*Hello there lovely readers! It's time for a new chapter. I'm seriously upset with myself that I left you guys hanging this long. I'm so sorry. But, not to worry, I now have lots of free time to continue writing. So yay! Happy Reading!

(Rachel)

"How are you feeling?" Tigris purred, fastening the locket around Rachel's neck.

Rachel shrugged as she stripped down to her undergarments. "Nervous. Terrified." She turned to her stylist. "Trying not to forget everything I've learned." She accepted her arena outfit from Tigris with trembling hands. "I don't want to die," she confessed.

Tigris was silent as she helped Rachel into the body-hugging, black jumpsuit that covered everything but her hands, feet, and head. Over that, she donned brown, green, and grey camouflage pants and a matching jacket. The dark brown boots she laced up were sturdy yet comfortable and had small metal spikes protruding out of the bottom that would be perfect for rock climbing or turning an opponent's face into ground beef.

The glass tube that would take Rachel up into the arena opened, and she turned towards it. Tigris' hand stopped her before she could move, and the woman began whispering in her ear. "In all my years as a stylist, I've only met one other tribute that I believed in as much as I believe in you," she said, pausing for dramatic effect. "And that was your mother."

Rachel turned to Tigris with tears in her eyes. The stylist smiled. "May the odds be ever in your favor, Rachel Berry. I can't wait to show you what I have planned for your closing interview."

Rachel stepped into the chute, closing her eyes as it started its ascent, only opening them again when it shuddered to a stop and she could feel a cool breeze on her face. She looked around, taking stock of her surroundings while the clock ticked down from sixty to one.

The Cornucopia was located at the edge of a pine forest that extended north towards a mountain range. A glance behind her revealed that the clearing they were standing in only stretched about fifty feet before bottoming out into a canyon. She thought she could hear rushing water somewhere in the distance, but she couldn't visually locate the source.

Rachel took notice of the other tributes around the thirty second mark. They were scattered in groups of four, all equidistant from the Cornucopia. Quinn, the girl from Four, was in her group, along with the boys from Nine and Ten; Rory and Joe, she'd learned from Sam.

Artie and Mercedes were grouped together near the tree line with Brittany and Noah, the boy from Two. Sam was with the girls from Nine and Twelve, and the boy from Five. Their group was closest to the edge of the canyon. Rachel ran over their game plan in her head as the seconds ticked down. She, Mercedes, and Sam would make a run for the Cornucopia, grab whatever supplies they could get their hands on, and meet up with Artie, who would conceal himself nearby. Then they would head off together to find shelter and sort through their loot. The plan was to get everyone in and out as quickly as possible without getting killed or seriously injured. Rachel bit her lip as the timer hit ten. If only it were that simple.

She took the last remaining seconds to assess her group. Quinn would be her main obstacle. The girl was ruthless and had scored an eleven, the highest of all the tributes. Rory had only managed a four in training. Joe was tall and strong enough, but he wasn't a killer, and he'd barely scraped by with a six. Her plan was to leave the boys to their own devices and make a beeline for the Cornucopia while keeping Quinn in sight at all times.

The cannon went off, and Rachel raced into the fray, letting Quinn run right past her. She snatched up a green satchel and kept going, trying to avoid the fights that were springing up. The girls from Two and Nine were wrestling over an object that Rachel couldn't distinguish. There was a sharp crack, and the girl from Two went limp.

Rachel spotted Sam running for the trees, a large backpack on his shoulders, and a spear in his hands. The boy from Four grabbed Sam from behind and tried putting him in a chokehold, but Sam jabbed the butt of the spear into the boy's eye and broke free. He met up with Mercedes, who was carrying a pair of backpacks.

Rachel was closing in on the mouth of the Cornucopia when she tripped over something and went sprawling. She scrambled up, realizing with horror that she'd tripped over the body of a girl she didn't even remember. She grabbed the first thing she touched and ran for the trees.

Her momentum was halted momentarily when something struck her left shoulder forcefully. Pain burned through her entire arm, and she saw the bloody tip of a long stiletto sticking out of her upper chest. She cautioned a glance back and saw the dark-haired girl from One throw another knife in her direction. The knife buried itself between her ribs before she could move, bringing Rachel to her knees.

A hand grabbed her by her uninjured arm and propelled her forward. Rachel ran for the spot in the trees that she'd seen Sam and Mercedes disappear into without looking back. She jumped over another motionless body, ignoring her body's screams of protest.

Rachel stumbled through the brush and ran right into Mercedes, who steadied her before she fell. "What happened to you?" the girl demanded, taking whatever was in Rachel's right hand.

"San-San-Santana," Rachel gasped, sucking in air. "Apparently, she likes knives."

"C'mon," Mercedes said, looping an arm around Rachel's waist. "The guys are a little further in. Artie found us a river that's got good drinking water. We're gonna follow it up to the mountains."

The cannons had just started to go off when Rachel and Mercedes reached Sam and Artie's temporary camp by the river. Rachel's head pounded violently with each successive blast, and by the end, she was on her hands and knees vomiting.

Sam handed her a small canteen of water and helped her to the water's edge, propping her up against a small tree. He examined the knife in her shoulder first, studying the angle. "This one's superficial," he told her, bracing a hand on her shoulder. "It should pull out without any fuss."

Rachel nodded, gritting her teeth as Sam yanked the blade from her shoulder. He and Mercedes stripped her jacket and jumpsuit from the left side of her body, bandaging the wound while Artie handed them supplies from a first aid kit that had apparently been in one of their bags.

"What do we do about the knife in her side?" Artie asked. "That one sure as hell don't look superficial to me."

Sam felt around Rachel's right side under her jumpsuit. "It's not as bad as it looks," he assured them. "It's too low to have hit her lung, and too high to have hit her liver or kidney." He maneuvered himself so that he was on Rachel's right. "Guys, check for a needle and thread. I'm going to have to stitch this up."

Rachel tried to slow her breathing as Artie and Mercedes raided their supplies. "How many cannons went off?" she asked, turning her head to Sam.

"Ten so far," he replied.

"Which leaves ten unknowns runnin' around this place with us," Artie chimed in. "And I think it's a safe bet that six of 'em are from One, Two, and Four."

Rachel shook her head slightly. "Only five," she corrected. "The girl from Two got her neck snapped by the girl from Nine."

Mercedes let out a triumphant noise. "Success!" she crowed, holding up a small sewing kit.

"Awesome," Sam said, helping Rachel peel the clothes away from the right side of her torso. He drew the knife out slowly and immediately got to work cleaning the wound. He threaded the needle and took a deep breath. "Okay, Rach, this is going to hurt…a lot. But you can't move, okay? You have to stay still."

Rachel nodded, wincing as another cannon sounded, far too close for comfort. "Just do it," she told Sam. "We have to get out of here."

Darkness was starting to fall as their small band reached the mountainside. The source of the river was a small cave about thirty feet up with a jutting ledge. This created a natural waterfall that concealed most of a larger cave at the base of the mountain. Hanging vines created curtains that hid what the waterfall didn't.

Rachel entered the cave and found that it was wider than it was deep, much like they suspected the arena to be. She and Mercedes got to work building a small fire in the center of the cave, while the boys started sorting through the supplies. They split the supplies into four piles; food, medicine, weapons, and miscellaneous. The food and medicine were stored in the two smaller backpacks, and the miscellaneous items were put into the largest pack.

Artie wheeled up to the fire with Sam on his heels, both boys loaded down with weapons. "We made out like bandits with the weaponry," Artie said, rubbing his hands together gleefully.

Sam laid the weapons out on the floor, sorting them into four piles. "Artie and I divided the weapons between the four of us based on size, strength, and special abilities." He started handing weapons from one of the piles to Artie. "Artie's the best with a bow and spear, so he's taking those, along with a knife in case things get personal."

Artie took over from there, giving the next pile to Mercedes. "Girl, you're going in armed with this beautiful belt full of knives and that bitchin' little axe." Mercedes took the axe with a grin, testing its weight in her hand.

Sam pulled a pile towards himself. "I've got a couple of short swords and a pick-axe. That's all I need."

Rachel surveyed the last pile with trepidation. "So that leaves me with a couple of knives and a satchel?" she asked. "What am I supposed to do? Strangle someone with the strap?" She shuddered at the thought, remembering the snap of the District Two girl's neck.

Artie just grinned. "Not a bad idea, but it's what's inside the satchel that counts." He tossed it to her. "Go ahead, open it."

Rachel caught the green bag that was now splattered with her blood. She opened it, pulling out a wooden box and a long, metal tube. She gaped at the weapon in her hands. "A blowgun," she whispered reverently.

"Whatever you did in that training room must have been pretty damn impressive for the Gamemakers to make sure one of those was in the arena," Artie remarked, his expression both proud and smug. "That's not something you see every year."

Rachel was about to respond when the Capitol's anthem rang out through the arena. They all rushed to the mouth of the cave, peering through the curtain of vines to see which tributes had been lost that day.

The first face that flashed through the sky was the girl from District Two. "Andrea," Sam murmured.

The second face was another girl, this one Artie's district partner. Rachel recognized her as the girl she'd tripped over at the Cornucopia. Artie muttered, "Damn, Sugar," shaking his head sadly.

The next faces were the boy and girl from District Five, letting them know that all of the Careers except Andrea had survived. Sam was still muttering names, this time, "Jacob, Harmony…"

The next face to come up was the boy from Seven. Rachel sighed in relief as Sam murmured, "Thad." Jesse was still alive, and out there somewhere.

The girl from Eight flashed next, then the boy from Nine. "Suzy…Rory."

Both tributes from District Ten flashed across the sky. "Joe," Sam whispered. "Sheila."

Sam and Mercedes said the next name together. "Shane." The boy from Eleven and Mercedes' district partner; a beast of a boy that had scored a ten in training.

One final face flashed across the sky. The girl from Twelve. "Sunshine," according to Sam.

Rachel volunteered to take the first watch of the night, allowing the others the peace and quiet they needed to sort through losing their district partners so early in the game. She hummed a lullaby, watching the manufactured stars in the manufactured sky. She pulled her blowgun out of the satchel again, along with the box of darts. She considered the weapon that seemed to have been made for her, wondering if she'd ever be able to use it against another living thing.

Sam came out to sit with Rachel about half an hour before his watch. They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the ersatz stars together. Finally Rachel's curiosity overcame her. "Why did you do it?" she asked.

Sam turned to her, a confused frown on his face. "What do you mean?"

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know. All of it, I guess," she said. "Why patch me up by the river when it would have been easier to let me die of infection or blood loss? Why not kill the boy from District Four when you had the chance during the bloodbath? Why memorize all the names of the people that have to die for you to see your family again?"

Sam sighed, pondering her question. "The first one's easy," he said. "You're my friend. You needed help, so I helped. The second one…" He trailed off, looking back up at the stars. "I don't know. I guess I just don't want to kill anyone unless it's absolutely necessary. I was free to run, so I ran."

"What about the third one?" Rachel asked softly.

"I memorized the names so that I'd remember that they're all human. They're all kids, just like me. They have as much of a choice in this as I do. I don't want to become one of those tributes that goes crazy with bloodlust and starts eating peoples' hearts." He glanced at Rachel. "No offense."

She shrugged. "None taken. Titus…he lost himself in that arena. The desire to go home, coupled with the fear and paranoia of every moment possibly being your last broke him. It was hard to watch. He was a sweet guy. Nothing like the Capitol's portrait of him."

"You knew him?" Sam asked.

Rachel nodded. "He was a friend. We weren't close, but we'd sing together in school sometimes." She smiled at the memory. "He had a beautiful voice."

They lapsed into silence again, the rush of the waterfall drowning out all other noise. "So," Rachel finally said, "since you know everyone's name, do you mind telling me who's all out there?"

Sam nodded. "Santana and Azimio from District One, Noah from District Two, and Quinn and David from District Four," he said. "Those are just the Careers, mind you." He started ticking off names on his fingers. "Obviously, Jesse's out there somewhere. Brittany from District Seven. Wes from District Eight. Lauren from District Nine. And the four of us," he finished.

"Did you-did you see anything of Jesse during the bloodbath?" Rachel asked.

Sam nodded slowly. "I-I saw him kill Sugar," he said apologetically. "You know, Artie's partner. Snuck up on her and cut her throat. She didn't stand a chance."

"No," Rachel said angrily. "You're wrong. Jesse wouldn't do that. He'd fight to protect himself, obviously, but he wouldn't murder someone in cold blood."

Sam eyed her warily. "Rachel, I know what I saw."

"But do you?" she asked. "Do you really? You were running for cover, fighting off David, and that place was total chaos. Maybe you only think you saw him. It could have been anyone."

Sam shrugged. "You could be right, I guess." He paused before asking his next question. "How well do you know Jesse?"

"We were dating for almost a year," Rachel confessed. "We only broke up when we both got reaped."

"You trust him then," Sam said.

She nodded. "With my life."

"Okay." Sam smiled at her. "Go get some sleep," he told her. "You've had a rough day."

"Good night, Sam," Rachel said, standing up. "See you in the morning." I hope.

*And that's a wrap, ladies and gents. I promise that the next chapter won't take quite as long to be posted. I'm hoping to post a chapter a week until I'm finished with this story. Next up we'll get some more Games excitement, with a little bit of adult perspective. Stay tuned!