Hunger Games 3 - closed - started

Luna Jasmine

" Let's head this way, I have a good feeling about it," Ellette said. I agreed with her; I could see a tall tree in the distance, and I think I saw signs pointing to animals, or, for us, meat. Dexter agreed, and we were off.

Even a mile away from the cornucopia, I still heard sounds of war. I cringed as an especially loud scream reached us. I hated killing, and every year I wished that I didn't have to watch the hunger games and see all those people die. This time I got my wish. Now instead of watching them in the town center with everyone else who was too poor to have a TV, I was in them fighting for my life. What were the chances that I'd survive? I wouldn't know, but that other kid from three would. I'd watched him in training, and he was a beast with calculations. I saw him make a fire out of a piece of metal, a cloth, and bark. I overheard him during lunch, telling people percentages about winning, getting to the cornucopia, everything. If anyone other than the careers won, I'd bet it would be him.

The sun was decending rapidly, and knowing the games, the night would be cold. If we didn't have shelter, we might freeze. As we entered the gates to what appeared to be a zoo, the sun set. I paused and looked at the sun setting. I always thought it was pretty, all read and pink and orange. Tonight, the sun looked to be burning the horizon, almost. I squinted, and sure enough, there were flames.

" Run! There's a fire!" I called. We all ran across a bridge onto a small island which had the big tree I had seen earlier on it. Dexter started hyperventilating and overall, making the situation worse. I glanced nervously at the approaching flames. I could see faces in it, and shapes. There was a lion, leaping forward to consume me, and when it died out a hand reached forward farther, and so on and so on. Soon, it was less that 100 meters away, in a wall as far as I could see. I glanced at Ellette, who was strangely calm. " What should we do! We're gonna die!" the words were out of my mouth before I could think. Which I couldn't.

Ellette spoke, strangely calm. " We're on an island, it can't reach us." As her word reached me, she was proven wrong. A wide toothed mouth had rode over the water and fallen onto our island, creating a spark.

Austin André

"How many more days will you last in the Games if you keep flapping your loud mouth? Zero, and I'll make sure of that." Sparkle's eyes were narrowed.

Someone needs a hug. I can't help but chuckle as Sparkle goes on some aggressive rampage. There was me, trying to make a freaky situation a little more pleasurable, and Miss Aggressive over there has some mental breakdown. I delve my hands into my pockets. Besides, I can easily last longer than her, not that I'd care if that wasn't the case. Dying can't be that bad.

She grunts something, her lips quivering for a moment as we continue making our way around. People are still screaming and yelling, but it's a lot easier to drown them all out now. I hardly have to think of it. Thankfully, Sparkle and I are in the shadows, so it's highly unlikely that anyone will come and decapitate us or anything. Just in case though, I keep my hands grasped tightly onto the weapons in them.

I can hear Sparkle breathing beside me, her breth heavy. She nudges my side, egging for me to enter the building we were standing in front of. Patience, love. Silently and steadily, I begin to try and push the heavy door open, hoping not to be welcomed by some kind of maniac child with a sword. That would so piss me off.

Boy, do I know how to jinx myself.

Suddenly, I hear a loud thud. The next thing I know, there's some dark-haired chick knocking me to the ground. Then she's gone. I spin around, my heart hammering. It's Sparkle. She's got the girl on the floor, punching at her face. The girl hits back; she seems to be just as strong as Sparkle. God, my head hurts. I rub it and jump up.

The damp grass soaking into my Coverse, I hastily push the girl off Sparkle, giving her a moment to catch her breath. I've got the girl on the floor now. Her eyes are bruised, her cheeks leaking scarlet coloured blood. I need to get my damn hammer. Still on top of the girl, I shout at Sparkle.

"Grab my hammer!" I say, nodding eagerly at where I'd dropped my weapons after the girl had pushed me.

Obeying what I said, Sparkle quickly jumps over an old pipe on the floor, bends down and grabs my hammer. The girl below me yells, her voice cracking. She scrams at my face, her long nails piercing into my sweaty skin. For the second time, I become the less dominent fighter. Rubbing at my face, the girl's first instinct is to push me off her. That's exactly what she does.

Where the hell is Sparkle? Still rubbing my cheeks where she'd scrammed them, I glance around for the girl. I soon see her. Crap. I dodge her attack, rolling out of the way. I jump onto my feet, grabbing onto her leg. Just as I'm about to whack her one, something jet black smacks into her head. She falls. Lying on the floor is my now bloodstained hammer.

"Bloody hell, Sparkle." I turn around to face her. "Let me kill at least one person."

She grins sarcastically back at me, winking. My hands are sweating, but the water that drains out of them is cold. I flick my fringe off of my face, running the palm of my hand across my boiling forehead. Bending down, I turn the girl around. Her eyes are hidden beneath their lids, her face pale. I touch her neck. There's a pulse... It's light, but it's there.

"Take that back actually." I laugh. "She ain't dead."

"You sure?" Sparkle asks as I nod. "Oh, well I'll finish her off now."

I glance at the girl for a brief moment. Gosh, she only looks about twelve. Her face is youthful, untouched by age and the stresses of adult life. As Sparkle's about to smash her head in or whatever, I hold my arm out, stopping her. She turns to me,a glimmer of anger in her eyes. I glance at the unconscious girl on the floor, then back at Sparkle.

"Nah, don't kill her. We'll give her a chance; she's only a kid." What can I say? I do have some kind of heart.

Sparkle simply stares at me stupidly before laughing bitterly. This chick seriously needs therapy. I know she wants to win and all, but she could at least have some kind of humanity inside of her. Besides, I doubt this little kid was going to get much further. She was already half dead.

"Seriously? Do you want to lose, Austin? We can't just let anyone get pass-" She pauses, stammering. "What... What's that?" She lifts her arm up, pointing into the distance.

Spinning around, I lock my eyes on where her finger is pointed. Through the bitter air and the heavy clouds in the sky, I can see something in the distance. The sun? Seriously... Is Sparkle staring at the sunset as though it's something from the depths of hell? I'm about to take the mick out of her when I freeze. The sun's gone down, but I can clearly see oranges and reds. Fire... Oh, shit.

Claire Adamson

"Listen. We're standing over one of the most dangerous spots to be. We need to move." I say, quietly. She's not listening to me, I can tell.

"Can you... smell that?"

"Smell what?"

Her arm's dropped now, I can say that much. She takes a step back and I cautiously retrieve the empty water bottle and knife. Straightening, eyes still on her, I see that her face has gone ashen white.

"What is it?"

"We have to get out of here. Now."

"I just said that..." I mumble, as, without looking at me she takes off down a path. I wonder what she's talking about and glance over my shoulder. I see nothing. Smell nothing. Except... There's a kind of milky haze on the horizon. And it's getting closer. Deciding I don't want to find out what it is, I follow her, towards a series of metal tracks arching up into the sky.

Maple Bradbury

It was almost sunset, where was he? I had been hours since the games started. I took a deep breath and told myself to relax. I was safe for the moment, he would be coming, and if he was dead, that's one less person to kill. Suddenly, the wind shifted. I smelled fire, a smell I knew well from my small house in district 11, it always filled the house. I looked around to see if there was someone around me, someone who had started a fire. No one. I was all alone, the smell must be a big fire far off. I got up and looked around the field for smoke, and just as I was giving up, I saw a small brightness far away. I looked harder, and saw flames flying up into the sky, coming ever closer. I had nothing to protect me from the fire dead on, so I'd need to get somewhere high. The water here was so murky and shallow it wouldn't help much. I scanned the horizon, looking for the tallest building to stay in while the fire burned. I only saw a red topped building in the distance. It wasn't the tallest thing in the park, but it was the closest. Oh well, It'll have to do, I thought.

I wasn't the fastest runner here, or even back home, but this half mile stretch was perfect. I could have made it perfectly, If I was running through this field when it was groomed. Sadly, it was a field with grasses up to my waist. I trudged through them as fast as I could, hurrying away from the imminent blaze. I reached the doors of the building at the same time as the fire did. I felt a burning pain on the back of my legs, then the doors closed. I only hoped James would find me.
in Disney's grand Floridian resort and Spa.

Cosette Tanner

Cosette didn't know how long she'd been stumbling on. she was shaking and lightheaded, the knife still deep in her upper arm. She collapsed over a flowerbed and curled up among the plants. her hands fumbled with her shirt, and she managed to tear a jagged strip of fabric from her lower back, which she tied around the wound, knife and all. she just couldn't bring herself to remove the horrid thing. The white fabric became red quickly, but she didn't care. She sat on the brick lining of the flowerbed, taking some time to try to compose herself. She could do this. she had to.

a strong, sharp scent swept over her, and she looked up to see the wall of fire sweeping the streets. Crap. She stumbled off of her perch, running and looking for a place to hide at the same time. Pirates of the Carribean... Pirates... water! She yanked on the door with her good arm, but it wouldn't budge. she swore, pounding on it with all she had. it had to open, it had to... she sunk to the ground, sliding down the door... it had to...

The door suddenly opened, causing her to fall flat a tribute with a spear stood above her, pointing the weapon at her face. a pitious sound escaped Cos's lips, and she awaited death that would surely come...

But then the tribute saw the fire. They must've thought that Cos was going to die from the fire anyway, the other tribute leaped over her weak form, sprinting down the street away from the blaze. Cos dragged herself inside the building. the stone floor was cold, but her legs were still hot... still hot... on fire! She screamed and dragged herself further, into the shallow water where boats bobbed on metal rails just inches below the surface. the flames disappeared, luckily, but Cos just couldn't take any more. she was tired, she was hurt, she was thirsty...

But why was she thirsty? there was water all around her. she dropped her face into the slimy, murky water, gulping it down. it was good, so good... but as soon as she had gulped down as much as she could hold, it all just came back up. Cos stood in the water, dropping herself into one of the boats, which rocked below her. She shivered, completely soaked, still thirsty, sick to her stomach, aching, burned, stabbed, dizzy, and left to die in the happiest place on earth.

Charlie Charter

For the first time I realized how creepy this place was. I didn't see any doorways. The only escape route was a dingy old ramp that went up and up and up. I ran forward just to smash into some short skinny looking dude. He must have been with the careers or was he running from them like me? I didn't have time to help him so I just shoved past and headed up the ramp. The think, like the whole building was completely rusty. Everything seemed to be made just to look dingy. I heard the careers footsteps thudding behind me, but not Victors ahead. I couldn't see him either, but then again with no windows and all the lights (if there were any lights) off I couldn't see but a foot in front of my face.

A hand reached for my T-shirt and I nearly screamed, instead I just ripped away and kept going up. Finally I came to something besides endless stairs, a door. O.K. calm thyself Charlie. I smashed into it. "Fuck." I swore under my breath. "Fuck, fuck fuck." I was freaking out. I turned around. Where had Victor gone? Was he dead? I heard the thundering sounds of running below me. Then I saw that boy again. I screamed this time. Then I realized that he wasn't coming for me with a knife and he certainly wouldn't be able to kill me.

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

"This way." His voice was cold calculating I wasn't sure what to make of it. I was being stupid for judging someone on their voice. He pointed to another door, right by the first one. I felt so stupid. We slipped through easily and I saw that the side of the first door had chains around it. The door we went through was covered with sheet-rock. Was it a hidden doorway? I only had a moment to look around the room before the kid pushed me forward.
"We will need about 300 pounds to block" I blocked him out then. Instead I grabbing an old chair and pushed it in front of the door. Dust came out in puffs as I worked and soon it was covering me. The kid just stood their. What an idiot. I could here them through the walls now thundering closer. It would take only a few seconds until the started. I ran across the room looking for an exit and almost fell about ... 100 feet, but I didn't how realize how far it was until the kid gave me the math.

"How are we supposed to?" I was interrupted by banging on the door. I looked over the edge. I wasn't sure how far down, but there was an opening. A fiery red light fell on the sides of the tower.

Another bang came from the door. Think! I looked around the room. I grabbed the curtains off the fake window and quickly tied them together.

"Put this around the bricks in the fireplace." My voice was high. He obeyed.

"Wait, your not going to-" I had already grabbed the very short rope and was slowly lowering myself down the side. I would figure out what I would do from their later. "That is not going to work." The dude was screaming now.

"It will if I want it too!"

Lyndolin Trip

I walked through the hotel not seeing even the slightest amount of movement. This would be a good place to get my bearings, I thought. That was when I heard one of the doors open. I cursed under my breath and ducked into another room. The entire hotel wasn't very inviting, having rotted walls and carpeting, but at least I had a roof over my head and I was damn well going to protect the place!

I peeked around the corner. It was a district 8 girl. She wasn't very big, but she had a bow and arrow and I had no clue how good she was with it. I looked around the room for a hiding place.

"Hello?" The girl called. She was close. That was when I saw the bed. There was no real cover, but it wasn't a very obvious hiding place with the coat closet nearby that would be a much better spot.

"Come and get me!" I yelled back. I heard the girl spin around and run in my direction. I bolted underneath the bed. I could barely fit, but I had a good vantage of the entire room. The girl ran inside and started to search around the room. She had gotten to the coat closet and I was getting ready to kill her from behind when something caught her attention. She stared out of the window and I saw her face turn orange from the light. Almost like there was a fire nearby. She then turned and ran in the opposite direction.

I snuck out from underneath the bed feeling a little disappointed that I didn't end up killing her, but I soon saw what she was afraid of. A massive fire was approaching the building I was in and seemed to be fueled by the water in the park. The girl probably thought that the building would collapse from the fire but I knew that there was no outrunning it. I would have to sit back and survive.

Specs

The 'Hollywood Hotel' was huge, and not even a hotel, really, but an old ride. A utility lift in the back took him up halfway before the track ran out and he had to climb out onto the next landing. Well, the stairs were less noisy, anyway. he had barely stepped out into them when a girl from district 4 shoved him aside. the look on her face showed a 50-50% running away and searching for someone. The 50% looking for someone was all he needed, she was obviously in a group, meaning she would be open to his joining if he proved himself to her. He jogged up the stairs, hearing angry careers behind. The girl screamed up ahead, and there was a banging sound. He turned the corner to see her trying to open a service door, but that wouldn't go anywhere, while the maintenince door beside it would lead into the internal workings of the ride. Specs approached her, despite the 85% chance her first instinct would be hostile towards him.

"This way." He led her through the other door. "The door needs about 300 pounds to block... don't go near there. it's nearly 100 feet to the ground. survival rates are low for that distance." He badgered, but she obviously wasn't listening as she shoved a chair under the knob. Specs frowned at it, that wouldn't hold at all. The projector about three feet away from the door would've worked, but he couldn't move it alone and the girl obviously wouldn't help him with it. He approached the old thing, swiveling the lens and prying the control panel open. The careers would enter in about a minute and a half, he set the timer for about thirty seconds after that, and pinched the sound module with his pliers. that would do it.

"Tie this to the bricks!" The district 4 girl shoved a makeshift rope in his arms. It was crude, would barely hold the weight of the two of them together, but he did as he was told. Then suddenly she threw it out the opening and started rappelling.

"That's not going to work!" Specs shouted down at her, pushing his glasses up his nose. But as he leaned out, he saw another opening just below the reach of the rope... The door burst open and Specs clambered down the rope. The district 4 girl swore at him as he clambered around her, but shut up as the district 2 boy peered down at them.

"What do we have here?" He grinned, reaching down with an axe, aiming to sever the rope. Specs reached up with his flashlight-tazer, and the boy spazmed as the arc of electricity sparked to his skin. his axe sank into the side of the building, severing half of the fabric, and the boy tumbled headfirst out of the window, screaming as he fell. Specs heard the thud, but even louder was the steady rip of the fabric...

"Lean towards the building." Specs said, just loud enough for the girl to hear but only having a 15% chance of drifting up to the careers above. She did, reluctantly, though, and suddenly the last threads of curtain snapped. The two ground against the brick, but suddenly the wall was gone, and they landed with a hard thump on the floor below. Specs had friction burns down his side which stung like crazy, and he was disoriented from the jolt. the two laid perfectly still as the careers called for their teammate above. just a few more seconds.

above, the projector came to life, an old projection of a family appearing before the careers, but with age the image became distorted and warped. the sound came out as a high-whine which sounded delightfully like a scream, and it was joined by the screams of several of the female careers. the two below waited as the careers voices grew further away...

"You saved my life." The district 4 girl said finally.

"Yes. I need an alliance. You seemed to fit what i was looking for." Specs pushed himself up, nursing his brick burns.

"I'm Charlie." she introduced after speculating his odd choice of words.

"Specs Wyre."


District 2 boy is dead

Victor Marks

I saw the entire thing unfold right in front of me. I had realized that Charlie wasn't with me anymore and I made a U-turn to go and find her and almost ran straight into the group of careers that I was running from. At least they didn't notice and bursted through the door. I hid around a corner not wanting to get killed but ready to strike from behind if I found out that Charlie was in there.

I heard one of them say something and I sprung around the corner again, but didn't go far. The District 2 boy was convulsing and soon fell out of a window into what looked to be a massive forest fire that surrounded the building we were in. Then, the projector came on with an ungodly sound that made me want to claw me ears off. The other careers screamed and ran off without even looking at me. I wanted to do the same, but I knew that Charlie was in there and I needed to get to her.

I managed to make it to the projector that was making the sound and I hit it until it shut off. I looked around the room and saw a rope hanging down into a large hole. Of course Charlie was in there. Only she would be dumb enough to do something like that, but good thing the projector was there or she would be dead.

"Hello?" I called down the hole, "Charlie?"

"Victor?" She called back.

"What happened here?"

"I...Don't know."

That was odd, how could she not know.

"Is there a way to the upper floors from there?" I called down.

"I think so. This place is huge, though. We are down quite a ways."

"Two floors to be exact" Said another voice.

"Two floors apparently." Charlie echoed. I asked who that was, and she just said that we would have to meet first. I shrugged and said that I would meet them down there. I looked around for the careers, but they seemed to be long gone by that point, so I walked down the nearest stairwell and found the room that the two of them were in. It wasn't that hard, Charlie was outside of the room to meet me.

"So," I said, "who is this new guy?"

"His name is Specs. He's incredibly smart." Charlie said. Great, I thought, someone to remind me of my parents. The very people that I spent most of my life trying to forget. I walked in the room. Specs was a small kid and didn't look too threatening at all. If anything, he would be good to help trap the other tributes.

"Hey Specs," I said, "My name is Victor. I would say nice to meet you, but it really isn't that nice given the circumstances."

"I concur." Specs said. Yup. Exactly like my parents. Just great.

Specs

The small boy pushed his glasses up his nose again as he looked up at Victor. His plan had worked brilliantly, he now had the temporary trust of the girl and was in a group of three. groups of three were 75% more likely to make it closer to the end.

"The fire outside is growing, I suggest we move up and in, away from any windows, seeing as the ones here are large and glassless." Specs suggested, feeling heat waves from the door behind him. "Also, if we could find some sort of control panel, I may be able to take control of the ride. I'm not entirely sure if it would work, but it may assist us in-"

"Kid?" Victor stopped him.

"Yes?"

"Shut up." Victor and Charlie started down the hall, headed towards the stairs. Specs watched them for a moment before stumbling up after them. Neither of these two seemed to share his affinity for plans and numbers, nor engaged in helping him with his predictions. That could lead to be problematic, but they would do for the time being.

followed the stairs to the top, and entered a room littered with machinery. Specs looked around, feeling as if he had ascended into heaven up the decrepit stairs. he could do some serious work in here...

(Sorry I haven't posted yet. Never got around to it last night, and I just finished reading all the posts.)

Ellette Brynn

"We're on an island; it can't reach us," Ellette said, eerily calm. Not that she was calm. But she tricked herself into believe she was.

It's okay, she told herself in a sing-song voice. It's just a game. Just a game. Win, lose, it doesn't matter. Just a game. Of course, you want to win, will do anything to win, but it's okay if you don't. Just a game.

When something sparked the island, she wanted to scream like she was dying, and she wanted to believe it was over. She wanted to freak out. But it's just a game, not worth getting worked up about. Just play the game.

Dexter, though, didn't seem quite as sure. "What're we going to do?" he yelled over the now thunderous roar of searing flames.

Before Luna, who appeared to be working something out in her mind, could process everything and then speak, Ellette said, "Why, we're going to float away, of course!"

Both tributes shot her looks of disbelieving shock, shock towards her apparent insanity. But she ignored them and giddily ran to a parked jeep that looked like it had been used by the caretakers of this zoo-like place. Ellette hopped onto it and examined it.

"We're supposed to outrun the fire in that?" Luna said, trying to guess Ellette's strange thought patterns. "It won't work! There's no key."

"No, silly." Ellette's voice was light, but filled with glee. I'm good at this game, aren't I? "We're going to float away on it."

Having looked over the seems of the seats, she ripped the seat cushions from the jeep, pulling all three of them out. She heaved one to each of her allies, who stood somehow dumbfounded in their terror. Ellette jumped from the vehicle and ran to the water edge. She leaped into the green muck that passed for the man-made river.

Just like she knew it was, the seat cushion was buoyant, and carried her weight effortlessly, just as it would easily do Luna's. Dexter might be a little too much for it, but with his help in swimming he and it should be able to stay aloft for long after the fire goes away. Maybe it'll even burn the other competitors and they'll all be the last ones. That would certainly make things easier. Then I'll be so close to winning!

Dex, finally having realized Ellette's intentions, followed her in the water and started paddling down the water way, under the bridges and towards the more open water-sludge. Though he bobbed a bit, the cushion carried him enough.

Luna, however, stood at the edge, fire steadily chasing after her. "Oh, no, I don't think so," she muttered, shaking her head.

"Jump, Luna!" Ellette yelled over to her. Why didn't she just jump?

"But I can't swim!"

Ellette giggled. "You don't have to! The cushion'll do all the work. Besides, don't you want to win the game?" Or at least come in second, Ellette thought with a grin.

Luna hesitated, but as the fire started to lick at her heels she reluctantly jumped. Sludge sprayed Ellette's face. But that wasn't the worst. Blood did too.

Dexter

I kicked my legs out behind me, if I stayed still for too long the cushion might sink. Not that I didn't know how to swim or anything. Luna was lingering on the island, looking afraid to jump on the cushion. It seemed like a easy enough choice, jump or be eaten by flames. Even if she did miss and fall into the water-sludge, I could've easily pulled her out.

"You don't have to! The cushion'll do all the work. Besides, don't you want to win the game?" Luna hesistated again before jumping on the cushion, sludge sprayed everywhere and I had to sheild my face from it, but there was something else...

"Luna," I screamed. As soon as she jumped, the fire reached out and caught her leg. With a shrill, she fell into the water, splashing the goo and her blood from the wound everywhere. Quickly, I pushed off my own cushion and dived down underneath to where she was. It was hard to see underwater, but her body was obvious. I grabbed her around the waist and swan back up to surface, throwing her on my back so that her head stayed above water. After making it to my cushion, I threw her on top of it, it held her weight perfectly. I went to go retrieve the cushion that was supposed to be for her and propped her legs up on it so she was laying down on the water.

Elle paddled over to float next to Luna.

"Are you okay?" She just groaned in response.

"We'll need to get some medicine and bandages. We can't let this go uncovered," I said. That's what Pop always told me, always dress your wounds so they don't get infected. Elle nodded and looked back out to the fire.

"We can't go anywhere with this fire eating up everything." It was then that I realized we left all our supplies on the island.

"Dammit," I grumbled. Elle looked over and raised an eyebrow at me.

"What?"

"Our supplies..."

"The weapons won't be damaged but the water-"

"Will we be okay without it."

"We'll have to be." I looked back to Luna and gently grabbed her leg, making sure to advoid the burned area. It wasn't that bad. She wouldn't die because of it. I swan until I could see her face, it was sweezed up in pain. "Are you okay?"

Claire Adamson

It didn't take me long to smell it after that, and I understood, finally. I picked up the pace as well as I could, but it was hard--I was completely exhausted. Skye was gaining ground, and there were already at least ten meters between us. Where were we? We'd turned left at the lakeshore.

"Wait! The water!" I yelled after her. No one's trying to find us now, not with a fire.... thinking about it, I glance over my shoulder. I can see the flames now, literally flying after us. We're not going to make it. I look ahead--she's rounding the lake shore. I speed up, almost catching up. She ignored me, flying down another path, and another.

Animal Kingdom, I read on a sign. Great. That's just great--now I probably have to worry about animals on the loose, too.

"High ground!" she screams at me. It takes me a minute to get it--how would being high save us? Then a hissin noise behind us distracts me.

Good, I think. It's reached the lakewater--that should give us some time.

But it doesn't. Instead a load roaring fills the air... I can just see the lake from where we are--the green water is being eaten, litterally, by the flames. The water is.... fueling the fire. My heart begins to pound. High ground. I understand now.

There's a building in front of us, but I can't tell what it is. The air is getting hazy and hard to breathe with the smoke. It doesn't even smell like fire--there's a toxic, chemical smell it the air that's already making me queasy. I join her at the door, kicking at it desperately until it bends enough at the lock that we can squeeze through the bottom. It's pitch dark inside, but we fumble accross the darkened floor. Something moves under my foot. Then the fire gets close enough to the window that I can see in its flickering light--the floor is literally moving.

No time to panic. I hear Skye cry out as she sees it, but she moves with me towards a staircase, half-opened door marked "private" we slam it shut behind us. The air is getting hotter. Up, and up, and up we climb, coughing now as the smoke follows us. Then we're in the attic storeroom, and there's nowhere else to go, nothing else to do but wait and hope the fire doesn't completely take the building. I think of the room beneath us and shudder. For the first time I wonder what they see at home. Mom's television will be on, and she'll be watching. No one else, though. Not for me, anyway. It almost makes me happy. I'm not going to win this game and I know it--all I can do is hold on as long as I can, and hope for the best.

Luna Jasmine

I didn't want to jump. Wasn't there a safer way to be safe from the fire. To me, the water was as dangerous as the blaze licking at my feet.

" I can't swim!" I yelled. Maybe they'd come back and we could take one of the bridges across. I turned to see the bridges connecting our island burn away in the inferno.

"You don't have to! The cushion'll do all the work. Besides, don't you want to win the game?" Ellette yelled at me. She was giggling, how could she giggle now, when I was about to die, from either water or fire. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath trying to calm myself. it's OK, the cushion will catch me, I'm gonna be alright. I opened my eyes and jumped, but not before the fire reached forward and seared my leg. My perfect takeoff was ruined, and I flailed painfully into the water. I missed the cushion, of course, and started to sink.

The water was as bad as I had imagined it would be. Even in it's slimy hands, I could feel relief seeping into my leg. The pain was still there, but less acute than it had been in the hot, smokey air. Suddenly, I felt a hand wrap around my waist and pull me up. I gasped for air as I reached the surface. There were things that shouldn't have been there though. I looked around at the black and blue stars filling my vision. I felt a hand pulling my leg up to the surface and propping it up on a cushion. The pain was excruciating. I could feel the nerves in my leg screaming, begging for the cool water. The pain intensified and I felt my consciousness slipping away. I closed my eyes to keep the black dots away, and I heard a voices distantly in my head. I groaned and screwed up my face to keep the pain at bay. I think it was then that I fainted.

I felt a cool wet hand on my leg which woke me up. My leg still burned, and the air was still filled with smoke, I guess I hadn't been asleep for more than a minute. " Are you OK?" Dexter asked. I groaned again, but opened my eyes a little and answered him.

" No, what do you think?" It was then his turn to groan.

" I mean, can we move you?"

" I guess, but I don't think I can walk," I said weakly. He picked up my leg and moved it back on the cushion, increasing the pain until I couldn't bear it anymore, and fainted for the second time in five minutes.

Sparkle Tourmaline

I didn't necessarily want to kill the girl, but if I left her alive, the was a lower percentange chance I'd win. Austin just had to put his hand out right before i slit his throat. I was tempted to cut through his arm, but stopped.

"Seriously? Do you want to lose, Austin? We can't just let anyone get pass-" I paused, stammering. As I glanced behind his shoulder, and saw orange and red on the horizon, even though it was well past sundown "What... What's that?" I lifted her arm up, pointing into the distance. He turned to see it, and I could tell from his expression that he recognized it also. Fire.

" C'mon, let's get out of here!" I said. I looked down at the young girl. She's unconsious, but a little color has returned to her face. She might live. " Fine," I snapped, " we'll drag her in the closest building, then leave her. Then, we'll get out of here." I told him. He nodded, and grabbed her arm. I grabbed the other, and we pulled her inside the closest building. It was dark in there, but I saw a staircase faintly in a corner. I dropped her lightly, and started running. " C'mon, up here," I yelled to him.

The stairs were long, but I was tough. We kept climbing and climbing, until finally we reached the end. There was a long, dark hall, with tons of doors. I chose the closest and ducked in. Surprisingly, it was bright in there. There was flickering light coming from window spilling into the room. I walked over to the window and looked down. Fire, everywhere. As far as I looked it was during the land. Hopefully some plants would survive. They very well could, if this was a gamemaker's fire.

A large flame reached up to the window, confirming my suspicion. No normal fire could reach a hundred feet up.
In Disney's Polenesian Resort

Ellette Brynn

"I guess, but I don't think I can walk," Luna said.

"You won't have to," Ellette cut in their talk. "All you have to do is lie still; me and Dexter'll do all the rest." And we'll be that much closer to winning the game.

Dexter by Luna's head, Ellette by her feet, they pulled her away from the looming fire, out towards the more open lake. Luna's body helped to hold the makeshift raft together. Soon, they were out in the middle of the lake.

The flames seemed to feed on the sludge, making even the lake a dangerous spot, but the more towards the middle they got the more the sludge thinned and cleared out, and with it the danger. The sludge seemed to be acting like bubbles in a cup of soda; clinging to edges, but fizzling out in the center. Some sludge remained, but now enough to support the hungry flames, which quickly spread out elsewhere.

"Do you think we're safe here?" Dexter asked cautiously, as though expecting the question to jinx.

Ellette laughed. "Of course not. We're in the Games. No one's ever safe in the Games. But we're safer than most people, probably," she added, seeing Dexter's face grow taut.

He glanced out at the rest of the arena. His face seemed to ask, Is that saying much? For a nanosecond Ellette asked herself the same thing, then shook her head. Thoughts like that, they were dangerous. Just focus on playing the Game. You can win. But you can't be afraid or sympathetic.

Ellette kicked her feet to keep herself afloat. Something brushed by her foot, something slippery. A goldfish? Ellette smiled. She'd always wanted a pet goldfish.

But when what brushed her foot jumped out of the water, Ellette knew only one thing for sure; whatever that thing was, it was no goldfish.