Day Three: Swimming in Smoke

Lexi was awakened by a sudden rumbling sensation in the ground. It started subtly, but she could tell what this was. An earthquake. If she didn't run for it now, the earth underneath her would give out, taking her with it. There was only one place to go: the cornucopia. Hobbling on one foot took twice as long, and a wall barely missed her as it fell down. The zig-zag of the maze just made her nauseous, but she wouldn't stop. Finally, Lexi came to the open circle where the Games had begun. The cornucopia was destroyed, with a long crack running through it, matching the crack in the ground.

I'm so glad that's not my head, she thought with a sigh of relief. My foot's broken; but I'm still here. So were a number of tributes, who'd had the same idea of reaching the circle. She didn't worry about them because they were preoccupied with their own survival; even Ian and McKenna seemed to have their limits, crouching down with their hands over their heads like everybody else. The earthquake lasted for about ten minutes, enough time to kill one tribute, who was crushed by a wall. While the other tributes wandered right back into the maze, Lexi dawdled at the cornucopia for some time. She nearly fainted from hunger. Well, they don't call this the Hunger Games for nothing.

After splurging on a whole roll and a peach, Lexi headed to find out if the ladder hideout she used before was still stable.

"Isn't this maze insane?" someone asked her out of nowhere.

Lexi jumped around to see the District Nine tribute girl, Skye. The prissy girl Lexi had hated in the reaping video remained, but the Games had made her appearance more unkempt.

Wonder how she's coping without her "necessities", Lexi thought smugly. Must be a pain, not being able to spend hours on makeup, clothes, and hair…

Aloud, she said, "Definitely. I ran into these giant mosquitoes, and a wall nearly killed me-"

"The mosquitoes got me, too!" Not caring that she just interrupted Lexi, Skye raised her arms to show off her bite marks. "There's no way I want to be seen on TV, with all these nasty marks. And look at this!" A handful of her hair had been burned off in the lightning storm.

Lexi rolled her eyes quickly. Poor baby. How on earth have you made it this long?

"I thought you did such a great job in training," Skye gushed. "Would you maybe want to team up? It could really help both of our chances of winning."

"Um…" I'd rather break my foot again. Lexi cleared her throat and shrugged. "Thank you. Why not? Let's get moving."

The girls walked through many twists and turns, stopping once to eat a batch of strawberries from a bush. Skye plowed ahead of Lexi. Lexi was about to follow her around a turn when her new ally shouted: "Ohmigod! Lexi… I think we should go another way!"

A few feet later, Lexi came face to face with a wall that looked brand new. A carousel had sprouted from the wall, spinning in the middle of the path. A carousel with razor-sharp blades. Skye merely stood watching the carousel from a safe distance, half in fear and half in awe.

Lexi wouldn't ever recall what possessed her mind when it happened. She suddenly felt her hands pushing Skye forward into the carousel of blades. On instinct, Lexi had to look away while blood spattered her clothes. She fled the scene in a panic.

Oh boy. The whole country just saw me do that. What a monster I am.

A minute later, the cannon sounded. Lexi had to remind herself that the Games pressured her to become a killer. But they hadn't required her to do it. This guilt gnawed at her as she kept walking. It was a plague that wouldn't vanish until she died.

She wasn't paying attention when something was thrown into her neck. There was a pinch of pain, like a needle being injected. Then everything faded to blackness.

The next thing Lexi saw was a mane of red hair. A face came into focus, and she sighed in relief.

"Ren! I don't know what happened to me, but thanks for coming to help."

"Who said anything about helping?" he replied. Ren spoke in a tone that terrified her, a voice that shouldn't have been coming from the kind boy she liked. And she'd only just noticed that her wrists were bound with rope.

"You're the one who knocked me out." She said it straight forward because it obviously wasn't a question.

"Yeah. Tranquilizer dart. Found them in a bag I grabbed, and I've been using them a lot lately. Makes it easier to take care of the tributes. I've killed two of them so far."

Over the past three years, Ren had never given Lexi a reason to be afraid of him. Under the current circumstances, though… he was giving her the creeps.

"We're not supposed to be enjoying this, Ren. What's gotten into you?"

He gave her a look of astonishment. "Same as everybody else: I want to win. And right now, you're standing in my way. Sorry to do this…"

Ren reached into his bag, pulling out a matchbox and a small bottle of gasoline.

Lexi shook her head frantically. "No… You wouldn't… I thought you liked me."

"I do like you, but not as more than a friend. I did what I could to get you on my side so that you'd be in total shock. Makes for good TV drama."

With a cruel grin that mimicked Ian's, Ren squirted the gasoline all over her.

"How could you?" Lexi pleaded with him. She'd been reduced to whimpering like a baby. Not that she cared, since her life was on the line. Maybe Ren might take pity on her.

It was all in vain. He kneeled down beside her with a match in his hand and said, "Listen, sweetheart: This is the Hunger Games, not high school. Somebody's got to go, and it sure ain't me."

Ren struck his matchbox. "Goodbye, Lexi."

Lexi's hatred of herself was at an all-time high. I've been so blind! Maybe it's better that he kills me…

"Goodbye," she said in a faint whisper. At that moment, giving up felt unbelievably easy. She didn't even scream when the flames engulfed her. It shot through her body with the power of a thousand suns. Before she drew her last breath, a haunting song came into her mind: "Fallout", by the early 21st century band Linkin Park.

"I'm swimming in the smoke

Of bridges I have burned;

So don't apologize;

I'm losing what I don't deserve.

The blame is mine alone

For bridges I have burned;

So don't apologize,

I'm losing what I don't deserve…

What I don't deserve…"