CHROME CABELLO- Jessie Cabello

I sat in a daze, staring off as the others discussed it.

"Why would they do this? We give them everything they want," Joseph said.

"It wasn't the Gamemakers," Flint said. "It was one of the outliers. Isn't Emmeline like super smart?"

"Or Zibby," Tuesday said. She might have glanced at me, but I didn't look. It didn't matter. It didn't matter who did it. Fable was gone and now Chrome was too.

ARTEMIS JAGER- Pray Jager

Sometimes I had more people to hate than I had time to hate. Artemis had muscled past all the disadvantages of being both a Victor's sister and a tribute from a long-past Games. She did everything right. What did it get her? They couldn't even reroute one little pipe to preserve the people who gave their lives for the Capitol's entertainment. Were they trying to piss me off?

YTTRIA NOXUS- Emmeline Blythe

People always say it's so much better to be smart than strong. Yeah, well what does smart get you, if someone walks up to you and beats you to death? I didn't know what was going on up there, but I could only guess either a huge alliance had gotten together and organized hunts or someone had figured out how to track everyone and hunt them down. All the brains in the world didn't help when someone just had all the advantages.

JUNIPER TRITON- Arielle Ermin

I was the last one? No one in the audience probably even remembered me. Someone nominated me, at least, but it might have been one Gamemaker superfan. I'd hardly known anything about Juni. Some of the other Careers talked some trash about him, but he must have been okay if he lasted this long. Funny… all that talk about One verses Two, and Four was the one nearest being out.

HADLEY KINNETH- Maxson Deloria

I didn't even know who she was. I didn't know what Games she was from or anything about her. There were so many others like her. So many from her Games and from earlier ones who were just forgotten. Most of them wouldn't even be back. They were just lost to time, like they'd never existed.

ECHO OSUUCHI- Braddock Simpson

Another step closer to me winning. Yeah I guessed it would be nice if at least someone else from Seven won, but why? It wouldn't do me any good. I wouldn't even know it was good for Seven, since if someone else won, that meant I was already dead. If you asked me, cheering for your District partners was just a way to suck up to sponsors.

TYLER ALVAREZ- Castiel Wickham

I never thought I would be the last Ten left. I didn't know anything about Tyler, but he looked strong. He probably had people back home who still knew him. If I went home, would anyone really care? Past the gifts it would mean, would they really care about me? It wasn't like anyone even remembered me.

SKY LARCH- Elara Angelo

Last one from my District. What else was new? It was just another Games for me. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Too bad about Sky, though. I didn't know her or anything, but too bad she died.

Lacey Weaver- No Way Down D8F

I didn't dare wait any longer. It felt weird to say it was "daring" to not kill someone, but here I was. I looked at the notes I'd scribbled on a ripped-out notebook page and weighed the pros and cons of who to kill.

Olivine- She usually lasted pretty long, if I was remembering right. Was she the one who jumped through fire? I couldn't remember if that was her or the Two girl. She looked tough whenever I crossed paths with her. She seemed like she knew where she was going.

Diamond- I honestly didn't know anything about him.

Elissa- She used a long-range weapon, so she was a big contender. Then again, other Careers killed people, too. If I had to die, an arrow might be easier than getting chased down and stabbed. Also, I wasn't sure I was getting her name right. Elissa DeAngelo? Elissa D'Angelo? Did it matter if I said it right? Maybe if I said the name wrong, the coupon wouldn't kill anyone and it would disappear.

Fable- It would have made all the difference if I'd known if she and Jessie were still together. They were pretty inseparable and that made them doubly dangerous.

Jessie- Same as Fable.

Tuesday- That would mean the end of the blog. A lot of valuable information was passing through there.

Wagarni- There was no way I would pronounce her name right. I didn't even know her last name.

Flint- Wasn't he like not exactly a Career?

Arielle- Definitely a contender. She always lasted a long time and by now she had to be intimately familiar with Games strategy. I didn't see any downsides.

Braddock- I wasn't going to waste my coupon on him, but I really wanted to. He was just a huge jerk.

Emmeline/Zibby- They both used chemical weapons and this was the perfect arena for them. The fact they'd both lasted this long suggested they'd already capitalized on that.

After several minutes, I had my answer. Then I changed my mind and spent the next few minutes waffling between my new pick and a third pick. There could be another cannon any second now. You're cutting it way too close.

I clutched the coupon and whispered a name. A cannon boomed.

Olivine Martinez- Back to Normal D1F

The humming from the fan in my room was driving me nuts.

Diamond Kai- Res D1M

There was no one in the room I was searching.

Elissa de Angelo- Descent into Madness D1F

I wondered if Grande had reincarnated or if the gods knew he was going to be resurrected again. My thoughts cut out.

Fable Anders- A Night to Remember D1F

I thought I'd be a little happy and feel guilty about it, but I was really just heartbroken when I saw Chrome had died.

Jessie Cabello- A Night to Remember D2F

I washed my hands hastily and slipped out while Tuesday was still in the stall, disappearing into the stairwell before she left the bathroom.

Tuesday Erelle- Into Thin Air D2F

Wow! It seemed charges had been filed against an undisclosed suspect in the Delacroix case.

Wangari Kariuki- Res D2F

One thing turned out just right. My people had never buried the dead. We'd always just left the bodies behind.

Flint Kenyte- No Way Down D2M

Tuesday's novel idea sounded really cool.

Arielle Ermin- 28th Games D4F

I huffed and poured a little neutralizer on the acid I'd spilled on my glove.

Braddock Simpson- Circle of Life D7M

If I won, I was going to buy a ton of the chocolate-covered peanuts from the vending machine. They were so good.

Emmeline Blythe- Over and Over D3M

I mixed chemicals and crossed my fingers.

Zibby Spooly- A Night to Remember D8F

I smirked as I checked the results. It was definitely artificial. That would be much easier to cure.

Emmeline Blythe- Over and Over D3F

There was a very real chance this wouldn't work. If it didn't, I would die. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. It wasn't ideal to stake my life on a platitude, but I didn't have much else to offer. Smart as I was, I was also a bit squishy. Yes, the arena was filled with amazing chemicals and equipment I could do anything with, but I had to get there first. I'd made it a long time by sneaking around and playing it smart, but something would have to give eventually. What was the best-case scenario here? I lasted until the final two and then the Gamemakers got bored and forced me out to meet the last person, who would almost certainly be a Career? No, I'd decided I was going all-in, betting the entire pot on one big move.

Based on what I knew about Marley and what I'd seen of Mati's symptoms, Marley's unused blow darts were tipped with curare. In addition to paralysis, curare slowed every process of the body. In combination with the beta-blockers Emmeline had sent me, it just might do what I hoped it would.

I looked at the cup, the water inside slightly cloudy with the pills I'd dissolved. Ironically enough, my heart sped as I tipped the water into my mouth. The bitter, slightly gritty water slid into my stomach. Following that, I licked one of the blow darts. I'd committed, then. If it worked, I'd do what had long been considered utterly impossible. If not, I was another statistic in a logbook.

The handle was cold under my fingers as I pulled the freezer door open. In a genuine hospital, such a facility would be used to store bodies if the next-of-kin couldn't arrive immediately. This might be the only time such a room would ever be used to give life. The bitterly cold air in the freezer scraped over my skin, burning the inside of my nose and stinging my eyes. I folded my already-weak legs and stretched out on the floor, ignoring the panicking warning signals from my body.

In moments I knew I wouldn't be standing up again. A languid heaviness settled over my body like a thick blanket holding me down. It was like the unsettling but not really scary feeling when your feet are slowly falling asleep and it takes more and more effort to move them, but you know you can if you just shift positions. I couldn't, though. Instead of relenting, the heaviness got heavier until it was like my body had just stopped around me. I swallowed, guessing that increased salivation was another side effect I hadn't known about. The frigid metal under my hands stuck to my fingers. First they ached, then they stung, and then I couldn't feel them at all. Just out of curiosity, I tried to sit up. There was nothing but the claustrophobic feeling of being stuck in my own useless body.

It won't be long, I soothed myself. It kicked up a little anxiety in me as I felt the increasing pain of the cold and knew there was nothing at all I could do but endure it. It was necessary. I just had to bear it. It went from dull discomfort to a stinging, prickling pain pricking my body like a thousand needles. This is it, I thought again as I started to feel tired. I wake up right, or I start it all again…

Titian Qin- Head Gamemaker

"Sir?" Daria's nervous expression brought a smile to my face. "We have a problem."

I shouldn't be happy when something goes wrong with the Games. They're my job, after all. It's just that usually when something goes wrong, it's wonderfully chaotic. Whether it was the screw-up with the mutts in the mangrove Games or the girl from Seven somehow evading all attempts to find her in the labyrinth arena, problems were often the highlight of my day.

"What seems to be the problem?" I asked the fidgeting Gamemaker.

"I think you'll want to see for yourself," she said. Clever girl, I thought. I did indeed.

I opened the door to the examination room and saw Emmeline Blythe sitting up in bed.

"Ahh…" I started, turning to Daria. "Is this Emmeline Blythe I see?"

"Yes," she said, her voice rising in inflection with trepidation.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't she die a few hours ago?" I'd been disappointed but not surprised when I saw her drinking some pills and going into the freezer. Sometimes Tributes looked at the odds and decided on an easier way out. I'd only been put out that it had been someone with as much potential as Emmeline.

"We thought… yes… kind of," Daria stuttered.

"In your opinion, would you say Miss Blythe is dead right now?" I asked. Oh, boy. This is gonna be a hell of an explanation.

"N-no?" Daria managed.

I turned to Emmeline. "Perhaps you can enlighten us?"

"I faked my death," she said. "I had some curare from Marley and I got some beta-blockers from Zibby. Surely you know what they do?"

I appreciated the flattery, but my expertise lay in Hunger Games, not in anatomy. "Do continue."
"They slow down the heart. When taken together, they slow it down enough that it might pass below the threshold for the scanners in the trackers we have. Normally, a heartbeat that low also kills you. However… very low temperatures are- well, they're also really bad for you. But they do function to slow down the bodily systems. In very specific conditions, they induce almost a state of hibernation, allowing life to continue through conditions that would usually kill it." Emmeline hadn't moved as she flatly laid out her explanation. "My tracker registered my nearly nonexistent heartbeat and alerted that I was dead. Your Gamemakers retrieved my body. They placed me in a receiving room. A warm receiving room. The drugs wore off, my temperature rose to normal, and here I am."

I should have been mad. I really should have. But damn that was cool.

"And what are we going to do about this?" I asked, smiling. "What are we going to do about someone who cheats?"

Emmeline didn't flinch. "What are we going to do about someone who's dead?" she amended. She raised her arms in a shrug. "Anything you want. It's not like anyone will know. You could kill me if you want. Or, you could hire me."

"Hire you?" I asked. I'd heard her, of course, but this required more information.

Emmeline crossed her arms lightly. "You know I'm smart. You've seen all my Games. I'm sneaky- I lasted this long with this many Careers. I'm willing to do anything, from hiding in a body bag for weeks to eating a rat-" she gave me a meaningful look- "to literally killing myself. I have intimate knowledge of the Games and how Tributes act and think. I have no one waiting for me at home and no ties to my old life. If I live, I'm beholden to you for my life. Who, in all the world, would make a better Gamemaker?"

My mind erupted with possibilities. A genius Tribute with four Games' worth of ideas. A girl clever enough to trick the existing Gamemakers and resilient enough to remember a Games we thought we'd wiped. Someone whose every achievement would be credited to me and who anyone's failure could be pinned on. It was a big risk. I would have a lot of explaining to do to Snow, and he might decide I'd gone too far. Was it worth it?

"And will you give me if I agree?" I asked.

Emmeline looked at me levelly. "All of my abilities, sir."

I extended my hand.

Now that there's an easier amount left to count, I recounted to realign the placements.

28th place: Elissa de Angelo- chosen by Lacey

Yes, Lacey's coupon was for the top 30. I miscounted so since it was my error everyone just pretend I sneaky-like retconned it to top 25. Elissa got a ling way by recognizing her weaknesses and working to improve on them. She lasted a long time as a lone Career and evaded the Two army until something happened she couldn't possibly have evaded. She's probably reincarnated already and having a great time as some random baby.

27th place: Emmeline Blythe- faked her death

Initially I wanted Emmeline to win. I've always liked her and this was the perfect arena for her. Then I got this idea and it was also perfect. She's been dead long enough it would be easy for her to start a new life and not get recognized. Titian's just the type to hire someone as clever and sometimes cold as she is. Then I get to have her live and also have another victor. Double win! Emmeline has gone off to a new identity in the Capitol and a job as expert consultant for future Hunger Games. She's not really particularly eye-catching in appearance so mostly she just styles her hair different and wears makeup and no one has reason to look close enough and get suspicious. Congrats to one of the smartest tributes in history finally getting the end she deserved.