Chapter 15 – The Careers

Inside of the Cornucopia, sheltering from the cold winds, sat the six members of the Career pack. All the treasures had been left to them, and their arsenal was so wide that they could have armed themselves at least four times over. In one corner sat Olida and Dynamo, in another sat Kristen and Marcus, and in another sat Eric by himself, trying to listen in to the conversations and seem 'cool', as if nothing had happened. Ever since Eric's incompetence at the bloodbath, Olida had not even bothered to look in his direction, and as the strongest of the group, all the others had followed her lead. Evidently unaware of any mistrust or fear within the group was Angora, who was waltzing with her pickaxe around everyone else whilst singing a song about dreams coming true. It seemed odd that someone from her time would know such a song, but if there ever was a real princess in Panem, it was Angora, although it may have said something about her that she was declaring her weapon as her true love.

'She reminds me of my seven-year-old sister,' said Dynamo to Olida. 'She likes to sing and dance, and wear pretty dresses and tiaras and stuff, just like any other One girl. Do you think Angora was like that, or do you think she's always been one for violence?'

'Well,' Olida replied quietly, 'if you believe what she said at the interviews, then she's been a cold-blooded killer since she could walk, but I doubt that. She'll be here for the fame, the fortune. Then again, aren't we all?'

Dynamo paused and thought about what he wanted to say. 'Bringing pride to my District and stuff doesn't interest me. Like, I'm never going to be like them.' Olida nodded and understood; they were the Capitol. 'I just don't want my sister to have to do this too. I want the best for her, y'know?' He flicked his hair from his eyes as he had gained a reputation for doing and watched Olida's expressions carefully.

She looked right into his eyes. 'So you came here to win?'

'Well, I didn't come here to die.'

Olida laughed out loud. 'You should feel special, it's a long time since someone made me laugh. And that's cute, even for my heart of stone, how you care about your sister. I'm quite the opposite; I want "the fame and the fortune" as you say. I guess I enjoy the whole fighting part too; it's a powerful feeling, ending someone's life. It's like you're in control of everything that person has ever done or felt or will ever do or feel.'

Dynamo nodded, considering that Olida had only killed someone for the first time very recently, unless there was something he didn't know about. Never the less, the way she dealt with the topic was frightening. 'What about your family?' he asked, hastily changing the subject. 'Do you have siblings?'

A pained smile crossed Olida's face. 'Yes, I have quite a few.'

'What are their names?'

'I have absolutely no idea.'

Dynamo looked straight ahead, puzzled, but not sure if he wanted to delve into the situation further. 'Oh,' he said.

'Yeah. I guess I have to explain now, don't I? Long story short, my father is a slut. That doesn't even do it justice; he's pathetic, and he deserves to be castrated before he finds some other disadvantaged young woman to ruin the life of. He's a Peacekeeper, quite high up, and he does a lot of travelling because of it, and everywhere he goes he likes to 'sample the local delicacy' and knock someone up, consensually or not. As a result, this country is full of my half-siblings and their distraught mothers. Like most of those children, I was a product of rape, something my mother had no problem telling me before she drunk herself to death.'

'Oh God, that's awful,' said Dynamo, trying to comfort her.

'You want to know the worst part? Ever since I started getting good at fighting and survival when my mother died, he started taking an interest in me again. He was born in Two so he acts as if he's lived there all his life, raising me, when the truth couldn't be more different. He came to visit me, you know, after I volunteered and he gave me a token for the Games.'

'Did you take it?'

'It was too useful not to take, but I certainly never thanked him for it.'

'What is it?'

''Was' would be more appropriate. It was a silver necklace, made up of little spiky triangle shapes all pointing the same way, all connected with chains and with a little bit at the back where it clipped together. I don't know the science of it, but the metal expanded when it came in contact with water, and I mean really expanded, but for only like twenty minutes then it would shrink again. When it expanded, it could be used as a sort of spiked whip. He probably got some scientist to make it for him at gunpoint, in fact I'm confident that only threats, not money, passed around in its creation.'

'So how come you don't have it?'

'When they tested it to see if it was dangerous before I could bring it with me, they had finished checking it when reportedly one of the testers spilt their coffee on it. Clumsy lout. Do you have a token?'

'Yeah, I did. It was a glove – well, it was more like a gauntlet. It came up to my elbow, and when I made a fist, a circuit inside the glove was complete and the knuckles would electrify. The inside was insulated so I would be safe, but yeah, it got taken off me.'

'Ah well, tough luck. Besides, as long as you hang with me, you won't need a secret weapon. You're pretty good by yourself, I'll give you that, but you're safer when you're on the same side as me.'

Until that's the only side left, thought Dynamo, but he knew better than to say that out loud. 'Trust me, I have no intention of leaving the pack.'

'Yet,' added Olida.

'Do you doubt me?' Dynamo asked her.

Olida smiled grimly. 'I don't doubt your loyalty to me, no. I won't lie to you though; if you are the only person left for me to kill, then I will try to kill you, and I'll mostly likely succeed to be honest with you. But you might not have to worry about that.'

Dynamo struggled for words. 'Lovely,' he replied eventually.

'You and the others know that I'm a lot of things, but I'm certainly not 'lovely'; I'm a cold-hearted, big-headed, psychotic bitch with daddy issues, but that's why I'm so damn good at this, and also why my odds of winning are the best.' She smiled at Dynamo, wickedly but not threateningly, or at least without the intention of being so.

Marcus and Kristen, however, were not discussing themselves, but Eric. How he should be killed was the topic of their conversation, and just how he could be made useful.

'Olida wants to keep him,' Marcus stated, 'and you understand why; if we need a human shield or a canary in our coal mine, he'll be useful then.'

'Why is it that what Olida says goes?' retorted Kristen. 'She's not the boss of us, no one is! We're a team and we should be equals; no leaders, no one person for everyone else to help win.'

'If you feel so strongly, why don't you tell her?'

'If I went and told her, she'd kill me. If everyone told her, she'd change or lose us all, but no one else will, even though they all feel the same way.'

'Some people want a leader, someone to tell them where they belong.'

'In any other situation, I could see what you mean, but not this. I mean, you clearly don't want to obey her, do you?'

'So I don't obey her; simple as that. If you disagree with her, then don't do what she says, and if she fights you over it, fight back. That's how things work everywhere, here and beyond.'

'Well, if that's how you wanna play, then let's kill Eric. You want to, yeah?'

'I think we should keep him; he'll be useful, I know it.'

'You're just her lapdog, aren't you? You may say you don't care what she thinks but that's not the truth; when she gets an idea in your head, you don't even question it. You were going to kill Eric before, but her 'inspiring' speech about how "no one is useless" changed it all.'

Marcus balled his fist; he did not like being called a lapdog. Not one bit. He looked up at Kristen, his eyes full of his bottled up fury.

'If I was to agree to killing him, I'd only be doing it because you told me to, and that ain't much better than being a slave to anyone else, but I think we do have something in common; we both feel the need for a change of leadership. Her main policy – killing the boy from Six – has already been fulfilled, even if it wasn't by us, so there's not much left for her to do apart from admire herself and boss us around. So, Kristen, I propose that we overthrow this self-proclaimed ruler.'

Kristen smiled widely in reply. 'But how would we do that?'

'By getting all the others on our side, then arranging a time and just attacking her then, all at once. Persuading Dynamo could be hard, but that seems like the only problem. Then we'd all be equal, or at least under better management, namely myself.'

'We need to wait though, until she's done her part in dealing with the others.'

'Are you saying we can't deal with them ourselves?'

'No, not at all! Just that, you know, she is pretty good at what she does.'

Marcus' eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. '"Pretty good"? Are you suggesting that we are in short supply of "pretty good" fighters?'

'Don't be stupid, Marcus. All I'm saying is 'strength in numbers', yeah? So we should put up with her until we're the only ones left, and then kill her.'

'Given that we are alive at that point,' Marcus mumbled disapprovingly.

'If we aren't, we'll just have to haunt her,' replied Kristen, her jesting seeming rather out of place.

'Something tells me Olida isn't afraid of ghosts, or at least, she's learned to put up with them. Someone as crazy as her is bound to be haunted in some way.'