And so our life in the woods began. Hunting by day, camping by night; always running, always watching. Late nights to keep watch. Protecting the kids from – well, everything.

As I move swiftly through the woods, alert and tensed, I feel the safety of having my hunting partner. My parabatai. Watching my back so I don't have to glance over my shoulder. Alerting me, keeping me safe. Protection. Something I hadn't felt since my father died. Until I met Katniss.

Days turn into weeks, weeks into months. Running, constantly on the move, never staying in one place for more than a night. Every night for the first few weeks, we were forced to take cover under shelves of rock, between the branches of a hedge, or simply fall to the ground to hide from the hovercraft that pursued us so relentlessly.

Our efforts paid off, eventually. The search parties became fewer, so did the snatches of white uniforms and the sounds of rhythmic marching as we slipped through the trees.

Today dawns bright and sunny, birds chirping, but the rest of the animals eerily silent. I find it strange but am not perturbed: the hovercraft and Peacekeepers stopped hunting us down weeks ago. But I'm still cautious, and I am positive that Katniss is on her guard as well. "Be careful," is all we say to the others before we head out to hunt.

As soon as we are out of earshot, I turn to Katniss and raise my eyebrows. She shrugs in response and we move on. We don't do very well today, with all of the prey hiding away. But we hit a jackpot of rabbits on our snare runs and stumble upon a glade full of berries and greens. Still – not enough for our large group.

We return, disappointed, to our camp for the day, and look with satisfaction at its remains. Basically? Nothing.

Katniss and I have trained the group to perform various duties necessary for survival. Rory and Vick have learned to hunt, Prim and Posy to gather, and all of us to cook and break camp in under 5 minutes.

As Katniss leans to pick up some of the bags to carry as we prepare to move on, something strange happens. Something that has not happened in a long time. Something that brings back terrible memories.

The birds cease their song.

I wait, hope, and pray that it won't but it happens. The sound of the single bird's shrill cry has barely reached my ears when I shout, "Move!" and run. Run for your life, everyone. Run as if the whole world was on your tail. Chasing you. Because it is.

I hear the sound of the hovercraft engine getting louder and louder and I know that we're out of time. I throw myself to the side just as I hear the thunk of the metal net wrapping itself around the tree beside me. Gritting my teeth, I push myself up and run again, shaking blisters out of my hair, this time falling to the ground and rolling away as I hear the whine of silver flying at me.

I spare a moment to look over my shoulder at how the others are faring. Katniss is just fine, barely even breaking a sweat as she effortlessly dodges the Capitol's weapons. Our families seem all right as well, except that they're starting to back up towards each other.

This can't be good, I think, and sprint towards them. I tackle Vick and my mother just as a spear flashes through the spot where they had been standing just a moment before.

I am just congratulating myself as I push Prim into the hollow of a tree when I hear a shrill scream. Posy!

I whirl around, ready to save my baby sister from whatever poses her harm. But it's too late. She stretches a bloody hand through the barbed net that ensnares her, she says my name. Gale. Then she's gone.