***I do not own or have any rights to anything associated with the Hunger Games series
*From Catching Fire
I am talking to Katniss. She wants me to run away with her! And Gale's not coming! I am so happy I can't even speak. All of a sudden, we hear yelling coming from the square. "What…what's going on?" Katniss asks nervously. "I don't know…" I say. But I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.
We run to the square. The crowd is large and loud, so we step onto a crate to see what is going on. Gale's wrists are bound to a post. He is shirtless. I see a man in the head-Peacekeepers uniform. But it's not Cray. Only then did I notice a dead turkey nailed by the neck on the post above Gale, who is on his knees. The new head Peacekeeper begins to speak.
"This man killed a wild turkey. He may not have entered the woods, but killing any wild animal as game for food is a horrific crime and the criminal will be punished in a severe manner." The Peacekeeper picked up a vicious looking whip. "His sentence is fifty lashes."
"No…" Katniss whispers…"No…I love you, Gale…" she whispers so low I almost don't hear. My heart is torn in that moment. She doesn't love me. She loves Gale. She wants him, and to see him hurt will kill her inside. There is only one thing I can do for this girl, the girl I love. I won't make her suffer this. I jump off of the crate and push through the crowd. Just as Thread, the new head Peacekeeper raises the whip, I grab the arm that possesses the whip. "No!" I yell. Everyone becomes silent. I swallow hard before I utter the next words. "I'll take the whipping for him." I know seeing me whipped will hurt Katniss much less than seeing it happen to Gale. Thread stares hard at me. "If you take the beating for him, ten lashes will be added to the punishment." he says. "I don't care. I'll take it." I say boldly. But fear is running through my mind. How bad will it hurt? How much will I bleed? How severe is a whipping of sixty lashes?
Thread walks over to the post and unties a surprise-stricken Gale. He puts on his jacket and picks up his torn shirt and walks over to Katniss, who is now in the front of the crowd, tears running from her eyes. "Jacket off!" Thread demands. I slowly take off my jacket and drop it to the ground. He leads me over to the post and pushes me down on my knees. He ties each of my wrists to the post with rough rope. My shirt is ripped from my torso. The cold winter feels harsh against my bare body. "Sixty lashes." Thread says. And then I hear a swish in the air and brace myself.