All-Stars: Non-Careers

Chapter 14

LOL I forgot Ever! Lucky thing the name still works.

Daniel Mondins

In the nightmare, I fought the boy who killed Sarla with a sword, but he killed me. I had to be better than that. All day long I practiced at the sword station. I didn't want to leave until it was time for me to go into the tube. I was no good when I started out, but I got better every hour.

There were so many reasons I had to keep Sarla safe. First, I was her brother. That's what big brothers do. I loved her and I'd rather die myself than watch her get hurt. But there was more than that.

Panem needed people like Sarla. She was sweet and kind and caring. She made Panem a better place. We could do without the Careers and the killers. If they died, Panem was better off. People like them were the reason the Games even existed. But Sarla was different. She was going to grow into such a beautiful, priceless woman. People like her helped others. They were the kind of people who would get the Games abolished forever.

Even the Games didn't change Sarla. I'd seen the footage of her in the mangrove after I died. She met a little boy and made friends right away. They stayed together and laughed until the Capitol sent a crocodile to kill them both. They didn't want people like them to live.

Even I wasn't important. I hated the Capitol for what they did and I hated the Tributes who put themselves before others. If I had the chance, I'd execute the Gamemakers. Sarla would want them to be jailed or at worse exiled. She cared about people. She was a rarity in Panem, and without her kind, there was no hope for any of us.

Sarla Mondins

Daniel thought he was protecting me. I was protecting him, too. I kept him away from the other Tributes and anyone who might tell him the truth. He was so protective of me. I didn't want him to ever know the truth. He'd think he failed me.

I wished Timber was here. I could be a kid with him. I didn't have to watch out for Daniel and make sure he was all right. I wanted to tell him it wasn't so bad if I died again. It was hard staying alive. There wasn't much in Panem worth living for. He didn't have to worry about me if we were both dead.

I was at the first aid station, but I wasn't paying much attention. It was so useless to learn first aid for the Games. The entire point of the Games was to kill people. I couldn't learn enough in a few days to fight against that. It would be better to learn to run.

If Daniel and I didn't do very well, they wouldn't want to pick us again next time. As long as it wasn't slow, I didn't mind dying. I just hoped that whatever happened, Daniel didn't see it.

Junie Brett

It was weird seeing River in the training room. Her hair wasn't as short time time- it was more of a bob. That wasn't the weird thing, though. It was seeing her.

When I was in the Arena the first time, I thought about River a lot. She went so much farther than Seven had gone in the last few years. She was so strong, and if Bambi hadn't gotten so fierce, she probably would have won. Ever since I got up I'd felt bitter and depressed, but seeing River reminded me of what I'd been before.

I was at the first aid station with Lyte while I watched River. He was one of the cheeriest of the Tributes, like none of this bothered him at all. I wished I could be so serene. I saw River was about to leave and jumped up before I lost my nerve.

"You did really well last time," I said when I reached her.

"Not well enough to win," she said.

"We were all rooting for you," I said.

"Thanks," she said. I blurted the next words out.

"In fact, if you wanted an ally or something, that would be really cool," I said. She hesitated and looked like she didn't want to hurt my feelings.

"It's okay. You don't have to-" I started.

"No, that's a good idea. I do need an ally," she said. "Obviously I can't win alone."

Lyte made triumphant finger guns at me as I went back to our station. Already I felt like there might be hope after all. River came so close last time. This time we were going to make it.

River Summers

"Like losing the last bit of you..."

I didn't think they'd let me talk to my father. Then when I did, I expected him to be happy. I should have known he'd be heartbroken. He watched me die.

The Capitol couldn't even let me talk to my father without making it a show. When they heard I wanted to contact him, they sent a Capitolite reporter with a camera so everyone could see what Seven was like without me. The entire nation gawked as my father bared his heart.

"When you cut your hair, it was like losing the last bit of you," my father said. I'd only wanted a better chance to get back to him. I never thought I could hurt him more. The cameraman followed him into another room.

"It's still here," my father said raggedly. He pointed to a shrine in one corner and revealed our chest. My ribs tightened as I looked at something that brought us together for so long.

"I call it Her Unfinished Masterpiece," he said, and he was quiet for a minute. "Your unfinished masterpiece. My biggest regret."

I thought about it a lot when the call was over. I cut off my hair and hardened my heart so I could get rid of the fear, but I needed that fear. Fear was what would drive me to get back home. Nothing was worse than the fear that I'd break his heart again.

Ever Fellows

River was tough. I was glad she was on my side, but I didn't look forward to what would happen after we split up. Junie would probably be dead by then, but River wouldn't. I could see in her eyes that she was going all the way this time. And she was smart. Last time she died largely because her opponent was so much taller. She was training with a longsword this time.

I already had my weapon. I'd been throwing knives for years, even taking out all that time I was dead. Not much had changed in Panem at large- except the new president- but the Tributes seemed entirely different from the children I grew up with. They were more complicated and for them, the Games had been around so long a culture had developed around it. I felt like a relic.

I'd have to work hard to get sponsors. Out of sight, out of mind. A lot of the Tributes had died last year or a bit before that. People remembered them and wanted to help them. I was a ghost from almost twenty years ago. I wasn't as cute as the little kids and not as safe a bet as the strongest Tributes. I was in the middle. The Games were no place for mediocrity. There was no middle there, only first or last.