Madge Undersee was my angel. My beautiful, kind, soft angel. I tried to protect her, I tried to save her... I did...
I grab my little sister, Posy. Tears are streaming down her face. Her small arms wrap around my neck instinctively, as she's done so many times before. I hug her closer to me, holding her small body tight against mine.
"It's ok, Posy. It's ok," I whisper and run faster out of our burning District. My brothers and mother are in front of me, and I keep giving them little shoves to keep them going fast.
I have to fall to the ground to avoid a jet of fire from a burning house. Posy lets out a cry and I jump up, hugging her closer and kissing her head. I run forwards and meet up with my mother and brothers. We've reached the fence, and my brothers jump through, cutting their faces and arms. My mother goes through next, the barbed wire catching her cheek and slicing the skin. I kneel, and slide Posy through an opening in the wire. I've gotten them to safety, along with many others, and I'm about to go through myself... then I remember.
Madge.
I jump backwards, landing on my back. I'm on my feet in an instant, and I'm running as fast as I can back to my burning home. I can hear my mother screaming at me, and my brother tries to follow me before she pulls him back. I run through the street, the houses I once knew going up in flames around me. My legs are on fire, my lungs sting with every breath but I can't stop. Not until I reach her.
I hear someone shouting behind me. A familiar voice. I glance behind me, and I see Raina. Raina's a year younger than me, a Seam girl. She looks like Katniss, but now her olive skin's covered in dirt and blood, her black hair is loose and matted around her face. She looks angry, scared. She yells at me to stop, to come back to safety, but I shake my head and run faster.
Madge's house finally appears. I lurch forwards, and I see the door of her home swing forwards. And there she stands. Her long, unkempt blonde hair falls in her face, obscuring her eyes. But she looks up, her beautiful blue eyes catching mine.
"Madge!" I scream and run towards her.
Her mouth opens, and she says my name... and then her house explodes. The force of the explosion throws me backwards through the air. I land on the ground, the wind knocked out of me from the impact. My face burns from the fire. I groan, forcing myself to sit up. My vision's clouded, and there's a loud ringing in my ears. But I can see where Madge's house stood... and now there's nothing but flames and rubble. I scramble on to my knees and begin to crawl towards the house, needing to find Madge. She has to be alive. She must be. But then a pair of arms warp around me and pull me back. I see Raina's dark grey eyes.
"Gale! Gale, she's gone-"
"No!" I yell and break out of her arms and I begin to run towards the flames again. She's not gone... she can't be.
"Gale! Gale, no! I'm sorry!" Raina cries and grabs my hand and begins towing my backwards. I whip around, ready to smack her arm away, but then another explosion sends us flying back. I hear Raina yelp in pain as she lands, and I groan. I look at Madge's house. She is gone. Tears begin to stream down my face.
"Madge! Madge! No!" I yell.
"Gale, we have to go, I'm sorry!" Raina cries and grabs my hand and begins pulling me back. We take off at a run. Raina runs in front of me, her black hair bouncing up and down on her back. She shields herself from the fire and rubble that's now consuming my home.
Her face appears in my head. Her beauty, her soft blue eyes, her long hair. After Katniss left, I began finding comfort in the mayor's daughter. She would find me, and we would stay together for hours on end. I grew to love her, more than I ever loved Katniss. Madge was my everything... now she's gone because I didn't save her...
I'm in my family's room in District 13. I'm on the bed, wringing a cloth in my hands. I hear the door open and then close, but don't bother to look up to see who it is. I hear someone walk towards me, their footsteps hesitant. They reach me, and kneel. I see dark grey irises. Raina.
"There's nothing you could've done," she whispers.
"Yes there is. I should have went to her first. I should have saved her," I tell her.
"You saved your family, which is what Madge wanted. She would have wanted you to save all those other people too. She had a good heart, there was not a mean bone in her body. She loved you. Fight for her," she says. She stands, brushing her long hair off her shoulder and staring at me with those dark grey eyes. "Fight for her, and remember her. It's all you can do. She'll always be there, Gale." she says and then walks out. I watch her leave, and then look back at the rag in my hands.
I love you, Madge. I will never stop fighting, and I will never forget you. Never.
Hello everyone :) hope you enjoyed reading. While I was writing this, I was listening to "On the Nature of Daylight" and I was almost crying because Madge died and... ah, too many emotions. Leave a review please, they're lovely :)