Chapter 15.

Light faded quickly as the sun dipped below the skyline, a green tinge meeting it and the deep, dark blue beginning to take over, just as surely as hopelessness began to take over Madeline. The trees became as gossamer silhouettes of inky blackness and soon even the bark-strewn forest path she walked disappeared into the darkness as well.

How had things come to this? Here she was, out at night, alone, with no resources, no viable shelter, and all she'd had to eat since the Cornucopia was a vine of salmonberries (once she'd deemed them not poisonous). At least she'd been able to use her abilities in some meaningful way.

Who am I kidding, I know exactly how this happened, thought Madeline.

She cast her mind back to the Bloodbath. She'd known exactly what she wanted to do. She'd known she couldn't take on those other tributes. Maybe Eamon could, sure, but not her. Still, she'd steeled herself to make a run for one of the packs closest to her. After that, she'd wait on the outskirts for Eamon and try not to be seen. But when the countdown reached ten seconds to go, the gravity of everything had crashed down on her, similar to how it had when she'd been Reaped. Panic had seized control of her, and when the cannon went off, all she'd seen out of the corner of her eye as she turned and fled down one of the passes into the forest was Eamon being the clear first off his pedestal.

Madeline didn't know what had happened at the Bloodbath, all she knew now was that she was paying the price for her self-preservation. She was hungry, thirsty, tired and afraid. Granted she'd be all those things if Eamon were here anyway, but his presence could only change her entire situation for the better regardless. She wanted so desperately to sleep, however she knew that if she curled up then and there to close her eyes, she might not ever open them again.

And so, Madeline pressed on, looking for a nook or cranny of any sort to lay low for the night. That was when she heard it. At first she thought it was the phantom tweeting of a mockingjay ricocheting throughout the trees, but it sounded more… monotonous. She looked above her and gasped as the ethereal profile of a sponsor container floated gently down towards her, only distinguishable by the blinking red light on its top.

It landed with a gentle thud a few feet away, and as Madeline made to untangle it from its parachute, she wondered why Nott would spend this on her. She hated to admit it, but surely this gift would be better spent on Eamon? Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen or heard from Nott since the night before, although it felt like so much longer. She was just glad he was still around, and that she wasn't as alone as she feared.

It opened with a hiss, revealing a clear, full water bottle. To anyone else, that would have been a paltry gift, but for Madeline it was sweet relief. She gulped down a quarter of its contents before fastening it to her belt. In her rush to quench her thirst, she'd almost forgotten that these gifts could come with messages from her mentor. Sure enough, a scrap of paper accompanied it, and only by squinting with the faintest amount of daylight at her back could she make out what it said:

You need this more than Eamon. He'll be looking for you, so you need to find a way to meet up with him. Can't say much more than that ~ N.

Madeline knew he was trying to be helpful, but it didn't stop her being annoyed that the message didn't tell her anything she hadn't already assumed. How was she going to find him, when he could be literally anywhere in this arena? She had just as much as chance of running into someone else or attracting unwanted attention and-

That's it! She thought excitedly. How can I catch his attention and his attention alone? How do I make it so that he finds me and no-one else?

Madeline's brain had gone into overdrive. There had to be a way of attracting attention that was only obvious to Eamon. That meant… something shared. What did she and Eamon have that nobody else did?

Well there was the obvious connection to their District, but she figured carving the number nine into rocks and trees was far from subtle. And then it clicked - grain. Everyone in District 9 was given a crash course on the bare basics of their District's industry from a young age. Namely the kinds of grain grown such as wheat and barley, how it grew, and how it was processed.

Madeline had been walking through the woods so long, she'd familiarised herself with the majority of the plants and trees in its midst, including the occasional patches of long, yellow-green rye stalks. She'd passed by many of them and until now, deemed them of little importance. She made a beeline for the last one she'd seen, some thirty paces away. When she found them, she pulled the stalks out by the dozen and tore them in half before stuffing them in the pouch at her hip until it was full.

"You little guys are going to help me win the Hunger Games," she muttered happily. "Or at least, I hope."

Madeline started laying the shredded stalks along the forest path, spacing out her trail so that it would hopefully cover enough of the arena for Eamon to stumble across. Anyone else might find it inconspicuous or mundane in the extreme, but anyone from District 9 would notice it in a heartbeat. She was counting on it.

She'd only been at it for a few minutes when she heard something that rocked her to the core. A noise. And not the kind of harmless noise of a scuttling lizard, or the salvation-bearing beeping of a sponsorship gift. Someone was nearby. Someone was coming down the forest path towards her.

Madeline's hopeful moment was snuffed out like a candle in an instant and replaced once more with the panic that so overwhelmed her at the Cornucopia. She quickly and stealthily made her way behind the thick trunk of a nearby beech tree. She was shaking. This was surely it. Eamon had been right, she should have learnt to use a weapon. She should have picked one up at the arena. At least that way she wouldn't go down so easily.

The footsteps grew louder as her would-be-assailant moved closer down the path to her hiding spot. Her trembling hand inched down towards a fist-sized rock at the base of the tree as her eyes began to water. They were just a few metres away; right on the other side of the tree…

Panic spurned Madeline's body into action without thought. She lunged out from behind the beech tree and launched herself at the shadowy figure. It was the District 3 boy, Timothy Crow. He whipped around at the noise, seemingly unaware the whole time that she was there, but it was too late. She whipped her fist clutching the rock right into the side of his skull and he fell over, blood streaming from the wound in his head. His backpack fell off in the struggle as she fell on top of him, unable to stop herself from bringing the rock down onto his face half a dozen more times. She wouldn't be out of danger until he was dead. At some point she'd burst into tears, and it wasn't until the booming sound of the cannon echoed forth, "District 3: Timothy Crow," that she jumped and scrabbled back in the dirt.

Madeline's hands were covered in blood and dirt, and she couldn't crawl back away from his body fast enough.

What have I…? No! I didn't mean… No! Please, he can't be… I was only trying to… Oh god!

With tears streaming down her face, she grabbed the back pack that had fallen off and ran as far and fast away as she could, unable to escape the sight of the dead boy quick enough.

Short chapter, but very intense and emotional. Besides it was about time we got a Madeline POV. Goes to show that terror can drive even the sweetest little girl to do things she never imagined herself doing ):

24th Place: Cecilia Moreau - District 12 Female. Killed by Hilda Blythe.

23rd Place: Axel Costa - District 1 Male. Killed by Eamon Cunningham.

22nd Place: Ivanna Merchant - District 6 Female. Killed by Vesper Rhodes.

21st Place: Paige Delaney - District 8 Female. Killed by Karmichael Damocles.

20th Place: Owen Magnussen - District 8 Male. Killed by Landon Starr.

19th Place: Zoey Townsend - District 3 Female. Killed by Dennis Kessling.

18th Place: Spencer Nash - District 7 Male. Killed by Blair Lynch.

17th Place: Cooper Hastings – District 10 Male. Killed by Karmichael Damocles.

16th Place: Alys Redding – District 5 Female. Killed by Landon Starr.

15th Place: Timothy Crow – District 3 Male. Killed by Madeline Skylock.