Chapter 39
(Gale POV)
I don't really sleep at all. I doze off for a minute here or there but I'm too on edge to let myself really sleep. Madge is curled up at my side, sound asleep. I can't even begin to explain the relief I felt in seeing her come through those trees. I am also really glad that we had made those survival bags ahead of time. I am sure anyone who stayed inside the fence didn't survive. I still can't believe her guy followed her out here into the woods instead of getting on the train. He is seriously obsessed with her and I know I'll need to keep an eye on him at all times. As soon as the sky starts to brighten just a hint, I get up and begin waking people up. We need to get moving. I know the further we get from 12, the better off we will be. I also know moving with a group of this size and with children will be much slower than I want it to be.
Once everyone is awake, I pull out the map and explain what we're doing.
"This is a map that tells us how to get to 13. I don't know if there's anything still there or not but I think it's worth checking it out. Shouldn't take more than a couple days to get there. Anyone who wants to come needs to be prepared to leave with my family and I in 10 minutes."
"What about food and water in the meantime? What will we do?" A woman asks me.
"There's a river we'll pass along the way that we can drink from. As for food, we have some minimal rations we can share but we need to make those last as long as possible. We can also look for things along the way, berries and small game maybe."
"What if nothing is there anymore? What if all the stories we heard about 13 are wrong?" A guy asks.
"I don't know. All I know is we can't stay here, it's still too close to 12. If we get there and it's all just rubble, we'll decide from there what to do next."
"What about him? Are we taking him with us?" A guy asks, pointing at Drew who is standing off to the side just watching us.
"He comes with us. I don't trust him to not send a crew after us if we let him turn back now." I say and then I look at him. "But you stay the hell away from Madge." I remind him.
"My name is Drew. You don't have to keep referring to me as He or Him." He pipes up.
I choke out a laugh. "I know your name, I just try never to use it."
Drew just stares and I'm not sure what he's thinking. I don't care though. I clear my throat and look back to the group as a whole. "So, if you want to come, get ready to head out."
Then I go over to where my family is, folding up the blanket they slept on and putting it back into the backpack. My mother takes me by the elbow and pulls me aside.
"Gale, what's going on with you Miss Undersee?" My mother asks in a quiet almost whisper tone.
"We've been seeing one another for a little while now, just didn't tell anyone about it until now."
"But she was engaged to another boy. How could you do that?" She looks so embarrassed that I may have done something dishonorable.
"They were never engaged. They were dating is all. And he was also dating someone else. And there's so much more to it than I can explain right now."
"Posey told me a princess was kissing you behind the house and I thought she was making up stories. Then you gave her that book about princesses that you said you got at the Hob. It was all Miss Undersee?" She asks, giving me a look.
"Yeah, it was Madge, you can call her by her first name you know. Look, I will explain it all to you later if you really want but for now, I just need you to know that she means the world to me so be nice to her please."
She smiles and pats my arm. "You know that I will."
I go over to where Madge is sitting, looking really out of place in her green satin dress but beautiful all the same. I smile and just watch her for a second, feeling so good that she's really mine now that all the Capitol restraints are off of her. She looks up and sees me watching her and smiles back at me.
"You about ready to get going?" I ask her.
"Yes. Just reorganizing my pack." She tells me as she slides Drew's leather journal into her bag.
"You gonna keep that?" I ask, not sure why she still has it.
"Yep. I told him that if he did anything to try and force me to still marry him that I turn him in. I need this as part of the evidence. I know we're out here and on our own and all now but I still feel like I need to keep it around, just in case."
"I won't ever let him get to you again, I promise you that." I tell her as I reach a hand out to help her up. As she stands, I pull her to me and kiss her.
"It feels really good to be able to do that and not care who sees us." She says, grinning from ear to ear.
"It feels really good to know you're finally really mine." I say back, kissing her once more.
Everyone in the group decides to come with us to find 13. We walk for nearly 3 hours before we have to stop and let the kids take a break. I pull out a bottle of water and one of the canteens and we pass them around to the group. It isn't much but everyone gets a drink and we still have reserves for later. Madge pulls a big container of almonds out and holds it up for me to see.
"I threw these in there just before I left the house. Should we pas them around too?" She asks.
I smile. "How did you have time to do that?"
"Drew told me as soon as I stepped inside the house that it was about to happen. I'm not sure how he knew beforehand. Anyway, it gave me an extra couple minutes so I ran to the kitchen and threw in some extra stuff. Figured we would need it."
I lean down and give her a kiss, thankful that she had such a clear head in the moment and thought of doing that, then take the container and make sure everyone gets a small handful. We rest a little while longer before we get back at it again. According to my map, we should hit a river before nightfall.
(Madge POV)
My feet are absolutely aching and I know the skin is rubbed raw. I really needed better shoes for this type of terrain but I can't complain. I'm lucky to even have these old flats. It would've been impossible to do any of this in my high heels. When we stop for the night I'm going to have to do a little first aid on them or else I'll never make it tomorrow. A satin dress is also not exactly made for hiking. The whole bottom of my skirt is shredded all around the hem because of it catching on twigs and branches as we walk. And satin is probably one of the least breathable fabrics ever made because I'm sweating up a storm.
As we make our way through the woods, I glance over at Drew once. I still can't believe he's stuck out here with us now. He looks about as miserable with this hike as I feel. I'm sure a suit and dress shoes aren't good hiking wear either. He's been quiet though, not saying anything as the group walks, just keeping his head down. Why didn't he just stay on the stupid train? Why would he follow me all the way out here where he's not at all wanted? I look away from him because the more I see him, the more angry I feel myself getting about him again. I take a deep breath in and push him from my mind. I reach out and take Gale's hand, giving it a light squeeze. He glances over at me and gives me wink, just like he did all those times he was flirting with me. I smile and a laugh escapes me.
"How do you make flirting part of hiking through the woods?" I ask.
"Who's flirting? I'm just being myself." He says with a teasing grin.
"Do you think we'll make the river by dark?" I ask, desperate to know we'll be stopping soon.
"Think so. SHouldn't be too much longer. When we get there, I'm gonna set a few small snares, try catch something we can eat. Maybe look around for some berry bushes."
"I'll help you." I tell him.
He shakes his head. "Nah, I want you to get some rest. We'll have another long day ahead of us tomorrow."
"At least let me wander around and look for berries while you set your snares."
"Not this time. Resting is really important and you haven't walked this much before. I don't want your legs cramping up on you tomorrow."
I sigh but I also know he is probably right. And at least if he's gone to hunt, I can tend to my feet without him getting all upset about how torn up I know they are going to be when I take my shoes off. The sun is just starting to set when we reach the river. It's so beautiful and I stand in awe of it, listening to the flowing water.
"It's so beautiful." I say without even realizing I'm saying it aloud.
"Isn't it? I always love how untouched nature looks." Gale agrees.
"It's a shame everyone does't have the privilege of seeing this sort of thing." I say, still almost in a trance over the sights before me.
"I've gotta get a few snares set before the sun completely goes away. I'll be back soon. If you need anything, just ask my brother." He tells me with a very quick kiss before he hurries off.
I look around and find a place to set my backpack and blanket for the night, settling on a tree not too far from the river's edge. After that, I take a bottle of water and drink down several big gulps. Now that we're by the river we can refill the bottles once they're empty since it's fresh water so I can drink as much as I need to without having to ration anything. I'm hungry but know that food still needs to be rationed so I hold off on eating anything.
I decide to go put my feet in the water, figuring that will help soothe them. I slip my shoes off, leaving them on the blanket and see that I have rubbed the skin clear off my feet. They're even a little bit bloody. Yes, water will be good for them. I walk down to the banks and tiptoe through the mud and into the water. It's cool and instantly feels so good on my feet. I wade a little deeper, welcoming the soothing feeling. I step a little deeper, wanting the water to go up to my knees and end up slipping on the muddy river bottom beneath the water, going completely underwater as I fall face first into it. Instantly I feel arms around me, pulling me upward.
I spin around once I'm on my feet, coughing as I spit out river water. I expect to see Gale but instead I find Drew.
"Are you okay?" He asks.
"Get away from me!" I tell him furiously.
"I wasn't trying to bother you. I just saw you slip and go under so I grabbed you and pulled you up. I know you can't swim and didn't want you to drown."
I wipe water from my eyes and push past him, making my way back to my blanket. Annoyed that I'll now spend the whole night in soaking wet clothes and annoyed that Drew once again was watching me when I didn't know it. I turn back, deciding now is as good a time as any to find out how he watched me all those years. "Wait. I want to know something." I tell him.
"Anything." He says, excitement in his face that I'm wanting to talk to him.
"I want to know exactly how you knew all those things about me. There were things in that journal that you couldn't have known."
"Different ways. Sometimes, especially when we were little, I would just ask my parents, usually my mother, about you anytime I thought I had a reason to bring you up. Like when your mother died, I asked about you at the funeral. Other times, and as we got older, as I learned more about computers, I found out things that way. Sometimes, they were just observations I made myself."
"What do you mean you used computers to find out things about me?"
He sighs. "Remember how I told you that the Capitol can listen in on any building they own? Well, I figured out how to tap in to those signals and listen to recordings."
My eyes widen at him. He's spent years listening to my private moments? "How could you do that? What sort of person does that?"
"I told you, I did it to get to know you better, to learn as much about you as I could so that I could be the best match for you."
I shake my head. "You are so delusional." I tell him, turning to walk away now that I have all the information I wanted.
"Wait, I have a question for you too." He calls after me.
I don't know why but I stop and turn back, raising my brows for him to ask whatever it is.
"Were you with Gale the whole time?"
"No, I wasn't. But I've been with him for a little while and I'm with him now."
"I could tell something was up. I couldn't figure it out but there was a shift in you, in the way you were around me. I chalked it up to the fact that you were annoyed with Ellison and just the Capitol in general. I had no idea it was because of another guy though. You could've been severely punished if anyone had found out you were dating someone other than your match, you're lucky you didn't get caught." He tells me.
"Well it's a good thing my real match was already an Avox then. At least I would've been in good company once I was punished." I say spitefully.
As I walk away, he calls after me. "I would've done anything to make you happy, I hope you know that."
Over my shoulder I disagree with him. "No, you would've done anything to make yourself happy. I think you proved that much."
Back at my blanket, I sit and let hot tears roll down my face. At least the tears will blend with the water dripping off me. The sun has pretty much set and I'm still all wet. This dress is never going to dry with me still wearing it, not this fabric. The only other thing I have in my bag is a light jacket though and it isn't long enough to wear alone. I'm trying to figure out if I can fashion some sort of dress out of my blanket but it's already partially wet too from me sitting on it and I can't figure out how anyway when Gale comes back.
"What happened to you?" He asks sounding like he's not sure if he should be concerned or laugh at me.
"I went to put my feet in the river and ended up slipping and falling completely in." I tell him, adding a laugh so that he knows not to be concerned about me.
"You're gonna be miserable in that wet dress all night." He laughs.
"I know. I was trying to figure out how to make some sort of dress out of this blanket but it's sort of wet now too."
"Here, you can wear this tonight. We'll hang your dress over the branches of the tree so that it can air out and hopefully dry before morning." He tells me as he pulls his shirt over his head and hands it to me. The sight of him without his shirt makes me blush and I look away.
He smiles in satisfaction at my blushing and puts his mouth to my ear. "Don't go all shy on me now that we're officially together."
I blush even more and push him away as I laugh and go to change out of my wet dress behind a large tree. Life may be completely upside down right now and the future is uncertain but I feel happier and more free than I ever have before.