In the beginning there was silence.

And Nobody hated it. It hung ominously in the air around him like a thick woolen blanket wrapping him in a cold isolation. He couldn't even hear the soft breaths from the four tributes that stood in the mostly barren room with him. Nobody wasn't sure where the other tributes were but at the moment he didn't care, he liked his odds against 4 tributes more than against 23.

The three other figures stood in the eerie stillness, their eyes shifting from one to another measuring each other up. Nobody stared at the young girl from 10 who stood directly on his right would surely fall with ease,though the boy from 12 who stood directly across from him might prove to be a threat. In the darkest corner of the room, standing right next to the rusted framework of the skeleton of a bed, stood the boy from 7. Nobody decided it would be best to avoid the burly boy at all costs. He looked over at the door on the far end of the room, would running toward it and avoiding a fight with the other tributes be a bad idea?

Nobody didn't have an opportunity to decide because at that moment the silence exploded into chaos. The overhead lights shattered and the sharp shards of glass rained down on the tributes slicing their skin as if it was nothing more than butter.

Without any announcement or countdown the games had snuck up on the tributes like a panther and so, 23 ends had begun.

His heart beating wildly in his chest, Nobody leaped from his pedestal. His feet collided loudly with the tiled floor as the boy from 12 crashed into his body, knocking him to the ground. Nobody froze for a second in complete shock as the boy's sweaty hands wrapped around his neck, squeezing it. Nobody blinked at the boy who strangled him, "I'm sorry.... I have to get home to my old life... I- I don't want to die without knowing who I am." The boy stuttered, his eyes filled with remorse.

Nobody felt a swirling rage growing inside of him as he the boy tightened his grip on his neck. Did he think that Nobody didn't want to get back to his old life? That he didn't want to figure out what the hell his crackhead memories were of? What made this pathetic boy's life worth more than his? Nobody thrust his knee into the boy's stomach with the reckless precision of someone who refused to die.

The boy from 12 gasped in shock and Nobody pushed him off himself delivering a punch to the boy's face. It was frightening to Nobody how easily hurting another person was to him, but it wasn't frightening enough to make him stop. Gasping for air Nobody rolled to his hands and knees and drove his knee into the crumpled boy's neck. "Rest in peace." He said coldly staring at the boy who had been the first to fall. More would follow.

Nobody's chest started to throb, his stone heart melting as quickly as it had come. Oh shut up you freak, Nobody thought at himself irritably as he forced himself to his feet and threw a glance over his shoulder at the strangled grunts coming from the girl from 10 and the boy from 7. They battled fiercely, fighting like demons as they both held on to life by their fingertips, though to Nobody the victor was obvious. Nobody knew he should just walk away, but the girl fought so fiercely against the boy who obviously was going to triumph.... Nobody's chest felt soft and mushy as he felt his feet take off toward the fight.

To the boy from 7, Nobody's fist came out of nowhere. The pain exploded in his face making him stumble backward clutching his nose. The boy forced himself to concentrate but not nearly fast enough because the girl from 10 let out a ferocious snarl and drove a shard of glass into his chest. The boy looked down at the blossom of blood that was rapidly spreading across his shirt, the boy realized in horror that his time was up.

Nobody watched the boy from 7 collapse to the ground choking and sputtering on his own blood. Once again the realization of how fragile the human life was daunted his imagination, somehow managing to not only make him nervous but also fill him with a strange excitement. Nobody looked over at the girl that he had chosen to save, she smiled broadly at him. "Thank you so much. Do you want an alliance?" She her voice was beautiful, full of something pure and strong.

Nobody couldn't bring himself to speak for some reason, but he forced himself to nod his head slightly. The girl beckoned for him to follow her as she began to make her way toward the door. Nobody stared at her unmoving for a second then slowly began to follow her. Really an alliance with her would serve no use to him. He had saved her out of impulse and an overwhelming emotion, now he was going to kill her on that same impulse but instead out of cold reason.

It all blurred together as Nobody's hands shot out toward her neck, squeezing the firm flesh in his hands, the girl struggled in horror, kicking and punching. Nobody wanted to let go but he couldn't. After perhaps the longest minute Nobody could remember the girl stilled in his arms. His grip went slack and the girl slid to the ground absolutely lifeless.

Nobody turned away his chest feeling heavy again as if someone was suffocating him. Nobody noticed that the previous silence had returned to the room, cloaking the dead bodies almost protectively. Very soon he would return to the silence from which this game had begun, but for now Nobody twisted the gelid door handle and slipped into the overwhelming chaos of the hall.