First of all, thank you so much for the reviews, it really means a lot to me!
And I'm sorry to any grammar mistake in this chapter. I'm not using word, so nobody is correcting it for me, and English is not my first language so...
I drop Prim at your house, and she smiles really weakly. But it's a smile.
"Can you come here tomorrow?"
"I'm sorry, Prim. I have to work. But you can hang out with Rory after school, is that ok?" Rory would actually love to spend some time with Prim, but I wouldn't tell her this.
"I guess... I guess that is ok." she says. "Good night, Gale. And good luck on your first day at work." I nod, and say goodbye to her and her mom, and then I leave. I would need luck on my first day at work. I would need luck everyday at work. But most of all, I would need you, Catnip, to be around, so I could make throught the day in that freaking mines. But I don't have you anymore. I don't have anything anymore.
The day has finally come. First day at work. First day I'll go to the place where both of our dads died, first day I'll go down in the elevator to be compressed on the underground, and work there for the rest of my life. First day, and not even close to be the last one.
It's the first time my mom wakes me up since you went away. Maybe she was afraid I would snap. I have a small breakfast, and leave after half an hour. I'm afraid, Katniss. Again. Since you left, fear is by my side like a shadow, all the time. They've became my best friends. Fear, depression, angst. They're like the unholy trinity. I'm afraid to go down that elevator and never go back again. I'm afraid of spending 12 hours on underground, without the sunlight. I need sun to live, Catnip. I need trees around me, I need the sound of the water and of the animals, I need the fresh air, I need the smell that the woods have. And I need you. And right now, I can't have any of this. And the most important thing I won't have it back ever again. I see Rory walking to school, besides Prim. They'll make good friends. Maybe even a pair like me and you, Catnip. I'm walking to the mines, even though the woods seem to call me even more that they already did. I stop walking, and look. I don't need to take my family, do I? I teached Rory how to hunt a little, and I'm sure Prim would want to help them. I could run away, forever. Away from them, away from the mines, away from the Capitol. But... But I couldn't run away from your death. A blonde girl is on front of me, when I start walking again.
"What do you want?" I ask, harshly. It's that girl, your friend, Madge.
"I... Gale, she was my friend too."
"Yeah. I know." What's the point of talking about you? Do they want to make me suffer even more? I feel like crying just thinking about you, why would I want to talk about.
She wasn't expecting such a rude reaction. She opened her mouth in chock, but closed it again after a few seconds.
"You don't have to be so rude!"
"I don't have to be..." I laugh, darkly. "I don't have to be so rude! Of course I don't. I mean, I just lost the girl I'm in love with for five years, because of a stupid and sick Capitol games, that you don't even have to worry about! Why would the mayor's daughter worry about something like that? She would never get reaped." She opened her mouth, but I cut her before she could say anything. "Do you now where I'm going now, Madge? I'm going to the place where my father and Katniss' father died. I'm going to stay there, 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, until the rest of my life, working for the freaking Capitol! Do you what your perfect father gave me after my dad died? He gave me a medal. My father died and he gave me a medal. He should have got my family some food, but he gave me a medal! Now, if you excuse me, I have to go work, and maybe pray I don't die. Or maybe pray I do. It doesn't really matters anymore." And I left, leaving her behind. I'm sorry of being so rude to her, Katniss, but she wasn't so sorry about you. She didn't understand, she never would. The people from the Capitol don't understand the horror of the games, and even though she wasn't from there, I'm pretty sure she doesn't understand either.
I breath deeply, before getting into the elevator. The most of them are people from the Seam, like me and you. But they're older. They don't have any bright in their eyes, their hands are dirty and hurt. They have losted their lifes to the Capitol. But well, Capitol has all of us. They own us, they own our soul. They own everything. Even me, even you. We should have take off. If only regret could kill...
They all look at me like I'm from another planet.
"It's him." one of them whisper. "The boyfriend of that Everdeen girl... She never had something with Peeta, it was fake."
"They used to always be together, remember?"
"Didn't they hunt together or something like that?"
"Poor guy."
"He's just a boy, he'll find another person."
I feel like punching them. Can I punch them? They don't know anything.
When the elevator finally stops, and the door closed, the angst - and the freedom - faded away. It was replaced with fear, pressure and anxiety. I feel lost. I'm so lost, Catnip. I'm so freaking lost. Where are you? Are you in the woods? Maybe you run away without me...Why would you do that? Are you with Peeta? Do you love him more than you love me? Do you even love me?
I close my eyes, and lean my head in the wall. Only half an hour in this place and I'm already going crazy. "You're dead." I say to myself. "You're not in the woods. You're dead. I'm never going to see you again, you're gone, and daydreaming about you won't bring you back." If only it could be that easy to forget you...
Second after second. Minute after minute. Hour after hour. Digging. Don't you dare stop digging, they'll punish you. Don't you dare to complain, they'll punish you. Don't you dare to raise your voice, they'll punish you. Don't you dare to think about it; they'll punish you. You shouldn't think. You're a robot. A machine. You've been build up for digging, and digging you will be doing. Nothing more, nothing less.
It's over. The day is over. I'm in the elevator again, and my mind clears up a bit. I'm alive. I'm still alive. The fresh air fills up my lungs, and I walk to my home, once again. The sun has already gone, and the moon was high in the sky. I get home, but something is wrong. Two peacekeepers are in the front of the door, talking to my mom.
"Mum, what's wrong?" I ask, when I get close enough for them to hear me.
"Are you Gale Hawthorne?" one of the peacekeepers, a new one, that I've never seen before. Now that I notice, there is a lot of new peacekeepers, walking down the streets, and I hear a weird noise coming from the fence. Like the noise it makes when it's turned on.
"Yes, I am. Why?"
"You will be punished."
"What? Why?" I ask, taking a step back.
"Because of your public display of scorn for the Capitol. The Hunger Games are here to keep Panem safe to you. The Hunger Games are here to remind the people to keep loyal to the Capitol. President Snow thinks that District 12 is being a bit of a rebel. Things are going to change in here. They are going to change for good."