Snow had already begun to cover the ground in District 12. Katniss stopped in the middle of the snow and looked around. School was still in session, and she could see the students sitting in the classrooms from where she was standing.
In a little over six months two of those students would be forced to endure the Hunger Games just like she was forced to. She would be responsible for mentoring the female tribute. That was the task now asked for her.
"Katniss?" Peeta called from behind her.
"What?" She practically yelled in his direction.
"We have to talk!"
"I know, but..."
"No buts. I know you plan on going to Gale and trying to convince him to run away with you, as soon as you get a chance on Sunday."
"How?"
"You are not as smart as you think you are. The Peacekeepers have been told to been told to keep an eye on you. Darius came into the bakery very early this morning to give me the heads up. They want to make a very public showing with the two of you. They have replaced Cray with some new Head Peacekeeper, who is determined to make a name for himself with the President. They are going to re-electrify the fence soon, and make this place even more of a hellhole than District 11. . Look," He said motioning over to the square. The Peacekeepers were already busying themselves building what looked to a brick wall in the middle of the square. "Darius said that he was supposed to build a wall to use for public executions. They plan on executing people who do not follow the rules."
"But that means that Gale's family will starve."
"I already talked to Haymitch. He is going to hire Hazelle to clean his house. He will pay her more than he should to keep her family feed. He has already sent word to her. He is also warning her to keep Gale as far away from those woods as possible."
"All this because of me."
"Not just you. I made things worse in District 11, not you," Peeta said as he pulled her into an embrace. It was the first time that he had done so without the cameras. She fell into the warmth of his body. In his embrace she felt safe, but could not get the feeling that even this was not what Snow wanted from her.
"I was going to go to Hazelle today and tell her that I wanted to take little Rory out into the woods to teach him to hunt. "
"That is the middle brother right?"
"Yeah. With Gale in the mines all the time, there was just no time for him to teach him. Gale was going to start teaching him on Sundays, but I think he has been saving that day for me. Plus that is the day that Rory has been helping Prim make cheese. It's odd, before the games I was not even sure that Rory even knew who Prim was. Now they spend almost all their time together. "
"Well the Games changed us all, Katniss they had to band together in case you did not make it back. My father said that your mother got stronger when you were gone. For years he has talked about how she had seemed to check out of reality when your father died."
Katniss looked up towards the school. "And in just another few months two more students will be ripped out of the normalcy that they currently have, and this hell continues."
Katniss waited till that Sunday morning. She left the comfort of the Victor's village before the sun even started to rise. She made her way silently to her old house in the Steam. She had barely removed her coat when she heard someone else in the house.
"I wondered how long it would take you to get here this morning," Gale said from the shadows.
"I wanted to make sure Thread was not following me. They seem to have eyes everywhere lately."
"What do you mean?"
"Snow knows about the kiss in the woods right before I left for the Victors Tour. If any of us are to get out of this alive, we are all going to have to play our part. You are going to have to pretend that you are happy about my upcoming marriage to Peeta."
"But I am not!"
"If you want your mother, brothers, and sister to avoid the wrath of the Capital you are going to have to Gale. President Snow is itching to ensure that my life is an ongoing hell. He may not be able to attack me outright right now, but I promise you. He will not hesitate to destroy everything that I love."
"Do you love him?"
"Peeta?"
"Yes! You are going to marry him. I should at least know if you love him."
"I don't know! I am torn. I want to love you that way that you love me. But if I do anything that will draw Snow's attention we will all be dead
"We can run away! I saw a couple in the woods a few days ago. They said they were from eight. They were trying to make their way beyond the ruins of thirteen. We could try to make a run for it too."
Katniss hesitated. Just moments after getting back from the Victory Tour, she too had that same thought. Make a run for it. Live off the land, but things had changed. She had watched as the new Peacekeeper made a name for himself in the district. In just the two days that he had taken office he had already executed three people for theft. He whipped an elderly woman until she died tied to the whipping post that he had installed, just for taking a piece of fruit that fell over the electrical fence. Times had changed. If she were to disappear now, Thread was sure to follow her with all of the might of the capital. While that may help save the people of District 12, those that knew her or went with her were sure to be hurt eventually."
"We can't. We are lucky that Darius got to Peeta when he did. If we would have waited a few more hours both of us would have been in the woods when Thresh took over. We would have been stuck. You could have walked fresh meat right to the Head Gamekeeper house, and presented yourself as a present to the ruthless bastard."
"But I didn't."
"Exactly, now we have to be smart. If we are to do anything, we cannot do it foolishly. We have to wait till the eye of the Capital is not on us. Once the new victor is named, hopefully Snow will no longer see me a symbol of rebellion." Gale reached out and grabbed her hand. He tried to pull her closer to him, but she just pulled away.
