Chapter 13. Bang

By the time Effie and Katniss reached the scene, Peeta had muscled the gun out from Thread's hand. He brought the gun up and clubbed him three times over the head with it. Thread laid unconscious, blood dripping down his neck.

Effie dropped down to her knees before looking over Haymitch with widened eyes, trying to see where the bullet hit. She felt like she was going to faint from the smell of blood and worry alone. She began to mutter over and over again, her voice sore though from screaming to him. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god..."

Haymitch continued gripping his left shoulder and he laughed shakily, his face gray. "Oh, Effie, I... knew you cared."

"Stop messing around, you just got shot!" she screamed at him, her entire body shaking.

"Just in the shoulder," he croaked. Then, he opened one eye at her before glancing at Peeta. "Thanks, Peeta."

Peeta put the gun in his pocket before turning to Haymitch. "You need to get that checked out. You can still get blood poisoning or bleed out."

"Yeah, yeah," He gritted his teeth and sat up, his face going paler. "I'll... just pour some liquor... on it."

"Don't move so suddenly!" Effie scolded as she got up and grabbed his arm to attempt to help, though she wasn't exactly what you would call strong. Haymitch accepted Effie's limited help and slowly staggered up to his feet, swaying slightly. He glared weakly at Thread motionless on the ground.

"Bastard."

Effie made a little strained face as she tried to help hold him up before looking to Katniss. "Is Gale alright?"

Katniss had rushed over to Gale around the same time Effie made it to Haymitch. She had cupped his cheeks, trying to check for any serious damage, but the sheet covered most of his neck. Carefully, Gale pulled it up over his head along with the noose, revealing a ring of bruises around his neck.

"No," Katniss answered, staring. "Jesus, Gale."

"I had to keep my promise," he forced out, though his voice was more than a little hoarse.

She shook her head once before leaning in and pressing her lips briefly against his, forgetting they were right in the middle of the square, in front of Peeta and in front of everyone else who was still there. The kiss only lasted a moment before she pulled back. "You're so stupid. And don't talk."

Gale's eyebrows shot up slightly as he just nodded, a slow smile forming across his mouth.

Peeta stared at the two for a brief moment before quickly looking around, not wanting Katniss to catch him staring. "Let's get back to Haymitch's so the man can stop bleeding out."

Katniss blushed and let go, remembering where she was. She went over to Haymitch's other side to help.

Gale got up, a little shaky at first, but managed his own. He began to follow the group as they started their way from the mostly deserted plaza. But from the corner of his head, he saw movement.

Thread's head slowly began to rise from the ground. His eyes narrowed as they shot at Gale.

"D-don't worry, Mr. Hawthorne," he began, causing Gale to stop dead in his tracks. "The food from your extra submissions o-of tesserae will arrive at your f-family's door soon."

The smirk on his face never faltered.

After about an hour, everybody had calmed down. Once again, they were all congregated at Haymitch's house. Being the only and best source of free medical treatment, Prim had volunteered to tend to Haymitch's shoulder. However, she had suggested that Effie help her out, telling Katniss to thank Gale for the two of them properly while she worked.

Katniss had nodded and walked off to find Gale.

Gale was sitting outside on the front stoop of the home. His neck has been wrapped with some sort of ointment for the bruises, but all he really could do was let it heal on its own. He just sat and watched the smoke rising in the distance.

Katniss stepped out and paused. She shut the door and sat down next to Gale, quietly taking a few flowers out of her hair. She cleared her throat and spoke quietly. "Thank you, Gale. From me and Prim."

"You don't need to thank me," he said simply, his eyes never leaving the smoke. "If anything, I should thank you."

She blinked, dropping her hands to her lap. "Thank me? Why?"

"All these years, I've talked about a rebellion. About how we need to act, but I never did anything myself. Now, I did it. I finally did something and made a difference."

"But... that was you. Not me. I didn't do anything but sit in the crowd and look stupid."

"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have done anything. You don't realize what effect you can have on people, Katniss. Enough so to make me, Haymitch, Mr. Mellark, and even someone like Effie come together to stand up against the oppression."

She paused and slowly looked at him. Gale's words should have been inspirational, but all they did was make her angry. "Come together? You guys planned this with Peeta's dad and Effie but couldn't be bothered to let me in on it? While I sat there, on the verge of a panic attack, thinking of Prim and how I would have to comfort her later after our mother was killed?"

"We couldn't let you know. If we did, and got caught, you would be dragged into it. You need to stay safe."

She let out a shaky breath and stood up. "This is low even for you, Gale. I thought you understood I can take care of myself but you're just like everyone else. I survived the Games and I alone kept Peeta alive while doing so, but it's like it doesn't matter what I do. I'm still going to be treated like a helpless little girl from the Seam, which is who I never have been. I take that kiss back, you don't deserve it."

Gale tore his gaze from the smoke, but instead stood up. "Alright, fine. Do you want me to go out and find your mother to face another potential hanging sentence then too? Have me take back everything I did for you?" He seemed cold, almost emotionless now as he still refused to look at her.

She stomped her foot and crossed her arms. "I said thank you for that. It's just cold and terrible that you would make me go through that! That all of you would!"

"I told you that I was going to save your mother. It's your fault that you didn't have faith in me."

She narrowed her eyes. "You could have told me your plan. I was sitting there, thinking you hadn't thought of anything since you hadn't confided in me. If one of your family members was going to be killed and I had a plan, you can be damn sure I'd tell you."

He let out a soft laugh as from the corner of his eye, he saw the last streams of smoke disperse into the night sky. "Well, for my sake, I hope you do."

She paused, her arms dropping after a moment. She faltered, unsure. "What does that mean?"

Finally, he turned to look at her. His eyes were slightly blood shot and red and his skin paler, almost fearful like. Between the look in his eyes and the bandages around his neck, it was easily the most pathetic the boy has ever looked in his life. He only allowed her to absorb this for a moment before turning away again. "I'm going to be Reaped for the Hunger Games."

She furrowed her eyebrows and slowly took his hand, tugging on it gently. Her anger vanished. "Gale, you don't know that."

"No one else heard him, but I did," he whispered. "Thread, he's signing me in for extra tesserae. With how the Quarter Quell works, and now with my name in there who knows how many times, it's bound to happen. I wouldn't be surprised if Thread took out every other name in District 12 other than mine at this point."

Katniss paused, jaw hanging open for a moment, before she shut her mouth determindedly. "He can't do that! Surely there's... regulations or... or something."

"He can do whatever he wants," Gale flatly answered, squeezing her hand a little more. "But it doesn't matter to me. I'll go and I'll put an end to everything."

She lowered her eyes and nodded slightly, barely concealing a small sniffle. "I'll be there when you're Reaped, Gale. I'll be your mentor, Peeta can take care of the other one, and I promise I'll do everything I can the entire time."

"I knew you would be," he smiled a little, looking down at her again. "Are you still mad at me?"

She shook her head, looking at the ground. "No, you know I can't be mad at you now. I almost think you did it on purpose."

He laughed slightly and shrugged, but said nothing. Gale allowed for another moment of awkward silence as he thought quickly to himself, deciding what to say next. With a small sigh, he decided it would be best to stop holding information from her.

"There is... one other thing Haymitch and I talked about."

She blinked and looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. "Am I allowed to hear it?"

"You'd probably punch me in the neck if I didn't tell you everything at this point."

She allowed a small smile and nodded. "At least you're learning."

"Learning? How long have I known you now, Katniss? Did you really think I didn't expect you to be mad at me for not telling you?" He looked back at her before moving so he was directly before her. Reaching down, he took her other hand in his and leaned in a little as to be quiet in case other ears were upon them. "When I'm Reaped, Haymitch has a plan on what to do about the Capitol."

She paused and looked directly into his eyes, searchingly, before lowering her voice as well. "A rebellion? Are there any specifics yet?"

"I'd need to talk to Haymitch more about it. We were more focused on getting your mother freed since that was a more pressing matter at the time. But he said the Hunger Games were going to be a large part of it."

She nodded slightly. "That's understandable. And we can talk to him when he's better, since I'm not sure if he'll be invited to mentor this year."

"Alright. For now, you should go see Madge. After the ruckus I caused earlier, she might be a little freaked out by the whole thing. I'm going to see how Haymitch is doing."

"Alright." She smiled slightly and let go of Gale's hands, nodding. Gale put a hand on the top of her head and ruffled her hair up slightly before leaning in and kissing her forehead quickly.

"I'll talk to you later, Catnip."

She rolled her eyes slightly, but still smiled. "Later, Gale."

She walked down the steps and headed toward Madge's house. En route to her friend's home, her own house in Victor's Village was completely darkened with the exception of one room. The bedroom that had been claimed by Mr. and Mrs. Mellark was lit up brightly on the second floor.

Katniss had assumed that, during the commotion, Mrs. Mellark ran back to the house by herself. Then, moments after they had arrived back at Haymitch's, Peeta had mentioned wanting to check on her. He had never returned and everybody was too preoccupied with Haymitch to notice.

The closer Katniss got, the clearer the sounds of screams could be heard from the inside. They weren't screams of terror or pain, but angry screams much like those when Peeta had burnt the bread those years ago. Katniss slowed down when she reached her house. She let out a slow breath and, instead of heading to Madge's, went straight up to the door and walked in.

As she stepped on the red carpet, she heard Peeta screaming something back at his mother.

Peeta never screams or even talks back to his mother.

Then, a bang.

The second of its kind that day.