Leaving the girl's body at the base of the tree we removed the small pack she had been carrying and walked away. Silence ruled for a time but eventually Gale stopped and said that we should drink and eat some of the roots and berries that he had gathered. After we had both downed half a bottle each we decided to look through the back pack we had acquired. Inside there was a small knife, probably for paring fruits or vegetables, a small water skin and a handful of some weird purple berries. I took one between my thumb and forefinger and after examining it briefly for dirt I moved to pop it into my mouth.
"Madge!" Gale shouted and I froze. He leaned over and snapped the berry from me. "That's poisonous. A single one could kill you within a minute." His voice may have been calm bus his gray eyes betrayed his true feelings – worry. A chill ran up my spine at his words. How easily I could have died right there and then without a bloody battle or wound. There probably wouldn't have been much pain at all if it only took a minute for it to kill you.
"Thank you," I said my voice shaking as I realised that he could have just let me eat the berry. He wouldn't have to kill me himself but it would get the job done alright either way. I upended the back pack onto the ground and was about to crush the berries under the sole of my boot so no animal would eat them when Gale reached for my arm and stopped me.
"We should keep them. They could be useful." I gave him a puzzled look and he bent down to scoop the berries into the palm of his hand carefully.
"We could use them as a trap for one of the others. We've been playing on the defensive too long Madge. Cato and the others have been running circles around us because they're actively trying to find us while we run. It's time to act." I gulped. Gale stowed the berries into a little pocket on the front of his backpack.
"But Gale, I don't want to be like Cato," I said. Gale whirled around, his face hard.
"And you think I do?" he snapped, "We've got to do what we need to do to survive and I don't know about you but I want to live." I flinched like he had slapped me and I saw regret flicker in his eyes as his face softened. He rubbed his jaw nervously and reached for me. I let him take hold of my upper arm despite my better judgement.
"I feel like I'm always apologising to you," he said his voice much softer than it had been only moments before. I laughed.
"That's because you are," I said and it was his turn to laugh as he wrapped his arms around me pulling me in for a hug.
"I don't think before I speak. I never do." I squeeze him tightly and he buries his face in my hair. "I'm sorry Madge but I still believe what I said. We can't continue running around scared. Even if we wait for them to come to us we will still have to fight."
"I know," I conceded, "I just don't want to have to. Killing Clove was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Not just physically." I closed my eyes and a replay of her life draining from her eyes conjured itself instantly.
"You're right," Gale said pulling me from him a little so that he could examine my face with his piercing gaze. "It won't be easy but we're going to have to do it. There aren't any other options." He smiled sadly at me and I reached forward to run a hand down his cheek, smooth despite the fact that he had not shaved since we left the Training Centre, I knew they must have done something to stop his beard growing and I couldn't help but miss the generous amount of stubble he always sported back home.
He closed his eyes at my touch and his breathing picked up. Standing up on the tip of my toes I kissed him softly. He returned the kiss just as softly, his lips brushing against mine as one of his hands moved from my waist up to the back of my head.
After a moment he pulled back and drew a breath.
"I wish we could have done this back home in twelve," he said and kissed me again. He knew exactly what to say to cause my heart to soar and beat ferociously against the wall of my chest. His confession to Caesar Flickerman must have been true after all. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he dropped his hand from my hair so that he could wrap both of them around my waist and pull me closer to him, our bodies flush against each other.
A canon sounded in the distance and we jerked apart.
"It sounds like it was far away," Gale said, his eyes locked on mine. "Maybe a couple of miles." I didn't say anything and the two of us strained our ears, hoping to hear something that would indicate what happened. I hoped it was Cato that had fallen and then felt sick that I had actively wished death on another human being.
A moment later a second canon sounded.
"Two in two minutes?" I questioned and Gale grimaced.
"Maybe one killed the other but was so injured that they died from their own wounds," Gale suggested half-heartedly.
"Or maybe Cato is hunting," I said. Gale said nothing and I took his non-answer as a confirmation that he agreed with me.
We walked for hours without interruption, save for the cawing of birds and the occasional rustle of leaves in the trees but neither of us really had the energy to react to every sound. Above us clouds appeared in the sky and eventually they darkened. I wondered would it rain later tonight and whether Gale would insist we continue walking despite the potentially inclement weather. Wasn't it time that we started looking for a shelter and some more food and water? The silence was broken when Gale reached for me suddenly.
"Hey!" I said as Gale took my knife from the sheath on my belt, "what do you think you're doing?" Gale rolled his eyes.
"Relax," he said walking over to the nearest tree and stripping off some of the bark. He examined it for a moment and then stuffed it into his mouth. He cut off another piece and offered it to me but I wrinkled my nose.
"No thanks," I said trying to sound neutral but I don't think that I hid the abject horror on my face well. Gale just laughed.
"Madge it's good. Kind of." He continued to proffer the bark and eventually I relented and stuffed it into my mouth, too scared to examine it further. It was not doubt crawling with bugs, and dirt and … I shuddered to think what else.
"Yummy," I said as he smiled encouragingly at me. He rolled his eyes and I spat it out with as much delicacy as I could muster in the current situation. Gale laughed. It was a loud booming sort of laugh and I liked the sound of it and made a mental decision to try and make him laugh more.
Drops started to land on the dirt beside us and I looked up at the sky. Rain was beginning to fall gently and I shivered. I'd never really liked the rain, preferring to seek refuge in doors and play my piano.
"Let's put a little more distance between us and wherever those canons were so that we can sleep through the night," Gale said and he stretched his hand towards me. I took it, only grinning slightly at the thought that we were holding hands, and walked beside him.
The rain grew heavier and my skin began to feel tight. A few minutes later it began to sting. I looked at Gale and noticed that his normally sallow skin was beginning to break out into weird, red blotches the size of a small acorns.
"Gale?" I asked and he turned to look at me. Immediately I knew something was wrong because when he looked at me he paled.
"Madge, your skin-" he said breaking off and looking up towards the sky shielding his eyes with his free hand,
"I think that it's the rain," I said my voice high and shaky.
"There must be acid in it," he agreed and squeezed my hand.
"We can't escape the rain Gale," I said panic causing my lungs to constrict and my breathing to grow shaky; "we're going to die here. Why would the game maker's do this?" Gale shook his head vehemently.
"Yes we can," he said pointing towards the direction we had just come from, "it's lighter back there than it is here. With so few of us left they must be trying to drive us closer together. They must want to finish this thing soon." Gale dragged me after him as he began to run towards the direction we had just come. I stumbled and tripped along two feet behind him struggling to catch my breath and remain upright. The tingly, tight sensation in my skin had escalated to a mild burning.
We ran for what seemed like an age but the rain wasn't letting up. A quick look at my hands told me that if it kept up like this much longer my skins was going to melt right off its bones. Gale wasn't as badly off as I was yet, his skin having been weathered by the elements over the years, but his eyes looked pained and I knew that he must be hurting too.
"We're not going to make it, are we?" I shouted to be heard over the rain. Gale either didn't hear or didn't want to answer. Instead he paused momentarily and pulled the back pack off his back.
"Cover your head with this," he ordered thrusting it at me. "It'll stop the worst of it from hitting your head." I took it with shaking hands and did as he ordered. Luckily, with most of our water supply gone the bag was light.
"What about you?" I demanded as I realised that his back which had once been covered was now exposed to the acid rain. He shrugged and started running again. I caught up with him as quickly as I could, sighing audibly at the relief the bag was providing from the driving rain.
Soon my skin began to burn as if someone was holding a piece of burning coal half and inch away from it. The sweat on my brow which had formed during our run was seeping into cracks on my forehead and I cried out audibly in pain as the salt hit the open wounds. Gale faltered, looking stricken, his own eyes feverish and bright.
"We're going to die here Gale," I said, "aren't we?" Gale shook his head and then nodded it. He shook it again.
"I don't know Madge," he confessed but if it doesn't let up soon there's no knowing what's going to happen." Gale insisted that we stay running but soon, it was all I could manage to put one leg in front of the other. We gripped each other's arm and attempted to haul the each other along but we didn't seem to be getting anywhere and the rain was still bouncing off the forest floor.
My head spun and I knew that I couldn't walk any further. Gale looked at me and I opened my mouth to tell him to go on without me but I couldn't speak. I hoped that he understood what I meant by, what I hoped at least, was the fierce look in my eyes. Gale shook his head but I knew that soon he would have no choice but to leave me. Soon I would be dead.
I wanted desperately to open my mouth and say one last thing to him. Thank you. Thank you for the strawberries. Thank you for keeping me alive. Thank you for treating me like a true friend. Thank you for kissing me.
Before I could try and convey anything else to him, coloured spots appeared behind my eyelids and the last thing I remembered before the world turned black was hearing Gale shouting my name.
Cliff hanger! Sorry for the delay between the last update. College has been pretty hectic for the past few weeks and is only now chilling down for a bit. For anyone who didn't know the answer to the 'song challenge' it was 'Danny Boy'. It is one of my favourite traditional Irish songs. Also, I know this is slightly off topic but I've been listening to a lot of space themed music today: Across the Universe and Life on Mars. I just keep hitting the repeat button. Strange…
Thank you to all of those who reviewed the last chapter – both new and regular readers- they mean a lot to me. :)