A/N: Hilo. Hope you enjoy chapter two. I used some quotes from the book and I left out some scenes from the book. Just wanted to let you know. Also, I edited chapter one and changed it a little. Re-read it if you want.

Disclaimer: I do not own THG.


Chapter Two: Out of Luck


"The only good luck many great men had was being born with the ability and determination to overcome bad luck."-Channing Pollock


Six Months Later. 74th Hunger Game Reaping


I wake up to the sound of Prim's terrorizing scream. Today is Prim's first reaping, where each of the twelve districts send one boy and one girl to fight to the death, so I understand why. I shoot up out of bed and rush over to Prim. I shake her shoulder and repeat her name quietly. She still shouts in agony. I begin to shake her shoulder faster and say her name once louder than I did before. Her eyes snap open, tears streaming down her face.

"What if it's me, Katniss?" She throws her arms around my neck and wails into my arm, her voice muffled by my shirt.

"Prim, listen to me," I gently pull her off my me and make direct eye contact. "You have one slip. One. Out of thousands. I doubt that it will be you." I reassure her. I'm actually terrified and she'll get reaped. I'm more worried about her than I'm worried about me, and I have twenty slips due to tesserae.

Prim nods her head and I tell her to go back to sleep. She lays her head back down on the flattened pillow while I pull the blanket to her shoulders and tuck her in. She closes her eyes and dozes off instantly. I walk away silently and begin to get ready for hunting.

I put my hunting clothes on, which are also my regular clothes, and pull on my boots. I go into out cramped kitchen and slip into my jacket. While doing so, I spot a slice of cheese from Prim out of the corner of my eye. I scoop it into my hands and toss it in my game bag. I pull the bag onto my shoulder and open the door. I gallop down the porch steps and race through the Seam. I want to get as much hunting done as possible.

I arrive at the fence and pause out of habit. The fence is still silent so I slip under and run to the log holding my bow and arrows. Gale's are gone already, which I expected, so I grab mine and make my way to our rock.

I make it their in a matter of minutes. I sit down next to Gale, whose gaze is in the valley. We don't acknowledge each other, both thinking about how today's events might turn out. What if I get reaped? I'd have no chance against those blood-thirsty, cold-hearted, Careers. What is Prim does get reaped? I'd volunteer for her without hesitation. What if Gale gets reaped? I'd go insane without him. He's strong and determined, but I would be scared out of my wits for him.

I stop thinking about what could happen and pull out the cheese that Prim left us. I split it in half and give Gale a piece. He accepts it and we both go back into our thoughts.

"Let's get started," Gale interrupts the silence once we've finished.

"Okay." I proclaim. I stand at the same time as Gale and notch an arrow in my bow. I take the lead as Gale watches my back, arrow also notched.

We walk for a while, not running across anything. I'm about to suggest doing something else when a rabbit comes into view. I pull my arrow back, take a deep breath and shoot. It lands straight into the creature's eye. I go over to retrieve it and put the rabbit in my game bag.

"Gale," I walk a few feet to where he's waiting for me, "I think we should do something else. I'm not seeing a lot of game and we have to come home with something." I explain.

"Okay," he nods his head. "Want to go to the lake and fish?" He suggests. I nod my head and we walk together in synchronization.

We make it to the lake and we start to set up fishing poles that we hide in the area. I sit at the edge of the murky waters with the pole firmly in my hand. Gale sits next to me in the same position.

I start to think about how everything can change in such a little amount of time. Things can change for the better, but it can change for the worse. My luck has been good these past six months. They have held some of my happiest moments since Gale and I's fathers died.

Then, I think about how my luck could go south. Luck doesn't last forever. Everything could become worse in a matter of hours. I just have this gut feeling that something isn't going to go right. I just hope my instinct is wrong.

I sigh heavily, ignoring all of my thought. I lean my head onto Gale's shoulder and I scoot closer to him. He adjusts his position slightly so that we're both comfortable and wraps his free arm around my waist.

"We could do it, you know," Gale breaks the silence.

"Do what?" I ask. I honestly have no idea what he's talking about and I know him almost as much as myself.

"Leave the district. Run off. Live in the woods. You and I, we could make it," he says.

I shake my head in disagreement. I could never leave Prim. And Gale has Rory, Vick and Posy. I've never gone into the woods that are past the lake. I don't even know why he would recommend running away.

"Never mind. It's a stupid idea," he sighs in defeat. "Sorry."

"It's fine," I croak, voice raspy from not talking for a while.

I feel the slightest tug at my pole and I remove my head from Gale's shoulder. I start to reel the fish in. When it's exposed to the air, it flops around trying to escape like a confused rabbit caught in one of Gale's intricate snares. I unhook the fish and Gale ends the fish's life with his hunting knife. I deposit the scaly, slimy, fish in my bag and throw the end of the pole's line back out.

Increasingly, we catch more fish. I decide to take a small break so I set my pole down and stand up. I walk at the edge of the lake at a leisurely pace. I stop for a moment to look at my reflection in the gloomy water. Same olive skin, same gray eyes, same lopsided braid and same hunting scars. Nothing new. I'm about to walk back to Gale when something sparkling catches my eye. My eyebrows knit together, trying to figure out what it could possibly be.

I bend down and stick my hand into the water. It's cold but refreshing. I take hold of the object and I bring my arm back into the air. I discover that it is a silver locket on a slim chain that caught my attention. I turn it around and around in my hands, taking in its appearance.

I feel like I've seen it before. I try to think back to the times I might have seen it before, but nothing comes to mind.

I decide to walk back to where Gale is fishing, the locket still clutched in my hand. When I make it back, I sit down next to him.

"Look I what I found in the lake," I hold up the locket by the chain. Gale studies it for a while. He then sets down his fishing pole and lightly takes it out of my hand. He rubs his thumb across the oval locket and stops at the edge of it. He gently pushes the bottom part down. The locket snaps open and I can see that there is a picture in it, but I can't see what it is.

Gale's eyes widen and he turns his head to look at me. I give him a confused look and take the locket from his outstretched hand. I look at the picture that the locket contains.

Now I understand why Gale was shocked. The picture is of me and my dad when I was younger. Before he died.

"Do you remember him ever wearing it?" Gale quietly asks me, still in disbelief.

Now that I've seen the picture, I do remember my dad wearing it most of the time. I nod my head. But I don't understand why he would take it off, especially in the woods. Then, and idea pops into my head-what if he is still alive, somewhere in the woods? He's most likely not, the Capitol wouldn't let that go by. I think about sharing my thoughts with Gale, but decide not to. It would only encourage his idea of running away even more.

"Yeah," I continue, brushing my previous theory away. "The last time I remember him wearing it was a couple days before..." I trail off. "...before the explosion." I say, barely above a whisper. A few silent tears stray down my face but I harshly wipe them away.

Gale is dumbfounded. He has no idea what to say.

I turn my attention away from the lost then found locket and look up at the sky. I locate the Sun and bring one of my hands up to calculate how much time we have.

"I think we should head back," I determine. Gale stands and picks up both of our poles and conceals them away. While he's doing so, I stand up and gather everything. I close the locker and shove it in my pocket. I hoist my game bag upon my back and sling my bow and arrows on my shoulder. I pick up Gale's things and hold them in my right hand.

He walks back over to me and I hand over his stuff. He puts everything on and we start to silently walk away from the lake.

We reach the hollow log and carefully put our bow and arrows away. We walk over to the 'electrical' fence and slide under, into the Meadow.

I stand with Gale and brush away the few stands of grass stuck to my pants. I grab his hand and lace his fingers with mine because there's nothing to say. We walk out of the Meadow and into the sapped, silent, Seam.

We stop in front of my house and I embrace Gale tightly, not wanting to let go. He holds me just as tightly. He lets go after a while and we share a lingering kiss.

"Wear something pretty," he tells me flatly before he walks off in the direction of his house.

I step up the porch stairs and enter my house. Prim is in the kitchen, dressed in my reaping clothes from when I was younger. My mother is standing behind her, putting Prim's hair into a braid.

I set my game bag down on the counter and start walking towards the bedroom.

"I left something out for you," my mother stops me for a moment. This makes me angry. She's never been a good mother to Prim and I since our dad supposedly died. She blocked out everything for a while. The only time I remember her out of her shell is when she had a patient.

I have to give her credit though. I can tell that she's been trying hard to be a mother, but I'm not the kind of person to forgive easily. Prim, on the other hand, has been overjoyed with it. I'm just glad she's happy.

"Okay," I respond calmly. I enter the bedroom and on my bed lays a blue dress. I recognize it as one of my mother's old dresses. I touch the rough, yet delicate fabric gently. I take the locket out of my pocket and set it down on my pillow. I undress out of my hunting clothes and boots. I pull the dress over my head.

It feels a million times different to be in a dress and I hate it. I bend down to pick up the shoes that my mother left out also. Their black and flat at the bottom. I slip them on easily and wiggle my toes to get used to their feeling. I pull my hair out of it's messy braid and run my fingers through my hair.

"You want me to put up your hair?" my mother appears at the doorway, Prim in tow.

"Sure," I agree. She walks over to me and puts my hair into an elaborate braid.

"There," she says and she puts her hands softly on my shoulders. Prim holds up a hand mirror for me to look at myself. I look for a moment and then I hear the ringing of the bells-signaling us to the square. Prim takes in a breath and starts to hyperventilate a little. I squat down to her and pull her into a hug.

"Don't worry," I tell her. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. I notice that part of her shirt is sticking out of her skirt. "Better tuck in that tail, Little Duck," I joke. She opens her eyes and gives me a small smile.

The three of us walk out the door and join the group of hundreds of people walking to the square. Prim has a death grip on my hand and I can tell that my mother is dreading this.

We arrive at the square and my mother goes off with all of the other adults to wait to see if their child or sibling gets shipped off to their death. I lead Prim over to all the other twelve year olds and reassure her once again. Then, I shove my way through threw the over-populated crowd to the sixteen-year-old section.

While I'm waiting, I stand on my tip-toes and search for Gale. He's taller than most of the boys his age, so it should be easy to find him. I continuously go up and down on my toes and lean back and forth, annoying the people around me.

I stop looking when I hear clicking noises echoing on the stage. Everything on everyone go silent. All the attention is on stage.

"Welcome, welcome,' Effie Trinket, District 12's escort, says. She has pink, eight-inch, high heels on, her face is covered in many layers of makeup, she has a enormous wig on, and she's wearing pristine clothing. Typical Capitolite. "Happy Hunger Games!" she says excitedly. "And may the odds be ever in your favor!" A video from the Capitol starts, explaining and reviewing the history of the Games.

I take this time to look for Gale again. I'm careful not to make as much movement since I'm supposed to be paying attention, even though I've already seen it multiple times. I finally spot him and he spots me.

'It'll be okay' I mouth to him. I don't even believe myself. I still have that gut-wrenching feeling that something's going to go wrong. He offers me a sad smile and I can tell that he has the same feeling as I.

The video clip ends and Effie, chirpy as ever, begins the drawing of the two tributes.

"Ladies first," she says. Her hands dive into the glass bowl. She pulls one unlucky slip out and reads the name into the microphone. "Primrose Everdeen."

It feels like a weight was just dropped in my stomach and everything goes black for a second. When my vision returns to normal, I see Prim steadily making her way towards the stage. I instantly push my way through the other kids my age. I walk out into the opening and call out for Prim. She ignores me.

"Prim!" I call again. Peacekeepers come to hold be back. I struggle against their hold. "I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" I shout. Prim finally stops walking and turns to face me. The Peacekeepers let go and I swiftly walk to Prim. I push her behind me.

"Go find mom," I tell her. She wraps her arms around my waist and starts sobbing. "Let go," I say harshly.

"No," she states. I strive to get her off me, but she has a strong hold for a small twelve-year-old. At that moment, I feels her weight being lifted off of me and I look back to see who got her off. Gale stands there with a weeping Prim in his arms.

"Up you go, Catnip," he says weakly. I can hear the hurt in his voice, but he knew that I had to volunteer. He would do the same is Rory or Vick were reaped. I give him a short nod. He turns to hand off Prim to my mother. I turn my head back around and calmly walk onto the stage to where I'm supposed to stand.

"What's your name, dear?" Effie asks me. She holds the microphone by my face.

"Katniss Everdeen," I say in the strongest voice I have right now.

"I bet my buttons that was your sister. Don't want her to steal all the glory, do we?" she asks. My eyes flick over to the peppy escort and I narrow my eyes at her in anger. She takes that as her cue to move on. "Time for the boys!" she saunters over to the boy's reaping bowl.

I don't have enough time to hope that it's not Gale when she calls out his exact name.


Bet you guys expected that last part, I just didn't know where to end the chapter. Leave a review...if you want to. Thanks! :)

-SyFyGeek