THE 150th HUNGER GAMES

The Bloodbath (Also Day 1)

Ethel Lifshitz's (District 12) P.O.V:

The clothing I must wear for the arena is light and thin. Very thin. Like it's going to be hot. But why should I care? I'm about to die.

I slowly mount the platform that will bring me into the arena. Approximately three minutes to go. It begins to rise.

I come out into a desert of sand. The shiny gold Cornucopia stands in the middle of all the tribute platforms, and to my left I see a tall wall of thorns. I bet people will climb it to see what's on the other side. Most likely water, because I don't see it anywhere else, and people need that.

The voice of Waldorf Cobb echoes through the arena. "May the second game of the 150th Hunger Games begin!" And then the countdown to my death starts. 60..59..58..57.. You'll be fine. 46..45..44..43.. It'll only hurt for a bit. 32..31..29..28.. Just don't think about it. 21..19..18..17.. Just run into the Bloodbath. 6..5..4..3..2..

Here goes.

1.

Chaos erupts, and my body does what my brain told it to do, I run into the chaos, and I see the girl from 1, and I throw myself in front of her, and-

Princess Galore's (District 1) P. O.V:

I crow as that stupid Ethel's body falls to the ground after I shot it. "Number 3!" I shout to Caesar and Mildred. We're having a competition to see who can kill the most people during the Bloodbath. So far I've gotten Ki from 3, Barbara from 8, and, of course, Ethel from 12.

I watch Caesar sink his sword into Helga from 11. "That was the second for me!" He shouts. "What about you, Mildred?"

"Only both tributes from 10!" She calls back. Suddenly she stops and points. "Look!"

Fran Sermon's (District 6) P. O.V:

I cower as one of the Careers points to me. I've been too scared to step off the pedestal. I whimper as Princess knocks her arrow. Goodbye, life.

Suddenly, the girl from 2 says, "No, I'm going to get this one!" Princess lowers her bow, and before I know it, Mildred has tackled me to the ground, and she's punching me in the nose, and kicking me, and oh, this must be the worst way ever to-

Caesar King's (District 1) P.O.V:

"I think that's all," I say to Princess and Mildred as she finishes the silly girl from 6 off. Oscar didn't decide to team up with us, he ran somewhere else.

"Yeah, so where to?" Princess asks.

"How about we see what's on the other side of that wall of thorns?" Mildred suggests.

"Sure." We begin walking toward the wall. The cannons begin to go off. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

"I counted nine," I say.

"Yeah," Princess agrees. "But I don't think the killing is quite over yet."

Herman Chicken's (District 8) P.O.V:

I can see the Careers coming, and that girl from 1 has a bow and arrows. She could easily pick me off as I climb over this tall wall of thorns. I try to climb faster, but accidentally scratch myself on one of the thorns. "Aah!" I yell. A green slime oozes from the wound. I stare at it, petrified. Are the thorns..poisonous? And at that I forget just why I was trying to climb so fast.

Mildred East's (District 2) P.O.V:

Heman's body falls off the wall of thorns onto the ground, a long drop that would kill him even if the arrow hadn't. A cannon blasts. Caesar looks at me. "So.. how are we going to get around this? Climb?" He asks.

"I think it would be smarter to chop through with your sword," I say. "That way we don't risk falling."

Princess nods, and Caesar begins whacking through the thorns. It's a very thin layer, but hard to cut through- the thorns are tough. "Aah!" Caesar shouts. I look over, and he has cut himself on a thorn. A strange green liquid is coming out of his skin.

"What is it?" Princess's voice shakes. Caesar shrugs and wipes it on the backpack he got from the Cornucopia.

"Hopefully not anything fatal," he says. I'm thinking the opposite- hopefully something fatal. This alliance is only temporary. There's only three winners. And I'm determined to be one of them.

We come out into a large area with a huge lake. Water! There isn't any anywhere else in the arena, as far as I could tell. That means a lot of tributes will come here, and we can pick them off easily. Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!

We set up a camp on the edge of the lake and keep a watchful eye out for any tributes climbing over the wall. Caesar spots one a bit later, almost on the ground by the lake. It's Cory from 5. Caesar walks over to him casually and then stabs him. A cannon sounds. That was the tenth tribute today.

Fecilia Feathersfowl's (acting Gretchen Tittle) P.O.V:

Oh my gosh. My plan actually worked. I had remembered that girl Annalies last Hunger Games hiding in the Cornucopia, so I tried her strategy. And it worked. Unless I die sometime during the next two or three days, Snow can't kill me until after the final games. Oh, but how is he going to explain this to Gretchen's family if I survive? When Gretchen is supposed to come home to them, but she doesn't because it isn't really her at all? What will he do then? I guess he'll have to kill me during the games, then. Or, perhaps, fake my death? And then kill me when the games are over? I don't know. But I know in the end I will die. Preferably not for a while. But it is inevitable.

Night has fallen. I crawl slowly out from behind a pile of goodies in the Cornucopia to see the fallen tributes for today. The Capitol anthem begins to play, and the tributes appear. The boy from 3, the boy from 5, the girl from 6, the boy from 7, both tributes from 8, both tributes from 10, the girl from 11, and the girl from 12. The faces disappear, and I head back into the Cornucopia for a restless night's sleep.

All Day 1 Deaths:

Ki Intumi, District 3

Cory Finn, District 5

Fran Sermon, District 6

Trik Dublin, District 7

Barbara Sludge, District 8

Herman Chicken, District 8

Ursula Fisher, District 10

Bruno Lesley, District 10

Helga Blue, District 11

Ethel Lifshitz, District 12