DISCLAIMER: HG CHARACTERS DO NOT BELONG TO ME
A/N: Thanks for the reviews!
December
Katniss laces up her boots and gives once last glance at Buttercup who was curled up on the bed as she heads out the door. Her bow, quiver, and hunting bag tightly secured over her thick coat, she decided today would be a hunting day instead of a fishing day when she saw the bright sun and clear skies.
The date the 18th, she knew winter would be official in a matter of days, and her plan was to try to get out and hunt for small game weather permitting. Buttercup officially out of cat food, she was hunting for not only herself, but for the feline as well on the days they were confined to the cabin.
She finds two squirrels and a raccoon and returns to the cabin in less than two hours. The minute she opens the door, Buttercup runs out, wanting to be let out for the day. Cooking one of the squirrels for lunch, she goes out behind the cabin and guts the raccoon to prepare the meat to eat for later, placing the meat in a cooler that was stored under the window.
Deciding to save the other squirrel for dinner and sharing a piece of it with Buttercup, she washes her hands and decides to hike for the remaining hours left of daylight. Grabbing the tracking device and placing it in a small backpack for she no longer needed her hunting bag, she grabs her bow as she closes the door behind her.
Bringing her weapon in the event she crosses path with a predator, she takes in the fresh air as she walks along the lake. While it continued to snow off and on, the lake had only frozen only a handful of times since Gale left.
She also had not returned to the cave since his departure, for while she really wanted to put to rest the question of whether someone was or was not living in the cave, the sun was setting quicker each day and she did not want to risk leaving the area for such a long period of time. And she also did not want to go into the cave alone in the event there was more than one person residing in there.
Following her usual path, she comes across a familiar face-a red fox that had gotten used to her company. Her routine since befriending the medium sized animal, she sits on her usual log and takes a sip from her water bottle as the animal slowly approaches. Sniffing her bow and quiver, the fox looks at her for a few seconds before moving behind a tree.
Unzipping her coat and reaching into the inside pocket, she removes the small container and zips her coat back up. Inside the container are black berries, and she begins eating some of the berries and tossing a few to the fox.
She smiles as she watches the fox slowly emerge from the tree and quickly eat the berries before moving back behind the tree. Having found a new area to explore behind the cabin, she came across fruit trees and picked many edible berries, which made a good snack while in the cabin or out hunting.
Tossing the last few berries left to the fox, she gets up to continue her hike, the fox watching her as she soon disappears.
January
Katniss looks out the window as she sees the snow blow around, looking like a snow globe outside. Trapped inside the cabin for two days now, Buttercup only going outside for short periods of time.
Moving away from the window and into the kitchen, she pours herself a glass of water and begins eating the remaining stash of berries. Eating the berries slowly and savoring the flavor for she was rationing the food she had, she looks at her calendar and sees the date is January 5. Grabbing her pen and crossing the date off, anger rises inside her for another day has gone by without a visit from Gale. While she knew he could not commit to visiting her before the holidays, she was expecting him to be here by now. Running low on supplies, she had hoped he would be visiting this week, bringing some of her much-needed items.
Her mind turns to Peeta and Haymitch, wondering what they had done for the holidays. Did Greasy Sae bring food to Haymitch? Did Peeta bake? Hoping that Peeta and Haymitch spent time together, she begins longing for their company.
As she refills her water, she suddenly realizes she now has the courage to do what she should have done when she first returned to District 12, she grabs the bottom half of her pile of letters and sits down in front of the fire. Taking a deep breath, she takes the letter at the bottom of the pile, rips it open, and begins reading.
Two Days Later
Katniss places her bow and quiver by the door as she waits for the fish to finish cooking. The storm finally passed, she had run out of food and knew today would be a hunting day. Catching a fish for breakfast, she needed to eat before she headed out for the day.
Opening the door to let Buttercup inside, she gives the cat his portion of fish then begins devouring her meal. Once she cleans up the nook area and washes her hands, she bundles up and grabs her hunting bag and slings her bow and quiver over her shoulder as she walks out the door. Walking thru the frigid air, she stops quickly at her usual spot but does not see the fox and keeps moving. Only finding large animals in the area, she is not able to find small game, and is forced to go past the lake and wooded area she was familiar with, and towards the adjacent lake and mountainous area. She had not gone to this area since Gale's visit in November.
Finally coming across game, she places a beaver in her bag, along with five rabbits. As she takes out her tracking device to navigate her way back to the cabin, she comes to a halt when she hears voices in the distance.
Her head moving back and forth frantically, she hears the voices again and deciphers where the noise is coming from. Immediately getting low on the ground and crouching forward, she moves towards a large tree.
Wanting to climb to the top of the tree to hide, she is forced to conceal herself behind the large trunk as she hears the voices come closer. Still as a statue, she leans up against the tree as she hears a male voice say, "I know, I know, but I'm starving! Maybe we should call the whole thing off, wait a couple more weeks, maybe we can find more food by then."
She then hears a female voice say, "This is exactly why we need to make our move tonight-we need that cabin."
Katniss forces herself to hold her breath, for she knew if she didn't her anxiety would cause her to make a sound she would regret.
"What if she's ready for us? We're dead if she takes a shot" the male voice says.
"She won't. We've been watching her since we found the cabin. We learned that she sticks to her routine and that there are guns around the perimeter of the cabin that she never turns on. Guns we believe Gale Hawthorne set up for her."
Katniss hears silence for the next few moments, then hears a sound of lips smacking. Quickly realizing that the man and woman were a couple, or at least involved with each other in some way, she continues to hear their kisses until she hears the woman say, "Remember, we stick with the plan, we take the cabin. And we'll be ready for Hawthorne when the time comes-if he comes back."
"President Paylor won't be happy when she finds out one of her government officials has gone missing" the male voice says.
"No, but by the time the Capitol figures out he's not coming back it gives us time to prepare. Come on, let's head back, hopefully Zay has had better luck at finding food than us."
"If he's not back maybe we can…..you know."
Katniss hears the woman snicker then hears her say, "No time for a quickie today, I want to try get a nap in before we leave, we have to leave before the sun sets if we are going to make it to the cabin by midnight."
Hearing the two begin to retreat further into the woods, Katniss remains firmly planted behind the tree for several more minutes until she feels her heart begin to calm down. She crouches down and sits for a few moments before she picks up the tracking device. Once the device points her in the direction of the cabin, she begins running at full speed.
Once she reaches the cabin, she collapses inside. Sitting on the floor, she begins breathing heavily, her anxiety at a level she had not felt since she was in the arena, at least during the war, she was not alone.
Processing what she overheard; she theorizes three people are coming for her. Two men and one woman. Not knowing if they are members of the resistance groups or people who have gone rouge, she knows they plan to kill her and Gale, and most importantly, that they know about the guns.
Knowing that these were the people living in the cave, she chastises herself for not being more mindful of her instincts. Gale saw a light in the distance and wanted to return the cave, but due to her own selfishness she wanted to spend her remaining day with him at the cabin. Due to their own carelessness, they lead danger right to them.
But at this moment, it is only her, for her hunting partner is not with her. But he did leave her a powerful weapon, one they think she won't be using.
Rising from the floor, she grabs her hunting bag and pulls out a rabbit and places it on the counter and takes the rest of the meat outside, Buttercup following behind her eager to get outside. As she begins cooking the rabbit, she gets out all her arrows and places them in her quiver.
Buttercup does not return until dusk, and once the cat is inside, she slings her bow, quiver, and bag over shoulder as she shuts the door behind her. With the last bit of light left, she heads the trees to the right of the cabin and climbs the tallest tree. Positioning herself so she has a clear view below, she takes out the dark blanket from her bag and covers herself up, blending in with the tree as total darkness falls upon her.
11:30 pm
Gale zips up his black backpack and places it by the other two bags he has packed. Finally able to get the time off to head to District 13 to visit Katniss, he has just finished packing Katniss's needed supplies and his personal bag to bring tomorrow.
The hoverplane leaving at 10 am, he can sleep in after working a very long day. As he climbs into bed, his day ends as it does every night, staring at the ceiling thinking of her. Knowing when he arrives to the cabin, he will have to explain why he could not come sooner, why he couldn't come during the holidays, how the Nut is still vulnerable to attack, and that he expects the resistance groups to make a move on the Nut soon.
As his eyes begin to get heavy, he wonders if she has missed him even a fraction as much as he's missed her.
11:38 pm
Katniss stares down at the holographic image for what felt like the millionth time. Turning the guns on shortly after nightfall, she was beginning to have difficulty forcing herself to stay awake. At least during the games, she could sleep in the trees at night.
She begins thinking about the things that never leave her mind, how so much has changed yet stayed the same. Hiding from people who want to kill her and being forced into something she doesn't want to do.
She thinks perhaps maybe she won't have to shoot to kill, that the guns will do all the work for her. But her mind then turns to Gale and Beetee and all the bad memories of the past resurface.
As she sits in the tree lost in her thoughts, her emotions moving faster than a capitol train, she wonders how it is possible to feel every human emotion for one person. Not paying attention to the device in her hand, she does not notice the small dots appear on the screen and is startled when she hears the first round of gunfire, followed by a second, then a third. Quickly positioning her bow, she strains her eyes as she tries to see in the darkness below. Only hearing scattered movement, she looks at the holographic image and sees two dots begin to move closer to the cabin on the left. As she raises her arrow she hears another round of gunfire, then sees a male approach the cabin at full speed. She releases an arrow, hitting him in the right leg. As she watches the man stumble and cry out in pain, she releases another arrow, hitting him in the chest. She waits in the tree as she watches him slowly crawl to the entrance of the cabin, then collapse. Her arrow ready, she realizes he is dead as he lays there motionless. She looks at the holographic image and sees no movement on the screen. She stays in the tree for a little while longer before finally deactivating the guns and climbs down.
When she approaches the man, she sees he is indeed dead. Too tired to even begin thinking about what she is going to do with the body, she lowers her bow and heads inside the cabin. As she turns to close the door behind her, she sets her bag, bow, and quiver on the floor and just as she is about to remove the blanket from her shoulders, she hears footsteps and before she can turn around or grab her weapon, feels a sharp pain in her back as she hears Buttercup growl.
A/N: I will try to my best to update sooner!