Chapter Eight (District 6 vs District 13)

Bloodbath


Holly Abe, 18

District Six, twentieth female

We were woken up early. I smiled as I climbed out of bed, and got dressed. It was time to go to the Arena. I was going into the Hunger Games! Everything I had spent the last fourteen years of my life training for was about to pay off. I went down to the ground floor with Paxton and ate my breakfast. I was sitting with my alliance, Buster, Cylinder, Izzy, Saturn, Keith and Jacobi. We were talking about our targets. I had claimed Martin and Cathrine as my victims. I knew neither were massive threats, but they still scored fairly well, and I had a weird feeling neither and shown their full potential. Each of my allies claimed different victims. I was confident most of us would be able top kill out victims. I also was confident most of the alliance would survive the Bloodbath. Almost every year, the Career alliance survived the Bloodbath to fight the Anti-Careers if they chose to attack straight away, which was rare.. Most years, the Anti-Careers waited until the third or fourth day to attack the Cornucopia. Once we had finished breakfast, Werntius, our escort, stood up.

"OK tributes. Of course, you are heading to the Arena today. Shortly, I will start calling your names, one at a time. You will then be taken to the Arena alone, and wait in the catacombs underneath the Arena. Good luck to you all, and may the odds be ever in your favour!" he said.

We all acknowledged him, and went back to our conversations, pacing nervously or staring into space. Slowly, stating from Buster, the others filed out one by one. Eventually, I was called. I stood up, saying bye to Keith and Jacobi, and headed outside. There, I was taken in a car to the Tribute centre. Here, I met another Victor, Radian Andrews, Victor of the Nine-Hundred-and-Sixty-Second Hunger Games from District Three, who told me that he had been asked by the District Six mentor team to look after me in the Arena when they couldn't. I was OK with this as he was also a Career, having killed four people in his Arena. He took me up to the roof, and a hovercraft was waiting there for me. I got onto it, and sat down. A Peacekeeper came forward and locked me down with a belt over my shoulders. She did it tight, to ensure I did not try to escape.

The hovercraft lifted off, and we rose into the air. I could barely feel anything, but I could see through a small window. We flew over the city for a few minutes, before the window darkened. I was not allowed to know which way we were flying, to ensure the location of the Arena remained a secret. I felt the hovercraft speeding up. We must have been going near the sound barrier. I wondered where exactly we were going. Were we flying to lands beneath District 18, or perhaps it would be the arena once known as Africa or Asia we were going to. I had learned about the old lands in the Academy, and how no life had survived in either continent. In fact, for a long time, Panem was thought to be the only nation. Of course we weren't. Before I could think anymore about that, a Peacekeeper came over to me. He grabbed my arm, and put a device to my skin. I felt a sharp pain, and then nothing. He pulled the device away, and I saw a small light underneath my skin. This was my tracker.

"Move to the bathroom now," he said. I looked at him confused.

"Why?"

"Because we need to give you the other implant," he said. I could tell he was slightly embarrassed, even without seeing his face. The Peacekeeper who stepped me in walked over.

"We do not want you having your period in the Arena. That would not be comfortable for you, or anyone else," she said.

"Are you going to remove Namoras' baby?" I asked. I really hoped they would, as going into the Arena pregnant was not my idea of fair. I already guessed the answer though. After all, there had been multiple pregnant tributes throughout the history of the Games. The first ever one was Jola Hinsao from District Ten in the Eleventh Hunger Games. Hell, Cherry Woodrow had been a Victor back in the Eight-Hundredth Hunger Games when she was four days old. That Quarter Quell there had been two Victors, so her mother, Pliny Woodrow, also won. The father of the baby, and Plinys' husband had won the Seven-Hundred-and-Ninety-Ninth Hunger Games. Being a Victor family had made them extremely famous, and everyone knew about them, even two hundred years after they won.

"No. it give her and Percy a reason to fight," replied the male Peacekeeper. I sighed quietly, before standing up and heading to the bathroom. There, I let the female Peacekeeper inject me with a little device that I assumed would stop my periods.

"If I survive this round, will the tracker and this thing be removed?" I asked, once I was back in the main area.

"No. They will be kept in you until you either die, or become the Victor," replied the female Peacekeeper, before they both headed back to their seats, leaving me alone again. I was thankful I wasn't pregnant. I had a boyfriend, and yes we have had sex, but we had always used protection. I wanted kids, but I did not want to get pregnant until after my final reaping. I had never planed to volunteer, as I was happy just being prepared. However, the twist required more tributes, so here I am.

We continued flying through the air, heading to the Arena, and I reflected on my life back in District Six. My dad was the mayor, so I had been fairly well off for not being related to a Victor. I had started attending the Academy before dad became the Mayor. We had been one of the poorer families at that point, so I tried hard. I did not get the scholarship however. I was ranked third, and only the top two male and female from each year got the scholarship. So, there were five years between me not attending and dad becoming mayor. After he was elected, my parents paid for me to go to the Academy, and train. They did this on the condition that I would never volunteer. While I had younger female family members, none of them would be eligible for the reaping at the same time as me, so I knew that I would never volunteer. I had trained hard, just in case I would be reaped. Even as the daughter of the Mayor, I was not immune from the Reaping bowl. My dad could not keep my name out of it.

The goodbyes had been hard. My dad had held on to me quite tight, begging me to come back. He made me promise that I would fight my hardest, and backstab my allies at the first good opportunity. Now I was with the Careers, this would be harder. I had decided, after a talk with Swansea last night, that I would not betray the Careers until Round Two or maybe even Round Three. I was confident that betrayals would not be in this first Round. Apart from our plan to kill Nuclear of course, but that was different. He was a danger to all of us, and we needed to stop him before he hurt us. We would kill him as soon as the Bloodbath cannons ended.

I finally felt the hovercraft slow down, then come to a sudden stop. The was silence for a minute, before the two Peacekeepers came back into the room. They pilled me up, and stood either side of me. The ramp at the back of the hovercraft lowered, and I was led down into the Catacombs. The were brightly lit and completely white. There was no other colour anywhere. It was a little jarring after the darkness of the hovercraft, but I just walked on. I passed several doors, which were white metal and completely blank. I thought there would be names on the doors so the Peacekeepers no where to put each tribute, but then I realised that that would mean that you would know where everyone you passed is placed in the ring, and can adjust your personal plan accordingly.

I was led into my room, and the door slid shut behind me. The room was not decorated in any way, just plain white like the catacombs behind the door. There was a tube in the opposite corner. In one of the other corners, there was a small wardrobe. I walked over to it, and opened it, seeing my outfit for the Hunger Games. It was a pair of blue tracksuit pants. With it, there was a plain green t-shirt and a blue shirt to go over it. I decided to button the shirt up, and then put on the trainers that were next to my outfit. Now kitted out in my uniform, I headed to the other corner. Here, there was a bathroom. I quickly used it, wanting to avoid having to relive myself as long as possible. Then, after looking at the timer on the wall and seeing it would be an hour until I had to be in the tube, I headed over to the table of snacks. Looking over the little food there, I saw a note.

"Dear Tribute, eat as much food here as you want. It will be replenished through a press of a button on the wall behind the table. There are cameras in this room, and if you take any food into the Arena, you will be killed before the Bloodbath. You have been warned. May the odds be ever in your favour"

I licked my lips. I knew this of course. No one had been blown up for over twenty years for taking food into the Arena. I sat down on the chair provided, and grabbed a chicken leg. I ate it slowly, then just sat back, and waited for the time to pass.

Due to the outfit I was wearing, I guessed that the Arena would be an average town or countryside. I did not think it would be water based, a snowy Arena nor a desert. They were done, but the Head Gamemaker had to be careful to prevent the tributes dying to frostbite/heatstroke. Natural deaths were seen as bad, and a Head Gamemaker who let four or more tributes die to natural causes was fired. I was shaken from my thoughts by a speaker.

"Tributes. The One-Thousandths Hunger Games is about to begin. Please get into you tubes. You have one minute."

I took a deep breathe, and stood up. I waled slowly over to the tube, and got in it. The door slid shut, and sealed.

"Thirty seconds left"

I licked my lips, and ran through the plan again. Run into the centre, grab my weapon, kill a few tributes. Do not let Nuclear kill me and wait until the end of the Bloodbath to kill Nuclear. The plan was to then leave two people at the horn every day, and hunt for tributes. We had to find the Anti-Careers quickly, to take out the biggest threat to us. No betrayals this round. The other thing we had all agreed on was that we would not kill our floor partner unless we had to. So, I would not kill Paxton. Suddenly, I felt a jolt, and I was raised up into the Arena.


Namora Jadrin, 17

District Thirteen, Eighteenth female

The light blinded me as we were all rose into the Arena. I blinked a few times, trying to get used to the light. Once my eye had adjusted, I took a quick look around. I was in between Damla and Dasher. We were in a clearing around the horn. I could see it would be a short sprint to the forest that stretched on after that. I could not see past the first set of trees. Listening carefully, I could hear the sound of water running and animals scurrying. Food and water would not be a hard thing to come by in this Arena.

"Ladies, Gentlemen and Tributes, welcome to the first Games, of the first Round of the One-Thousandth Annual Hunger Games, the Fortieth Quarter Quell. The Games will begin in sixty seconds. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favour" came the voice of Head Gamemaker Seathorne. A holographic clock appeared above the Cornucopia, showing the number sixty.

60, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, 54, 53, 52, 51

I looked around, searching for my allies. Cowl, Mitt, Percy and Bellamy had all vowed to protect me one the first day of training, and we had formed an alliance. Yesterday, while waiting for our interviews, Easton and Ivy had joined the alliance. I could not see any of them at first, but then noticed Ivy, almost hidden by the horn. The rest of my alliance must be obscured by the Cornucopia. This made me slightly worried, as I would have to run quickly to make it safe.

50, 49, 48, 47, 46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41

I looked over the pile of loot in the clearing in front of me. There were a shit ton of weapons, more than I could count in the short time I looked. I knew that there would be enough weapons for everyone to have at least one.

40, 39, 38, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31

I looked back around at everyone else. I could see Nuclear, Queenie and Buster from where I was. This was not good, having three Careers in close proximity to me. I was sure there were others near me, but I could not see them through other tributes.

30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21

I put one of my hands on my stomach, over my little one. I did not know the gender yet, but I was looking forward to meeting him or her. I really needed to survive. I knew if I survived this, I would be able to give birth. I would not be the first tributes to give birth in the Capitol. I knew the baby would be sent home while I was in the Arena. As much as I wanted to be the Victor, I knew that, if I won, Percy would have to die. I hated it so much.

20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11

I shook myself from my thoughts, and focused back on the horn. I looked at everything that was there, and settled on a backpack. There was some bread and a few bottle near it, so I settled on trying to grab them. I knew our plan was to run the direction of the back of the horn. We did not run away from the front, as we may be more visible like that.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

BONG!

The gong rang, and we all ran forwards. In the corner of my eye, I watched Nuclear kill Pauline. I swallowed the bile that rose to my mouth, and ran quicker. I picked up a dagger on the way, and got to the bag. I dropped down, and put the dagger in my boot. I then started stuffing the water and bread into the bag, which was thankfully empty already. After a few second of doing this, I heard a shout, and a squelching noise.

I turned, and saw Easton moving towards me, as Jacobi fell dead behind him. I stood up quickly, and Easton grabbed my hand, before leading me in Percys' direction. Percy grabbed my other hand with Mitt standing next to us. We waited a few seconds just beyond the treeline, and saw Cowl, Bellamy and Ivy run over to us, each holding supplies.

We turned as a group, and ran further into the forest. We kept on running and running. Over out footsteps, I heard screams. I looked behind us and saw Ford, running and screaming. I put on a burst of speed, shot passed my allies, and told them to follow me. I turned, and ran left, away from Ford. As we were running, I heard his screams suddenly stop. We all just kept on running, and eventually settled down. Pretty much as soon as we stopped, the Bloodbath cannons started firing.

Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom

"Forty-seven I think," said Mitt

"I agree. That is a lot. Only twenty-five more to-" said Percy

Boom

"Make that twenty-four more to die," he amended.

I lent against a tree, and slid down to sit on the ground.

"OK. What do we have?" I asked. I opened my pack. "I have three loaves of bread, four bottles of water and some dried fruit. Oh, and a dagger as well" I continued, pulling the dagger out of my boot.

"I got some beef and fruit strips, some rope, and iodine tablets," said Cowl

"I just have my spear and sword," replied Easton

"A sleeping bag, rope, fire-starting kit and some bandages," said Ivy

"I just got my sais," said Mitt

"Gloves, rope, sword, healing cream and night vision goggles," said my Percy.

"Fire kit, rope, dagger and two bottles," said Bellamy

"That is quite a good haul," I said. "Let's carry on moving. The Careers may be hunting soon. Twenty-Four people need to die in nine days. That is more than two a day. They will hunt soon.

We all stood back up, and carried on walking away from the horn. Half the field was dead. Twenty-four more people need to die. I was going to make sure I was one of them.


Santiago Basquet, 42, Victor of the Nine-Hundred-and-Seventy-Fourth

District Six Resident and Mentor

I took a deep breath as I walked into the Mentors Centre. I was the last one to arrive. The Mentors Centre was set up as two circles surrounding the map of the Arena in the centre. There was a small gap in both rings in front of the doorway, so someone could easily have access to the door and both rings, as well as the map. Mentors regularly went to the Arena hologram and studied it in down time. The holographic table was not showing anything yet. The two circles around the map had multiple station, each with a screen that showed that heart rate of each tribute, along with their location, sponsor funds, injuries, allies and supplies. In a regular year, District One to Twelve were on the outer ring, and Thirteen to Twenty-Four was on the inner ring. As the outer ring was obviously bigger, the original Twelve District got a little more space, purely due to the fact they were the original twelve. This time however, the District with more Victors got the outer ring, and the one with fewer got the inner. I saw Niler and Winter on the inner ring, and Eugene, Swansea and Werntius were on the outer ring.

There were a few other Victors around. In total, there were seventy-six living Victors, forty- nine of which were in the Capitol. Each District had been required to have the most recent Victor in the Capitol for every round. Cactus from One, Rook from Two, Mercury from Three, Poseidon from Four, Kathlins from Five, Hesmin from Seven, Cotty from Eight (the only Victor alive from Eight), Mardell from Nine, Skinner from Ten, Thresh from Eleven, Tarn from Twelve, Zander from Fourteen, Gemma from Fifteen, Crick from Sixteen, Nanna from Seventeen, Aleix from Eighteen, Gwallter from Nineteen, Silvia from Twenty, Reima from Twenty-One, Dominik from Twenty-Two, Epenisa from Twenty-Three and Lincon from Twenty-Four. There were also a few others around. Most of them were milling around the tables around the walls of the room, where there was tables laden with food and drink. Gemma was with Niler. They were almost inseparable during the Games. Unfortunately, the other Victors were not allowed to sit in until after the Bloodbath, so we had to manage until then. I felt sorry for Winter and Niler, who each had twenty-four tributes to look after, but that was not my problem.

I took my seat, and closed my eyes. The games would begin in one hour. I thought back to last night, and how I had spent the night on Kentuckys floor, holding her in my arms as she cried. I just held her, reassuring her that she will be fine, and I will see her again. She wasn't going to die under my watch. She fell asleep in my arms, and I had stayed there all night, holding my daughter as tight as I could, terrified that I would see her die. This morning, I had been next to her and Tank all the time. After breakfast, I had walked them to the hovercraft, and said goodbye. I could see Kentucky holding back tears, and I told her to be brave. That's all she needs to be. Be brave my sweet girl.

Werntius' voice shook me from my memories as he commented on the arena, and I returned focus on the holographic table in front of us. The arena was a forest, as usual. The Cornucopia was in a clearing, with luscious green grass. The clearing was only a kilometre in diameter. After the clearing, the forest stretched for a further thirty-five kilometres. There was a ocean surrounding the forest, that looked like it went on forever, but in reality, only went on for four kilometres. The trees were a mixture of various types of oak. They stretched for several meters into the air. A few of them had branches low enough to climb up. There were ponds and rivers winding through the forest, providing drinkable water all over. The camera also showed the various places food was available. There were rabbits, fish, squirrels and deer all over, along with apples, pears and oranges on the trees. Neither food nor water would be a problem. That was good. The camera changed back to show the range of supplies in front of the cornucopia. There were well over two hundred weapons there. That was a little unnerving. I quietly prayed that Kentucky would be able to escape.

The tributes rose into the arena. They were in a circle surrounding it, halfway between the horn and start of the forest. Kentucky was in between Azalea on her right and Hugo from Thirteen on her left. Hugo was solo and Azalea was with a group of girls, so I wasn't massively worries. The nearest Career to her was Polly, five people to her left. The nearest member of the Anti-Career alliance was Lexi, the other side of Azalea.

The countdown started, and I started breathing rapidly. Aleix saw me panicking, and quickly moved forward to squeeze my shoulder. I took a deep breathe, and focused back on Kentucky and the other eleven tributes under my care. The gong sounded.

Kentucky dived forward, scooping up a sword on the ground near her. She sprinted a few more steps before grabbing a bag. Lexi, Ximop and Chelsea had joined her by this point. They ran together trying to get out of the clearing. Julia sprung out of nowhere, and let an arrow fly. The arrow went into Chelsea' head, and she collapsed to the ground. Kentucky instantly retaliated and swung her sword. It sliced into Julias' gut and out the other side. The career collapsed, bleeding profusely. Kentucky gave her one more stab, before the ran off. I saw them make it to the tree line. They ran for a few minutes, meeting up with a few other members of the Anti-Career pack. They had decided not to challenge for the Cornucopia at the start, and instead charge it later in the Games when there would be only one or two people guarding it. Once I knew she was safe, I bent forward and threw up into a bin. I now realised how all those parents feel watching their child become a murderer. It was a horrid feeling, but I was determined to stay beside her all the way. I would do my best to get my girl out of the Hunger Games alive.

I looked at the other screens and saw a lot of others had died, before the cannons started firing. There were forty-seven in total, quite a lot and around the number I had predicted. The cameras returned to Sphinx and Octavia who started the recap of the Bloodbath.

Nuclear was first of his podium, diving towards the sword at his feet. The first move he made was to swing around, and behead Pauline who was next to him.

Nuclear then charged at Slanten, and cut his arms off, before stabbing him through the chest. The boy slid of the sword as Nuclear look around.

Easton was next to get a kill. Railson was close, and Easton grabbed the spear next to him, and speared the young boy through the chest.

Izzy sped through the field, and picked up a sword, and quickly killed Arizona. She did not make a show of it, and just quickly pierced his heart.

Nuclear got his third kill when he cornered Jason against the wall of the horn. The Career giggled as he stabbed Jason eight times, before hunting down his next victim.

Julia picked up her bow, and shot an arrow at a running Madeline. The arrow sunk into the girls back, and Julia shot at her three more times, before turning away.

Jacobi held his twin swords, and stalked towards Namora, who was stuffing bread and bottles into a bag. He held his sword aloft, but before he could strike, Easton appeared out of nowhere, and cut Jacobi in half. He then grabbed Namoras' hand, and ran with her towards a waiting Percy.

Percy meanwhile had seen Graphite sneaking up on Mitt. Percy ran up with his sword, and managed to parry the strike from Graphite. Mitt turned around, holding her sais, and stabbed Graphite three times.

Then it was Chelsea. Julia had spotted Kentucky, and had decided to go after her. It was obvious that they saw Kentucky as a threat. Julia snuck after them for a few seconds before springing on them. Her first arrow missed and hit Chelsea square in the head.

Nuclear charged at Dasher. He was trembling on his podium, seemingly scared stiff by all the blood and murder around him. Nuclear charged forwards, swinging his sword in a wide ark. The blade cleanly cut through Dashers' neck, and his body fell.

Kentucky then swung her sword at Julia, slicing open her guts. The Career collapsed and Kentucky gave her one more stab before she sprinted off. Seeing this again made me throw up more.

Porche ran with a few of her charges through the field, aiming to get away. In the corner of her eye, she saw Rivet getting ready to throw a knife at her. Porche quickly spun around and threw her spear, leaving it in Rivets' body and running with her knives in her boots.

Nuclear then held his sword tight as he snuck up on Bonnet, who was in the Cornucopia gathering up a first-aid kit. Bonnet finished, stood up and turned around. She made it three steps before being impaled on Nuclears' sword. She slipped off, before Nuclear stabbed her five more times.

Obviously seeing how dangerous he was, Lincon picked up a throwing knife, and hurled it at Nuclear. However, Nuclear had seen this, and grabbed it from the air. He quickly spun, and hurled it back at Lincon, who was too shocked to do anything. It hit his in the neck, and he fell.

Little Valsa was still in the clearing. She had a dagger held tightly in her hand and a pack over her back, and was running. Guega was suddenly in front of her, holding an axe. She gulped, and swung it towards Valsa. The eleven year old dropped, dodging the axe. She then lunged, and stabbed Guega in the throat. Bood splattered all over Valsa, and she froze.

Nuclear saw Valsa standing there shocked, and smiled. He ran towards her, holding his sword tightly in his hands. Before he got to Valsa, Miles shouldered him hard. Miles held a baton in one hand, and s pear in the other. He shouted at Valsa to run before starting to fight Nuclear. It lasted four seconds, before Nuclear gutted Miles. However, Valsa had already escaped. In anger, Nuclear stabbed the still living Miles multiple times.

Cylinder grabbed a knife, and looked for a victim. He saw Clara gathering a few bottles of water. Cylinder ran towards her, and brought the knife down into Claras' back. She screamed, and Cylinder quickly slit her throat.

Buster had a crossbow in his hands, and loaded a bolt into it. He held his weapon up, and trained it on Toni. He let the bolt fly when he had a clear shot. Before it hit Toni however, Celestina had ran in front of it. Celestina fell with the bolt in her neck, and Buster quickly hit her in the head.

Buster then put a third bolt into his crossbow, and then let it fly at Toni. This time, it did hit the boy. Buster then ran over, picked up the dagger Toni had dropped, and stabbed Toni a few times, killing him.

Holly grabbed a whip, and turned around. She spotted Martin sneaking up on Buster, who was busy killing Toni. Holly ran, and lashed out with his whip. It wrapped around Martins' neck, and Holly pulled back. The whip cut sharply into Martins' neck, and he fell backwards. Holly quickly unwound her whip, and stabbed him with a knife.

Saturn held his axe in his hands as he stalked Sophia and Mandrai around the clearing. He eventually struck, diving forward and brining his axe down into Sophias' head. It split down to the base of the neck, and lodged there. Saturn tried to pull it out, but failed, and Mandrai ran.

Saturn stopped trying to get the axe, and grabbed a knife of the belt he had put on. He let it fly towards Mandrai, hitting her in the back. Saturn quickly ran forwards, throwing another knife into her neck. He retrieved both knives and carried on hunting.

Nuclear had Willa cornered against the wall of the horn. He giggled as he picked up a rapier, and stabbed Willa multiple times. He made sure not to hit her in any vital parts. She was crying from pain, and begging Nuclear to kill her. He eventually stabbed her through the head, still giggling.

Queenie held her bow, and knocked an arrow. She drew back the string, and picked her target. She loosed the arrow at Severa, who was standing still, staring at the bodies of Colma and Mandrai. The arrow hit her in the head, and she collapsed on her allys' body.

Izzy held a sword as she duelled with Ryder. I was shocked how well the boy could fight, as he did not show much skill in the Academy. They had been fighting for a good ninety seconds, but eventually, Izzys' more years of training paid off, and she disarmed Ryder, then stabbed him.

David stalked towards Elijah, holding a sword. He was with Chassis and Apollo, gathering water and food. David let them pick up their packs, before diving forwards, and slashing at Elijahs leg. He screamed, and David stabbed him through the head.

Apollo dropped his pack, and sprinted quickly away from the horn, while Chassis tried to keep his bag. Cylinder saw him, and spun quickly, throwing a knife at his prey. The knife sailed through the air, and planted itself in Chassis' neck. Cylinder ran over, pulled the knife out, and stabbed Chassis again.

Keith finally got his first kill. He grabbed a running Nelson, and used a length of rope to quickly tie a tight knot around his neck. Nelson fell to the ground, trying to undo the knot. Keith used this moment to grab his mace, and swung it down onto Nelsons' head.

Polly held a sword as she ran towards Raven and Ford. They were running away together. Polly was faster however, and managed to get her sword pierced through the pack Raven was carrying, and through her back, out her front.

Ford was still running into the forest, under the impression that Polly would not follow. He was wrong. Polly was still chasing him, and managed to catch him. Polly gutted Ford quickly, before grabbing his pack, and turning to run back to the Cornucopia.

Nuclear grabbed Lupus, and held him tightly. Lupus started screaming, and begging Nuclear to let him go. Nuclear just laughed at that, and slammed Lupus into the wall of the horn. He continued slamming the boy into the wall time and time again, ensuring his head hit it most. After twenty hits, Lupus' head was badly dented, and bleeding heavily. Nuclear dropped him to the ground.

Queenie had climbed on top of the Cornucopia, and had an arrow in her bow. She searched for an opponent to kill. Eventually, she noticed Fission, who had wrenched his ankle stepping off his podium, hobbling away. She smiled, and let the arrow fly into his neck, and then let a second one right into his head.

Cylinder saw Harlow go into the Cornucopia, and hide in a box. He grinned, and walked over. He tapped on the lid of the box, and then opened it. Harlow screamed as Cylinder grinned down at him. He quickly stabbed Harlow in the eye, killing him quickly.

Saturn, who now had his axe back, had cornered Laurel against the wall of the horn. He swung his axe, and it completely decapitated Laurel. Saturn stumbled backwards and dropped his axe. I knew that look. He hated himself for going so far.

Hugo had a belt of throwing knives around his waist, and was running with a pack over his shoulder, trying to get out of the clearing. He saw Ezra running away just ahead of him. I saw the battle on his face, before he made a snap decision, and let a knife fly into the back of Ezras' head. He quickly snatched the knife back up as he kept on running.

Queenie, still on top of the horn, let another arrow fly towards a fleeing Callisto. The arrow landed in his leg, and he fell to the ground. He crawled for a little bit, before trying to get back up to his feet. Queenie then let another arrow fly, hitting Callisots' head this time.

Izzy was hiding in the shadow of the Cornucopia, waiting for someone to pass her to kill them. Alma was the first to go past her, and Izzy quickly dived out of the shadows and killed Alma with three heavy swings of her sword.

Keith was chasing Ember around the clearing, trying to catch her with his mace. It took a few swings, but eventually, Keith landed a hit on her ankle, completely mutilating it. She screamed, as she fell. Keith smashed her in the head again, to finish the kill.

David was duelling Bonnet and Lucian at the same time. Lucian was twelve and Bonnet was thirteen. Lucian had a dagger and Bonnet a knife, while David was using a sword. It took David a few seconds to land a hit, as they were both quick, but eventually, David managed to cut Bonnets' arm off, then stabbed him through the chest.

Nuclear meanwhile had been attacking Hugo. Nuclear had been throwing knives at him, hitting his legs and arms, carefully not hitting anything vital. Hugo way crying in pain, begging Nuclear to kill him. Eventually, he did, throwing one last knife into Hugos' head.

David then managed to drive his sword through Lucian.

Waverly had been cut by Julia earlier in the Bloodbath, and was hiding the back of the Cornucopia, using a first-aid kit to cover her wounds. However, Buster heard her whimpers of pain, and walked into the horn, and found her. He quickly dispatched her, and ran back outside, looking for another victim.

Holly saw Zoey and Bently attack Keith. They hit him down to the ground, and Zoey stabbed him in the shoulder. Holly lashed out with her whip, letting it wrap around Zoeys' arm. She yanked backwards, pulling Zoeys' arm off. Holly then walked over, and stabbed her dagger through Zoeys' head.

Izzy ran towards Mike, who was trying to get away with a bag and a sword. It was obvious that he was carrying too much, and would not be able to escape unless he dropped something. Izzy caught up to Mike, and cut him in half at the waist.

Holly now had Bently pinned against the ground. She was trying to stab him, but Bently kept of writhing and squirming, managing to avoid being hit. Eventually, Holly lent down, and bit Bently. This caused him to stop moving, which allowed Holly to stab him in the neck.

Saturn held his axe firm, as he tried to hit Charlie. He was dodging quite well, fighting back with his sickle. Charlie did something stupid next. He charged forwards, and tried to stab Saturn in the chest, but Saturn batted the sickle away. This gave him a clear move, and swung his axe into Charlies' stomach.

Chevy was grabbing the bag off Mikes' body while Apollo, Victor and Luke tried to get him to hurry up. He told them he would, but didn't see Izzy. She had faked death, and was lying on the ground, waiting to spring her trap. The moment Apollo, Victor and Luke had all turned their backs, Izzy looked up, and swiped her sword at Chevy, cutting into him. He collapsed on top of Izzy, and she fell still again. His allies freaked out when they saw Chevy, and all ran away.

Polly finally burst back through the line of tree, and crashed into Delia. Both tributes fell to the ground. Polly was the first to recover, and stabbed Delia quickly. The girl fell, and Polly went to meet up with her allies. No one else was in the clearing.

Right after the cannons stopped firing, and the recap had finished, Saturn, seeing no one else in the clearing, quietly looked at his allies. Nuclear was stabbing the corpse of Jacobi, shouting at his for dying. Buster, Cylinder, Izzy, Saturn, Keith, Holly, Dvid, Queenie and Polly all watched him, before silently agreeing it was time to kill Nuclear. As the cannons started firing, Saturn picked up a knife, and threw it at Nuclear, quickly following it with three more knives, to ensure Nuclear was dead.

With the Bloodbath recap over, the other Victors came forward to help mentor. District Six had twenty-five living tributes, and District Thirteen had twenty-three, so there were more than enough Victors to help us. I moved to the stations dedicated to Kentucky. Tank was still alive, so Crick Irving from District Sixteen, Victor of the Nine Hundred and Seventy Third Hunger Games came forward, and sat at his station. As Kentucky the last female from my District, no one else was beside me. I took a deep breath, before calling Mardell Parma from Nine, who won the year after me.

"Mardell, can you look after Kentucky for me? I am going to look for sponsors," I asked

"Sure Santiago. How are you feeling?" he said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I tried speaking a few times, before giving up, and just shaking my head. I stood up, before walking towards the door.

"Eugene, Swansea, Werntius, I am going to look for sponsors. I will call if I get anything," I said as I walked out of the room.


Izzy Arduini, 18

District Six, Thirteenth female

We had to go hunting, while we waited for the hovercraft to collect the forty-eight bodies. We had lost three Careers in the Bloodbath; Julia, Jacobi and Nuclear. We decided that we would split into three groups of three, as there were nine of us left. Keith, Holly and Queenie stayed right by the clearing to watch over the Cornucopia, to ensure that no one would steal from it. Saturn, Buster and Polly went east together, and Cylinder, David and I went west. After a few minutes of walking, the others were out of sight.

I held a sword, as did David. Cylinder had chosen to hold daggers. We slowly walked through the Arena. I liked this one. It was better than the one five years ago, which was an abandoned hospital. That freaked me out, as I hated the entire idea. I had watched as little of those Games as I could, and I applauded the Victor, Silvia Monis, for being able to pull herself out of it.

Me and my group walked onwards, searching for anyone. I did not think we would find someone this quickly, but one of the other groups must have found one, as a cannon boomed. We decided to head back to the Cornucopia, to see if someone knew who died. It took us a few minutes, but we eventually got back, and walked up to the horn, to see Keith and Queenie sitting there. I could hear movement in the back of the horn, and saw Holly rummaging around back there.

"Why are you three back?" asked Keith.

"We wanted to check that you guys hadn't been jumped," replied David.

"Nope. No idea who died," said Queenie.

"Shall we organise the supplies while waiting for the others?" called Holly, from the back of the horn.

We all agreed, and I walked around the clearing. There were still a lot of supplies there. It was insane, but I did reason that there were ninety-six of us in the Arena. There have only be four times with more tributes, in the Two-Hundred-and-Fiftieth where there were one hundred and four, the Five-Hundredth when there were two hundred and eighty eight, Seven-Hundredth where there were three hundred and eighty four and Nine-Hundredth when there were five hundred and seventy six tributes.

The six of us started collecting all the supplies. We put weapons in one pile, food in a second, water in a third and miscellaneous items like rope and bandages in a fourth. It took us a while, as there was so much stuff, and we needed to empty each pack that was there. Eventually, we had finished that. There were four massive piles, and a fifth of empty backpacks. We took a break for food, before starting to organise each pile further. Holly and I started on the weapons. We put them in groups. Swords in one, bows in a second and so on. There were some weapons I didn't recognise, and some I did. There were chakrams, shogeis, and one Holly identified as a kpinga.

While we were piling up supplies, Saturn, Buster and Polly came back. Saturn was holding his shoulder, which was bleeding. Queenie quickly ran forwards with some bandages.

"Bloody Tank. Got my shoulder," he muttered.

"Tank? Was he the one who died?" I asked

"Yep. We saw him, and chased him for a few minutes. We eventually managed to corner him. He suddenly threw a knife at Saturn, probably in a last ditch effort to kill him. He got Saturns' shoulder, obviously. So I stabbed him," said Polly.

"Well, that is at least a semi-strong competitor out. Twenty-three more to go," sighed Cylinder.

We sat down together, and carried on talking.

"Who do you think will die as well?" asked Buster

"I think we are going to survive. It would be shocking if Kentucky dies, and I think most of her allies are going to live," I said

"I doubt Namora is going to die. It helps that she will give birth if she survives, so lots of parents in the Capitol may sponsor her, because of that. Her allies, not so sure," Holly said.

"Makes sense. Percy will probably live. I think Porche and Easton will both live. They are both strong. Maybe they may die trying to protect others, but I don't think so. I Believe they will both live. Unless we find them obviously," interjected David.

We carried on talking for another few hours, while night fell. As there were nine of us, we decided to take it in pairs to keep watch. We settled on me and David starting, then me and Queenie, Queenie and Polly, Polly and Buster and so on. They all went to sleep, and me and David walked around the clearing, watching everything. We had set up torches around the clearing to provide light so we could see everything. Eventually, David went to bed, and Queenie woke up. Nothing happened during our watch, and I woke up Polly to take over from me, when the anthem started. There were forty-nine faces. As usual, since the one-hundred-and-fiftieth Hunger Games, the name and District appeared underneath the face.

Chelsea Gripolik, District Six, First Female

Railson Naftali, District Six, Second Male

Chevy Irplon, District Six, Third Male

Severa Ciders, District Six, Third Female

Rivet Evangeline, District Six, Fourth Male

Lincon Beltran, District Six, Sixth Male

Chassis Bowen, District Six, Seventh Male

Slanten Bowen, District Six, Ninth Male

Madeline Wompanog, District Six, Ninth Female

Charlie Kemper, District Six, Eleventh Male

Arizona Gershwin, District Six, Twelfth Male

Guega Rosewell, District Six, Twelfth Female

Ryder Hasslett, District Six, Thirteenth Male

Bentley Keller, District Six, Fourteenth Male

Zoey Maurios, District Six, Fourteenth Female

Nelson Callow, District Six, Fifteenth Male

Jason Faye, District Six, Sixteenth Male

Ford Martinez, District Six, Seventeenth Male

Mandrai Lombrossa, District Six, Eighteenth Female

Raven Harper, District Six, Nineteenth Female

Dasher Fran, District Six, Twenty-Second Male

Jacobi Inlobe, District Six, Twenty-Third Male

Bonnet D'Ambrose, District Six, Twenty-Third Female

Graphite Gronmack, District Thirteen, First Make

Sophia Huwgan, District Thirteen, First Female

Mike Bleck, District Thirteen, Third Male

Celestina Naoma, District Thirteen, Third Female

Willa Harknow, District Thirteen, Fifth Female

Miles Jabneck, District Thirteen, Sixth Male

Harlow Pastmake, District Thirteen, Seventh Male

Laurel Fox, District Thirteen, Seventh Female

Toni Osk, District Thirteen, Eighth Male

Ember Jackross, District Thirteen, Eighth Female

Nuclear Dronestop, District Thirteen, Ninth Male

Clara Fripmin, District Thirteen, Ninth Female

Delia Westshack, District Thirteen, Tenth Female

Callisto Hipmons, District Thirteen, Eleventh Male

Pauline Bromal, District Thirteen, Eleventh Female

Elijah Koplins, District Thirteen, Twelfth Male

Lupus Canmen, District Thirteen, Fourteenth Male

Fission Wretilp, District Thirteen, Sixteenth Male

Alma Itocia, District Thirteen, Sixteenth Female

Ezra Collins, District Thirteen, Seventeenth Male

Waverly Bonncas, District Thirteen, Seventeenth Female

Lucian Raindrop, District Thirteen, Nineteenth Male

Martin Ernicle, District Thirteen, Twenty-First Male

Julia Fredras, District Thirteen, Twenty-First Female

I took a deep breath, and curled up in my sleeping bag. Forty-nine down, twenty-three to go.


Kills:

Izzy (5): Arizona, Ryder, Alma, Mike and Chevy

Saturn (5): Sophia, Mandrai, Laurel, Charlie and Nuclear

Polly (4): Raven, Ford, Delia and Tank

Buster (3): Celestina, Toni and Waverly

Cylinder (3): Clara, Chassis and Harlow

David (3): Elijah, Bonnet and Lucian

Queenie (3): Sarah, Fission and Callisto

Holly (3): Martin, Zoey and Bentley

Keith (2): Nelson and Ember

Easton (2): Railson and Jacobi

Mitt (1): Graphite

Kentucky (1): Julia

Porche (1): Rivet

Valsa (1): Guega

(0): Lexi, Crystaler, Airel, Axelle, Ximop, Remus, Philip, Terra, Hadrian, Apollo, Victor, Luke, Colma, Azalea, Mercedes, Nuvi, Paxton, Cowl, Percy, Namora, Bellamy, Ivy, Texas, Maddison, Tank, Ernie, Poilkam, Trinity, Taliah, Catherine, Zoey

Current Alliances:

Careers (9 members): Buster, Cylinder, Izzy, Saturn, Keith, Holly, David, Queenie, Polly

Anti-Careers (10 members): Kentucky, Lexi, Crystaler, Ariel, Axelle, Ximop, Remus, Philip, Terra, Hadrian

Boys club (3 members): Apollo, Victor, Luke

Girl gang (2 members): Colma, Azalea

The Kids (5 members): Mercedes, Valsa, Nuvi, Porche, Paxton

Protectors of Namora (7 members): Cowl, Mitt, Percy, Namora, Bellamy, Easton, Ivy

Pairs: Damla and Emily, Kessie and Birdie

Solo (for now): Texas, Maddison, Tank, Ernie, Poilkam, Trinity, Taliah, Catherine

Dead: Pauline, Slanten, Railson, Arizona, Jason, Madeline, Jacobi, Graphite, Chelsea, Dasher, Julia, Rivet, Lincon, Guega, Miles, Clara, Celestina, Toni, Martin, Sophia, Mandrai, Willa, Severa, Ryder, Elijah, Chassis, Nelson, Raven, Ford, Lupus, Fission, Harlow, Laurel, Ezra, Callisto, Alma, Ember, Bonnet, Hugo, Lucian, Waverly, Mike, Bentley, Charlie, Chevy Delia and Nuclear