The next morning, I don't have much luck. I'm walking through the line to get my food, and Peeta stops in the line right behind me. I can feel the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Even though our skin doesn't make contact, his warmth envelopes me. I'm about to just drop my tray and leave, but something stops me.

"Katniss," he almost hisses my name.

"Peeta," I say just as a chill runs down my back.

I quickly finish getting my food and head to a table that is not my own, but no one seems to care. Knots fill my stomach. I'm about to puke, when I see Gale coming into the door on the opposite side of the room. I leave my food on the table and run to him. He gladly puts his arms around me, but it doesn't make me feel any better. Although I don't push back, I feel a tinge of guilt because I can't reciprocate the feelings he has for me. I love him, yes. But not the way he loves me.

He brushes the loose strands of my braid, back out of my face.

"Want to go hunting?"

"Yes!"

I practically run to the armory. My heart leaps at the excitement I'm feeling to be able to finally get outside. I grab my bow and a quiver full of arrows. Gale is right behind me as I'm about to open the door. But I stop. I catch my breath, flashing back to the dream.

"Something wrong?" says Gale who seems to be mirroring the look on my face.

I let out a nervous laugh, "No!" I accidentally yell.

Opening the door, I'm overcome with relief that I'm outside the over-sized underground city of District 13. We walk past the men who stand guard outside, who salute us. We simply nod and make our way to the forest.

While we're there, I hit a buck, three geese, and a squirrel. But Gale hasn't trapped anything. He stares at me. Well, not really stares, it's like he's watching me with thought. I smile at him and continue skinning the one squirrel I caught. He starts a fire and we eat the little meat it has. Before we finish, he breaks the silence.

"Katniss?" His voice is softer than usual, and it alerts me for some reason. "What's wrong?"

Am I always this easy to read? I guess so. And it's ridiculous, because before I can stop myself, I begin to cry. What is going on with me? I blame it on all the morphling. And then Gales by my side, picking me up. I begin to protest.

"What about the game?" I try to counter his moves.

"The game will always be here, but as for you, you need to be fixed up."

We're already half-way when his words catch up to me.

"Fix me?" I say offended, "Is something wrong with me?"

I can see he's rethinking his words. I try to push myself off him, but he won't let me go, he just holds me tighter.

"Ever since Peeta—," he begins.

"This isn't about Peeta!"

"Come, on you think I'm going to believe that Catnip?"

His attempt to lighten the mood only makes me angrier.

"I want nothing to do with him! He's gone, and I can't change that." I try to convince him, but my voice breaks at the end.

When I push myself away from him, he doesn't try to hold me tighter, instead attempts to help me down, but I push so hard that I hit the ground with a thud. I disregard his helping hand and make my way for the entrance, ignoring the saluting guards. I'm making my way towards the closet when I run into Boggs, almost knocking him over.

"Katniss, you and Gale are wanted in Command, we're about to have a meeting."

Great. Right after that scene. I'm not ready to deal with Gale again, so when we get into Command I sit in the seat farthest from him.

"As you all know, we've been setting out a plan to take over the Capitol and to rid the world of Snow. But there's been a change." She glances to the back of the room. And a second later, the door swings open, and a woman walks into the room. I don't know who she is, but she looks familiar. And that's when it clicks.

"Madge?" I ask her, jumping out of my seat.

That's when she answers the question that's been eating at me since we arrived at District 13.

"Alive."