Welcome back.

Let the Games begin.

Onto the story.

Disclaimer: Yes, I know that the cannons are different in the book. I did it my way for dramatics. Please don't sue me.

FLASHBACK TO THE LAST CHAPTER

Darkness engulfed the tube for an indiscernible amount of time. My heart rate accelerated despite myself. Feeling a shift underneath me, I braced my knees as the metal plate pushed me out of the cylinder, out of the blackness, and into the open air. I squinted and blinked rapidly through the bright sunlight. A strong gust of wind pushed against my frame, but I hold my ground, knowing what would happen if I stepped out of my spot even a moment too soon.

The booming voice of none other than Claudius Templesmith rings out around me. And I know that my fate is sealed once the last words leave his lips.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin!"

The Cornucopia stood tall at the center of the ring of tributes. The golden metal gleamed in the harsh sunlight, a stark contrast to the gently waving grass brushing against it. Supplies overflowed from the mouth of the cone, spilling out onto the grass and enticing us to fight for them. There were troves of food, weapons, water, medicine, and so much more. My heart thudded in my chest and my fingers curled at my sides. I could reach them. I could fight my way through the mass of opponents and escape before anything could happen to me. Anticipation had me licking my lips as my muscles coiled, ready to take off.

Slight movement caused me to glance to my right, and I blinked several times as I met Hive's terrified gaze. His feet fidgeted again and I felt panic begin to rise. If he moved a little too far, a little too quick before the countdown ended...

With a start, I came back to myself. I looked around me, finding Klew, Merida, and Rosie amid the rest of the tributes. Klew held a look of determination, eyes trained on a backpack not too far from where she stood. Merida stood tall, her face calm. She was an entirely different person from the girl in the pool. Rosie was breathing rapidly, almost on the verge of hyperventilating as she took in our surroundings. I turned back to Hive, not surprised to see him still watching me. Thinking quickly, I nodded my head behind us, toward a forest that greatly reminded me of the one back home. He nodded jerkily, pressing his lips together.

I scanned the rest of the tributes nearby, unable to find Emery or even Finnick. About five to the left of me was Cato. His eyes were focused on the Cornucopia, his body shifted into a sprinting position. Squinting, I realized his face wasn't facing the prize like the rest of him was. No, his eyes were straining to watch the Cornucopia out of the corner of them, while his face was turned almost entirely toward me. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and almost immediately all thought of trying to go for the best supplies were squashed.

In front of my spot was an average length of rope, and not too far from that was a backpack similar to the one Klew was eyeing. Could I risk that? It could be holding anything. It could be full of rocks for all I knew, but would I be able to survive in those woods without any supplies? My lips pursed. Probably not.

I glanced back at Cato, my breath almost catching as his eyes flicked their focus back to the Cornucopia. Was he watching me? Had I made myself his first target? I swallowed hard and focused on the task at hand, unaware of the countdown and its quick decline. If I could just grab that backpack and rope, I could immediately turn tail and run after Hive. I would be out of the firing zone long before Cato could unleash whatever it was he was planning on doing. I felt my heartbeat calming as the plan slid into place. Hopefully everything would go smoothl-

The gong sounded, signifying the official start to the 74th annual Hunger Games.

I jerked, watching as everyone else took off and I didn't. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I leapt into action, easily sweeping up the rope and moving rapidly towards the backpack. Right before I got to it, another tribute did. If I could have thought in that moment, I would have known it was the weak male District 6 tribute, but I couldn't. Therefore, my body went into fight mode.

My left hand snagged the free strap while my right arm rose up crashed my elbow into his face. He grunted, a sharp whine breaking through the boyish sound. I yanked the bag from his grip and pulled it on watching as he fell on his ass and held a hand up to his bleeding nose. Knowing that we were both in the danger zone, something in my head clicked and suddenly I was hooking my arm with his, pulling him back to his feet.

"Run!" I commanded, dragging him for a split second before taking my own advice. I heard his shambling footsteps for a few beats before a dull thud shook the ground beneath me.

My feet stumbled to a stop and I whirled around, tripping forward and tweaking my ankle. Cursing, a cold chill went through me as the familiar sound of a flying knife whistled over top of me. I looked at where the thud had been to see the male tribute face down, another knife lodged in his upper back. He wasn't breathing. He wasn't breathing.

I glanced up, seeing Clove as she picked up another knife and got into position. We froze. Then the District 1 male plowed into her, slamming her into the ground.

"Stay out of my way!" Cato hollered at him, chest heaving as he slid his new sword out of another tribute's stomach. I forced myself to look away and move to the downed tribute in front of me. Bracing my hand on his shoulder, I pulled the knife out of his back and wiped the blood on his shirt. The body didn't so much as twitch. Guilt festered in my chest, and I couldn't stop myself from wasting even more precious time by leaning in close to his ear.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. My fault. This death was my fault. Moving to pull back, my gaze happened to zero in on a string of metal as it glinted in the sunlight. A necklace. His token?

It was in my pocket before I'd realized I'd snapped it off his neck.

"What are you doing?! We gotta go!" A voice hissed beside me, taking my hand and bolting. I saw her flash of red hair and my thoughts cleared a little. Klew. She was okay.

A flare of heat splintered up from my ankle as my left foot hit the ground, nearly sending me sprawling. I hissed, forcing it to the background of my mind as I focused on what was going on around me.

"Where's Rosie?" I grunted, looking back over my shoulder. Klew jerked me forward.

"She's not important. We need to get outta this bloodbath before we're added to it," she grit out, practically dragging me toward the trees. I turned to her with wide eyes, not quite understanding.

"Klew?" I murmured. Her lip curled up.

"Just quit talking and move it, Fire Girl," she commanded. Anger and disbelief bloomed within me at the order. I looked over my shoulder again, seeing the blur of red painting the green of the grass and still forms on the ground. There were still more tributes fighting, still more bodies to fall, still more blood to be shed. And there was Rosie, locked into combat with none other than the District 4 girl, Merida.

I yanked my hand out of Klew's, replaced it with my cord of rope, and pushed her forward.

"Go, Klew, find Hive! I sent him that way-" I pointed, "-you have to make sure he's okay. I'll come for you, I swear I will."

She spluttered, her skin growing paler than I thought it could, but I only shoved her again once before turning around and taking off. My heart was pounding in my chest and blood roared in my ears. I thought 4 was better than this. I thought that she wouldn't play their game. Now I knew. Careers were Careers for a reason. They were ruthless, and they couldn't be trusted.

No one could.

Tucking my shoulder, I angled my body into position and charged. The air left 4 in a rush as I plowed into her stomach, using my momentum to take her to the ground. I brought the knife I'd taken from the boy up to her throat, staring her dead in the eyes.

"I thought you were different," I said, my voice hushed, "but now I know how much of a fool I am for believing any of you were."

Her eyes widened impossibly large, growing glassy with unshed tears. She shook her head back and forth in short, jerky movements, looking at me pleadingly.

"No, Laurel-"

"I should've never helped you in that pool."

I pushed off of her, not so much as leaving a nick in her skin as I hurried to my feet. Whirling around I hauled Rosie up, not pausing to see how injured she was. She watched me with bewilderment and slight disbelief, but followed without a word.

"Are you alright?" I asked, not looking back at her as we ran.

"Yeah," she answered, her breathing coming out in huffs. Her hand was trembling in mine.

"Klew will be somewhere in the woods over there," I said, pointing at the patch of trees, "We can regroup and get a plan together once we're as far from this place as possible."

She didn't answer me, so I looked back at her worriedly only to see her staring at me in shock.

"What?"

"You're...you're allying with me?" She asked in a small voice, uncertainty fluttering across her features. My face hardened.

"No one here deserves to die," I stated, a twinge of doubt making me second-guess my words. What about the District 7 girl, Juliet, who bit a chunk out of my arm? Or the District 11 boy who killed Esla before the Games? What about Glimmer? Didn't they all deserve to die?

"You really are something else," she muttered, panting from running for so long.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment. Now hush, and let's get out of here."

~OoOoO~

We ran into Hive and Klew several hours of jogging later. It was sheer luck, honestly, because it involved me tripping over my own feet and tumbling down a slight decline. The backpack saved my back from getting torn up, but there must have been a thorn bush somewhere along the way, because I had small tears in my sleeves and pant legs. Luckily, my hands and face were spared the onslaught.

"Hey, 12, are you okay?" Rosie whisper-called. From the hesitant crunching of leaves underfoot, I figured she was picking her way down to me.

"Yeah, I think I-"

"There you are!"

Arms wrapped tightly around my shoulders, crushing me to a skinny frame. Klew pulled back quickly, a genuine smile brightening her features. Worried hazel eyes peered over her shoulder, and then it was my turn to smile.

"You found each other," I said, more to myself than to either of them. My eyes slid closed. "Good."

"12? 12, what happened?" Rosie called again, her voice rising in pitch. Klew jerked her gaze up, an almost indecipherable glint of anger in her eyes. I frowned.

"I'm fine, 9," I replied, pushing myself to sit up. "Just ran into the rest of our allies."

"Rest of our allies?" Klew scoffed, looking at me incredulously.

"Who says we want her with us?" Hive muttered, surprising me. I stared at them.

"Guys, I couldn't leave her to die." Flashes of the male tribute filled my mind. My fault.

"Hey, that was a lot, uh, longer a fall than I thought-" she huffed, skidding to a stop a few feet away from us. She paused when she saw Klew and Hive eyeing her warily.

"Hello," she offered weakly.

Hive nodded in acknowledgment and Klew pursed her lips. I nudged her with my elbow and stretched my hand up, silently asking her to help me stand. She slipped her hand in mine, and I didn't miss the warning squeeze she gave me as she hauled me to my feet.

"Well, I say we should keep on moving. I haven't heard any cannons yet, so there must still be something going on at the Cornucopia," I said, brushing the dirt off my person.

"That's what that thing's called? I just thought it was a weird metal…cone, thing," Klew admitted, sounding a little more like the girl I met…well, a few days ago.

"Let's move uphill. It'll be easier to watch our backs if we get to higher ground," Hive said, shifting from foot to foot.

"Do you mean, like, in the trees?" Rosie asked, her brow pinching as she looked around us. The trees towered overhead, loosely spread apart yet still close enough to be considered a forest. The branches were long, durable, but rather slim. Klew grimaced.

"Not exactly. Hive and I aren't the best at the whole, you know, climbing thing."

"Then let's head that way," I said, pointing in the direction Rosie and I had been headed when I fell. "Once we're in a better position, we can stop and check what's in our backpacks. How's that sound, Klew?"

"Sounds good to me."

We set off walking, Klew leading the way. Hive followed a few feet behind her, shooting me a warm smile before facing forward. Rosie stayed beside me. Her eyes keep drifting down to my feet, but her mouth remained shut. I attempted to make my limp discrete, but that just caused me to wince more with each step. I hadn't thought I tweaked my ankle that badly, but it was proving to be more painful than it should have been. The fall hadn't helped things either.

The trees grew denser as time marched on, and soon enough we could barely see the sun through the thick leaves. Hive had slowed, huffing and puffing along with Rosie a little ways behind me. Klew kept her head high, though even she was becoming sluggish. I wasn't sure how long we'd been walking, but when I offered for us to stop for a moment to catch our breaths, no one objected.

"How long do you think we've-"

BOOM.

We all fell silent, hearing the first cannon firing of the Games. Klew grasped at my arm, the slightest tremble in her hand. I looked up, but the sky was impossible to see through all the leaves.

Dread crawled through my body, causing goosebumps to raise on my arms.

We couldn't see. We wouldn't know who died.

We wouldn't know who died.

Dropping everything, I hurled myself at the closest tall tree near us, fingers digging in the bark as I struggled to climb. I'd never been as good as Katniss at climbing, and I almost fell multiple times. However, I pushed myself on, forcing my hands to find purchase in anything they could. Nobody below questioned my actions, just stayed rooted in their places as the next cannon fired.

The higher I got, the easier it was to find branches to grab. A few broke off in my grip or underfoot, but I was always able to grab onto something else to keep from falling. I had to see. I had to know. A dull droning grew stronger the higher I moved, but I elected to ignore it. I was so close. Faint sunlight filtered through the leaves, but the panic in my chest didn't recede.

Another cannon fired.

I shoved the last branch out of my way, and I could finally see the sky again.

A boy's face hung over the horizon, staring down at nothing with hollow eyes. Dirk Olson, seventeen-years-old. He was from District 5. I blinked. Only District 5? Wasn't he the third cannon?

BOOM.

Dirk's picture dissolved, being replaced with the sullen face of the District 6 male. My breath caught in my throat, regret forcing me to look away. Swallowing hard, I reminded myself that in this world, in this time, in these Games, there wasn't room for regret. I had to keep my head if I literally wanted to keep my head.

My hand slid down to my pocket, feeling the necklace and the bracelet's cold metal against my thigh. Looking back up at him, I realized that it hadn't been my place to take his token. If anything, it made me look like a thief in the eyes of his people. As his image started to fade, I glanced at his information they displayed, just catching his first name before the next cannon went off and it disappeared forever.

"I'm sorry, Darrell," I murmured aloud, pressing my three middle fingers to my lips before holding them up.

The next fallen tribute was from District 8. Her name was Rose Wayson, and she was fourteen.

After her was her district partner. Phillip Kinzen. Fifteen.

I waited for the next tribute's face to appear and scanned his information carefully. He was a fair-skinned blond named Tyson Hayward. He was eighteen. And he was from District 9.

"What do you see up there?" Klew called up, reminding me of where I was and that they were waiting below. Clearing my throat, I adjusted my grip on the tree and glanced down.

"So far, I've seen the boys from 5 and 6 and both tributes from 8. The one up now is…It's Tyson, Rosie."

Silence answered me. Then another cannon sounded.

Jerking my gaze back up, my brow wrinkled in confusion as I took in the dark-skinned face of the District 11 boy. Landen Williams. Only twelve. The killer before the Games. Dead.

"Who was it, Laurel?"

My mouth went dry. He was so young. Too young. They all had been too young.

"Laurel?" Klew sounded panicked.

After licking my chapped lips, I cleared my throat again, trying to find my voice.

"The boy from 11. Landen."

"What about the other two? Eight cannons went off, didn't they?" Hive called, unsure. A beat of silence hung in the air as I processed his words.

"Yeah, yeah they did…" I muttered, racking my brain for who they could have been. Judging by the order of the District 8, female deaths were announced first. That could mean that Dirk's partner died, explaining away one of the cannons. However, that would still leave one cannon to a Career. My chest tightened unexpectedly.

"Laurel, why don't you come back down now? We should check out what's in our packs."

Feeling a pit in my stomach, I started climbing down. I was too distracted to pay much attention to the droning buzz as it grew louder and closer up until the branch under my leg gave way.

My body nearly folded in half and fell with it. Somehow I was able to find another foothold just in time, but that didn't stop my panic as I realized what I had done.

Jerking my head, I barely got a glance at the hive as it tumbled from branch to branch, a swarm of motion gaining size and surrounding the cracking husk. Horror built up in my throat and I struggled to scream, to warn them, to do something. They shuffled around patiently, Hive even kicking a stick out of the way, oblivious to what was going to hit them. What was going to be my fault. All my fault.

Rosie saw it first.

"Tracker Jackers!" She shrieked, taking off to the right. She was out of sight in seconds. Klew and Hive whipped their heads up, freezing in confusion for a few precious moments before Klew swore and they rushed off after her.

"Water! Get to water!" She called, her red hair a blur behind her.

I gripped the bark of the tree, scrambling to think of a plan. I needed to follow them. The tree next to mine had thick branches that wouldn't be too far to jump to. Deciding quickly, I picked my way over towards them, being extra cautious on where I placed my weight. The limbs bowed slightly under my weight, but I didn't let it deter me.

Straining to see where they went, I maneuvered around the tree, gaining confidence as time moved on. I could only hear them as they crashed through the brush, a yelp of pain cutting through the air and propelling me to move faster.

Leaves and branches began blurring around me as I forced myself to focus on their trail, getting careless without even realizing it. Turning my head every once and awhile in an effort to catch sight of them, I reached for the wrong branch.

I realized my mistake a moment too late.

A/N: Wowza. It's been a hot minute since I've seen y'all around these parts. Howdy!

Sorry for taking so long. Lots of things have happened that I won't get into at the moment.

Thanks for sticking around through my absence.

Thank you to my vocalists for keeping me motivated. Without your little reminders, I might not have gotten this out for...quite a bit of time.

Thank you to my Silent Watchers for adding this to your follows and favorites. It makes my heart feel warm knowing people still like my writing.

Now, I must bid you adieu. I have class in the morning and homework to finish up on.

Okay.

Smell ya later.