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Chapter 9-A New Threat
Gale had been in the in the wilderness for almost three months. The main base of the squad was in District 9, but he decided to take a group of twelve soldiers into the wild territory to set up a camp about half way between District 9 and the Native's village. He figured that way the squad would not be too far from the main base and from where Katniss was. The walk from District 9's border to the village was three days, where the squad was set up was about a day and a half's walk.
The main base was set up in one of the district's former government buildings for peacekeepers. It was pretty much abandoned now. President Paylor had given Gale a total of twenty soldiers. He was surprised he had gotten so many. She explained that since it was unknown at this point how many militia group members were going into the wild territory, she would rather be safe than sorry. Gale decided he along with twelve others would set up a camp, the other eight would stay behind at the base for video surveillance and constant contact with the Capitol, the soldiers rotating shifts.
He found being in charge of a squad came naturally to him. It was nice being able to make his own decisions, and so far he was getting along with everyone. There were 15 men and 5 women in the group, all from various districts, some had fought in the rebellion, some hadn't. Some were honored to be part of the mission to protect the Mockingjay, some made it clear they didn't care for her and were never inspired by her calls to rise up against the capitol. Not surprising most of the soldiers who didn't like Katniss came from career districts. Gale didn't take offense, being in District 2 for so long he knew this new government was a forced change. He just hoped if the time came, the soldiers would put their personal beliefs aside and do whatever it took to protect Katniss and the Natives from whatever threat might be out there.
So far, he was not concerned about anything happening. What had been learned since arriving in District 9 and settling in the wild territory was that there was only one militia group that could pose as a threat. The group only had about 35 members, mostly males who called themselves "Jay Killers". Gale thought the name was totally ridiculous and unoriginal, but from what he saw of this group from the surveillance videos in District 2, they were not the brightest bunch. The only thing that had concerned him was that originally this group was pretty small, only 13 members when the group was first formed in District 1. But since word got out where Katniss was membership shot up to 35 in a matter of weeks. This group's main concern was seeing Katniss getting the justice they felt she deserved. Since they knew she was untouchable in District 12 due to the tight knit community there and surveillance from the Capitol, they were very excited to hear she left and was now with the Natives. They wanted revenge and wanted her to die and bring her body back to the Capitol for President Paylor to see. However, due to the fact most of them lived more comfortable lives in District 1, they were not prepared for the harsh weather conditions they encountered, or the wildlife. They struggled at night and some were injured by animal attacks. Currently, the group had 21 people, the rest either going back due to the weather or injury. They also were nowhere near the tribe where Katniss was. Reason being the informant from the Capitol who tipped the group off was new, and mixed up his geography in regards to where the Sioux tribe was located. The informant ended up sending the Jay Fighters west from where Katniss was. There was a tribe to the west that was about a 15 days walk from the Sioux, the Jay Fighters had a small camp set up in the outskirts of their village. President Paylor had sent more security cameras into the area to keep watch, to make sure they don't plan an attack, but from what Gale's team had told him from the main base, after being there for three weeks and figuring out Katniss was not there, they moved on and were currently heading further west. President Paylor had informed him until this group came back to District 1, Gale and his team would remain there.
It made the days very boring sometimes. Like the militia group, the weather conditions were a shock for them. Gale had never experienced cold weather like this. Luckily they had supplies from the Capitol provided to them, he couldn't imagine how Katniss was holding up, especially during heavy snow storms. However, he heard from the main base that she was doing fine. A couple of times Gale had gone back to the main base. He had seen from the videos that Katniss's appearance was changing. She was no longer wearing her clothes but clothes worn by the tribe, her hair was braided differently, and sometimes would wear the face paint worn by the tribe. She was also actually speaking with the tribe members now instead of using the other woman to translate. President Paylor had informed him that they figured out the woman Katniss was with was named Rainbow Bridgewater and that she was friendly towards the rebellion during the war. From what Gale had seen on the videos, it appeared the two of them had become close. They were together often, except for when Katniss would go hunting and slept in the same tepee. He hoped she was helping Katniss get through whatever it was she was going through.
He wondered how long she had been depressed. He knew Prim's death had changed her, but he honestly thought after being with Peeta for the last seven years she moved on. After hearing about what happened between Peeta and Mrs. Everdeen, he realized things were not fine at all. It made him feel guilty for never going back to District 12 to try to resolve things. But then he would quickly remind himself how she so coldly said goodbye to him that day in the Capitol. She said it with such finality he knew it was officially the end for them. It was one of the worst days of his life. The only other day that was worse was the day his father had been killed. Losing Katniss and Prim though came pretty close.
When he first came to District 2, he immersed himself in work and while he quickly formed friendships, he didn't date anyone for the first year. After that though he started to meet women. Some of the women he dated were shocked to hear that Katniss was not his cousin. For four years he dated numerous women, until he met Dez. She was the first person since Katniss he had allowed himself to fall for. And he fell pretty hard pretty quickly. He experienced a passion with her he could only dream about with Katniss. He loved how warm and open Dez was, as opposed to Katniss who was always so rigid and reserved. In a lot of ways Dez was the complete opposite of Katniss. One thing the two did have in common though was the way both spoke their minds. He loved her a great deal. Because of that he never kept anything from her, he told her about his complicated relationship with Katniss before and during the war. Dez made it known she felt Katniss was a fool but was glad she made such a mistake.
When Gale told her about the mission and going to District 9, she didn't take it well. She begged him not to go and to have the President send someone else instead. A heated argument arose when Gale told Dez he needed to go on this mission to help provide closure for the guilt he felt about what happened with Prim. That if he could help Katniss he wouldn't spend the rest of his life feeling like he failed the one family that mattered as much as his own. Dez wasn't having it however.
"Sounds like you want to go back to her" she had yelled the day they had fought.
"That's not what it is at all. You still don't get it do you? I have had to deal with the guilt of what happened with her sister. The sister she volunteered for, the reason she was in the games in the first place! In her mind I took her from her don't you understand? I didn't protect Prim, but I am going to protect Katniss while she is away from District 12. I'm going and that's that." Gale had turned around to resume packing when Dez came up and slapped him across the face. She reached up to slap him again but he quickly grabbed her wrist and held it down. He then moved in to kiss her. She tried to pull away at first but quickly stopped resisting his advances. It was part of the fierce attraction they had for one another. The kisses grew more intense and soon they had pulled each other's clothes off and had sex up against his small kitchen table. When they finished, he moved her chin up and made her look in his eyes.
"I love you. You know I do. I will be back, I promise."
She didn't respond, just nodded and pulled him in an embrace. The next day he left a note for her giving her a number to call in case of an emergency, and thanking her for taking care of his dog Harper while he was gone.
Just then Gale was interrupted from his thoughts when one of his soldiers came in and said, "Commander Hawthorne! Come quick, we need to get back to the main base, something's happened that you need to see."
