With an earth-shattering scream, Madge jolts awake in her District 13 cot, drenched in sweat. Another horrifying nightmare; one where her father's searing fingers choked the life out of her while her mother's burning eyes stared on blankly.
It was just a dream. Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream.
Or at least, that's what she keeps telling herself as she tries to regain her breathing. A hand flies to her heaving chest and the other threads through her sweat-damped, wild hair that sticks out every which way. Almost immediately, she feels a sharp kick from the bunk below her. The sharp thrust sends Madge's head bumping into the ceiling.
"Shut up!" grumbles the girl unfortunate enough to be assigned to the bunk below Madge. The blonde can't see the rudely-awoke girl underneath her, but she can imagine the scowl deeply etched into the fellow orphan's face.
District 13 faced somewhat of an issue when they had been faced with the several orphaned children of District 12, Madge came to learn. They scrambled to figure out what to do with them, and eventually decided to dump them all in a previously-abandoned orphanage. Because of the lack of children in the underground district, many of the District 13 parents were eager to adopt the smaller orphans of District 12, but nobody seemed to take much interest in the teenagers like Madge.
So by the time they dropped Madge off at the orphanage, it was less of an orphanage and more of a cramped space filled with a bunch of unwanted teenagers who haven't yet turned eighteen. A few people like Delly Cartwright were lucky and turned eighteen before the bombing, and were able to take legal guardianship over their younger siblings. Madge, however, still has eight months till she turns eighteen.
There's hardly enough space to stretch with how cramped it is. And so, for the past seven days after being discharged from the hospital, Madge has spent her time either in the Rehab center or in the orphanage.
She sighs, rubbing the top of her head that had just been banged against the ceiling, and settles back in the hard bed. After a few moments, the snores of the bunkmate who had kicked her (as well as the snores of the other three girls who also share the small bedroom), fill the air. Madge begins fiddling with the mockingjay necklace about her neck, thinking over her dream. She tries to forget the imagery of her half-rotting parents trying to kill her.
Back in 12, she didn't really have time to mourn for her parents. Her one goal was to survive. But now that she doesn't have to fight to survive, she finds that she has a lot of time on her hands. And with that time, her mind goes to dark places. She regrets a lot of things, and she misses her parents so bad that it hurts. It hurts maybe even more than the dog attack.
Somehow, she manages to settle back to sleep. If she has anymore nightmares, she doesn't remember them when she wakes up in the morning — something she's most grateful for.
In the morning, she crawls out of bed and takes a look around the room. Including herself, Madge's room houses five girls in total. Madge and one other girl are Town kids, and the other three are Seam children. Hers and her roommates' ages vary from 14 to 17.
Amelina, the only Town child in the entire orphanage other than Madge, is just now waking up from slumber and she rubs at her bleary green eyes as she looks around the room.
Amelina's bunkmate — Lark — sits silently at the corner of her cot. Lark holds a small, worn picture of a pudgy baby giggling in her hands. Madge heard that Lark was a teen mother who lost her entire family in the bombing, including her little baby. Apparently, Thom had to drag a screaming Lark away from the body of her purple-faced, asphyxiated child. Since then, she hasn't spoken a word.
Madge yawns and climbs down from her upper-bunk, only to be confronted with the angry, gray glare of her bunkmate. She's pretty sure the girl's name is Hannah. Hannah cannot be any older than 14 or 15, and even though she has enough food to eat here in District 13, her bones still jut out and her knees are still knobby.
"None of us can get any sleep with you screaming like a banshee," the girl hisses, her gray eyes flashing. Her hair is interesting as it's red, something that unusual to both the Seam and the Town.
"Hannah, lay off of her," another girl from the opposite side of the room chides. Her hair is long and dark, reaching past her bottom. Her eyes are dark, and her skin is dusky with freckles spotted across her face. "She's been through... a lot."
Hannah, the redhead, scoffs. "I hate when you do this Clary. I know you're trying to act like Mom, but don't you dare get all high and mighty with me now. When we first found out that she was alive, what did you tell me?"
Clary shot her a dangerous glare. "Hannah, don't."
"I very specifically remember you telling me, 'I don't get what fuss is about. She spent a few weeks in Daddy's bunker and lost a fight with a dog. Big deal.' Isn't that what you told me, Clary?" Hannah shot back. "You know, you think that 'cuz you're my older sister, you're inherently more righteous than me — but you're wrong. You're nothing but a hypocrite!"
Clary ducks her head in shame and glances guiltily at Madge, who feels a strange air of indifference towards the whole thing. By this point, the entire room that the five girls share has turned silent. Amelina stares wide-eyed at Clary, then Hannah, then lastly Madge. Lark remains staring wordlessly at the picture in her frail hands.
All the girls, save for Lark, stare at Madge as if they expect her to lash out at them and call them all horrible names. But, it's not like she's unused to the treatment. Though it was never quite as direct as this, Madge always knew that her Seam classmates resented her wealth. And strangely, Madge is pleased. At least Hannah's not treating her as if she's made of glass. Lately, everyone she's come into contact with has been treating her with pity, almost like she's something that'll shatter if you're not careful.
Ultimately, she's too tired to care enough to get angry.
So instead, she mumbles a quick apology and bends down to fasten the straps of her prosthetic so she can quickly limp out of the bedroom and into the main room. There, she sees the several teenage orphans shuffling out of their rooms and towards the exit. It's time to report for breakfast in the Cafeteria. Or that's what the stern-faced Orphanage Director keeps intoning over the broadcast:
"Children, please report to the Cafeteria for Breakfast Feeding. I repeat: children, please report to the Cafeteria for Breakfast Feeding."
Madge joins the group and begins making her way to the Cafeteria. Before heading there, she waits in line for her turn to get tattooed. When it's her turn, she sticks her arm in this weird contraption in the wall and it squirts out purple ink to outline Madge's schedule for the day. Her schedule is the same most days. Breakfast at 7:00, Rehab at 8:00, Lunch at 12:00, and so on so forth until Madge finds herself asleep in a room shared with four other girls.
When Madge arrives at the Cafeteria with a tray of food in her hands, she sees Gale flagging her down with a wave of the arm. She sucks in a breath through her teeth and begins walking over to the table.
Gale's surrounded by his family as well as Katniss' family. For the past week, Madge has been also eating with them.
"Good morning," Prim greets as Madge nears.
The latter nods in turn before taking a seat near Katniss who offers a small smile. Madge returns it before beginning to slowly shovel the food down her throat. She lost a lot of weight since the bombings, and it feels strange to have a full belly at all hours of the day.
From across the table, Gale seems particularly interested in the food on his plate. He moves it around with his fork, and Madge remembers him mentioning his suspicion that the food they're feeding everyone is artificial. Rory and Posy are fighting over food, Hazelle's doing her best to break up the fight, and Vick is staring at Madge Undersee with a weird fascinated look in his eyes.
The Hawthorne Clan is by the most interesting group of people Madge has ever met. There's Hazelle, the tired but feisty mother. Then there's Gale, the overbearing, overprotective older brother. Who could forget about Rory, who has a ready supply of quippy remarks in his arsenal? And there's Vick, who finds Madge the most interesting thing in the world. And lastly, Posy, who spends her time battling her older brothers and babbling about pretty dresses and hair ribbons.
"Madge," says Vick very slowly. "How's your new leg going?"
Madge tries her very best not to make a grimace, but from Vick's defeated expression, she knows she has. "It's going okay..."
Yes, she does know how to get around. But it's not walking. It's her hopping with one foot and dragging her prosthetic behind her. She just can't seem to get the fake foot actually touching the ground sole-down. The staff at the Rehab Center say that it's improving, but Madge is handicapped, not an idiot.
"What about life in the orphanage?" Vick continues. At this, Hazelle flashes him a warning glance.
Madge clears her throat and puts on a smile. "Well, I'm sharing a room with four other girls. They're definitely... interesting company."
Hazelle looks at her worriedly, "You know, I could apply for temporary legal guardianship over you if the orphanage is getting too much for you."
Gale nods from the other side of the table. "Yeah, I'm sure we can figure something out for you."
Before Madge can figure out what else to say, Katniss butts in. "Or you can stay with my family. We have enough space for you."
"No thank you," says Madge firmly. She'd much, much rather stay in the orphanage with girls who hated her guts than with families who accepted her out of pity. Recently, pity's the only thing she's been receiving lately, and the last thing she needs is moving in with people who pity her. "It's only eight months or so until I turn eighteen. I can last until then."
The table goes quiet for a little, save for Rory and Posy's arguing. Finally, Vick speak up, "You know, I was down in the Library, and I found this book all about cyborgs and—"
Gale suddenly reaches over his mother and an arguing Posy and Rory, to clamp a firm hand over Vick's mouth before the younger Hawthorne could finish his sentence.
"What did I tell you last night?" Gale all but growls at his younger brother. He then looks over at Madge apologetically. "I'm sorry. Really, I think Ma' dropped this one on the head one too many times and—"
Vick sticks out his tongue to spit on Gale's hand, the latter quickly withdrawing his arm with a resounding 'ugh.'
"What... what are cyborgs?" Madge asks as Gale wipes his now-slobbered-on hand on a napkin.
The oldest Hawthorne boy makes a strange groaning sound at her question.
...
Gale survived the whipping. Gale survived the mines. Gale even survived the bombings. And after going through all that, this is how Gale's going to die. By his fucking brother publicly comparing the girl he's got confused feelings for to an ancient, creepy creature that looks like it crawled right out of a Capitol Mutation Lab.
After Madge asked what a cyborg was, Gale had been about to clamp a hand over his brother's mouth again. But Vick had seen his opportunity to impress Madge Undersee with his new-found knowledge about half-robotic-humans. And before Gale could interrupt him again, Vick launched into a well-rehearsed speech about beings with both organic and mechanical body parts. And how, upon reading this book about the creatures, he was reminded of Madge. And how, technically, Madge is now a cyborg.
And this little rant of Vick's has gone on for the better part of five minutes.
Now, as Vick is nearing the end of the drawn-out speech, the boy decides to pull out the library book in question and show her it. The humanoid on the front cover looks every bit as abnormal as it did last night when he had shown it to the family during Recreational Time. Gale decides then and there that he's going to either die of embarrassment or live long enough to make sure his brother is dead by the end of the hour.
He eventually decides to bury his face in his hands. However, when he hears Prim dissolving into a fit of laughs and no longer hears Rory and Posy fighting, he's confused. Finally, Gale lifts his hands from his face and sees his pink-faced, embarrassed mother. From the other side of the table, Katniss is giving a rare smile and even Mrs. Everdeen looks amused. To his surprise, he sees Madge smiling a real, genuine smile.
After Vick finishes, Madge chuckles and it reminds him of the snickers she'd made back at District 12. She brushes her hair back and is smiling when she says, "Cyborg Undersee, eh? Has a nice ring to it."
When Vick had brought up the "cyborg" thing up last night, Gale had told him that he should be trying to make Madge feel normal and not like some weird, ancient figment of the imagination. But now, apparently, Vick's idea wasn't half-bad. He looks over at Vick, who's practically preening at her praise, and decides that maybe he won't have to kill the little brat after all.
But then he looks back at Madge and sees that she's scowling at him, and he changes his mind once again.
...
If you were to wander into the Rehab Center in District 13 around 8:30 or so, you'd hear sharp arguing between the staff and the stubborn girl they're trying to help. You'd see a scrawny blonde girl being helped off the ground by a staff member, the former protesting all the while. You'd see the blonde holding back tears as she tries, and fails, to stand, the fake leg underneath her giving way under her weight.
"It hurts. I can't do this," she gripes.
"Yes, you can. If you can survive Capitol-made bombs, you manage walking," responds the staff member calmly. He kneels so he's eye-level with her. "I don't want any more excuses. I don't want you dragging that leg anymore. It's time for you to walk."
Madge looks up at him angrily. "What do you think I've been trying to do?" she snaps. With each actual step that she takes, it feels like her leg is splintering underneath her and the metal of the prosthetic is digging into whatever actual leg she has left. Even if she ignores the pain, she's horribly unbalanced and keeps falling over.
"I think you've been trying to just get by," he replies. His name-tag reads, "Citron." He looks down at her sharply. "And maybe that's what you're used to back in District 12. But here in 13? We thrive. And you, Soldier Undersee, are in desperate need of a wake-up call. Get up, now."
His tone is sharp and frustrates Madge, but she appreciates the fact that he's treating her like he would any other person.
Very much unlike how Gale treats her. Like today at breakfast, did he really think she couldn't handle Vick comparing her leg to something he read in a book? She knows Gale means well, but it's a little insulting, to be honest. If she could survive over a month in a bombed-out district with a few packs of jerky, a bottle of water, and the clothes on her back, she can survive District 13. Today, he had earned a sharp glare for his unwanted pity, but she has a feeling that's he's not going to stop anytime soon.
Everyone thinks she's useless and fragile. She was a dumb, blonde, good-for-nothing, girl back in 12 whose only purpose was sitting around and looking pretty, constantly overshadowed by the stardom that seemed to follow Katniss Everdeen, and now she can't even walk properly.
These thoughts circle her mind alongside the ever-persisting barking from the instructor behind her, and Madge finally snaps. With a huff of frustration, Madge pushes off the ground with her good leg. She hovers for a second and slowly brings down her fake leg. She focuses on the nerves she can actually feel and guides the metal contraption until it hits the ground. She looks down and sees the sole of the prosthetic perfectly on the ground.
"What did I tell you?" says Citron gruffly. But behind the gruff voice, Madge can hear a smile.
Sweat is glistening above her brow as she attempts to take a step. Slowly, she glides her fake leg through the air and tries to land it squarely on the floor. When she manages to take her first actual step (not just a hobble), she turns back to her trainer with a smile on her face.
"Take another one," he says.
And she does. Or, at least she tries to. Her stroke of luck, however, seems to end as she loses her footing and falls backward. Thankfully, Citron manages to catch her before she can land on her rump.
"I'm proud of you," he says. "You took your first proper step today. You keep doing that, you keep giving me your all, and I'm going to make you the finest soldier here in 13."
Madge nods mutely, ignoring the ache in her leg.
...
By the end of the day, Madge has taken several perfectly executed steps. She still has somewhat of a hobble mind you, but it's certainly improving. She hobble-walks her way back to the orphanage, pleased to find the pain decreasing over time. When she tries to enter the orphanage, she's met by the stern-faced director of the orphanage: a woman who everyone calls Ms. Galloshire.
The gray-haired woman holds out her hands, blocking Madge from entering.
Instead, Ms. Galloshire states, "Soldier Undersee, I believe your stay here has expired."
A stupid part of Madge's brain suddenly thinks that they're going to kill her. Then, a less stupid part of her brain guesses that they're kicking her out for screaming too loud at night. "What do you mean?"
"The application for temporary legal guardianship over you has been accepted. I figured you'd remember knowing about this," Ms. Galloshire continues in a tone that implies that Madge is some sort of blundering, forgetful idiot.
"Who applied for legal guardianship?" Madge asks, knitting her brows together. Did Hazelle Hawthorne and/or Mrs. Everdeen really go against her wishes and apply?
"That's my cue, right?" rasps a nasally, all-too-familiar voice from behind her.
Madge spins on her heel, feeling her heart sinking. Anyone but him! Standing in the brightly-lit hallway stands a greasy-haired man with a smirk and heavy eyebags underneath his eyes. And though there's not a lick of alcohol to be found in District 13, Madge swears that she can still smell it on his breath.
"You," she hisses. She turns back around to glare at Ms. Galloshire. "What—what's Haymitch doing here?" she all but cries.
Ms. Galloshire purses her lips into a thin line. "Soldier Abernathy will be serving as your temporary legal guardian, Soldier Undersee."
A/N: Sorry for the wait! School started back up again, and it's been difficult finding enough time to get back into writing. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. As always, any feedback/criticism/suggestion is always welcome! (Also, this wasn't explicitly mentioned in the chapter, but for those of you wondering: Delly Cartwright turned 18 in this fanfic a few weeks before the Bombing. And thus, she was able to avoid the orphanage and apply for legal guardianship over her brother.)