're thinking the same thing:

It has to be Arabella next.

The face in the sky shifts and Matt lets put a gasp. It's the other 4. Two careers dead, in one day? I smile at him, and he smiles back. Although it feels wrong to be happy about someone's death I can't help it.

Two killing machines are out of the way!

As the sky goes dark I hear my stomach growling. The only thing that I've eaten today was a few of the roots Celina said were safe. Honestly for a girl from an urban district she was surprisingly knowledgeable about plants. 'We should get some sleep' I hear Matt say, and I nod in agreement.

Our new location doesn't have a cave but it has a semi hidden alcove and we decide it's best to sleep there tonight. I take the tarp out of my bag and lay it on the smooth, stone ground. While it doesn't really add any comfort to where we sleep it does help stop our body heat being absorbed by the rock. We take the sharp things out of our backpacks and decide to just keep wearing the bag, for extra protection. I feel Matt huddle into me and feel glad for his body temperature. It seems crazy to me now that before the games I wouldn't even let my older brother be this close to me and now I feel relief that I'm huddled up to an 18 year old I met just over a week ago!

'Goodnight Casper' Matt mumbles, his eyes closing. 'Night Matt…' I reply, moving closer to him.

This special little snowflake is chapter 8 - if you couldn't tell. The next chapter could be out in 2 days or 2 months, I have literally no plan. I'll try to keep it less than 2 months tho...