A/N: Okay, you guys convinced me. I'll be doing at least 2 more parts, maybe 3 depending on how the next one turns out. I decided to throw Gale in here because even though I hated him in the book, I now realize I was just biased and he's not a bad guy. Hope you guys enjoy it!
Navigating the Dark
Part Three
Gale
Feeding eight hundred people in the wilderness is harder than I could have possibly imagined. Add to that our limited hunting gear and un-experienced hunters, and we have a real problem on our hands. Mrs. Everdeen is seeing to the wounded. We've already lost seven to injuries. I don't know how long we'll have to survive out here on our own, but I can't imagine not losing anyone in the next few weeks to the many horrors of the wilderness. Malnutrition, starvation, beasts, infections. I'm mostly worried about the starvation, though. Thankfully, the traps Katniss and I had set in the lake before they turned the electric fence on are full. Greasy Sae made a measly fish stew and I made sure everyone had something to eat. As I'm moving from fire to fire, checking on the state of things, my mom finds me.
"Gale," She addresses me, worry written all over her tired face. "You need to get some rest."
I shake my head. "I'll be fine." Keeping myself busy is the only way I can keep my mind from wandering to her.
"You've been up for two days straight. Get some rest." She says sternly. "Have Thom take over for a few hours at least."
"She's right." Thom spoke up from around the fire. "You should get some rest. I can handle things until sunup."
I give my friend a hard look. He should be taking my side. He looks just as tired as I feel, but I know he got a few hours of sleep this morning. Maybe I can afford a few hours. I turn back to my mom, her concerned frown does me in and I nod. "Fine." I relent as I find a spot to lay down. Posy, Vick and Rory are sleeping nearby and I grab the small blanket my mother had been using and lay down beside them. With my body still, my mind takes off.
My first and only thought is about Katniss: wondering if she's alive, and what the Capitol is doing to her. We all saw her shoot that arrow into the forcefield. What was she trying to do? And why did Peeta leave her with that girl from District Seven? I hate him for it. I hate him for a lot of things, but I push those feelings aside and focus on Katniss. I hope they didn't kill her, but if they're punishing her for what she did, maybe she would be better off dead. Maybe she died in the explosion.
A feeling of hopelessness washes over me and I feel my eyes burn with tears. I quickly close my eyes to the night sky. Stop it. I chastise myself. Katniss wouldn't want you to wallow in self pity. You promised to protect her family and that's what you'll do. I take a deep breath and release it slowly. After several unwanted images of Katniss being tortured by Peacekeepers come and go from my mind, I finally drift off into a fitful sleep.
Someone's shaking me. It's the first thing I notice as my mind comes to full attention. The next thing I notice is the midday sun. Shit. I curse silently. Someone was supposed to wake me up before dawn. I look over to see my mom's worried face and Thom's anxious face behind her.
"Hurry, Gale!" My mom says urgently. "Someone spotted hovercrafts coming this way. We need to hide!"
I curse aloud this time. This is precisely why I didn't want to sleep for so long. I spring to my feet and notice the hurried, almost frantic movements of people around me. I don't hear the tell-tale sound of buzzing hovercrafts, but that doesn't mean they won't be here soon.
"We've told everyone to hide," My mom tells me as I move to grab my bow and arrow. "The men are putting out fires and the women and children are hiding. We'll have problems hiding the wounded-"
"They should be our first priority." I head for the area Mrs. Everdeen and Prim have set up for the injured and sick. "Thom," I call over my shoulder. "Get a few strong men to help carry those who can't walk." He nods and runs away. "Mom, tell everyone to hide, don't worry about possessions, just get out of sight." She nods and runs away as well.
I see Prim in the distance, gathering up a child and helping them to their feet. She isn't more than a child herself, but she seems to manage well. Mrs. Everdeen runs past me and shouts at a few people standing by. I run up to her.
"What can I do?" I ask. She doesn't turn to address me, just continues packing up the few medicinal supplies she and others have brought with them.
"Just get everyone into the bushes over there," She points off to the side, where a giant group of bushes hugs the edge of the clearing. "Have someone cut away some of the branches underneath to make more room."
I nod and motion to a group of men Thom has just brought over. I pull out my hunting knife as they draw near and hand it to Rory, the smallest. "Take this and cut away some of the low branches." I tell him, pointing at the group of shrubs. "And underneath as well."
He nods and heads over to it, setting to work. I tell the other men to grab the wounded and start hiding them where Mrs. Everdeen tells them to. Everyone sets off in a frenzy and I take the time to survey my surroundings. Cook fires lay smoldering and scattered in the clearing by the lake and also the tree line. Almost everyone is hidden now and the few who aren't are quickly on their way. The group of wounded cry out as their injuries are jostled. And over them, I hear the beginnings of a hum that sends chills down my spine.
"They're coming!" I shout as loud as I can muster. "Hurry! Hide!" People scream as my message is relayed and they run faster.
It's too late, though. The thirty or so people, including me, who hadn't made it to cover are clear targets in the clearing as the hovercraft slowly sails into view over the trees. My heart bangs wildly against my chest. Will they slaughter us like fish trapped in a barrell? I can only stand and watch as the hovercraft realizes we're here and circles overhead like a predator bird. I feel Thom come up behind me and he lays a hand on my shoulder.
"We tried." He says. "But let's not give up without a fight." He pulls my spare bow from around his shoulder and holds it in front of him.
I nod and do the same. Maybe if we distract the Peacekeepers long enough, people can escape deeper into the woods. The hovercraft lands in the middle of the clearing, surprisingly careful not to disturb the piles of dying embers and belongings left behind. I pull an arrow from my quiver and ready my bow, aiming at the the plank that's now lowering. A lone figure stands at the top of the ramp. Instead of Peacekeeper whiter, the man is wearing gray.
I point the arrow at the man's heart. He's wearing armor, like the Peacekeepers bulletproof vests, but different. The next thing I notice is that he's unarmed. His dark hands are raised in the air in the peaceful gesture and he calls out.
"Don't shoot! We're not here to hurt you!" His voice is deep. I ignore his words and take a step closer as he takes a step down the ramp.
"Any closer, and I will shoot." I reply loudly.
He stops moving, hands still in the air. "Please, my name is Boggs and I'm from District Thirteen. We came to see what happened and if there were any survivors."
District Thirteen? Was this man insane? Or did he think we were stupid. "District Thirteen doesn't exist." I yell.
"That's what the Capitol wants you to think." He replies. "Please. We mean you no harm."
"You know I can't trust you." I say, taking a few steps closer. I hear voices and footsteps behind me, but I refuse to take my eyes of the man who is a threat.
"Maybe you'll trust a friendly face." He says and I narrow my eyes in confusion. How would I know anyone from District Thirteen? The man moves one of his hands and I tense, ready to release my arrow on command. But the man just moves his hand to hold up in a "stop" gesture.
Then I see someone else at the top of the ramp. It's another man. Dirty, slightly disheveled and stumbling.
"Haymitch!" A voice yells behind me. Before I can do anything, I see Prim launch herself past me and towards the hovercraft.
"Prim!" I yell, noticing a few others have called after her as well. I keep my bow trained on the man in gray, unsure what to do. But the man now walking off the ramp and onto the grass is, indeed, Haymitch Abernathy. Katniss's mentor. My mind whirls with question after question. Prim hugs the old drunk and he pats her back awkwardly before turning his attention to me.
"You can put the weapons down, boys." He calls to me and Thom, although Thom's bow was already pointed at the ground. This is wrong. Haymitch shouldn't be here. He should be with Katniss. This has to be some Capitol plot to trick them.
"How do I know you're not really with the Capitol?" I ask him, keeping my bow raised and ready.
Haymitch chuckles. "Well, I guess you don't. Stay here for all I care. I just thought you'd want to see Katniss."
Katniss? She's alive?
Mrs. Everdeen has stepped forward and is making her way for Haymitch. "She's alive?" She asks.
Haymitch nods. "She's back in District Thirteen. Along with Peeta and a few of the other victors."
I notice out of the corner of my eye, that people have started coming out of their hiding places and into the clearing. Their murmurs grow louder and louder until suddenly, we're verging on chaos. People are asking questions, shaking their fists in the air, demanding answers.
The man named Boggs raises his hands for silence. I've lost control. The refugees from my home listen attentively as Boggs tells them District Thirteen was never destroyed and that they have been hiding in an underground facility for seventy-five years. He explains the plan to break Katniss and the victors out of the Quarter Quell and that Katniss has started a revolution. Before I know it, people are cheering at the Capitol's inevitable downfall and they begin to load people onto the hovercraft.
The first thing I do when I arrive at the underground base is go with Prim and her mother to see Katniss. She lays in bed, unconscious. The doctors say she received a concussion in the arena when she blew it up and they are trying to keep her asleep to let her brain heal itself. They tell us she should wake up soon.
"What about Peeta?" Prim asks the doctor.
The doctor looks at her with a sad, defeated look. "He also has a concussion, but I'm afraid his body suffered much more damage."
Prim looks like she's about to cry. Does she really care that much for the baker's kid? Of course she does, Prim cares too much about everything. I look up to Mrs. Everdeen and am shocked to see her with the same expression as her daughter. But the doctor doesn't say any more about his condition. Minutes turn into an hour and I notice that Prim is yawning. She must be exhausted.
"You guys should go and find someplace to rest." I tell them. "I'll stay with Katniss for awhile."
"You sure, Gale?" Mrs. Everdeen asks. I nod.
"I'll come and find you if anything changes." I reassure her.
They leave without protest, sluggish on their feet. I settle into a chair by Katniss's bed and wait. I stare at Katniss, relief flooding through my veins at every breath she takes. Her face has tiny, healing scrapes and cuts all over. My first instinct is to kiss them all. To kiss her. But that hadn't gone over well the last time. She only kissed me because I was in pain.
The events leading up until now flood back through my mind. Katniss volunteering for Prim last year. Katniss going into the arena. Katniss kissing Peeta to stay alive. Pretending to be with him so they wouldn't kill her or her family. Getting engaged to him. Then the bastard Snow decided he had had enough and made her go into the arena again. The worst day of my life was watching the interviews before the Quarter Quell. Was it really less than a week ago? Seeing Katniss in a wedding dress, even if it was Capitol style, made my heart ache in longing. Then he came out and said they were already married and that Katniss was pregnant. I was so angry I think I might have broken something. I can't remember too clearly.
I know it was fake. Katniss told me so herself the day I was whipped for poaching. But something inside me couldn't shake it. Maybe it was seeing them kiss anytime a camera was nearby. That brought back the memory of the Quell. I watched, had to watch, that scene. Katniss and Peeta, sitting on a beach, talking and kissing. I have to admit, the speech he gave about how people depended on her was great, and it might have worked, but Katniss's eyes flashed with something I couldn't place, and she told him that she needed him. She needed him, not me. I had to look away when they started making out.
That was the moment that put doubts in my head. I mean, real doubts. I've always been nervous that Katniss wouldn't return my feelings, but there was always more hope than uncertainty. She always wanted to spend time with me. She kissed me. And when she asked me to run away with her and I confronted her about Peeta, she said she couldn't think about a romantic relationship- with anyone. If she wasn't at least thinking about us being together, she would have told me, right?
A nurse comes in to take Katniss's vitals and I glance at the clock hanging on the wall. Nine fifteen. I've been sitting here for five hours. My stomach rumbles loudly and the nurse looks back at me.
"You should go and get something to eat." She says quietly. "Someone will come and get you if she wakes."
I don't want to go. I want to be the first thing Katniss sees when she wakes up. But, maybe if I hurry, I can eat and come back before she wakes up. Making my decision, I stand and ask the nurse where I can find some food. Apparently they have a convenient family waiting area with some snack foods that will suit my needs perfectly. I eat crackers and packaged foods until I can't stomach any more. I make my way back to the room just in time to see the nurse I was talking to run out of Katniss's room, a panicked look on her face. Oh no.
Katniss
I don't know how long I've been out, but by the ache of my limbs I'd say it's been at least a day, maybe more. The blast from the arena, where I shot an electrically reinforced arrow into the forcefield, knocked me off my feet and rendered me effectively paralyzed. I remember seeing the white-clad Capitol doctor jabbing a needle into my arm and then nothing. They're probably keeping me alive just to publicly execute me.
I crack an eye open and wince at the pain it causes. My head throbs and I can feel my blood pounding at my temples. I close my eyes and sigh at the temporary relief the darkness brings. Now that I'm awake, though, there's nothing to keep me from hurting. A shuffling sound lets me know I'm not alone and on instinct, I turn my focus towards it. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the light, but when they do I see a young woman with short brown hair standing over me.
"Relax," The woman says in a soothing voice. "You're safe now. Let me give you something for the pain." There's not a trace of the Capitol accent in her gentle voice and it confuses me. But then I think it's a trick- a way to get me to relax my guard around them. So when she moves to inject something into the IV, I jerk away.
"Don't touch me!" I yell at her. My voice is coarse and my throat is dry from disuse. The woman looks at me, alarmed. Good, I think.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Katniss." She assures me. "You're safe; the Capitol can't hurt you here in Thirteen."
Thirteen? As in District Thirteen? The one the Capitol destroyed seventy-five years ago? It can't be. This woman is just trying to confuse me. When she moves towards me again, I yell and thrash around, hoping to cause as much of a disturbance as I can. I know they're just going to kill me anyway. Might as well go down with a fight.
The woman jumps back, sets her syringe on the table full of other medical supplies, and flees the room. After she's gone, I take stock of my situation. The room is not as bright as I saw earlier. The walls are made of concrete. A lot of concrete. With no windows. It's not like the hospitals at the Capitol at all. Everything there is white and glass. Here it is gray, man-made stone and metal. Could this be some sort of criminal hospital? One that they keep underground. Do they make Avoxes here?
I'm surprised to see that I'm not bound to the bed. Surely they would have restrained me, conscious or not. The only thing attached to me is the IV. It's feeding me some sort of fluid and I immediately yank it out, ignoring the blood that wells in its place. Slowly, I sit up and swing my legs over the side. I'm about ready to stand up when the door bursts open.
"Katniss?" A male voice says and I mentally curse myself for turning away from the door. But the voice is familiar and when I turn my head, I see Gale running to my side. What is Gale doing here? DId the Capitol get him too? What about Prim and my mother?
"G-Gale?" I ask tentatively, worried that he's just the figment of a Capitol induced hallucination. "What are you doing here? Did the Capitol-"
"It's okay, Katniss. We're not in the Capitol." He says, sweeping me up into a hug. I'm too shocked to do anything more than sit there. "We're in District Thirteen." He continues, and I pull away to say something, but he cuts me off. "I know, I know. It's hard to believe, but Thirteen wasn't destroyed all those years ago. They've been hiding out underground and resisting the Capitol for decades."
He's right, it is hard to believe. But it still doesn't explain why he's here. I stare at him, furrowing my eyebrows, and trusting on our unspoken language for him to pick up what I want to ask him. His face softens and he looks away, dropping his arms around me and stepping back. He looks so sad, so… full of sorrow. "Gale?" I ask hesitantly, fearing his answer to my silent question.
"Katniss," He begins. "It's not good. When you shot at the forcefield, the Capitol shut down the broadcast. They shut off our power. We didn't know what was going on. Then the Peacekeepers started leaving by the truckload and I knew something bad was going to happen. I started telling people to move, to grab what they can and head to the meadow…"
"What happened?" I asked, fearing the worst.
"They bombed Twelve. It's gone." He admits, refusing to meet my eyes. Gone? How can an entire district be gone?
"Prim? Mom?" I ask, holding back tears as I fight off images of them burning.
"It's okay, they're safe." Gale says quickly. "They're here somewhere. I managed to get some people out alive. I think the last head count was around eight hundred. They found us in the woods late last night and started bringing us here."
Eight hundred. Out of eight thousand. Though I'm grateful for the survivors of the destruction I caused, I can't help think it's a terrible loss. I don't want to think about all the people I killed with that stupid move in the arena. But their faces come to me anyway. Greasy Sae, Ripper, Madge, even the merchants I occasionally dealt with. Peeta's father appears in my mind and my eyes snap open. Peeta! I've been so caught up in what's happening to me that I completely forgot about Peeta. Did he survive the blast? I remember meeting his eyes across the small clearing, where the lightning tree was located, before the blast threw me to the ground and out of his sight.
"Peeta?" I ask, hoping Gale will know what happened to him. His face turns sour momentarily before becoming downcast.
"His family didn't make it…" He confesses softly. "I tried, but some of the merchants didn't want to go and a lot of the ones that did got caught on the road-" His voice breaks and I know it must be hard for him. To put in so much effort to save people and have them die anyway. But I wasn't worried about Peeta's family right now.
"What about Peeta?" I ask earnestly, bracing myself and standing. "Is he alive? Did he make it here?"
Gale meets my eyes and I see a different kind of pain there. A longing, disappointing sort of pain. Eventually he nods. I'm too relieved to do more than choke out a happy sob before I make myself move to the door. Gale grabs my arm just as I reach the handle.
"Katniss, you should rest." Gales says forcefully. "It's ten o'clock at night. He'll still be there in the morning."
"No," I say, whirling around to face him. I ignore the wave of dizziness and nausea and stab my finger into his chest. "I need to see him. I need to make sure he's okay!"
Gale frowns and holds up his hands in surrender, muttering "fine" under his breath. I let out a long breath and turn back to the door and wrench it open. The nurse with short brown hair is standing there, wide eyed. She moves towards me but I hold out my hand to stop her.
"Where's Peeta?" I ask harshly. She looks over my shoulder to give Gale a questioning look, but I force her attention back to me. "Where is he?"
She seems to think on how she will answer me and I push myself around her, determined to find him myself. I look around wildly, but all I can see is a long hallway lined with carts and shelves and nurses in doctors in the same medic uniforms. Where do I start?
"Third door on the left." I hear the nurse say behind me. I look back at her to see her pointing in the direction I had been looking in. Finally. I push my feet, forcing myself to walk as fast as I can. It's not fast at all, my head is throbbing harder now and I can't seem to find my balance. I throw out my arm to catch myself on the wall and drag myself to the room that holds Peeta. Once I reach the door, I pause. I can see through the frosted glass on the door that the lights are on. Is he with a doctor? Peeta was as close to the blast as I was, there's a chance he's injured and I need to prepare for the worst. But all I care about is that he's alive and I need to see him.
I push open the door and take in the sight. Peeta is sitting on the hospital bed. Well, half sitting, half lying. He's being supported by pillows into a seated position. His blonde hair is hanging over his forehead and his eyes are closed. The steady rise and fall of his chest tells me he's alive. I can't hold back, I run, stumble really, to his bed and fling my arms around his neck. I know I probably shouldn't. I should let him sleep, especially if he has injuries, but I can't. I'm so overjoyed that he's alive that I can't seem to control what I do.
I feel him tense underneath me. I pull back to look at his face. His eyes are still closed, but his face is scrunched up in confusion. I lay a hand on his cheek and he relaxes somewhat. "Peeta?" I whisper, hoping he will open his eyes and look at me. He doesn't.
"Katniss?" He asks tentatively, eyes still closed.
"I'm here, Peeta, it's me." I say.
"Oh, thank God." He breathes and wraps me tightly in his arms. His head is buried in my neck and I lean down to do the same. I breathe in his scent and I feel an overwhelming sense of calm. "What's going on? No one will tell me anything. They just keep saying that I'm safe and we're in District Thirteen. Is that true?"
"Yes, we're in Thirteen." I tell him, resting my chin on his shoulder. It feels so good to hold him and feel him hold me. "They didn't really tell me anything either. I freaked out on the nurse and she had to get Gale. He told me-"
"Gale?" He asks, tensing in my grasp.
I pull back and he lets me go reluctantly. When I look up at his face, I see he's finally opened his eyes. But he's looking away from me and at something on the floor behind me. "Peeta…" I begin hesitantly. I don't want to tell him about his family. I don't want to cause him pain. But I know I would want him to tell me if our situations were reversed. "Peeta, they bombed Twelve. Our home is gone."
His eyes go wide, but he still refuses to look at me. I take one of his large, strong hands in both of mine and hold it in my lap. "Are there…" He begins then squeezes his eyes shut. "Were there any survivors?" He asks softly.
"About eight hundred. Gale got them into the forest and the people from Thirteen brought them here." I explain. Then I relay the news I know he wants to hear. "Your family didn't make it."
He's quiet for a long time and I'm surprised I don't see tears leak from his eyes. He's always been so sensitive. After a moment of silence, he turns to face me. He opens his eyes and I want him to look me in the eye, but he stares at our hands instead. "What about your mom and Prim?" He asks.
I'm surprised he thought of them after hearing that his entire family was just killed. "They made it. They're here somewhere, I think."
He furrows his eyebrows. "You haven't seen them yet?"
"No, I wanted to make sure you were okay, first." I tell him, leaning my forehead against his. "Peeta, I can't tell you how happy I am to know that you're okay. I-"
"I'm not." Peeta chokes and I lean back to study him. Tears are running down his cheeks and he's still looking down. "I'm not okay." He says shakily.
My stomach drops as I hear his words. "What do you mean? You look fine to me-"
He grips my hands in his and squeezes them so tightly, it hurts. "I can't see." He whispers, closing his eyes as more tears fall down his face.
What? What does he mean, he can't see? "What?"
Finally, finally, he raises his eyes so that I can see them properly. I'm shocked at how different they are. The clear blue I've come so accustomed to seeing has turned milky and I can see that his eyes aren't focused on my face. Even though they're directed at me, it's like he's looking straight through me. I suddenly can't catch my breath.
"Katniss." He whispers. "I'm blind."
Gale
Watching Katniss reunite with Peeta is heartbreaking, but I can't look away. I'm not sure she noticed that I followed her down the hall and am now standing against the door frame. I don't think she even noticed the doctor standing off to the side. The doctor, being a smarter and more courteous man than I, leaves the room quickly once he realizes the private moment being shared. I, however, continue to watch with sad eyes at my best friend, and the woman I love, wrap herself around another man.
The way Peeta buries his head into her hair makes me heat in jealousy. They seem so at ease with each other. Katniss and I used to be that way; before the Games. Sometimes I wonder what life would have been like if Katniss didn't volunteer or if I did. Mom says they find comfort in each other because no one else knows what they've been through. My fantasies take over my thoughts, blissfully unaware of the conversation happening in front of me.
"No." Katniss's fierce voice draws me out of my thoughts. I look up to see Katniss still on his bed, their hands clasped tightly together. I see Peeta looking in my direction and I silently curse. I hope he doesn't point out that I'm snooping.
Peeta's hands pull away from Katniss's and ball themselves into fists in anger. He must be angry that I'm here. I study him carefully, feeling that something's off. His eyes are narrowed in anger, towards me, but not at me. That doesn't make sense. It's like his eyes aren't focused on me. I tentatively raise a hand in greeting, hoping it looks like a peaceful gesture. But his eyes don't follow the movement of my hand.
Then Katniss raises her fingers to his cheek and he recoils at the touch. There's only a couple reasons why he would do that. One, he was too angry to accept her affections, which is unlikely, judging by the way he's now accepting her invitation to cuddle. The only other reason I can think of is that Peeta flinched because he didn't see it coming. I don't know Peeta very well, but watching in two Games told me he has decent reflexes. He should have seen her hand coming. Suddenly it makes sense: the doctor's downcast face when he told us Peeta had more injuries; the way he reacted when Katniss woke him up; the way his eyes were still on me but he has yet to acknowledge my presence.
Peeta's blind.
And there's no way I can compete with that.