As the adrenaline rush from the bombing wore off, Gale became aware of the injuries he had incurred during his crazed dash for safety. His legs burned from the acid that had accumulated in his muscles, his feet were sore and tender, he was aware of his ash and soot-smeared face as he followed the trail of destruction the fleeing residents had left in the undergrowth and shrubbery.

Once again, the vulnerability of the whole situation hit him as he realised how easy it would have been for the Capitol to finish their mission for the night. He, however, realised that nothing could be done about the situation and trudged on steadily.

As he walked through the woods, the reality of the situation hit him. Hundreds must have had escaped, he judged from the damage to the forest and he was the only one who could live off the forest.

Gale slowly became aware of the problems the escapees would face in the very near future, burns, infection, starvation, depression and the off-chance that the Capitol would come back to finish the job it had started that day. Gale vowed to himself to not think about the crisis as throbbing manifested itself in his temple.

He then turned his attention to the matter at hand, or on his back for that matter. The tiny girl had fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder. He looked back at the girl and got his first good look at her. She had blonde hair done in pigtails and from whatever he could see of her clothes, he judged her to be from the Town. No, he quickly corrected himself, she was like the rest of the survivors, homeless.

Thinking of survivors, he was suddenly reminded of Madge. Gale's heart filled up with worry and his feet picked up pace. He was more scared about Mage than he was about his family. He trusted Rory with their safety. Plus they'd had a headstart.

As his gait became increasingly rough and erratic, owing to his fast pace and the roots on the forest floor, the girl woke up. Gale felt her lift her head from his shoulder and then suddenly tense up as she realised where she was. He stopped walking and set her down on a nearby log to look her over for her injuries as she started crying without preamble.

Gale sat her down on the log and crouched before her. He adopted the tone he talked to Posy in whenever she was upset as he asked her what was wrong. Hearing Gale's deep and calm voice, she calmed down just enough to get out a coherent reply as she told him that her feet hurt and that she was scared.

Gale mentally slapped himself for forgetting to look at her feet. When he took a foot in his hand, he was astounded how the girl had managed to fall asleep. Both her feet were burnt pretty bad and they were bleeding with some gravel embedded in them.

Gale drew in a sharp breath as he realised how high the chances of the girl contracting an infection were.

AN - I'm discontinuing this story. I'll be rewriting it and the first chapter will be up in a few days.