Elise Delacroix- Touch the Sky D4F
Careen had bad news. I could tell just from the way she walked into the room. I would have thought she was about to tell me I'd been dead for decades, but I knew that wasn't the case. The medic had said it had only been four years. Bad enough, to be sure, but bearable. Besides, the short gap was obvious from Careen's age.
"They didn't find him, did they?" All this time, Arno and I had hoped, and in my case prayed, that we or anyone else would find whoever took my father. It settled in my stomach like a rock that it hadn't happened. Dad still didn't have justice. Everyone still thought Arno had done it. My mother was home alone, mourning her entire family.
"What?" Careen asked. She shook her head absently. "Oh, that. No, they didn't. But that's not what I'm here about."
"What is it, then?" I asked. I couldn't think of what had Careen so on edge. She kept tucking her hair behind her ear, even though it hadn't come out. She looked like she'd developed a tic.
"I'm glad you're sitting down." That, combined with the spastic movement of a nervous, involuntary smile on her face for just an instant, answered everything. Someone was dead.
"It's your mother."
I clasped my hands to the sides of my head, bowing forward until my face was buried in my blanket. If Careen didn't finish, that meant it wasn't true. But what if I fell out of bed and then I heard it? I clenched the blanket in two fists and shoved my face down like I could push right through the bed, right into some other world.
I could see Careen. I didn't remember straightening up. Careen was saying something and I knew what she was saying, even though I couldn't hear it. She was talking so quietly I had to strain to hear.
"She was accused of treason," Careen said at a normal volume. It just wasn't reaching me. "She was executed."
"But she's my mom. Who's going to be my mom?" The room blurred, and I was trying to take in a breath, but my lungs were too tight, and the air kept catching. Careen's eyes filled with tears and spilled over. She reached out a hand just as I threw the blankets over my head and curled on my side, sobbing. A moment later I felt the indent as she set her hand down on the bed. I grabbed onto it through the blankets.
Orphan. Ugly, horrid word. I'm all I have left.
Arno Dupont- Touch the Sky D4M
"There's something you need to know about Elise."
Shane had his serious face on. It was unfathomable how he could be two different people. Most of the time he was a cheerful, even optimistic guy. I never could reconcile that with how his Games had gone. Twenty years after he'd won, I still saw him go quiet when he saw someone who looked like his old ally. He looked, in those moments, just like he looked now. I could only imagine he was going to tell my Elise had fallen for someone else. My heart broke and started mending all at once. What did I do wrong? Does he treat her like she deserves? Let her be happy.
"Elise's mother died three years ago."
Well, join the club.
I hated that it was my first thought. Before I felt for Elise, before I mourned the death of a human being, came a shot of bitter snark- a flippant 'anything else terrible want to happen?' I'd always had a sharp tongue, but it used to come with a tender heart. I hated the Games that left me one at the expense of the other.
"Oh. Wow." Of all the things to say, I came out with something as dumb as that. But what smart thing is there to say about something like that?
"She was found to be a traitor. She was executed." Shane's measured tone and expression shouted. Elise's mother was dead and we weren't allowed to mourn her. If I had anything to say about it, I'd better take it to my grave.
"How's she doing?" I asked.
"She hasn't come out of her room. We weren't sure if she'd want to tell you herself. We thought maybe she'd want you with her."
Elise's door wasn't open. It wasn't locked, either. I walked into the dark room- she hadn't been out of bed since noon, when Careen told her- and stood just inside the door. By the crack of light through the doorway, I could see the lump on the bed. Elise was entirely underneath the covers. She wasn't moving at all, not even to cry. I walked toward the bed, waiting for her to say something. She would know it was me by my footsteps.
When Elise said nothing, I climbed onto the bed. I crawled next to her on top of the blankets. She would have told me if she wanted me to leave. She wanted to be alone, but she wanted to be with me. So I spooned up alongside her, on top of the blankets but right next to her. I put my arm over her and pressed my chest to her back. There was nothing to say. I felt my heart beating against her back and let her feel my love instead.
Leo Serrocold- 28th Games D11M
I couldn't say the odds sounded too good. I had no idea who most of these people were, but I had the nagging feeling that the Academy had probably improved since I was last out and about. Then again, Arielle was back, which implied she wasn't so ridiculously outclassed they didn't even bother picking her. Then again, Arielle was really good, so that wasn't very comforting.
Okay, let's see what we're working with. There was the huge collection of Careers, who seemed to have paired up into buddies and were teaching each other their best skills. Lovely. Just what we needed: even better trained Careers who now come in matched sets. Then there was the other huge collection of Careers, who were harder to differentiate, since they seemed to be more standoffish with each other, but who were still dominating at their chosen skills. Every now and then the two packs would wind up heading for the same station and there would be a turf war. Combat being forbidden before the Games, said turf war consisted of the two talking smack at each other for a few minutes before they both pretended to be suddenly interested in another station and going there. From there the spectating members of both packs would roast the performance of the other.
Aside from the two giant packs, who would no doubt kill most of us in the Bloodbath, probably including me, there were plenty of other people to be terrified of. Lottie, for example, picked up one mannequin and beat another to death with it. Mahi then challenged her to a wrestling match and they both starting tying each other in knots. But finally, after countless minutes of people-watching and analyzing my opponents, I had the ultimate strategy.
"How do I get really really good at running really fast? Both running really fast, and getting good really fast."
The assistant looked up from where she'd been munching sunflower seeds. She spit out a hull into a cup, then stood up.
"Best thing to do on short notice is breath control," she said.
"Great! How do I do that?"
"Interval running. Run as fast as you can until you're about to drop, then walk just until you can run again. Keep doing that until you feel terrible."
"Isn't running supposed to be fun?" I asked.
She smirked. "Kid, that's something we tell ourselves so we don't feel as stupid as we look."
I sprinted down the track, concerned at how my side was already stitching. Oh well, you have to start somewhere. Beside me, other non-Careers filled the lanes. It seemed we'd all seen just how entirely terrible our odds were. It was both comforting and terrifying.
"All right!" the assistant cheered as she jogged up alongside me where I was puking into a garbage can. "You know what that is? It's weakness leaving the body!"
"Really?" I said thinly as I raised my head.
"No, it's terrible breath control. Good spirit, but slow down a bit."
Makara Khed- Red D2F
About half of us were Careers, it seemed like. Didn't really seem fair to those of us who didn't volunteer to kill kids, but those were the breaks. It seemed especially ironic that this was the Resurrection Games, the one all about second chances, and the odds were even worse than usual for the non-privileged of us. But enough soapboxing. I was going to take action instead. Out there in the sea of faces, there were underdogs who could use some help.
I was happy to see a lot of the outliers had already banded together. If the two big Career packs fought between each other, the little guys might be able to slip past them. Some of the non-trained Tributes looked like they didn't even need my help. There was one girl from Six who seemed to be quite the martial artist, and some of the Sevens were honestly ripped.
The boy I had my eyes on didn't seem to be quite so advantaged. He'd been following the Six fighter and her friend around from a distance, but hadn't gotten up the courage to ask to join them. He kept wandering over to stations, pretending like he just happened to be there when clearly he wanted to try them, and then trying for only a minute or two before he got embarrassed and slunk away.
"Don't be shy." He jumped when I came up to him. "You can't get better at something until after you suck at it."
"I'm always going to suck," the boy said glumly.
"Then nothing to be afraid of, right?" I asked. "Come on. I'll show you some moves." When the boy hesitated, I added, "You'll be doing me a favor. It's good to practice with someone real."
I helped the boy- Jacquard, I learned- find some brass knuckles that fit and coaxed him into the ring. "For the first one, just take a shot. Literally any shot. No wrong answers."
Jacquard threw a wild swing toward my ear, which was so unexpected I almost didn't dodge. "I gotta admit, that was a surprise. Most people go for the nose on their first time. Good pick."
"So you like a lone wolf or what?" Jacquard asked after another minute of timid battle.
"No, I'm just not really about the Career life. I'm 'not like the other Careers', you might say," I joked. My smile faded. "We don't all support the Games."
"So why'd you come?" Jacquard asked.
"So one of them wouldn't," I said. "And since I'm here, I might as well try to give someone a hand."
"A couple of brave, plucky underdogs who make it all the way?" Jacquard seemed less than convinced.
"No, tell the truth, we'll almost certainly die. But, like, with integrity," I said.
"I guess it's better than nothing."