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Phoenix Lilson, 13, District 12 Female

I awoke in a dark room. Panicking I looked around at where I was. It was pitch black and the air felt heavy and thick around me. Was I underground? The chamber felt claustrophobic and small, and the humidity seemed to cling to my skin. I suddenly heard a quiet voice that seemed to come from the room next to me.

"Hello?" The pitch sounded like the voice's owner might be the girl from 10.

I feel blindly in the space around me. My hand lands on a damp wall. I tap on it, and to my dismay, it doesn't sound hollow. "Hello? Are you okay?" I respond, hoping that she can hear me through the wall.

"I don't know. We can't see anything in here, it's very dark, but we are chained down and we can't move our arms or legs. And I feel like I'm spinning." She says.

"We?" I think to myself. I run my hand along the wall, and my fingers catch on something protruding from a panel. It's a doorknob, probably leading to where she and whoever's with her are shackled up. I decide to enter the door, and it opens noiselessly next to me as the bright strobe lights flicker on in the room. I stare at the tributes in front of me. I am separated from them by floor-to-ceiling steel mesh, a small column rising in front of me, a single button appearing on it. They are all bolted with steel fetters to bizarrely colorful structures on an elevated platform with an odd plastic tent set on top of high poles like a ceiling. All six of them are firmly seated on top of the structures, which are pointed in the same direction and revolving around the platform, despite trying to free themselves. A shotgun is set up to point at them. The boy from 11 is in the line of fire, but as the machine-carousel, I realize-spins, he shifts out of danger and another tribute cringes in fear as she passes in front of it.

They were all imploring me to help them, asking to persons unknown to explain whatever was happening. I sighed and realized that another 'game' was underway. The last game I experienced killed my ally.

"It's a game…" I explain to them. "This is the work of Gamemakers. There's some sort of tradeoff or gimmick to it that I have to figure out before I can free you."

Suddenly the television I hadn't noticed next to them turns on. The static disappeared as a dummy appeared in front of me. The dummy turned its head and began to broadcast a recorded message, speaking in a dark and deep voice that sounded h similar to one of the gamemakers'.

"Hello Phoenix. Before you are six of your most precious allies, the ones who supported you, the ones who fought with you, and the ones who aided you. However, their behavior and actions towards you caused them to be rejected by other alliances for appearing weak two-thirds of the time.. Now you must apply your analysis to them. We do hope for your own sake that you are able to find their errors. Six ride the carousel, but only two will get off. The decision of which two are permitted to survive falls upon you. But remember, the mounted gun will continue to fire until all six rounds are spent. If no decision is made on your part, all six will perish. To offer the two tributes of your choice a reprieve, you must press both buttons at once in the box before you. However, in doing so, you will be forced to provide a sacrifice of your own. Four will die, two may live, and the gravity of your decisions will be symbolized by the blood on your hands. Let the game begin." The television returns to sparking with static and the dummy disappears to whatever hidden trapdoor it came from.

The six tributes start to panic, each one pleading with me to save them. I have to admit, I like them all, and I don't want to kill any of them. The hysteria in their voices breeds dread in mine, and I gulp audibly as the carousel spins and slows, stopping on the District 2 Male.

"Oh fuck-Phoneix, you've got to save me! I'll protect you in the arena, get you food, please!" He begs me.

The odd thing was this boy seems to be afraid of death, which wasn't normal for most careers. I panicked, unable to decide if I should help him or let him die. I look down at the control panel before me, the button that, if pressed, would save him. I don't press it, eyes wide with horror. I watch as the shotgun's trigger is pulled and fires at the boy, hitting him directly in the chest. His blood sprays onto the girl from 10 and the boy from 12, as the screams of everyone echoed, even after the boy crumples forward in his chains.

I cover my eyes, hoping I'm in a nightmare, but I realized I'm not. The tributes start to give me reasons why they should live, frantically yelling over one another. Soon the carousel stops and the girl from 1 lands in front of the shotgun.

"Please Phoenix! I don't want to die please!" She cries.

I remember how the girl from 1 spared my life in the bloodbath. I also recall her talking about how her family is poor. I hesitate, but after a few seconds I press the button that will save her. I yelp as a sharp, thin metal rod enters into my hand, the blood supposed to symbolize me sacrificing my own blood instead of theirs. The shotgun begins to rise above the girl's head, as it quickly fires and lowers again. Once the rod exits my hand I quickly pull it away, tears falling down my face.

"Thank you! Oh, thank you Phoenix! Really, I mean it!" The girl from 1 cries as she is saved.

The carousel begins to move once again as the tributes who haven't yet stopped in front of the shotgun begin to badmouth each other. I cover my ears, blocking out their shouting until the carousel stops on the girl from 6.

"Please I beg you! Let me live! Push the button please-" She cries.

I look at her, as I once again start to hesitate, flustered . She continues to beg me and sob loudly. I decided to press the buttons, but before I was able to, the shotgun fired at her chest. The blood sprays onto the face of the girl from 1 and boy from 11 as her corpse flops sideways, still trapped on the structure by her restraints. I repeatedly kicked the fence, angry that I wasn't able to save her in time.

The remaining tributes' screams echo as they all hurl insults, trying to condemn each other once again. They carousel eventually stops on the boy from 11.

"Please let me live! If I win the Hunger Games I'll give your family half of my winnings!" He begs.

I turn my head away, knowing that the odds of him winning right now are slim, so I bow my chin, trying not to cry. The shotgun's trigger is pulled and hits him in the chest. The blood spatters onto me. I scream as I wipe my face off, and look at the carousel once again. Only two tributes remain, which means this whole ordeal is almost over.

The final two tributes, my district partner and the girl from 10, begin to squabble with one another.

"Listen to me Phoenix, I am your district partner, I'm on your side, but you can't trust this bitch!

She's sure to stab you in the back!" Professes the boy from 12..

"What? No, I would never do that!" The girl from 10 responds.

"She's a fucking liar!" the boy accuses.

"Stop!" The girl panics.

"You cannot believe her, Phoenix. She's already tried to lie her way out of this, and she's just going to continue to do it! You know that's the simple truth!" He continues on.

"No, I haven't! What about you? You're sitting here talking crap about me, but what about you? You're not all that honest either!" The girl protests.

"But she'll slit your throat at the first opportunity!" The boy yells at me..

The carousel then stops on the girl from 10. She begins to really freak out, thrashing about and desperately trying to yank away the chains around her wrists, each time crying out as her joints jolt against the metal.

"Please don't let me die! Please! No, please!" She wails.

I stand there watching them argue. I know that she has lied to me once or twice, but she's been a really good ally. She wasn't planning on betraying me any time soon. On the other hand my partner has also been a dutiful ally. As I glance up at the shotgun clicking into place, I know I only have a few seconds to make the call. I hesitantly press the button. Once again the rod pierces my hand, and I scream in pain as I tuck my head into my hands, just barely daring to watch the shotgun rise above the girl's head and fire. It lowers and the rod leaves my hand.

"Oh, God! Thank you!" She exclaims, shoulders untensing as tears of thankfulness bloom in her eyes.

I back away from the cage and watch as the carousel makes its final rotation, at last coming to a stop. My district partner looked at me furiously.

"Oh, well, that's it, isn't it? It's over, you motherfucker!" He's looked at me.

"Stop it!" The girl from 10 cried to him.

"That's all it takes, eh? A bitch says one thing and it's all over!" He spits at me.

"Fucking bullshit! Well, you listen to me, you son of a bitch! I did everything for you!" .

I stand still, clinging to the wire fencing as the countdown begins. I slowly turn around.

"Look at me! When you're killing me, you look at me!" He demands.

I whip back around just as the shotgun fires and kills him. I stare through the fence at what happened. I risk a look at the girls. The caging suddenly ascends, retracting into the darkness and I run to the carousel platform as fast as I can. It takes me a few seconds before I can say anything.

"Guys….we need to find a way out of this place." I told them. A huge iron key drops in front of me from a piece of twine. I unloop the string, reaching out to snatch the key, jingling the chains to find the places to unlock them.

I release the restraints right away as I help them up off the structures, which upon closer inspection appear to be effigies of animals. The girls are still in tears at what just happened, but we have to keep going, so we all walk towards the newly revealed exit doors and leave the building. We cry in unison as we walk away from it., I hope that something good will come of the game's results, but deep down, I know that more is still yet to come.

Deaths - Day 2

17th Place - Alexei Grandon, 18 Years Old - District 2 Male : Killed by the shotgun trap, shot in chest.

14th Place - Surrey McLaren, 15 Years Old - District 6 Female : Killed by the shotgun trap, shot in chest.

13th Place - Grainer Frember, 18 Years Old- District 11 Male : Killed by the shotgun trap, shot in chest.

12th Place - Sedge Huile, 18 Years Old -District 12 Male : Killed by the shotgun trap, shot in chest.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

What were your thoughts on this chapter?

Who did you think would have been picked to survive?

Do you the phoenix made the right choice to save the tributes she saved?

~ Gomes