All-Stars: Non-Careers

Chapter 3

Addie Child

I must have won. I didn't remember much about the Arena, though. Probably that happened to all Victors. It was pretty traumatizing to be in the Hunger Games. Then again, it was easier than I thought. It certainly went by quickly.

"Are you ready?" Otho asked.

"I guess so," I said. I was excited to get my crown and see Harlequin again.

"Good, because it's Resurrection time!" Otho said.

"What?" I asked. I got a sick feeling in my stomach. I couldn't remember anything past the Bloodbath. The Games went by so fast. It didn't mean what I thought at all. How did it happen? It was so upsetting in the strangest way. I didn't know where to start.

Hadley Kinneth

My mother would already be dead. My family was so different I'd hardly recognize them. I volunteered to get a better life for us, but that was long gone. I didn't even know if I knew anyone in the world. Skyler was gone, too.

I couldn't win for anyone else anymore. I could only win for me. It wouldn't be for any grand purpose. It would just be to stay alive this time.

Velvet Tek

I thought it would hurt more to burn to death. I was scared to open my eyes, since they were probably burned over. But it didn't hurt at all.

It didn't make any sense to see Bambi by my bed. We couldn't both have won, and I knew I didn't.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "Thanks for the flowers," I said when I saw the rainbow lily bouquet he was holding. It was pretty, even though it made no sense.

"I won. You're here for the Resurrection Games," he said.

"You won? That's so great," I said. I leaned up to hug him but she shrank back.

"I need to tell you something," he said. "Whatever you do, don't watch the rest of our Games. Please," he said.

Bambi wasn't usually so intense. All I could do was agree.

"Okay," I said. Then he was happy again. And we were halfway to a happy ending. All we needed was for me to win, too.

Ree Morning

I couldn't make something like this up. First I was the poor little orphan who lost her brother when she was adopted by the mayor. Then I was the little cutie who went into the Games as the ultimate underdog. Now I was back again for a second chance at making it big. In an Arena with only outliers, I might actually have a chance. I could triumph over it all and finally find a happy ending. If this was a book, I'd throw up.

Lyte Anderson

I'd found my place. I wasn't ever going to win. It wasn't what I wanted anyway, and it didn't matter. They'd always want me back, since I could make the Games last longer by helping people stay alive. That was what I wanted. I didn't want to kill people. I was a doctor.

Even if I looked the same as ever, I was sort of a grown-up when you thought about it. I was born twenty-four years ago. Not everyone in Panem lived that long. As long as there were Resurrection Games, I'd go on. With Panem the way it was, I was probably immortal.

Zetan Thompson

I wasn't surprised to hear that Nubu won. Without him, it wasn't likely the alliance would come together again. I hoped I could still find someone, though. It was good to have friends.

It was a testimony to the very absurdity of the situation that I found it so normal. Coming back to life as a clone? Going into the Arena again? All par for the course in Panem. I was more concerned about alliances than actually dying.

Reiner Ludwig

The past was the past. Khaleesi and the others were so far away it wasn't fair to try to come back into their lives. I could only go forward.

"Reiner!" I didn't expect to hear a familiar voice, but as soon as I did, my heart soared. The door banged open and a little boy barreled into the room and jumped on my bed.

"They picked you too!" Lyte shouted. "Come on, let's go pull sugar or something!"

Let the past stay behind me. The present wasn't as bad as I thought.

Asper Fin

My God, what was that thing? Mutts never looked like that. It was almost human. It was horrible.

The doorknob jiggled and my pulse shot up. If I'd been expecting a normal mutt, the first glimpse of a person would have dispelled the fear, but as it was, Paul was entirely in the room before I calmed down.

Darn the Capitol. Every Victor was afraid of something, whether it was water or crocodiles. Thanks to them, I was terrified of humans.

Desiree Redwood

Screw that. I got second place. Screw Careen. And not even literally, even if she was pretty.

Don't screw Electra though. I hoped they'd picked her, but I had a horrible feeling they didn't. They didn't give her a chance to show what she could do, and they might think she wasn't worth it. They'd be entirely wrong, but it wouldn't matter for her.

One thing was lucky. It was only one year after our last Games. I wasn't like some of the people from the Career Games that woke up twenty years into the future. My family would still remember me. When I got back home to them, everything could go back to normal.

River Summers

They put my hair back. That was so nice of them. I didn't know the Capitol could be nice. I'd probably cut it again, though. There was no room for vanity in the Games.

There were no Careers this year. That was nice. The numbers were worse than last time, but at least we didn't have to worry about a bunch of gladiators. Of course, that wasn't what got me last time. It was a boy from far out in the boundaries of Panem. He was one of us, but then he changed. Sometimes the Careers weren't the biggest monsters.

Junie Brett

What have they done? The body around me wasn't mine. It was a copy built in some sterile lab. They had no right to kill me and even less to bring me back. I didn't owe them my thanks for making me into a human mutt. It was worse than perverted. It was reprehensible.

I didn't want anything to do with them. I didn't want to be anything like them. I wanted to be the opposite. If they were going to kill children, I wanted to save them. I'd learned a few things back in Seven. In Seven, we actually valued life. That was what I'd take into the Arena. No more killing. They hated life, so let me save it.

Ever Fellows

It was seventeen years past where it was supposed to be. I was a middle-aged woman, but I was also a teenager. Did I even have legal position? What was I? Wasn't I really too old to be Reaped? It was almost like the Capitol didn't care about law.

If there were no Careers, I had a good chance. We weren't supposed to have weapons in Seven, but they couldn't catch us all. It was just a throwing knife, but it was enough to win the Games. But then, they already didn't care about age. They could just as easily kill the Victor, too. Nothing was certain anymore.