Chapter 12 of Rebel or Madge?

A/N: UNEDITED, still looking for a BETA! Even if you want to help out for a few chapters I'll take all the help I can get!

Let the Games begin!


I wake with a start. The air around me feels too heavy like it's going to suffocate me. The pillow is full of sweat and the blankets are twisted in a tight fashion around my body. I feel sick to my stomach, it clenches into a ball of worry and pain. My heartbeat is an uneven and pounding against my rib cage like a jack hammer.

I'm going into the Games today. I may die before the day ends… I may live. I may be hurt. I may kill today… I may kill today…

Haymitch guides me into the death trap of an elevator, Aubrey on his right, me on his left. Aubrey is shaking so hard I swear to god the elevator is going to break down and then I'll be the one shaking. Aubrey is a good person and doesn't deserve this…she deserves to grow old and have kids even if it's with Thom.

Haymitch speaks slowly, hesitant, "You both know the plan. Stay away from the bloodbath and find water and shelter. Don't draw attention to yourself – especially you Hawthorne. You two can make it passed the bloodbath if run for it. You both can make it to the final 8 if you play your cards right. And you both could win if you have a run for your money. Don't be stupid and don't do anything to jeopardize your fate and ability to breath and live. I will see one of you on the other side and from there we start your journey."

We both nod in silence, the tension too thick to break. My thoughts drift back to the beautiful blonde in the pretty white Reaping dress. The way the sunlight sprakled in her hair and the way her eye blazed through mine while I stood on the old, rickety stage. I couldn't look away from her eyes, not even when Posy's cries carried through the square. I would break down if I looked at the red head girl.

I take a deep breath. Haymitch smacks my shoulder and shoots a death glare at me. "What?" I snap.

"That," he points his bony finger at me, "right there will kill you! You have to be on guard and alert at all times or you will die. Understood?" I nod slowly. Okay, so no thoughts about home, the beautiful girl, or my sister. Nothing will stand in my way, the route is clear for now and home is at the end. I will not forget my mission. I will not let them change me…

"Okay, in you guys go…" Haymitch pushes us towards the hovercraft waiting for us. We're the last ones to show up, which is usual but surprising because we're the closes to it. I step onto the small metal step and up the two others. I don't like to fly either, it's out of my control and I don't like it.

They insert the tracker into my arm through a needle. The needle wasn't what bugged me, it was the feeling of the tracker growing into a hard, solid, ball in my arm and move to just above me elbow inside my arm. It's amazing – the technology – but it's a little disturbing, all the same.

The metal interior of the hovercraft is in mint condition and isn't made for beauty. The ride is smooth and gently, no one says a word to anyone. When it lands 24 service men and women walk out with heavy black blindfolds. We are ordered to turn around as they slip the tight fabric over our eyes. Guess they don't want us to see any escape route.

I'm shoved roughly into a room. I stumble in, almost falling, when thin fingers with long nails grasp my arms to steady me. I know it's Portia by the forever midnight perfume – Madge wears it sometimes.

"Steady there. You okay?" I nod and fall into her arms, "They never blindfolded tributes before…I wonder what's so different this year?" she ponders; I can imagine her tapping her long index finger against her lips in wonder. She gently tugs on the ties in the back of my head and allows the fabric to sway to the ground in an airy fashion.

"Thanks." I say, still staring at the fabric. What is so different this year? Why the blindfolds?

Portia strokes my arm where the tracker lays. My arm still throbs in pain and it hurts like hell now that she is touching it. I don't say anything because pretty soon I will be the only one to comfort myself and Portia soft, gentle, motherly touch will be nowhere to seen…to be felt. I am strong. I am strong. I am strong. I repeat over and over in my head.

"Let's get you ready." Portia mentions quietly. She grabs my hand, intertwining our fingers together, and pulls me to the red velvet couch. I sit on the plush fabric with a sigh. I lean my head against the back of the couch.

I turn my head to admire the room. The couch is a little off centered but in the middle of the room. The walls are a lighter color of the red on the couch and there's a black swirling design on it. The patterns remind me of runes and trees and roses. The walls are stunning and must have taken hours – days - to finish.

Portia pulls at the hem of my shirt. I sit forward to allow her to slip the material over my head. I keep my arms in the air so she can slip the soft cashmere over my arms and over my head to settle against my chest, back, and stomach. The cashmere is navy blue with a low neckline and slightly too big, cuddly…my kind of clothes. I jerk the material over my hands so my fingers are the only thing peeking out. My fingers curl around it, making me feel small, comfortable.

She gradually lifts me off the couch and goes for the button of my pants. She unzips them as well before turning around grab the blue jeans on the table. I glide the fabric off my legs to lie in a puddle on the floor. She hands me the expensive looking, worn, bleached material. I hop into them and slip my multiple-holed belt through the loops. The tattered belt has been of good use to me and it shall do the same here.

She opens a gray leather jacket and motions for me to turn around so she can help me into it. I the coat is light but will get the job done. It fits contentedly over the thick sweater. The brown boots – similar to mine but not as dark or scuffed up – have a red zipper up the side. I sit down and slide them on. They feel wide and used but they fit to my foot securely. Portia lifts my leg up to tie and zip them up. She only ties them halfway up. I, jokingly, lift my other leg up and she chuckles and grabs it. She ties and zips them all the same. I walk around to make sure them fit well and kick each foot into the air to make sure they won't go flying off me and leaving me shoeless.

Portia smiles at my antics before patting the spot I was just in. I throw myself into the couch and curl up against the corner. There's a draft through the underground and it chills me a little, nothing too bad, the clothing is warming me up.

Portia stares at me and I stare back. I read through the story in her eyes. She looks at me with a motherly look and I know she cares for me. She strokes my cheek and I tense at the contact. I'm still not use to Capitol people touching me. She pushes my black hair out of my eyes for it only to flop back into my eyes.

"We should have cut it when you first got here."

"Cut it now." I answer lowly.

"Don't have scissors." She replies.

I grab the pants I had on earlier and pull out a red Swiss army pocketknife. "Here."

"You know you're not supposed to have that." She says as she takes the knife anyways and finds the small pair of scissors. "We'll be here forever…how about we just cut your bangs a little. Sharpen then up?"

"Whatever you want." I glance up at her. She moves to knell in front on me and cut off about half an inch off my bangs. I watch the small pieces of hair float down to over my knees. She does it quickly and I trust that it looks okay. Once she's down something cold and heavy falls around my neck.

I glance down to find chunky gold chains twisted and melted together. It's shiny and I can't figure out how to tell her I already have a token.

"Since I can't vote on you, we're allowed to give our tributes an extra token as our way of support you. I'll always root for you, Gale Hawthorne. Always." She whispers against my ear. She hugs me quick and pushes me towards the tube.

The glass tube is tiny with a metal plate on the bottom of it. Kind of like an elevator. Great another one of these. The countdown to when we get to see the arena is loud and shakes completely throughout your body, like a sonic pulse but you can feel this one.

Portia sticks her head into the tube; she grabs my arms to steady her while she sweetly kisses my cheek. "Good luck in there." She whispers before stepping back, allowing the tube to submerge me into and lift me up into the dark arena.

The arena is completely submerged into darkness. There's a pale glow of night through it. I can barely make out vertical metal bars about the width of my hand apart. Am I in a cell?

60, 59, 57, 56, 55, 54, 53, 52, 51, 50…

The walls begin to tremble. Oh my god! Are we in a mine and it's collapsing on us!? No, no, no! I can't die like my father! No!

49, 48, 47, 46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40…

I crash into the floor with my hands on my head. Did someone step off their plate? No there was no cannon. My cheek is pressed into something cold and slick. It digs into my cheek and I feel blood run down my cheek.

39, 38, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31, 30…

My eyes finally adjust and I can make out that I am in a cell and my cheek is pressed into a wide bladed hunting knife. I grasp onto through the rumbling and shove it into the waistband on jean just as the rocks start falling.

29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20…

A huge chunk of black rock lands on top of me. It's light enough that I can get out from under it but until the rocks stop tumbling down I think this is the safest place I can be right now, under this big ass rock.

For about 5 – 10 minutes the rocks fall and fall. The flash of red hot fire, coal dust, and miners tumbling out puking their guts up rise up in my mind, haunting me. I remember waiting for hours after my mother went home for him. I wanted him to pull me into his arms and say I'm here, I won't let leave you… *I wouldn't do that* …

But it never came. It never will. He is dead and I will die the same way he did. I have failed him and myself. I am a failure.

After the meter shower of rocks stop I see eyes glow in the darkness. Bright white is the only part of the eyes I can see. The eyes seem to scream worry and fear and I'm sure my match the same emotions.

I get up and walk cautiously towards him.

"There's two tunnels…I don't know what one to take…I'm scared." The voice is feminine and bursts with the fear she is talking about. I grab her hand in the darkness and pull her towards the tunnel to my left. She seems to trust me and I can only hope she isn't a Career trying to trick me and kill me.

The tunnel is probably a mile or two long and bump and slam into walls a lot on the way. The dark tunnels don't offer any directions or signs saying turn of ahead. Every time we bang into the walls she squeezes me hand and readjusts her grip to a tighter one. I don't mind, its help to know I'm not alone for now.

As we run I think about alliances. Do I want to ally with her? She seems to need someone and I wouldn't mind having one myself.

Light peeks through a half of a mile or so up ahead. I can see 2 bodies up ahead and I know its Oliver and some other kid. I push harder to reach them. The girl behind me keeps my pace with struggles to keep this paces but she doesn't complain.

Once we break through the light I push her off to the side and yell for her to run that way and what weapon she wants. She just takes off running and shrugs. I grab 2 backpacks and swing them over my shoulders. I know I'm breaking Haymitch's rule but I can't seem to care. I need weapons and food if I'm supporting both me and the girl now. Just like at home. I grab 2 bows, 3 things of arrows, and dash unnoticed into the actual cornucopia.

I go to the back wall and quickly, efficiently working and glancing over my shoulder. I can hear the screams of death and the hoots for finally being out of the tunnels.

I juggle two ideas of escaping, 1: I go out the way I came in and hope for the best and possibly kill to make it through, or 2: I escape through the hold in the point of the cornucopia. I choose the latter. I slip in-between the small space and run about 20 degrees different from the girl I've travel with.

I break into the tree line with my 2 backpacks, 2 bows, 3 things of arrows, a long sword, a shorter sword (both light weight), food, and sticks of dynamite. I run back to where I saw the girl last.

I don't see her so I keep running. Soon I see a flash of movement in the tree above me before she lands in crouch beside me.

"I've couldn't kill you! Thanks for the heads-up!" I growl at her.

"I knew you wouldn't." she replies with a smirk.

"What's your name?" I ask. She's one of the few I don't know the name of. All I know is she scored a 5 in training.

"What's yours?"

"Gale…Gale Hawthorne. District 12."

"Riley Hunting. District 5."

Riley has brilliant red hair and is fairly beautiful but nothing close to my Madge. She is tall and slim and has a major attitude. We should get along just fine.

I stick my hand out for her to shake. "Ally?"

She smiles and nods, "Ally." She squeezes my hand and then drops it. She grabs onto the long sword and playfully points it at me. "You got one chance to live…start talkin'!" She plays all old western sheriff. I drop all our stuff that was in my arms and smile back her with my hands raised.

"I won't kill you and I've got your back?" I saying playfully with a weak tone for fun in it.

"Okay, you're good looking enough to live."

I laugh at her crude answer, "So I'm only worth my beauty huh?" I elbow her.

"Yes, but you knowing how to work around a forest and getting the highest training score in history is just a bonus." She throws her hands into the air with a roll of her eyes.

She slips both swords into her belt and hands me both bows. I slip on over my shoulder and one over hers. She raises an eyebrow but I blow it off. I slip a thing of arrows over hers and two over mine. I take both backpacks and stuff the dynamite in one without looking what's in it. And she stuffs the food in the other. Together we run off away from the cornucopia in hopes finding good shelter and water.

After hours of running and being all tired out I can judge we ran about 15 miles. We only stopped 4 times for Riley to catch her breath real quick and off we went again. On the way I noticed the different landscapes the old and new buildings. I know these buildings. But where?

There are bazillions of fences and it's annoying. The form of them also seem familiar like I've seen them from up above. But where would I have seen such an odd shape from above?

We settle in a newer looking building that reminds me of our townhouse in Clock City. It's all surreal when I look at the buzzer outside with Hawthorne written on it the second floor spot. The black building feels too familiar and it makes my stomach clench. The names on the first and third floor match the residents that lived there when I lived there: Stonebrooke and Bane.

"Hmm, that weird…the name matches your last name." Riley says next to me.

"Yeah?" my voice sounds distant even to me. It's dark out by now as we move up to the second floor just because it has my last name.

The sight takes my breath away. My breathing is heavy once it returns. Everything is the same! Everything! Everything is how we left it. When we left for America for one of my mother's works trips. Everything is here! Everything!

I'm hyperventilating now. Riley has her hand on my chest and is speaking slowly to me. I can't make out what she is saying, I can't pay attention. She guides me to the couch but I run to the closed door to my left, the only door room that isn't in the hallway to my right. My room.

The walls in here are still painted a British flag like I had them. And the sky blue comforter with the missed match pillow. My father's batman pillowcase, the creamy white one that was an extra I always used, and the plaid light blue and white that went with the comforter although the bedspread was not plaid.

I walk to my sisters' room, Sarah's, and then May's. All of them the same. I stand at my parent's room with my hand on the door knob. The only was on the right side of the hall. I walk in and curl into a ball on their bed. It still smells like them. My heart jack hammers against my rib cage. I don't lose but at home here. This place will be there death of me.

I hear Riley close the door behind her to, I suspect, May's room because it's closer to the one I choose. I stare in fear at the wall.

It when it hits me. The fences odd shape. Why there are fences…

The arena is a map…


A/N: where there is these * I tried to spread out each letter and it wouldn't let me. Sorry it looked really cool too!
Do you like the arena? Riley? Gale's emotions?