A/N: I realize I kinda left you guys hanging with the whole Madge thing, so I'm sorry! Hopefully this chapter should clear it all up!
Chapter 25.
Gale POV
As I walk out of Coin's little office and back down the hallway, the events of the day catch up to me. District Twelve is gone. My home is gone. Madge is gone. Madge. My neck starts to sweat and my legs feet like cinder blocks. I try to walk, but it feels like I'm going nowhere. I see a door immediately on my left and drag my legs across the floor. I pull open the door and slam it with a bang behind me. I drop to the floor and pull my knees up against my chest.
I look around and see that the room is filled with various cleaning supplies. A storage unit on the left hand wall holds bottles of cleaners and solutions. Resting against the wall on my right is a broom, one with a big brown base and a smooth wooden pole. I pull it down into my lap and pull the knife out of my boot. Switching open the blade, I begin to whittle the wood down to the fine grains.
I get so lost in the scrape of the metal blade against the sleek wooden pole that for a minute, I lose ties to the real world. I don't even notice that I'm shaking until I can't hold the broom handle still anymore. My thumb slips and I nick myself with the tip of my knife. Letting out a loud string of curse words, I slam the carved up broom against the wall and chuck my knife at the closed wooden door. It flies straight through the air, landing perfectly in the grain of the door. It sticks straight out of the door, buried to the hilt.
I don't even think about how it happened, I just shrug it off and leave the knife in the door. A small rolling cart sits next to me and I shove it against the far wall, resulting in a loud bang followed by the crash of different bottles and cans hitting the floor. Hot tears begin to cloud my vision, but I blink them back, determined not to cry. My knees are still pulled up to my chest, and I lean back against the wall feeling defeated.
I promised her I would take care of her, I told her I would get her out, but I didn't. I told her I loved her, I do love her, why didn't I save her? Why couldn't I save her? At this point, tears are rolling down my cheeks. I wipe them away hastily and blink my eyes furiously. I hate the Capitol, I hate the Games, I hate Coin,and I hate myself.
I cough loudly in an effort to clear my throat of the large lump that has lodged itself in my airway. Wiping my eyes one last time, I collect myself and get to my feet. I take a swipe at the nearest shelf, knocking a (thankfully, sealed) bottle of clear blue solution to the floor with a crash. The room is so tiny, everything has its place and there's not room for it to be disorderly. I watch as the bottle rolls a foot or two across the crowded floor and comes to a stop next to a medium sized black crate full of dirty rags. Seeing the crate reminds me of the large stack that Greasy Sae stashed behind the Hob. An intense burst of fear runs over me, but it quickly dissipates when I remember seeing Sae board the first second hovercraft with her granddaughter.
The little girl used to be the one to stack the crates, if I remember correctly. Sae would trade with other sellers in the Hob for them and her little granddaughter would pile them up behind the Hob. Behind the Hob. I hurriedly step over and around the miniature obstacle course that is the room and yank my knife from the door with a grunt. I feel a little bad about making such a mess in here, but not enough to clean it up. Flipping the blade down, I slip the knife in my boot and throw open the door.
I reach Coin's tiny office in three long strides. Without bothering to knock, I pull open her door. "Hawthorne? What is it?" she snaps, looking a little surprised.
"When are we taking off?" I ask hurriedly.
"Momentarily, why do you ask?" she says.
"We need to fly over the District, and we need to go slowly," I tell her.
"Why would we do that? The Capitol hovercraft could easily see us and-" she begins to argue, but I cut her off.
"Can't we go invisible?" I ask. I remember from watching the Games all of my life that the hovercraft isn't actually visible until the claw comes down.
"Well, theoretically, we could. But why would we agree to that?" she asks.
"It's really important," I say persuasively, leaning against the door frame and crossing my arms.
"Why?" she presses.
"Because I said so!" I snap at her. She purses her lips and crosses her arms across her chest, clearly miffed.
"Hawthorne, I'm counting to three. You're going to give me both an apology and a proper explanation or I'll have you detained until we reach Thirteen, you understand?" she looks dead serious. I don't make a single move until she begins to count.
"One." There's a long pause. Why should i have to explain myself to her?
"Two." Another long pause. I'm doing her a favor in agreeing to tell Katniss about Twelve.
"Two and a half," she warns. She owes me, not the other way around.
"Okay, fine!" I give in, scared I'm about to cross a line, be a total smart-ass, and lose my chance of getting back into Twelve. She raises her eyebrows, clearly wanting her explanation. "I think there might be some, er, survivors in Twelve who we need to save," I tell her.
"They don't believe this is an honest operation, they had the choice to come and they didn't. We aren't going to waste time and risk lives for that," she argues.
"No, it's not them. They'll be a ways into the woods by now, if they even think to try to get out of the district on their own," I say.
"Then who?"
"Uh, a good friend of mine." I choose my words carefully.
"You want me to risk the safety of everyone on this craft for a friend of yours who may or may not be alive?" she asks, uncrossing her arms and drumming her fingers on her desk.
"Yes ma'am," I nod.
"Must be some friend," she raises her eyebrows.
"Yes ma'am," I repeat, feeling the blush creep onto my cheeks.
"Name?" she asks. She still hasn't agreed to do it, which worries me a little bit. Regardless, I lift my head and respond.
"Madge Undersee."
"Any relation to Reynold Undersee?" her eyebrows shoot up her head in curiosity.
"His daughter," I say.
"Why didn't you tell me that from the beginning?" she asks.
"Again, I shouldn't have had to," I respond with a knowing glance. For a split second, her confident grin falters, but she recovers quickly, clearing her throat and rising from her chair.
"Did her parents survive?" she asks. I shake my head.
"Her house was bombed, but she wasn't inside when it happened. She may still be alive," I say, trying to keep the details to a minimum.
"Well, I'll go speak with the pilot and see what we can do," she says, brushing past me. I hear her high heels click-clacking down the hallway. The clicking and clacking stops and a door opens and closes. I stand in the hallway, waiting for Coin to emerge from wherever it is she went off to. She returns shortly, looking smug.
"Go down the hallway and make a right, then a left. Open the door immediately on your right and wait for instructions from the pilot. His name is Nick. Hurry," she commands. I nod.
"Thanks," I say, following her directions and walking down the hallway. I make a right, then a left, and look for the door. It really is immediately on my right; I have to turn my body ninety degrees to see it.
What's on the other side of the door is overwhelming. Taking a single step into the room, I'm surrounded by tons of high-tech equipment ranging from large television screens to smaller hand held electronics scattered across long tables. At one end of the massive room is a large desk-like control panel with a huge window in front of it. I can see long tree trunks stretching up to the sky and far off in the distance, red and orange flames licking their way closer to us.
"You're Gale?" comes the voice. I snap to attention and see a man of about forty standing next to me, his arm outstretched. I turn to face him, shaking his hand firmly.
"That's me."
"I'm Nick, the captain of this fine flying machine!" he greets me cheerfully.
"Gale Hawthorne, nice to meet ya," I reply.
"So President Coin tells me we're switching to invisible and doing a fly-over?" he asks, motioning for me to follow him.
"That's the plan, yes," I confirm as we maneuver our way past all of the equipment.
"Alright, sounds easy enough. You have to pardon me for the appearance of the command center, we're usually much more orderly around here, but it's just me today, and I haven't really finished the inventory quite yet," he says apologetically, leading me to the large control panel by the window. I wave my hand dismissively, I don't mind the mess. He motions for me to sit in one of the large white chairs, so I do. He sits in the other and hands me a weird looking thing that looks like earmuffs.
"Earpiece. There's a built in microphone at the bottom so we can communicate once we're in the air and it gets loud," he explains. I nod and watch him put his own on before placing mine on my own head and adjusting the small microphone.
"Ready for takeoff?" he asks, flashing a toothy grin. I give him a half hearted thumbs up, and he begins spinning dials and pushing buttons. He begins to hum, and I tune him out as we rise into the air. Beneath us, tree tops blow sideways from the intense wind we've just created and a thick cloud of dirt kicks up.
I strain to see the District below us. I see a small huddle of people still in the meadow. I shake my head, and Nick nods knowingly, but doesn't stop for them. I instruct him to go left so that we can fly over the Seam and go to the edge of the District. He does as I tell him, and we reach the end of the District without seeing anyone beneath us. I tell him to turn so we can go back over the Seam and then continue over Town.
My stomach flies to my eyeballs as we suddenly drop, straight down, several hundred feet. "Sorry," comes the crackling voice through my earpiece. "It should be easier to see from a little closer down," Nick tells me. I grit my teeth and nod, praying my internal organs return to their proper places.
We fly over rows of Seam houses, the occasional slag heap, and several fallen trees. Most of the flames have extinguished themselves by now, but there's still random bunches of fire here and there. The Hob "mysteriously" burned down months ago, but its obvious where it once stood. Charred remains of the stone frame have tumbled to the ground and litter the dirt. A giant gaping hole in an otherwise crowded area of the district is a dead giveaway to the spot where the black market once stood.
I instruct Nick to slow the craft down as we approach the remains of the Hob. I don't even try to hide that I'm crossing my fingers. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath as the hovercraft slows to practically a crawl. "Gale, look!" Nick's voice snaps my eyes open. I squint out the window and see a tiny flash of yellow beneath us. My heart begins beating twice as fast and I uncross my fingers to run a hand through my hair.
"Go down," I instruct without explaining myself. He does as he's told, pulling the large lever between us and hitting several buttons. We begin our descent for a few seconds before abruptly stopping.
"I can drop the ladder here and you can take your chances going into the District while we wait here in invisible mode, but once we're closer than fifty feet to the ground, invisibility shuts off automatically," Nick says. "So what will happen is we'll be visible for the twenty seconds it takes for the ladder to descend, with you on it obviously, another ten seconds for the ladder to come back up into the craft, and then we'll fly up a few hundred feet so that we can't get hit with anything. Oh, and we'll return to invisible. When you're ready to come back up, just wave at the sky and I'll bring 'er down to get you and hopefully your friend. But you're gonna need to haul, yeah? We'll be visible for another thirty or forty seconds, and then we'll get going to Thirteen. Our radar shows there is nothing in the sky for a five-mile radius, so we think the bombing's over. However, if the Capitol was smart enough to go into invisibility mode, it wouldn't show up on our radar. Regardless, you have to move as soon as you get down there so we can get to Thirteen as soon as possible. The other crafts are already en route as we speak," he adds.
My head is spinning already, and with the information Nick just gave me, it's too much to process. I picked up a few key words, enough to know that I have to go into Twelve, pray not only that I can find Madge, but that there are no more bombs coming. Then I have to get back on the craft as soon as humanly possible. Without really considering what he just explained, I nod and remove my earpiece.
"You remember how to get to the little vestibule where you guys entered the craft?" he asks.
"Down the hallway, past the little sitting area, and on the right?" I ask.
"Yep. When you get there, press the green button on the left hand side of the door. The door will slide to the right, revealing the ladder. Hold on tight and hit the button a second time. The force field will activate and I'll lower the ladder to the ground. It will chime when the force field shuts off and it's safe to step off the ladder. When you're ready to come back, I'll have someone send the ladder down for you. Once the ladder chimes, step on and hold on. Signal us somehow and the force field will switch on and up you go," he explains. This time, I listen to what he's saying.
"Sounds easy enough," I say, rising from my seat. Nick wishes me luck as I maneuver my way out of the room and down the hallway. As I pass the sitting room where my family is waiting, my mother calls my name, obviously looking for an explanation.
"I'm sorry!" I call over my shoulder, turning the corner. Time is precious right now. I'm about to press the green button when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn around and find myself face to face with my mom.
"Mom, I have to go down there. I promised Madge and I just left her and-" I begin.
"No, I get it. Just, be safe. I love you so much, Gale, you know that right?" she says, her voice catching. I nod, feeling awful for worrying her so much. She pats me on the shoulder.
"I'll be back soon, Ma, I promise," I tell her reassuringly, reaching out for the green button. The door slides to the right, just as Nick said it would. I step onto the ladder, which is anchored to a steel wall. I hold the top rung with my right hand and extend my left arm for the green button. Just as I begin to push down on it, I hear my mom.
"Be safe!" she calls out as the floor drops from beneath me, the air turns cold, and I'm lowered towards the ground. After the ladder chimes, I let go, dropping several inches to the ground. I land on my feet with a thud, only several feet from where the Hob once stood. Looking up at the hovercraft, I flash a thumbs up, hoping Nick sees it. He must, because the ladder instantly retracts into the belly of the large plane and within seconds, the craft disappears entirely.
I look around to see where Nick dropped me. I'm about two blocks from the empty plot of land that used to be the Hob. I see nothing around me except remains of trees, small holes in the earth, and the occasional dead animal. The tiny bit of excitement in my gut is what fuels to me to take off at a run. I start sprinting towards the Hob, jumping over piles of ash and kicking stones and charred bricks out of my way. I run around the street corner first. There's no sign of life on the street, and I sigh audibly. I run a half block before stopping to peek into an alleyway, but it's empty. I run the rest of the distance to the Hob without another thought.
I step into the clearing where the Hob used to stand and try to catch my breath. The events of the day have taken a toll on me physically almost as much as they did emotionally. I'm absolutely winded and my legs are crying out in pain. I suck in a big gulp of air and pick up my pace again. I jump over a large pile of stone and approach the edge of the plot, where Madge and I used to meet up when we were keeping our relationship a secret.
All of a sudden, a huge burst of wind comes out of nowhere, practically knocking me over. A large cloud of dust kicks up, obscuring my view. I'm going to guess that Nick is directly overhead, and the motor to the craft is what's causing the intense wind. Almost as soon as it appeared, the wind ceases, and the dust cloud clears. Once I can see again, I rub my eyes and take a few steps forward.
"Gale?" comes the confused, yet familiar voice. I spin around, frantically trying to find its owner. Please be Madge. Please be Madge. Please, please, please be Madge.
"Madge?" I call out hopefully.
"Gale!" the voice repeats, this time an excited cry. I still can't tell where it's coming from, but I know it's her. I surprise myself by throwing my head back and laughing, like a child on the last day of school. She comes running out of the shadows, and I don't hesitate to take several steps toward her and open my arms. Her arms wrap around me so tightly I'm scared she's going to break a rib. I can't understand what she's saying, but I can feel her warm tears soaking through my shirt and I can feel her shaking beneath me.
After a minute of just holding her against me, I pull away from her. "Madge, we need to go," I tell her, half expecting another fight. She's quiet for a minute before slowly nodding, grabbing my hand in hers.
"How did you know where to find me?" she practically whispers.
"Just a hunch," I reply with a small grin.
"Thanks," is all she says.
"Is there anyone else in the district you know of?" I ask her. She shakes her head.
"I- I ran away from you earlier, and then I went back to my house, but...but..." her voice trails off.
"But what?" I urge her on, even though I'm pretty sure I know the answer.
"Never mind. No, there's no one else that I know of," she tell me. I nod and inhale deeply. I raise my hand into the air and wave up to the sky. I must look absolutely ridiculous until the hovercraft suddenly comes into view, a lot close than I had expected. The ladder drops down and I help Madge onto the lowest rung. I step on next her and extend a thumbs up towards the hovercraft, hoping that does the trick in terms of the signal that Nick needs. It does, and the air turns cold again as the force field locks us in place and we start to be raised up.
We're only about ten feet up when it happens. The ladder chimes unexpectedly, and for some odd reason I can't hold on anymore. I curse loudly as I tumble to the ground, landing on my arm with a cry. The last thing I hear before I blackout is Madge screaming my name from the ladder.