Orpheus Adello, 18

Rays of sun pierced the horizon and Orpheus continued his slow trudge towards the center of the Arena. The burns on his legs and the right side of his torso had healed little since the explosion. He sensed that the constant movement was bad for them. He had gotten trapped behind the fire line and had to make a run for it, and well, that went poorly. There was immense pain, but the armor had absolutely saved his life, and the first thing he did after making sure he was still alive was looking up at the sky and profusely thanking the sponsors for gifting it to him. His flesh had been broiled some, but he hadn't actually caught on fire, and the tissue hadn't melted.

The situation had presented him with two main options. He could stay put, or he could go somewhere. Moving with injuries was incredibly painful, but there were a few reasons tipping the balance in favor of traveling anyways. First of all, he wouldn't be getting any sponsorship in the future if he sat down like a damsel in distress and waited to be rescued. Then, there was the knowledge that help was at the Cornucopia in the form of his fellow Careers, who possessed a well-stocked first aid kit. Finally, the fear of being stuck gnawed at him. It seemed clear in retrospect that the Three girl had engineered the explosion. She was still alive, and if she was armed, it seemed plausible that she might return to finish off any wounded survivors.

Now, long after that, he was having doubts. He supposed that was normal. He did worry that perhaps the camp had been abandoned or some similar thing, but he continued to fight forward because it was so critical that he at least try to do something to stay in the Capitol's good graces, and he did feel that he was getting closer. He had been making slow progress, and yet there was a lot of meandering in terms of the route. When he'd tried to salvage the supplies in the heat of the moment, the compass hadn't been very high on his list of priorities, even if it had been accessible, which it wasn't. He snagged the backpack and scrambled away as fast as his burned legs would allow him to.

Now, he was recognizing his surroundings as familiar. He was getting close to the Cornucopia, he knew it. He walked faster, promising himself that he would be totally fine as soon as he got some medical attention. Sure enough, the Cornucopia emerged on the horizon. He could tell the Careers were there because they were having a loud argument. Actually, on second thought, it seemed like it had devolved into one person screaming at someone else. "I hate you!" screamed somebody. "You're the worst ally ever!" There was a softer noise, like someone responding rationally to this.

"Fuck you!" the angry person fired back. Suddenly, Orpheus had a brain wave.

"Hey!" he yelled. "It's me, Orpheus! I'm alive but hurt! Come help me!" Someone slipped out of the Cornucopia and came sprinting towards him.

"Orpheus, it's Odicci! We're so glad you're alive!"

"Orpheus? Oh my god, Orpheus!" Nikita ran for him. Based on how ruffled he looked, Orpheus suspected that he had been the screamer.

"Where's Tybalt?" Orpheus asked.

"See, that's a great question. We're actually not sure, but we're glad we have you back."

"I need a first aid kit. I have some bad burns."

"From what?"

"The Three girl. She set off an explosion that killed Haylia and Nathaniel. I got really lucky with the armor." Speaking of luck, Orpheus idly noticed that he was the only one with a weapon. That would put them in a bad spot if he had been followed, he thought.

And of course, that was the exact moment the attacker struck.

The nose of the hovercraft dipped sharply in the air as the first projectile struck it. There was a crunching noise. "Karen!" Konstance snarled. "What did you say to them?"

"Nothing!" Karen cried.

"What's happening?"

"How should I know?"

"You betrayed me!" The Ringmaster swore from somewhere in the next segment over from the partition. Peacekeepers were frantically rushing towards the cockpit. "What's happening?!" someone demanded.

"We're under assault!" The leaders of the coup were streaming from one compartment to the next.

There was another projectile. Karen screamed and lunged for her tablet, sending a short, panicked message to her friends. Craft is being bombed. I love you. There were messages from most everyone. Rosé sent a red heart. Nigel sent a worried stream of prayers. Nikolai was offline. And Pandora sent an I'm so, so sorry. Please forgive me. I had to.

There was a third and final projectile and the hovercraft's belly burst open, spilling humans and their weapons into the sky, where they plummeted. Then the final spray of projectiles hit, and Karen had nothing more to be fearful of, because she was dead—mostly vapor, in fact, and all because she had capitulated to her horrible mother one final time—and her role in this story is no longer under her control.

But her role in this story is not over. Because of lots of people, like Nigel, and Nikolai, and even Pandora, but mostly me.

This is the part where I start to matter a lot. So pay attention. Time goes fast around here.

karen babygirl i love u and i'm so so sorry this had to happen