Chapter 15
(Madge POV)
After I've dried my eyes and washed my face so that my crying won't be so evident, I head over to the Hawthorne's so I can steal Posy for awhile. She'll be able to keep me busy and keep my mind from worrying. Thank heavens for Posy and her overly excited ways. On my way over I realize I didn't ask Gale if his family was aware of him working on this rescue mission and I don't want to bring it to their attention if he didn't want them to worry. I decide that if they ask, I'll just say that Gale's working on a project with Katniss. It's enough of the truth that I won't be lying to them but vague enough that I might be able to avoid spilling any secrets.
As soon as the Hawthorne door is opened following my quiet knock, I'm nearly tackled to the ground by Posy herself.
"Madge!" The tiny girl cries out in delight as she throws herself at me. I laugh and bend down, helping her climb into my arms. I don't think I'll ever tire of having her greet me like this. I'll surely miss it when she's older and no longer thinks I hung the moon.
"Hey there Posy! You are just the person I was looking for!"
"I am? You came just to see me?" Her little eyes wide with happiness.
"Mmhmm. I wanted to see if you wanted to spend the night tonight but first we have to ask your mother if it's okay."
She shimmies down from my arms, taking my hand and tugging me to follow her inside. "Ma! Madge wants me to spend the night with her! Can I go?" She calls out to the back of their apartment where I assume Hazelle must be.
Hazelle soon appears in the front room and smiles when she sees me. "Madge, what a pleasant surprise. We were just heading out for dinner if you care to join us."
"Thank you, I will. I also wanted to see if you would mind letting Posy spend the night with me tonight?"
"She has school in the morning so I'm afraid that might not be the best idea." Hazelle explains and I suddenly remember that here, Posy is a student and can't just come spend the night any old time.
"But Ma! I wanna go!" Posy whines from below Hazelle, tugging at her shirt.
"Posy, what did we discuss about whining when you don't get your way?" Hazelle scolds and I can hear in her voice that she's exhausted with having to deal with Posy's fits.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned it to her before speaking to you first." I apologize, feeling guilty for having gone about this in a way that lead to Posy having a fit.
"Oh don't worry about it. It's alright. Posy just seems to think that whining is the solution to all life's problems. We've been working on learning to be more grown up, haven't we Posy?"
"Yes mam." Posy says sounding glum as ever and looking down at her feet.
"Now that's much better. How about we compromise on this? Madge can have dinner with us and then you can go home with her for an hour but then you have to come home and go to bed. Do we have a deal?"
The little girl nods, seemingly happy again and grabs my hand, swinging it back and forth. Hazelle looks to me and smiles again. "I'm just afraid if she spends the night she won't sleep a wink and she'll be more than her usual handful of herself for her teachers at school tomorrow. I hope you understand."
"Oh of course I do. Again, I'm sorry I suggested it to her without asking your permission." I apologize again. I feel so foolish for making such a mistake.
"Don't be silly, Madge. You're family. You don't need my permission to invite any of us over." She says softly, pressing her hand over my shoulder for a moment as she speaks. There's a warmth and sincerity when she says these words to me and my heart feels it. Family. She thinks of me as family. I reckon I knew this back before I lost my memories but hearing it now, it sounds sweet and inviting. Like I'm included in something special.
I nod and smile. "So where are Rory and Vick?" I ask as we head out to the cafeteria, Posy still holding tightly to my hand as we walk.
"They went to go meet Rebekah, Rory's girlfriend. They'll be at dinner."
"So they're officially a couple then? Rory and Rebekah?" I ask. I hadn't heard of this yet but I also hadn't asked.
"Yes, it's official so to speak. Rory finally got enough courage to talk to her and as it turns out she'd had her eye on him as well but had been too shy to approach him. They've been practically inseparable ever since then."
"That's good to hear. I'm glad he's happy."
"I'm happy for him too though I'm not sure I was ready for him to grow up and start dating." She says with a sigh before looking down at where Posy walks between us. "Posy, promise me you won't go dating and falling in love until you're at least 30, okay?"
"Okay." The little girl agrees easily, not realizing Hazelle was teasing.
"Is Gale at work?"
"Sort of, yes. He's working on a special project with Katniss tonight."
"Well, I'm sure he'll enjoy that more than washing dishes."
I nod, unable to answer, afraid I'll give away what he's really doing right now. Once we arrive in the cafeteria and get our food trays, we join Rory, Rebekah and Vick at the family's usual table.
"Madge, this is Rebekah. Rebekah, this Madge, my sister in law." Rory introduces us.
"It's very nice to meet you Rebekah." I say, smiling at her. She's pretty. Dark hair like the Hawthornes but with blue eyes instead of grey. She stares at me for a moment and smiles at me then looks quickly down at her food, pushing it around her plate. It seems odd, as if I've made her uncomfortable though I'm not sure why. Maybe she's just really shy. Hazelle had mentioned that, hadn't she? I push the thought from my mind and let myself enjoy the table conversations around me as we eat.
After dinner, Posy comes back to my place with me, coloring book and crayons in tow. She tells me how she got them at her new school. That every child in class gets them. She shows me pictures that she's colored and points out how she's getting better at staying inside the lines. We color a picture of a horse together and she insists that we tear it out and hang it on my wall. I sign my name on the bottom of it and hand the purple crayon to her so she can do the same and she just gives me a look before tossing the crayon to the floor.
"What's the matter? Don't you want to put your name on it?" I ask as I squat down next to her.
"I don't know how to write my name." She pouts.
I laugh a little. "Is that all? Well don't worry, I can teach you how to do that. It's easy!"
Her little face looks at me, skeptical that I can teach her. I nod and pick the crayon up from the floor. She timidly watches as I take a blank page of paper and carefully print out P-O-S-Y at the top of the page. I hand her the crayon and guide her hand as it draws out each letter.
"See, you can do it. All you need is a little practice." I encourage her. "Why don't you try it without my help this time?"
I watch as she struggles to copy the shapes of the letters but she manages. Her print is anything but steady or neat but it is legible and she repeats it twice more on her own, each time getting better at it.
"I did it! I did it!" She cries out with pride.
"Now, how about you put your name on that picture of ours?" I say tilting my head towards the horse picture on the wall. She's just finished it when there's a knock on the door.
"Hey, I'm here for Posy." Rory tells me when I open the door.
"Look what Madge taught me! My name! It's my name!" She squeals as Rory enters the small room.
"Wow, good job Pose." He says looking down at the page where she's been practicing her name. "Hey, listen, I wanted to explain about earlier at dinner. About Rebekah." He says quietly to me now.
"Explain what?"
"Why she stared and got all quiet when you sat down. I know you noticed."
"Oh, I just figured she was shy is all. Was it something more than that?"
"She is shy but that wasn't it. I forgot to warn her before you sat down with us about your scars. I'd told her about you before and how you'd been in the games and how that landed us here in 13. But I didn't mention the scars because, well, I just don't think about em. To me you're just Madge. I don't even notice the scars anymore. Anyway, Rebekah was just surprised is all. She didn't know that you'd been hurt in the games and she was just a little shocked is all. I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable."
"I wasn't uncomfortable. And I can't say the scars don't make me take a second look myself sometimes. They are pretty frightening to look at."
"She didn't mean to be rude. It just caught her off guard, ya know? She's really nice and I like her a whole bunch. I…I hope you'll be willing to meet her again sometime." He says with a bit of question in his voice. As if he's afraid I've already written her off.
"Don't be ridiculous. If she's important to you, and I think that she is, I'd love to meet her again. I wasn't offended at all, I promise."
He grins in relief. "Thanks Madge! Hey, where's Gale? Shouldn't he be home by now?"
"He, um, went to work on a special project with Katniss tonight. He'll be back later."
His face goes still and for a moment, I think he must see through my vagueness. Must see that I'm not being completely honest. But he doesn't say anything. He just turns our attention to Posy who has been busy still practicing her name.
"Posy Hawthorne! What did you just do?" He exclaims making her jump a little.
"I ran out of paper!" She whines and I realize that on my concrete floor, in purple crayon, is a scribbly written P-O-S-Y. She wrote on our floor.
"Doesn't matter! You know you can't do that!" Rory scolds her.
I reach over and put my hand on his arm to stop him. She was so excited to have learned how to write her name that I don't want her writing on my floor to take away from that. "It's okay. Don't worry about it."
Rory just looks at me and shakes his head. "Same Madge you always were, spoiling her rotten whenever you can." There's a hint of smile behind his words and I can see that he means this to be a compliment.
I squat down to Posy. "You shouldn't color on people's floors but I'm not mad. It's okay just this once." I tell her and she loses the whiney face and her proud smile returns.
Rory and Posy head on home and I'm once again left alone with my thoughts. I wonder where Gale is right now? What part of the mission he's working on? Is he safe? Is he scared or does he feel confident? So many questions are flooding through my mind and I'd had so little time to discuss details with Gale before he had to leave. Perhaps it's better that way though. Better if I don't know what exactly he's doing right now. I slide down to the floor and trace my fingers over the crayon markings Posy left behind. It's going to be a very long, sleepless night.
A knock at the door brings me to my feet in a flash. Is something wrong? Have they come to tell me that the mission failed and something happened to Gale? I swing the door open and very much to my surprise, find none other than Rory Hawthorne standing there.
"What are you doing here?"
"You didn't really think I'd let you sit here all night by yourself while Gale's out on that rescue mission did you?"
"How did you know?"
"You gave it away when you said he was working with Katniss. Prim told me this morning about the top secret mission."
And with that, the brave front I'd been trying to uphold crumbles and the floodgates of tears opens. Just knowing he knows what's going on makes it impossible to hold all this inside myself. If he's at all uncomfortable with my show of emotion, you'd never know it. He just wraps his arms around me and hugs me, letting me cry into his shoulder.
(Gale POV)
When the hovercraft lands and the doors open, I'm down the steps and my feet hit the ground running. The faster I move through here, the faster, I can get back. I figure it'll be twice as hard to lead a group through the woods as it is to travel them alone so I'm hoping to make up some time by moving faster. The other runner, Wyck, assigned to gather groups from town is following right behind me, keeping a decent pace.
As I run, the smell of the outdoors hits my senses harder than I remember. The smell of soil and leaves and the chill of the night air. It's been so long since I experienced any of this. It feels so, so good to be out from underground. To be up, above the earth, it's more revitalizing than I'd expected it would be. And my memory of the woods isn't failing me either. I'd know my way through these woods anywhere, anyday, anytime.
I reach the treeline of the woods without problems. I pause here, waiting for Wyck to catch up. Once he does, I point out the part of the fence in the distance where I see people gathering. It's just next to the meadow and just before the Mayor's house. Geez, did they have to do this next to the his house? They couldn't pick a different spot to have a rescue? But then I realize that all the lights are off in the Mayor's house and he must be out of town. I wonder if because he's important, if he and his family will get to be moved to another district and escape before the district is destroyed?
Wyck gives the bird call signal to the peacekeeper near the fence, who in return sends it back letting us know that it's safe to come for the first group. In the moonlight, we dart across the field and at the fence, I see the first group. It's smaller than I thought it would be. Maybe 10, 15 at best.
"This it?" I ask through a whispered voice.
"Hard to get town people. Just go, I'll have more soon." The peacekeeper tells me urgently as he pushes people through the fence. Even in the moonlight, they can see my face and I can see theirs. They're surprised to see me but they know it's not the best tome to talk. As a group, we run for cover of the trees. Once there, we do a headcount. 12 total. We split into two groups of 6 with me leading one and Wyck leading the other. I take those who look like they can move faster and he takes the slower looking ones. This is the point where we'll likely have more distance between us. I'll probably lap his group.
"Alright, stay quiet and follow behind me. If you start to fall behind, call out just once and I'll slow down. Please push yourselves to go as fast as you can though. The faster we move, the faster I can get back here for the next group." I tell them in a still whispered but urgent voice. They all stare at me, nodding. They understand what it'll mean to be caught. To be captured trying to escape.
And with that we move, running as a group in a single line. Each person following the one in front of them. We aren't moving as fast as when I was coming through here alone but we're still making good time. Not once does anyone ask me to slow down. Not once does anyone fall behind. I get the group to the hovercraft sight and help them aboard. The medic hands me a bottle of water and I guzzle it down.
"Is this all? 6 people?" He asks as I drink.
"Yeah. Wyck has 6 for his hovercraft too. I'm heading back for more." I tell him as I hand back the empty bottle.
"We'll take this group and be back for you as fast as we can." He says and then the door closes as the craft prepares to take off.
I don't wait to watch, I just head back the same way I came, moving as fast as I can. I pass Wyck and his group halfway back. They're really moving slow. I don't stop to talk though. Just a nod and a glance as I shoot passed them. This is where I make up time I remind myself when my legs start to ache from the running. It's been too long since I ran like this and my body is tiring faster than I thought it would. Regardless, I push forward until I'm at the treeline again. I catch my breath for a moment and scan the fence, looking for a group. I spot them with the peacekeeper, more this time as he told me there would be.
"This is the last of the town I can get. Take your next run to the Seam. They have more there than they can handle. I already messaged the other runner's hovercrafts to let them know of the change of plans."
I nod and lead my new group towards the treeline. Once in the safety of tree cover I survey my group. I won't have the leisure of taking only the strongest this run so I'll have to move slower to accommodate the group. Headcount gives me a total of 27. It's a huge group. And I've got both children and adults.
"Okay, I'll need you all to move as fast as you can. It may be hard but I'll need you to really push yourselves. Stay quiet and keep moving, following me. If you can't keep up and need me to slow down, call out once and I'll wait."
They nod and murmur yes. I start to lead them and right away, I have to slow down. And then after just a short distance, slow even more. This group is too big and to mismatched in ability. I need to rethink my plan. We can't go this slow. It's too risky. If anyone at all was tailing us, they'd catch us in no time flat. I pause the group and survey it again.
"Okay, we need to change the way we're doing this. If we keep going at this slow of a pace, we'll never make it."
"We're doing the best we can!" One woman snips at me, folding her arms across her chest.
"And I'm telling you right now, your best isn't cutting it. If we don't speed up, the whole group is in danger. Okay, any of you carrying personal items, you need to drop them. Any extra weight will only slow us more."
A round of complaints start to come up as the materialistic town people imagine parting with their belongings. They don't have much anyway but there are a few of them toting backpacks or small bags.
"Seriously people, we do NOT have time for this! Drop whatever you can, now!" I order. They look at me, pausing before finally dropping their things.
"Okay, now, if you're stronger and able to, please put one of the smaller children on your backs. Even carrying them, I think we can move faster than if they walk alone. I can carry someone too."
A few of the men pick up children and one of the women does as well. There are still several who'll have to walk on their own. I look at them and pick up the weakest looking of the bunch, throwing him onto my back.
"Alright, we'll get going again. Move as fast as you can. Your lives and the lives of others are depending on it." I tell them before turning and continuing towards the pickup site. Even with this boy on my back, I'm moving swiftly. Faster than before. I turn back, looking to see how the rest of the group is doing and see that they're coming, but struggling to keep up. I can't let them rest yet though. We have to move fast. Have to keep going. The sooner I can get them to the site, the sooner I can make my way to the Seam and help there.
When we finally arrive at the site, the hovercraft is waiting for us. The medic hands me an orange flavored drink this time. "Electrolytes. Rehydrates you faster than plain water. You holding up okay?"
"Yeah. I'm heading back out. To the Seam this time."
The medic nods and says "Alright. Wyck headed that way too. Our pickup site stays the same though so you'll have further to lead the group. Time wise, it's probably going to be your last run. This run took a lot longer than we expected."
"Got it." I tell him as I wipe my face on my shirt. Even though it's freezing out here, I'm sweating like crazy from all this running.
"Who will collect our things?" A woman calls out to me in a snotty voice from the door of the hovercraft.
"What things?" The medic asks.
"The ones he made us drop on the way here." She says, pointing a finger at me.
"You had them leave personal items in the woods? On the path here?" The medic asks. As he says it, I only now realize that may have been a bad idea. It leaves proof. Proof that we were here. Proof that they were rescued. Shit. I can't believe I didn't think of that.
"Yeah. They couldn't carry it and run. It was slowing us down."
"It leaves remnants! You should have known better!" He barks before calling up to the communicator and telling him what I did. They discuss it as if I'm not even here and then finally I cut them off.
"Look, I was just trying to get them to hustle. I'll go back for the stuff myself. I'll get it and then head to the Seam. I can move fast, it'll be fine." I tell them.
"Go! Quickly!" The communicator tells me and I turn, running back again without even looking back.
It was so stupid of me to not think of that. To not realize I was leaving a trail of proof behind. So stupid. Now, I've made my run even more daunting. Not only did I add distance to my run, but now, I'm going to be responsible for carrying a bunch of crap. And going back this way again only adds more danger to myself. If by chance we were followed at all, I'll be running right back into them. I don't think we're being followed but you never know. I don't think we pulled enough people out of the town for it to be noticeable. Even still, as I near the area where we dropped the belongings, I slow and then pause behind a tree. I want to be extra cautious here. I wait. It looks all clear so I go for it, grabbing bags and slinging them over my shoulders as fast as I can.
I look around the groud to make certain I'm not missing anything and then just as I'm about to get moving again, I hear footsteps coming towards me in the dark. Panic hits me and I flip my night vision glasses on my face. I hadn't been wearing them because I know the woods so well but now I need them. I look all around and I don't see anyone but I still hear footsteps. I can't hide behind a tree too well with all this crap so I put my hand on my gun and wait. That's the only thing I know to do. I keep my eyes focused on the direction of the sounds and wait.
And then, my glasses pick up a figure in the distance. It's Wyck. He's coming back this way with his second group.
"Wyck! It's me, Gale!" I call out to him so he won't be startled by my presence. "Why are you coming back this way?"
They stop in front of me. He's got a huge group. Maybe more than the craft can hold. That's why I heard him so much sooner than I saw him. Because there's so many of them.
Out of breath, he struggles to speak to me. "It's the only way I knew to come. I wasn't sure if it would be faster to take a more direct route and I already knew what to expect on this terrain. What are you doing?" He asks.
"Long story. Look, can some of your people carry some of this stuff? I can get to the Seam a lot faster if you all can take some of it without it slowing you down."
"Yeah, we can." I hear a familiar voice answer me. It's Thom.
"Thom?" I ask as I hand over bags and he passes them back. "Are there a lot more waiting?"
"A lot. You're gonna have to hurry. It's starting to turn into a frenzy back in the Seam." He tells me.
"Thanks!" I call out to him as I begin running as fast as I can, moving easier now that I'm not lugging a bunch of bags. If Thom says there's a frenzy, it must be getting bad. I need to move fast. Faster than I have been. I hope Katniss has been able to get groups back to the pickup sites. I hope she's doing okay.
I can hear the chaos of the Seam before I even reach it. People are flooding through the fence and the few peacekeepers there aren't able to control the crowds. And noise is at an all time high. It's only a matter of minutes before the regular Peacekeepers are made aware of the commotion and come this way. I need to grab whoever I can and haul ass. I won't be able to get everyone. Not at all, not by a long shot. I grab a man as he reaches the treeline of the woods.
"Hey, I'm here to help. We need to gather a group and get moving. We don't have much time left before we're trapped out here and the Capitol comes for us." I tell him, hoping he'll be able to help me.
"Just grab anybody?" He asks me.
"Anybody we can. But if they're stronger, we can move faster." I tell him. I don't want to leave anyone behind but I have a real sense that time is running out and weak and feeble won't be able to make this trip. They just won't.
"Got it." The man tells me and together we work to collect a group amidst the chaos. We've just begun running through the woods, back towards the pick up site when I hear the whistles of real Peacekeepers in the background. We're out of time. There won't be anymore rescue runs. We'll be lucky if we get back to the pick up site ourselves.
"Faster! We have to run faster!" I yell back at the group. They're keeping pace, fear and adrenaline fueling them as they run blindly through the woods behind me. They know what the whistles mean too. They know we're in real danger of getting caught if we can't move fast enough. Silently, we run as we listen to the noise fading behind us.
A/N: Two chapters in one day makes for a very good day don't you think? ;)
Hope you enjoyed it!