Chapter 18: The threat

It has been a year since the 74th Hunger Games. Katniss and I have been suffering from PTSD after our time in the arena. It is wintertime in Panem, February 8th, 2020. Katniss, my wife, Yang, and I are hunting for food in the cold winter. Katniss and I gasped when we heard a twig snapping. We drew our weapons out but realized it was only our friend, Gale.

"Oh, Woah. Easy." Gale said. Yang but her hands on my shoulders. "It's okay, babe," Yang said. I took a few breaths. Yep, this is what I suffer from.

"Saw some turkeys on the way here. Crossed right in front of me like I wasn't even there." Gale said. "How rude of them," Katniss said. "That's what happens. You spend six days a week working in the mines and stupid birds start to think they own the woods." Gale said. "When's the tour leave?" Gale asks us suddenly. That's right, the victory tour. Every year, the tributes travel across Panem on the train for a victory tour where we give speeches to each district. Today is the day we leave for the tour.

"Couple hours," Katniss answered. "Well, let's go," Gale said. During hunting, Katniss caught a rabbit. I caught a squirrel. After Katniss and I cleaned up the animals, we went looking for more food.

"Hey, I see some turkeys," Yang said. "Thanks, hon," I said. We hid behind a tree and snuck up on the turkeys. Katniss and I drew our bow and arrows. When we shot our arrows at the turkey, I gasped and fell backward, so did Katniss. The reason is, we saw a flashback of Marvel, the boy from District 2 being killed.

"It's okay Lana, you're okay." Yang soothed me as she held me in her arms as I was screaming. Katniss was also screaming. "Hey, Woah, Woah, Woah, Woah! Hey, Woah! You're okay." Gale tried to comfort Katniss as she was screaming. I was shaking, sobbing into Yang's arms.

"You're okay, you're safe. You're safe. It's okay. You're here with me. You're with me." Gale says. "It's okay sweetie, you're safe now. There's nothing that's gonna hurt you." Yang reassures me. I panted and tried to catch my breath, so did Katniss.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Oh. We... We should... We should go." Katniss said. "You okay?" Yang asked me. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just shooken up." I said. I held onto Yang's hand as we packed our stuff. We made our way back to District 12. We dropped Gale off at his home before we left.

"Are you coming to the train station?" Katniss asks Gale. "I think you have enough people saying goodbye without me there," Gale said. "Only a few I actually care about," Katniss said. "It might be easier if I didn't," Gale said. "It'll only be a few weeks. We'll be back before the snow melts." Katniss said. "Yeah, a lot can happen in a few weeks. Are we gonna do this again?" Gale asked. "Gale, it was an act," Katniss said. "Yeah, a good one," Gale said. "I did what I had to do to survive. So did Lana. If I didn't, we'd be dead. Gale said nothing and kissed Katniss. Katniss returned the kiss.

"I had to do that. At least once." Gale said. With that, Gale left. "Come on Lana, let's go get Haymitch," Katniss said. "Okay, mom," I said. I held onto Yang's hand as we walked to Victor's Village. When we got there, we saw the cat, Buttercup. He hissed at us, but we ignored him. We got to Haymitch's place. Katniss banged on the door.

"Haymitch!" Katniss shouted. "Haymitch!" Katniss yelled. Katniss opened the door and we walked inside, letting ourselves in. We saw Haymitch who was passed out on the tabel, drunk.

"Oh my god," I said. "He's just as bad as Uncle Qrow," Yang said. "Yep." I agreed. "Haymitch, wake up. It's tour day." Katniss said. Katniss shook Haymitch again. "Haymitch," Katniss called again. But there was still no response. "Haymitch!" I screamed. He still didn't answer me. "Mom, what do we do?" I asked. "Hang on, I got this," Katniss said. Haymitch yelled with surprise when Katniss grabbed some water and poured it on him. Haymitch fell back a bit as he stood up.

"What are you doing?" Haymitch asked us. "Cameras gonna be here in an hour," Katniss said. Haymitch pouted a bit. "If you wanted to be babies, you should have asked Peeta," Katniss said. "Asked me what?" A voice said. We turned and saw Peeta who walked into the house. "Asked you wanted to wake me up without giving me pneumonia," Haymitch said. "Hi, dad," I said. "Hi, Lana," Haymitch said. "You are a strangely dislikeable person but you do have your virtues," Haymitch said.

"Would you like some bread, Katniss?" Peeta offers. "No, I ate at the hob, but thank you," Katniss said. "You're welcome," Peeta said. "Would you like some, Lana?" Peeta asked me. "Sure, dad," I said. "Yang?" Peeta asks. "No thanks, I'm good," Yang said. Peeta began cutting some bread for himself and me.

"Brr. You two have a lot of warming up to do before show time." Haymitch said. "Which is in an hour, so take a bath, Haymitch," Katniss said. "I just did," Haymitch argues. "We need to go get ready too, Lana," Katniss said. Katniss, Yang, and I walked back to our house where we were greeted by my grandma and Aunt Prim.

"Did you have a good walk, dears?" Clara asked us. "Walk? We were just out..." Katniss started. "We have visitors." Aunt Prim cut in. Two men walked up to us.

"Miss. Everdeen. Lana Xion Long. This way, please." The men said. Katniss and I said nothing and followed the men towards the back of the house.

We walked to the back room where we saw President Snow in the office. The doors closed behind us.

"Such bravery. Such spirit. Such... contempt." Snow said. The video from last year's Hunger Games played on a projection screen.

"President Snow." Katniss and I said. "What an honor," I said. We walked forward to the desk. "My dears, I think we can make this so much simpler if we agree not to lie to each other. What do you girls think?" Snow asks us. "Agreed," I said. "Yes, I think it would save time," Katniss said. "Sit down. Please." Snow said. Katniss, Snow, and I sat down.

"I have a problem, Miss. Everdeen and Miss. Xion Long. A problem began the moment you two revealed those poisonous berries in the arena. If that Head Gamemaker, Seneca Crane had had any brains at all, he would have blown you to bits then and there. But here you are. I expect you can guess where he is." Snow said. "Yes, I think so," Katniss said. "He's dead, I'm guessing," I said. "You're correct Miss. Xion Long." Snow said. "After that fiasco, there was nothing left to do but to let you play out your little scenario. And you were very good. That whole love-crazed besotted schoolgirl routine. Impressive. Truly. You convinced the people in the Capitol. Unfortunately, not everyone in the district fell for it. I mean, you can't know this, but in several of them, people viewed your little trick with the berries as an act of defiance. Not an act of love. And if a girl from District 12 of all places, can defy the Capitol and walk away unharmed, what is to prevent them from doing the same? What is to prevent, say, an uprising? That can lead to revolution. And then, in a fraction of time, the whole system collapses." Snow told us.

"It must be a fragile system if it can be brought down by just a few berries," Katniss said. "Yes, it is, indeed. But not in the way you imagen it." Snow said. "How should I imagine?" Katniss asked. "You should imagine thousands upon thousands of your people, dead. This town of yours reduced to ashes. Imagine it gone. Made radioactive. Buried under dirt. As if it had never existed, like District 13. You fought very hard in the games, Miss. Everdeen and Miss. Xion Long. But they were games. Would you guys like to be in a real war?" Snow asked us.

"No," Katniss said. "Good. Neither would I. Did your mother make these?" Snow asked as he picked up a cookie. "Peeta," Katniss answered. "Oh. He's a lovely boy. Tell me. At what point did he realize the depth of your indifference towards him?" Snow asked. "I'm not indifferent," Katniss said. "Don't lie! You promised." Snow said. Snow took a bite of the cookie.

"Why don't you just kill me now?" Katniss asked. "I don't want to kill you. I want us to be friends. But if not friends, then allies." Snow said. "What do I need to do?" Katniss asked. "When you and Peeta are on tour, you need to smile. You need to be grateful. But, above all, you need to be madly, prepared-to-end-it-all in love. You think you can manage that?" Snow said. "Yes," Katniss said. "Yes, what?" Snow asked. "I'll convince them," Katniss said.

"No. Convince me." Snow said with a smile. He grabs out two flowers from his jacket. "For you, Miss. Everdeen and Miss. Xion Long." He said as he handed us the flowers. Snow turned on the monitor.

"Do convince me. For the sake of your loved ones and Lana's family. With that, Snow left. Katniss and I looked at the screen.

An image of Gale and Katniss kissing is projected on the screen.

A/N: Hey guys, here's chapter 1 of Catching Fire as promised. As always please do leave a review. (I'm still trying to get to 1 review on this story). Constructive criticism is welcome, but please be nice about it. I would love to hear some feedback! :)