Avenaye, 17
I'm getting super good at parallel parking in my bumper car when Izzy suddenly jumps out of his own car.
"I'm getting bored," he whines.
I zoom my car up next to him. The bumper cars are losing their touch for me, too. I'm gazing around the amusement park, looking for more fun rides, when Katerina goes flying by. She glances at us, but doesn't even bother to stop. She looks like she's on a mission, and she doesn't have time for our shenanigans anymore. A few moments later, Abe comes walking down the fairground.
My instincts tell me to hide immediately. I was okay goofing off with Iskandar when no one threatening was near, but now's the time to be serious; Abe could kill us with one hand tied behind her back.
"Iskandar, get down!" I hiss, jumping out of my car and crouching behind it.
"Hey, have you seen any fun rides?" he calls to Abe.
Shit! I commando-crawl along the bumper arena until I reach the back end. I'll just have to wait a few moments until Abe turns her head; the second she's not looking, I'll jump out of the arena and take off. I hate to leave Iskandar, but what can you do? He called out to Abe, which is like ringing death's doorbell.
Abe approaches the bumper arena with deliberate, measured steps. She's a fighter through and through. The arena is as high off the ground as my waist, and I had to scramble ungracefully to get on top of it; Abe simply jumps up, landing on both feet at the same time. How did she do that? I flatten myself against the ground, hoping she won't notice me lying on the floor. My only other option would be to move to a better hiding place, but she'd certainly see me then.
She tightens the boxing tape on her right hand with her teeth in a menacing fashion; she reminds me of a rabid pit bull. My heart thuds fearfully against my chest and a light sweat breaks out on my forehead. I fooled around in the Games, and this is what it got me.
And then, in the scariest moment of my entire life, she turns her head to the left and those tiger eyes of hers lock onto my own.
In an instant, I'm on my feet, jumping out of the bumper arena and scrambling away. But Abe foresaw this, and she's already chasing me down. Within a few moments, she's tackling me painfully to the ground; I roll away from her and try to stand up, but she grabs my foot and drags me toward her. I stare up at her in fear, and watch as she points to herself, to me, and then to Avenaye. Then she gives me a questioning thumbs-up, her eyebrows raised.
"Are you gonna kill us?" I ask in fear.
She shakes her head firmly.
"...You wanna be allies?"
She nods. Offering her hand, she helps me up. I brush myself off indignantly and she spits into her hand, offering it to me to shake. I look to Iskandar, but he's already distracted himself with picking some lint off his shirt. Reluctantly, I spit into my own hand and shake Abe's. Deal officially sealed.
"...Are you seriously not gonna kill us?" I ask again, because I'm far from convinced.
With a smile, she shakes her head vehemently.
"No, you're not gonna kill us? Or no, you're not not gonna kill us?"
She watches me for a moment before shrugging. An unbelievable fear is unleashed in my body. And then she smiles.
I really don't like this chick.
Iskandar, 18
We're in the bouncy bounce. Abe didn't understand why we chose it, but after a moment's consideration, she decided to join us inside. We bounce repeatedly into the air; up, then down. Up, then down.
"So, what's our next move?" Avenaye asks.
Up.
"I wanna play that squirt gun game," I tell him.
Down.
"We're not doing that."
Up.
"Why not?" I whine. "I really want to. Come on, please? Please, please, please, please, please? I want it, I want it, I want it!"
Avenaye glances sideways at Abe. "Not now," he whispers to me forcefully.
"But..." I feel tears sting my eyes. "I want to play with the squirt guns!"
"Later, Izzy," he hisses. "I promise we'll do it later. But not now."
Down.
Abe stops jumping for a moment and presses her face against the mesh walls, staring intently at something. Avenaye takes the opportunity to push me to the other side of the bouncy house and have a hushed conversation.
"We need to ditch her," he whispers.
"Why?" I ask loudly.
"Shh! Because she doesn't say anything. I mean, what kind of a mind game is that?"
"I don't think it's a mind game..."
"She freaks me out!"
Suddenly, Abe slips out of the bouncy bounce. She waves frantically for us to follow. Avenaye gives me a worried look before following her out of the bouncy bounce; I join them outside. Abe ducks behind a snack stand and points to the arcade. Bidzill is standing outside of it, looking like he's trying to work up the courage to go in.
"We should ask him if he wants to play with us," I whisper to Avenaye.
"No!" he hisses. "Iskandar, stay down! Don't you dare open your mouth!"
"But we could have a play date..."
"Not with Bidzill!"
"Why not?"
"Because... he's a bully, that's why."
"Oh."
Avenaye and Abe keep staring at Bidzill, and I get really bored. I don't know what's so interesting about him. That's when I notice the soda machine inside the snack stand. I feel a little thirsty; if I could just reach... With a thud, I accidentally knock the paper plates off of the counter. They spill all over the ground and one rolls against Bidzill's foot. He turns immediately.
"Hey!" he shouts, lunging toward me.
I feel Iskandar grab my shirt and then he's dragging me away. I scramble forward and follow Iskandar and Abe. Bidzill seems to see that we're already too far ahead of him, and he's not going to catch us. Angrily, he stops chasing us and simply watches us go.
Glancing back ahead of me, I suddenly find myself alone. Where did they go? And then Avenaye grabs my arm and yanks me into some kind of gigantic cave, directly under an exciting sign that makes me smile.
Laser Tag.
Laciel, 18
Luke sends me walkie-talkies.
As soon as I open the package, I give out a little shout of joy. First of all, who doesn't feel like a spy when they use these babies? Second, now Niels and I can separate and still be in touch with each other.
Recon mission.
"Niels!" I shout. He comes running into the caravan I'm sitting in.
"You needed something?" he asks calmly. I glance up at him to find a snake on his shoulders.
"Snake!" I scream, scrambling backwards. He laughs happily and strokes the scaly thing.
"Isn't it pretty?" he asks with a smile.
"Take it off! You're such a child, Niels."
He laughs and lifts the snake from his shoulders, placing it gently on the couch.
"Gross," I whine. "Can't you put it back where you found it?"
"The snake charmer's caravan is filled with snakes. I could put this one back, but then I might not be able to resist picking up another one..."
"Disgusting. What other caravans have you been in?"
"The bearded lady's, the contortionist's, the sword swallower's... Whose is this?"
"I don't know. There's nothing special about it."
"Oh, awesome..." He crouches over a table. "Check it out!"
He lifts his palm; a tiny flea sits in it.
"Niels!" I scream.
"It's the flea circus!" he says happily.
"Fleas?" I fling the door open and step out of the caravan. "That's nasty."
Niels follows me outside, still laughing.
"I called you because my mentor sent me walkie-talkies," I tell him.
"Cool! Think about all the things we could do with these!"
"Exactly. I think we should do a little recon, figure out where all the other tributes are, stuff like that."
"Sounds good. Oh, but check this out." I watch him expectantly, and he opens his mouth. Before I can stop him, he's holding a lit flame in front of him, and then he's breathing fire.
"Shit!" I scream.
He cackles happily. "The fire breather's caravan is over there. Isn't it awesome?"
"You scared the shit out of me!" I accuse with a smile, shoving him good-naturedly. "You're an ass."
"A fire-breathing ass," he corrects.
I roll my eyes and toss him a walkie-talkie. He gives me a two-fingered salute and heads off in the direction of the bumper cars. I smile and head toward a large sign that reads 'Sea World.'
Dolly, 16
Dara is several paces ahead of me, skipping happily down the fairground as we search for Desdemona. We pass the drop tower and the log ride, and I pause as we approach a tall building. Wires extend from the top of the building to some place far in the distance.
"Maybe they took her up there," Dara suggests, running up the steps.
"Dara!" I scold, following him up the steps. "Dara, we don't know if it's safe!"
"I'm sure it is!" he sings as he approaches the top. We both step out of the staircase and into what looks like a large garage. Where the garage door should be is nothing. Just wires, extending out into the sky.
We're in the sky ride. It reminds me of a ski lift, and I immediately wonder how dangerously high we are. That's when I see two figures standing by one of the lifts, arguing. I snatch Dara and drag him behind the farthest lift, shushing him with my finger.
"I'm telling you," Alise is saying. "If we ride this thing, we'll be able to see the entire arena. We'll know exactly where Daniel and Abe are."
"And I'm telling you that I don't want to fall to my death," Jango argues.
"Don't be a baby! Are you seriously afraid of heights?"
"Just a little bit..."
"We're doing this for Madelyn. I thought you loved her, but I guess you don't. Whatever. If you don't care that Abe cracked Madelyn's head open, then I guess we don't have to take the sky ride..."
"...Turn this thing on. I'm riding it."
"Hell, yeah! Let's go, baby!"
Alise excitedly pulls a lever and the lifts begin to move on the wires. The lift I've been hiding behind moves forward, leaving me completely exposed. I turn to Dara, but he's gone.
Where did he go?
"Alise!" Jango screams. Dara is in their lift with them. Alise immediately jumps out of the lift and onto the platform, but Jango doesn't have time to get out; he's trapped with Dara.
The lift leaves the platform, and for Jango to get out now would mean falling to his death.
"Dara!" I shout. What will Jango do to him? He's just a kid. He can't defend himself.
Why on earth did he climb in the lift with them? I should have been paying more attention to him!
"Let go of me!" Jango screams. Dara has fingers in Jango's eyes.
Good, he's defending himself. Maybe Jango won't take him down after all.
But Jango never even reached for Dara. So he isn't really defending himself at all. He's just attacking.
And when did he become so vicious?
It's probably just because he's so afraid. At least, I hope it is.
Their lift moves forward at an agonizingly slow pace, and that's when Alise jumps into the lift behind the boys' lift. Her lift leaves the garage as well. I watch, helpless, as everyone gets farther and farther away from me.
Jango throws Dara off of him and back onto the seat. They wrestle for a moment, and then, all of a sudden, Jango slips right out of the lift.
He's dangling by his right hand, barely holding on.
"Dara!" Jango screams. "Lift me up! Don't let me fall! You can kill me on the lift, but please don't let me fall!" He's crying now, tears pouring out as he stares at the ground, so very, very far below. "I don't want to fall! Help me!"
Dara is a nice kid; he's probably terrified on that lift right now. I wish I was there to help him, but it looks like he's brave enough to help himself. He's lifting his hand down to help Jango. Jango grabs Dara's hand with his left hand, then releases his right hand from the lift to hold onto Dara's hand with both of his own hands.
Dara's going to pull him up. I sigh in relief. As much as I'd like Jango to die, to eliminate any more competition, I don't want to see him fall to his death. That would be horrific.
"Guess what?" Dara asks Jango.
What is he doing? Lift Jango up!
"What?" Jango cries in absolute horror.
"You're going to die."
With that, Dara releases Jango's hand.
Alise, 14
It's a long fall.
Jango soars toward the ground, his arms and legs flailing all the way. He's like an angel falling from heaven. It's almost peaceful, the way he gracefully floats through the air. It seems to take forever, and then Jango, tiny from all the way up here, suddenly stops moving. His broken body simply lies there.
Today is turning out to be quite a fun day.
I clap generously, applauding Dara's excellent job. The trickery, the suspense, all leading up to the pivotal moment of letting go. Death is simply a dance; sometimes it's scary, and sometimes it's tough, but it's always beautiful.
"You're next," Dara tells me, a wide smile on his face.
"I think not," I tell him, smiling back. "Ladies first."
"Do you like to play games?" he asks me sinisterly.
"Who doesn't?"
"How about tag?"
I yank my whip out of my boot. With a flick of my wrist, the whip reaches across the air between our lifts and smacks Dara's cheek. An angry red line appears, and I relish at the blood that slowly drips out.
"You're it," I tell him.
"That's cheating," he says angrily.
"Liar, liar, pants on fire, Dara. There are no rules in our game. Cheating is encouraged."
"You wanna play it that way?" Something flashes in his eyes. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a knife. "This little piggy went to market." He cuts one of the wires holding our lifts up. "This little piggy went home." He cuts another wire.
"You'll cut us both down," I warn him.
But his lift reaches the platform. He steps out of it and grabs another wire. "This little piggy had roast beef." He cuts the wire. "This little piggy had none." He cuts the fourth wire, leaving only one more.
My lift creaks, leaning to the left. I grab onto the railing firmly.
"And this little piggy..." Dara grabs the last wire. "Cried wee, wee, wee... all the way home." And then he slices the only thing holding me aloft.
As the lift begins to fall, I jump.
Dara, 12
She's gone. She fell.
Tag. You're it, Alise.
I win.
I always win.
And then her hand appears on the platform. Then her other hand. Then her head. She pulls herself up.
How dare she? She must have jumped from the lift and caught onto the underside of the platform. Who does she think she is?
"Get off my case, toilet face!" I taunt, shaking my butt at her as she climbs back onto the platform.
And then I run.
Katerina, 17
I find the most amazing attraction.
The circus animals.
Lions roar at me from behind cage bars; sequins wink at me from the decorations placed on the elephants' trunks. Horses whinny in their small stalls. Tigers pace as best they can in their tiny cages.
All I can think is, how cruel.
"I know how you feel," I tell the lions softly. "You're so beautiful. So noble, and proud. But they lock you away. Hold you hostage in here. You need to be free, don't you? No one deserves to be locked away."
They need to be released. But I can't; that would be unbelievably dangerous. As I tell myself this, my eyes fall on a sharp hook, covered in blood. Staring at the elephants, I find painful wounds, obviously from the hook, that are healing badly and obviously never attended to.
So that's how they train them.
Disgusting. Inhumane. No one deserves this.
In that instant I know what I have to do. Placing myself safely behind a wall of bars, I press a red button that reads 'Lions.' The doors lift, releasing the lions. They cautiously step out into their new lives of freedom. As I watch, they enter the tent where the Cornucopia rests. They pace around it before understanding that there is no ringmaster to beat them, to keep them contained in this small arena.
They shoot out of the tent and into the fairground.
Next, I release the horses. Then the tigers. Finally the elephants.
"Go on. You're free," I tell the animals sadly, for I know that I will never be.
Deaths this chapter:
Jango Cage, 17, District 5
Alliance One: (Location - Bumper Cars)
Avenaye, 17, District 4
Iskandar, 18, District 1
Abe, 16, District 7
Alliance Two: (Location - Separated)
Laciel, 18, District 12
Niels, 15, District 8
Alliance Three: (Location - Sea World)
Bidzill, 17, District 11
Remi, 17, District 3
Desdemona, 13, District 8
Loner: (Location - End of Sky Ride)
Alise, 14, District 3
Loner: (Location - Animal Cages)
Katerina, 17, District 2
Loner: (Location - Beginning of Sky Ride)
Dolly, 16, District 10
Loner: (Location - Unknown)
Dara, 12, District 10