The 151st Annual Hunger Games

Games~Day 3~Part 1

(And now, back to the arena.)

Kailan Rikke's POV:

The fires started today.

Large forest fires with towering flames and blackened ashes. Either the Capitol started them or someone had a bonfire gone wrong but either way I wish they would stop. I had to take all my supplies and move them down to the rock field, closer to the other tributes. I'd say the Gamemakers were pushing us all together but really it seems as though they're dividing us apart.

The flames started early in the morning and haven't gone out yet; it's noon. I sit with my back against the cliff wall and watch the wall of trees slowly become diminished to nothing. If the Gamemakers did this I wonder if they're going to put them out or if they're just going to let the entire arena go down like this.

I pull a sandwich out of my pack and lay my sleeping bag down on the hard rocks. The sandwich is soggy and three days old but it's the best I've got. I would have eaten it sooner but it's from Altair's pack, which I haven't bothered to open until today. Ever since the bloodbath I've done nothing but wait in hiding for a tribute to come along. Either I'll win the fight or they will and at this point, without my brother, I don't care which.

I just want everything to go back to how it was.

Axel Button's POV:

Our alliance of four has now become two. Killian and Inuk left early this morning saying they should just go off on their own. I'm fine with that, now it's only Felicity and I.

Starting a fire wasn't hard, seeing as half the arena is burning there were lots of opportunities to light one. Also, even if there is smoke for other tributes to see, the entire arena is already hazy and grey. Felicity walks back into our little clearing with a handful of apples. I look up and frown.

"How are we supposed to cook apples on an open fire?"

She smiles, keeping in her laughter and shrugs.

"It was the best I could find." She says, handing me one and sitting beside me.

"Speaking of which, where did you find them?" I ask, curious as to how she found any apples in a forest of coniferous trees currently set on fire.

"A tree by the rock field." Is all she says in reply. She holds it close to the fire and eventually the edges turn a soft brown. I sit there, waiting for her to eat her cooked apple. I laugh, the Capitol tries to break us with these Games and yet here I am with my ally, cooking apples for lunch on a sunny day.

Felicity takes her apple away from the flames and holds it up, inspecting it. She looks at me, waiting for me to follow. I'm more hesitant and I shrug.

"You first." I say.

She takes a bite of her apple and it's soft inside; a result of the fire. Felicity smiles at me, her apple held tightly in her hand and slumps forward. The apple rolls from her hand and she falls limply onto the ground.

"Felicity!" My screams barely travel farther than the small clearing we're in. I bend down and shake her, lightly at first but when she doesn't move I become more frantic. Her eyes are closed and her skin is a ghostly pale white. I look around for any attacking tributes but none are present in the trees. Confusion hits me but when I look down at that browned apple I suddenly realize. I bend down and pick up the poisoned fruit. Sure enough, the usually crisp white inside is invaded with streaks of dark green.

BOOM.

A/N: Yay! Two updates in one day. Thanks for reading! :)