THE INFERNAL MAZE: CIRCLE SEVEN: VIOLENCE: THE LABYRINTH

~ POV: Carter Gneiss, ORANGE TEAM, Age 18, District 2 Male Tribute ~

WE ALL HAVE OUR SECRETS.

Why should I be any different, and what's more, why should I try and deny mine at this point? The citizens of Panem have been watching my every move in these 77th annual Hunger Games - even when I sneak into dark corners of the mazes and go to the bathroom! - and yet they don't know the whole story. They don't know what I've done to several of my fellow Peacekeepers-in-training, and with luck, they never will. I'll admit it only to myself, because in my opinion, I'm the only one who deserves to know. With that said:

Do you know how cutthroat the Peacekeeper Training Academies are in District Two? They've always had a "law of the jungle" ethos, very much like the arena. However, unlike this multiple-level nightmare, the Academies are governed by strict rules and regulations. One of the most important is that Peacekeepers never turn against their own, whether they are officially on the force or in training. It's funny: you can write a rule like that on paper and expect everyone to obey, but in practice almost everybody breaks it. There's as much brutality and scheming amongst ourselves as there is against criminal suspects. It's how we keep ourselves strong, because only the strong survive. I've done my fair share of culling the herd.

However, that's not my secret. As much as I'm proud of weeding out those who can't or won't make it as Peacekeepers due to their weakness, I'm far more proud of taking down the strong. Let's face it: Where's the fun in beating up someone who never even stood a chance against you in the first place? Who would waste a real warrior on roach-killing duty? I only had to do that once at the Academy, as punishment for shattering my sparring partner's femur in three places, but I never let the Trainers' one particular underling forget it. "Snitches don't get stitches" in District Two: they get coffins, if you catch my meaning. Needless to say, Velaria was dismissed posthaste, and never fully recovered. She wasn't the first one, either. If it's not a leg, it's an arm, and if it's not an arm, it's a spleen or solar plexus. None of my rivals ever succeed.

My real secret is not that I eliminate them, but that I do so behind the good front I put up for everyone else. To the casual observer at my Peacekeeper Training Academy, I'm a model student and helpful assistant. I always have a smile on my face to conceal the rage I continually feel at having to spend one more day within those stone walls and tiled halls. You may ask: why did I do this, if I didn't want to be a Peacekeeper in the first place? The answer's simple, and twofold: my father expects success, so I do too. I may loathe what I've been forced to do ever since birth, but I take a certain primitive joy in knowing that I do it well!

I hate mazes. This one's so hard even an Engineer couldn't solve it, and - wait - did I just see a "Ghost"? THIS ought to take care of him! One large rock thrown at the place where I think his ghetto head will be…

!/SMASH/!

I'VE GOT HIM! That's one less phantom to try and scare me, and now I've got to get to the maze's center!

~ POV: Mikhail "Misha" Rybakov, GREEN TEAM, Age 18, District 4 Male Tribute ~

IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW…

I'm in Hell, as are the rest of us: no more and no less than I merit. That's what this arena represents, and what I may never escape. I shouldn't escape, because I betrayed and murdered my Uncle Vanya! Captain Harrigan be damned - he did threaten me, but I could have exposed him. I could have told the authorities, so why didn't I? It is only now, as I'm trying to wind my way through this taxing labyrinth and the hot, foul-smelling air, that I'm finally daring to face what's been keeping me up nights. The truth is that sticks, in the sense of negative incentives, always come with carrots at the end. Harrigan offered me another reason to kill the one man at the marina who knew exactly what was going on with its financial statements. If I did, he would legally adopt me as his son, and I would become heir to his fortune. I was tempted, and in the end, I yielded to it. I pureed shellfish, to which Vanya was lethally allergic, and slipped the mixture into his potato-and-corn chowder. Officially, his cause of death was a heart attack, but I know what induced it! Did Harrigan bribe the doctors and coroner not to check for any other maladies within his poisoned blood? He must have, or else I'd be in prison by now instead of the Hunger Games. That was why I volunteered: not to escape justice, but to embrace it. If the good Captain were true to his word, I'd inherit more money than all the sailors on all the ships of our District would ever see! However, I knew I didn't deserve one coin. What I deserve is death, here in this man-made Inferno, and I'm more than likely going to get it. The only possible redemption for murder is if the murderer loses his own life. An eye for an eye, and so eternally.

I've also murdered Jeff Parker, and doubt that I did so completely in self-defense. I felt a certain thrill, a rush of blood to my head, when I heard his neck snap between my gnarled hands. What is it about taking the life of another man, especially a strong one, that makes my pulse race and my blood begin to boil? If killing disgusts me, which it does, then how come a part of me wants to continue killing? Despite my guilt, and despite the way I hate myself for what I've done, a squirming worm inside me wants to live. Not only that, but this worm wants to conquer and win, turning what should be a suicide mission into a victory! I'll be celebrated as a hero if I emerge alive from the arena, when I should be vilified. How do I flee the grasp of the ghosts that haunt me - not only Vanya's, but Caissa's? Their eyes bore into mine at every moment!

My darling forgives me, but my uncle does not. At once, I receive love and hate, pardon and accusation.

My only hope is to hold on, for better or worse, and not kill anymore. I have to be finished with murder…

THE INFERNAL MAZE: CIRCLE SEVEN: VIOLENCE: THE RIVER PHLEGETHON

~ VOICE OF PRESIDENT CORIOLANUS, EMERGING FROM CEILING-MOUNTED LOUDSPEAKERS ~

OH, GOOD! I am SO glad you all made it to the center of this labyrinth, except for a "Ghost" who seems to have utterly vanished! What a pity. As for the rest of you, do you see the rickety-looking suspension bridge? Do you also see what's across from it? That's RIGHT: the doorway to the next level of the arena! I'm getting a little tired of trapdoors; aren't you? Besides, the perils you'll face, should you survive, deserve all of your strength and concentration. On with the challenge, then:

Do you realize why the air smells so horrid in this Circle, and why the elevator of Dis stopped in the MIDDLE instead of at the bottom? It turns out that the labyrinth you've just traversed is built above a boiling red river known as the Phlegethon! The only way out of the maze is across the bridge, but here's the catch: There are seven of you tributes remaining, but only FOUR planks. You will be handcuffed to a teammate, either your own or one that I so fairly choose for you. You shall both cross the bridge, or attempt to. However, every time a team or tribute arrives safely at the door to the next maze, a plank from the bridge will be removed. Won't that be so much FUN?

The teams shall be as follows: Mars and Aoife, Misha and Faith, Carter and Noah, and Taylor.

I am SO sorry, Taylor! You'll have to cross the bridge all by yourself, which means: LADIES FIRST!

~ POV: Taylor Birchwood, YELLOW TEAM, Age 14, District 7 Female Tribute ~

TEMPERATURE OF THE RIVER PHLEGETHON: 212 F

WHY AM I ALL ALONE?

Why did "Ghost" have to get killed, especially before people like Mars or Carter?! I bet one of them did him in, and if I get across this bridge, I'm going to GET them! Sure, maybe Noah or Misha did it, but I don't think so. They both seem like nice guys, because I know that both of them have spotted me in the mazes at one time or another and spared my life. Faith? She doesn't seem like the type to overpower my best teammate, and neither does Aoife. Then again, maybe I'm wrong and all bets are off…IT'S SO HOT!

One false step and I plunge into the river. Let's see: Jump. Jump. Jump. JUMP! Whew - I made it!

~ VOICE OF PRESIDENT CORIOLANUS, EMERGING FROM CEILING-MOUNTED LOUDSPEAKERS ~

Nicely done, Miss Birchwood! Let's remove a plank so that Misha and Faith can cross the bridge…

~ POV: Faith Goddard, GREEN TEAM, Age 16, District 9 Female Tribute ~

TEMPERATURE OF THE RIVER PHLEGETHON: 212 F

I WANT NOAH WITH ME!

Instead, I'm stuck on the stupid Green Team and handcuffed to a killer. What rotten luck! Wait - there'sabsolutely no such thing, because God controls everything. He decides who wins and loses in life, giving or withholding His blessings depending upon your obedience. If you follow Christ's ways, then he showers you with His love and favor, but if you don't, He lets you suffer the consequences. For some reason, God has decided to test me, and I must pass this one if I'm going to survive. I have two things in my favor: I've been faithful to Him all my life, and I haven't murdered anyone so far in the Hunger Games. That's right, murder: there's no use calling the goal of this "competition" anything else. It may be a fight to the death, but that doesn't mean I should succumb to sin and take someone else's life - except in self-defense! I wish I could release myself from Misha and let him plunge into the Phlegethon below, but I can't. All I can do is try and keep my balance, since there are only three planks left on the bridge: Jump. Jump. JUMP!

Hallelujah! The Lord has blessed me once again, and may He continue to do so in the arena's next level…

~ VOICE OF PRESIDENT CORIOLANUS, EMERGING FROM CEILING-MOUNTED LOUDSPEAKERS ~

BEAUTIFUL! Let's remove yet another plank, and allow Carter and Noah to take their turn…

~ POV: Noah Goddard, PURPLE TEAM, Age 17, District 9 Male Tribute ~

TEMPERATURE OF THE RIVER PHLEGETHON: 212 F

THANK HEAVEN! MY SISTER'S SAFE.

Deep down, despite what he's done, I suspect that Misha is a good man. He didn't try to knock Faith off balance or unlock the handcuff, although he certainly could have. Of course, he may only have helped because she's his teammate, but he didn't have to. It's almost like he was trying to protect her as well as help her to cross the bridge, and that's commendable. Now I have to do my part with Carter, whom I very strongly dislike. I won't use the word hate, because hatred is of the Devil, and I won't follow Satan's path. What I'm going to do is keep my head level, and my eyes upon the doorway to the next level of the arena. I won't look up or down, because that would only distract me. What I wouldn't give to be Orion Watts right now. Jump. Wobble…JUMP! That was CLOSE, because both of us are beefy fellows, and we almost fell!

Bless thee, Almighty Savior, and please allow Faith and me to survive whatever torments lie ahead.

~ VOICE OF PRESIDENT CORIOLANUS, EMERGING FROM CEILING-MOUNTED LOUDSPEAKERS ~

UNBELIEVABLE…The last plank shall be duly removed, and now there's only one. GO, Red Team!

~ POV: Mars Cutullo, RED TEAM, Age 17, District 1 Male Tribute ~

THIS IS IT. MUST…JUMP!

Aoife's light, but I'm heavy. We both barely made it onto this one board that's left in the suspension bridge. In my own humble opinion, her handcuff is too big for her wrist, but - wait- why is she smiling like that? Why is she FREE?!

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH…

!/SCALD/!

~ VOICE OF PRESIDENT CORIOLANUS, EMERGING FROM CEILING-MOUNTED LOUDSPEAKERS ~

Eight little tributes, all in a fix. Two more were martyred, and then there were SIX! I know you're badly shaken from your travails on the suspension bridge, but please glance at the names of the dead:

THOSE TRIBUTES LOST:

1. Gordon "Ghost" Rivers, YELLOW TEAM, Age 15, District 11 Male Tribute. Slain by Carter Gneiss.

2. Mars Cutullo, RED TEAM, Age 17, District 1 Male Tribute. Fell into the boiling Phlegethon - ALIVE - after being betrayed by Aoife McCallan.