Brendan Hankson's P.O.V. (D2)

I wake up to Liam nudging me in the side gently. Damon and Tai are already awake.

I rub my eyes and open my pack. I pull out a huge pack of dried fruit and tear it open. I hand out slices to everyone. They take them but don't say a word.

Damon has barely spoken since the Bloodbath yesterday. I'm still mad at him for giving up the cornucopia.

"So, what are we going to do today?" Liam speaks up, "Try to go back to the cornucopia?"

Damon looks away, "I don't know. We're Careers. We are supposed to be in the cornucopia. Maybe we should go back."

"I don't think we should," Tai says, "Those guys are tough. Plus, they're never gonna leave the cornucopia. They know we'll try to take it back."

"Maybe you're just scared," I say.

Tai rolls his eyes, "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought I was the one who got a higher score than you!"

"Exactly! You have the higher score, and obviously you can't handle yourself as good as I can. I don't even have a scratch. Look at you, Jarus nearly smashed your brains out and Eric almost chopped your head off!"

"He did not almost chop my head off! He gave me a small scrape, that's all! It's not like I'm complaining or anything," Tai shoots back.

"Alright!" Damon shouts, "Clearly you guys aren't having a good day. Neither am I, but we can't waste all our time arguing."

"Sorry, you're right," Tai apologizes.

I say nothing. I just stand up and walk away from the campsite, and find a lamp post to lean against.

Eventually, Liam comes over and sits on the ground beside the post.

"You'll get over it," he says.

"I am over it," I correct, "I just wish things were how they are supposed to be. Eventually, we're going to run out of supplies because those stupid morons only let us take two packs. We have to go back to the cornucopia. That's where Careers belong."

"We are going back," Liam says.

I look down at him, "We are?"

He nods, "Damon says we will when we are out of supples."

"Liam, you can't fight with your arm like that," I say, gesturing to his left arm. Last night, we were able to set the bone and get it in a make-shift sling, but it still needs to heal.

"Yes I can," he corrects, "I killed Anthony, remember? And I did that after he broke my arm."

I shake my head, "If you think you can do it. I'll stay near you, just in case you need my help at all."

"Do what you want, but I'm going to the cornucopia with you guys."

Conner Polister's P.O.V. (D7)

I trudge behind Brad as we make our way through the messy streets of the arena. After our encounter with Eric yesterday, Brad and I are the only ones that remain of the alliance.

One of us will probably die today also. We have no packs and only one weapon. If some tributes show up, we're done for. We were lucky that yesterday, Eric was the only one we ran into. Fortunately, he doesn't have any allies either.

Suddenly Brad stops walking. He is looking around us frantically.

"Brad? Brad, what is it?" I ask.

He turns to me, "Run!"

Just as he says this, I see Jason Wolfe and James Oxford at the end of the street. My eyes go wide as I realize that they are headed right for us.

I go into panic mode as I turn and sprint after Brad's retreating form. He's the only one of us with a weapon.

I steal a quick look over my shoulder when I catch up with Brad. Jason is practically a few meters behind us, holding his spear. James isn't far behind him with a whip and dagger.

Brad leaps over a huge puddle in the road and lands safely on the other side. I try to follow him, but when I jump in the air, I feel something wrap around my ankle with a snapping sound.

I stop mid-air and fall into the puddle. The water easily reaches over my head when I lay on my stomach. I try to sit up, but I feel a hand on my chest keeping me down. I push the hand away a sit up, gasping for air. James is kneeling in the puddle beside me.

I lunge myself at him and push him under the water. His head goes under, and I hold his shoulders down firmly. Suddenly, his fist flys out of the water and hits me square in the jaw.

I release James to feel my jaw, checking if there are broken bones. James jolts upright and punches me in the face again. Blood starts to trickle from my nose. I think he's broken it.

Before I can react, he sends another punch into my face. I fall back into the water. I feel James's hands lock around my throat and tighten. I struggle to hold my breath as he holds me under the water. Eventually, I am forced to take a breath in, but no air comes. Water floods down my throat causing a stinging sensation.

I try to punch and kick James off of me, but all I'm hitting is air. Eventually, my arms and legs are too weak to move, and I gulp down more water. I gulp and gulp, until nothing can fit in my lungs.

I stare through the water, catching my last glimpse of the sun as darkness starts to spread over my vision. This is the end.

BOOM!

Brad Barlin's P.O.V. (D4)

"Conner! No!" I scream as I push past Jason and jump into the water, "What have you done?!"

James kneels in the water, shaking. I pull Conner's head out of the water. His eyes are staring blankly at the sky. I shake him, "Conner?! Wake up!"

"I killed him..." James says silently beside me, "I can't believe I killed him..."

I start to breathe heavily as I look at James in anger, "You killed my ally!"

"I'm sorry," James says, "I don't know why I did that."

"It doesn't matter, you still did it!" I shout, "You're going to pay for that!"

James's eyes grow large as I throw myself at him. I crash into him and we tumble into the water. Jason jumps in and joins the fight.

I pull out my dagger and plunge it into James's leg. He screams and pulls out his dagger. He slices it at me, but he misses.

Suddenly, I am lifted out of the water and thrown onto the pavement. My dagger stabs into my shoulder when I hit the ground. I roll onto my back and wrap my fingers around the handle of my dagger. I start to pull, but it only causes more blood to flood out of my shoulder. I take in a shaky breath as Jason and James approach me, weapons in hand. They both have concerned looks on their faces and don't look like they're about to attack me any time soon.

"Get away from me!" I shout at them.

"Where's your other allies?" James asks.

I look away, "They're dead. All of them."

Jason looks at James. He nods and takes a step closer to me.

"No! Stay away!" I yell as I try to sit up. I fall back to the ground.

"I can help you, Brad, just let me get closer," Jason says as he takes another small step.

"How do I know I can trust you?" I choke out.

"You don't, but I promise that I will help," Jason reassures as he drops his spear.

Jason kneels down beside me and reaches for the knife in my shoulder. I keep my hand on it, just in case he tries anything.

"I need to get you back to the others," he says, examining the area with the dagger in it.

I shake my head weakly, "No, they'll kill me, you'll kill me."

"No, I won't. We have a first-aid kit back at camp."

I shake my head again, "I can't get up anyways."

Jason turns back to James, "Run back to camp, get the first-aid kit and get back here as soon as you can!"

When James limps away, Jason drags me over to some rubble, leaving a blood trail. He builds a small shelter from some boards and chunks of concrete and puts me inside. I fit perfectly. He sits outside, holding his spear, ready to use it.

"Why are you helping me?" I finally ask.

After a pause he answers, "Because you don't need to die."

"Neither did Conner," I point out.

Jason lowers his head, "I know. James and I were only looking for animals to hunt, but then we saw you. When we saw you running away, we thought you were running to get help from your allies. We couldn't let that happen."

"But we wouldn't have come back for you, even if we did have more allies."

"How were we supposed to know that?"

I shrug, "I guess you're right there."

"I'm sorry about Conner. He was your last ally, right?"

I nod sadly, "I'm hopeless now. There's no way I'll make it much further."

Jason looks at me, "No, you're coming with our alliance. You'll be safe with us."

I look down at the dagger in my shoulder. My whole shirt is almost drenched in blood from it. I suddenly feel overcome with dizziness, and my vision turns blurry. "Jason?" I mumble.

He turns back to me again, "Yeah?"

"I don't feel so..." The last thing I see is Jason's concerned face as he tries to shake me. Everything suddenly goes black.