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Chapter 20 – Peeta
Everyone understands how the Games work. We all lived through it. We all won and had to kill people from other districts to get there. It doesn't make it any less tense when a tribute dies. There is still something there that divides the districts in most cases. There are a few exceptions: people who have been friends for years don't let anything come between them or the Careers who mostly stick together. It's part of what the Games do, separate us to make us weaker, making us forget who the real enemy is.
The District 10 mentors are pissed at us. Not only did Madge knock down their male tribute which eventually led to his death at the hands of the Careers but Felix proved to be a deadly foe with the pick axe he picked up and killed their girl last night. Haymitch doesn't really have any friends in the livestock district and we certainly haven't been welcomed by many other victors. I think most people are nervous about associating with people who incited a rebellion. Even if it was unintentional.
District 10 and 9 are both out of the games on the first day. They didn't stick around once their tributes died. They dismissed themselves and said a few goodbyes to some other victors choosing not to stay in the common room like they could have. I don't blame them. The only people that hang out in the common room are the Careers. The rest of us stick to our private rooms, as if us hiding from them can help our tributes hide, too.
The private rooms are reasonably sized. They have a wall of screens that can follow whatever you want them to follow. One screen has a map where you can pick a legend on what to focus on. Right now, we have lights up for Madge and Felix, the other tributes, and any things that the Gamemakes have declared danger zones.
We were worried about all the noises that the jungle produces and if anything would attack Madge. Fortunately, a lot of the creatures are actually just normal exotic species that we have never ever seen or heard of. The Gamemakes are actually pretty proud of the exotics in the arena, apparently some are pretty rare. The Capitol loves the beautiful colors and are already interpreting the plants and animals into their wardrobe. I have already seen some people with what they called 'sloths' and a ton of birds as pets.
The worst thing about the arena is the water. The only source is the waterfall and river. Its an instant easy way to insure meetings and fights. Felix has managed to trek his way through a large part of the jungle and stay mostly parallel to the river without running into it. He seems to be failing to listen to our advice again about climbing trees for a better view. He should find it soon anyways, it's a huge river.
The room also has a sponsorship screen where we can see what we have signed and distribute parachutes. Right now neither of our tributes really want for anything we can give them. They announced a little twist in sponsorship this year that we can't provide food or water. This would normally be completely awful but the arena provides plenty of both for those who know how to use it. This actually gives an amazing advantage to Madge. She studied the plants for the majority of her training. Felix should know enough not to die.
There are actually a crazy amount of advantages for Madge that seems really weird. The bag near her was ridiculously great and Katniss was actually squealing with everything Madge brought out. She knows the plant life and pretty much trained with Katniss in the forest, which isn't all that different from a jungle. She was also placed next to weakling tributes that she could beat to the bag. I hope that luck holds for the rest of her time in the arena.
The games will be interesting this year, even if our friend wasn't in it. The leader of the Career pack, the large boy Augustus, seems to have some sort of moral code that makes him fight fairly. The bloodbath wasn't the usual straight slaughter it normally is. He demanded that the Careers only fight those who had weapons and were of similar size.
His district partner protested but clearly didn't want to fight him yet and instead threw down her own weapon so she could attack anyone she wanted. She attacked a boy with her bare hands and clawed his eyes out before beating him to death with a rock. She made sure to dramatically put a rock in his own hands first. She made a huge show about to Augustus but it was pointless since the boy couldn't see. It didn't seem like he wanted to fight her yet either so he let it slide. She is clearly some kind of insane.
Haymitch snores from one of the two beds made into the walls of the room. He decided to sleep while Madge attempts to rest. None of us really think anything is going to happen during the first night. The Careers are hunting in a different area than either of our tributes, though they are pretty close to some others. They won't have to head into the jungle after a couple of days. They will probably just patrol the river once they notice there is no other source.
Katniss sits next to me with her head in her hands, right in front of the screen watching Madge, and I notice that her eyes droop heavily. It's late and she hasn't been sleeping well for days. "Hey," I nudge her lightly and her eyes shoot open in panic and scan every screen in confusion. She focuses on Madge's tracker screen which shows her heart rate and sees it still beating. She looks back to me her eyes filled with sleep and fear.
"What?" she rubs both her grey eyes.
"Katniss, go to sleep. You have been up forever. I will wake you guys up if anything happens," I hope my smile is comforting and she believes me. She really needs the sleep and now is not the time to be stubborn. She might pass out when they actually need us at this pace. She looks at Madge on the screen who seems to have drifted off for a little bit. Then she nods back at me.
"Wake me up if anything happens. Anything. Okay?" I nod and kiss her forehead which she leans into. I feel like I can actually offer her some comfort and am so very thankful for that. She never would have been this way even a year ago. Now it's like she might actually trust me. Madge needs to come back. I know if we lose Madge, in a way, I will lose Katniss, too. She takes things so strongly. She is so loyal and loving and she doesn't realize it but losing Madge because of something we did will break her. She won't be able to stop blaming herself and me and us together.
I put my face in my hands and check on Felix. He fell asleep under a tree, holding his bloodied pick axe tightly. He isn't well hidden but no one is near him right now. I glance at the other competitors. The Careers track a path made through the jungle by a tribute more careless than Madge. They are approaching her pretty quickly but she crossed a narrow part of the river and I doubt they will find her trail again. The young boy Ware managed to find an amazing hiding spot near the river. The water hollowed out the dirt surrounding the roots of a tree and it created a small cave underneath. He packed the open areas with mud and sticks and its practically unnoticeable from the outside. He sleeps the most soundly of any tribute I have seen. He must be very confident in his hiding spot. He even laid the sharp stick he grabbed as a weapon off to the side, not gripped in his hands like so many other frightened children.
Madge shifts in her tree again and looks out to towards a bird call. I walk over and order a cup of coffee from the machine that gives us food whenever we want, just like in our rooms. It's hot, bitter, and will hopefully make me stay awake for however long I need to. I know Katniss won't sleep long. I pull the covers more fully around her before sitting back into my chair.
After some time, a noise makes me jump up and flash towards all of the screens before I realize it was in the room, not the arena. I look behind me and see the door slowly open and the large frame of Finnick Odair fill the entry way. He glances around and I make the universal be quiet signal with my finger over my mouth. He smiles and nods and enters and sits at the chair next to me. He stares for a while at Madge's screen where she stares out almost looking directly into the camera.
"So that's your friend?" his voice is a low whisper and I barely hear him. I nod and stare at the screen, too. He is silent again and I wonder if this is him telling me he can't or won't help. Johanna said she would talk to him but his tributes probably have more of a chance than hers. "I can't help you until after my tributes die but they won't make it against District 2 this year. They will most likely die. If your friend makes it to then, we will talk. And I will help in any way I can. I think she will have plenty of help until then anyways," he sighs and it's actually louder than his speaking voice.
There is something else going on here that no one is telling me. Johanna, Haymitch, and now Finnick are all hiding something and I want to know what. "What's going on? What are you guys not telling us?" Finnick looks back at me quickly.
"You are more observant than your wife, huh?" His whisper slips and his normal sounding charming voice slips through. It manages to sound flirtatious even when he isn't trying. At least, I hope he isn't trying. "You have enough to worry about. If your friend makes it farther we will talk. Until then, just focus on getting her there. Nothing should get in the way of that now," he smiles and pats my shoulder while he gets up and leaves the room quickly. What was he saying? He made it sound like anything they had to tell us would make us help Madge less or something. This secret shit is getting ridiculous. Katniss finally stirs and jolts awake with a scream. I turn my chair around and offer her my lap to sit on but she instead sits in the chair next to me and then motions to the bed.
"Your turn," she focuses on the screen but then gives a half-hearted glare at me when I don't move. "Go. You need to sleep, too," She's right, I do need sleep. I'm pretty sure I had been drifting when Katniss's scream jolted me. I head to the cot and fall asleep looking at Katniss's outline in the dim lights of the screen.
I'm woken up by Haymitch what feels like a minute later. Katniss apparently switched with him and I'm a little shocked to see her in my arms. She is looking up questioningly at Haymitch. He didn't seem concerned or angry so we both don't jump to horrible conclusions of what could be happening.
"The Careers found the District 7 girl. She is out. Thought you guys might like to know," I nod and shift Katniss in my arms. One of them is very asleep and tingles as I slide it out from under her. She sits up as soon as I move and gets up. She apparently thought the same thing as me, it's time to get sponsors and take care of our tributes.
Katniss insists on staying and watching Madge for a bit. I head down and meet Effie who already has a line of sponsors ready for us. I sign the mostly male sponsors and realize that maybe we don't need this much without being able to donate food and water. That means we are mostly limited to weapons and medicine. I hope she doesn't need any medicine that costs as much as we have but we can provide her with practically anything she needs probably until far later in the game. She is very popular.
When I get back, Katniss is smiling and that's very strange, "The Cornucopia didn't have any food, and no one can send them anything." She almost laughs a little "They don't know what to eat! They are surrounded by food but don't know what to eat. Madge can win!" I glance towards the screen where Madge walks toward the rivers while munching on some berries that I can't identify. She actually just looks calm and almost like she is on a normal hike. She kept her water well conserved and is headed in the right direction towards a far point of the river.
We re-watch the fight with the District 7 girl and the Careers and watch as Clarity fought her with a sword and she tried to fend her off with an axe. Clarity was too well trained though and cut her down quickly. Calista cheered and gave her a high five while the girl finished bleeding out on the ground.
Someone knocks on our door and Johanna walks in. "Well I'm out. Who would have guessed?" she must have just finished her post tribute death interviews and looks tired and frustrated, "Here take this shit," she throws some papers to the ground and I manage to catch one in the air and see sponsorship slips. She is giving us her leftover money. "It's not a lot cause they sucked but you can have it. I'll be back when those assholes leave the common room. I'm not allowed in the same room as that bitch Cashmere anymore." Katniss actually snorts behind me. We both pause and look at her.
"Yeah, I hate her too," Johanna smiles at her then runs out of the room with a goodbye before the moment feels too much like bonding. I roll my eyes at both of these girls who are clearly too similar to allow themselves to get along. Johanna is taking a risk giving us her money, though we all know she is never really careful and Rowen seems wrapped around her finger. Katniss clearly appreciates it as she looks at the slips and scans some into the computer. She is clearly in a better mood after realizing that Madge has another advantage and we both settle in to watch our tributes. I feel a rush of comfort when Katniss reaches over to grab my hand and squeezes it tight. Eight down, Fifteen to go. You can do it Madge.
A/N I have allowed for anonymous reviews! So if you have been reading these chapters and don't have an account you can review now and please do! I love getting them!
Sorry for the long update time! I picked up writing as a hobby when my boyfriend got a job in another state but I am visiting him now and am busy hanging out with him…so give me a bit. Though I did just create my outlines for the next 10 chapters so it will be quicker! This chapter is shorter than I thought it would be especially cause I am trying to update for you guys. So…yeah, kinda filler-y. Sorry. Seriously dramatic starting next chapter though.
Ceb37: I'm glad you understand and enjoy my story, ask if you don't understand anything!
DandelionOnFire: I intended for the arena to be a bit relaxed because I thought there was enough things trying to kill Madge that she didn't need the environment too! And yeah I hope for more reviews now…Thanks to purpleVampire, JRDurham, twilightfanatic18, ermangel, Prnyctina1091, pirate-princess1, Johanna, and FortuneFaded2012 for your reviews! I really love you guys especially for repeat reviewing!