(A/N): Here is two long chapters as a gift from me to you to say thank you for the great response this story has had and Merry Christmas. I hope you enjoy them.
Chapter 10: Rue
Nightmares of losing Peeta, watching him die in front of me and then the same for Prim. Watching my father go down to the mines for the very last time, watching his last moments. Every time I wake up I'm only pulled back under, forcing me to go through the torture again and again. What's worse is that my fears have become true in reality other than the venom, I have lost Peeta.
When I finally come around, I lie still, waiting for the nightmares to take me again but they don't. The poison has managed to leave my body, leaving me wrecked and feeble. To only be left with the fear of not knowing whether Peeta is alive or not. I'm still curled up in my ball, if Peeta is dead then death can come find me. I lift my hands up to find that there was no ants – they never existed.
I need to move. There is still a chance Peeta could have gotten away alive. I had hallucinated him running with me, hallucinated him holding my hand and helping me along the way. He stayed behind, where the careers were coming. I am angry at him but I'm more scared of the thought of having lost him completely. I move my limbs, pain shooting through my body, and slowly get up.
When I manage to sit up, I realize that I am in a hole with no orange bubbles anywhere to be found. My clothes are damp but I don't know what from. For a while I take tiny sips of water, thinking about where to go. Where would Peeta go if he survived? If he did survive then he has to be wounded and I just hope if he is then it's not fatal.
It's afternoon and by the stiffness of the body I know it has been more than a day. I'll have no way of knowing who survived, no way of knowing if Peeta is still alive. All I know is that Glimmer and the girl from District 4 died during the attack. I wonder if Rue managed to get away, but she had a head start so I'm sure she did.
A foul taste is in my mouth and the water does little to help it. I drag myself over to the honeysuckle bush and pluck a flower. I gently pull the stamen through the blossom and set the drop of nectar on my tongue. The sweetness runs down my throat and into my veins, reminding me of summer in the woods with Gale.
I wonder what Gale would have thought about Peeta and I. Peeta saved my life when I was supposed to be the one saving him. I'm mad at myself and the Gamemaker's, as well as Peeta. But if Peeta is dead then I will avenge his death and then I will join him. I won't go home without him.
I have my bow and arrows and I practice shooting on a tree nearby. They're just like the ones at the Training Center. It's something I can work with. I have these weapons to defend Peeta but I had them too late. But I am no longer prey, I am now the predator and if Peeta is dead then I will be at the top of the food chain.
Before I can search for Peeta or the careers, I have to find some of my strength again. My bones are starting to stick out and my water supply is dangerously low. Then I have my wounds to contend to, burns, cuts and bruises. Then not forgetting the tracker jacker stings, which are sore and swollen as ever. I spread the medicine on my burns and try it on the stings, but it doesn't work. My mother knew a leaf that could draw out the poison, but I can't remember the name or what it even looked like.
I decide to look for water first and then hunt along the way. If Peeta escaped then he would have fled from them, but which way? I decide to head the other way from where I came, hoping Peeta was fleeing the same way I was. I can't move to quickly but I establish the slow hunter's tread I use when hunting. Soon I have made my first kill with the bow and arrows when I spot a rabbit. It's not my usual clean through the eye shot, but I'm not complaining.
After about an hour, I find a stream that's shallow and wide. While I wait for my water to purify, I strip down to my underclothes and wash away the dirt and blood in the water. In the end I lay down in the water, thinking about how Peeta had washed me only a day before. My stomach twists in fear for him and I'm doing everything I can to put on a brave face for the cameras.
I quickly wash my clothes before hanging them on a bush to dry. I sit on the bank, untangling my hair with my fingers. My appetite returns and I eat a cracker and a strip of beef. The moss I find is then used to polish the blood from my silver weapons. After, I treat my burns again and braid my hair, then dress in the damp clothes knowing the sun will soon dry them off. Following the stream seems the smartest way, if Peeta survived then he would need to head out and look for water. I'm traveling uphill, with a source of water and game nearby. I find some sort of bird that looks like a turkey but still looks edible to eat. By late afternoon, I decide to make a small fire in hope that maybe Peeta will find me. I clean my game, plucking the bird until it is on the size of a chicken and place it on the coals.
I hear a twig snap, I turn to the sound bringing the bow and arrow to my shoulder. Please be Peeta or be one of the careers, I'll make them pay for separating us or killing Peeta. There's no one there. No one I can see, anyway. Then there is the tip of a child's boot poking out just behind the tree. My shoulders relax and I grin. She can move through the woods like a shadow.
"You know, they're not the only ones who can form alliances," I say. I don't know why I want to create a new alliance, but if Peeta is dead then I would rather Rue win than anyone else.
Everything is silent and then Rue slowly peeps around the trunk. "You want me for an ally?"
"Why not? You saved Peeta and I with those tracker jackers. You're smart enough to still be alive. And I can't seem to shake you anyway," I say, my voice slightly breaking saying his name and not knowing whether it actually saved him or not. Rue blinks at me, trying to decide. "You hungry?" I can tell by the swallow she makes that she is. "Come on then, I've had two kills today."
Rue carefully steps out into the open. "I can fix your stings."
"Can you?" I ask. "How?"
She digs into the pack she carries and pulls out a handful of leaves. I am almost certain that those are the ones my mother uses. "Where'd you find those?"
"Just around. We always carry them when we work in the orchards. They left a lot of nests there," says Rue. "There are a lot here, too."
"That's right. You're District 11. Agriculture," I say. "Orchards, huh? That must be how you can fly around the trees like you've got wings." Rue smiles. "Well, come on, then. Fix me up."
I sit down by the fire, rolling my trouser leg up to reveal the sting on my knee. To my surprise, Rue puts a handful of leaves in her mouth and starts to chew. My mother would have used another way but it's not like we have other resources to use. After a minute, Rue presses the gloppy green wad of leaves and spit on my knee.
"Ohhh." The sounds escapes me before I can even stop it. It's as if the leaves are drawing the pain from the sting.
Rue gives a giggle. I can't help but think of Prim. "Lucky you had the sense to pull the stingers out or you'd be a lot worse."
"Do my neck! Do my check!" I almost beg.
Rue stuffs another handful of leaves into her mouth and soon I am laughing in relief. I notice Rue has a long burn on her forearm. "I've got something for that." I set aside her weapons and spread the medicine on her burn.
"You have good sponsors," she says.
"Have you got anything yet?" I ask. She shakes her head. "You will, though. Watch. The closer we get to the end, the more people will realize how clever you're." I turn the meat over.
"You weren't joking, about wanting me for an ally?" she asks.
"No, I meant it," I say. I can almost hear Haymitch groaning as I join up with a child. If Peeta is alive then I wonder what he would think or say when we find him. But I want her, she's a survivor and she's clever. And she reminds me of Prim, so how can I say no?
"OK," she says and holds out her hand. We shake. "It's a deal."
I've been holding the question back in fear of what the answer could be. "What have I missed?" I ask.
"Peeta's alive." She tells me. I let out a breath that I had been holding - he's alive. I just have to find him. "Is that all true? Do you love him?"
I bite my lip and feel my cheeks redden. She doesn't need an answer, she knows and now she's giggling again. "Is he your boyfriend?" She asks this time.
"It's complicated," I say and she nods her head in understanding.
"Do you know where he is?" I ask.
"No. All I know is that his picture wasn't in the sky. Only the girls from District 1 and 4." Rue says.
After, Rue contributes some roots to the meat that gives it a sharp sweet taste of parsnip. She recognizes the bird as a groosling, from her District. We stop talking while we fill our stomachs. I'm trying to decide what to do. I want to go find Peeta and for Rue to stay with us, for some reason I want to protect her as well as him. But when it gets to the final three and it's us left, how will I be able to save Peeta? This will be temporary, probably until a few more tributes or one of us die.
"Oh," says Rue with a sigh, "I've never had a whole leg to myself before."
I bet she hasn't. "Take the other," I say.
"Really?" She asks.
"Take whatever you want. Now that I've got a bow and arrows, I can get more. Plus I've got snares. I can show you how to set them," I say. Rue still looks uncertainly at the leg. "Oh, just take it," I say, placing the drumstick in her small hand. "It will only keep a few days anyway, and we've got the whole bird plus the rabbit." Once she has hold of it, her appetite wins over anyway.
"I'd have thought, in District 11, you'd have a bit more to eat then us. You know, since you grow the food." I say.
Rue's eyes widen. "Oh, no, we're not allowed to eat the crops."
"They arrest you or something?" I ask.
"They whip you and make everyone else watch," says Rue. "The mayor's very strict about it."
I can tell by her expression that a whipping occurs a lot. In District 12 a whipping is very rare, although occasionally one does occur. Our District is quite relaxed, if not then Gale and I would get a lot worse that a whipping for what we do every day. But, the mayor and peacekeepers buy our meat and what we gather.
"Do you get all the coal you want?" Rue asks.
"No," I answer, "Just what we buy or track in with our boots."
"They feed us a bit extra during harvest, so that people can keep going longer," says Rue.
"Do you have to be in school?" I ask.
"Not during harvest. Everyone works then," she says.
Its strange hearing about other Districts lives. Usually we're only told what we have to know in school. It wouldn't surprise me if the Gamemaker's were blocking out this harmless conversation.
At Rue's suggestion, we lay out all our food to plan ahead. She has quite a collection of roots, nuts greens and even some berries. All I have is the leftover meat, crackers and beef strips.
I roll an unfamiliar berry in my finger, "You sure this is safe?"
"Oh, yes, we have them back home. I've been eating them for days," she says, popping a handful in her mouth. I take a slow bite into one, they're as good as out blackberries back at home. We divide up our food, just in case we're separated so we're set for a few days. A part from the food, Rue has a small water skin, a homemade slingshot, and an extra pair of socks. She also has a sharp shard of a rock that she uses as a knife. "I know it's not much," she says as if embarrassed. "But I had to get away from the Cornucopia fast."
"You did just right," I say. I spread my gear out in front of us. Rue gasps when I pull out the sunglasses.
"How did you get those?" She asks.
"In my pack. They've been useless so far. They don't block the sun and they make it harder to see." I say, shrugging.
"Those aren't for the sun, they're for darkness," Rue tells me, "Sometimes, when we harvest through the night, and they'll pass out a few pairs to those of us highest in the trees. Where the torchlight doesn't reach. One time, this boy called Martin, he tried to keep his pair. Hid them in his trousers. They killed him on the spot."
"They killed a boy for taking these?" I say.
"Yes, and everyone knew he was no danger. Martin wasn't right in the head. I mean, he still acted like a three-year-old. He just wanted the glasses to play with," says Rue.
I had always thought we had it worse, but we could be seen as a heaven compared to District 11. "So what do these do?" I ask Rue, taking the glasses.
"They let you see in complete darkness," says Rue. "Try them tonight when the sun goes down."
I give Rue some matches and she gives me some more leaves in case my stings flare up again. We extinguish our fire and head upstream until nightfall. "Where do you sleep?" I ask her. "In the trees?" She nods. "In just your jacket?"
Rue holds up her extra pair of socks. "I have these for my hands."
The nights have been so cold. "You can share my sleeping bag if you want. We'll both easily fit." Her face lights up like I have given her the sun.
We pick a fork in a tree and the anthem begins as we're just settling in for the night. There we no deaths today. I'm already dreading every cannon fired between mine and Peeta's separation, the fear of each canon being him.
"Anything about the careers?" I ask Rue. They were stung so they could be just awakening from the poison like I did or maybe it has weakened them.
"I spied on them at their base down by the lake," she tells me. "They made it back before they collapsed from the stingers."
I pull out the glasses, wanting to see if Rue was right. She was. I can see everything from our fork, I could kill anyone from here with these. "I wonder who else got a pair of these," I say.
"The careers have two pairs. But they've got everything down by the lake," Rue says. "And they're so strong."
"We're strong, too." I say. "Just in a different way."
"You are. You can shoot. What can I do?" She questions.
"You can feed yourself. Can they?" I ask.
"They don't need to. They have all those supplies," says Rue.
"Say they didn't. Say the supplies were gone. How long would they last?" I say. "I mean it's the Hunger Games, right?"
"But, Katniss, they're not hungry," says Rue.
"No. They're not. That's the problem." I agree. For the first time I have a plan. A plan that could weaken the careers and help us, as well as helping to keep Peeta alive. I'll just have to delay finding Peeta until after. "I think we're going to have to fix that, Rue."
Rue snuggles up closer to me, her heart completely trusting me. She's fallen asleep in my arms reminding me of those few times I slept in Peeta's arms. I miss him, a lot. But I'm glad I'm not alone. Perhaps we will only have our alliance until we destroy the careers supplies and then part ways for me to find Peeta and for her to go on. Tributes from other Districts usually win when the careers have no food or supplies for survival. They don't know how to survive on what surrounds them, it has to be handed to them.
The boom of the cannon jolts me awake. Peeta. Was it him? I can feel my body shaking with fear and I was right, each cannon is going to torture me. Have I lost my boy with the bread? Rue sits on a branch across from me, her hands cupping something. No more shots follow.
"Who do you think that was?" My voice is shaking slightly.
"I don't know." She says. "It could be any of the others." She adds as if to reassure me. "I guess we'll know tonight."
"Who's left again?" I ask.
"The boy from District one. Both from two. The one from three. Thresh and me. And you and Peeta." Says Rue. "That's eight. Wait, and the boy from ten, the one with the bad leg. He makes nine."
There's someone else, but neither of us can think who. My stomach is threatening to bring everything up, the idea of Peeta being dead isn't settling well.
"What's in your hands?" I ask Rue, wanting to change the conversation from who just died.
"Breakfast," says Rue. She holds her hands out, showing me two large eggs.
"What kind are those?" I ask.
"Not sure. There's a marshy area over that way. Some kind of waterbird," She says.
It would be nice to cook them, but neither of us want to risk a fire. My guess is whoever died – I'm not accepting that it was Peeta – was probably a victim of the career pack. They're back in the games. We both suck out the egg, eat the rabbit and a few berries. It's a good breakfast.
"Ready to do it?" I say, pulling on my backpack.
"Do what?" She asks, bouncing up, ready to do whatever I propose.
"Today we take out the careers' food," I say.
"Really? How? I thought we would be going to look for Peeta." She has a gleam of excitement in her eyes, the only way she is different from Prim when it comes to the idea of an adventure.
"No idea. Come on, we'll figure out a plan while we hunt and then after we can find Peeta." I say.
"Would Peeta want me as an ally?" She asks.
"Of course. If not then I'll make him," I grin at Rue.
She giggles again. "I think he'll do anything you want anyway."
We don't do much hunting, I get as much information as I can out of Rue. She is very observant. They have set up their camp beside the lake, their stash is about thirty meters away and during the day they have been leaving the boy from District 3 to watch over the supplies.
"The boy from District 3?" I ask. "He's working with them?"
"Yes, he stays at the camp full-time. He got stung, too, when they drew the tracker jackers in by the lake." Says Rue. "I guess they agreed to let him live if he acted as their guard. But he's not very big."
"What weapons does he have?" I ask.
"Not much that I could see. A spear. He might be able to hold a few of us off with that, but Thresh could kill him easily," says Rue.
"And the foods just out in the open?" I say. She nods. "Something's not quite right about that whole set-up."
"I know. But I couldn't tell what exactly." Says Rue. "Katniss, even if you could get to the food, how would you get rid of it?"
"Burn it. Dump it in the lake. Soak it in fuel." I poke Rue in the belly, just like I would with my sister. "Eat it!" She giggles. "Don't worry. I'll think of something. Destroying things is much easier than making them."
For a while we gather food, create a plan in hushed voice and I come to know Rue. She's the oldest of six kids, who she gives her rations to the younger ones and is fiercely protective over them. Rue who loves music more than anything else in the world.
"Music." I say. "You have a lot of time for that?"
"We sing at home. At work, too. That's why I love your pin," she says, pointing to the mockingjay that I have forgotten all about, again.
"You have mockingjays?" I ask.
"Oh, yes. I have a few that are my special friends. We can sing back and forth for hours. They carry messages for me," she says.
"What do you mean?" I say.
"I'm usually up the highest, so I'm first to see the flag that signals quitting time. There's a special little song I do," says Rue and she starts singing a four-note song in her sweet voice. "And the mockingjays spread it around the orchard. That's how everyone knows knock off," she continues, "They can be dangerous, though, if you get to near their nests. But you can't blame them for that."
I unclasp the pin and hold it out for her. "Here, you take it. It has more meaning for you than me."
"Oh, no." Says Rue, closing my fingers back over the pin. "I like to see it on you. That's how I decided that I could trust you. Besides, I have this." She pulls out a necklace woven out of some kind of grass, where a wooden star of flower hangs. "It's a good-luck charm."
"Well, it's worked so far," I say, pinning my pin back on my shirt. "Maybe you should just stick with that."
By lunch, we have a plan. By afternoon, we are ready to carry it out. I help Rue collect and place the wood for the first two campfires, the third she'll have time for on her own. We decide to meet at the sight where we had our first meal together. Before I leave, I make sure Rue has enough to eat and drink, insisting she takes the sleeping bag.
"What about you? Won't you be cold?" She asks.
"Not if I pick another bag down by the lake," I say. "You know, stealing isn't illegal here." I say with a grin.
At the last minute, Rue decides to teach me her mockingjay signal. "It might not work, but if you can hear the mockingjays singing it, then you'll know I'm OK, only I can't get back right away."
"Are there many mockingjays here?" I ask.
"Haven't you seen them? They've got nests everywhere," she says. I haven't noticed.
"OK, then. If all goes to plan, I'll see you for dinner." I say.
Surprisingly, Rue throws her arms around me. I hesitate a moment before hugging her back.
"You be careful," she says to me.
"You too," I say. I turn and head back to the stream. Not only am I worried about Peeta and the chance that he could be dead, but now I'm worrying about Rue. I follow the stream downhill, back to where the tracker jacker attack was and the last time I saw Peeta. I'm hoping he will just bump into me that I will find him and together we will destroy the supplies and then go find Rue. But he's nowhere. Perhaps he's already on his way back home in a wooden box before me.
I stop to stock up my water supply and cover the orange of my backpack with mud again. When I near the careers camp, I put all my worries to the side and concentrate on the task at hand. An arrow is fitted to my bow and I'm pausing, listening to my surroundings. When I reach the tree with the abandoned nest, I pause to gather my courage. I grip my bow tighter and make it to the copse. I am the hunter now. Its right at the edge of the wood, but the bushy foliage is so thick down low I can easily spot the career pack without being spotted. I have to admire Rue for her cleverness.
The boy from District 1, Cato, the girl from 2 and the boy from 3 are sitting around their camp. I remember nothing about the boy from District 3, but he must have some value to them, otherwise he would be dead.
I can see the lumps from their stingers from here. They probably haven't even pulled the stingers out and the medicines from the cornucopia have had no effect. The cornucopia is completely clean, all the supplies are piled up in a large heap, in a questionable distance from the camp. Others are sprinkled around the pyramid like at the start of the games.
This isn't going to be simple. Something is going on and I'll stay put until I find out what. My guess is that it's booby-trapped in some way. While I'm thinking, Cato shouts out and points to the fire that Rue has started. We'd gathered enough green leaves to create smoke, drawing them in. The careers begin to arm themselves.
An argument breaks out, loud enough for me to hear about whether the boy from District 3 should accompany them or not.
"He's coming. We need him in the woods, and his jobs done here anyway. No one can touch those supplies," says Cato.
"What about our lover boy?" Says the boy from District 1. I inch closer a little, needing to know what they're about to say.
"I keep telling you, forget about him. I know where I cut him. It's a miracle he hasn't bled to death yet. At any rate, she's probably found him by now and he will weaken her. She won't leave him, they won't raid us," says Cato. If Peeta is badly injured – dying – it takes everything in me to stay quietly still. My heart is beating too fast.
"Come on," says Cato, thrusting the spear into the boy from District 3's hands. They head of in the direction of the fire. "And when I do find her, I kill her in my own way and no one interferes."
I look forward to that day, to when I can kill him and make him regret ever laying a finger on Peeta. I'm worried about Peeta and I just hope Haymitch is keeping his side of the deal. Right now, I stay put, trying to figure out what to do about the supplies. The only advantage I have with the bow and arrows is distance. I could send a flaming arrow, but the chances of it catching fire isn't good and I would have given myself away.
I'm going to have to go out and look myself for an alternative. A movement catches my eye, just before I am about to reveal myself. Someone emerges from the woods nearby. Foxface – the one we couldn't remember this morning – slowly creeping out. I watch as she runs to the pyramid, in quick, small steps and stops before she reaches the pile. Then she begins to hop the rest of the way, landing on one foot, sometimes taking a few steps. I watch as she over hops and falls onto her hands, letting out a small squeal, but nothing happens. She gets back onto her feet and continues until she has reached the pile.
So, I'm right about the booby-trap, but it was a lot more complicated than I thought. I was right about the girl, too. Watching as she takes a little something from the crates and boxes, not too much to make it noticeable. And how she found a safe path to the supplies is clever. I watch as she does her little dance back and disappears back into the woods again.
What kind of trap has the boy set? The frustration of not knowing is angering me. I think about Foxface's reaction when she fell to the earth, when her hands made contact. You'd have thought – wait – that the ground would have exploded!
"It's mined." I whisper. That explains everything. How the careers are willing to leave their supplies and how the boy from District 3 is still alive. It's not like the Gamemaker's to provide mines, they prefer blood to be spilled. I slip out of the bushes and cross to one of the ground metal plates that lifted the tributes into the arena. The boy from District 3 must have reacted the mines that were disabled after the sixty second countdown was over. No one has ever done that before.
What am I supposed to do now? I can't go strolling over to the pyramid and to be blown sky-high. No, but I have an idea to destroy the supplies. Thank you to the boy from District 3. I can blow it up. It doesn't need to be a lot of pressure to blow those mines up. One year, a girl dropped her token, a small wooden ball and they had to scrape her parts up after.
But how to blow it up. I could chuck a few rocks, but that could only set of one mine. Maybe that could start a chain reaction but the boy has spread them out. The second fire is smocking and I know my time is running out. I have to find a way to blow the supplies up, there has to be a way. I could shoot a few arrows, but at what? But then I see the bag of apples and I know I could sever the rope in one shot; didn't I do that in the Training Center? If I could free all the apples then it could make a big enough explosion.
I know what to do. Three arrows is all I'm going to risk. I take my range, placing my feet carefully and focusing on the apples. The first arrow tears through the side and then the second widens it to a hole. An apple wobbles, wanting to fall and then when I fire the last arrow, the apples spill to the ground. I watch them fall and then I'm blown backwards into the air.
The wind is knocked out of me and my backpack digs into my back. Around me the ground shakes with the explosions. I can't hear them; I can't hear anything. Just a ringing that goes off like a constant bell. Falling debris cause other mines to go off and I cover my face as bits of fire rain down, as well as matter.
I roll onto my side, allowing myself to see the mess that I have created. The careers won't be able to save anything from that. I need to get out of here, before they come back. But I find that I'm dizzy, making me fall back onto the ground. I wait, but it doesn't pass. I can't stay here. They will find me. I put a hand to my left ear for it to come back bloody. The idea that I could have gone death frightens me. I am live on screen across Panem, I cannot let my fear show.
I pull my hood up over my head, tying the cord round tight to make sure that I don't leave a blood trial. The only option I have at the moment is to crawl. Another three mines go of, probably from fallen crates or debris. I think about Prim and how I don't want her to watch my painful death at Cato's hands. About Peeta and Rue seeing my picture in the sky tonight.
I have literally just dragged myself into the tangle of bushes, when there's Cato, running into the plain, followed by his companions. His rage terrifies me and I'm glad the cameras can't see me in my hiding place. The boy from District 3 is throwing stones at the mines, declaring they have all been activated.
Cato has finished his tantrum for now when he and the rest of the careers start looking for anything that survived. Nothing has. The boy has done his job too well and now Cato realizes that. He starts shouting at him, the boy turns to run, but Cato has him in a headlock and twists his head to the side. It's that quick.
The other careers are trying to calm him down, pointing up to the sky. Of course they think whoever it was, was killed in the explosions. The cannon shot could have been lost in the explosions. They retire to the far side of the lake, waiting for the hovercraft to take the boy and the assumed dead person away. One only comes for the boy, of course.
Night falls and the seal appears, I assume the anthem has begun. I'm anxious again about Peeta's face appearing, but Cato's words have told me his is still alive. They show the boy from District 3 and the boy from District 10. I close my eyes in relief. But now they know the person responsible is alive. I watch as they put their night-vision goggles on and light torches. They stride back into the woods to hunt.
The dizziness has stopped, the ringing keeps going in my right ear but the left has gone completely silent. They probably think the bomber has a 2-3 hour head of them, so I don't risk moving yet. First, I dig out my own glasses and put them on. Right now I'm concentrating more on my eyes than my ears. I drink some water and wash the blood from my ear. I make a meal out of the roots, greens and nuts Rue and I gathered today.
Where is my little ally? I hope she made it back safe. I'm glad her face wasn't in the sky. There is only eight of us left, betting must be getting really serious in the Capitol. They're probably interviewing our families, I'm sure they have a lot of questions for mine and Peeta's.
A cold breeze blows past me, making me shiver. I remember how I was supposed to pick up another sleeping bag since I gave mine to Rue. I scoop out a hollow and cover myself in leaves and pine needles, but I'm still cold. At least Rue will be warm tonight. Then I decide to lay the sheet of plastic over me to block the wind, which makes it a little better. Somehow, I manage to drift off to sleep.
When I wake up the world looks strange, I take of the glasses and put them in my backpack. I hear a laugh nearby, making my body go still. It's disorientated but at least I've got my hearing back, but only in my right ear. I peer through the bushes to find Foxface, standing in the rubble of the pyramid and laughing. She's clever than the careers, finding a metal pot and knife under the ashes. Now would be a good time to shoot her, but she hears something and scurries back the way she came. Nothing shows up, but I decide to head out anyway.
I have no idea where the careers are, so I hurry back to the stream to follow it back to where I'm supposed to meet Rue. I walk with an arrow in my bow and a drumstick in another, using my eyes to check my surroundings since my ears aren't at their best. I refill my water and wash, being careful of my ear. I travel uphill and soon find boot marks in the mud. The careers have been here but no in a while as the mud has dried in the sun. I decide to strip my socks and boots of and travel in the stream.
I manage to shoot to fish, eating one and saving the other for Rue. I can't wait to tell her what happened and then to find Peeta. I imagine the three of us together, I think Peeta and Rue would get on. The ringing in my right ear has stopped and the left is still silent, I keep cleaning it but nothing helps.
When I reach the site of our first meeting, I start to panic as everything is undisturbed. She should have returned by now, but there is no sign of my little friend. She's probably being cautious on her way back, but I hope she hurries. Did she even light the third fire? I clean the blood from my jacket and hear, before treating all my wounds. My ear is now my main concern. I go ahead and eat the second fish.
The afternoon goes slowly as I sit in a tree, waiting for Rue or the careers or Peeta and chew on leaves to apply them to my stings and comb my hair before braiding it. My stomach is growling and I know that today is a hollow day, where no matter how much you eat, you're still hungry.
I start to eat what remaining food I own, the wing of the groosling, some nuts and the last of the crackers. I even end up daydreaming about all the rich wonderful food the Capitol has, how I wish I could push a button and have it appear. The minty taste of the mint leaves keeps me sustained for now.
I watch the sun slowly sink down the sky and I start to worry over Rue. Where is she? I've decided to go look for her, to go to the third fire in hope that she's around there. Before I go, I scatter a few mint leaves around to show Rue that I was here if she comes back.
In less than an hour, I am where the third fire was supposed to be lit. Everything has been neatly arranged but the fire wasn't lit. Rue has set up the fire but has never made it back. She ran into trouble between the second fire and this one.
I don't even know if she's dead or alive. In the early hours of the morning the cannon could have gone off and my ears wouldn't have picked it up. But I refuse to believe that she is dead. She's most likely stuck out there, hiding from a tribute or an animal that was hunting her. Something is keeping her up a tree and I think I'll go find out what.
I make my way out, checking my surrounds for any sign of struggle or clue that Rue was nearby. I've stopped for a moment when I hear it. I have to cock my head to the side to make sure, but there it is again. Rue's four-note tune carried by the mockingjays. That means she's alright.
I grin and move in the direction of the birds, allowing them to lead me to her. I swallow and sing back, searching the trees and around me for her. A mockingjay repeats the melody to me and then I hear her scream.
It's a young girl's scream, a kind of scream you never want to hear. And I'm running now, knowing that this could be a trap, a way for the careers to get to me, but I don't dare stop. "Katniss! Katniss!" She's screaming my name.
"Rue!" I shout back, letting her know that I'm coming. "Rue! I'm coming!"
When I break into the clearing, she's on the ground entangled in the net, tears streaking her face. She reaches for me, my name is whispered and then the spear enters her body.
They boy from District 1 drops to the floor dead before he can even take the spear from Rue's body. My arrow is deep in his neck and he rolls around in his own blood during his last moments. I'm reloading, searching around me. "Are there more? Are there more?"
She has to say no several times before I can hear it.
She has rolled to her side, curling up around the spear. I shove the boy from District 1 away and pull out my knife, freeing her from the net. One look at the wound and I know I am not going to be able to save her. The spearhead is buried deep inside her stomach. I crouch next to her, starting helplessly at the wound. We both know she's going to die. Her hand reaches out and I clutch it, stroking her hair gently.
"You blew up the food?" She asks.
"Every last bit of it." I say.
"You have to win," she says.
A tear rolls down my cheek. I promised to Prim and now I'm going to promise Rue on her deathbed when I know I won't be keeping it. "He's going to. He's going to win for both of us."
"You mean Peeta?" She asks.
I nod my head, he will win for both of us. A cannon goes off, it must be for the boy from District 1.
"Tell him I say thank you." I look up to the sky. "Don't go."
"Course not. I'm staying right here." I say and move in closer, bringing her head on to my lap. Gently, pushing her hair behind her ear and stroking her face.
"Sing," she says so quietly.
Sing what? I do know a few songs – my father taught me – but I haven't sung much since he died. The only times was when Prim was sick. My voice burns with the tears and I know I have to do this, this is Rue's last request. I'll sing her a lullaby, sing her to sleep.
Deep in the meadow, under the willow
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes
And when again they open, the sun will rise.
Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daises guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you.
Rue's eyes close, her chest only slightly moving and the tears fall down my face, wetting the ground below us. I have to finish the song for her.
Deep in the meadow, hidden far away
A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray
Forget you woes and let your troubles lay
And when again it's morning, they'll wash away.
Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daises guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you.
The mockingjays take up my song, playing it for Rue. I sit there, watching as my tears fall onto Rue's face as I hold her close, watching her still body, watching as she seems at peace. Her cannon fires, creating a sob from me and then I kiss the top of her temple. "Goodbye, my friend." I whisper and gently rest her head on the ground.
They will want me to leave now. So they can collect the bodies and there is nothing for me to stay for anyway. I roll the boy from District 1, taking his backpack and then I cut Rue's from her back. I know she would want me to have it.
I can't stop but watch Rue. How she deserved better than this and how small she looks. Even the boy from District 1 looks peaceful. I hate the Capitol for doing this to all of us. No one deserves this, not even Cato. Peeta's words from our last private night together come back to me "the Capiol don't own me. That I'm more than a piece in their games." I now understand what he means.
I want to do something, to show them that we're more than pieces in their games. To show them and Panem that they don't control us. That Rue or any of us never deserved this. A few steps into the woods grows some wild flowers. I pick as many colours as I can find, violets, yellows and whites.
One flower at a time, I decorate Rue's body. Covering the ugly wound, weaving them through her hair and along her body. They will have no choice but to show Rue's body when they come to collect it and everyone will see what I did. She looks like she's sleeping in a meadow.
"Goodbye, Rue," I whisper and then I press the three middle fingers of my left hand to my lips and then hold them out in her direction. I walk away without looking back and all the birds fall silent. Soon the birds start singing again and I know she is gone.
She's good and safe now. No one else to harm her. And the birds show this by playing her four-note melody, filling the forest with her music.
I wonder around, not sure where to go and not even bothered if I come across anyone. Let them find me and then I will kill them. I need to find Peeta, but I have no idea where to look. There's so few of us left and the arena is large. He could be anywhere.
A parachute falls towards me. I'm mad because Haymitch shouldn't bother sending me anything and save it for Peeta. But I do hope it's something for my ear. I open the parachute to find a small loaf of bread. This is no Capitol bread. It's made from dark ration grain and shaped in a crescent, sprinkled with seeds. I flashback to Peeta's lesson on the District's bread and know this is from District 11. This must have cost a lot for people who can't even afford to feed themselves. Was it meant for Rue but because she died they sent it to me as a thank you? I don't know why, but this is a first. No other District has given other tributes a gift before.
I lift my face up to the sun, to the cameras. "My thanks to the people of District eleven." I say, wanting them to know that I know where it came from. That their gift has been recognized.