I hear the snap of a branch behind me, signifying her arrival. Katniss. I turn around and see her smile. She never smiles, except in the woods. "Hey, Catnip." Her real name is Katniss, but when she first told me, I'd thought she said Catnip. Then one day when we were hunting, a crazy lynx started following her around in the woods for scraps, it became my official nickname for her. The memory brings a slight smile to my face as we sit down together in a little nook in the rocks. I dig through my hunting bag and bring out the bread. "Look what I shot," I say, and she laughs.

"Mm, still warm. What did it cost you?" she asks, inhaling the fragrance from the puncture hole.

"Just a squirrel. Think the old man was feeling sentimental this morning." Aren't we all? "Even wished me luck." The thought of the Reaping, of Rory's name being picked, is what strengthens my resolve. I know that Katniss loves Prim, and that she would do anything to protect her from the Games. But then again… Prim in the woods? My determination crumbles again as I imagine what might happen to dear Posy, living out in the woods.

"We could do it, you know," I say, looking out to the distant hills.

"What?" she asks, confusion evident in her voice.

"Leave the district. Run off. Live in the woods. You and I, we could make it." And I really believe we can. But… the idea must seem so… preposterous to her. How could I ask her to leave Prim, the only person in the world she loves? And what of my own family? My mother, who struggles to scrape together enough money and food for us. Rory, who is fiercely protective of all of us, and who could possibly be reaped today. Vick, the selfless young one who falls sick much too often. And little Posy, my sweet baby angel, whom I adore far too much to let go of. I can't leave them behind. But I know that they might not survive if I take them along.

But at the same time… I know that staying here is just as dangerous as not.

"If we didn't have so many kids," I quickly amend.

"I never want to have kids," says Katniss.

"I might. If I didn't live here," I respond. I might not live here for much longer.

"But you do," she snaps, irritated.

I can't help it any more. "Katniss, I don't know about our families, but can't you see that staying here might as well be more dangerous than leaving? Just think! We can do nothing to fight the Reapings, or the Games, or the Capitol, but at least out there we stand a chance! I would never forgive myself for watching one of them in the Games, knowing that I could have done something to save them! I just can't take it anymore."

I look at Katniss, the one who has always been by my side, ever since the day it happened. What a pair we were. Fatherless, frightened… but fiercely determined as well. She had lost her own father in the same explosion as I did mine, two years younger than I. My heart starts to shatter, but she needs to know this. That I have to leave, whether or not I have to leave her behind. I force the words out.

"I'm sorry, Katniss. But I have to go."