All-Stars: Non-Careers

Chapter 18

Beth O'Darielle

I already knew all I needed to know. I sat in the training room and played with my list.

People to Kill

Everyone!

Order in which to kill them:

1. Silver. Oh my word she's such a goody two-shoes! All her little allies will be running around crying.

2. Haber. She never shuts up.

3. Vera. Because she might actually win.

4. Jay. He's ugly.

5. Austin. Also ugly.

6. Desiree. She's really tall and I want to see how long her intestines are.

No, wait. I scribbled out the name and added Des one rank lower.

6. Pandora. Ha ha she's blind. I can take as long as I want.

8. Gabriel. That's a stupid name.

9. Inky. I'll do her a favor and stab her five times.

I went on adding to and adjusting the list as I cackled. It couldn't start soon enough.

Torchy Conden

That girl ain't right. I was ready to kill all those losers, but she didn't have to be so gleeful about it. It didn't take a genius to see she'd stab me as soon as anyone else. I was lucky I was bigger than she was.

I'd do what it took to survive, but it was going to be a pain to kill all those Tributes. First, there were just so many of them. If we divided them equally, we'd each have about twenty-five Tributes to kill. Of course some would die of other causes, but we wouldn't be getting much help from any of the others except Vera.

Second, I was never a killer by habit. Sure, I was in the Voting Games, but that was because I was a thief. It was easier to kill kids who all had a reason for being there. I wasn't about to get all soft, but this was just a chore for me. I wished Beth wasn't being so gross about it. It made me feel obligated to kill even more Tributes so she couldn't get her hands on them. That's me: Torchy Conden, always merciful.

Merle Loveridge

That one alliance seemed so lonely. Only the girl ever smiled. The one boy only ever scoped out the competition. The other boy just sat and did nothing. They needed some cheering up.

"Hey you guys! Are you an alliance?" I asked. Only the scope boy responded.

"I don't think we're what you're looking for," he said.

"Why not?" I asked. He looked at me askance.

"Look, Pollyanna, we're kind of the bad kids, okay? Wouldn't you be better off with them?" he asked, pointing at Silver and her brood. They were all very nice, but I felt more needed here.

"Don't be so down on yourself. Whatever you did, it was just to survive," I said. The boy looked at his girl ally, who was scribbling on a piece of paper. He smiled crookedly.

"Yeah, sure," he said. "Just scram before we think better of it."

I could understand how he felt. After what happened in my past, I was used to feeling unforgivable. If they only knew I'd caused more death than any of them...

"Torchy, why so rude?" the girl said as she got up. "She's only trying to be friendly."

"Come on, leave her alone," Torchy said. Beth gave me a hug. See, I knew they weren't all bad.

"Of course you can ally with us. Right, Jack?" Beth said. The quiet boy looked over and went back to sitting. Torchy didn't seem very happy about it, but I'd change his mind.

Jack Void

The new girl was one of the nice ones. They were always the hardest to kill. The ones who hung around with me would be much easier. There were so many this time. It would take a long time to kill them all.

I wanted to go home. I missed my mother. We were always together. We needed each other. She was so worried when I left the first time. She was always protective of me. If she'd been there, she never would have let me fall into the water. She knew how dangerous it was. The world was a very dangerous place. She knew all about it, and I worried about her without me there to be with her. I wanted to get home to her. That was why I had to kill all of the others.

Zinnia Fraser

I felt bad about what happened last time. Most of the people I ignored and didn't talk to deserved it, but Cornflower never wanted any of this. She probably thought I hated her. I made up my mind to ask her about her Games.

"How did you stay hidden when the Careers were looking for everyone?" I asked her. We sat in the lounge outside her room. She didn't like to go outside very much.

"Nobody was looking for me," she said.

"Everyone just forgot about you?" I asked.

"I wasn't strong. They all thought I'd freeze," she said.

"Everyone else did, but you didn't," I said. I always thought she got lucky, but there must have been something there.

"I thought they'd find me eventually and didn't like being cold, so I stayed hidden and folded up while I waited. I only came out at the end," she said.

"After everyone was dead?" I asked.

"No, one girl was left," she said.

"Then why did you go out?" I asked.

"I wanted it to be done. I thought she'd kill me. But she was too frozen. Most of her clothes were off. I tried to warm her up, but she died," she said. She said it so simply, like it wasn't a big deal she watched a girl die as she tried desperately to save her. After my first Games, I cared about other people more. I didn't think Cornflower even noticed anyone else, but I guess she cared after all.

Rory Harris

Zinnia seemed so much older. She was quieter and less hotheaded. Last time she acted like a girl, but she was a young woman now. It hardly felt like I had to protect her.

I didn't think I had the courage to talk to my family, but I wanted to see them. Fluvius helped hook me up with a 3-D holograph of them. I was scared to look at first. They looked mostly the same. Gwen was a little taller. She was smiling.

I didn't know how to feel about that. I was afraid she'd look sad. First I was glad she was over my death. Then I thought, she's over me. She'd moved on. She wasn't crushed and broken and never able to be happy again. She went on. I should have been happy, and I was, but I still felt forgotten and worthless. By now she knew I was in the Games again. Was she happy I might come home or sad she might lose me again? Or, worst of all, was she just indifferent?

Last time, I thought Zinnia and Inky were more important than whatever happened to me. I wanted to be a good person and be someone Gwen could look up to. I didn't think I could do it again this time. I didn't want to die again. I wanted to get home not so Gwen wouldn't get sad, but because I wanted to know I mattered to her. I wanted to be important to her. I never wanted her to be devastated over my loss, because I wanted to come home, but I wanted to know she would be devastated if I did die. It was the most selfish thing I could imagine. The only way to make it right was to get home.

Zinnia's form said she would try to talk to Cornflower. Her opinions may or may not reflect how virtuous Cornflower actually is, unfortunately.

My notes say Mindi was in a 34th SYOT but I can't find it. If I can't find her I can either: A. Drop her because goodness knows we have enough or B. Make up a basic personality for her if it would be better for her allies to have her for numbers.