A/N - Well, I'm back again! I have some free time on my hands and will try my best to clear 10k words before the 6th. Reviews and suggestions are appreciated. Thanks y'all!
The air was full of smoke and more hauntingly, terrified screams of men, women and children alike. Gale's eyes were watering, his throat was burning, his mouth had dried up and his legs were starting to hurt but he didn't stop. He had to make sure that Madge was okay. His brain knew that Madge had his heads up but his heart refused to reason. He had to make sure that she was okay.
Gale finally stumbled into the town square and was struck still with dread. Where there had been the beautiful Mayor's Mansion visible from the Square, there was nothing. He pulled himself out of his brief moment of inactivity and plowed onward, hoping against hope that the smoke had clouded his vision but there was no such luck for him.
The bombers had been preparing for another wave and the air was somewhat clearer. He almost collapsed on his knees when he saw that the the once proud Mansion was now nothing more than a pile of burning wreckage. There was no chance of survival for anyone that may have been trapped in there. None.
Gale shook himself out of his third stupor of the hour and reasoned with himself. Madge had gotten out way before the first bomb had hit. She was probably out in the woods by now.
He managed to convince himself enough to continue running for safety but was halted mid-stride by a scream. He turned around so fast that he got a crick in his neck and heard the scream come from a house that was going to fall in on itself any moment.
Without much further thought, he started running for the house and recognized the scream to be a girl's somewhere along the way.
As he neared what remained of the house, another bomb fell and Gale was flung backwards. He hit his head on the ground and nearly blacked out but the adrenaline in his system kept him functioning. He lifted his head to look at the structure he had been running at and saw nothing but a flaming pile of debris. Her screams had been silenced forever.
Gale got up and started running for the meadow again, now running again to save his life as he realized that nothing could have been done.
AS Gale ran through the District (what was left of it), he came across a bunch of people who were scared beyond coherence and were running along like headless chicken. He herded them all and the group followed him like sheep as he ran for the meadow. He kept shouting around for everyone to get to the meadow, hoping to alert a few stragglers.
On the way, he had to navigate through rows of burning houses and clouds of smoke. Even the roads were burning. The coal dust that had managed to get embedded in the ground had gone up in flames and Gale could feel the heat through his cheap boots as he ran. As he lead the survivors around a final intersection to come onto a road which lead directly to the meadow, Gale looked back.
What he saw made him stop. While the adults were running like Hell, a tiny little girl in her pajamas had fallen behind. She was barefoot. He had been running barefoot on the burning roads and none of the grown ups had helped her. Anger at the little shits he had just lead to safety filled him as he ran back for the girl. None of the jerks even looked at him as they ran.
Gale reached the girl and quickly hoisted her onto his back as she started running again. His scars prickled from the extra weight being added on his rough shirt as it rubbed against his back but he paid it no heed.
AS the both of them entered the meadow, Gale thanked the heavens for the coincidence that the fence had been pulled mere meters away from where they had exited the streets.
They came across the tracks that the escaping residents had left into the grass and he was slightly worried for a moment before it was quickly replaced by relief.
Gale slowed down his pace and his heart slowed down somewhat as they entered the woods.
Well, i do hope that this chapter was better. Now, give me some input. Does Madge simply make it to meadow and is reunited with Gale or is she captured but the peacekeepers and kept in the capitol to be tortured and finally reunited with the rest of the district of the rescue attempt. Answer soon, fellas.
Joker out.
