in the neon light | fish & fuses (day 1)

in the neon light - I

The dusk feels endless as the three of us continue onwards. I trudge through the sand, eyes trained ahead but my attention turned inwards into the question itching away at my brain, out of reach of my hands to relieve it with any scratch. I did not trust that the missing tributes were all out of the games, wouldn't believe it until I saw their photos light up the sky with the anthem. Something was amiss, and I wanted to find out what. If they were still in the game somehow, they were dangerous for the element of unknown they carry with them.

And if it turned out they were all truly dead already, without ever stepping foot inside this arena, it begs a further question: was it by design, or did something go wrong? Both options are terrifying. If it was a malfunction and the deaths were never meant to happen, how would the Gamemakers view this set of games? Would they already be panicking, trying to find the quickest and most gruesome way to end this year's iteration? I think back to the 10th Games, with the final 8 tributes running from mutts until only one person came out alive. Was this their way of warning us? It certainly shows they haven't been afraid of swift ends in the past.

On the other hand, I wouldn't put it past the Gamemakers to design the Games like this as well. Kill off half of the tributes right away to send a message. Perhaps the others all had some sort of ties that made them desirable to be killed off for Capitol gains? Or maybe it was a new form of Mutt, part of the conditions of the Games. Experimenting with how the rest of us would react with this sudden change from the norm? I mean look at me, the questions were already eroding away my brain like a sand dune in the wind. Worst of all, maybe it was simply a warning that they could do that to all of us, too. If they wished.

A cry out from behind me shook me from my stupor, and my attention turned now to the collection of neon lighted objects glowing out directly in front of us. A large sign indicated that we had made it to Black Rock City. It's clear to me that this was the truth behind the shadowy city I thought I had seen during the bloodbath - the heat distorting from the sand and playing visual tricks on me. The word mirage pops into my mind. Yet another deadly trick of this arena.

We begin to walk amongst the strange, lit-up structures that stand all around. A pair of figures locked in each other's arms, floats glowing atop bicycles in neon shades that make me feel right at home in my glowing fishnets. I strike a pose for Tide and Sera, trying to mimic the twists and turns of a metallic sculpture nearby. "What do you think?" I ask them, "Could I pass for one of these sculptures?"

As I laugh I turn my head to the side and see the giant block of canvas. It stands there stark in its blankness against the twisted metals and neon glows around it. The contrast draws me closer to it. "Woah, check it out!" As I come up next to it I notice the cans of paint placed all around. One can has a baby blue, another a deep green, a third I can see an orange the shade of a sun setting on the horizon. They sit open, waiting.

Suddenly I feel the urge to stick my hand in a can of crimson red, coating it like a glove. As I raise it back out the paint drips from it. It's like blood on my hands, the kind I know I'll need to get if I plan on leaving this place alive. I place my red-coated palm flat against the strange, plastic-like surface of the canvas and hold it there for a moment to try and let the paint sink in. I remove my hand and take a step back, looking at the handprint I've left behind. I turn to Tide and Sera. "There, now there'll be something to remember me by."