We Didn't Start The Fire
by FanficAllergy & RoseFyre
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Chapter Twelve: Clocks
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Last Time in We Didn't Start The Fire:
I'm staring in shock at what I see. The Mayor is dead, and what's more, he died valiantly, protecting his group.
From beside me, Katniss whispers, "Where's Madge?"
Oh fuck.
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Where is Madge?
I don't know.
Her quarters aren't near ours and she doesn't sleep in the hospital anymore. I haven't seen her at breakfast, so she's probably not here. I wonder if she might be with Rye, but I think he's training right now and Madge isn't healthy enough for that yet and she probably never will be.
Gale turns to Katniss. "You'd know the best out of any of us what Madge's schedule would be." He's right. They host that radio show together, if anyone knows where Madge would be other than Rye, it's our wife.
Katniss frowns, thinking. "I think she's got physical therapy down in the Infirmary?"
I swear internally. All of the rooms in the Infirmary have televisions, it's how Prim was able to see Pacifica's death. There's almost no chance Madge would have missed seeing her father die.
"If she's not there, she's probably at breakfast," Katniss says.
Gale stands up and looks around. He's the tallest out of all of us and so has the best chance of spotting her. "She's not here," he states a moment later.
"She could be eating someplace else," Messalla points out. "This isn't the only cafeteria in Thirteen."
"We don't have time to check them all out," I say. "The Infirmary's our best bet."
Katniss nods her head. "I think she said she doesn't like to eat until after her therapy anyway. It's pretty painful from what I can gather and she doesn't want to throw up from the pain."
"I guess that means we're checking out the Infirmary first."
We hasten through the halls, keeping our eyes out for any sign of Madge or Rye. If my brother saw what happened, he'd be heading for Madge too, and right now Madge can use all the friendly faces she can get.
We don't encounter Rye, much to my disappointment, I think he could comfort her better than we can. When we get to the Infirmary, I initially don't see any sign of Madge.
Messalla goes up to talk with the nurses on duty while the rest of us stand around nervously. He comes back a few moments later, saying, "She's in the exercise room."
I don't know what that means. But Messalla seems to know where it is, because he leads us to a large room with several bright blue mats, a few large inflated balls, various weights, and other odd-looking equipment. I look to see if there's a television and there is, but to both my relief and dread, the screen is black. It's not on. There's a chance Madge doesn't know that her father is dead, which means we might have to break the news to her.
Fuck.
I think back to how I was told my father was dead. My mother, in her typical uncaring manner, informed us that my father had had the temerity to die, leaving her with this shithole of a business and three lazy worthless sons who had as much sense as the day they were born. We couldn't even cry until later, because my mother had worked herself up so much that any sign of weakness would have been taken as a sign of disrespect and swiftly punished.
No. I don't have any good experience with how to tell somebody their parent has died. I hope Gale or Katniss can do better.
We take a deep breath and step into the room. Messalla chooses not to come in with us, instead guarding the door.
Madge is the only person in the room. She's located in the right hand corner by the door, working on some contraption that has her extending and bending her knee. I have no idea what it's supposed to be doing, but the slim girl has a look of intense concentration and pain on her face, and we're about to make it worse.
We take a few steps forward and I clear my throat. "Madge," I say to get her attention.
She looks up and seems surprised to see us. "Peeta! Katniss… Gale… what are you doing here?"
We pause, looking at each other. None of us wants to have to be the one to say it.
Madge's concern grows. "Guys… what's wrong? Something's happened, hasn't it?"
I nod my head. There's no point in trying to hide that.
"What? You guys can tell me. What? Is it my father?"
I nod my head again.
"Is he hurt?"
I shake my head.
Katniss sighs, stepping forward, saying, "I'm sorry, Madge. His alliance was attacked. It was a mutt, a shark mutt. He… he was protecting them. He didn't make it. I'm sorry."
The girl slumps backwards, leaning on the equipment. "You're trying to tell me he's dead, aren't you?"
"I'm sorry," Katniss repeats.
Madge crumples forward, her body wracked with sobs.
Katniss sits down next to our friend, wrapping her arm around Madge's shoulders. "It was quick. I'm sure he didn't feel anything."
"It doesn't matter, my father is dead!" She dashes at her tears with one hand. "I had hope! We all hoped that he might, that he might come back! That he could come home, or that we could rescue him!"
I understand how she feels. It's easy to make up scenarios where everything goes right and someone magically comes and saves the day, but the Games don't work like that. Even Thirteen doesn't work like that. Coin told us as much when she told us a rescue mission was impossible.
"This isn't how it's supposed to go," Madge sobs.
"I'm sorry," Katniss says again. "None of this turned out how it was supposed to, but you can't let it destroy you."
"Easy for you to say!" Madge glares at my wife.
"It's not," Katniss soothes. "Really, it's not. I know how you feel. I've been there."
"We all have," I add. "All of us know what it's like to lose a parent, especially one you're close to." And we do. Out of all of us, only Katniss really has a parent left. My mother's been lost to me for years and my father was the only parent I really cared about. Gale's lost more than any of us, and he's still here.
I move forward, crouching down beside Madge. "We're here for you if you need us. Not just for this but… but… for anything. We're here for you."
She nods her head and starts crying again. We let her because we all know she needs to mourn.
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like everyone got the memo because I can hear a slight commotion outside. It sounds like Messalla is arguing with someone.
The door opens, revealing Coin's aide. The man walks into the room and clears his throat, steadfastly ignoring the steady glare Messalla is giving him. "Miss Undersee?" James pauses, frowning at us. "President Coin would like to have a word with you."
I hear Katniss growl low in the back of her throat. This is not the time for others to intrude on Madge's grief.
But Madge has always known her duty. She nods, wiping her face and rising to her feet. "Of course." She's still crying. I don't think she's going to stop anytime soon.
"We're coming too," Gale says, speaking up for the first time.
"President Coin doesn't need to speak with you." The aide curls his lip at my husband.
"That's too bad," Katniss interjects, her eyes hard. "Madge is our friend. We're not leaving her."
James frowns but decides to give in, gesturing for us to walk with him.
Messalla glances at Madge, then the three of us, and checks the schedule on his arm. "I'm supposed to meet Cressida in fifteen minutes," he whispers to me as he leaves. "Let us know if you need anything."
I nod to him, grateful to have some friends here in Thirteen. Cressida, Messalla, and the rest of that group have been steadfastly in our corner. I just hope their loyalty to us doesn't hurt them in the end.
The walk to President Coin's office is uncomfortable. With each step Madge takes, her sobs increase. By the time we reach Coin's office, she's turned into a blubbering incoherent mess. Even wiping her face does nothing to hide the tears. None of us blame her, but Coin seems taken aback when Madge enters. I'm not sure what the woman really expected. Madge just lost her father, her only living parent. Of course she's a mess.
"I wanted to offer you my condolences, Ms. Undersee, on the death of your father," the president says. "He died bravely and he was a true revolutionary hero." The words have clearly been rehearsed and I glance around to see if this little moment is being taped.
It is.
There's a small camera set up in the corner of the room and I can see a red light blinking steadily. I wonder where the feed is being broadcast to. Remembering Messalla's words from earlier, I suspect this might have something to do with the upcoming election.
"You can take comfort in the fact that he died without blood on his hands."
Madge sobs harder.
Coin tries to keep going. "He'll go down as one of the martyrs of the revolution and his name will be spoken of throughout the ages."
I shake my head. For a leader of a district, President Coin is having a really hard time talking to one seventeen year old girl. She's trying to make a speech, and the speech is not really helping. I imagine she's used to more stoic people. Maybe she's trying to prove that Madge will make a better Mockingjay. If that's the case, it's not going to work.
I step in. "Is there something you wanted to talk to Madge about, Madam President? Maybe it can wait for later?" I glance at the crying Madge pointedly.
Coin quickly covers an irritated glare. "No, I'm afraid it cannot wait. Panem needs you, Ms. Undersee. The districts need you. They need to hear your grief and they need to hear that your father's message of freedom has not perished with him."
"You're asking her to do a propo? Now?" Katniss asks incredulously. "She needs time to grieve!"
"And I'd love to give her that time, Ms. Everdeen. But unfortunately the revolution waits for no one." She turns back to Madge. "We'd like for you to make a broadcast. We've gotten word that your father's message, as well as your own, have had noticeable effects on the districts."
"What do you mean?" Katniss asks before Madge can say anything.
"People are leaving, Ms. Everdeen. It started the night of the interviews and at first the reports were inconclusive. But we've finally gotten confirmation that our message has been heard. People. Are. Leaving. We need to keep that momentum going, not let it die."
"How do you know?" Katniss sounds confused.
"We have several operatives in key positions who report back to us."
"Spies," I say. "You've got spies." I should've known.
"Of course we do. This is a war, after all, and you can't win wars if you don't have proper intelligence." It makes sense. Coin admitted earlier that they had operatives, and I guess it's good that we're getting information from them, even if it's not the best information.
Gale speaks up. "What about the people who are running away?"
"What about them?"
"Are you gonna go get them?"
"Unfortunately, as nice of a thought as that might be, District Thirteen does not have the resources or manpower to risk going after all of the fleeing citizens." Coin's words are much more regretful than her tone.
"But they'll die!" I can't keep from exclaiming. "There's traps around the districts! And they'll starve! You're condemning them to death."
"And that is regrettable, but their sacrifices will not be in vain. The more people who run, the fewer remain to run the Capitol's war machine." She pauses, regarding each of us. "Frankly, I want more to run."
"But we could use them," Gale protests. "We need soldiers, people willing to fight. You're not going to be able to win the war against the Capitol without soldiers."
"And we'll have them, when the time comes," Coin dismisses my husband. "But for right now we do not have the resources to support everyone who runs. Food is already a rationed product and, unlike the Capitol, we cannot supplement our stores by stealing from the various districts."
"Still! That can't just be it. You can't just be writing them all off."
"We are not writing them off, Mr. Hawthorne. Besides, how do you propose we rescue refugees from District Three, for example?" she asks pointedly, pulling out a map of Panem. She points to a spot on the map. "They are on the far side of the Capitol and difficult to get to by hovercraft. It is likely anyone we sent would be killed by the Capitol and we'd lose people rather than gain them."
I study the map and see Gale and Katniss doing the same. It's the first real map we've seen. The Capitol likes to keep the districts in the dark about locations and I can see that they also feed us misinformation as well. Eleven isn't the closest district to Twelve, like we'd been taught. Eight is.
"What about the districts that are close to Thirteen?" Katniss asks. "District Six? Eight? Twelve?" She fixes Coin with a hard look. "Why can't we help them?"
"I suppose we could have patrols sent out nearer to the district borders to collect any refugees. But they'll have to make it out into the wilderness on their own," Coin warns. "District Six, in particular, is too heavily defended, and I refuse to sacrifice my well-trained soldiers for a few transients. Is that an acceptable compromise?"
I sense that it's all we're going to get. The three of us share a glance and I let them know it's not worth fighting anymore. Coin isn't going to budge and, as much as we'd like to ensure the safety of everyone who defects, she's right that the logistics just aren't possible. The three of us nod, accepting Coin's offer.
"Madge?" I say, looking at my friend. "Do you think you'd be up for doing a propo?" I feel bad for ignoring her for much of our conversation with Coin, but she was in no condition to argue and I'm not even sure if she's in any condition to do anything other than mourn. "Madge?" I prompt.
She nods her head.
Katniss sees and picks up the thread. "We'll do your propo, Madam President, and you'll get your broadcast. But not today."
Coin nods. "Tomorrow, then." There isn't room in her tone for argument.
There's steel in Katniss's gray eyes. "Tomorrow."
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We take Madge back to her quarters and sit with her until she's finally able to fall asleep. By that point we're already late for lunch. We slip down to the commissary to try to see if we can coax the people working there into letting us eat off-schedule. The only reason we actually do get food is because of Katniss's status as a nursing mother.
We glance up at the Games and I note another tribute's died. Oralie, the old woman from District One, ran into a forcefield while exploring one of the zones. Looks like her heart just gave out on her. It's as kind of a death as I can think of in the Games. One minute she was alive, the next she was dead. When I go, I want to go like that: quickly and relatively painlessly.
After we finish our food, we head down to the nursery so Katniss can feed Rain. I'm constantly amazed at just how fast our son is growing. His eyes are still a nondescript color, but they're starting to become more blue and less gray. His eyebrows are beginning to grow in, and I can see that they're blond, like the hair on his head, like my hair. He's also started staying awake longer. He's still not able to make it through the night, but while he's awake and aware, the three of us decide to spend what time we can with him in the nursery.
It's unsurprising he likes Katniss the best out of all three of us, but it's surprising to most of the nurses that Rain seems to prefer Gale to me. I'm not surprised. Gale's got more experience with children than I do, and he can sing. He's not as good as Katniss - no one's as good as Katniss - but he's leagues ahead of me, and our son likes to be sung to.
Katniss feeds him again before putting him down. It's nice to have this moment that's just ours. Away from the Games, away from the pressures of being the Mockingjays.
But we can't ignore the Games forever.
With a renewed determination, we turn our eyes to see what's going on. There's not a lot. It looks like what's left of the Mayor's alliance has moved down the beach away from where the shark was. The rest of the tributes are either hiding or trying to figure out how to forage for food or water. The real difficult part of the Hunger Games has begun.
I see the boy from Two slip down to the beach and drink several large handfuls of salt water. There are streaks of what looks like blood all over his body, but he isn't moving like he's injured. He's careful not to be spotted before slipping back into the jungle. He finds a hollow in the ground formed from several tree roots and curls up there. I hear Caesar and Claudius talking about how drinking salt water is dangerous, but the boy from Two must be just so desperate and thirsty. I don't blame him. He's lasted forty eight hours without water. If I'd been in the same boat, I'd likely drink seawater too.
From the jungle behind the alliance, a child screams.
"What was that?" Katniss asks, her eyes darting up.
The child screams again and her voice is soon echoed by the screams of a woman, along with other screams.
"Chell! Mom!" Error cries out. "Curie! Glados!"
"Error! Get back here!"
It's too late. The girl takes off, running frantically into the jungle.
Chaff swears and takes off after her.
Other voices join the first two and I see Chaff's eyes widening. He shakes his head, then looks around accusingly before zeroing in on the cause of all the screams.
Jabberjays.
They're jabberjays. The mutts created by the Capitol to bring back information from the rebels.
"How'd they get the screams?" Katniss asks.
"Probably tortured the families to get 'em," Gale says.
"Or not," I add. "There's only nine tributes left. The final eight interviews are coming up. How do you think the Capitol would react to finding out that one of their Victor's families or a little girl's family was tortured to get those recordings? It's probably just a Capitol trick."
"It's a bad one," Katniss says darkly.
"I agree with you."
We're watching Error still running through the jungle. She trips and falls, giving Chaff precious time to catch back up to her.
"Stop it, girl! Why'd you run off like that!"
"Mama, Chell, Curie, Glados! I hear them, they're crying! I gotta help them!"
"It's just a bird," he says. "Jabberjays. Don't you have 'em in District Three?"
She shakes her head. "We got mockingjays, but we don't have jabberjays. We don't need them. There's technology that does what they do."
"That's right, technology." He spells it out. "It's just a Capitol trick."
"But… they hurt my mom and, and brother and sisters to get the screams!"
"Your brother's dead girl! How can they be hurting him more?"
The girl's eyes widen as she realizes the depth of the trick.
"Oh, come on now, don't you tell me that you ain't studied voice manipulation in school. Volts's always talkin' about how much y'all learn in District Three compared to us hicks in District Eleven. Why, we don't even get to use a computer, let alone sound equipment."
Error nods her head. "I guess. It - it could be possible."
"Right." He holds out his hand to her. "Now come on, our group's gotta be lookin' for us."
She bites her lip. "I suppose we should get back."
"That's right, we should. Now cover them ears of yours and let's skedaddle."
They hurry back towards the beach and the safety there. When they see the rest of the group, Error breaks into a run, crashing headfirst into an invisible wall. She reels back, blood streaming from her mouth and nose. She staggers drunkenly before falling to the ground.
"Error!" Chaff cries, falling to his knees beside her. Chevy and Henry hurry over, but they can't cross the forcefield either. It blocks both sides.
The girl blinks up at Chaff dazedly. "Wha haaa?"
Chaff correctly interprets that as 'What happened?' "Another damned forcefield. Looks like we gotta wait it out 'til it's over. Who knows how long that'll be?"
I can almost see a light go on in Error's eyes. "It's a ock!"
"A what?"
"Ock!" She fumbles at her waist, pulling out the watch that her mentors had sent her and holds it up to the man. She points to the watch face.
"You're sayin' it's a clock? What's a clock?" Chaff asks frantically.
I'd like to know the answer to that too.
Error makes a sweeping motion to indicate the Arena. "Arrria!"
"You sayin' the Arena?"
She nods her head.
"The Arena's a clock?"
Error nods her head again, then winces. "I on't fee so goo."
"What's wrong?"
"Uzzy."
"You feelin' fuzzy?"
She nods again, this time weaker. Her eyes start to slide shut, but not before I see that one of her pupils is blown while the other is a pinprick.
Chaff shakes her. "Hey there girl, don't you go fallin' asleep on me!"
"I… uzzy. Izzy. Onna slee."
"You can't go to sleep, girl! You gotta stay awake!" He looks up to the other members of his alliance, who are still trapped on the other side of the forcefield, and points to his head. "Girl's probably got a concussion."
Chevy nods her head, looking grim. A closed head injury is almost always fatal in the Games. Even if she manages to survive the next few minutes, her odds of making it to the end of the Games have just decreased dramatically.
Chaff talks to the girl, pleads with her to try to stay awake. But she can't. With her last bit of consciousness she places the watch in Chaff's hands and gives him a broken toothed smile.
Then she closes her eyes and never opens them again.
Several long minutes later, the cannon goes off.
Error is dead.
Chaff gently places the watch in his pocket, then folds her hands over her chest and cleans her face off, placing a few tropical flowers over her eyes. It's as much of a funeral as he can give her. "I'm sorry, little girl," he murmurs. "I wanted you to try to make it. I wish you coulda made it home. Chevy, Wexler, and me, we tried. We wanted to have a kid make it. Wish we could find that boy from Two. Kids deserve a chance, not washed up old drunks like me."
My eyes widen at Chaff's speech. The confirmation that the Mayor's alliance was trying to save the kids is eye-opening. They had no plans on coming home, but instead wanted to make it so a kid could. That's why they were so torn up about the deaths of Shuga and Pacifica, and now Error.
Caesar Flickerman breaks in, talking over the action. "And with the death of the young tribute from District Three, we now have our final eight! You know what that means, folks! That's right! Family interviews! Join me tonight at seven as we interview all of the tributes' families and get an insight on this year's Quell participants. You won't want to miss it. See you then!"
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AN:
Written: 5/3/15
Revised: 9/10/15
Revised 2: 9/15/15
The title of this song comes from Coldplay's song "Clocks." Which is probably the most obvious chapter title ever, but it works.
Things We Randomized:
- The order in which the tributes perished and what days they died.
We mentioned where things are in Panem. We are not using any of the official maps (or unofficial ones drawn by other authors) for a number of reasons. Instead, we have our own map. It can be found here: archiveofourown works / 4809488
Thanks for reading! We hope you're enjoying!
FFnet readers - We've noticed that no one really seems to be reading this on this site. The last chapter received no reviews. If you want to have us continue to publish over on this site, let us know. We're not going to stop writing, we'll just stop with the hassle of publishing on this site.