Happy New Year!
Peeta was near silent the following day. Katniss had been able to tend his hand with more supplies at his house, yet when his eyes met hers his gaze was far away. "I will go," he had whispered when Jackson had murmured to Katniss they still had to take him to Berlin.
"Why?" she had asked both him and the CO. "Hasn't this cost him enough?"
"I can't just start making my own rules," Jackson had said, pulling her aside and lowering his voice. He glanced back at Peeta, staring at the fresh bandage on his deformed hand. "This is already a mess, Second Lieutenant," he hissed. "We've been lost for over ten days and our team needs us. We need to catch up. And frankly," he sighed, "I don't think we can leave him here by himself." She glanced at Peeta. He had a hard determined look in his eyes.
"But-"
"He'd go after his sister three minutes after we left; they'd capture him again and you could step on the next mine he buries."
"But-"
"Or they'd kill him straight out."
"Sir-"
"Everdeen. Please stop fighting me on this. He's safer with us. Check out Odair's hand and pack up your kit. Collect whatever food is left and be ready to go in fifteen."
Katniss bit her tongue as he walked away. She didn't think Peeta was well enough to be left alone, but wondered if he was strong enough to come with them. He was going to have a hard time either way.
So they had packed out and began the long walk north.
It had been three days before they were certain they were close. Boggs had noticed some discarded food packs on the side of the road and recognized it as Allied rations. The next day yielded a dropped flashlight with an American surname stenciled on the side: "Mahoney". The fifth day, Katniss nearly wept when they came across a Jeep with a broken axel. Shell casings littered the ground.
"They're chasing the retreat," Gale breathed. "They must be right on their tails."
"And we must be right behind them!" she cheered, noting the lack of weather damage on the seats and few late fall leaves jamming the windshield wipers.
"We're just a day from a town ahead," Pollux said excitedly, manically straightening his map. "Look. We have to be here," he pointed, "if this is the advance route. We're just a few miles away!"
"Let's go!" Gale grinned.
"Wait," Katniss called. She had turned to Peeta and found him leaning around the Jeep. Gale watched her as she crossed to him. "What's wrong?" she asked. His eyes were wide. He stepped carefully to the roadside.
"What's he doing?" Boggs was concerned. He followed Peeta. He called back. "Hey, come over here."
Katniss breathed in as they reached the ditch. The stones and makeshift branch crosses told her what she needed to know. Not everyone had moved out from here. There were two lumps of fresh dirt; a grave for Allied forces and a grave for German soldiers. A green helmet marked the former; hanging on the largest cross at the head. A Luftwaffe helmet marked the latter.
"C'mon," Jackson said. "They're not coming with us." He turned. Boggs reached out, more gentle than customary, and pulled on Peeta's arm to get him moving. Katniss hoped her nagging had finally softened Boggs after all these days. They walked forward, seeing footsteps in the earth. Katniss saw traces of the frost left even late morning. It would be a hard winter soon.
Peeta stopped suddenly in front of her and she walked smack into him.
"What's the big idea?" Boggs complained. Peeta took three steps off the road. Boggs went to follow him and Katniss grabbed his arm.
"Boggs," she warned through gritted teeth. He scowled.
Peeta was bending down, pulling something from the mud, trampled under hundreds of boots. He stood slowly. He turned to them. Katniss covered her mouth. Even with the mud, she could see traces of a pink in the child's hair ribbon. "Is it hers?" she finally asked.
"I think. Yes."
She looked at Gale. He looked to Jackson. Jackson looked at Peeta helplessly. "Look, kid." Peeta looked up, his eyes filled with pain. "We'll meet up with a large front. I'll tell the scouting teams we're looking for a kid, ok? Who knows, someone may have already found her. She may have escaped already! She may be with our troops already. We'll only know if we keep moving."
There was a tense moment of silence before Peeta nodded and began to walk ahead. Katniss saw him tuck the filthy ribbon into his pocket.
"There!" Pollux was as giddy as a child. "Look!"
Katniss swallowed back tears of joy. The town sat in the valley beneath them. They stood on the hill; frozen lest the town disappear if they moved. A flurry of activity clothed in olive drab moved below them. Gale whooped and nearly took off running until Jackson hollered for them to keep in formation so as not to scare the troops below and evoke friendly fire. They hurried nonetheless.
Jackson took point as they entered and scanned frantically for the command post. "Look!" Aurelius pointed to the medical tent. "I'm headed over."
Jackson nodded. "Katniss, you best go to."
"What about-" she began.
"Jackson? Holy shit!" A man with a greying beard jogged over. "My God, we thought you were dead! We've had a memorial," he breathed.
"I bet it was endearing," Finnick grinned.
"Well, we tried our best with you, Odair," the bearded man cracked and Finnick laughed. "Jesus, it's good to see you. C'mon, the General's visiting. He's gonna be floored you made it."
"We look like hell," Gale said, removing his helmet and smoothing his matted hair.
"More than usual, even," Pollux laughed.
"Pollux! Didn't even see you back there. Thank God - we need help. There are a ton of civilians here; Nazis had this town occupied. All sorts of dialects I can't figure out, we need you to interview the people and find out what's going on, where they need to go."
"Sure thing," Pollux nodded.
"Peeta can help you," Katniss blurted out.
The bearded man looked at her. "And you are, ma'am?"
"Second Lieutenant Katniss Everdeen. Army nurse. I was separated from the 94th Evac Hospital."
"Pleased to meet a survivor," he said. "I'm Colonel Frank Bowden. Who's this?" He gestured to Peeta.
"He was taken by the Germans to work for them," she said quickly. "Burying mines."
"Why's he wearing a uniform?"
"He can help Pollux translate. Can't he?" Katniss looked at her group frantically. "He's a prisoner soldier but he can help us. He located mines all the way here; saved our lives. He can help you." She turned to Jackson. "He can."
Jackson looked over at her. He took a breath. "Yeah. He can help Pollux. For now." He looked at Peeta, whose wide eyes were staring. "Help Pollux translate the dialects."
He nodded to Jackson, then turned to Bowden tentatively. "Sir, please. Does Schnee come through here on retreat? His men pass through?"
"Commander Schnee? Yeah. But just a few of them; our advance caught up a few miles back and blasted half of them off the face of the earth."
Peeta looked stricken. "Was anyone with them?" Katniss asked. "Other prisoners?"
"Dunno; half of them got away. They came through here about a week ago; joined up with the retreating groups from here. There might be someone here who saw them."
"Start translating now," she said to Pollux. "Please."
She watched Peeta follow Pollux to a cluster of tenements; his face was white.
Jackson glanced over at her before following Bowden to the command tent. "Help search the buildings for survivors," he told Gale over his shoulders.
Boggs shook his head at Katniss. "Watch yourself, girlie," he murmured. "We can't protect him forever. It'll come down to him or you and you better know what side you're on." He left her to follow Jackson.
"C'mon," Gale nudged her. "Let's go."
"Do you think he's right? Boggs?" she asked Gale, jogging after the tall man.
Gale paused a moment before answering. "Yes."
She fell silent.
The houses in the town center were near ruined; the soldiers had destroyed nearly everything of value as they fled. Furniture was broken and burned; windows smashed to keep the larger houses from becoming hospitals or barracks. Katniss saw cardboard going up in windows despite of the damage. The houses were less damaged in the pastures and near the small church set into the hill; they must have been the housing for the higher ranking generals.
Katniss followed Gale to a row of townhouses nearing the edge of town that wasn't marked as searched. He took the red door to the left, she took the home with the green door and knocked.
"Hey." She turned. Gale was holding out his sidearm. "Take this. In case there are more than prisoners around here," he explained. She took it and he disappeared into the house with his rifle raised.
"Hello?" She opened her door and stepped in. She coughed. Dust and ash had settled over the remaining furniture. It was dark. She looked for a light but found only an oil lamp. She searched the mantle over the small fireplace until she located a box of matches. The oil offered a feeble light, but it did help.
Climbing the stairs, she found two small bedrooms upstairs with clothes thrown about but no inhabitants. She thought it appeared less dusty up here, but she wasn't certain. She had descended again and was about to walk out the door when she heard something. A thump? A boot? What was that? She froze.
The kitchen was behind her; she hadn't thought to look in an open room. But nonetheless, the noise had come from that direction. She tiptoed breathlessly to the open archway. She poked her head in.
The room was empty. She exhaled and smiled at herself.
Then she saw the cellar door. She made a strangled squeak as she gripped a dishtowel draped over the back of a chair. Her breathing was labored as she forced her feet to the narrow door.
It opened with a screech. Something clucked below, was it an animal? Was it a person gulping? She could hear movements. She knew someone was there. Whether they knew she knew could mean life or death.
She stepped down one step. Another. Time stopped. She heard a click.
"I'm a nurse!" she shouted, holding up her gun simultaneously and the oil lamp. It tumbled from her hands immediately.
The frail woman with white hair and trembling hands cried out and covered her face. The old man with the sling on his arm tried to step in front of something behind him. A sidestep revealed a small boy: dirty jacket and trousers, shorn hair, and a drawn face. Katniss stared at their torn clothes and sunken eyes.
"Gale!" she cried to the top of the stairs. "Civilians!"
She turned back to them. "I'm a nurse. I'm here to help you."
The old man looked up. "Allied?" His accent was thick.
"American."
The woman began to cry and smile. "American!" She turned and revealed the scrawny little boy with a vacant stare.
Katniss stared in awe. She turned as Gale hopped down the stairs. "There's a kid down here," she breathed.
"A what?"
Odair appeared and jogged down the top few steps. She looked up at him. "Where's Peeta?"
"Outside. More civilians down here?"
"Yeah. There's an old couple and a little boy. They need help."
Odair disappeared to find where the infirmary and she helped the older couple up the stairs. She reached for the little boy's hand but he shrunk away. An orphan now, she realized. Like Peeta. She thought of her mother again.
Odair returned. "Aurelius says the infirmary's going in that dance hall down the street. Do they need a doctor?" He glanced over.
"They look hungry, but I don't see any evident injuries." The little boy stuck his thumb in his mouth in response. "I'm going to check some other houses," she murmured. She hadn't found what she was looking for yet. But if one child could survive, maybe two could survive.
Katniss headed to the next house over. Inside one German officer was spitting at a British soldier guiding him out of the house with his rifle.
"Any prisoners in here?"
"No, miss," the Brit scowled. "Just this charming gentleman."
She smiled and hurried to the next house. It had already been emptied. So was the next. She sighed.
She stepped outside to find a number of houses being emptied. For every injured German officer left behind by the retreat, there were ten civilians that had been trapped with them. They emerged from their hiding places dazed and fearful, unsure of what would happen now. Her eyes ran up and down the street. There were no little girls missing a pink hair ribbon.
She spied Peeta's blond hair as he glanced distractedly away from the officer trying to sort out who he was accepting surrender from. She saw his shoulders sag as he came to understand what she did.
Odair's voice was at her side. "I take it no sister?"
"No," she breathed.
"There's still a number of towns going north," he offered. "We might find her. You can get word to him she's alive."
"What?"
"They're going to send the German officers to the prison camp five miles west," Odair said slowly. "He's going to have to go with them."
She stared.
"Katniss, he's still German."
"He's been helping us for over a week. You still think he's the enemy?"
"It doesn't matter what I think." He set his eyes on her. "And it doesn't matter what you think either."
She shook her head and bit her tongue. A convoy of trucks was rolling up the street. "What are we going to do with the civilians?" she suddenly asked. A few privates had hopped down from the truck beds and were setting up gangplanks up to the bench seats in back. "What are they doing?"
"They're going to truck them to a town a few miles from here. It's a little less damaged, further from the lines. This town has enough room to be a good temporary camp for us; they'll be safer farther away from this route."
Katniss toed the rubble of a broken doorway. She looked across the street at the pock-marked pavement. Stray bullets had shattered windows and carved lines into stone as they grazed the walls. She listened to the shouts of confused citizens as they were herded on the trucks to be shipped away from the front lines. Her eyes found the withered grandmother she'd found in the basement. The woman gently pushed the small boy ahead of her. He stumbled over ill-fitting buckled shoes. He appeared in a fog as he climbed the gangplank to the truck bed.
Her eyes were locked on the little boy's cherubic face as they climbed onto the benches in the back of the cargo truck. She could see now his hair was sprouting into a downy halo. Katniss wondered if his captors had cut it as punishment; if the boy had fought for his family like Peeta had fought for his father. He could have so easily have shared Peeta's fate. He looked so much like him.
The little boy turned and looked at her dead on as the truck rumbled to life. Katniss felt the blood freeze in her veins.
Her feet took off and she screamed. "Stop the truck! Stop it!"
The truck began to accelerate and a force drove her on. "Someone stop that truck!"
The driver could not hear her over the engine.
She was falling behind.
She saw the chunk of hardened mortar lying on the ground. She swept down and grabbed it, nearly tumbling over. She took aim as she ran. She launched it in a perfect arc.
It hit the top of the cabin with a resounding clang. The driver slammed on the brakes. He climbed out to see the shouting woman in a poorly fitting soldier's uniform running after the truck.
"Everdeen, what the hell?" Odair yelled from behind.
"Katniss!" Gale's voice was in the distance.
She ignored them. She reached the tailgate and yanked it open, hauling herself up into the cabin. She fell forward over the passengers' feet as she struggled forward to the child.
She grabbed the tiny shoulders. She stared at the confused and frightened green eyes. The long, dark lashes.
"Prim? Are you Primrose Mellark?" Her eyes flew over the face. The child blinked and stared. "Prim," she breathed. She gently reached forward and pulled the limp girl to her feet. Prim made no sound. "Prim? Can you hear me?" She looked sharply at the older woman seated nearby. "This girl! What happened to her? What did they do?"
The woman shrugged helplessly. "She is with them when they come through! The commander, he is wounded so he leaves her. She is sitting on our doorstep so we take her in. We thought it was a boy. They cut her hair..."
"Primrose," Katniss begged. "Please tell me your name. Your name."
"Katniss?" Peeta had reached the tailgate. "Katniss-" He stopped.
Primrose saw him at the same time. She was gasping and choking as she yanked away from Katniss to stagger to him.
"Prim! Prim!" He held out his arms and she fell from the truck into his embrace. She was screaming as she cried into his jacket. "Ich hab' dich, Prim. Ich bin bei dir." He whispered into her ear. She wrapped her body around his and refused to let go.
Katniss tripped back over the legs and toes of the other prisoner laborers. She ignored their curses over bruised toes as she climbed down to join Peeta. He rocked his sister back and forth while she continued to scream, her cries muffled against his coat.
Katniss winced at the painful noise. "Let's get her to the medics," she murmured.
Peeta nodded, blinking away joyful tears. "Danke, Katniss. Thank you."
The truck rumbled again and Prim whimpered into his collar. He hoisted her higher on his waist and carried her back to the infirmary set up in the abandoned dance hall. Peeta started sing-songing a rhyme she didn't understand, but it quieted the girl's sobs. She was limp as a rag doll when they finally stepped into the busy hall across the town.
Katniss found Aurelius in a bathroom lounge sewing a row of neat stitches where a bullet had grazed a young soldier's collarbone. The young man winced and keened.
"Believe me, you were lucky," Katniss gritted at the complaining soldier. She looked at Aurelius. "I found her."
"What?" he asked, focused on the stitches.
"Prim. Peeta's sister. She's here."
Aurelius's hands stilled and he turned to stare. His smile broke as hers did. "Holy shit."
"Yes," she beamed. "She's not in good shape, it looks like shell shock. But I need you to make sure nothing else is wrong."
"Of course. I'll be done here in a second."
Katniss thanked him and returned to the bench outside the lounge where she'd left Peeta and his little sister.
Prim straddled on his lap with her face on his chest, motionless. Katniss thought she had cried herself to sleep but when she sat next to him she could see the girl staring into the space beyond. She squirmed.
"Did she see what happened to your family?" Katniss whispered to Peeta. "Does she know?"
Peeta nodded. "I think so." He kissed Prim's hair and gave her a gentle squeeze. She squirmed again and whined.
Katniss nodded uselessly. "It shouldn't be too long. Aurelius was just finishing- What is that? Oh no!"
Peeta stood up as he felt Prim wet his lap. He tried to set her down, but she started to scream as soon as he loosened his grip. Katniss jumped up. The child's searing keening made it hard to think.
"I'll get a towel." Katniss tore down the hall until she spotted the kitchen. As she suspected, it now housed stacks of surgical linens. She swiped a stack of towels piled on a buffet table in the corner. She ran back to the hallway and handed one to Peeta.
"She needs new clothes," he said in frustration, trying to clean Prim's legs while she clung to his waist and stamped her feet. "Prim, you have to let go."
She released an angry little scream and slammed her forehead into his hip.
"Come on," Katniss offered. "Let's take her to the service bathroom by the kitchen." She dropped a towel over the spot where Prim's legs were dripping onto the floor and Peeta picked Prim back up to carry her to the bathroom labeled Mitarbeiter Badezimmer.
Katniss pushed open the door. "Is there anyone in here?" Her own voice echoed back. She held the door for Peeta and he carried Prim to the sink. He set her on the counter. He turned to Katniss.
"Could you find her something to wear?"
She returned from the kitchen with a tablecloth to find Peeta struggling to remove Prim's boy's shirt when she refused to let his arm go.
"Katniss, could you help me?"
"Will she let me?"
Peeta looked at Prim.
"Come here," he gestured to Katniss. She stepped over in front of the child.
"Prim? Prim, würdest du mich bitte anschauen?" Her eyes refused to focus on his face, rather darting back and forth all over the room. "Prim, das ist Katniss." He took Prim's wrist and held her free hand out to Katniss. "Kannst du bitte Katniss' Hand halten? Take her hand, Prim."
Katniss stretched out her fingers and took the tiny hand. It was clammy and sticky. She could feel Prim pulling away. Peeta motioned for her to step closer and he transferred Prim's fingers to Katniss's wrist. Prim started to flail and screech.
"Prim!" He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Katniss wird dir helfen. Du bist hier sicher." Prim glared at the buttons on Katniss's uniform.
He began to work on the shirt, pulling it off her back to reveal an undershirt reeking of perspiration. Katniss was afraid of what they would find when they peeled off the rest. Peeta unbuckled her shoes and unzipped her pants.
Prim wriggled in discomfort at the wet clothes. Peeta started to pull down the dirty trousers, so Katniss lifted her off the counter. Prim kicked her hard in the stomach. Katniss gasped and set her back down to grab her abdomen in pain.
"Prim!" warned Peeta. "Sie versucht mir zu helfen!" Prim whined and struggled. "Let her help you, Prim." Katniss gritted her teeth and lifted the child back up warily, her arms stretched to their full length.
Peeta pulled her pants and socks off. Her underwear was soaked. He pulled it carefully down and Katniss' shoulders sank in relief. In the mirror she was unbruised. Katniss set Prim down with her backside in a sink basin and turned on warm water.
Peeta poured handfuls water over the little girl in the sink, scrubbing her dirty hands and face with a towel. Katniss held Prim's hands when she wouldn't let the nurse help Peeta bathe her. Katniss folded the tablecloth over three times and wrapped her in it as she lifted her from the sink. Prim tried to bite her. Peeta scolded her sharply again. The child stuck her fingers in her mouth and grumbled at Katniss. She reached to her brother over Katniss's shoulder.
"I have to replace my pants," Peeta mumbled.
"Oh. We'll wait outside," Katniss said. Two steps away from him, Prim started to kick her and scream.
Katniss grimaced. "Or we'll just turn around."
She rocked Prim carefully and clumsily hummed the only nursery rhyme her mother had ever sang to her. Her fingers found the soft down of Prim's blunt hair. The girl stopped growling. Her mouth smacked against her fingers.
"Finished," Peeta said quickly. Katniss smiled at the towel around his waist.
"We'll need to find you new pants," she said. "You can't walk around like that."
"I want her to visit with Dr. Aurelius first."
Prim stretched out her arms and Peeta took her back. Katniss soaped and rinsed their clothes in the sink and carried the damp clothes in a bundle as they returned to the infirmary. Aurelius opened his mouth at the tablecloth and towel, but spotted Katniss shaking her head and decided better of it.
Peeta set Prim down on the buffet table that had become a surgeon's station and introduced her. Aurelius smiled at her and explained in broken German he was a doctor. She stared as he looked at her eyes and nose. When he tried to look at her throat she bit him. Peeta had to hold her while she kicked and screamed as he tried to check her abdomen. Shaking his head, he advised them, "Well there's nothing wrong with her lungs."
"I am sorry, Dr. Aurelius," Peeta said. "She is very frightened. She is a very sweet child."
"No, it's fine," Aurelius called over the angry shrieks. "She looks all right, but I can't examine her like this. Let's try when she's calmed down." He jumped back from a flailing limb. Peeta pulled Prim back up into a sitting position and she stilled.
"How long will you be here?" Katniss asked.
"A week as of right now," he said. "Bring her back to me tomorrow, we'll see then."
"Thank you," Katniss asked. "I don't suppose you could tell us where to find new clothes?"
"I don't know about children's clothes," he nodded at the little girl in Peeta's arms, "but the supply tent set up inside the parish house."
Katniss retrieved a new uniform for herself from surplus and fought with the attendant when Peeta was refused officer's pants. She stomped over to the parish hall and was considering how to steal them when she spotted the charity collection box full of worn farmers' clothing for the poor.
They slipped around the back of the church to pull a tattered dress over Prim's head and for Peeta to exchange a towel for trousers. When he was dressed, Prim darted from Katniss's grasp and clung to her brother. "Thank you for finding her a dress." He smiled. "She wore our old clothes at home. She is not familiar with dresses."
Katniss smiled. "I always wanted to wear pants at home too. I wanted to be just like my father."
Peeta took Prim's hand and they sought a place to let her sleep.
Katniss glanced up and down the village around them. She saw a pack of German soldiers being herded towards a transport truck.
"Peeta, come with me." She glanced over. "Keep your head down," she whispered. He followed her with small steps. Prim's short legs jogged along as she held his wrist and arm with both hands.
"Where will we stay?" he asked quietly.
"We're going to take one of these houses," Katniss muttered.
"Is that permitted?"
"It is now."
She led them out of the town center to the smaller homes near the ancient church. She paused to look at the house with the least damage to its structure.
She selected the painted stone cottage in front of the pasture where she'd seen the sheep grazing earlier. She motioned for Peeta to follow. She swallowed hard. Sheep's blood still littered the field.
"Do you think anyone is here?" he asked quietly, pressing a palm over Prim's eyes.
"Probably not," she murmured. "We'll go quietly until we're sure."
Peeta pressed a finger to his lips and gestured for Prim to be silent. Katniss wondered why; she hadn't made a sound unless she was pulled away from her brother. The old lock on the back of the kitchen broke easily and Katniss pushed the door very carefully open. It creaked but drew no attention.
She poked her head inside. All was silent.
"Okay," she motioned for Peeta to follow. She tiptoed through the kitchen. The living room was intact and empty. She could hear the grandfather clock pounding loudly in the parlor. She gestured for her followers to wait. She pulled her firearm at the foot of the stairs. She heard Prim whimper and she saw the little girl staring at the gun in terror. Peeta turned her eyes away from Katniss and nodded for her to continue up the stairs. Katniss moved as silently as she could. She reached the landing. All the doors stood open. She crouched low and moved along the wall. The first bedroom was empty. The second was full of books and paintings but no hidden townspeople. The bathroom was clean and silent.
"Peeta! It's all right!" she called over the banister. She hid her gun inside her pocket as Prim's wide eyes came into view, her hand clutching Peeta's tightly. "There's a bed through there," she said, pointing to the end of the hall.
"Danke," Peeta sighed. He looked as tired as his sister now. Katniss felt the fatigue of the day wearing her down as well. She followed him into the bedroom and pulled the sheets down. He lifted Prim into the bed and unbuckled her shoes. She did not release his hand.
"Prim, leg' dich hin. Du musst dich ausruhen." She did not move.
"What's wrong?" Katniss whispered.
Peeta looked over his shoulder. "She will not sleep."
"She's afraid you'll leave," Katniss smiled sadly. "Lie down with her."
"I should find food for her."
"I'll find food. You lie down with her," Katniss insisted.
He sat down beside Prim, toeing off his shoes. She wriggled across the bed to lay with her back against the wall, hanging on to his pants with her small fist. He lay carefully to not twist her arm. She rolled to his side and buried her face in his ribs. Katniss watched her with pity. Peeta closed his eyes. She watched them until she felt she was intruding.
Katniss closed the door as silently and stepped carefully to the stairs. The country kitchen was narrow but had not been completely emptied. She found a jar of sheep's milk in the still-cold icebox and set it aside. She picked a few moldy pieces from a stale loaf of bread and tucked it inside the icebox to eat later. The cabinets yielded a small amount of rice and a bag of potatoes sprouting green shoots. It would have to do for them until rations were ready.
She felt her shoulders ache and her eyelids grow heavy thinking of Peeta and Prim sleeping upstairs. She moved to the parlor to look for a sofa when she heard soldiers walking by outside. She ducked below the window as they passed. She peered through the sheer curtain and realized she couldn't sleep on the ground floor.
Grabbing two cushions off the small sofa, Katniss moved to the stairs.
She snuck up the creaking steps to the second bedroom. She found a clearing among the books and threw the pillows onto the floor.
She was asleep two minutes after she lay down.
