Chapter 26
(Gale POV)
"What the hell?" Haymitch blurts out when I barge into his office, scaring the daylights out of him.
"What happens to the bodies of prisoners when they die?" I ask in ragged breath.
"Buried or incinerated probably. What are you really asking here?"
"What if there was a way to fake Mayor Undersee's death? And then when they move him, we can make our move and rescue him? Is that possible? Could that happen?"
"Slow down kiddo." He says holding up his hand and taking a sip out of his coffee mug. I can smell from here that it isn't all coffee in that mug.
"Could we create a pill that gives the illusion that he's dead but in truth he wouldn't be? He'd just be super knocked out?"
He stares into his mug for a minute and then nods. "I suppose. Have to talk to someone in apothecary to be sure. I'm not exactly a chemist."
"Okay, so let's suppose then that they could make that happen. He takes the pill, appears to be dead. They'd have to dispose of his body and that's how we get our chance to swoop in and grab him, bring him back here. And then the medics could wake him back up or whatever and he'd be safe."
"Come on, let's go see what we can find out about prison procedures for body disposal. See if this is even worth looking into before we go having potions and pills created." He says as he stands, takes another gulp from the mug and shuffles out the door.
I follow him into a small office where the woman who was giving us the prison stats during our meeting is seated at a computer, chewing the tip of her pencil.
"We need some more information on that prison they're holding Mr. Undersee in. Can you find out what they do with the bodies of deceased prisoners?" Haymitch asks her without even greeting her.
She pecks away at the keyboard, pausing as information loads to the screen. She reads the data, her lips moving silently as she does. Finally, she looks up at us and speaks. "Bodies are transported to another facility for autopsy then incinerated."
"How far away is that facility and do we have any information about the transport process?"
She again consults her computer and then looks back up at us. "No information available about transport procedures. I'll keep searching and let you know what I find on that. As for the distance to the other facility, it's 12.8 miles. A research lab facility."
"Thanks Lucie. Let me know as soon as you get the procedures for transporting the bodies from the prison to the facility."
"I'll keep you posted." She says without looking up from her computer screen, her fingers furiously typing away.
I follow Haymitch back to his office again and we sit down. He pulls out a tablet and starts to jot things down.
"Alright, if we plan on rescuing him, we need to consider that a plan may need to happen simultaneously to rescue the mother and housekeeper too. Once Mr. Undersee's out of the picture, he'll be forced to focus on what's left of the girl's family."
"What about the Mellarks? Peeta's family? Could we get them out too?" I ask. If we're going to rescue Madge's mother and Mabel, we may as well try and get the Mellarks too.
His face shows surprise for a minute before he responds. "The Mellarks? They're already gone, son."
"Gone?" I echo back, not sure I'm understanding him.
"Thought for sure Katniss would've told you. Casualties of the Capitol and Snow's quest to hunt all of us down."
"She didn't tell me anything. What happened?"
"They were small, easy targets. Made sense for Snow to go after them first. He needs Madge's father alive so he can use him to torture and taunt Madge out of hiding so he couldn't kill him right off. The Mellarks served no purpose other than showing everyone what can happen to your family if you make Snow look foolish on national television. It's the same thing that woulda happened to the likes of your family or the Everdeens and Krulls had we left you all behind in 12."
"So Peeta knows about this?"
"Yeah kid, he knows."
He's about to say something else when Lucie comes in. "I have more information for you about those transfer procedures. The bodies are picked up within 24 hours and transported through a service by vehicle. It can carry up to 20 bodies at a time, all picked up from various places. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"Actually yes. Need to find out where Mr. Undersee's wife and housekeeper are being held. The wife is in a medical facility but we need to check which one and the housekeeper is a prisoner."
"I'll have that for you right away." She says and then disappears as quickly as she came.
"Does that leave us a chance to save him? The transport process, I mean? Does it give us a window?" I ask, more eager than ever to save Madge's father.
"Possibly. It would take a lot of things falling into the right place at the right time. The fact that the bodies aren't destroyed at the prison itself was what we needed most. The fact that they use a service for transport is in our favor. Still, 12 miles of transport doesn't give us much wiggle room."
"But the possibility, it exists?"
"That it does kiddo, that it does. Right now what we have to hope for is that the housekeeper is in a different prison. No way we'd be able to get them both out with that fake death stunt of yours. It'd be too suspicious if they both went down at the same time in the same place. The mother should be much easier to get our hands on. Medical facilities aren't as secure as prisons. Still, being who she is and all, she'll likely have a peacekeeper keeping watch over her."
"Haymitch, we have to try and get them out. We just have too."
"Love the passion kid, I do but there's a lot that goes into a mission like this. A lot of very careful planning. We don't just hop in a hovercraft and go after em." He tells me, trying to get me to be patient as he sorts out all the details of possibility.
"How can I help right now? What can I do to speed this along?"
"By being patient and letting me do my job. And by keeping your trap shut about this whole thing. No sense in you telling that pretty girl of yours about this until we know it's gonna be able to happen. If you tell her now and it doesn't pan out you'll just be bringing on more heartbreak and grief for her, no sense in that." He warns.
"Can you hurry? I don't know how long I can keep this from her. I see her hurting in a way like I never have before and all I want to do is help her."
"I'll go as fast as I can. Undersee was good people in my book and I'd love to get him out of this mess alive just as much as you would. Now you head on out of here and I'll send someone to get you if anything comes to fruition before your shift tomorrow."
"You'll stay and work on this tonight? All night?" I ask.
"Yeah, I will." He reassures me and waves me off.
I head out of the Defense Department feeling more optimistic than ever. Haymitch said it was possible. Possible to save Madge's family. Possible. That single word had my hopes soaring. Possible.
(Madge POV)
After Gale leaves with Posy, I turn down the lights and crawl under the covers. I'm not sleepy, just incredibly sad. Overwhelmingly sad. There's an emptiness filling me that makes my heart ache in a way totally unfamiliar to me. I don't want anyone to talk to me or be with me right now. Not even Gale. I just want to be alone. Want to hide away from everyone and everything. I guess what I'm feeling is grief. I can't say that I've ever felt it before. Not that I remember anyway. And it's awful. My father may have done things I don't approve of and he may have lied about things but he's still my father and I still love him. He's a part of me and somehow, even though we've been apart for quite some time now, just knowing that his life is about to come to an end, rips me apart.
There are so many things I love about him and so many things I never really said to him that I wish I would have. I hate myself for failing to say them when I had the chance. And then there're all the things I can't remember. The moments that my mind's forgotten that I'll forever wonder about. Like how my father responded when I first told him I was in love with Gale or how we likely had a father-daughter dance at my wedding. Was he pleased that I found someone as wonderful as Gale? And then there are all the things I always imagined that will never happen now. He'll never get to be the amazing grandfather to my future children that I always knew he would be. He'll never get to see how well Gale and I are doing here in 13. He'll be gone forever. The moment that pill crosses his lips, everything will end for him. Everything.
I roll over in bed and even in the dim lighting I see my flowers from Gale. My beautiful flowers. I can't believe that he managed to find flowers for me. And the gesture was so utterly heartfelt, so kind and loving. He hadn't pushed at all when I'd asked to be alone. There was a touch of sadness and some confusion in his eyes but all the same, he'd given me exactly what I needed and I know it wasn't easy. And then he'd even gone further by bringing me the flowers. A way for him to show me that he's sorry I'm hurting. That he's thinking of me. That I can have my space but that he's here when I'm ready.
Posy herself had been incredibly kind as well. She'd come bounding into the place, ready to show me how good she's getting at tying her shoe laces when she'd found me all teary eyed. She'd crawled up on the bed next to me and done her very best to cheer me up, singing made up songs for me. Her childlike innocence didn't even press her to ask me what was wrong, only thing she saw was that I was upset and that she could help. I love her for that.
I get up and go into the bathroom and wash my face, pressing the cool washcloth against my stinging eyes. I've been crying for so long now that my face literally hurts. One look in the mirror only confirms that I look as dreadful on the outside as I feel on the inside. I'm a total mess. Red eyes. Puffy face. Hair all a tangled mess. Snotty nose from all the crying. I've got to try and pull myself together.
I turn on the shower and climb in. As good as the warm water feels, I'd give anything to have a long soak in a hot bath right now. To be able to lay back and sink down to my chin in warm, bubble filled and scented water. But this will have to do. And really, I should be grateful. It's sort of selfish of me to be wanting something like a bubble bath when my father is off being brutally tortured. I'm safe and sound and provided for while he's forced to waste away the last moments of his life in some miserable Capitol prison cell, all alone. Thinking about this brings forth a whole new wave of tears and I let myself slide down to the floor of the shower, rest my head against the tile and sob as the water pours down over me.
By the time Gale comes home and finds me, the water has long since run cold. I've lost all track of time, lost to my tears and my sadness. Gale doesn't say a word. Just turns off the water, wraps a towel around me and carries me to bed. He dries me off and pulls a nightshirt over my head. After that he climbs into bed with me and pulls me into his arms, holding me. He holds me as I lean my face against his chest. I'm no longer crying. Barely feeling. Just numb with all consuming, heart wrenching sadness.
"I'm so sorry that you're hurting." He finally whispers against my forehead.
"I'm sorry I'm such a wreck." I apologize as I pull back and look up at him. His lips press against my forehead and his hand gently brushes against my cheek.
"It's okay. I understand. Believe me, I understand what you're feeling right now."
His father died too. He does know exactly what I feel. "I know. I love you. Thank you for being so understanding. I'm going to try and pull it together, I promise."
"How about you start with something simple, like just pulling it together enough to eat something? I brought you dinner."
"Not really hungry."
"I know you're not but that doesn't mean you don't need to eat something. Maybe just a few bites?" He says as he gets up and retrieves a bag from the night table.
He opens it and pulls out a sandwich and an apple. "The kitchen was already closed but I swiped my badge and found some stuff to make you a sandwich."
"Did you get to eat? Earlier?" I ask as I twist the stem of the apple mindlessly.
"Yeah, I grabbed a bite while I made yours."
I nod, still twisting at the apple stem. He reaches over and takes half the sandwich, holding it out to me. "Here, just a few bites. You haven't eaten all day."
I humor him and take a bite. I have no appetite though and it's tasteless in my mouth. As I chew a second, tasteless bite, there's a knock at the door.
"Who could that be?" I wonder aloud.
Gale opens it and a person, a man, I don't recognize stands at the door. It must be someone from defense because he wears the same badge around their neck that Gale does. He hands Gale a slip of paper that he reads and then hands back to them.
"Tell him I'll be down in a few minutes." He says to the man at the door before shutting it and turning to me.
"I've gotta go back into work for a little while. You gonna be alright? I can have Rory come sit with you while I'm gone if you want."
"What's going on at work?" I ask ignoring his offer to send for Rory. He never has to go back in like this. Something's up.
"Just trying to help Haymitch with some stuff is all. I'll be back as soon as I can." He says kissing my forehead.
"Seriously, what's going on?"
He hesitates, obviously torn as to if he should tell me or not. "Madge, right now, the best thing you can do is trust me. I'll be back as soon as I can and then, if I'm able to, I'll explain all this."
"If I'm asleep when you get back, wake me up, okay?" I ask.
"I will, I promise. Love you." He says as he hurries out the door leaving me to wonder what in the world was going on that was so secretive he couldn't discuss it with me.