Katniss

It's time for the drawing. Effie Trinket says, as she always does, "Ladies first!" and crosses to the glass ball with the girls' names. She reaches in, digs deep into the ball, and pulls out a slip of paper. The crowd draws in a collective breath and then you can hear a pin drop, and I'm feeling nauseous and so desperately hoping that it's not me, that it's not me, that it's not me.

Effie Trinket crosses back to the podium, smooths the slip of paper, and reads the name in a clear voice. And it's not me.

It's Primrose Everdeen.

The world begins to spin in circles, obscured by a reddish mist, myself and Prim the only clear things in it. I see her hesitate and then take a step toward the stage. It's so hard to get my bearings when nothing will stay in one place. Another step. Someone's calling my name, but I ignore them, concentrate on doing something, anything to stop Prim. Another step. I try to run toward her, but my legs won't obey. Prim mounts the stage, and Effie's saying something I can't hear. Everything stops spinning, just for one second, and then fades to black.

The next thing I know, I'm lying on the ground. I can sense in an instant that I'm surrounded by people, which means I'm still at the reaping, and the reaping happened already.

"Prim!" I gasp, shooting to my feet. The stage is empty. They must be in the Justice Building already. I have to find Prim, do something, convince them to let me volunteer for her. She can't go. I will not allow it.

Someone's hand closes around my wrist, but I don't even look to see whose it is. I just aim a kick in the general direction of said person's leg. "Katniss," he groans, and I realize it's Gale, but at this point, I don't care. He's keeping me away from Prim, and he's much stronger than I am. I try to stomp on his foot, but he moves it out of the way. "Katniss, listen to me," he says. He's infuriatingly calm. How can he act like this? "You can't go barging in there. You'll just get yourself in trouble."

"I don't care!" I shout, trying to jerk my arm away. "I have to volunteer! Prim got picked and she is going to die, Gale!"

Gale catches my other wrist as I'm throwing a punch at his head. "Calm down," he orders, which I obviously don't. "You won't make things any better. They won't let you volunteer after the reaping's over."

"I know that." My voice catches, and I take a deep breath to compose myself. "Prim can't go, Gale. There must be something we can do."

"Katniss, you know there isn't. That's the whole point." Gale's fighting tears, but I refuse to cry. We're probably on camera right now, knowing the Capitol and their love for drama. "Let's get out of here."

He doesn't say where to, but I know he means the woods. I don't want to come. I am perfectly willing to break into the Justice Building and take on everyone in it with my bare hands to get to Prim, but part of me knows that Gale's right, that there's nothing I can do. So I hold in my fury and my grief just a little longer, just until we're where no one can see us.

Gale takes my arm and leads me through the remainder of the reaping crowd, telling the few people who ask that he's taking me home. We navigate the empty streets in silence. I'm paying so little attention, focused on keeping my face expressionless, that I forget to check the fence, and Gale has to jerk me back so I won't shock myself. "Fence is live, Catnip," he cautions. "Let's not have you getting hurt."

"Like that hasn't happened already," I snap at him. I bite my lip as soon as the words are out- I shouldn't take this out on Gale. None of it is his fault. There's a hurt look in his eyes for a split second, but he quickly masks it, glancing around the meadow for a stick. I hand him one silently, and he uses it to push the wires aside so I can slip under the fence.

As soon as we're out of earshot of District Twelve, the first words out of my mouth are "It's my fault." Gale opens his mouth, but I don't even let him get a word in. "I should have volunteered, but I didn't, and Prim is dead because of me!"

"You know that's not true." Gale's using his low, calming voice, the one I can't help listening to. "It's the Capitol's fault."

"I told Prim it wouldn't be her. I promised her. She wanted to help with the tesserae, but I wouldn't let her. I took them all myself so she'd only be in once. I should have faked her birth certificate or something, so they'd think she was still eleven."

"And you would have gotten caught."

"I should have stopped her. I shouldn't have let her go up."

"You were trying, but you fainted. Did you eat this morning? Or yesterday?"

"I wasn't hungry, I was so nervous- oh."

Gale nods. "That's it. That and the shock."

I whirl around and kick the nearest rock. It hits a tree a few yards away. "Stupid, Katniss!"

"You weren't thinking."

"So it is my fault."

"No, it isn't."

"I didn't eat."

"Because of the Capitol's games."

I take a deep breath and let it out, sitting down on a nearby log. "Okay. It's the Capitol's fault. So what do we do about it?" My ability to think is coming back, along with my determination. "They can't have left yet. What if we hijack the train?"

Gale raises one eyebrow. "What if we got caught?"

I mirror his expression out of habit, and both of us smile a bit. "It could be worse. We technically could be shot just for being out here."

"Fair. What are you thinking?" Gale sits down next to me, brushing a few leaves off the log.

"I don't know. Shoot the engineer?"

"Good but violent."

"Blow up the engine?"

"Better but conspicuous."

"Rewire the system?"

"There you go. How are we getting in?"

"We get to board the train to see Prim, right? And if I distract the Peacekeepers..."

"I can get into the engine." I can tell from Gale's tone that he's realizing that there might actually be something we can do, a way to stop this. "I'll pretend to be a technician. Final checks before departure or something."

"And if you find a panel that comes off, which should be pretty obvious, you can reconnect a few wires."

"So if I'm doing that, what's your distraction?"

"I'll just act hysterical. Start a fight or something. My sister is supposedly getting sent to her death."

"Okay. Just don't take it too far or you'll get in trouble."

"I know. I'll be careful."

"And then they'll have to take everyone off the train while they fix it, because of safety procedures."

"And then they'll put them in the Justice Building."

"Which will be a lot easier to break Prim out of. I like your style, Catnip."

A thought suddenly occurs to me. "But what do we do after we get her out? It's not like we can just go home. They'll look for her."

"Then you do what we were talking about. You leave. I'll help you. You can live out here, even build a house here. Your mother will have to agree, to save Prim."

"Won't they look out here too?"

"Not if I cover for you. I'll tell them you were all eaten by bears. Fake some circumstantial evidence."

"That's really risky, Gale. I should cover."

"They'll suspect you because you're her sister. Besides, we can't have Prim and your mother living in the woods by themselves."

"Okay. You're right. Is this going to work?"

Gale stands up and offers me his hand. I take it, and he pulls me up. "Of course it is. Ready, Catnip?"

"Let's go."