Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.
"Have you seen Madge?"
The question pulls Gale from his many thoughts that are meant to keep him distracted from the 900 people he has to figure out a way to feed. He lifts his head and looks toward the voice, a ragged looking girl covered in ash.
"What?"
"Madge," the girl repeats. "Madge Undersee?" Gale narrows his eyes at the girl, trying to put a name to the face. "Thom said you might have seen her."
Delly Cartwright, Gale finally figures it out. She looks a bit broken, it might be why it took him awhile to identify her. She isn't smiling. Her yellowish curls are tied up and out of her face, and her pale skin is dampened with dirt and sweat.
"No," Gale finally answers. The girl in front of him blinks back tears and nods, going to turn away from him. "Why?"
"Oh," Delly wipes at her eyes and turns back to face Gale. "No one can find her. I'm starting to think that s-she didn't…" Delly trails off and lets out a deep breath, lifting her shoulders slightly. "I wouldn't be surprised."
Gale squints at the lumpy girl in front of him. "What do you mean?"
"No one else really made it out," Delly chokes out. "Not from town." She glances up at Thom who stands a few feet away talking to her brother. "Not even my parents."
"Undersee's fine," Gale mutters in attempt to change the subject. "I bet she got out on some fancy hovercraft."
Delly blinks a few times and forces a smile. "Let's hope. Last I saw her house…" she trails off and shakes her head. She starts to walk away but Gale follows after her.
"Wait, what happened to her house?"
Delly spins back around and wipes at her eyes. "It… it caved in," she tells him. "And it was on f-fire." Gale swallows as she folds her arms across her chest. "That's why I was hoping she'd be here but I don't think…" She lets out a deep breath and looks back over her shoulder at Thom who's approaching the two. "Thanks anyway, Gale."
As Delly goes to join Thom and her brother Gale stops her again. "Hey, Delly," she pauses in her trek but doesn't turn around. "Will you let me know? If you find her?"
"Sure," she nods. But by the way her voice cracks, Gale's sure he won't hear from the yellow haired girl again. And he doesn't.