Chapter 7:
"Wake up." Someone touched her shoulder. Katniss pushed the offending hand away and turned her head the opposite direction.
"Go away…" she mumbled.
"I can't do that. 'Cause you know, I'm only here for a little while." It was not Peeta's voice, nor Effie's. Katniss rolled away and landed in a heap on the floor. She got to her feet hurriedly and stared at the person. Her grey eyes flew wide open and her breathing became fast and shallow. A young girl sat on the bedside, her short legs dangling in the air.
"Who are you?" Katniss asked loudly.
"You know the answer," the girl said.
Katniss blinked, and then she squinted. It was a small girl with dark black hair; she was turned away, making it hard to see her face. Then the girl turned and stared straight at Katniss.
Katniss's mouth fell open. "Don't do this to me… What did they do to you?!" Katniss asked, the words rolled off her tongue at a blistering speed. "You died…"
The girl's lips tugged upwards and Katniss noticed her eyes. They were solid black.
"Rue…?" Katniss asked hesitantly.
"Yes?"
"I'm dreaming aren't I?" Katniss's eyes scanned the room, she was in her bed at the Training Centre. Peeta was nowhere to be seen; she ransacked her brain. What had happened last night? After the kiss. She touched her lips gently.
"You are," Rue said.
"Why are you here? Why now?"
"I don't know," Rue said happily. Katniss got back into the bed and put the blanket over her legs. Rue stood up on the bed, and walked over to Katniss. Katniss was wary and kept her eyes fixed on Rue's small form as she approached. She moved her arms slightly, prepared to fight.
Rue smiled at her, the startling black eyes seemed almost kind on her face. Then Rue was right in front of her; Rue turned around and sat back, straight into her lap. Katniss opened her arms in surprise; Rue leaned back into her chest. Katniss hesitated, her arms tensed.
Then finally, she relaxed and put her arms around the smaller girl.
This was all so confusing, but right now it was comforting; Katniss's chest warmed. Rue had not changed at all, she was exactly the same size as Katniss remembered; Katniss closed her eyes.
They sat in silence.
Rue was cold, Katniss scolded herself for not realising sooner.
"Do you want to come under with me?" Katniss asked. She pulled at the blanket.
No response; Katniss shook Rue. "Wake up." Katniss was just about to shake Rue again when something sharp pressed against her stomach. She winced and pushed Rue gently away from her, her eyes travelled downwards to the source of the pain.
It was the sharp end of a spear, exiting from a wound on Rue's back.
Suddenly the spear head shot towards her, Katniss jumped back just in time to avoid it. She landed on the floor a few feet away from the bed. Her hands shook as she brought them up to defend herself, but Rue had not moved and sat facing away from Katniss.
"Rue?" Katniss asked hesitantly.
Silence.
Then Rue moved, with slow quivering movements she turned towards Katniss, her eyes watery with tears, real, translucent tears.
"I wanted you to feel it; what I felt." Rue pulled on the spear running through her stomach, her face contracted in pain. "It hurts so much—make it stop Katniss, make it stop!" Rue screamed.
"You should have saved her," Peeta said. He appeared behind Rue and placed his right hand on her shoulder.
"No…I tried!" Katniss shouted.
"Her blood is on your hands." Gale appeared on Rue's other side.
Katniss's body was heavy, her breath came out in painful gasps.
Prim appeared, dressed in the same light blue dress she wore for the reaping. She stared at Katniss with the same black eyes as Rue.
Katniss reached for her with blood covered hands, but Prim was too far away and Katniss could not move.
A red dot appeared on the right side of Prim's stomach, it started to grow and soon was comparable to a small apple. Prim glanced down at it and touched it with her left hand, her body contracted in pain. She looked up towards Katniss, her eyes wide.
"You will be the end of us all." Peeta stood by Katniss's side now, his breath hot against her cheek.
"Katniss, Katniss," he said in a sing-song voice. "The girl on fire." He spat.
"Don't…" Katniss said weakly.
"Katniss, Katniss," he said again. "Where are you Katniss? We are dying here, won't you hurry up?"
Prim keeled over in pain, a small puddle of blood had formed at her feet.
"Stop…" Katniss said.
"Katniss, Katniss." She closed her eyes.
"Wake up." She opened them again.
Prim was gone; in her place was Paylor. Katniss glanced to the left, someone was holding her hand. Peeta, it was he that had spoken; he held her left hand in both of his. His brow furrowed and he gazed down on her with concern.
"Are you okay?" he asked out of the corner of his mouth, it was nearly inaudible.
She nodded and sat up straighter, they were still in room twelve; she must have fallen asleep at some time during the night.
Katniss blinked away her tears and clenched her jaw. This happened often, she did not remember most of the nightmares, but the wet spot on her pillow and her clammy skin told its story.
"What are you doing here?" Katniss asked.
"I just wanted to check up on you two," Paylor said.
"Liar." Katniss spat. Her heart still raced from her nightmare.
Paylor smirked. "I must admit that your fitness was not the only thing on my mind." She glanced at Haymitch, he stood by the door with his hands crossed; a scowl on his face.
"Get on with it," he said gruffly.
"I need you two to do something for me," she said. "It's a task that only you can do."
"Here?" Katniss asked and gestured offhandedly around the room.
Paylor laughed. "I don't have much power, but being a mayor does come with some benefits. Don't worry, we can speak freely."
There was a brief pause as this information sunk in.
"So, what is it?" Peeta asked.
"As you know, things are about to change." She halted. "But, it's happening too slowly. We need someone to—"She licked her lips. "—to push it over the edge, so to speak." She leaned forward and her eyes got a manic look to them. "That's where you two come in."
Katniss glanced at Peeta, she held her breath in preparation for what came next.
"We need you to do prove yourself," Paylor said.
"What? Why?" Peeta asked. He let go of her hand and crossed his arms over his chest.
"There are still doubts in the districts about what side you are on; you seem awfully friendly with the Capitol these days."
"Ungrateful—"
"Don't," Haymitch interrupted Katniss.
"How?" Peeta asked, resigned.
"This is where it gets a little tricky…" Paylor said. "I… we need you to go on television."
"What?" Katniss blurted out.
"We need you to go on television and speak to the districts, give them courage to do what's necessary."
Katniss mouth hung open, she looked at Paylor disbelieving. "You want us to do that now?" she asked. Her brow creased as she considered the implications.
"Yes," Paylor said.
"But, what about the Games?" Peeta asked.
Paylor waved her hand. "It's only one year, one tribute. This is the time to act."
"We can't," Katniss said.
Peeta nodded alongside her. "If we do this, then what would happen to Madge? Or to our family back home?"
Or to us, Katniss added silently to herself.
"We will take care of them, just leave it to us; keep your concentration on the matter on hand."
Katniss swallowed. This day was proving to be even worse than the previous.
"We will take care of them. We will get them out even before it starts," Haymitch said. He moved towards them and did not stop until he stood shoulder to shoulder with Paylor.
"Madge?" Katniss asked simply.
He hesitated. "There's nothing to be done about that, it's already too late."
"Bullshit," Katniss said.
"Now, be reasonable-" Paylor said.
"It will have to wait. Until the Games are over," Peeta said. There was an edge to his voice.
"No," Paylor said. "The Capitol is busy now, we have to act while they are distracted."
"The celebrations, after the Hunger Games," Katniss said. Six eyes turned to stare at her. "That's when we hit them."
Paylor narrowed her eyes. "Which would give us a good chance to launch our second attack."
"Could you leave? We-" Katniss motioned between herself and Peeta. "-are the only mentors responsible for Madge. She has just started moving and I need to concentrate." She smiled sweetly.
Paylor stared at her for a long time and then she shrugged. With a pointed look at Peeta she said, "I think you will do what's necessary. Come find me when you're ready." She left.
Katniss kept her eyes on her until the door closed shut.
She glowered at Haymitch and opened her mouth, intent on telling him exactly how she felt about this.
"Shut up," he said. "No matter what you think, this is more important than one year of the Hunger Games."
"I won't leave Madge," she said.
He sighed and ran a hand over his face.
"Look!" Peeta said. Katniss turned back towards the screen. Madge had reached the end of the Labyrinth and now stood with a small smile on her face; gazing out at the forest surrounding her. She wore a forest green jacket and dark grey pants.
Katniss grabbed the controller and brought up the map. "She's here." She pointed to the red dot. "That means…"
"She's safe for now, there's no one within a square mile," Peeta said.
She turned the camera back to look at Madge; the night on the floor of the labyrinth had done work on her clothes. They were covered in dirt.
Madge took off to the east, towards the sun which had already managed to climb over the horizon.
The arena was smaller than the one used in the Seventy-forth Games; the Gamemakers wanted the tributes to meet each other often. However, the arena was still large enough for people to get lost looking for water.
Madge walked for hours, towards the sun, but she did not find any water. She picked up a small stick on the way and kept it in front of her body; it was her only weapon.
For the past hour the forest had grown denser; she took to using the stick to push low growing branches out of her way.
Katniss had turned off the commentary a few hours in; Claudius voice grated on her nerves.
Eventually Madge climbed a tree and settled in for the night; she did not climb very far up as she did not have any rope to link her to the tree. She found a suitable branch a few feet above ground; it was wide enough for her to move around on it. She sat and waited, Katniss did the same where she sat on the couch beside Peeta. There were still eleven tributes alive; Katniss waited for Madge to come to the same conclusion.
Madge lay down on the branch and hugged herself, to keep what little warmth she had contained. After a very short time she started to shake. Katniss noted that the trees surrounding her did the same; the wind was blowing towards the west.
Neither Katniss nor Madge got much sleep that night, but they both survived and at dawn the next day they were ready for it. Madge needed to find water today; her body was dehydrated, her movements sluggish. Madge continued towards the east.
"She's not going to find it," Katniss said and bit her left thumb nail off cleanly.
Katniss had started to bite her nails again, even though she had repeatedly been told to stop. By both family and stylists, but right now she did not care; she needed to do it. She wore long thin nails that the stylists glued on her; they did not give much resistance and frankly tasted awful. She spat them out after each bite.
Peeta frowned. "She can… She just has to go a bit to the north. She is nearing the end of the map; she will be forced to choose either south or north."
So they waited; half the day passed and the sun was glowing brightly down at Madge.
She trudged through the woods; the forest density had decreased significantly the last mile. Soon she would be out of it completely; she had an extra spring in her step—she knew it too. Madge reached the end of the forest and stopped. She had found the ocean; a beautiful sand beach stretched as far as the eye could see. Madge fell to her knees and picked up a handful of sand; it trickled through her fingers.
Her body shook and she fell face first into the sand.
"Get up, get up!" Katniss said. Peeta buried one hand in his hair and leaned forwards.
Haymitch sat on the other couch and leaned backwards and with a drink in his hand. He had barely spoken since yesterday's incident and kept exiting and entering the room. Effie was absent, she spent most of her day socialising with the Capitol's elite. What exactly she did was anyone's guess; Katniss had her doubts on its worth.
Ten long minutes passed until Madge gave any sign of moving, but eventually she moved her arm, then her leg. She got back on her feet and stumbled over to the ocean. She stopped right before it and put one hand into it. Her face relaxed and she sat on the sand; she twisted off her shoes and threw them behind her. Her bare feet rested over the water for a second; she slowly dipped them in. A sound of relief escaped her lips and she closed her eyes; she lay back on the sand.
A huge wave materialized out in the sea and ran over her roughly. She got to her feet swiftly and spat out saltwater. Her clothes were soaked.
Katniss turned on the commentary sound. Laughter. She muted them and threw the controller away. It hit the end of the sofa and fell down on the pillow unharmed.
Haymitch shrugged. "It got her to her feet."
It did. Madge twisted off her wet clothes and continued on in her underwear. She walked north.
She shivered and hugged herself; the stick lay forgotten in the sand behind her. It would get dark soon and she needed to set up camp.
After a few miles of walking she stopped; she had moved back into the forest to give herself some shelter from the wind. She put the clothes on the ground beside her and they fell into a wet heap. She picked them up and with shaking hands she hung them on a low growing branch.
Her teeth chattered audibly and she rubbed her hands together.
Katniss grimaced. "She has to make a fire." She was reminded of the girl who did it during her own Games, she had died as a result. Katniss glanced at the map; the nearest enemy was over five miles away and the trees were tall and the vegetation was dense. It was possible that no one would notice the smoke.
Madge's lips were turning blue. There was no other option, she had to chance it.
Madge brought a bunch of small twigs together and made a small heap. She placed two twigs against each other and rubbed them together roughly. She had mastered this skill at the training centre and a small campfire was soon aflame.
She lay down around the campfire; her back exposed to the darkness. Madge closed her eyes and her breathing slowed as she fell asleep.
Katniss had her head in her hands. "She won't survive like this."
"I know…" Peeta said.
There was a long uncomfortable silence.
"I'll take first watch," Katniss said.
"Then I'll take second. Don't let me sleep too long," Peeta said.
"No point," Haymitch said.
"Why not?" Katniss asked.
"The Gamemakers can dismiss sponsor's gifts if they believe it will ruin the show. Put the volume on high, you will wake up if anything happens."
"I'll take first watch," she said. She crossed her arms, and sat back into the corner of the sofa, her left arm leaning on the armrest.
Peeta stood up and collected a pillow and two blankets. He gave one to her and wrapped himself in the other.
"Thank you."
"No problem," he said.
The hours trickled by; she often glanced over at Peeta, she liked looking at him while he slept. He would be angry if she waited any longer, but he needed more sleep than her and she needed him at his best. His blond hair fell over his forehead; she moved over to him and brushed it away from his eyes.
"Hey," she whispered.
Blond eyelashes move out of the way and startling blue eyes stared up at her. "Hey," he mumbled. "What time is it?"
"Just after two."
"I slept for too long, you should have woken me earlier."
She smiled softly. "Good night." She snatched the pillow from under his head and returned to her side of the sofa. An indignant huff followed after her.
Katniss woke up to the sound of a cannon shot, then another.
Her eyes shot open and she sat up with one fluid motion.
"Don't worry," Peeta said. "Madge is fine, she just woke up."
Katniss breathed out in relief. She had slept well; her eyes were refreshed and her head was clear.
"Who was it?" she asked.
"The girl from four and the boy from six," Peeta said. "There was a fire…" He winced.
Katniss nodded. The Games had been too boring; the Gamemakers had to do something.
Madge sat up stiffly. She stared at the extinguished fire, her eyes unfocused.
"We need to send water," Peeta said. "She's having trouble keeping her eyes up."
Madge looked up towards the sky, directly into one of the many cameras. The skin on her forehead was red, raw from lying face down in the harsh landscape. She raised her hands hesitantly and brought them together creating a cup. Her lower lip trembled as she lifted her hands to the sky. She was nearing her end.
Katniss shivered. "The map," she said. It appeared on another part of the screen.
"She's so close," she muttered.
"Do we have enough?" Haymitch asked.
"Yes, we won't have much left, but we have enough," Peeta said.
"We have to wait," Katniss said. She glanced at Haymitch; he nodded.
"Why?" Peeta asked.
"This same thing happened to me last year, she will realize that she's close."
"How?"
"Because we're not sending anything to her."
"There are a lot of tributes who don't receive anything from their sponsors," Peeta said.
"Yes," Katniss agreed. "But they don't have us as sponsors. She will know."
Peeta sent a look towards Haymitch. Katniss winced.
Madge allowed her hands to fall and sat stationary. Katniss chewed on a fake nail; she only had two left.
Madge got to her feet and wobbled her first few steps; she got dressed. She started to walk; hitting branches and kicking roots. There were only a few hundred feet separating her and the stream, but the trip there took over two hours.
Madge almost fell in, she crawled the last few feet and dropped her entire head in it. She drank a few mouthfuls; then sat back to wait. Smart girl; she needed to give her stomach time to readjust.
The cannon went off; another tribute had fallen. Katniss switched through the channels until she found the correct one; she turned on the commentary.
"She gets another one. And what a beauty that was. Straight through the neck," Claudius said. "She makes it look so effortless."
"That was remarkably similar to what you used to do…" Gloss said and stared at Enobaria.
She smirked at him. "What can I say? You should learn from the best." She bared her teeth and grinned widely.
Claudius laughed, his voice boomed from the speakers.
Katniss switched back to Madge's camera. Madge sat with her back against a trunk; her eyes focused. She stood up and scanned her surroundings; she walked up to a pile of sticks and picked up a long thin one. She swung it a few times then placed it on the ground; she sat.
Her butt had barely touched the ground before she was moving again. Loud noises from the south, twigs breaking, whatever was making the noise was approaching Madge fast. Katniss squatted on the sofa and started gnawing on the second to last nail. Madge picked up her stick and hid behind the trunk.
Any second now.
A girl sprang into the clearing.
"Theta?" Madge called out. Katniss bit through the nail, her teeth gnashed together.
"Madge?" Theta halted. "You can't be here, run!" She shouted and ran. More sounds from the woods; she was being followed- Madge hesitated only for a split second, and then took off after her.
Madge was not a fast runner but the vegetation was dense and she was agile, so she had soon caught up with the other girl.
Katniss swore, how had she missed them? She grabbed the controller and started going through the channels; always going back to Madge's channel between each change.
"What's behind us?" Madge asked.
"Who!" Theta shouted. "It's two boys, from district eight and nine."
Madge glanced behind her.
"Don't even think about stopping to fight. They have knives. You would die," Theta said. "On second thought—"
She never finished that sentence, as she had to throw herself to the ground to avoid a knife that came flying from the side. Theta swore loudly.
"This way!" she said and ran in the opposite direction.
Katniss found the right camera angle. "Here we go," she said.
It was showing one boy, standing stock still behind a trunk. Katniss narrowed her eyes; she had no way of knowing where he was in comparison to Madge. The map was not that detailed; the four dots were so intertwined that it was hard to pick them apart.
Katniss bit her lip; the two girls ran on. She glanced at the boy, he started to move again and she recognized the area. He was behind the girls now, far enough away for them to be out of immediate danger.
Katniss frowned; now where was the second boy?
She switched through the other channels on the tablet table, the main screen stayed with Madge.
"Do you have any weapons?" Madge asked, she breathed heavily.
"I have a rope and a dull knife. That's it," Theta said. She was holding up far better than Madge and barely looked winded. She continued, "They followed me since yesterday. I don't know how but they keep finding me."
Katniss rolled her eyes, Theta moved with the elegance of a large sheep, certainly not spotlessly. Any decent hunter could track her for days. Katniss bit down harder on her lip and drew blood. Now they also had Madge's trace.
"That stupid girl," Katniss muttered.
The commentary was turned back on, and Katniss glanced down at her hands. The controller had disappeared; how had that happened? She looked towards Peeta, his eyes fixed on the screen and in his hand the controller. He was getting better at this.
"They are getting closer," Gloss said.
"Yes," Claudius said. "Frankly, I'm surprised that she has managed to avoid them for this long. And now she has managed to find a partner, from district…uhm…"
"Twelve," Gloss said. "Madge Undersee…I'm afraid I don't really see how that will help her. Their combined training score is only eight."
Effie stormed into the room. "How is she?" she asked breathlessly.
"She is being followed and has no weapons. What do you think?" Katniss asked sharply.
Effie ignored her and sat down on the other sofa.
Madge and Theta continued to run and managed to put over half a mile between them and their followers.
"Let's stop," Madge said and tugged on Theta's shirt.
Theta looked unconvinced but followed after Madge over to a large oak tree.
"We don't have much time. Give me the rope," Madge said.
Theta furrowed her brow and hesitated. Madge reached out impatiently. "Come on." She spun around, her eyes sharp and watching for movements. "They might arrive at any second; hurry up!"
Theta fumbled with her backpack but found the rope; she gave it to Madge, she turned it around in her hands.
"This can work. Use the knife; cut here and here," Madge said.
Katniss smiled, Madge was doing it perfectly.
"We can only get one of them," Madge said. She found a stubby stick and attached one end of the rope to that. Her eyes moved furiously, she was looking for something. Then they stopped and focused, she had found it.
Madge walked a short distance over to a low-hanging tree.
She took the other end of the rope and made a loop.
"You will only have one shot at this, make it count. You have to end it," Madge said.
Theta stared at her with wide eyes. Katniss could not blame her; she had probably never met this version of Madge.
Madge lay the loop down on the ground, hiding it under small shrub. Berries grew all over; it hid the actual ground from plain view. She walked over to the tree, holding the other end of the rope and making sure to hide the middle part of the rope along the way.
"This will never work," Theta said. "What do we do if they stay together? Or step over it?"
"Then we're dead," Madge said. Her voice frosty and her face blank.
"What are they trying to do?" Effie whispered. She had a pillow on her lap and was holding onto it for dear life.
"They're making a trap," Katniss said.
"Will it work?" Effie asked.
"It will have to."
The next few minutes were painful for Katniss; she tried to keep track of the two boys but they never appeared together and she was never exactly sure where they were.
"They're getting closer…" Peeta said. He had his right arm over the armrest and clenched and unclenched his hand at random intervals.
Katniss grabbed his other hand and squeezed it hard.
Effie took the controller and pressed some buttons; then there were four screens covering the entire wall. Madge and Theta was in the middle surrounded by the two boys.
"How did you…?" Katniss asked.
"This part is my speciality," Effie said. Katniss gave her a look of disbelief.
"They are so close to each other, my heart can't handle this—will it work? What do you think Gloss?" Claudius asked.
"It's a good plan—"
Madge jumped.
"What—"
The boy at the left flew into the air, he dangled from one foot. One hand gripped a long thin knife.
They had all been fooled by the terrain; the boys were much closer than expected.
"Now!" Madge screamed. The force of her fall gave her enough strength to place the stick behind another tree; keeping the boy upside down.
Katniss tried to keep track of everything but so much was happening that she almost missed Theta. She came out from behind the boy; in his blind spot.
She stabbed him in the back, the knife barely breeched the skin. She withdrew the blade and stabbed again, this time it reached further and blood emerged from the wound, it trickled down his back.
"Aaargh!" The boy screamed; he dropped the knife. Effie brought her hands up to cover her ears.
"We have to go—"The other boy came rushing through the bushes. "Run!" Madge yelled. She picked up the dropped knife and started ran.
Theta put both hands on her knife, the blade was still stuck in the boy. It did not budge; she hesitated then she released her grasp of it and ran.
The other boy stopped before his companion; placing his feet with the utmost care. He had a long sword in his right hand and made sure to always hold it in front.
"Please—let me down." The hung boy pleaded.
The other boy glanced at him and smirked. He shook his head slowly and put one finger to his lips; he took off after the girls.
"Oooh! Did you see that? With no regard for his former companion, he continues on," Claudius said. "The tribute from district eight! Will he go all the way?" he shouted.
"There can only be one winner," Enobaria said.
Katniss clawed at the skin of her forearm with her one remaining fake nail; it left a red mark in its wake.
Once again Madge was on the run, but this time was different from the last. This time she had a weapon, this time, it was two against one. Still, the knife seemed so small when faced with the large sword the boy from district eight was carrying.
"Two against one, they can do it," Effie said.
"They really can," Peeta said.
"Shhh," Haymitch said.
Madge ran; she was a couple of feet in front of Theta.
She reached the end of the forest and ran straight out of it; her feet hit the ground and made a whacking sound. She glanced down—asphalt.
The map appeared over the now three screens.
"They have reached the city," Peeta said.
Katniss swallowed, what horror would be waiting for them there?
Effie furrowed her brow. "I have not seen anyone go there yet. What do we know about it?"
"Nothing…That's the problem," Haymitch said. He scratched his beard. "They are the first."
"Oh…"
Madge halted, there was very little cover to hide behind here. The green colour of the jacket could hide her well in the forest, but against the stark white buildings of the city? She stood out like a sore thumb. The buildings were very large squares, it would take too long to run around them. The boy from eight would be able to track them the entire way.
Madge ran on, up to the first door on the first building. She wrenched it open and hurried inside, Theta hot on her heels.
Madge glanced at the lock on the other side of the door; it was busted. They hurried on, up the stairs, then up the next set of stairs. She stopped as she reached the third floor.
"This is the place…" she said.
"What?" Theta asked.
"This is where we stop."
Theta turned her head franticly. "Here?" she asked, her eyes wide.
Madge scanned the hallway; there was a small open space around the stairway. The stairs were directly above each other and there were three doors on this level, one of which was open; the rest were locked.
Madge had a piece of rope, one of the pieces that Theta cut off, and she had the knife.
She put her head in her hands. "Think, think," she muttered.
Theta wobbled on her feet and she kept her eyes down the stairway. The boy from eight was nowhere to be seen.
Katniss glanced at the third screen; the boy had just entered the building and stood motionless on the first floor.
"I got it," Madge said. Katniss cringed; the boy had heard it too. He smirked and started up the stairs, taking slow, deliberate steps.
"We hide in here, then when he comes you distract him and I will get him from the side," she said excitedly.
Theta nodded and they both moved inside the open room. One floor below, the boy started on the final stairway.
Then Madge appeared in the hallway again; she tip toed over to the stairway leading up.
"What is she doing?" Peeta whispered.
Katniss furrowed her brow. "I don't know," she whispered back.
She peered at the screen with Theta; she had somehow fastened the rope horizontally across the door, to keep people out. But it was attached to a lamp and a chair; it would never hold for long.
The boy took another step and stood on the third floor. He walked up to the first door; it was locked.
He scowled. "Let me in, let me in. I won't hurt you," he sung. Enobaria and Claudius laughed. "What score did he get in training again?" Claudius asked.
"A nine," Gloss said, his voice unemotional. "For his brutal skill with a sword."
Neither Theta nor Madge answered. The boy walked on to the next door; the one Theta was hiding behind. He turned the handle and pushed the door moved inwards then recoiled back.
The boy smirked and stepped back a few feet, then ran towards the door and kicked it open with one swift kick. The chair fell over and the lamp flew three feet then landed with a loud crashing sound on the floor beside Theta.
Madge moved; she took small steps towards the boy. She had taken off her shoes and walked barefoot.
The boy laughed. He saw Theta in the far corner of the room. "That's one," he said and took one step into the room. "Now where is the second?" he asked in a sing-song voice.
Madge stood right behind him now, her hand shook as she raised the knife.
"I think, behind me!" The boy said and turned on his heels.
Madge froze, her hand partly raised.
Three people swore.
The boy grinned, his eyes wild. "What should I start with? The hand? The leg?" he asked. He moved his left hand to his lips pondering. "Then again, you did help me get rid of nine…"
Madge shivered, her grip on the knife was loose. She had lost her will.
He took a step towards her.
"Now!" Theta shouted.
The boy twisted around and lashed out with his sword; the lamp split in two. His eyes widened and his mouth opened and he turned back again, but it was already too late. The knife buried in his neck. He sputtered, spraying blood over the floor. "No…" he said.
Madge fell backwards and landed on her butt, she brought her knees to her chest and rubbed her hands franticly over her legs. She had not escaped unscratched, a long gash ran down her left leg.
The sound of a cannon filled the air; the boy from district eight was dead.
"Seven left, this is starting to get interesting," Claudius said, paying no respect to the fallen.
Katniss closed her eyes and fell back into the sofa. Her legs were heavy and she never wanted to open her eyes again, but she did and looked down at her right hand, it was white. She squeezed Peeta's hand gently and he let up some; the colour started to return. Even though it was sweaty and had started to itch, Katniss did not move her hand. Her relationship with Peeta was at a strange place, he had kissed her back but there was something off about it. Katniss cringed; he would want to speak about it.
Madge got to her feet and stumbled over to the corpse; with a shaking hand she drew out the knife. Theta picked up the rope and sword.
No words were spoken as they left the building. They walked to the centre of the town, Madge leaning on Theta, there was a small square shaped building at the middle. 'Town centre' was written with big white letters on the top.
The two girls glanced at each other, then they shrugged and went inside. The building consisted of one room, and it was almost completely empty, except for one wall.
There was a chest of drawers with dolls placed on top. Katniss counted them, seven. They had small shirts with numbers on them; from two to twelve.
Each had a small string tied around their neck. Madge walked closer and the camera zoomed in; from this distance Katniss could see that there were large spaces between certain dolls, and some numbers were left out.
The cannon went off.
'Snap!'
Madge recoiled. A male doll disappeared through the chest, a hatch had opened beneath his feet; the only thing visible was the string. Madge opened a drawer, then another, until all of them lay on the floor beside her. She crouched down, the camera went after her.
Dolls hung there, from the string around their neck. The camera zoomed in on one doll, the one that fell; number nine.
Up close the face was recognizable; Katniss tasted bile at the back of her throat. It was a doll replica of the tribute from District Nine.
Katniss looked closer at the other hung dolls, they were all replicas of fallen tributes.
"Then there were six. They have really outdone themselves this time," Claudius said just as a bell went off.
Madge raised her head, she had heard too.
"Ooooooh! It's time already?" Claudius said excitedly. The three commentators became visible on the screen.
Claudius cleared his throat. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Capitol," he said, his voice booming. The camera zoomed in on his face; his nose was different from last time, smaller. "For the first time ever, there will be a twist midway through the Games… And what a twist it is!" he said.
The camera changed and showed six children, three girls and three boys. They did not really look like children as even the smallest girl there dwarfed Katniss by her size.
"For the first time ever," Claudius repeated. "There will be contestants from the Capitol!" he shouted.
The camera zoomed in and it drifted from contestant to contestant; who in turn gave their best confident grin.
"Who will win? The battle between the Capitol and the Districts. Remember this is all thanks to President Snow and the new head Gamemaker Plutar—"
Effie muted it. "You have to go," she said and grimaced.
"What?" Katniss asked, she was already on her feet.
"It will be impossible to get sponsors. Who would want to sponsor a filthy District child when they could have the honour of sponsoring someone from the Capitol?" Haymitch said.
"No—that's…" Peeta said.
"Maybe if we went right away we might…" Katniss said.
"Yes, let's do that," Peeta agreed and together they ran out the door. She was faster than Peeta, so she reached the door to the hall a step ahead of him. She opened it and rushed through.
She stopped on the first step of the staircase. There was no one there, the entire hall was deserted.
"Wha—"
Applause. President Snow stood at the bottom of the staircase.
"Bravo, bravo. She's doing well in there," he said. He started up towards them, they met halfway.
Snow smiled at them. "Surprised?" he asked. "You shouldn't be, all the signs pointed here."
Katniss glared at him.
"It's so quiet here, I don't remember it ever being this quiet…" Snow mused.
"Where are they?" Katniss asked.
"Didn't they tell you? There is a new hall, built specifically for this event." He paused. "Only for the citizens of the Capitol I'm afraid, but I'm sure you will hear all about it."
"What do you want?" Peeta asked.
The smile disappeared from Snow's face. "I want peace…I wanted us to work together. But I don't think I want that anymore."
He turned around and started down the stairs.
He stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "Oh, and give my best to Mayor Paylor. Tell her that I'm—"He paused. "—watching."
He left; Katniss buried her face in her hands. Peeta put a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go back up; we still have some money. We have to use it before it disappears.
Katniss's eyes widened. It was true; they did have some money from earlier sponsors. She jumped up the stairs, two at a time; they had to use it before even that disappeared.
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