CHAPTER 35

NOVEMBER

The previous night had been one of the most painful that Peeta had ever endured. He'd tossed and turned the entire night, surrendering himself to the countless tears that trickled down his face. Like a movie on re-run, all he'd heard while lying in bed were the arguments between his two parents and the fiery remarks that had come from Rye. He wasn't entirely sure which was worse – remaining awake with his thoughts, or plummeting into a nightmare that would only amplify the grief he already felt.

When the following day arrived, he did his best to focus on school, but his efforts were all but in vain. It was biology class, and Mr. Boggs was discussing the anatomy of frogs. This would be followed by the hands-on portion of the lesson, which involved dissecting the organisms.

Peeta was trying hard to listen and pay attention, but the teacher's words flew in one ear and out the other.

That was when he unexpectedly felt an odd and uncomfortable feeling that someone…was watching him. More strangely, he thought he heard the unmistakable sound of someone calling his name.

Unsure of where the voice was coming from, he glanced around in confusion and realized it was no one in the room calling out to him. That was when he looked to his right and saw a sight that evaporated any hopes of trying to focus on biology. Any chance he'd had just seconds ago of focusing his thoughts on frogs were gone entirely and all but one quick look to his right was the reason for that.

There was a person – a stranger – standing outside the classroom window.

He was standing stock still as if his feet were glued to the ground and he had no way of moving. At a first glance, Peeta never recalled having seen him around school which meant only one thing, and that was that he wasn't a student of Madderson High. He was about Peeta's size and looked about the same age but his appearance was nothing like Peeta's at all. His hair was black, longish and fell nearly to his shoulders. His eyes were a greyish color like Katniss's but where hers were a more light color, his was like a black shadow. It made Peeta think of night-time and darkness and it gave him a truly horrid feeling as if those eyes could see, hear and read every thought in his head. It was like they could see right into his soul with hardly any effort. He was dressed all in black, wearing a black shirt, jeans and some kind of thick black bracelet around his arm. The guy wasn't smiling or looked like he was even a remotely happy person.

All that Peeta could determine from his face was that the guy looked...crazy. That was the only word Peeta could use to describe the guy he was staring at. And though he wasn't sure why but as he sat staring at this guy dressed all in black, it made his blood run cold. It was one of those rare times in his life when he felt a sudden feeling of dread and he hadn't the slightest idea as to why. It was just one of those odd times where you were struck with the worst kind of feeling and it sat in the gut of your stomach like a ton of bricks.

There was something else that Peeta noticed about the guy. He was sure that this was definitely a figment of his imagination but it creeped him out all the same.

As he locked eyes with the guy outside the window, he could have sworn his eyes looked like that of a snake's. For that brief second, they appeared like slits and as he lowered his gaze to the guy's mouth, there he was met with another surprise. What he'd expected to see were his unmoving lips but what he now saw were two sharp fangs and a long forked tongue. No longer did the guy have a body of smooth, pale skin because the body that had once been his was no more. That's because he was now in the body...of a snake. It was about the normal size of that of a typical reptile with a long, thick tail that trailed on the grass behind it. It was all black with large, thick scales and as it stared in through the window and into Peeta's eyes he couldn't help but wonder if this really wasn't part of reality and that the snake wouldn't be capable of smashing its way effortlessly through the glass and slithering towards him and then sinking its fangs hungrily into his neck.

Whether the guy was really a snake or if he was quickly going insane, Peeta wasn't sure. Luckily for him, the image of the snake winked out and once more he was staring at the guy dressed all in black.

Who...who is that guy? he thought in confusion, and in a bit of fear. He certainly didn't look like the kind of guy who'd make you smile or laugh or put you at east but rather, would do just the opposite. He looked like the type of person who could say whatever he wanted and no matter what words came out of his mouth, they'd either leave you speechless, scared out of your mind or so numb that you couldn't form a response to whatever it was he'd spoken.

That was when the guy gave the tiniest of a grin that was almost unnoticeable and said calmly, "Peeta." But that wasn't what got Peeta freaked out. It was when the guy put his hand casually behind his back, reached into his pocket and pulled something out. That got his mind racing. Whether it was real, a dream or just another odd vision he was experiencing in his head, Peeta wasn't sure, but this guy was truly starting to freak him out. What had first freaked him out were the eerily grey eyes but what he was now seeing was flat out making him uneasy and anxious.

"No!" Peeta shouted.

Everyone in the class turned and looked at him with nothing but surprise and confusion on their faces. Mr. Boggs turned and gave Peeta a puzzled expression, but along with that he seemed a little annoyed at having had his lecture interrupted. He'd been irritated enough when Peeta hadn't gotten his cycle diagrams finished in class but having him all of a sudden start shouting out in class was beginning to tick him off. He wasn't a man that liked interruptions, especially if they were interruptions from his students who he felt should have been jotting down notes and listening closely.

"Everything all right, Peeta?" he asked sternly.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," answered Peeta, a flush of sudden embarrassment washing over him. "Just thought I heard something. Sorry..."

"Alright then," Mr. Boggs replied, keeping his eyes on his student only for a few seconds longer before returning his attention to what he'd just been discussing. "If you need to leave the room for whatever reason, please do so. I prefer to have my lessons not cut short because of sudden, unexpected interruptions."

"I will," Peeta assured him, doing his best to sound calm and not as rattled as he was feeling.

But he was anything but calm. He might have looked calm, but his mind was screaming out of control at having seen that stranger staring at him from outside the window. The guy had freaked him out for more reasons than one but what made his skin crawl was the fact that he'd been staring at nobody but him. It gave him the creepiest feeling that this guy had been for whatever reason...searching for him. Not once had his eyes shifted to stare in at the other students; they'd been glued only to him. But if the guy had just been a figment of his imagination, then he had nothing to worry about and could return to focusing on worms and dissections. He figured it wouldn't hurt though to have one last look just to confirm if what he'd seen had in fact been occurring in his head.

When he looked at the window again...the stranger was gone. Nowhere in sight was the guy who'd been dressed all in black but it was like he could still hear the guy's deep, flat voice and it was now hissing a phrase in his head, over and over as if on repeat. The words were clear as day and when Peeta heard them, his stomach did a flip. He couldn't understand what it meant or why he was hearing it but it made the aching in his head feel ten times worse.

The words were: Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen -The Star-Crossed Lovers from District 12.

But as he repeated the phrase over in his head, he came to the realization of who had been telling him this. It left him terribly confused and unsure as to why this guy would even be saying this but the more he went on replaying the words over in his head, the more sure he was of who had been speaking them. It was the guy outside the window and he could recognize the deep, flat voice of the stranger and it sounded even creepier now that it was in his own head.

What Peeta wasn't aware of was that it wasn't the guy outside the window saying this at all. Though he didn't know it, Gale's voice was hollering the words in Peeta's mind as if he had a single point he was trying to make, or something he was trying to make happen. He was screeching so loudly in Peeta's ears that he would have broken the guy's eardrums if not for the fact that it wasn't truly happening but rather, it was all some complicated mess unfolding in Peeta's head. The only conclusion Peeta could come to was that the guy outside that window – whether it was real or all in his head – meant trouble and he no longer wanted to stay sitting in that room. Even as far away as he was from the side window, he still didn't feel comfortable or okay with where he was sitting and he wanted out of there badly.

Peeta knew he had to get up and walk around a bit while trying to calm himself down, even if just a little. Sitting in that classroom and remembering what he'd seen outside that window was too freaky of a thing for him to ignore, so he got up out of his chair without even hesitating.

He politely excused himself and hurried off, not wanting to be there any longer. The only person he wanted to see right then was Katniss. He'd tell her what he'd seen, and she'd make everything better by reassuring him that it was only in his head. It was a thing his imagination had come up with to give him a fright. It was all just a nasty scare. It was just like all the visions and nightmares he'd had of Gale and Katniss together, and of the hawk version of Gale trying to claw his eyes out or rip his heart out of his chest. It was just a trick of his mind that had felt frighteningly real but no matter how real such things could feel they were still only a thing that had come out of his head.

Yeah, that's probably all that was, thought Peeta, feeling more and more certain of it that a nightmarish image had been all that he'd seen, and that Katniss would confirm this by telling him that was what it had indeed been.

He knew he'd most likely find her in the cafeteria sitting with Madge, Johanna, Glimmer and Clove. She was almost always there, so he decided that's where he'd go. That was the plan. He'd go to the cafeteria, talk to Katniss and she'd get rid of any fears or worries regarding what he'd seen. If only he'd known what was about to unfold there in the halls of Madderson High in just under a few short minutes, he probably never would have left biology class. He would have stayed there and notgone out to wander the halls in search of Katniss. But that was all too late now. He'd made the decision to leave class and go off in search for Katniss Everdeen without knowing the hell that was about to be unleashed. If only he'd known that leaving the safety of a classroom was about the worst thing he could have done at that moment and that by doing so...he was only heading towards unspeakable danger.

He was making his way quickly through the halls. He was only a minute or so from reaching the cafeteria when the P.A. system came alive. Normally, when he heard announcements he wouldn't think much of them because they'd mostly be related to sports or upcoming events or things in general that might not have been of great importance to him, and usually they weren't. But what he soon heard made him wish that he'd stayed back in the classroom and not gone rushing out into the halls. It made him wish that he and Katniss were in one of the classrooms together and safe from the unavoidable chaos that was about to unfold. But they weren't together. Instead, they were apart and too far apart to get to each other in a few quick seconds and all Peeta wanted more than anything right then was to be with Katniss.

It was the voice of Principal Snow. Though Peeta couldn't see the guy, he could hear as plain as anything the obvious concern that was in his voice. There was panic in his words, but he was doing a remarkable job at hiding it, so as not to alarm and frighten the many students of the school. At a time like this, it was best to present yourself as calm and in control of yourself as possible because panic was like fire and even the smallest bit of panic could lead to screaming and fear, just as the tiniest spark could lead to the greatest fire. And right then, their principal was doing all he possibly could to ensure that students remained focused and knew exactly what needed to be done.

Peeta stopped moving and dropped his gaze to the floor while listening in shock as Principal Snow announced, "Attention students and staff. It is necessary at this time to begin a school wide lockdown. I repeat...a school wide lockdown. All students are to remain in class. Any students in the hallways are to enter the nearest open classroom at once. Teachers, lock your classroom doors. Ignore a fire alarm. No one, under any circumstances, is to leave the classroom until further notice."

There was one last thing the Principal added before his voice disappeared. He declared, "It has come to our attention that an unidentified gunman has entered the school and is threatening to bomb the school if any student or teacher tries to approach him. All students and staff remain hidden until help has arrived. Do not go near him."

The second Principal Snow announced they were entering a lockdown Peeta's mind went only to one place. He couldn't go to the nearest classroom. Until he knew that she was safe and out of harm's way, there was only one thing he had to do right then and that was to find her. It was as if everything else the Principal had said went in one ear and out the other. Katniss...he had to get to her. Make sure she was safe. It was all that mattered. Nothing else mattered to him but ensuring her absolute safety. Right then, he wasn't even concerned about his own safety despite the fact that he was completely vulnerable in the halls. All he cared about was getting Katniss to safety. Where students were hurrying their way into the classrooms and finding a place to hide...Peeta wasn't. He had all but one single, overriding thing he had to make sure of before his own safety and that was Katniss's protection.

With that in mind, he turned and faster than he'd ever moved in his entire life, ran down the halls of Madderson High. As he left one hall and turned to make his way down another, all he could hear was the sound of the hundreds of footsteps of the school's students as they made their way as quickly as they could into a classroom. It didn't matter what room they went into, who was there and how many people where there. The one important thing was that they got out of the now most dangerous area of the school...and that was the hallways.

"In here, now!" one of the teachers hollered, his tone noticeably shaken. Waving his arm frantically, he motioned for them to quicken their pace. "Hurry!"

"W-where's the gunman?" asked one of the girls in increasing fear. She was clearly scared out of her mind as her eyes were flooding with tears and her entire body was undergoing a series of unremitting trembles. She was even having a difficult time stepping into the classroom as if terrified that the gunman might actually be inside and waiting to trap them all like wolves on its prey and start firing at random.

The teacher placed both hands on the girl's quivering shoulders and hurriedly led her into the classroom. He explained to her bluntly, "We don't know. But everyone's got to hide. The guy could be anywhere and all that matters is getting everyone outof the halls."

"B-but what if he...comes in the room?" she stammered worriedly, on the startling verge of surrendering to an imminent wave of tears.

"We don't know what'll happen," he responded softly. The shudder in his speech was growing more palpable, and it was evident teachers were suffering through just as much apprehension as the multitude of alarmed students.

Like a herd of petrified animals, the students couldn't move fast enough and even going as quickly as they could, it always felt as if the gunman were creeping up right behind them with the gun raised and ready to fire. The teachers made sure to get each and every student into a room and once the hallways were empty, they wasted no time in following the principal's orders. Doors were locked; windows were closed; blinds were pulled down and everyone hid as best as they could no matter where that might be, whether it was beneath cupboards, desks, tables or under windows. The only person not joining them was Peeta. His mind wasn't even on what was happening in the classrooms because all that mattered to him was getting Katniss to safety. But to do that he first had to find her and since he figured she would have spent her free in the cafeteria, that was where he was headed.

Just as he'd guessed, Peeta was right in that Katniss hadbeen spending her free with her friends. But what he hadn't known was that she'd left them to go to her locker to put her books away. It was a thing she did every day, usually around this time. And like always – once her books had been put away – she took the same route she normally did to get back to the cafeteria, and that was the longer route. When she left her locker and walked straight down the hall, she'd make a turn and find herself in a longer and even wider hallway. There were no classrooms, doors or windows in this particular hall. The walls, however, were covered in various paintings that had been done by students of Mr. Odair's classes. She liked taking this route because each time she took it, she could expect to see new and even more incredible works of art proudly up on display.

When she stopped to observe them, her eyes fell on one that made her break out in a knowing smile. It was a portrait of herself and the sketcher was none other than Peeta. It was the first assignment they'd done in art and she remembered how bad she'd thought her portrait of Peeta had been. He, of course, had told her it was lovely and as she stood there staring at his portrait, she couldn't wait to see him in art, which was her next class. She couldn't wait for the two to finally get started on the mask they were both so excited about and before she had time to think of anything else...she heard the voice of Principal Snow over the P.A. system. She listened carefully and when it hit her that they were now officially entering a lockdown, a fear like she'd never experienced came over her. It occurred to her that one false move, one false mistake...and Madderson High would be blown to bits with not a single person left standing.

She had to get to a classroom, any classroom. All she could think about right then was getting to safety and...but Peeta! It suddenly hit her that he was somewhere in the school. As to where he might have been, she had no idea but she knew that he was somewhere. She only prayed that he was in a classroom with the door locked, windows shut, blinds down and huddled in some spot where the gunman hopefully wouldn't reach him or think to look. She wished more than anything that the two could be in the same room together, so if worst came to worst and things did turn out tragic, whether that was the gunman pointing the gun at them or the school was blown into oblivion ...they would at least be together. She feared death but what she feared even more was dying alone without Peeta to be there with her. If they were going to die, then at least if they were huddled against one another and holding one another's hand, they wouldn't be alone and could face whatever horror the gunman unleashed upon Madderson High in each other's arms.

She was seconds from hurrying down the hall to get into a classroom when she considered something else and...BAM! A gunshot broke through the silence which meant the gunman had officially opened fire. To her immense relief it sounded like it had come from the opposite side of the school, which meant at least the shooter wasn't within range of her. That meant she still had time to get to a classroom. But if he was opening fire, did that mean students were getting shot? Was his plan to take down as many victims as possible before help arrived and he was dragged off? Did he not even care if he got time behind bars? Was his only goal to snatch the lives of as many innocent people as he could and bomb the entire school if anyone made so much as a move on him? With the threat of bombing the school lingering in the air, there was no way somebody would even consider stopping him. It just wasn't a chance that was worth taking...not if it meant the bombing of an entire school and the deaths of thousands.

She hadto get moving.

If she stayed where she was then there was a frighteningly real possibility that she'd run into the gunman while searching for safety and her life would likely flash before her eyes and then would be over almost instantly. All that was needed was one trigger of the gun and she'd get blasted into nothingness. She ignored the persistent aching in her head and the numbness in her legs as she started her way down the hall, wanting only to get to a classroom and know that Peeta would be there waiting for her.

She'd barely moved three steps before two more gunshots were fired. Unlike the first, these two were far louder and seemed of much greater power. She knew if she could hear them better than she had the first one then that meant only one thing...and that was that the gunman was getting closer to her.

But she wasn't thinking about that. Her mind and thoughts were on somebody else – and that was her father. Years ago, he'd been gunned down by a storm of bullets and the sound of a gunshot alonewas enough to get her whole body shaking and make her mind feel like it was exploding in sheer fright. It didn't matter how many times the sound of a bullet reached her ears. It would always be a sound that brought nothing but grief and anguish for her.

She'd started thinking of him when the first bullet had gone off, but she'd been able to keep strong and focus only on getting to a classroom and safety. Any bit of strength she'd had was completely thrown out the window when she'd heard the shots that had been fired only a moment ago. It was like the sound of the gun had reopened a part of her memory that she hated returning to. It was a place that for years she'd tried her hardest to keep stored in the back of her mind and not let the pain of it break her apart. But the sound of the screaming bullets had brought the nightmarish memory back to life. Her head was no longer aching, but was throbbing and her legs were no longer numb and instead, were paralyzed with fear.She noticed the lockers and walls around her were unfocused, fuzzy and unclear as if they were somehow morphing into something else. It was like her sight was giving out on her and any bit of sound that she might have heard she could no longer make out...and that was because she was quickly falling apart.

She hardly realized what was happening next. All she knew was that she felt herself lying on the ground while the pain of the memory ate away at her like maggots on rotting meat. There was no way she could fight off the invasion that was happening in her mind, so she lowered her head to the ground, put her cheek on the cold, hard floor and fell into a blackness that lasted all but a few seconds but felt to her like a painful and endless eternity.

She was on a lonely, murky sidewalk.

The shady, yellowish glow radiating from the streetlights above her flickered on and off. All her surroundings – the concrete buildings, street, cracked sidewalks and wooden benches – appeared to be cast in gloomy, ominous shadows. Somewhere in the distance a forgotten dog was howling urgently in hopes of its vanished owner returning. A steady, torrential rain was showering around her but the separate drops of rain felt all but invisible. It was the same with the people that passed by her; it was like they weren't even there. All she saw was the man in front of her who was on his way home after having gone out to get a few groceries. He held the two bags in his hands and walked with a smile on his face at the thought of returning home to his wife, two daughters, and even the scruffy, but amusing cat that was Buttercup.

Little did the man know that without even knowing it, he'd set out that night to stare death in the face. When Katniss turned she saw an even bigger, taller man following behind him and there was a look of sheer evilin the guy's face. In his hand he grasped a gun and when Katniss called out to the doomed man, her voice was inaudible. She realized with horror that no one could hear her. Not only that, but no one could see her. She was just an unfortunate witness in this tragic event and no matter how loudly she screamed...nobody heard her. It was like she was a howling ghost in this eerie and lonely town and her efforts to call out to her father were all but futile.

"Dad!" she hollered, and ran up beside him. She tried grabbing at his arms but he only continued walking. Her attempts at getting him to notice her were all but failing and it wouldn't matter how desperate she was because of the simple fact that he could hear none of her shouting and couldn't feel the grip of her hand. She was now in tears and her throat was getting dry as she desperately tried to save her father.

"T-there's someone behind you!" she sobbed, clutching onto her father's arm. But she wasn't holding the arm of her father. She was holding nothing but air and despite how many times she reached out for his arm, not once did he turn and see his daughter screaming in fear beside him. "Dad, stop! T-turn around! Please! Just turn around!"

The man was drawing nearer and with a wicked grin, he was calmly pulling out his gun. Katniss had no time to react or try again to grab onto her father and get him out of harm's way before the man was raising the gun. It was like time and everything in it had stopped when she stared, traumatized, at the weapon that was about to a take the life of the man that meant the world to her. The streetlights stopped flickering; the howling of the dog stopped, the shadows had left and even the steady fall of rain had stopped.

Then, pulling the trigger and chuckling so softly that Katniss missed it...he let loose and the bullet went screaming into her father's back. The man instantly crumpled to the ground and the pain and shock of it was all too much for Katniss to handle. She had to get out of this living hell. She had to get out, get somewhere...anywherebut there. It was a place of horrors and nightmares. It was the place where her father had been shot and killed in cold blood. She'd never been there to witness the event as it actually happened but she'd now been taken back to that night to watch as her father was taken from her and her soon to be devastated family.

To her relief, she was pulled out of the terror, but for a second or two she was wondering if she really had been. She was seeing a kind of light above her but it was so blurred and so out of focus that it could have been nothing. She could hear a voice, but she wasn't sure if the voice was real or part of the memory that she might still have been a part of. She listened carefully and was reassured to find that her hearing was untouched and unaffected after all. She then heard the voice again, though it was much louder and more frantic and that's when it struck her that it was a guy's voice. She was unsure if it was a voice she was familiar with or had even heard before but as it kept on speaking, she remembered a name. Did the name belong to this guy? Or was it the name of somebody else?

That's when she noticed that somebody was runningtowards her. Whoever it was, they couldn't have been moving any faster and she wondered what with how fast they were going if they'd trip and stumble over their feet, but there was no chance of that happening. This guy had his eyes only on hers and there wasn't a chance in the world that he'd let himself stumble or falter. He couldn't...not now. Not when there was all but a single, important thing on his mind that he had to make sure got done. She wanted to make out this person, especially if it was someone she knew, but it was like her mind just wouldn't allow her.

The reason for this was because she was still thinking of her father and the bullet that had so tragically taken his life. She just couldn't escape from the agony of his death as if the pain refused to quit tormenting both her mind and her heart. She'd always grown up knowing her father had gone down in a shower of bullets but never had she actually witnessed the gruesome event...until just seconds ago when her mind had cruelly brought her back to that shattering night.

"Dad..." she murmured, and the image of him falling to the ground flashed in her head.

She heard his cry in pain and shock and how he looked so much like a ragdoll as his body lay on the hard ground, having become lifeless and unmoving because of the many bullets that had been fired into his back. Thatwas the haunting image that would forever remain in her mind and never would it vanish or get somehow erased. Though help would arrive to see what could be done for the man...they'd soon realize that any bit of help they could provide for him would be all but useless. They'd have to accept that the man was beyond saving but what was worse was that it was Katniss who'd have to accept that her father was beyond saving and that she'd lost the man who'd kept her world together and unbroken since the day she was born. From then on, the world she once knew would become one of countless and broken pieces that she would have to do whatever she could to glue back together, not only for herself, but for Prim and her mother.

"Katniss!"

She blinked and tried making out whose voice this belonged to. Nothing right now was making sense. She felt tired, confused and all she wanted more than anything right then was to crawl into bed and fall into a peaceful sleep and forget about whatever it was that was happening. But whoever was shouting her name, it was obvious they were trying to help her. But then she recalled the gunshots she'd heard just seconds ago, the ones she'd heard before she'd been sucked into the vision of her father's murder...and she remembered. It was still mostly unclear to her but it was starting to make just a little more sense. There was something about a...a gunman. Besides President Snow having mentioned something about bombs and not to approach the guy, that was all she could recall.

"Where...where am—"

"Katniss! Come on, Katniss! Get up!"

Things were clearing up. She could see a guy's face directly in front of her and by the way he was shouting and the panicked look in his eyes, he was frightened beyond words. There was no way she could even begin to describe the sheer terror that was written all over his face. But who washe? She could faintly make out the blond in his hair and how it fell in waves over his forehead. But what color were his eyes? Brown? Green. No. That's when she saw clear as anything the bright shade of blue and it was like a series of bells were going off inside her head. It was a color of blue that she'd seen before and it was then that she recalled that she'd seen these eyes more times than she could recall. Butwho was he? She tried squinting her eyes in hopes of getting a better look at him to confirm if the blond hair and blue eyes truly were familiar when...

"Peeta?" she said tiredly.

Peeta put his hands firmly on her shoulders and gave her a forceful shake while telling her in a frantic tone, "Katniss! It's me! You gotta get up...NOW!"

His voice was begging to scream out but doing so would have been the single worst thing to do when a person with a gun was prowling about in the empty halls. It would have revealed their whereabouts and no doubt they wouldn't have had any time to rush into the nearest classroom before the one hunting them down found them, cornered them and shot them into oblivion. There was only one thing he and Katniss could do right then and that was to keep their voices low, move quickly and pray that whoever was searching for bodies to gun down wouldn't run into them.

If the worst happened and they ran into this person with the weapon of destruction, then there were only two words that would describe their fate. Two simple words that sounded like shattered glass in his head, and that's what he and Katniss would become if they found themselves face to face with a loaded gun, and the one pointing it squarely at them.

If they ran into this gunman, then it was game over.

"But, what's...what's going—"

When Peeta spoke next, it was with a fear that she hoped she'd never again have to hear in her life. Never had she heard true fear in Peeta's voice but that was all that was in his voice right now and it sent chills down her spine. It made her to return to just a few hours ago when she would have seen the bright, joyous smile on his face and the sparkle in his eyes that told her he was undoubtedly one of the happiest guys in the world. But that wasn't going to happen because that was part of the past and right now there was no smile of joy on his face and all she saw in his eyes was dread. As she looked harder, she could have sworn that all the color had been drained out of his face as if whatever it was that was racing through his mind, it scared him to the point where he'd gone ghostly white. She could even see that he was shaking as if what he was about to say truly frightened him.

"A gunman's in the school, Katniss! We gotta get to a classroom! Now! You gottaget up!"

She blinked again and let Peeta quickly get her up onto her feet. It was clear that she was still shaky and unstable after having been inside the hallucination of her father's death, but Peeta was right there to help her up and ensure that she got nowhere but to safety. He kept his arm tightly around her shoulder in case she felt she'd fall to the ground, but Peeta's strength was holding her steady. If there was anyone in the world that could protect her and be there if ever she needed him...it was Peeta. It was only Peeta that could give her a feeling of such safety as if he wouldn't let a thing in the world harm her.

It wasn't until she'd started hurrying down the hall that she was struck with the fear of how she'd ever get by without Peeta. What would she ever do without the boy with the bread? What would she do without the boy that she'd first spoken to back when she was twelve at his family's bakery? She remembered how shy he'd been just to speak with her. But most of all, she remembered staring at the bread in his hands and the smile on his face and getting struck with the strongest sense of hope. Somehow, the bread he'd been holding and the smile he'd been wearing on his face had made her believe without a doubt that there would be hope in getting by without their father and though she couldn't explain why she had felt that...she'd felt it all the same. It was from that day on that she'd begun referring to Peeta Mellark as 'the boy with the bread.'

It hit her that losing him would be like a massive, permanent hole getting punched into her life. Who would be there to help her with all things to do with art? Who would she bake cakes and cookies with while laughing because she'd dropped an egg on the floor? Who would she help get better with math and have a smile on her face when C's were turned into B's and then eventually A's? Who would she laugh at when she mentioned math and all she got in response was a hilarious, unenthusiastic "Ugh." But above all, who would sit with her by their special place down by the lake with the smell of pine trees and the sight of wildflowers and murmur "I love you's" while admiring the view? The answer was...no one. It was running all this through her head that she understood that if anything happened to Peeta Mellark...there would never be another. No one – no matter how amazing and great of a person they might have been – could ever replace her boy with the bread.

They were almost at the end of the hall. There hadn't been any gunshots fired in the past few seconds so the two could only hope that they were out of harm's way long enough to get to a classroom. Even better, perhaps help had arrived at that very second and soon the gunman would be surrounded by an even more intimidating force than himself and then the whole alarming event would come to an end. It was all they could hope for as they drew closer to the end of the hall. It was only a few secondsthey needed – just a few precious secondsto get them out of the hall and into a classroom. That was all they needed to get themselves behind a locked door and into a room that offered more safety than the hall they were in right now. Just a few single seconds was all they needed.

It was a few seconds that got snatched right out of their grasp. They had been so close and yet so hopelessly far from getting to safety but their efforts were all but in vain. Even if they'd gone just a little bit faster and pumped their legs just a little harder, their efforts would still have been for nothing. They'd never had a chance of escaping from that lonely hall because waiting for them around the corner and at the end was what they'd been running from since the moment they heard the first gunshot get fired.

They weren't aware of this till they were just reaching the end and then...he showed himself.