Arena Three

As the boy wrestles with me, the ground begins to rumble and the saws start to disappear down into the slits in the grating, taking the disgusting earwig creature with them. The crowd chants my name but I know better than to fall for it. There will be another monster to fight. There always is. These games will only end when the humans die.

I managed to get my knee up and kick the boy in his stomach. He goes flying back and the ground starts to rumble and shake. I know something else is coming for us, that the arena is about to transform again, but I need a moment to catch my breath. As I take in a deep gasp, I’m suddenly aware of a pungent smell coming from behind me. Whatever is there, the crowd has already seen it, because they start to clap and squeal with excitement.

I flip onto my feet in a crouching stance and spin, coming face to face with three enormous rodent-like creatures. They’re completely furless, covered in painful-looking sores and boils, and their eyes glow red. They’re each at least six feet long, and the stench coming off them is unbearable. In the crowd, people cover their mouths, but it’s all part of the spectacle for them, all part of the evening’s entertainment.

The rats see the group of five children huddled in the corner. Within a second, they gobble them up. The boy next to me screams. I cover my mouth, trying to stop myself from retching, and glance around me desperately, searching for somewhere to run and hide. But all around me is nothing but the flat open arena ground.

Then the ground suddenly begins to shake and rumble. A series of walls burst up, so fast I’m knocked off my feet. The giant rats scurry to the far end of the stadium, seemingly afraid. I take my chance and run to the opposite side. Walls spring up all around me, blocking me in, forcing me to backtrack. At the very least, they provide a barrier between me and the boy who was trying to kill me. But when everything stops shaking, I realize what has happened. Surrounding me is a maze.

My heart pounds. I can hear the rats scurrying around at the other end of the stadium. The sound of their claws on the metal grating makes my stomach turn, as does the screaming of the children they are catching and eating. I can smell their odor as it wafts through the maze toward me, but the walls are so high there’s no way I can see where they’re approaching from. I’m completely blind.

I start running, disorientated and panicked. I’ve always been a fighter, not a runner. This is completely out of my comfort zone. And it’s made worse by the way the ground suddenly rises and falls, by the way the walls suddenly grind and begin to move. I feel frantic, like I’m trapped in a nightmare.

I can hear the pounding feet of the rats from just the other side of the wall and smell their putrid flesh. They are so close. A wall is starting to move and I launch myself at it. It’s just low enough for me to pull myself up on top. It springs back up to its full height, and I’m just a few yards above the rats. Their disgusting noses sniff me, but I’m just out of their reach. I run along the top of the wall away from them. While being able to see where they are is useful, it won’t help me in any way if I don’t find a way to kill them.

I race along the top of the wall, searching for anything that I might be able to use as a weapon. As I go, I wrack my brains, trying to think of a way to defeat them. It’s when I see one of the rats nip the other that I get a brilliant idea. In the last fight, I used the obstacle against the opponent. What about if in this fight, I pit the opponents against one another?

I notice ahead a place where the walls move in and out, forming a block like a prison cell. I know then what I have to do.

“HEY!” I shout at the stinking creatures, trying to get their attention. “I’M UP HERE!”

All three of them turn their disgusting faces up to me, twitching their crusty noses. Revolted by the sight of them, I start to run. My feet slap against the hard wall. The rats are right behind me, chasing so fast, getting so close. I have to time this perfectly or it won’t come off at all.

I take a running leap just as one of the walls is starting to rise and manage to grip it by my fingertips. I hang there, dangling helplessly as it continues its slow rise. I try to heave myself up but I can’t quite get purchase on the wall. Gritting my teeth, I begin to scrabble and kick, searching for a nick in the wall where I can get my footing. The rats are racing toward me; I can hear them, smell them, can feel the crowd on the edge of their seats with anticipation. Finally, I get my foot onto a rough part of the wall and start to scramble, heaving with all my might. Then, in the nick of time, I’m crouching on the top of the wall.

The rats congregate beneath me, snarling, snapping their teeth. I stand there, trying to catch my breath. I need to time this perfectly.