The nightingale's sweet melody wakes him like every morning. He brushes off the sleep from his eyes with his hands and mentally prepares for another day in District 2. Five and a half have passed since he first moved here but still, it's hard for him to call this place home, even though he doesn't have one anywhere else. Gale gets up from his bed and moves his feet to the shower. Cold water pours down his back as he slightly shivers. It's still dark outside; in a couple of hours the sun will rise and bring warmth to the house. Not to Gale, who has only one thing on his mind: hunting. This is why he wakes up so early every morning. He gets dressed and after a fast breakfast he retrieves his bow and a sheath of arrows from the closet and heads out to the woods that start right at the back of his wooden cabin. This is where he feels alive, the only place that gives him peace. His coldness partially dissolves. His soul belongs there. He doesn't really need to hunt in terms of food supplies. He has a "fancy" job now, he is in charge of the security of the rural area of District 2 where he is currently living, a well paid position which provides for him and for his family, also living in District 2 but in another village closer to schools and with more inhabitants and facilities. He does it out of habit, for his own sanity. After the hunting trip, as every morning, he goes to work to the Headquarters of the Security Department. It takes him half an hour on foot to reach the offices where usually he is the first to arrive and the last to leave. It's easier for him to be busy, he avoids down time for himself, when he actually might risk to take a step back and allow himself a trip through the depths of his soul, so heavy yet so empty. He doesn't think. He doesn't remember. He just does. Whatever, whenever. His job requires somebody just ad dedicated as he is, but his duties as security chief of the area are not enough for his likings. He specifically requested a cabin without most f the comforts other houses provide in the district. This way he has an actual reason to cut the logs for the fire which he lights every evening even if he has a stove, he stocks food supplies for winter even though in the near town there is a rather big market, he even built some of his own furniture and eats the game he hunts. But he can't stop. He has to do something if he wants to stay sane. As a result, his social life isn't exactly thriving, he gets on well with most f his coworkers and his bosses but has nobody he could call a friend. He had one. Then she became something more. And he eventually ended up losing his friend and his lover while killing her little sister. Nobody can really say that's the truth, but still, that's what she thinks and nothing else matters. Not that he has been completely away from the company of women during these long months. He's had lovers of one night only, that have helped him forget, that have numbed the constant, chronic pain for an hour or two. He has broken many hearts, girls have fallen for him. They know that what they are having with him is a one night stand, maybe if they are lucky he could sleep with them twice, but nothing more. They know it going in, but they still think they can change him, make him actually care for them, but each and every one of them is proved wrong the morning after, when they wake up to a cold, empty bed. The only people Gale cares about are his mother and his siblings. Rory is now eighteen and studies engineering while Vick is fifteen and attends high school. Then there is Posy, the apple of Gale's eyes. She is six and she brings pure joy to his life every time they visit or he goes over their house. It is Posy whom he is thinking about on his way to work, how much he misses her and her artwork the she proudly shows him when he's home.

"Good Morning Hawthorne"

"Hello, good morning Dan, how was your week end?" Gale flatly asks as he walks into the office. Not that he cares, really.

"Good, you know. We actually went out with the guys on Saturday. One time I swear you'll come with us. You have no idea how entertaining Colt gets when he's drunk. Especially when he tries to chat hot girls up" he says laughing. Gale smiles too ."We are going next Wednesday too, if you want to come you are welcome" Dan adds.

"Yeah, you know I think I'll pass"

"As you wish Hawthorne. We all know you don't really need booze and lame chat up lines to get chicks into your bed but you could teach some of us moves..." Gale grimaces at the joke.

"You and people from District 4...Let's get to the serious stuff, it's going to be a long week. Why are you in here so early anyway?"

"I'm organizing everything for the hospital project and it's a mess. I hate doctors, I hate hospitals, I hate those bastards that say scary things that I don't understand" he mumbles.

"Good thing you are the head of the health department, then" Gale chuckles.

"Right right" Dan shrugs. "Today you are meeting with the doctor that Bayle has chosen to help us with the building process and he is going to be a consultant with the rest of this shit. His name is Jordan Reven and should be here in a couple of minutes" Dan and Gale have been working together for the construction of the new local hospital for a couple of months now. Dan is originally from district 4 and was a rebel during the war. After it ended he moved to 2 when he was offered his current position at the Security Headquarters. He is older than Gale by a couple of years. Gale likes him after all, dirty jokes and constant teasing apart.

"Alright then, I'm going to look at some stuff and when the guy arrives send him to me. Have you met him yet?"

"No, this is our first meeting with him. Ok, I'll catch up with you later Hawthorne. Good luck".

"Ok and please keep everybody away from us today, we have tons of things to do and we need to work on hospital stuff and can't afford to waste any time. I don't want Bayle to yell at us"

"Ok boss". Gale is not Dan's boss but he certainly is bossy and not really welcoming towards people that interfere with his work. "You know you could really use a drink to relax a little" Dan smirks.

"See you later" says Gale as he enters his office not minding the remark.

He starts looking at the various projects and documents messily organised on his desk. Gale is a real hard worker, but the hospital project is something he really cares about. Maybe he looks at it as a redemption opportunity. Hospital rhymes with Prim in his mind. Blonde tiny Prim who dreamt to be a doctor one day. His trail of thoughts is suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in" Gale says.

The first thing he notices is a blonde mane of hair. It gracefully falls on the shoulders of a girl who is shyly raising a smile. As she opens her mouth to speak Gale interrupts her.

"I'm sorry, I'm very busy, I'm waiting for someone for a very important meeting and I don't have time for whatever you are here to talk about, you can speak to Mrs. Bloomsbury when she gets here if you want but you need to leave" he says without even looking at her, his eyes fixed on the paperwork in front of him.

"I am..."

"You know, I don't really care who you are, I am scheduled to meet Doctor Jordan Reven right about now and I can't talk to you, sorry!" That is when he finally raises his head from the desk and looks at her paying a little more attention. She is fairly tall and very feminine looking and she is no older than twentyfive, like Gale. She is wearing a white silk blouse that shows a little cleavage and a light pink pleated skirt that covers her legs down to her knees. Her figure, skin complexion and eye colour (emerald green) scream District 2. She tries to talk when Gale shuts her off again.

"Look, I don't know you and I'm sorry, I might have kissed you in a bar or even brought you home with me one night and I don't remember, but this is where I work and I can't do this now, this has happened before and has put me in a very uncomfortable position with my co-workers, so please leave" he says exasperated. He needs to be thinking about Prim and his hospital, not his one night stands.

Silence.

"Girls really come all the way here to try to talk to an asshole like you?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm doctor Jordan Reven, nice to meet you" she says as she reaches out her hand to shake Gale's.