"Hey beautiful, it's time to wake up," Gale said, pushing the hair out of her face as he sat on the side of her bed.
Katniss grumbled unhappily as she rolled over. When was Gale going to leave her alone? He tormented her dreams all night after the little scene in the bathtub, and she didn't appreciate being taunted again especially so early in the morning. She remembered how they'd chased each other in the forest, how he'd taken her up against a tree…she almost wanted to check and see if there were any leaves in her hair, but she knew it wasn't real.
"Go away," she mumbled through the sheets, tired of her phantom tormentor. She wanted the real Gale or no Gale.
"I can't do that," he said with a grin, "come on now, it's time tooo – " He lost his words and his balance as Katniss smacked Gale right in the face, pushing him off the bed and sending him to the floor. "Hey!"
"You're here?" Katniss cried, still trying to process if this was the real Gale before her. She grabbed his face as he tried to get up off the floor. "You're here!" she said, now believing, with her fingers on his face, that he was in fact before her.
"Yeah," he said, rubbing his knee as he got back up on the bed, "and I brought you breakfast."
He was looking at her weirdly, undoubtedly thinking about whether or not he should ask her why she pushed him off the bed. "Sorry," she said, trying to stave off the question, "I was having a weird dream." Gale nodded, not sure if he believed her. "You said something about breakfast?"
Gale got up and extended his hand to Katniss. On the blanket before the fire he had two plates laid out. On each was a small pile of eggs and some bacon.
"I slept while you were making all this?" Katniss asked, amazed.
"Yeah, you were out, what were you up to last night?"
Katniss could only blush in response.
They sat down on the blanket and dove into their meal.
Katniss couldn't believe that Gale brought real chicken eggs and bacon for her into the woods. She meant to say thank you between every bite, and ask where he got them, but she was always so eager for the next, she forgot and didn't remember until she was chewing again.
"Thank you for the breakfast," she said with a satisfied smile on her face, once she'd cleaned her plate. She got up and walked over to Gale, reaching down and kissing him. He slipped his hand up the back of her legs and over her bottom. He hooked his hands in the back of her pants and pulled her down into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her like he hadn't seen her in days.
"Miss me?" she asked in a playful tone, breaking away from his lips.
"Mmmhmm. How could you tell?"
"Wild guess," she said with a small laugh.
"Did you miss me?" Gale asked, saying each word between kisses he placed on her neck.
"Oh, no, not at all…" she shook her head.
"What?" There was a speck of genuine concern in his voice.
Katniss laughed in response, not at Gale, but at her antics the night before. Should she tell him about her fantasy in the bathtub? Or about her wild dreams that involved them chasing each other around naked in the woods? She suddenly remembered his gleaming body running through the trees, and laughed at the image, not cruelly, but full of mirth.
"What?" Gale repeated, this time with stronger tones of alarm.
"Nothing," she shook her head, "I just had strange dreams…." And she conjured the image again. "Wait?" She was suddenly distracted and her amusement faded, "why aren't you at the mines?"
Gale loosened his grip on her body. He stretched one of his arms back and shifted his wait, leaning away some. A serious shadow crossed his face, causing Katniss to tense.
"The mines are closed today," he said as if it were a normal piece of news.
Katniss's eyebrows shot up in alarm. "What? Why? Was there an accident? Did something go wrong?" she asked all the questions in one long breath, her body tense, and a million thoughts racing through her mind. Mine accidents were one of her greatest fears, she'd never be able to shake the day that her father died. Katniss wasn't certain her heart beat until Gale answered.
Gale shook his head solemnly. "No, they are searching them."
"Searching them?" she interrupted in disbelief. She had never heard of this before. "Why? For what?"
"For you," Gale said in almost a whisper.
If she had anything in her mouth right then, she would have choked on it. Her jaw dropped, and her throat struggled to find air. "For me?"
Gale nodded. "The Capitol knows you survived the raid yesterday. They are tearing apart the town right now looking for you."
"What?" She couldn't process his words. She recognized them, but they didn't make any sense.
"Congratulations, Catnip, you are now the most wanted person in all of Panen."
Katniss's head was swimming. She stumbled out of Gale's lap. He reached to steady her, but she pushed him away. Wanted? She thought, what does that even mean? Who wants me? Why? The questions pinged around her head. She felt dizzy, sick even. She tried to stand up, but had to sit back down. "Oh no," she said, over and over again, "oh no…oh no…"
"Hey, Catnip, it'll be okay," Gale consoled.
But Katniss started rocking herself back and forth, "oh no, oh no…" Gale was seriously getting worried when Katniss's eyes popped open. A thought had finally made it through her brain, "oh no!" she nearly screamed with a mix of horror and uncertainty, "what about my family!"
She leapt to her feet before Gale could think to stop her. Katniss was no longer worried about what the Capitol wanted from her, she was concerned about what they would do to her family to get to her. Her mother and Prim were completely ignorant of her involvement in the rebellion. Not that that would matter to Snow. As far as they knew, she was always off hunting in the woods. They would lie about that, because that is technically illegal. He'd torture them for fun, plaster pictures of them on live television to coax her out of hiding. And it would work too. And Peeta, what would he do to Peeta? Katniss was running out the door before Gale could say a thing to stop her. "Katniss!" his voice followed her, but she would not be stopped.
She hadn't even run for ten minutes before she was forced to stop. Looking up, she could see the great white hovercrafts of the Capitol combing the air. There were three that she could count and they were combing the forest. She and Gale had seen one once, long ago, capturing runaways out in the forest. One was speared and the other gathered up by a great claw and turned into an avox to work in the Capitol.
Thinking of those two, she froze, thinking of herself and Gale, running through the forest now. She'd have to be careful if she wanted to make it back to town. She searched the trees, trying to conjure up some plan.
"Katniss!" Gale cried, flat against another tree a yard away from her. "Come on, Katniss, we have to be careful." He motioned her to come over to him.
She looked at him and nodded. Even every impulse in her body was telling her to run for Prim, she knew she'd never make it very far with the hovercrafts patrolling the sky. Staying as close to the trees as possible, she darted over to Gale.
He didn't reprimand her for her rash behavior. Katniss knew he never would but she was still thankful not to have to hear what a stupid move she just made. They were now stuck in the middle of the woods, with untold numbers of Capitol henchmen searching for them.
"We need to find a safe place for cover," Gale said, interrupting her concentration. Gale's brows knit together, he was making a plan. Katniss didn't interrupt. His eyes darted around, taking in as much information as possible. It was clear they couldn't make it back to town, and spending too much time out in the forest was dangerous. They needed a place to hide. "See that large pine over there?" He gestured to a tree about twenty yards away. "We're going to hide up there, okay? Its branches are thick, they'll provide a lot of cover, from above and below."
Katniss looked at the tree. Gale was right. No one would be able to see them in there. Gale reached for her hand and they followed, quickly, silently, deftly, straight for the great pine. Only years of hunting together allowed their bodies to work so seamlessly in tandem. They were like one, reacting to the slightest movement other, noticing the smallest cues. On quiet, hurried feet, they made their way, jumping from shadow to shadow, tree to tree, until they found themselves at the base of the great pine.
"Up you go, Catnip," Gale said, making a stirrup with his hands to give her a leg up. She unquestioningly put her foot in his hands and grabbed his shoulders for balance as he hoisted her into the tree. Katniss was a skilled climber. She knew exactly what branches to reach for as she started to scurry up the tree. But she'd climbed only a few feet when she realized that Gale wasn't following her.
"Gale," she said through clinched teeth, trying not to scream, "what are you doing?"
"Got to clean up the cabin. If they find our stuff, they'll know we're out here." He said this as if he had to run a simply errand, like pick up some milk. There was no hint of nerves that the very same task could claim his life. Katniss cursed herself for so carelessly fleeing, putting them both in danger. He was right, and she knew it. The cabin had to be cleaned. She opened her mouth to argue. She should be the one to go, she made the mistake to running in the first place. She couldn't put Gale in danger because of her behavior.
"No time to argue.," Gale stopped her before she could even start, knowing exactly what he was going to say. "I'm faster anyway. I'll be back before you know it," he promised with a reassuring grin.
As she considered jumping out of the tree and racing him, but Gale, with the speed of a forest animal, had already disappeared from the foot of the tree and was gone.
Katniss waited in agony, fingers digging into the sappy bark of the old pine. She found a spot high in the tree where she was certain no one could see her, but she could have a view of the surrounding terrain. Her eyes frantically darted from side to side, surveying the land, waiting for any sign of Gale.
Gale is smart, he is quick, he is capable, she told herself, but the pound of her heart in her ears screamed danger. She tried not to panic when she was certain too much time had passed. But he has to dispose of everything in the cabin, she told herself, this will take some time. The food, the dishes, the fire…She made a list of everything Gale would have to do, and tired to allot the time he'd need to do it, calculating everything down to the last second. It's going to take some time. Everything is fine, a small voice in her head told her, everything is absolutely fine, he just needs time. But her heart continued to beat danger…danger…danger….
Just when she thought her heart might stop from the trepidation, she saw a small movement to the right. Only the trained eye of a hunter would have caught it, but to her, it was unmistakable. A shift of shadow by a tree…a sudden flash in the light. It was Gale. He was making his way back to her. A wave of relief washed over Katniss's body. Gale was alright; he had made it back to her.
And just when he made it close enough for her to make out the expression on his face, she heard it. Like a vacuum sucking out all the air, a metallic thud that appeared so suddenly that she couldn't even consider what it was before she saw the great claw lowering and clasping around her friend.
It was only then, when Gale was already within its grasp and a few feet up off the ground that she understood what was happening. She remembered how quickly the one had materialized that took the redheaded avox girl. And she saw quickly this one was taking Gale.
Gale didn't have to see her, hiding in the tree. But he knew she was there, and he knew exactly what she was thinking. He shook his head furiously, warning her not to. Not to do something stupid, and reckless, which of course, was exactly what she was planning.
Katniss climbed far out on one of the larger branches, just almost giving away her position, as she watched her best friend rise into the air, still telling her no!
Don't do anything stupid, Katniss, she could hear him say, you're too important to the rebellion, we can't risk losing you! And think of your mother! Think of Prim!
And she did, she thought about all these things and more, in the split second she had to make the decision that would determine the rest of her life.
