12 tributes are left. Half of the children who entered the arena have died. Their families and creators have watched as the scales tip.

May the odds be ever in your favor.

Three faces can be seen in the sky tonight

Adelaide Wilson

Manny Holmes

Vire Atherton

Oliver couldn't walk.

In fact, she could barely stand. Her ankle had swollen up inside her tan shoes, and the wound on her thigh had turned a delightful yellow color. The feast was had only chance.

If she could just get there.

She hadn't made it too far from the cornucopia, but her leg was getting worse and worse. Her makeshift cane didn't do too much to help in the rocky forest. The gap in the woods was right ahead of her, and she tensed, sensing rather than seeing the other tributes. People were getting desperate.

Next to the cornucopia was a deep pit in the ground. The arena was dead silent as a table rose up. Each backpack had a name on it, gleaming on a little silver plate.

Everything was still as each person waited for another to make a move, to be shot down be the Careers or trigger a trap.

Then Julian stumbled onto the field.

A huge mutt followed him, muzzle stained with blood.

-=|=-•-=|=-

Gordon took a moment to make sure Julian wasn't killed before racing blindly onto the field. He was little, but he was fast, his eyes set on Amelia's bag. All hell broke loose as half a dozen more tributes sprang into action.

Gordon quickly looked for anyone dangerous. The three remaining Careers were still in a pack, though he didn't think it would last. Oliver, from his district, hadn't made it too far on the field. Julian didn't seem to know where he was, and Amber was still covered in dried blood. The remaining tribute, Anson, already had his bag, and was on the run when Quinn's arrow hit his side.

He kept running, and Gordon didn't look to see if he made it. A cannon boomed as he reached the table, and he saw Julian fall at the same moment he realized that his district partner couldn't walk. Seeing "Oliver" on the bag next to Amelia's, he grabbed it against his better judgement.

Gordon raced towards the hurt girl, but malnourishment had taken his toll, and the small boy couldn't run as fast as some of the stronger tributes. A knife hit him in his back, thrown with deadly accuracy by Cinnamon. Collapsing, he dragged himself a bit farther, his shoulder screaming.

He looked up at the girl, pushing the bloodstained bags towards her. "Amelia," he gasped up, choking on blood. "Follow...the river. Please."

>>——> • <——<<

Silk had been planning to leave the pack the moment Vire's knife hit Manny. Now was the bast chance he'd have in ages. He knew what would be in his pack, although his "friends" didn't.

Silk had promised his girlfriend that he would go home, and she surely would be watching tonight. Ripping his pack open, Silk pulled out a polished, sharp sword.

Amid the fray, he came face to face with Amber, holding a half open pack of dried food. In one motion, he separated her head and body.

She didn't have time to process this new development as a cannon boomed.

Continuing on his course, Silk sprinted to the forest line, grabbing Amber's stained backpack. Manny, the top dog, was dead. Quinn had taken down Julian. That made him the strongest male in the arena.

Another cannon shot resounded, and he counted the dead. Nine left.

The odds were in his favor today.