Chapter 21.
Madge hid in the bushes, scared for her life. Vick, Prim, and Posy were safe with her, but she didn't really know if Vick, her parents, these children's parents, anybody else, was safe.
She had seen the bugs go off into the distance and thought it was probably safe to venture out. Just to be even safer, she told Vick and Posy to stay hidden, knowing Prim couldn't bear to be left behind.
Tenderly, tenderly, they stepped into the clearing. It appeared that these bugs didn't just eat through human flesh. Plastic bottles, the tent, cloth, everything was gone or halfway eaten. What the fuck were these things?!
"Prim…Prim…" she heard someone whispering, almost moaning. Rory. Prim noticed at the exact same time she did and took off. Madge lingered for a moment to be sure the bugs were gone and called Vick and Posy to her. Posy was crying, "I want my bubba," she sobbed into Madge's shirt.
Madge patted the little girl's head, "We'll be there soon, Pose. I promise I'll get you there."
She held Vick's hand and had Posy on her hip as she walked to the clearing. Prim was sobbing over a fallen Rory and the two bodies that covered him.
Hazelle and Greasy Sae had thrown themselves on top of Rory somewhere amidst the chaos. Hazelle's eyes were lifeless, and she had bite marks covering her face. Madge didn't doubt that these bugs had some kind of venom that could kill if too many got to you, much like a tracker jacker. Greasy Sae's eyes were closed, as if she had been sleeping. Along the tree line, Ripper and Madge's parents had also fallen victim.
That left…Mrs. Everdeen. But where the hell was she?
As Prim painstakingly pushed Hazelle and Sae off Rory, he began to talk more gibberish, "They took her… Prim… they took her… gone."
Madge began to repeat the words… "Oh my gosh. Prim, I think they took your mother!"
Prim looks around, gasping as she takes in the words. She looks to the ground, ashamed that she hadn't thought about checking on her mother first. "What do we do?" She asked Madge. Prim had never went into the woods without someone who knew what they were doing, and Madge certainly didn't. They had secured what was left of their food, and Prim thought it would last the five of them till they arrived tomorrow.
Madge looked up into Prim's eyes, "We follow Haymitch's instructions and do our best to get back to 13."
Prim looked down to Rory, who had now fallen into a deep sleep. She counted all the bite marks, all over his left hand, all the way down his right leg…she didn't know what kind of venom these bugs had, so she wasn't sure what kind of effects she should be looking for.
As far as her mother, Prim didn't think she was dead. She didn't know anything about the rebellion, but as soon as Snow found out Katniss was alive, he would use their mother against her. Prim didn't know if Katniss would be able to shut their mother out like she had done all those years before.
The hardest part was having to explain to Vick and Posy that their mother was gone. Posy just cried for hours, and Prim and Madge held on to her and Vick, crying too. At sundown, Madge tried to save what was left of the tent, making a good enough shelter for the five children. Madge had never felt like more of a child than when she fell asleep crying with each of the kids in the tent.
Tomorrow they would head out, carrying Rory if they had too. To deal with her grief, Madge focused on making some kind of cart or raft that they could pull Rory on. She fell asleep dreaming of the designs in her head.
…
After Gale had stopped throwing things, he had demanded that Haymitch send out a rescue squad. Haymitch had tried to explain that it was too risky, that they'd get caught, but Gale's hardheadedness prevented him from seeing reason.
"That's my family, Haymitch! My family! did you ever have one of those?" He had screamed.
"No Gale!" He walked over to where Katniss was holding Keegan, "This is your family! And I will endanger these two if I send out a hovercraft. The Capitol will be on us before we could get back, and they'd follow us. I just can't do it, Gale."
He stopped short and looked at his daughter. The decision was almost unthinkable, but he knew he would do anything to protect this little girl. He grumbled something about leaving and left the command room.
Katniss was near tears, and asked Haymitch, "What do we do now?"
"We wait, sweetheart. We wait."
…
By the time Madge had gotten a suitable raft together for Rory, it was almost midday. He hadn't woke yet, which was amazing considering Posy had been poking him every five seconds for the last hour. The walkie talkie had been completely destroyed, so there was no way to call Haymitch and tell him that they were or were not okay. She was frustrated, but as the head of the group now, she had to hide it.
Prim had been gathering with Vick for the whole day. she had made sure she had the types of herbs that they could eat while also getting some medicinal herbs that she thought might help Rory. She was beside herself with worry, both over him and her mother.
By the time she got back to the clearing, Madge had finished her cart/raft thing and they were packed up to go. Vick had whittled a type of spear for protection while Prim was gathering and handed it to Madge, who smiled very widely. She didn't think they'd encounter anyone out here, but someone had taken Mrs. Everdeen, and Madge didn't want to meet that person or people empty handed.
Madge was very thankful that her father had taught her how to use a compass when she was a child. As she looked to his almost sleeping form on the ground, she wanted to cry at not being able to give him a proper burial. But doing it by herself for all those adults would take days, and she now had four mouths she needed to feed, with only a spear for a weapon.
She knew they would understand, and they would probably do the same in her situation. So she packed up the supplies, packed Rory on the makeshift cart, and she and Prim drug him along, following the needle of her compass.
She set her jaw and trudged forward, judging by Rory's calculations, they were only about 10 miles out from the district base. If they hurried along and kept walking a little while after sundown, they'd make it in the morning. They had enough herbs and berries and meat to last them till then. If they missed the base completely, got attacked, or took longer than expected, that was when Madge would start to worry.
She had also started thinking about what she was going to do with Rory. She'd counted two really deep insect bites on his left hand and right foot, the rest were minor and she doubted he really even felt them. What had really bothered her was the reason he was so sleepy. What kind of venom did these things have to make the recipient instantly fall asleep?
And who the hell sent those things? She'd never seen or heard of a mutation like that. She knew the Capitol didn't tell the districts everything, but with such a magnificent creature, she'd figured they would brag. So if they didn't really occur naturally, like the tracker jackers and mockingjays had been forced to do, didn't that mean the Capitol had sent them? So did that mean the Capitol knew where they were? Were Madge, Prim & the Hawthorne children leading the Capitol right to the 13 base?
No, that was silly. The Capitol knew where 13 was, they just wanted to kill these people to show that they could and to squash an impending rebellion. Madge laughed to herself, whether they liked it or not, the rebellion was coming.
…
Gale slept uneasily, worried about his sister and little brothers. Prim was basically a sister to him too, so he added her to the list. Even though his mother had proved many times over that she could take care of herself, he added her to the list, and Mrs. Everdeen.
Haymitch had been pacing all night, worried about them as well. If Rory had been completely right, they should have been there before sundown. But since they weren't…it left a lot to the imagination. As Gale looked down at his sleeping daughter in his sleeping wife's arms, he knew he could never lose this. No matter what happened, he'd protect these two, and he wouldn't let them out of his sight for as long as he lived.
In the morning, he kissed his girls and took them to breakfast. Still no word.
He was beginning to get antsy. Rory always made a schedule and stuck to it, so he was either dead or injured if he couldn't follow it. And if Rory had fallen, who was in charge of the group? Surely Posy, Vick, and Prim weren't wandering the woods by themselves…
No, no. the thought made him sick. Better to think of something else. He played dolls with Keegan for about two hours in the command center before a bell went off. Haymitch came running for the room, looking to Gale and Katniss with an excited gleam in his eye. "They made it, hospital wing." he shouted and took off even farther down the hall. Gale and Katniss get up to chase them, and Beetee smiles at Katniss, "I'll watch her." She looks uneasy, but Haymitch had assured her that they could trust Beetee, so she takes Gale's hand and runs for the hospital wing.
Everyone except Rory is fine and waiting in the waiting room. He kisses his sister Posy and his sister-in-law Prim before hugging Vick. Katniss cries at the fact that Prim is safe, and squeezes Madge so tightly she's afraid her meager breakfast will make another appearance.
As Gale looks around, he notices the party is missing a few important people. He turns to Vick, "Where's Rory, Mom, and Mrs. Everdeen?"
Vick shifts uncomfortably, so Madge takes his shoulder and answers. "Rory is across the hall. They think the bites paralyzed sections of his body, they won't know how bad it is until they run more tests."
She looked to Katniss, "We couldn't find Mrs. Everdeen's body… We think they took her." She shifts back to Gale and pats Vick's shoulder.
"Where is mom, Vick? Where is she?" Gale seethes.
Vick meets his eyes, "She's dead."