All-Stars: Non-Careers

Chapter 34

If you're reading this, you expect a whole mess of dead kids. However, there's something ever so much worse in this chapter: premarital intercourse! So feel free to skip this if you don't approve of such foul matters.

Merle Loveridge

I'd been in the Capitol so long it was weird to think tomorrow was the Games. Of course I was nervous, but I was sort of excited, too. I'd finally watched the tapes of my last Games and I knew what happened. This time was going to be better. Last time was a fiasco, but I thought something good could come of it. Back at home, a lot of people thought I deserved to die. Now I had died. I'd paid my debt and this time people might not hate me so much. And most helpfully of all, most of the people who hated me had long ago moved on. I was anonymous again, and that was great.

I wanted to check in with my allies before the Bloodbath. But honestly, they were a bit scary other than Torchy, so I went to him first so we could visit the others together. He didn't look surprised when I showed up.

"Oh, Merle. I was hoping I'd see you," he said.

"Oh, really? What is it?" I asked.

"I don't think you're working out in our alliance. You should go," he said.

"What? Why?!" I asked. I'd never made any trouble.

"You just don't fit in, okay? We don't want you," he said. I had no idea what I'd done. It was all so sudden. Torchy slammed the door on me before I could say anything else. I'd have to see what the others had said about this.

Sevarian Vask

There was a lot to plan for. This wasn't any ordinary Games. It was going to be even more spectacular than normal, and that certainly included the Bloodbath. Something big was going to happen there, and I wanted to be ready for it.

I'd seen most of the tapes of previous Games. At first I thought there would be mutts in the Cornucopia, but that had been done before. My next guess was a disaster right when the gong went off. I went through the list in my head. A fire? A tornado? They already did a meteor shower. No, it will be an earthquake. They 'raised' the Tributes from their graves. Now they'll rebury them.

It was either that or one other thing. My other suspicion was that the Cornucopia was filled with nothing but explosives. That would certainly shorten the Games. The strongest Tributes, like Vera and Frankie, would run in to get weapons. A lot of the other Tributes would run in because there were fewer murderous Tributes and they had a chance to get food. Half the Tributes would go sky high at once, and the rest wouldn't last as long without supplies.

That seemed even more likely. In either case, I wasn't going anywhere near the Cornucopia. I knew what was good for me.

Calista Corral

Haber was a little mad at me. I knew she wouldn't like me talking about cute boys, It wasn't my fault Harlequin asked me. I was just trying to be a good interviewee. It wasn't like I pined constantly for Logan's sweet embrace. I just thought he wasn't ugly.

I supported the cause. I knew we were supposed to help all our sisters and defend against the male menace. I just wasn't quite as enthusiastic as Haber. It was a very noble cause, but we needed a few men. How are we going to have any daughters without men? They were a necessary evil. I hated to disappoint Haber, though. I made a note to be extra devoted going forward.

It was wonderful to have a real alliance. We all knew we had each others' backs, and we were like a ready-made circle of friends. I was excited to use my skills to help my alliance. I felt like an important part of our team and I was much more optimistic about my chances this time.

Last time, I just felt like a Tribute. This time, I was a crusader. My alliance was going to do important things in the Arena. We'd grow even closer to each other and defend against hostile outsiders. It was all tremendously important.

Logan Quinn

I wanted the Games to hurry up and start. Not that I was itching to charge into a deathmatch. It was just worse to anticipate it than to actually participate in it. I had that same anxious energy I got before a gang rumble. The Games were a lot like that. There was my gang. There were the bunch from the far Districts. Nobody liked them. The other major gang was Vera and her allies. We'd be providing the lion's share of the excitement in the Arena.

I thought back to the interviews. Each of us had flashed our gang sign after we answered our questions. The audience must have seen a seamlessly connected band of brothers. Any one Tribute had a one in seventy-three chance of winning. Any individual was as fragile as a thread. Together, we were so much stronger. Even if only one of us would make it to the end, it would be with the help of all the rest. Sometimes we lost members in fights, but the gang always went on.

I never wanted to forget any of my allies. I was probably closest to DeMarcus, since we understood each other so well. Then there was Blaise, who seemed so much younger than the rest of us, but was still full of scrap. Zach was like the gang's wing man, always ready with jokes and encouragement. Jay always wanted to be the first to fight. No one could lead me, but I respected him as an equal. Austin was so much like him, but he was quieter and more introspective. Cooper was a bit of a hippie, but I liked him anyway. And Leo was our support system. Every one of us was necessary. I didn't want to lose a single one.

Desiree Redwood

I thought I felt something when Harlequin grabbed me. At first I thought she just wanted a feel, but then I felt the paper against my skin. I smuggled it into my pocket and unfolded it after I was alone backstage.

Go out the back door. There's a broom closet down the hall. It's unlocked. See you at midnight, Cinderella ;P ;)

No one would put a camera in a broom closet, since no one would be stupid enough to plot anything in the Games Building. There weren't any cameras in there, just a very large and out-of-place shag rug. And the loveliest lady in Panem.

Now Des' Capitol arc is complete and she'll go back to normal exposure. My system is to color in the text of each Tribute as they get POVs so I know which ones need to come next. I colored Des two colors as a reminder. Here's hoping it works this time.

Up next: the tubes. After that, it's the Bloodbath.

Oops, forgot to mention: Technically Des is eighteen. Plus age of consent in Panem is sixteen and I definitely didn't just make that up.