Disclaimer: Longest by far.
My eyes fly open as I wake up panting from my nightmare. It was Rue, being pierced by the bird.
I'm frantically looking around when a parachute lands in my lap. I open it cautiously.
It's bread. I stare at it, in shock. Why would people send me bread? I take a deep whiff of it. It smells like grain and… Home. I'm still staring at it when I see the note wrapped up inside of the parachute. I pull it out.
District 11. –H
So District 11 sent me this? Why? I did nothing for them… Wait. Rue. I figured they would hate me because I came out of that alive and Rue didn't.
I slowly break the bread into small bites and force myself to eat. I honestly just want to go home. Dead or alive. I want to go home.
I force myself to eat some bread and drink some water before I pack up my pack and prepare to climb down the tree.
Once my pack is secured tightly on my back, I place my left foot on the branch below me, and I slip and fall.
I land on my feet. Big mistake. There is a sickening crack and I know my left ankle is broken. I cry out in pain and then crumple to the ground clutching my ankle.
Is it supposed to be bent like that? I ask myself and then decide that it's not supposed to be like this. It's almost halfway twisted around and is already swelling.
Then the trumpets blare.
Please, let it be over. Please. Maybe everyone died last night and I didn't. Please let it be over.
"Hello tributes of the 74th Hunger Games." Claudius Templesmith begins and I sigh. People are still alive. "The rule of only one victor has been suspended. There can be two victors of the same district. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor."
The voice shuts off. The arena is dead silent. The announcement sinks into my brain. I can live. Gale can live. We can both live.
My eyes widen and my mouth slightly hangs open in shock. They've never had a rule change. Ever. Maybe theyre feeling sentimental.
Gale. I have to find Gale.
I sigh and look down at my ankle. There is no way I'm walking five feet on this thing. I guess I could try to walk and just lean against trees and such.
I grit my teeth and use the lowest branches of the wretched tree to pull myself up. I step down on it gingerly. It takes all my might not to cry in pain. This is going to be a long day.
I limp through the trees and brush, only stopping to drink water and rest my ankle. I've had to rest a lot.
I think back to who is left. There's me, Gale, Cato, Clove, the red-headed girl, and Thresh. Thresh…. I wonder how he's holding up with Rue and everything. He was like an older brother to her. Gosh, that must be awful. I know that Cato and Clove will be looking for me and Gale, the last remaining team. Theyre probably stalking us now. The thought makes me get back up and keep walking slowly.
I wonder where they are now. Hopefully, far away from me. And I'm praying that Gale is close because I can hardly walk.
A few hours pass of the same routine. Walking, resting, getting up, walking, repeat. I sit back down with the pain having becoming so great I can hardly stand.
A parachute comes down. I open it and all that's in it is a small knife. So small it could fit in a pocket of my pants. I read the note.
You're so close, Maysilee. –H
I stare at it, waiting for Haymitch to understand his mistake. How long is going to get him to freaking realize that my name is Madge! And so close to what? I'm puzzling over this when I hear something.
And that's when the 1st knife comes whizzing into the tree next to me. She's found me, and I'm going to die.
I grunt as I stand up, fear and adrenaline surging through my veins once again. I start sprinting through the trees ignoring the stinging pain in my left ankle.
I hear Clove running after me, laughing. I turn around quickly to see another knife coming at my head. I duck quickly, causing myself to trip over a tree branch.
I try to jump back up and as I do, Clove lunges on top of me, causing both of us to go rolling down the small hill that wasn't there a second ago.
We're both screaming and yelling and clawing at each other and I'm hoping that I end up on top of her at the end of this hill.
No such luck.
She's on top of me and she looks so happy to be so, whereas I probably look completely terrified.
"Hello, Madge." She says evilly, smiling a sickly sweet down at me. "Long time no see, huh?" I'm silent, knowing death is coming.
"You seem to know what's going to happen now do you. I'm going to kill you, very painfully. Oh yes, and no one's going to save you. Not even… What's his name? Gale? Well, Cato is hunting him now. And after you're out of the way, the others will be easy."
I try to unseat her but she is too heavy. She pulls my arms under her legs, as she is straddling me.
"Now. I think I know what I'm going to do." She says, pulling my right arm out from under her and pulling it painfully upwards. "I'm gonna start with this arm. Then go to the other one. Then your legs. And finally your head."
My eyes go wide. She's going to cut off my limbs. One by one. This is torture.
I figure out that the small knife Haymitch sent mere minutes ago is in my packet down by my thighs. I quickly pull it out and stab her in the leg.
"Ow! Oh, now it's really going to hurt. You know your ally? Rue? The little girl who stood no chance? Well, we laughed when she died. We knew you were gonna die quickly after. And now is your chance!" She says loudly, her blood from her leg flowing onto the ground. Now that she has said Rue, I'm angry. I think she can tell.
"Oh, are you angry now?" She mocks in an evil voice. "That will just make your screams even better." My arm is now extended to a very painful point and I know that blade is going to come down soon enough.
"Now, which knife should I use?" She asks herself, not caring if I hear. She pulls a huge knife out of her jacket. "I think I'll use this one. I hope the Capitol is ready for a show."
I close my eyes and brace myself for the pain that's going to come. All at once, it comes.
The knife sliding into my arm and the sickening noise of the blood being splattered everywhere. I can't hold my screams in. I keep screaming as she works her way on my arm.
This hurts, it hurts, it hurts!
She stops for a minute to find a different blade. I take a quick blurry glance at my arm and almost hurl up the bread.
It looks as if it's almost a quarter of the way separated from my body.
The tears burn in my eyes as Clove pulls a giant curved knife out of her jacket. I hear rustling in the bushes around us and assume that it's just an animal watching us. I hope it kills Clove after I'm dead.
She starts again and I can't control my screaming. I scream and I scream until she stops again. I don't dare look at my arm again. I don't even look at her. Just the knife with my blood streaming down it. She puts it down and I think she's going to pull another one out.
I know that I must look weak to all the viewers and I'm sure my dad is staring at the screen in horror, if not have already given up on me. My tears are starting to make their way down my face when something— or someone comes racing out of the trees at Clove. I don't even have enough strength to look up at what's going on, just hearing it is enough.
"Please, no!" I hear Clove scream, actual fear evident in her voice. "Cato! Help! Cato!"
The person growls something and then I hear footsteps backing up. Then the metallic slide of metal on metal. And finally the sickening noise of something entering Clove. She screams one last time and then a cannon sounds.
My first thought is that the cannon was for me, but, then how come I can still see?
Through my blurry eyes a see a face appear over me and I can't quite figure out who it is.
They try to move my arm and I scream again. Then, they slowly pick me up and start running away from the scene. My ankle and arm are both throbbing.
I'm going to die. I'm absolutely sure of it. Something wet hits my face and I think that it's rain. But it tastes like salt. It might be my tears, I'm not sure.
I use my other arm to try and clutch my bleeding, throbbing arm and I manage to get hold of it but it hurts too much and when I pull my hand away it's coated in bright red blood.
The sight of it makes me want to hurl, but I'm weak enough as it is.
Suddenly, the world around me in growing dark and I'm fading away, thinking I'm dying.
When I open my eyes, I hear a steady drip of water coming from above me, and my arm and ankle are both still throbbing painfully. It takes a minute for my eyes to adjust to the dim lighting where ever I am. Once my eyes adjust, I look around, still lying down. I seem to be in a cave. There is a tall figure sitting at the mouth of the cave with a bow in their hand.
"Gale?" I croak my voice scratchy and quiet. He turns around, the panic evident in his eyes. They soften when he seems me awake. He makes his way over to me so he's sitting next to me.
"Hey." He says quietly, as if afraid I'd start screaming again.
"W-water." I say quietly, trying to sit up but he pushes me back down.
"No. Stay. I got it." He gets up and moves over to where the backpacks are. I can tell which one is mine because of the blood on it. He comes back to me and holds the bottle to my lips to allow me to drink.
After one sip I begin to feel sick.
"What… What happened?" I ask uncertainly.
"I heard you screaming and went to find you. Then, when I saw what Clove was doing, and the tears in your eyes, something snapped and I attacked Clove. She's dead now." He replies, looking away when he tells me Clove is dead. "And then, I got you back here. You've been out two days."
"T-two d-days?" I stutter at him. He nods.
"You hungry?" I shake my head.
"You need to eat, Madge. You haven't eaten in two days." He says gently, trying to coax food into me.
"I'm not hungry, Gale." His eyes give me a puzzling look and then he puts his hand on my forehead.
"You're sick. That's why." I sigh, and just that one gesture makes me dizzy. I blink as I try to regain focus on him.
I wince as I try to adjust my position. Then I remember about my ankle. I try to reach down to look at it when Gale stops me.
"Madge, I already wrapped it. It's broken alright." I groan as he continues. "And your arm…" I glance down at my arm to find blood staining the white bandages.
"How bad is it? Just show me. I can take it." He sighs and begins to unwrap the bandages with me wincing every time he removes a layer.
Finally he gets it off and I close my eyes before looks at it.
What I see makes me want to pass out again.
The cut is really, really deep and is oozing pus and blood. The skin around it has become a pasty yellow color and it's giving off a smell that reeks. There is a ton of ripped flesh, sliced veins and a ton of mush that I can't describe.
"Blood poisoning." He says and I nod. "It needs stiches." I stare at it, knowing what he means.
"Just get it over with." I say bitterly. I know that it's going to hurt.
"Okay, whatever you say, Madge. It's going to hurt." He says as he rummages around in his backpack for a case with thread, a needle, and some antiseptic.
"Where'd you get that?" I ask, curious, as I'm almost positive it wouldn't be in a backpack.
"Haymitch. He sent it a minute before you started screaming. He seemed to know what was going to happen."
"Oh." I whisper, as I brace myself for the needle that is about to pierce my skin.
"Ready?" He asks, while holding up the needle to try and thread it. "I've never done this before, so I'm apologizing in advance." I nod and he moves to my arm.
He starts with the antiseptic and dabs at my wound, causing me to wince each time it hits my skin. He then gets a strip of bandages and presses them down on my arm. The blood blossoms on it very quickly.
"Ready?" Gale asks, and I know he's referring to the thread and needle. I nod, my hands clenched in fists and my teeth gritting together.
He pushes the two slices of skin back together and I yelp in pain. Then the needle goes into my skin and I'm hissing. He weaves it in and out of the wound, with each time the needle is inserted into my skin, I hiss even louder. By the end of it, my stomach is rolling, my vision is fading, and I can't really breathe.
After the last stitch is inserted into my skin and it's tied off, I lean my head back against the wall, panting, my eyes squeezed shut.
"Almost done, Madge." He grunts and I don't even try to respond. He bandages the wound and then sits back next to me.
"That… Sucked." I hiss shakily. I don't even have to open my eyes to know that he thought the same thing.
"Sorry. Told you I was no good at that." He says gruffly.
"It's okay." I sigh, even though I know very well that it's not okay. I'm still hurt, still have a fever, and still have blood poisoning.
I use my other arm to rub my eyes. "Promise me that you will never do that again." I say, looking at him.
"Promise. I hope I won't be doing that ever again. So what have you been up to?"
I sigh again before trying to piece together everything that had happened in the past… How many days has it been? I don't know. "Umm… After the gong, R-rue and I got together and just ran." I say, my voice catching on Rue's name. "Then about a day after, there was a fire and we got burned. Haymitch sent medicine, which I don't know what happened to that. The Careers found us and trapped us in a tree. Someone cut down the nest. We both got stung. I started hallucinated way before she did, and I'm not sure if this was a hallucination, but you were there." Gale looks amused when I mention this. "Stop laughing!" I exclaim, smiling for the first time in days.
"Sorry. Go on." He says, still trying to stifle his laugh.
"Shut up. Anyways, I woke up and we decided to take out the Careers food." I explain our plan and what happened at the Cornucopia. "I didn't know who set it off, but I had a good idea." I say, looking pointedly at him.
"Fine, it was me."
"I knew it!" I exclaim pointing at him. He gestures for me to go on. "Well, after that I tried to go find Rue again and… I did find her. A-a p-pink bird k-killed h-h-her." I say, my voice stuttering when I get to the part about the birds. I can see it so clearly like it just happened again.
I find myself not able to go on after I tell about Rue's death. The tears are back, and they form in my eyes, making my vision blurry.
"Oh, Madge…" Gale begins and he wraps his arms around me. I bury my face into his shoulder while I cry. I realize that his arm is uncomfortable against my shoulder
I start to moan in pain and he releases me. I still can't really see anything.
"You should go to sleep, Madge." He says gently.
"I'm not t-tired." I say, while trying to stifling a yawn.
He looks at me, raising one eyebrow. "Fine, I'm tired. But you haven't sleep in what, two days?"
"I'll be fine. Just go to bed."
"Gale." I start to protest, but he cuts me off.
"Go to bed, Madge. You're sick. We can switch later." I huff at him and glare. He glares back. I cower under his glare.
"Fine." I mutter and edge my way back down to a sleeping position.
I listen to the steady pounding of rain above us and wonder what the Gamemakers are planning for the rest of us. Probably something horrible.
It takes me about twenty seconds to fall asleep. And once again, I'm haunted by nightmares. Will they ever cease?
When I wake up, I feel even worse, if possible. My head is spinning, my breathing shallow, and my vision is still blurry. At least the rain stopped.
I try to sit up but that just causes a new wave of nausea to come.
Gale sees me awake. "Oh, God. You got worse."
"Really? Because I thought I was completely better." I say sarcastically. He must know I'm irritated.
Then I see him basically falling asleep sitting there and he's desperately trying to keep himself awake.
"Gale, did I sleep the entire night?"
"No." He says unconvincingly.
"Gale! You were supposed to wake me up!" I sit up while fuming.
"I didn't want to okay?" He says irritably.
"Fine." I'm about to continue when I dissolve into a fit of coughs and sneezes. I fall to my uninjured side and keep coughing into the backpack next to me.
When I finally stop coughing, or when I think I do, I rise again, to find Gale looking at me, worried.
"You okay?" He asks.
"I'm fi—"And that's all I say before I dissolve into another fit of coughs. When I can finally breathe again, Gale is next to me giving me some water.
"I'm not thirsty."
He stares at me and his face becomes stricken with horror. "You're really sick, Madge." I just keep coughing. "God, Haymitch! Do something!" He shouts to the sky desperately.
I doubt anything was going to come and I was right.
"Idiot…" He says more to himself to me. "He doesn't realize that you're on your death bed."
"Glad to know you think I'm going to die." I huff before turning away from him and lay back down on my uninjured side. Those words made tears burn in my eyes. Will I ever stop crying?
"Madge…" He says, his voice pained. I stay where I am though. He crawls over to me.
"Madge." He says again, his voice gentler this time.
"It's great to know that the only person in this arena who doesn't want to kill me thinks I'm going to die anyways." My voice is shaking with tears. His arms wrap around my waist and he pulls me up to sit in his lap despite my protests.
"Madge, I don't want you to die. You won't die. I swear to it." He whispers in my ear and that just makes the tears actually fall.
"Then why did you just say that I was on my death bed?" I croak at him.
"I don't know. I just wanted Haymitch to help. I'm not going to let you die, and if it was his fault that you died, I'd never forgive him." He whispers again.
"I just want to go home." I helplessly say.
"I know, I do too. And we will okay?" He says as he turns my face to face his. He wipes the tears off of my face. He starts to lean in and I do the same, but I'm not exactly thinking. Our lips are centimeters away from each other when the trumpets blare.
"Shit!" Gale yells and lunges for his bow as I lunge for the knife.
"Hello tributes of the 74th Hunger Games! I am glad to announce that there will be a feast at the cornucopia tomorrow at dawn." I lay back down, knowing we won't go. A free-for-all with Cato and Thresh chasing us? I don't think so.
"Now, hold on. Some of you might already be declining the invitation. But this is no ordinary feast. Each of you needs something desperately." Gale looks toward my arm. I know what he's thinking. "Each of you will find that something in a backpack marked with your district number, at the Cornucopia, at dawn. Think hard about refusing to show up. For some of you, this will be your last chance." Then the voice shuts off.
"No. You are not going. I won't let you." I say, as he's gathering his arrows.
"Do you really think you can convince me not to go? Like he said 'It may be your last chance.' I'm going, and you can't stop me."
"Gale!" I protest, but not before he cuts me off.
"You would do the same for me." I silent myself, knowing it's true. "Exactly."
"At least get some sleep." I protest, knowing that he's going on about an hour of sleep.
"Fine." He accepts, and then grudgingly starts to lie down. I start to struggle my way out of the sleeping bag but he's already asleep on the blanket. I knew he was tired.
I smile at his sleeping form. He looks a lot younger when he sleeps. I wonder what everyone at home thinks of this. About the 2 victors. And how we have a chance to come home.
The moon starts to disappear and I know that Gale will have to leave soon. He wakes up just as i'm dozing off.
"Madge?" My eyes open. He's sitting in front of me, looking anxious. "I'm going to go now."
I nod shakily. We both know that there is a chance that he might not come back. At this thought, i throw myself into his arms, dispite the major pain in my arm.
"Hey... It's okay. I'm going to come back, got it?" He says gently. I nod, still worried.
"Don't worry." He says, trying to smile, but it turns into a grimace. "Bad choice of words. Sorry."
I stare down at my lap, still freaking out inside.
He tips my chin up. "I'll see you before you know it, okay?" I nod, and then he kisses me. I look up and he's gone.
Now, all I can do is wait.
A/N: Well, there ya go. This chapter is my favorite, besides Clove. I mean after that, haha(: The feast is coming. I was really thinking of ending the chapter like way earlier but I couldn't resist so I kept it going(: you're welcome(:
Also, i will be out of town most of July, so if I dont update, it's not because i gave up on the story, it's because i'm out of town(: thoughts?