Present Day — Four Weeks After The Bombing of District 12
Location: District 13
Madge is trembling.
As a citizen of Panem, Margaret Undersee is no stranger to gruesome sights. Whether it be watching a boy getting whipped senseless after hunting a turkey or watching a 12-year-old girl speared through the chest, she has grown callous to it. But this — this is enough to make her want to curl up in a ball and sob for the poor souls who died such a brutal death.
Her azure eyes scan the remains of her district, and she feels the bile rising in her throat.
Her knees are wobbly, but she forces herself forwards. The carnage is much worse than she had thought. Madge soon comes to realize that there were two types of deaths brought on by the bombs. If you were lucky, you were incinerated on the spot. Others were not as lucky — not burned by the flames, but succumbing to the lack of oxygen.
Those in the latter group are scattered across the district, their corpses left to rot.
She squeezes her eyes shut and dashes through the scorched land, resisting the urge to break down into tears after passing the body of what looks to be a small child. She remembers Posy, the sweet little dark-haired girl who's giggles are infectious. Oh, she hopes dearly that little Posy somehow made it out...
Somehow, she forces her way through the district, and Victor's Village comes into view. Like she had predicted, it was left untouched — exactly how it looked before the bombings. She swallows the resentment rising in her throat and cautiously entered the gated community. She walks through Victor's Village, eventually finding herself in front of Haymitch's house.
Her jaw locks and her teeth clench as she remembers the often-drunk man. She remembers the first time he asked her to spy for him, to bring back confidential papers from her father's office. She obliged, of course, the rebellious part of her hungry for some action. At the time, she knew that he had some sort of rebellious scheme, but had no idea what. She certainly didn't expect to be anything like what happened in the arena.
Now, she realizes that she had been played like a puppet by the man. Surely, he knew what would happen to District 12. He knew that as soon the arena broke, the Capitol would've bombed District 12 to the ground. Yet, he didn't even give her a head's up. She could've gotten her family out in time had he told her!
She sighs, shaking her head. What good would remaining bitter do now? Haymitch is probably being tortured by the Capitol, if not dead, and the damage is already done. She opens the door cautiously, grateful at the fact that the man didn't make it a habit to lock his doors. She pushes the wooden door open, half-expecting a Batallion of Peacekeepers to attack her.
It's a stupid idea to go digging through the three remaining houses in the District for food. But the painful claws of hunger digging into her belly is what's driving her.
Luckily, she is greeted by nothing more than the creaking wood. She tiptoes into the house and quickly realizes that the house is exactly the way Haymitch kept it. The distant smell of vomit filters through the air and empty bottles of whisky litter the already-cluttered table. Anger surges through her at the sight of the table. That's where they would meet, huddled over the table as Madge gave him the papers she snuck from her father's office.
For the second time today, she forces herself to calm down.
She quickly peeks through his pantry and doesn't find much. She does find rubbing alcohol, which she quickly stashes away in her backpack. She could use that to treat the cuts and scrapes she has received over her time spent in the woods. She also snatches a roll of bandages from the cabinet and stuffs into her backpack.
Madge goes to Peeta's house next and finds several packets of peanut-buttered filled crackers, a half-filled bag of walnuts, and a packet of dried fruit strips. It takes her all the self-control she can muster to not immediately devour the food she found.
Instead, she shoves it into her backpack and forces herself to leave Peeta's house, heading to the last house in Victor's Village: Katniss'. Madge slowly approaches the door before pushing it open. Just like the other two houses, Katniss' looks exactly how it was left. Prim's textbook is open and laid out across the kitchen table, along with a few pencils and markers. There's a pot on the stove, and when Madge peers inside of it, she realizes that in it was soup that has now solidified against the bottom of the pot.
She looks in the fridge and pantry and finds a variety of rotting, stale, and molding products that she won't eat regardless of how hungry she is. The only thing non-perishable that she manages to find was a bag of hard candy that probably belonged to Primrose Everdeen.
However, she does manage to hit the jackpot when she opens the medicine cabinet. A variety of medicines greet her. There are several medicines here, some she hasn't even heard of before. She reaches into the cabinet and grabs a few medicines, just in case she was to ever need them, and stuffs them in her backpack. As she rummages through the contents of the cabinet, about a dozen or so vials catch her eye.
Morphling.
She immediately recognizes it as the morphling she brought Gale when he was whipped senseless. She shudders remembering it. It was one of the worst things she's ever seen done to someone. That day will always be forged into her mind, she realized long ago. The way his flesh hung in ribbons about his back, exposing the white of his bone. The way he screamed, the way tears stained his face. No matter how many times she tries to clear the image from her mind, Gale's agonized face still haunts her.
She was there when it happened, frozen in place as Thread brought down the whip over and over again.
Madge was about to step forward, hoping that there were certain privileges that came with being the Mayor's daughter that could spare Gale. Before she could, the dark-haired huntress she's grown to resent shoved her way past the crowd. And Madge hated herself for being so cowardly, for standing there and watching it happen.
So Madge sprinted through District 12, running back to her house. Gale needed morphling, and he needed a lot of it. Madge initially thought to take the morphling without asking her mother's permission, thinking that her mother would've opposed the idea. So to say that she was surprised to find her mother pressing vials of morphling into Madge's palm, would be an understatement.
She remembers running through the blizzard, how the snow encrusted her lashes and hair. How she collapsed as she was returning home. She was lucky to have collapsed right outside her home, her father having spotted her in time to carry her back in before she froze to death. She received one heck of a tongue-lashing after that from her Dad, the man she scared half to death when he came back from the Justice Building to find his daughter passed out in the snow.
She got pretty sick after her little stunt, but it was worth it. A few weeks later, Hazelle Hawthorne found her and gave her a teary-eyed thank you. When the woman asked what she could do to repay her, Madge only requested she would never tell her son about the morphling. She looked like she wanted to protest but eventually agreed to the request.
A loud meow snaps her out of her thoughts.
Fur bristled and back arched, stands a raggedly old tomcat. The mangey animal is standing in the open doorway, and Madge immediately recognizes it as Primrose's cat. The cat looks surprisingly well-fed and in relatively good condition, if not for his limping front paw. She notices how the tomcat has to hobble with every step and immediately feels a pang of pity for it.
She kneels down, making 'tsking' noises with her tongue. "C'mere, kitty, kitty," she coos, feeling slightly ridiculous.
The cat hisses at her in response.
Madge suddenly understands the deep-rooted hatred her friend had towards the creature. She's tempted to just leave it be and ignore its pain when suddenly, she felt the cat brush up against her leg. She hobbles back out of surprise and watches as the cat lets out a broken cry.
Swallowing her pity, she reaches down and scoops the cat into her arms and it immediately buries its face into her golden hair. Madge remembers visiting the Everdeens once during Katniss' first Games. She had come to bring some food, which Gale snapped at her for afterwords, and noticed how the red-eyed Primrose Everdeen had the cat in her arms.
At the time, the cat was nestled in her arms and burying its face into Prim's blonde hair. Madge now realizes, as the animal purrs into her shoulder, that the creature is simply missing its owner.
"There, there," she whispers. "You're alright now."
Again, she feels somewhat ridiculous but still doesn't let go of it. She's been so dreadfully alone these past few weeks, and finally having another companion feels... nice. After a few long moments, she sets the cat back on the ground and feeds it bits of her precious jerky. The cat happily obliges, and Madge bends down to inspect the paw of his.
After inspecting it, she notices the splinter deeply shoved into the cat's paw pad. She winces before pulling it out with her ragged fingernails. The cat gives a sharp hiss and draws his paw back. Madge gingerly takes his paw back in her hands and grabs the bandages out of her backpack. Tearing some of the material with her teeth, she wraps it around the cat's paw. To her surprise, the cat doesn't give much of a protest.
Madge ignores the cat for the time being and travels around the house, keeping her eyes peeled for anything that could be of good use to her. If she remembers correctly, there should be her bow and arrow from the 74th Games somewhere around here. She remembers Katniss telling her that apparently, all Victors get to keep the weapons they used in the arena. Finnick was able to keep his trident, Johanna was able to keep her ax, and Katniss was able to keep her bow.
Though she doesn't exactly know how to fire a bow and arrow, it may be useful to keep with her.
She marches upstairs and into Katniss' room. The room is tidy, she realizes, a sharp contrast to herself. Her bed is made neatly, and on top of it lays a book. It's a worn-out leather-bonded book that Madge recognizes immediately.
When Katniss slipped on ice shortly after returning from the 74th Games, she was confined to her bed for two weeks. During that time, Madge and Peeta would take turns visiting her. Once, Madge's visit accidentally coincided with Peeta's. She had entered Katniss' room to find Peeta in the bed with her, the both of them fixated on a drawing Peeta was making.
"Uh— sorry! I'll just come back another time," Madge had babbled, her cheeks reddening once they spotted her.
"Nonsense," Peeta assured her with the wave of his hand. "Why don't you help us?"
And the rest of the afternoon, Madge helped them make additions to the herb book. She insisted they reserve some room for her dear strawberries in there, but Katniss disapproved. Katniss argued that it was stupid because "only an idiot wouldn't recognize a strawberry when they see it." Together, Peeta (who happened to also be a fan of the berries) and Madge pestered the huntress until she finally obliged.
At the bottom of the page, Katniss scrawled in neat handwriting: "Courtesy of Margaret Jean Undersee and Peeta James Mellark, dear friends of mine who need this book to identify a strawberry."
Of course, Peeta and Madge only laughed at Katniss' sarcastic comment.
That day seemed a million years ago, Madge thinks to herself. It was days like those, where she truly felt like a teenager. She was able to kick back and relax with a couple of friends without having to worry about anything. She wants to reach over and flip through the pages, but her hands are far too dirty and she fears that she'll stain the pages her friends worked so hard on.
She looks down at her hands and doesn't recognize them. They're dirt-stained, blistered, scarred, and her fingers are crooked in some places — a far cry from the thin and nimble fingers she used to play her piano with. Madge peels her eyes away from the book on the bed and walks to the mirror that was hung up on the wall. She nearly gasps at the sight of herself.
Margaret Undersee has never been this dirty in her entire life. Her mother is probably rolling in her grave. Her face has dirt and soot smeared across it, covering her skin in a thin coat of filth. She had washed herself in the spring a few days ago, but apparently, that wasn't enough. She needs a shower. A long, hot shower. Her long golden hair is tangled and coiled in tight, frizzy curls.
Her dress is in an even worse state. Torn at the edges and horribly stained, Madge quickly realizes she's going to need to borrow some clothes from Katniss. It feels wrong to steal clothes from your dead best friend, but Madge doesn't think her dress is able to withstand a proper washing.
Madge gathers some clothes of Katniss' — a loose t-shirt and pants — and heads to the guest bathroom. Just like it was the last time she came over, the shower is stocked with fancy toiletries from the Capitol. She strips off her dirty clothes and hops into the shower, taking sharp notice of how the water turns dark after she steps in. The shower stings her back like hot, little needles.
She sighs, remembering how her mother would give her long bubble baths with soaps that smelt of strawberries. Of course, that all ended after her mother became more and more dependent on morphling. The morphling was the main reason behind the strained relationship between Madge and her mother. Madge loved her mother, she knew that much, but she hated how her mother chose morphling over her every single day.
She was bitter towards the woman, angry that she abandoned her daughter just like that.
And Madge is still angry, she realizes as she steps out of the shower and pats herself dry. She can't remember the last time her mother hugged her, or the last time her mother ran her fingers through her blonde hair. Isn't that what normal mothers do with their daughters? And now that her mother's gone, Madge only has a handful of pleasant memories of her to remember her by.
Despite how hard she tries to remember her mother as a caring woman, when Madge thinks of her, she only sees a weak shell of a woman who spent more time doped on morphling than she spent with her daughter.
A/N: I wanted to make this chapter kind of a "walk down memory lane" kind of thing. I hope I conveyed that well. Thoughts on this chapter? I know that it's pretty Madge POV heavy, but I will be writing about our favorite District 13 soldiers in the next one.
