When I finally awoke from the shock of everything, I found myself resting on a pile of leaves. The sounds of a river running nearby echoed through the trees along with the quiet murmurs of the people. For a moment, my senses couldn't process. Why was in the middle of the forest in a pile of leaves? Why did everyone look so sad? Why did their voices sound so pained? But then it hit me like a ton of bricks and everything came flooding back to me.

My first instincts were worry and fear. I instantly shot up into a sitting position trying to find my mother and Prim. Were they alright? Had they made it? But they were beside me and pushed me back down to the ground, which only gave me slight relief. Then a fiery pain surged through my body. I wanted to scream from the pain shooting up my leg, but my mother wrapped her hand around my mouth and kissed my forehead. "Shhhh! We're not out of the woods yet," my mother whispered to in my ear. It was clear she meant that both literally and figuratively. We were still somewhere deep in the heart of the forest and the Capitol still wished vengeance upon us. It felt like we were fighting a losing battle.

I slowly nodded my head, acknowledging that I understood. I had to be quiet. Our lives were still at risk. My mother kissed my forehead once more and then removed her hand from my mouth. Prim handed me a flat stone with something smashed all over it. I looked at her hesitantly. I hadn't a clue what she was trying to give me. I wasn't gifted in that area like she was. She gave me a reassuring smile and said, "It should help relieve the pain a little." She pressed her hand to my cheek and then sighed. "But there isn't much else I can do for your ankle. It's broken Bri. Mom and I splinted it, but that's all we can with what we have."

It was obvious she was holding something back from me, but I didn't call her out on it. Instead, I looked down at my ankle and saw that there were two branches on either side of my leg, tied together with a belt. The belt looked familiar, but I knew that it was neither Prim's nor my mother's. But before I could figure it out, Prim urged me to eat whatever she had smashed. "Go on," she said holding the flat stone out to me as if it were my dinner plate.

Reluctantly, I ate whatever Prim had ground up for me. Whatever it was, it tasted terrible. It was very bitter. I wished I had something to wash the taste down with. Thankfully, my mother reappeared with a tin cup of water. I wasn't sure where she had gotten the tin cup from, but the water was cool and it washed the bitter taste away. My mother kissed my forehead again. It was obvious she was worried about me. She never showed me this much affection. Not since before my father died. For a moment, panic rippled through me. Was this going to be it for me? Was I going to die?

Whispers spread throughout the camp as the faint sounds of screams and explosions could be heard in the background. I choked at the thought that that could have been us. But it wasn't. We were only safe because Gale had made it to us just in time. I was safe because he had carried me as if I were nothing more than a child.

Gale was in a sense, my savior. My eyes began to search for him. Where was he? The last thing I remembered was fainting in his arms, not one of my finer moments, I'd admit. But I was only here right now because of him. For a brief second, I thought that maybe carrying me had caused something to happen to him. That maybe him saving me had turned out to be his downfall. But I breathed a slight sigh of relief and smiled when I found him sitting with his family, holding tightly onto his little sister, Posy, who sat on his lap.

Gale must have caught sight of me because he looked over at me and nodded his head, a rather serious expression on his face. I blushed. I wasn't sure why I blushed, but I did. Maybe it was because I was pathetic enough to faint in his arms. Or maybe it was because I was embarrassed that for a moment there, I actually enjoyed being in his strong arms...that I had felt safe in his arms. But I mustn't let my mind wander. Not there.

I brushed my matted hair behind my ear and turned away. Prim began prattling on about Gale. "He was so brave. He led us all through the forest, even while carrying you like a dead deer carcass."

"Hey," I groaned.

"I'm just saying," Prim said looking at me knowingly before she continued. "We're only staying here until people have had some time to rest and eat. Then we're going to keep going. Gale says we should travel until it's too dark to see."

I sighed and looked back in the direction from which we had come. I could see smoke in the distance. We needed to put as much distance between us and District 12 as possible, but it didn't really feel like we ever would be far enough away.

I asked Prim to help me to my feet because I was growing restless. I didn't want to just sit here any longer. I needed to do something—anything, to get my mind off things. Prim suggested that I put my swollen ankle in the cool river to keep the swelling down. That seemed better than sitting here and letting my mind wander.

Taking Prim's hands, I struggled to get up on my feet. I only made it a step before I went crashing back to the forest floor. Angrily, I threw the leaves I landed on. I was pathetic, I couldn't even take a few steps. Tears stung at my eyes. I was only going to be a thorn in the side for my people. I hated feeling like a burden, a feeling I was quite used to compared to Katniss and Prim.

My sister remained calm, despite the situation. She helped me to my feet again and wrapped one of my arms around her shoulder. My mother came to my other side and provided me support as well. It was very slow and seemingly endless walk to the river. I wasn't so sure that I was going to be able to keep going with the rest of them when we started walking again.

A thought hit me. They should probably just leave me here. I attempted to voice as much to my mother and Prim, but they wouldn't hear any of it. Rather, they just made sure I was comfortable by the river's edge. Slowly, I dipped my foot into the cool, refreshing water. It felt good. I looked to my mother and sister and sighed. They were unfailingly kind and patient. Sometimes I wished I could be more like them. Sometimes I wished I could be more like Katniss. I never really seemed to be enough, not even for myself.

As I sat at the river's edge, lost in thought. Katniss was probably dead, my home destroyed, and here I was injured. To say that I was wallowing in self-pity probably would have been an understatement. But there really wasn't much else I actually could do at this point. Prim tried to cheer me up by hugging me from behind. I patted her hands that were wrapped around me and leaned back into her.

"How's the ankle?" a voice asked from behind. I turned around to find Gale, with Posy in his arms. He slowly approached us. I turned away, my face obviously aflame from embarrassment at being seen in this state. I didn't really want to tell him the status of my ankle.

But just when I was contemplating the words I was going to say, Prim spoke up for me. "It's broken," Prim responded. "She's not going to be able to walk for awhile. She said that we should just leave her here."

"Prim," I hissed at my sister for revealing that to Gale.

Prim rolled her eyes and shot back in typical little sister fashion. "What? It's the truth."

I argued right back, forgetting Gale for a moment. "Yeah, well, I'd prefer not to be painfully reminded of how useless I am to everyone. You'd be better off without me."

"I'm not leaving anyone else behind," Gale muttered.

I sighed. "I'll just slow down—"

But Gale wasn't to be moved. He looked at me rather sternly and said, "I won't do it, Bri. We've lost enough good people today and we're not gonna lose you too."

His last comment kind of struck me. Did he feel responsible for not getting more people out? He shouldn't. He helped save plenty of people. He helped save me. But Gale didn't say any more on the matter. Instead, he walked Posy closer to the river's' edge, holding onto her hand.

I looked around at the group of us that remained. There had to be several hundred of us. Enough of us to tell our story—so that District 12 could still live on, in a sense. But yet, I could sense a feeling of guilt as I looked at Gale, who stared at the water absently. At least, that's what I thought. But I couldn't quite read him the way Katniss could.

The thought of my older sister caused a lump to grown in my throat. I swallowed hard and stared at the water. Was my sister dead? Would she be counted as another loss in those damn Hunger Games? I missed her. I knew that. Then again—she hadn't been the sister I missed in quite some time. Those damn games changed her. They changed her for the worse. I knew about the nightmares and the paranoia. Sometimes, I wished it would have been me that had gone. I likely would have died, but then Katniss and Prim would both be safe.

I wrapped my arms tightly, hugging myself. I looked up for a moment and watched as Posy slipped on a rock. Prim immediately rushed to the younger girl's aid—although it probably wasn't necessary. I was left alone with my mother. She reached over and took hold of my hand. "We need to be strong. It's what Katniss wanted," my mother said.

"Do you think she's—" I started.

My mother shook her head and quickly reprimanded me. "Not right now with Prim so close, Bri."

"She's not as naïve as you think. She knows-"

"Briony, please."

I sighed and folded my arms across my chest. "Fine." I knew it was a childish response, but I was after all, still a child.

My mother gave me a slight smile. She began to run her fingers through my tangled hair. At first, as she hit each snarl, I cringed. But eventually, it began to feel nice. It almost relaxed me but it reminded me of Katniss. My mother wasn't the one who usually did this with me. It had always been Katniss. Katniss, Prim, and I used to sit in a row on a bed, Katniss braiding my hair and I would try Prim's hair. Although, I'd usually mess up and Katniss would have to fix it.

I sighed as my mother braided my hair like a crown at the roots of my hair before she pulled it back into a high ponytail. She tied it back with something from the forest floor. She then turned my face toward her. I could tell that she was thinking of Katniss looking at me. When we were young, people were always mistaking us for each other. We both had dark hair and icy eyes. Sometimes, we looked like twins.

My mother's eyes gleamed with tears that threatened to spill. I rested my hand against her cheek. "Not in front of Prim," I whispered. "Katniss wouldn't want it."

"I know," my mother whispered back before she kissed my forehead and repeated again, "I know."

Prim walked back toward us holding Posy's hand as Gale walked behind her. He looked like he had something on his mind. He stopped beside us and said, "We should probably get going. We need to put more distance between us while there's still daylight. If you could start rounding people up."

"Of course," my mother responded before she tightly squeezed my hand and then stood up. She and Prim began to walk through those left, helping them up, and telling them it was time to start walking again.

I looked up at Gale, who looked down at me rather seriously. "Bri, I'll be right back to get you. I just want to make sure Posy gets back by my mother."

"Gale, you don't have to—" I started.

He shook his head and gave a slight chuckle. "I forgot you're just as stubborn as Katniss."

"I'm not stubborn." I folded my arms across my chest and looked up at him, but Gale gave me a pointed look.

"Like I said, I'll be right back." He gave me a slight smile before he walked toward his mother holding onto Posy's hand.

I sat there and watched as my mother and Prim continued to gather the troops. I pulled my foot out of the water, the pain already beginning to annoy me. After I sat there for several minutes, Gale came back for me. He held out his hand to help me to my feet. I struggled to stand on one foot before he quickly turned his back to me and bent over a little and said, "Up."

Understanding that I was going to ride on his back and not his arms this time, I grasped Gale's shoulders with my hands before I fell onto his back. He grunted for a moment before he stood up straight and adjusted me on his back, shifting my weight to make it easier to carry me.

I groaned, "I'm not an invalid, you know."

"Damnit, Bri. I made a promise to your sister and I'm not going back on it now because you're grumpy."

I had to admit that I wasn't all that shocked by his confession, but the way he just threw it out there angered me. "So that's why you're helping me? For Katniss?"

Gale's shoulders tensed as he carefully planned his words. "And because you need my help." I sighed. Maybe he was a little right about me being grumpy—I mean, with my ankle and all; but I wasn't going to just give in to him that easily. This wasn't over.

With me on his back, Gale led the refugees through the forest. He remained almost silent. The only words he spoke were directions to the group. Part of me wondered if he was mad at me. But then I remembered that Gale was just as stubborn as me and Katniss. I knew that he was already dealing with enough on his plate—so I refrained from going any farther.

Instead, I made myself comfortable, resting my chin on the crook of his neck with my arms wrapped tightly around him. For a moment, I thought I saw his face flush at my touch but maybe I was just making it up. For all I knew, I could be delirious. No matter what the reason, we had a long way to go until we found safety and it looked like there was no end in sight.