Janice Senn's P.O.V. (D3)
"Good luck," Pau says to me, giving my shoulder a little pat, "Remember, only go into the bloodbath if you know you can make it. It's not worth it otherwise."
"Fifteen seconds," a computerized voice reminds me.
"Bye," I say as I step backwards into the tube that will take me into the arena.
I take a deep breath, sucking in as much as I can of the normal world before I never see it again. I stare directly at Pau as he nods to me, giving me an encouraging thumbs up. I can't seem to bring myself to smile. I clench my hands, but they are shaking and dripping in sweat. My heart is racing at a pace that should give me a heart attack.
I jump as the plate beneath me starts rising. Pau tries to smile, but I close my eyes tightly. As I rise higher, I feel coldness biting at my face and hands. I am wearing a thick, black, insulated jacket with a yellow stripe on the sleeve. There is a bold '3' printed in black on the stripe. Under the jacket, I have a long-sleeved shirt on, and I'm wearing greyish pants with a lot of pockets. Then, to finish it off, strong black boots. They look waterproof too. My warm clothing tell me one thing-- the arena is a snow theme.
My plate suddenly stops rising and I open my eyes. I was right. All around us is pure white snow, about half a foot deep. Mountains are all around us. A forest of pine-trees acts like a blanket over the base of the mountains. The sky is bright blue and the sun is shining brightly, reflecting off the cornucopia. The tributes form a perfect circle around the horn.
I hear someone clear their throat to my right. I look over and see Danielle Sottington standing on her pedestal. She looks prepared, ready, determined. She is facing the...cornucopia? I wonder why. She's too young to do that.
"Tributes, welcome to the one hundred fiftieth annual Hunger Games and sixth Quarter Quell. The gong will sound in sixty seconds. May the odds be ever in your favor!"
I shake my head as my heartbeat increases in speed. I frantically look around for my allies. Steve is six pedestals to my left and Harper must be on the other side of the horn. Now I look to the cornucopia. Then I see something. Something I want. Something I know I can get to in time.
A sword.
Steve has his eyes locked on a mace several yards in front of him. He's going in too.
Twenty seconds...
I can't stop blinking. I keep trying to register everything. The tributes. The mountains. The snow. The weapons. My allies. It too much for me to take.
Five seconds...
My heart is pounding in my ribcage and my ears are starting to ring. This can't be happening. This can't be happening!
Before I can do anything, I feel myself grow numb and my eyes closing. I feel my knees give out. No, please don't pass out. Not again! Not now!
But I can't stop myself. The blackness covers my vision as I plummet to the ground.
GONG!
Fynn Salasi's P.O.V. (D7)
I throw myself off my pedestal as far as possible and start sprinting towards the cornucopia. My hands are itching for a weapon, any weapon.
There is a scream from Kara as the little boy from her District tackles her to the ground. I don't bother watching them. I just continue running to the horn.
I crash into the side of the horn to stop myself. I immediately find...an axe. I throw it up in the air and catch it before swinging it at the closest tribute. It's the little girl from District Eleven, Wendy I think it was.
I slice the blade of my axe the whole way down her back. She shrieks and curls into a ball on the ground, her blood quickly changing the color of the snow from white to a deep crimson.
My eyes widen for a second as I realize what I just did, but I quickly shake it off as more tributes arrive. I snatch a pack from the mouth of the horn and glance around quickly.
"Scarlett!" I shout above the screams of the other tributes.
"I'm here! Let's go!" Scarlett shouts from behind me.
I whip around as she throws a knife. It grazes Wesley's arm, but it still made him stop coming toward us. I grab Scarlett's arm and start running from the area.
Kara Windfield's P.O.V. (D1)
George pushes me down into the snow harshly. I yelp, rolling to the side as he tries to jump on me. My hands search for something in the snow. Anything!
"You shouldn't have chosen me at the Reapings!" George yells, kicking my hip.
I growl, "But I did."
I laugh suddenly and George frowns. Before he can say anything, I reach up and grab hold of his wrist, yanking him towards the ground. His face plants into the snow. Then I find something...a knife. Perfect...
I roll George onto his back and throw a punch at his face to stun him. Then I pin his arms beneath my knees and lean forward to start working. I look up before I begin. The tributes are starting to clear. It's just Ace, Elsa, Gwen, and somebody else.
I smile smugly and turn my attention back to George. He starts struggling under me, trying to get free. He stops when I rest the blade of my knife on his cheek.
He starts whimpering and struggling again. I laugh, "Pathetic. You thought you could take me? How wrong you are. Now, I'm going to kill you. But first, I need to claim you as my kill," I point to the sky, "They'll like this too."
With that, I cut my knife into his cheek, drawing a line in blood. I continue carving, giggling the whole time. Every once in awhile I punch him to get him to shut up, but it isn't working very well. I speed up what I'm doing, just because I don't want to hear him anymore. Just a little more...and I'm done.
I smile, admiring my work. On his cheek is the word 'Kara' and the number '1' printed in red ink with messy lettering. Blood is streaming from it now, giving it a neater look, in my opinion. I hold the knife over his head, thinking about what I should do next.
"Stop..." George pleads, but I smirk.
I look at the cornucopia and stand up. George sighs and sits up. I offer him my hand, which he takes. How is he so stupid? I help him to his feet.
"For a second, I thought you were going to kill-"
I slash my knife across his throat with a grimace. Blood splatters my face, much to my satisfaction. I grab his shoulder and lean close to his face as he stares at me with wide eyes.
"You knew I would get you first," I whisper, not making eye-contact.
His eyes gloss over as I release his shoulder, allowing him to fall into the snow.
Clark Larson's P.O.V. (D9)
Geo, Jada, and I sprint towards the forest. We're almost there, about one hundred yards away. There are lots of other tributes on either side of us, but they're not picking a fight. They want to avoid a fight just as much as the rest of us.
We reach the tree line, and I immediately throw myself against a tree, panting heavily. Jada is leaning forward with her hands on her knees, and Geo is leaning against a tree with his arm, breathing heavily.
We're lucky to get away from there alive. At least we were able to get some things. I had a pack and a knife, but as I was running away, someone pulled the pack off my back. I didn't bother going back for it. I still have my knife, and I picked up a snow-hat. Jada got a pack, and Geo got a dagger and a pack. He went really close to the horn though.
"How far are we going?" I ask once I can breathe properly.
Geo and Jada shrug, still trying to catch their breath.
I suddenly hear footsteps. Very close.
"Who's there?" I shout, before thinking about it.
Jada and Geo look around, curious. I tell them I'll check it out, and I walk farther into the dense forest. I make it about fifty feet in until I hear the footsteps again, even closer than before. The footsteps are slower now, crunching the snow as quietly as possible. I quickly turn around, clutching my knife and raising it to fight. Nobody's there.
I eventually hear the footsteps stop, and I decide to go back to the others. As I start walking, I hear the footsteps again. I stop and turn around, but before I can, something hits me, pushing me into a tree roughly. I cry out in surprise, hopefully loud enough for my allies to hear.
I get my head slammed into the tree again before I get the chance to call for them louder. I aimlessly try to hit the person with my knife. Whoever it is, takes a step back, giving me a chance to turn around. Then I see who it is.
"Danielle? What are you-"
Danielle lunges forward, grabbing my arms. I try to shove her away as she puts all of her strength into trying to get me to drop my knife. She digs her nails into my wrist, squeezing harder and harder, until she draws blood.
"Geo! Jad-" I try again, as loud as I can shout before Danielle punches me in the face. I reach up with my free hand and wipe my lip. When I take it away, I see blood on the back of my hand. While I was doing so, Danielle wrenches the knife from my hand.
"No!" I yell, kicking her away. She quickly regains her stance, "Danielle, what are you doing?"
"Getting my revenge!" she spits before throwing herself at me.
We both crash into the snow, struggling for the knife. Danielle throws it a few feet away and I start to crawl to it. She starts crawling after me, but I elbow her in the forehead. I get the knife and turn back around. I kneel over her, holding her down with my hand and raising my knife. I look down into her eyes. She's so young, so innocent. I hesitate, trying to decide whether or not to kill her. Then suddenly-
"Clark!" I hear Jada call from behind me. I make the mistake of looking back.
The next thing I know, Danielle has me on the ground with the knife pushed up against my throat. I don't dare to move or make a sound. I just stare in shock at what's happening to me. I don't even want to breathe. I feel like anything I do will trigger the end of me.
Somehow, I manage to sit up, but Danielle forces me against the tree. At this point, Jada has arrived at the scene. She immediately rushes toward us, but stops when Danielle warns her.
"Don't come any closer, or he's dead!"
Jada glances at me, then back at Danielle. There isn't any way I can see this playing out without me turning out dead.
Danielle pulls me to my feet, keeping the knife against my throat, "I'm going to kill him first, but I'll get you next, Jada."
"You'll have to go through me first!" I suddenly hear Geo behind us, but I don't turn.
Then I hear a stabbing sound and Danielle coughs up blood on my shoulder. I feel the knife relax and drop to the snow. When I finally feel safe enough to move, I turn around. Danielle crashes forward, blood soaking her jacket. Geo is standing over her with blood dripping from the tip of his dagger.
"Let's go!" he commands, gesturing in a random direction.