Hello everyone and welcome to the night before and morning of the Bloodbath! I hope you guys are excited, especially since the next update will bring the commencement of the Games. Also, thank you to everyone who's already messaged me their favorite half of the cast, I really appreciate it! Votes will close two days after this chapter releases, so be sure to go ahead and send me a PM if you haven't already! Enjoy the chapter!

Oscar Gamero, 12

District Ten Male

The excitement of having allies was finally beginning to wear off, and Oscar was dreading it. He didn't want to leave that happy bubble that he'd been in for the past couple of days. Now, he was feeling just straight up terrified. His time in the Capitol had just been rushing by, and Oscar wanted it to slow down. If it kept passing at the speed that it was, the Games would be here in no time and Oscar didn't want to have to face that.

There was no way that he was going to survive after they put him in the arena. He was the youngest out of all of the tributes this year, so he had quite an obvious disadvantage, not to mention the fact that he was terrible at the survival stations and hadn't held a weapon in his life. Oscar couldn't even imagine himself holding a weapon and harming another being, human or animal. It was just so cruel and he didn't want to have to do that.

His allies (at least the Sevens, not Billy), probably wouldn't even hesitate to kill an animal for food in the arena and likely not even another tribute if they were attacked. At least he could depend on them to defend him. But he felt bad about them having to drag him around. Oscar was pretty much useless and even he knew that if Vince had his way, both him and Billy wouldn't be anywhere near the Sevens' alliance.

It was getting pretty late now, the interviews having concluded over an hour ago. Once he'd finished his interview, Oscar had headed straight back to the apartment with Kassi and Cerise. As usual, Cria had found somewhere else to be, not wanting to be seen with the tributes that she'd deemed "automatic deaths". It had hurt Oscar to hear her just give up on them that quickly, but he sort of understood where she was coming from after his emotions had died back down. But still, she could have at least tried to help them with some strategy for something.

It was okay though. At least his allies had been sharing strategies that they would use that their mentors had advised. He was just going to stick with them and pray that he made it out of the Bloodbath alive. Then he would maybe start thinking about what he would need to do to attempt to survive the Games, although he wasn't sure if he wanted to try and survive as long as he could or if he wanted to go out quickly and easily to save himself some suffering.

"Hey Oscar, how are you doing?" asked the soft voice of his district partner.

Oscar spun around from where he was sitting in one of the chairs that faced the large glass wall. Seems like Kassi had been restless too.

"I'm okay. Tomorrow just seems pretty scary," he admitted.

"Yeah, I'm frightened too. I'm sure that several other tributes are as well, Oscar. You don't have to feel bad about being scared. You're just a kid, after all."

Sniffing as he looked up into the kind, older girl's eyes, Oscar gave her a little smile in thankfulness for her compassion.

"You're so nice, Kassi. I really wish we both didn't have to be in this situation. If only those slips of paper could have had different names on them."

"If only," she sighed, "But now we have to face the path that fate set out for us. I wish that we could change it, but that's beyond our control now. Believe me, if my dad could have changed it, he would have."

"At least you had someone that was there for you back in Ten when you got to say goodbye. I had no one," he mumbled.

Kassi smiled sadly, "Yeah, but that also means that there's going to be someone grieving when I die in the Games. I mean, I've already pretty much accepted my fate, but it's not something that I necessarily want to happen."

Sniffling again, Oscar said, "I guess I didn't think about it that way. And the worst part is the fact that Taraji will have to say goodbye to you in the arena."

"Yeah, that's really going to suck. She's been alone for so much of her life. I don't want to leave her alone again, but that's going to be the thing that lies in fate's hands to decide. It'll all end up the way it's supposed to be, and it'll be okay, I promise."

For his sake, Oscar hoped Kassi was right. And he hoped that he wouldn't have to die terribly at fate's mercy.

Vincent "Vince" Wright, 18

District Seven Male

Vince was still awake even after midnight had passed and he'd been told to go to sleep several times by his sister, mentor, and escort. They were probably right, but Vince was used to running on only a few hours of sleep. In fact, he felt like he worked better when he'd only slept for a few hours. It would end up being pretty okay. With all of the adrenaline running through his system right now, it would be pretty much impossible to sleep, especially for him.

Tomorrow would be a crucial part to the overall plan that he had to ensure his sister's survival and victory, so he needed to be able to perform every part of his plan exactly as he'd thought it out. Small changes would be easy enough to adapt to, but if something big changed, it could throw him off or even destroy his plans. That would never end up like he wanted, so he needed to make sure that it didn't happen.

To be quite honest, Vince still wasn't too happy about his sister's additions to their alliance. It was supposed to just be them, that way Vince could protect her until the end, but no, she had to just go around and supposedly take all of the young tributes under her wing (there were only two of them, but it still didn't change his mind). That was just how his sister was, desperate to help others and be the person that was there for them during tough times. Vince supposed that she was trying to become the mother that she barely had.

Hopefully she wasn't too attached, although knowing Valerie, she was probably dreaming about a world where she could adopt her younger allies and they could all live together as a happy family. At this point, Vince was just praying that she wouldn't be too overcome with emotion once she lost the two weak children. It was pretty much common sense that they were going to die pretty early on, but Valerie clearly refused to accept that along with the fact that she wasn't going to be able to see Vince outside of the arena after tomorrow morning and the Games.

Well, he hadn't exactly told her that, so he couldn't expect her to accept it just quite yet. It was unfortunate that she would have to accept that situation when it happened, but it was the only way that she would let it happen. Vince was going to make sure that his sister would be the one to survive, no matter whether she liked it or not.

Ultimately, his plan was sort of flexible for the supplies that the Capitol provided and whatever of that they managed to grab, plus the setting of the arena, so he wasn't as worried as if it would have been super specific and not able to change at all.

The first means of business that they would need to conduct was finding a spot to meet up, if the younger ones even survived the Bloodbath. Hopefully they would have time to talk together one final time in the morning before they were separated for the launch. If not, it might end up being a whole load harder to meet up than Vince was hoping for. It would just be something that he'd figure out as he went, even though he hated the idea of having to do that. Although, he was definitely going to keep an eye on Valerie during the Bloodbath just so he could defend her if necessary, have an eye on her, and keep her from doing something foolish that early into the Games.

Knowing her, she'd automatically rush in towards the Cornucopia trying to get a weapon and the best supplies. That really wouldn't be too wise, especially since Valerie didn't have much experience with a weapon, and the Careers would be rushing towards that direction as well. Vince would likely enter the fray to grab some supplies and maybe a weapon, but he definitely wasn't going to let his sister go in there by herself. That was basically just a death wish, but of course Valerie wouldn't see it that way. She'd find some way to make it fun and like she needed to do it, but Vince wasn't going to be fooled by her childish nature.

All would end up well soon enough. He would protect his sister until she was crowned the victor and then she would return back home to Seven to bury him and then live the rest of her long life.

Reverie Sparks, 16

District Three Female

Reverie was woken up by the voice of her escort and the sudden onslaught of bright light. The day was here and she was not too pleased about it. All she wanted to do was yank the covers over her head and wake up back in her own bed at home in Three. Her alliance was pretty solid, but Reverie just didn't want to have to go into the Hunger Games in the first place.

The minute she stepped into that arena, her whole life would change even more than it already had. She might have to kill to survive, but she wanted to go back home. It was all going to be okay. She just needed to study her plants more over breakfast and further rethink and solidify her plan for the arena.

"Reverie, dear! The outfit that you'll wear to the launch is set out on the chair in your room," Alabaster chimed as he walked out of the room.

"Okay, thank you," she said loudly.

Sitting up and sliding out of the bed, Reverie yawned as she stretched her arms up over her head. It was fairly early, around the same time that she would wake up to help her father with extra work, but she usually went to bed earlier than she had the night before. She'd been up close to midnight just pondering about what her next several nights in the arena might be like, so she hadn't got as much sleep as she would have back home. Those nights in the arena would likely be even more sleepless though, so it was a feeling that she would need to get used to quickly.

She was confident that she would be able to adapt to the arena quite quickly, but it was her allies that she was worried about. They seemed to both be used to some sort of schedule and grew up in nice homes, so it would be a bit more challenging for them to grow used to the very different conditions that the arena would possess. Reverie was the member of the alliance that they would depend on the most, mainly because of her excellent memory and ability to learn quickly. Milo could provide brute strength and maybe some weapons abilities if needed, and Anne was just an eager person to help overall.

Their understanding of each other's skills was good, and they worked well together, which would be great in the arena. Reverie had seen many alliances break apart just because nobody got along because the alliance was formed out of necessity and not careful thought and consideration. Her alliance with the Sixes had been thought about carefully, and the benefits definitely outweighed the negatives. This was going to be the key to longer survival in the Games for Reverie.

However, she needed to get ready before she got too distracted and lost precious time to restudy the materials that she'd gotten during training. Every second to prepare before the Games would be crucial for her.

First, it was off to the bathroom to take a quick rinse in the shower before she fully got ready. It would do her good to be clean, plus she wouldn't have a chance to fully bathe like this during the Games. The water felt so refreshing as it fell from the showerhead, and when she stepped out of the steam filled shower, Reverie felt surprisingly ready for the day. Or at least, as ready as she could be for the Hunger Games.

After that, she fully got ready, drying her hair with that fancy touchpad (the Capitol was so far ahead of Three, even with all of its gadgets and whatnot) and brushing her teeth and hair. Once that was done, she pulled on her clothes that she would travel to the launch room in, a simple short sleeve gray cotton shirt and matching leggings. She was also given some soft white socks that stopped at her ankles along with a pair of generic-looking black athletic shoes.

It was comfy, she had to give the Capitol that. This felt like it would make studying so much easier before she had to report to the training floor for their departure. She had what, about an hour? That was a good duration for a nice study review session. This little review would help her have the information fresh in her mind for later today when she might need to use it, so it was definitely a key part of her plan for before the launch.

This exact plan had been thought up by Reverie right after she'd stepped onto that train to the Capitol, and it had been rethought and rethought until she determined that it was perfect. Or, at least she hoped that it was perfect. What mattered was the fact that she was confident in herself enough to know that this plan could get her through all of this.

Billy Gauge, 14

District Eight Male

Billy was more nervous than he'd ever been in his life. In fact, he felt so much more nervous than he'd been when he was waiting for that dreaded diagnosis in the doctor's office six months ago. It sorta made sense now that he was thinking about it. That diagnosis would have likely brought a slower death (and would have if Billy hadn't volunteered), but now, the Games were going to be his way of going out easily and quickly. Billy felt sort of bad for how his allies were going to feel (well, Oscar and Val, not so much Vince), but he was sure that the Games would hopefully distract them from the grief.

He could also be useful to his alliance before he went out. Maybe if he was close to one of the Careers or other strong Outliers, he could jump off of his pedestal early and sabotage them. Or perhaps he could run in and grab supplies for his allies and keep them claimed until they got to him. Oh, what if he could distract one of the Careers or Outliers with him and Vince or Val could sneak up and kill them.

There were just so many ways that he could contribute to his alliance while getting what he ultimately wished for, but it was likely going to be a spur of the moment decision. This was pretty much the only semblance of a plan that Billy had come up with for himself, so he didn't have much on his mind other than that.

A knock on the door startled him out of his rather morbid plan. It was Currant, presumably waking him up at a time where he had enough time to get ready and eat something before he had to report to the training floor.

"Billy, are you up?" he asked boredly.

"Yes, I am!" Billy shouted so that his escort could hear him through the door.

Hearing footsteps fading away from his door, Billy assumed that Currant had walked off, satisfied with his answer. That sounded like his escort, that was for sure. The man was certainly not what Billy had expected from an escort, but he supposed that it worked enough that he was able to keep his job.

Time to get ready, Billy told himself. Then he could eat and continue on with his thoughts of becoming a self-sacrifice. He was planning on taking a shower first, so that's what he headed into the bathroom attached to his room to do.

When he stepped into the shower, it felt like a wave of regret crashed over him. This was going to be his last shower now, just because he'd volunteered for the Hunger Games. Well, there weren't showers back at the orphanage in Eight (except for Miss Jacket), but it still meant the same thing to him. If he'd just decided to live back home, slowly dying, he wouldn't be taking his last shower right now. But he'd much rather a quick death than a slow one that took months, right?

Then, the tears started welling up. This wave of emotions was just appearing and coming onto him so quickly and everything just felt so overwhelming now. It was all going to be okay. He'd rather be at peace than still living his life in the orphanage, dying of a lung disease and being yelled at daily for never being good enough. This was a good decision on his part, and he was going to get to help some good people with his plan for the Bloodbath.

Now it felt like that emotional wave of doubt had flowed over him and left. Thank goodness. Billy hated being anything other than his normal, positive self, but there were times that he just had to let go of all of the things he kept to himself.

It was time to finish getting himself ready, then he could continue his odd thoughts. All he really needed to do after drying off would be brushing his teeth and hair and then getting dressed, so it wasn't going to take him too long.

Like he'd thought, he was ready rather quickly, so it was time to head out of his room and grab some breakfast for the big day. Billy was sure that everything would go like he wanted, and he hoped that his allies would ultimately forgive him for what he was going to do.

And the pregames are done guys! I can't believe that we're already about to be at the Games portion of TCOA! I just want to preface this by saying that all twenty-two tributes that y'all sent to me are absolutely incredible and I really don't want to have to say goodbye to all but one, but that's how this type of story works. As of posting this chapter, I haven't decided any placements or major things in the arena yet, so just know that nothing is concrete right now. I'm planning on writing both a launch chapter and the Bloodbath before I update the story again, so it might be a little longer between updates than it has been. Thank you guys so much for all of your support and thank you for reading! Again, remember to PM me with your favorite eleven tributes out of the cast in the next two days if you haven't! Also, if there is a tie between tributes, it will be broken by a random name picker/wheel, so it won't be biased. I'll see you guys in the next one!