Zeria Maim, District 8

There were many ways that I could have been spending, quite possibly, my last night alive. I had seen some tributes stumbling around on the roof intoxicated, still others getting in a few more hours of training, both served to no strategic advantage.

I wasn't that vain.

My room was dark save the dim light of the television as I poured over the interviews and the reapings, studying each expression, each hand movement, anything that will give me more information on my enemies. I looked down at my notes I had already made and shuffled through the rough profiles, pleased with my progress. They gave her a strategy to win, hidden deep within the scribbles of pencil were every tribute's weaknesses and their strengths. I would find every last chink in their armor and when the time came, I would shove a dagger straight into them.

The careers, my most prominent issue were fairly simple. Georgette was the mastermind who would do everything in her power not to look as if she were the mastermind. Theoretically she would attach herself to whoever she assumed would be leader and manipulate the situations through them. Paisley would probably die early in the games by Georgette's hand, I was fairly certain she manipulated him into volunteering. I had watched the frail boy who had no interest in the games for a long time the other day, he was no survivor.

Malcolm and Acadia were different levels of career entirely. The two were the closest thing to gods of war that I could force myself to believe in. Acadia would last a long time in the pack, she was useful, obedient and incredibly deadly. She wasn't going to be the one to strike first when the careers began to backstab each other. Malcolm would probably become leader, through I wasn't sure how long he could maintain that position. He was incredibly intense and overly emotional. He also seemed bitter over something, over what I couldn't be sure though. He was probably the loosest cannon in the career back save the insane girl from Four, Cheshire. I wasn't sure what to make of her, in fact I wasn't even sure if she was a career. She had been so isolated during the training period I had no clue as to whether or not it was even wise to allow her to live. Instead of a bloodbath perhaps the careers should simply gang up on her instead. I don't think her would be any objection from her brother, Jin, who seemed terrified of the girl.

And I was the weakest link, I was going to be the first they picked off. I was going to have to make sure that I backstabbed first, luckily I was very good at backstabbing first.

The outer districts were not so easily calculated. The only alliances I had been able to pick up on were the alliance between Braven, the victor's son from Five, who would undoubtedly be relentlessly hunted by the careers due to his ancestry, Celeste, his district partner and Runa. I disliked Runa, the melodramatic girl from District Three. I wanted to slap her, how could one human being be that emotional.

I shuddered as I stared at my paper that had all the scribbles of Runa all over them. Just gathering this information had made me want to shoot myself. Normally I would say a girl like Runa would not last a single day in the arena, however there was Braven. Braven clearly was romantically attracted to the whiny slug and would protect her with his life. Hopefully his life wouldn't last very long.

The other alliance was between the district partners from Nine, Emily and Dagan. Both were frighteningly weak and were hardly worth my time. They would perish quickly, especially since I noticed some tensions between the two.

Of course, just because they were the only alliances currently standing didn't mean that they were the only ones that would form. I was sure more would come as the games progressed.

Then there were the individuals that concerned me, on the top of that list was Holly. The girl was big, brutish and clearly determined. Despite her obvious rebellion Holly was actually doing quite well in the polls, I could only hope that the gamemakers would decide she was too dangerous to win and kill her with a freak accident. I could say the same thing about Kaiden, the boy from 11 who was somehow going unnoticed by the Capital. He too had displayed hints of rebellion but that was hardly what concerned me. What concerned me was his fighting skills, he was clearly a threat to us all. I was going to have to watch out for both him and Holly closely.

The only other tribute who concerned he was Mark from District 6. He was insane on all accounts and clearly headed for an even bigger breakdown. I didn't like insanity, because I didn't know what to expect from these people. They were wild cards in my book, nothing they did could be predicted. Perhaps that is why I feared them, both him and Cheshire.

I was torn from my thoughts as I heard the door handle to my room turn. I squinted at the sudden light, trying not to be irritated as I watched a familiar freckled face pop through the crack.

"Heyo." Jack said grinning, my nose could smell faint traces of alcohol drifting into my room with him.

Jack was most definitely at the bottom of my list of people that I was concerned about. The boy wouldn't even look at me unless he was tipsy, to seek me out he had to be completely drunk no doubt. "Leave me alone, before I slaughter you." I snapped turning back to my papers, waiting for him to close the door.

Instead he turned on the light and stepped inside.

"As you can smell, I prepared myself to talk to you because you scare the living fudge out of me." Jack said plunking down beside me on the floor.

I stared at him, wondering how what would happen if I killed him before the games actually started. "Jack, I told you to leave."

"No! Please? Come on, you are probably going to kill me tomorrow, all I want are some answers. And cake. I really want cake." He said distractedly before shaking himself out of his self induced trance and refocusing himself. "I want answers more than cake though. You have to look at this whole situation from my perspective. I was innocently doing my janitorly duty of cleaning a factory back in Eight, you kill my boss and lock me in a closet. The peacekeepers come and blame me then lock me in a cell with this scary man who tried to lick me, then, to make matters worse I end up getting blackmailed into volunteering. You are the reason I am here. I have a family back home who was relying on me for food-" He rambled disorientedly before I cut him off.

"I guarantee you that everyone here has a story incredibly incredibly similar to that, you aren't special." I said looking down at my notes, just wanting him to leave.

Jack snorted, "I hardly think that everyone here was licked by an ape man."

I rolled my eyes, "I meant about your family. Everyone here has a family that they whine about getting back to, but in reality they are going to die. The tributes whose heads are led by their hearts are the first ones to go because emotions are incredibly moronic impulses. The tribute that wins will be one that keeps her head straight."

"Like you?" Jack frowned.

I sent him a tight, irked smile. He smiled back completely oblivious to my irritation. "Honestly? No. I don't expect to win. My odds are 1 out of 24. I am going to make it further than anyone expected though, mark my words."

Jack looked down at his lap, his shaggy black hair fell like a curtain over his features making it impossible for me to see his expression. "So...." He began slowly, "what are you fighting to stay alive for? Your family?"

"No Jack, I'm fighting for me."

"Don't you have people you love?" Jack asked looking up at me and squinting in confusion, as if standing alone was a foreign and terrifying subject to him.

"No, I don't need to love, or hope, or dream or feel."

Jack sat back and shook his head. "Well that my friend is come sucky life, you are missing out on a shitload of awesomeness- wait was that sarcasm? I've never really gotten sarcasm."

By this point I was on the verge of calling security to drag him out of the room. "No, it wasn't sarcasm and I am not your friend, would you please leave now?"

Jack's big, dumb blue eyes opened a little more, "Was that sarcasm?"

I sent him one long, penetrating glare. "No and you are leaving now before I make you leave. I have things to do." I growled gesturing to my papers, but almost immediately regretted it as Jack reached over to touch my papers. I slapped his hand away. "Leave Jack."

He threw his head back and let out one long dramatic sigh. "Fine, but first answer one question. Why did you kill my boss?"

I stared at him for one long, drawn out moment. I briefly debated on telling him or not before I came to my conclusion, the only conclusion that I ever really came to. "I had to kill him, he raped my sister and he had to pay."

Jack's face contorted into surprised repulsion, "That's awful! I have a sister, I can't imagine someone hurting her like that....." He stopped and looked at me as if something occurred to him. "Wait.... Are you lying? Just a minute ago you said you didn't have a family."

I grinned, genuinely surprised he had picked up on my inconsistency, "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Darling, you will never know, now get out."

Jack opened his mouth to protest, but stopped himself, clearly thinking better of pressing the issue further. I didn't take my eyes off of Jack as he stood and left, his face riddled with confusion. No one understood me and quite frankly I hoped they never did.

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The time has come for sponsorships, this is how they will work. They are not something you have to commit to now. At the end of each chapter, starting next chapter I will post a list of tributes that are in danger of being killed. Each person reading this book has exactly one save, meaning that you can comment the tribute's name at the end of the chapter and they will instantly get a pass to the next chapter.

If you have any question please feel free to ask.

~ a.k.a