Val's interview: it's just as well Birdie went home, since if we'd won I totally would have voted to eat one of the chickens.

Val's interview, edited: Birdie went home since… she betrayed her alliance with Shep and Yarrow. She tried to recruit a new alliance but they were too chicken.

Rowena's interview, unedited: Check out this cool necklace Persi let me make with her kit! She says she's going to take a lot home and sell them as memorabilia. Smart.

Persi Caraway- District Eleven female (15)

The goats and chickens arrived at camp to great rejoicing. Even on the way back, the names and plans had started flying.

"Let's call this one 'Mutton' and that one 'Roast'," Enzo said, pointing at one goat and then the other.

"Noooo!" Lana put a hand protectively on the cage as Cactus, Enzo and Dorian dropped it.

"Ha, just kidding. It makes more sense to drink the milk," Enzo said.

"A girl goat is called a nanny," Alara informed us.

"'Nanny and Fanny," Amberlynn suggested.

"I like it," Dorian said.

"The one named Nanny is named 'girl'," Octavia pointed out. "That's not nice one gets a real name and one doesn't."

"Fanny and Annie," Rowena amended.

We looked at each other. No one objected.

"If we think of better names later we can change them," Lana said.

"What about the chickens?" Rowena asked.

"Robbie and Trayne," Virgo piped up immediately. There was a round of appreciative hoots.

"Trayne would be so in," Enzo said.

"Robbie probably would, too," Amberlynn added.

"Those are boy names." Lana was not objecting, just pointing it out.

Enzo shrugged. "They're girl chickens. Those are their names. They're girl names then."

Dorian stirred up Robbie- assuming the names went from left to right in the cage- and checked underneath when she clucked and moved sideways. "When will they lay eggs?"

"What, do you think they would lay while they were in a moving cage?" Virgo snorted.

He shrugged. "I dunno- animals poop whenever they need to."

"They'll probably lay within a few days if they're prizes," Virgo said. "As long as we feed them."

At the mention of food, I checked out supplies. Our rice was doing fine. We were low on cooking oil- I hoped there would be another prize like it soon. We also had some dandelion greens, some weird plants Cactus said were edible and hadn't killed us yet, and a few handfuls of hazelnuts we'd picked.

"Would they like these?" Rowena picked up some hazelnuts.

"Hey! I'm not sharing my nuts with a chicken!" I protested, covering the rest of the nuts with my hand.

"If we build them a corral they can scratch," Virgo said. She saw not everyone knew the term. "They scratch the ground for bugs and stuff."

"What's goat milk taste like?" Amberlynn poked Annie's under and smiled when it flopped.

"Bad," Enzo said.

"It's more fragrant than cow milk," Virgo agreed. "Way better for you, though. It has less lactose."

"Oh, sweet! I'm lactose intolerant," Amberlynn said. "I drink it anyway, but, you know."

"How would you be able to tell?" Enzo joked about our still-recurring stomach problems.

The discussion continued but my attention waned. I'd turned back to our supplies and was taking a careful inventory. I quietly counted each of the hazelnuts in our meager little pile. My tribemates were nice and all, but maybe too nice. I had a sneaking suspicion one of them might think Robbie Trayne looked hungry and just needed hazelnuts. If they thought I was sharing food with a bird, they had another think coming. I'd be keeping a very careful count of those nuts. Trust your friends, but count your nuts.

Lana's interview, unedited: Trayne laid an egg! We thought maybe we could let it hatch, but Virgo said it would take too long to grow and also there's no rooster so it was unfertilized. So we mixed it into our rice.

Kendall Delancy- District One male (18)

A voice crackled into life over hidden loudspeakers, drowning out Kallik's and my discussion over whether two lions or one polar bear would win in a fight.

"Tree mail!"

What the heck is tree mail?

A spotlight suddenly appeared on a boring-looking tree on the edge of camp.

"Tree mail for Kendall Delancy!"

My tribemates and I hustled over to the lit tree. The spotlight was on a crevice. I reached inside and felt an envelope lying on what must have been a hidden chute.

"Oh, cool," Leo said.

"Oh, no."

I'd been so confused by the tree mail that I hadn't thought of what it might be. It hit me all at once and I almost dropped the letter. It was Ametrine. She'd had a turn for the worse, bad enough that they would break out isolation and tell me. Everyone around me started to gasp and cluster around me as I fought back tears. Was she dying? Bed-bound? She'd always been so terrified of losing her sight. My hands shook as I opened the letter.

Dear Kendall,

Don't worry, it's not about me. I'm still kicking multiple sclerosis' butt. On the contrary, it's great news!

After reading the first sentence, I cleared my throat, caught my breath and read the rest aloud.

It's really cool you volunteered for me and all, but we both know this was never your dream, so I went ahead and did a little something. I did a little researching, and turns out that the University of Galba has a bustling geology program. Of course smelly Districters like us aren't allowed… usually. They DO, however, have an online learning program that accepts a very limited number of applicants. So I stole your identity and applied. I also took out some credit cards, but don't worry about that. Anyway, what with your kickass application essay that you and not me wrote, your impressive portfolio of amateur-ly found rocks, and quite likely a huge boost from our family being rich, YOU GOT IN! It's not a guarantee- District applicants are allowed one year of study and then the top applicants are offered a full course- but you're a rock nerd so I'm sure you'll do fine. Don't forget us ignoramuses when you're a graduate, okay?

Wish I could write more, but they said I'm only allowed to tell you about the scholarship. I would have waited until you got back, but it's a very time-sensitive offer. It's a lot past the deadline- pretty sure they initially rejected you and then saw you were going to be on the show and changed their minds. Orientation starts in ten days. It's up to you- stay if you want or come home and do this- but come on. Chances like this are one in a million. Go study rocks, nerd.

See you soon,

Ametrine

I looked up from the paper, feeling almost dazed.

"That's awesome," Trydan said, sounding jealous.

"You gonna do it?" Yarrow asked.

"I… kind of think I should," I managed, my thoughts still scattered. It didn't seem like it could be real. College? No one in the Districts went to college, not even in One. A few engineers and other jobs a District needed to survive, sure, but geology? That was a hobby, not something someone like me went to college for.

"Definitely do it," Kallik urged. I didn't need to hear her say it. I'd known my choice from the instant I read the offer. I'd just been trying to convince myself it was relevant. I was going to college? What was college even like?

"Yeah, and not even because it means we have someone to vote out next," Taylor said. Isabella had mentioned something like that. She said we were technically free to go home at any time, but production heavily preferred that we ask to be voted out instead of abruptly quitting, for scheduling purposes.

"Speaking of that," Yarrow said. "I have an idea."

Ooh what's the story here? Tune in next chapter for the thrilling conclusion.