Author's Note

I do not own the Hunger Games.

District Four Female, Nixxie Cascade, 16

The girl from Two had fallen on the bridge behind her, and was still screaming as she tried to get up. The bridge swayed and rocked dangerously, at one point twisting so violently sideways that Nixxie almost thought the filth career might be tipped straight off.

"What are you doing?" she screamed, her eyes gleaming with tears. "Help me!"

Nixxie shook her head, signing, 'No.'

Stepping back onto the bridge would only destabilize it further and send the girl plunging over the edge into the abyss. Besides, Nixxie had caught enough of a glimpse of her as she ran to understand what her intentions had been and why she had come so far from her original start point.

"Please!" screamed the girl even as Nixxie turned away. It could all too easily be a trick, a ploy to bring her close and then tip her over the side of the bridge once she was within reach.

She couldn't take that risk. Her family needed her home, and she wasn't dying for some Capitol bootlicker.

"You bitch!" screamed the girl from Two as Nixxie grabbed the ladder. They were rope and wood, surprisingly flimsy feeling, though she suspected they'd be tougher than they looked.

Quickly, she began to scramble upwards. This was easy, just like climbing the ship's rigging back home. Except she wasn't racing her siblings; she was racing other tributes that might want to kill her.

The ladder shook as she ascended, but she focused on getting up it. Behind her, the girl from Two was still squealing as she tried to rise from the bridge and it twisted under her. She'd never get up; she'd need someone to drag her off from the other end. Served the loyalist bitch right.

A few other tributes were reaching her side now, some going straight for the ladders while others turned to shout for and cheer on other tributes. Still, Nixxie was doing best on the ladders so far, which should give her that advantage.

The ladder itself fed through a person-sized hole at the bottom of one of the glass boxes. Nixxie could see no way out from there, but maybe it was like the little rooms they'd all been in before.

"Millie! Rusudan!" she shouted, finding them still on the other side of the abyss. "Come on!"

She couldn't wait here forever in the hopes they might catch up.

But she could take a moment and let them see where she'd gone. Hopefully they'd be able to follow.

District Seven Male, Micah Bradley, 14

Micah was one of the first to reach the other side, and couldn't help his little jolt of pride at having succeeded before turning to cheer for the others.

But not everyone was doing so well. The girl from Two had fallen over, a boy from Three had frozen in place, and one of the girls from Ten was having to be coached across by the rest of her alliance.

"Well done, Micah! Just– wait there!" shouted Cali. The rest of their alliance were making their way across via various methods, though most had chosen to go for the ropes. Jarrod and Amarine had decided to jump onto a set together, and it was wobbling precariously. Every time one of them tried to adjust themselves so the ropes were straight again, they would overcorrect, resulting in them tipping dangerously forward or backwards.

"You're throwing each other's balance off!" Micah shouted. Even he could see that.

Amarine, who had been the second one on, glanced back at the ledge but shook her head, her eyes wide. "I can't go back!"

"Just hold on and keep going!" Jarrod shouted.

"But you're overbalancing each other!" cries Micah, but it was helpless.

A little further over, both Daisy and Marcellus had chosen a balance beam. It was round like a log, the kind of thing some children in Seven played on, except this one was suspended above a pit of spikes. At least that one was safe for two people.

Cali, meanwhile, had taken the monkeybars, and her face was steadily turning red with the effort.

"You can do it!" Micah shouted.

To his left, he caught a glimpse of Terro and Iris as they reached his side. Micah cheered and clapped. They'd agreed not to be allies, but they could still be kind to each other.

He glanced around, but he couldn't see any of the others. They must be here somewhere though, he'd not seen their faces on the door.

To his right and upwards, a group of the younger tributes were trying to make their way across, while further down, the Tens were already halfway across. And all the way up, higher than all the others, were the two from Nine that had killed that boy, moving swiftly over a set of floating platforms.

It almost seemed unfair.

They had it so easy and were living, while the girl from Six, who did no one any wrong, had died.

Micah clenched his fists.

He didn't want to run into that pair, but if he did, he'd stand strong and face them, as a real King should.

They needed to be taught to play nicely with others.

Daisy stepped down onto the ledge and grinned at him before turning to shout encouragements at Marcellus. Micah tried to look and see whether any of the other tributes nearby were those that had formed the large group in the water tank, but he hadn't paid enough attention to recognise any of their faces.

But they could expand their alliance if any of those nearby agreed. The more people that worked with them, the less that might die.

District Nine Male, Wolf Willows, 18

There was very little that could be used to fuel a fire in here. That was why Wolf had refused Wren's pleas to burn something before now.

Bit she was right.

There were things they could burn that would still cause damage, as well as possibly lessening the competition.

And it would make Wren happy.

Wolf climbed a little faster. They needed to be close to an escape route for this to work, with the most likely route being into and through one of those glass boxes.

Wren was barely behind him on the next ladder over, though looking up, that one was tethered to the ceiling rather than leading into one of the glass boxes. She'd have to jump to his ladder once they'd started this.

Down below, screaming broke out. One of the girls from Two had been screaming for a while, but the boy from her District was now crossing the monkey bars close to her, shouting something that was distorted by the echo in here. Meanwhile, the other girl from Two was going after the alliance from Ten and had levelled her spear at his back.

"They fight among themselves," said Wren with a smile.

"Of course they do. All their priorities are at odds."

"How many will die?"

"I don't know." Wolf looped his arm around his ladder and swung the bag from his back, digging through it for his matches. The shift in weight made the ladder twist and turn, and he almost feared slipping straight off, but his arm kept him anchored. He dug about in his bag and pulled out the box of matches.

Giving it to Stem would be a recipe for disaster, so he slipped them into a pocket before swinging the bag onto his back. The soffit threatened to drag him down, but Wolf had always been tough and strong. He could hold a bag like this.

"Got them," he said, holding the matches up.

Wren grinned. "Can I strike the first?"

"If you're careful." He passed her the box and she slid it open, extracting one of the matches. She turned it over in her fingers, her eyes glittering with eagerness. This was the kind of thing Wren lived for. Fire and destruction.

Wolf held the box for her so she could hold the ladder with one hand and strike the match with the other. A tiny orange flame flickered to life. Wren grinned, watching it burn, and then leaned over to press it to the nearest ladder.

It took a moment. They had no kindling nor fuel, nothing to help the flames catch, but at last the rope of the ladder took the flame, the fire quickly spreading both ways. Wren caught the non-burning side and swung it to the next ladder, holding it there until the flames began to spread. Wolf tucked the matches away in his pocket.

A fire like this might not kill anyone, but it ought to spread some panic.

District Eight Female, Nadine Stitcher, 16

Part of her was relieved to be alone for this one. Allies would only have meant someone to shove her over the edge. That was what she would have done, anyway. Get rid of a little competition. It would have worked, the same using the District Eleven boy worked to get her free of the water tank.

Unfortunately, there was no one close enough to try something like that at the moment. And she'd rather stick with Meredith for a bit. She was District Eight, just like Nadine, and they might be able to trust each other a little more for that.

Meredith was trying to make her own way across a set of ropes, squealing every time they swayed and tilted her one way or the other.

" You can do it!" Nadine shouted, though she wasn't sure how enthusiastic she really sounded. Her voice strained at the effort. "Come on! Keep going! You're so close!"

Around her, other tributes were shouting similarly, cheering for their allies poor screaming up and down the abuts in some attempt to attract the attention of their friends.

At least Nadine hadn't come here with anyone she knew. The tributes that were here with their siblings had more to lose and more heartbreak to endure. They'd surely have to watch their sibling die. She didn't have to worry about that.

Meredith yelled as the ropes swayed again, and for a moment it looked like she might go straight off backwards. Her eyes shone with terror. At last she pulled herself back upright, leaning on the top rope to keep herself stable.

"You're okay!" Nadine shouted, reaching out for her despite Meredith still being a good stretch out of reach. "You're okay! Come on, keep going!"

It wasn't done out of any concern for her life. Just that Meredith would be the most convenient ally to have for a bit.

"Come on!"

Meredith had turned white, her eyes wide with fear, but she made the next step, and then another, before the ropes swayed again. Throughout the cavern, Nadine could see many of the tributes were having a similar problem. The ropes had looked like the safest option, having somewhere to put both hands and feet, but now they were actually being used, the way they swayed had become a lethal danger. To their far right, one of the boys from Ten was having a similar problem to Meredith, and one of the girls from Two was bearing down on him, only a few steps from the ropes he was teetering on.

Nadine turned her attention back to Meredith.

One less tribute was one less person to worry about.

"You!" screamed someone from above. She raised her head to find the younger boy from Eleven, his eyes wild with rage. "You got Saigon killed! I'll kill you, you bitch!"

"I don't even know who that is!"

"My brother!" he screamed, the sound ringing around the abyss. "My brother's dead because of you! I'll kill you, you bitch!"

Meredith struggled the last few steps along the rope, stumbling and almost falling as she made the switch from rope to the stone ledge. "Why's he so upset?"

Nadine shrugged. "I have no idea."

Meredith grabbed one of the ladders. "Let's see if we can find some of the others then."

Nadine spared the boy a last glance. "I'm on it."

He was wasting his voice anyway. No one ever cared for anyone the way he was screaming about.

District Eleven Male, Atticus Rúgur, 18

This challenge felt like it had been made for District Eleven. They virtually lived in trees. If only he'd come out of the batch closed to any of the other tributes. He could make some kills in hee. Not to matter. He'd bet them on the other side. There was always the next thing with stuff like this. Always the next chance to feel wet blood on his hands.

Now was not that time. He needed to get to the other side at least before he could start making moves. He needed to know that he had a safe and reliable hiding place.

Atticus gripped the monkey bars and tugged at them to test whether they'd hold his weight. They creaked and groaned, but there was no movement.

He grinned and swung himself out.

It was a shame he'd come out so far from the other tributes; he might have been able to get a kill or two, but in a place like this, he only risked losing his own footing and going plunging to his death on those spikes down there.

"Attention tributes!" boomed the speakers. The cavern turned an eerie red around them. "You have one hour to reach safety. Any tributes not within a resting pod by then will be terminated. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor."

"But that's not fair!" complained a girl near him.

"They keep changing the rules!" shouted one of the careers, the big girl from One.

"It is their arena!" shouted the little boy from Three. He was so tiny, Atticus could snap his neck like a twig–

"And how are we meant to keep up when they keep switching things?" argued another boy, closer to the one from Three.

"They don't want us to keep up; that's the point!"

"That's stupid!"

"That's the way they do it!"

One hour.

Well, he'd be over these bars quicker than an hour. And from there, it looked like he went straight up the ladder. He could manage that fast enough.

Just a shame he couldn't take anyone out while doing it.

District Two Female, Freya Slate Harmon, 15

The bitch from Four had already scurried away, disappearing halfway up one of the ladders. Freya struggled to rise, but every time she did, the bridge tilted to one side or the other, eliciting sharp screams from her.

"Freya!" shouted Alexios, his voice echoing in the cavern. "Hang on! I'm almost there! I'll get you!"

"What if I fall?" she yelled.

"I won't let you!"

"I don't think I can get up!"

"I'm coming to help, just hang on!"

Somewhere off to her left, there was an explosion of orange light. Freya yelped and raised her head to find that part of the arena was alight on the far left. Did the Gamemakers think they weren't moving fast enough?

"Alexios?" she called. Tears burned her eyes. She blinked them away. She shouldn't be crying; she was better than that. She just hated this; she hated all of this.

"Almost there. Just coming across."

She turned to the right as much as she dared, shrieking as the glass bridge tilted in that direction. Fuck, she was so stupid. She was meant to be a career; she was meant to be better than the other tributes!

Alexios swung himself over the monkey bars to her right, crossing them with quick, easy swings. She should have gone that way and just kicked the bitch from Four off the again, if she'd missed, or slipped this way, she might have just plunged straight down into that pit.

Alexios dropped onto the ledge and crouched before her. "Freya? Look at me. Don't look at that. Look at me."

She turned her attention to him, the glass bridge rocking under her as she did so. "I'm not scared."

"I know. I've got you." He grabbed her wrists and slowly began to pull her across the bridge. "Guess you need to get a bit better at this."

"I could have done it just fine!" she replied indignantly.

"I'm sure."

Yells of alarm came from off to their left, sharp and horrified, echoing in the confined space. Freya turned to look and the bridge lurched under her.

"No, no, keep looking at me."

"What's all the shouting?"

"They're panicking at the fire." He hauled her onto the ledge and helped her to her feet. "You good?"

"I think so." She rubbed her hands on her jacket and looked up to where the girl from Four was now fleeing up the ladder.

Alexios followed her gaze. "Let her go. We'll get her another time."

District Seven Male, Terro Fields, 18

Maybe he'd made the wrong choice to cross the ropes, maybe Two had just got lucky, but it still burned Terro's pride that she got across first. For fuck's sake, the girl must have fallen out of every tree in the orchard!

She stepped from the bridge and then turned to cheer him on, her feet uncomfortably close to the edge of the edge, holding her arms out towards him. Terro gritted his teeth. "You're being distracting."

"I'm being supportive."

"Go be supportive somewhere else."

Two glanced around the cavern and then began to edge along their ledge. Terro cursed. "What are you doing? Where are you going?"

"To be supportive to someone else. You're from Twelve, aren't you? Come on, you're almost across! Keep going!"

"Ah– Iris!" he hissed, but she was too distracted cheering for the little boy from Three and his small allies. Damn it. Couldn't she be anything except a pain in the ass?

Terro closed his eyes and felt his way across the last section of the rope before stepping off. It felt good to have solid stone beneath his boots again. He staggered slightly as he released his death grip on the rope, and caught himself against the cave wall.

"Come on, you can do it! You're so close!"

"Iris," Terro hissed.

Two bounced on her heels, grinning at the boy from Three. "Keep going! Come on!"

"Are you always this annoying, or is it only under the threat of imminent death?" asked the boy.

"No, she's always like this," said Terro, grabbing the nearest ladder. Everything was burning off to the left, which meant they needed to get up and away before the flames spread to them. "Come on, we need to keep going."

"I was being supportive to other tributes."

"You were being distracting to other tributes. Now come on."

Two rolled her eyes. "You're no fun, you know that?"

"I'm practical. Now can we please get going?"

Fuck, it felt like trying to coral a particularly rebellious cat. In fact, a cat might have at least looked at him. Not like Two, who had now switched to cheering for the next of Three's little allies, one of the boys from Eleven.

Terro grabbed Two's arm and yanked her towards the ladder. She shrieked as her footing slipped and he caught her before she could go plunging straight over the edge of the ledge.

"Ladders. Now," he said, shoving her against it.

"Bossy bossy," she grumbled, and began the climb up.

District One Female, Daisy Jetson-Brie, 15

Marcellus wobbled a little as he reached the end of the battle beam, but at last he stepped down onto the ledge. Daisy laughed and wrapped him in a hug. "You did it!"

He patted her on the back, froze, and caught her shoulders. "I don't think we should be…"

"Why not? We're only hugging, aren't we?"

"We are, but I don't want it to be thought that I'm taking advantage of you."

"Don't be silly, I did the hugging." Daisy parted from him as best she could on this narrow ledge. Cali was struggling now, despite Micah's cheerful encouragement, while Jarrod and Amarine were struggling with each sway off the ropes.

"Hang on! Maybe we can hold them steady!" called Daisy. She hurried over and wrapped her hands around the rope, attempting to steady it.

"We might just pull you off that way!" shouted Jarrod.

"You won't! I've got it!"

"I really would rather it if you didn't!"

"Come on, quickly!"

With every move one of them made, the rope would shift and burn her hands, grinding the skin from them. She gasped but fought to hold the rope tight. Tears burned her eyes. "Come on, keep going!"

A pastor of tan olive hands closed over the rope in front of hers, steadying it further. She smiled weakly at Marcellus. "Thanks."

"Don't worry about it."

Orange light played across the cavern to their left.

"What's going on?" she asked, turning towards the glow.

"Fire," Marcellus said grimly.

"But who would..?"

"The lunatics from Nine, who do you think?" grumbled the boy to their left, who was wearing blue with District Four printed across it.

"But why would they do that?"

"Don't think the why matters right now," said Cali, dropping the ledge.

"It matters when they've set the arena on fire!"

"We should get up to one of the safety spaces," said Marcellus.

Cali nodded. "You two go ahead and see what we've still got to face. I'm going to stay here and support the Nines."

"What about me?" asked Micah.

"Uhhhh…"

"You can come with us," Daisy said hurriedly, grabbing his arm. "Come on."

He grinned. "Yay!"

"Be slightly less enthusiastic," grumbled Marcellus as he stepped up onto the nearest ladder.

District Four Male, Zale Tulius, 18

Part of the arena was on fire.

Which was just what they needed.

The orange flames were currently licking up two of the ladders, though they were spreading, reaching across to other nearby ladders and setting them alight. Those nearest were beginning to yell and scream, attempting to move to ladders further away. For now, they were succeeding in staying away from the flames, but if that fire continued to spread…

"Hurry up!" Zale shouted at Andrew. They needed to get up one of the ladders and into a safety zone or whatever they'd been called as soon as they could. Zale scowled. "Can't you move any faster?"

"I'm trying!" snapped Andrew, taking another shaky step across the rope.

"Try faster! We need to get up there before the fire reaches us!"

The Gamemakers rarely provided extra help for tributes disadvantaged by the actions of those within the arena. In fact, this was exactly what they wanted them to do. They expected them to fight; they wanted to watch them turn on each other.

The fire was still spreading. Faster than Zale might have expected, maybe the ladders had been coated in something flammable? Either that or the Gamemakers were helping it along. Neither possibility was a good one.

Andrew neared the end of the rope and Zale reached out to grab his wrist and steady him as he made the last few steps. Acrid black smoke billowed into the air. The screams and panicked yells of those caught in it rang through the cavern. Zale pulled Andrew onto the ledge. "You good?"

"I've been better."

"Come on. We need to get up and out of here."

That fire was getting far too close to them now, eating up the ladders and sending huge plumes of sky towards the ceiling. Several of the glass boxes that were presumably what they were aiming to reach had been entirely engulfed.

"I can't just… have a moment?"

"You can have as many moments as you like once we're safe." Zale shoved one of the ladders into his hands and took another for himself. "Come on." He began the climb up, the ladder swaying and swinging under him. It was a dizzying movement, but he had done worse in training. Let it never be said a boy from Four couldn't climb a simple ladder.

The question was whether he could climb a simple ladder faster than fire.

District Seven Male, Falcon Farley, 18

He and Phoebe crossed the monkey bars easy enough, swinging themselves across the abyss. It put some strain on his atrophied arms, but the activity came to him easily enough. Child's play, something they'd done for fun back home.

But still Phoebe hesitated and agonised over the girl from Ten, forming desperate signs with her hands. "She needs to come with us."

"And she will! But not now!"

There was fire spreading from the left of the arena, now jumping between the ladders to devour the space between them. And the girl from Two seemed to have started a fight with the two boys from Ten, the three of them struggling together while still clinging to the bars above them.

Phoebe shook her head. "What if the fight hurts her? What if she falls?"

"Then we can't help her. Come on." Falcon nudged her towards the ladders and waited until she began to make her way up before following. The smoke was thick in the air now, and he coughed and choked on it, fighting to clear his lungs.

Down below, the coyotes were snarling and howling, their ferocity ringing through the cavern. The girl from Six hadn't been enough. They wanted more prey, more blood, more flesh to feast on. They hungered for pain and would be prowling until they were fed.

Phoebe stopped above him.

"What is it?" he called.

She shook her head and pointed upwards. "No further." Her voice cracked and rasped from disuse.

Falcon followed her gesture to find she was right. Above them, the ladder was tethered to the ceiling by steel rings, but there was nowhere for them to continue going.

"Fuck," muttered Falcon, squinting at the ladders around them. Some hung lower, others looked to go higher. He pointed out one that ran further up. It would take them some climbing across, but wasn't too far out of reach. He pointed at it. "That one."

Phoebe nodded and reached over to the next nearest ladder, pulling herself onto it. She swung wildly for a brief moment, and then it steadied again. Falcon waited until she moved to the next ladder before following her across. The swaying and lurching of the ladders was unnerving, but he soon accustomed to the movement. The climb was just like climbing the treetops back home.

He stayed alongside Phoebe until her ladder fed into one of the glass boxes, and then swung himself over to her ladder to follow her into the box.

As he hurried through, he couldn't see anything but darkness, but another few rungs upwards brought him into light. Phoebe caught his elbows and helped him up. Even the floor was glass, allowing them a full view of the arena outside. He rolled onto his back with a laugh. "We made it!"

Phoebe nudged something beside him. A metal circle, similar to a drain cover. She pointed at the hole they'd climbed through.

"Right. Yeah, hang on." He rolled over and crawled behind the disk, planting his feet against it and pushing it towards the gap. Phoebe leant her hands to the effort, until the disk slotted into place over the hole. A green light flashed in the centre of it. Falcon touched it and twisted until it formed a red symbol of a padlock. "I think that locks it."

Phoebe nodded and crawled over to the wall.

"You want to watch?"

She nodded again. Falcon settled at her side. "Let's watch then."

District Nine Female, Wren Willows, 18

The flames were beautiful, spreading quickly through the cavern and devouring the ladders. The yells of the tributes caught in the smoke were birdsong to her ears.

Wren laughed as she climbed higher, staying ahead of the pretty flames as they continued to grow. How many would they take, she wondered? Some, hopefully. That would make this all worth it.

And maybe later, when there were less of them remaining and a better situation, they could start another fire. Let it burn, and take all around with it.

"We can't stay and watch!" shouted Wolf, reaching back to her. Wren hadn't even realised she'd stopped. She blinked the fire from her eyes and returned her attention to scrambling up the ladder. It was surprisingly awkward, swinging and swaying with their movement, occasionally twisting around in a sickening circle that made her head spin.

At last, however, they were nearing one of the glass boxes thrust out over the abyss. Their ladder led through a hole in the underneath of it and vanished.

"What if it's a trap?" shouted Wren.

"I don't think we have a choice!" Wolf climbed up ahead of her, disappearing through the hole.

"Wolf?" she called nervously. He couldn't leave her; they had to be together.

"It's safe!" he replied.

Wren took a final look at the beautiful flames engulfing the carven and scrambled up behind him.

The box was glass on the inside as well as the outside, giving them a good vantage point of the arena beneath them. At one end stood a large double bed; at the other was a toilet and sink. At least they had that this time.

"Help me with this," said Wolf, indicating a large metal disk. Between the two of them, they picked it up and clicked it into place atop the hole they'd climbed through.

"Now can we watch?" asked Wren.

"We can."

Wolf led her over to one wall and they sat to watch, though they could have laid down and watched through the floor. She supposed it didn't really matter.

They were all going to burn, one way or the other.

District Ten Male, Hunter Maren, 17

They had been doing so well.

Laika had almost reached the other side, and Aiolin was close behind her, still complaining and fussing over the high drop and the long crossing over the monkey bars. Ariel, the only one of their alliance to opt for the glass bridge, was crossing it with level, dreamy steps, humming to herself as though lost in another world. Her dark hair fluttered around her face as she moved.

Diego and Hunter were bringing up the rear, swinging themselves across the bars. It wasn't the kind of thing they did in Ten, and the strain on his arms felt like it might rip his arms from the sockets.

Something caught him in the back, and it took him a moment to realise he'd been kicked from behind as he hadn't expected another tribute to be back there. He swung himself forward a little more hurriedly, but Diego blocked him from going much further.

"What are you doing?" he snapped, twisting his head to glance over his shoulder. It was one of the girls from Two, her face grim with determination.

Hunter brought his legs back to kick at her, catching her in the legs. She yelled and shuddered, but kept her grip.

"Back off!" he shouted.

"What's she doing?" asked Diego.

"She keeps kicking me!" he replied, swinging forward another rung.

"Hey, you! Fuck off!" Diego shouted.

The girl laughed and brought her legs up to kick Hunter in the chest. This was deliberate then. She was trying to knock him off.

He had no way of turning, which meant all he could do was swing his legs back to flail at her. Diego hurried forward a little further and Hunter followed, only for the girl to entangle her legs with his.

For one terrifying moment he fought to find a handhold on the bars.

And then he fell.