[Flowers] • The Hunger Games

Sixteen

Asteria held a breath.

Madge held the side of her head, the explosion at the cornucopia having been much larger than anyone had anticipated. Dozens of mines had been a part of the chain effect. Asteria could see blood, and considered the possibility of Madge having ruptured her own eardrum- or possibly having been hit by shrapnel.

"Come on, come on..." She mumbled to herself, alone in the couch. Madge began to stumble through the forest weakly with no clear direction. She got lucky, she was vaguely headed towards where she'd told Rue to go. "Come on. Take a breath, shake it off." She whispered.

Somehow, it felt like Madge had heard her.

Madge stopped pointlessly stumbling around and took a second to get her bearings. She removed her hand and sure enough, blood was coming from her inner ear. She snapped on either side of her head- but twice on her left side, where the bleeding was coming from. As if she hadn't heard the first snap and had to try again.

They'd be able to fix her hearing if she won. The Capitol doctors could fix nearly any medical issue short of straight up amputation. She'd just have to deal with it until the games were over.

She was supposed to be impartial. And to a certain degree, she was. But Madge had come such a long way. No longer was she the girl who cried over breakfast, back on the train after the reaping. Now, she was meticulous. Calculated. Braver than anyone could have ever guessed. Asteria knew, deep inside- she wanted Madge to win over anyone else.

She just hoped the sponsors felt the same way.

Madge got her bearings back soon enough. She seemed slightly confused, probably from having her hearing damaged, but headed east towards the meeting point.

The elevator dinged, taking Asteria's attention away from the TV. Finnick emerged within a moment and quickly crossed towards the couch.

"Holy shit, did you see that?" He asked, and Asteria wore a small smile. His expression was this sort of priceless shock that she couldn't help but laugh about. He sat beside her as she scooted over a little. "That was badass. Mayor's kid or not, she's a damned fighter if I've ever seen one!" Finnick mused.

"So you've said. She's damaged her hearing in her left ear, and Rue's still missing at the moment. But cutting off the career's food supply will undoubtedly change the way the games are gonna play out." Asteria nodded. "Sacrifice, but a worthy sacrifice." She decided.

"The careers are headed back, look-" He nods towards Gale's side of the TV. The careers had turned tail and were making a beeline towards the cornucopia, faster than they'd been headed towards the fire.

"Marvel, Gale- you two go that way, see if anyone's trying to make a getaway." Cato spoke aloud. Unbeknownst to Rue and Madge, the other side of the arena was partially blocked by a rocky shore with steep drop-offs. Making escape that way unlikely, so the only way anyone would have headed was either further south, straight away from the fire- or east. Where Rue had headed off.

The two took off. Asteria's expression dropped slightly, as they had to be just a few minutes behind Rue. Madge still stumbled her way east, too. Meaning that- unless something changed, a confrontation was brewing.

"No. No, shit." Asteria mumbled.

She was helpless to do anything but watch, as Madge eventually neared the eastern tree line. She waited a few moments for Rue. Unaware of the trouble that brewed near her.

Rue's four note melody played in the air. Do-mi-re-fa. The birds carried it from wherever she was. Asteria, nervous and hanging on to every image that played on the screen, reached out for Finnick's hand subconsciously. Grabbing onto it as a way to steady herself in the moment.