Katniss didn't understand why the man was hysterical. He sat in the mud, head buried in his heads, crying about "my little Porky." They had lots of dogs in District 12. Sometimes when food got scarce they ate them.
"We need to get OUT of here," the man said, sniffling. "I can't have this on my record. I'd lose my pension for sure." He wiped his nose on his sleeve.
"What are you so afraid?" she asked. "Your dog might be dead, but this bird won't be troubling anybody else."
"Except ME!" he said. "This is a Bald Eagle!"
Her eyes didn't twitch. Her mouth was a straight line.
"An endangered species!" he cried.
Still nothing. She helped him to his feet. This was just embarrassing, she thought.
"And our freakin national symbol. It's against the law to kill it," the man said.
"So the bird kills your dog and you do what… nothing?"
The man opened his mouth and raised a finger, but nothing came out. He swore and turned back towards his vehicle.
"I don't know what I was going to do. Probably go home and get drunk. But not commit a felony. Jeez."
He turned back around, and pointed that same finger at her.
"What IS it with you?" he said. "Everybody knows what a bald eagle is. Even kids. You don't really have a foreign accent, so you were born here."
"Sort of," Katniss replied. She compacted her bow. In a flash it shrunk to the size of a carrot. His eyebrows raised a tad.
"I need your help," she said. "I need you to help me save a world. Can you do that?" For better or worse, Katniss was never afraid of getting right to the point.
"I'm Katniss Everdeen," she said. She extended her hand, strong and straight like an iron rail.
"Everdeen? Is that… Irish?" the main said. "Nevermind. I'm Adam Walls."
He left her hand where it was. He looked at her face. It was young and flawless, like a model with all the Photoshops of the world at her disposal. Even the dirt and her smell didn't detract from her beauty.
"You ARE beautiful," Adam said. "But you also sound crazy. So against my better judgement I should be going."
She couldn't let him leave. He was non-threatening and easy to dominate. But she needed to know a few more things.
"How do you provide for your family?" she said. "How well stocked are your food reserves?"
Adam smiled, somewhat uneasily. "You know, I'd swear if you weren't blinking every once in a while I'd be wondering if you were actually a real human being, and not just pretending to be one."
He wasn't sure why he was humoring this very, very strange woman. Well, yes she was beautiful, but still…
"I don't have a family. And I do pretty well for myself, if that's what you're after."
"Can you read?" she said, hitting on the final item.
"Expertly," he said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I should really be going. Got some work I need to be getting to tonight. Us government employees - we really do earn our salaries. Despite what some people think."
Government? It was too perfect, she thought.
"Adam, I need your help. I need for you to teach me about how this country works, and how it should work."
"You want a civics lesson?" he said. "They have those at the community college. Now I really…"
"Listen, Adam. Listen to me. You can keep talking, or you can help me save a country. Create a country. Yes, I'm not from around here. I'm not from anywhere around here. I am from a future world..."
Adam couldn't believe what he was hearing.
