The girl and the boy are both siblings. I think I recognize them. Lily and Mark Rodriguez. They hug the two older kids and then run to their parents' arms. They're picked up and carried off, their twelve-year-old eyes spewing tears into their parents' shirts. A stone-cold face places itself on me as I watch them walking away, a full, unbroken family.
I need my Prim here, right now; I need her to run up to me and tell me she's fine. I need to be able to hold her and comfort her and keep her safe back in the Victors' Village house over supper, her sitting in my lap like she did whenever she was sick when she was little. I need her here with me, because without my Prim, I could lose it.
I feel myself starting to drift away, but not into sleep. My eyes dart from left to right as I try to find Prim. I can't stop looking over my shoulder. I'm shaking like I'm an earthquake alone. My heart aches for my little sweet sister, and she's all I think about. I have to find her. I have to protect her, always. I have to help her. Save her.
I get up. Gale tries to stop me, because we think the same way. He knows I'm going to try to go down there and find her, because he wants to do the same, badly. Both of us would kill to have our siblings come out of there safe and sound, and if we have to sacrifice ourselves, we'll do it. But Gale has more common sense than I do, and he knows we need to wait just a little longer.
But I can't, because if I wait any longer, I will go insane. Or more inane than I already am. I can't afford that. Not when I have a years of mentoring and painfulness of the Capitol's cruelty ahead of me. I have to stay strong, but if I lose my little Prim, I will become just like Annie Cresta, or maybe a morphling addict. Maybe I'll succumb to the darkness of being a drunkard like Haymitch. Then District Twelve will never have a chance again, with two Haymitchs in the world.
I make it to the edge if the mines, ready to slip under he rope and make it down the elevator shaft to Prim. But then he guards block me and Gale places a stern hand on my shoulder that warns me to not take one step further. Gale doesn't give me looks, touches, or words stern as this, though I've seen his blank, emotionless face do it to some people before. He takes a step back and I follow.
"No." His voice is hard.
Suddenly another mine explosion melts my thoughts, just for a moment.
"Dad!" I scream as the last puff of smoke tumbles out with burnt miners no loner it its way. A man who, while burnt, looks so much like my father stumbles towards me. His smile is warm and strong as his arms stretch out for a hug. But his eyes look right past me as he limps to the outstretched arms of a worried wife. Not Dad. I try not to cry, for Prim.
"She's not coming out," I whisper hoarsely, "just like Father didn't. She's dead, Gale."
A little boy tumbles out of the elevator, spots us, and runs as fast as his twelve-and-almost-thirteen-year-old legs will carry him. His face is solemn but relieved. As he and Gale hug, I smile, waiting for Prim to come tripping over the mere dirt and stumble into my arms like a drunk girl. But no Prim comes.
"Where's Prim, Rory?" Gale asks.
"She wasn't in my tour group," he says, sniffling. "She was the last one of the first group...which means she was one of the farthest in."
Now I'm frantic, running as fast as I can, sliding under the rope, just waiting to get into the elevator before me as the last of the injured from that trip up piles out. One, two, three, go!
But someone grabs me, giant's hands placed tight around my ribcage. A man begins to start to shove me, hard, placing me roughly outside of the rope, yelling things, like that I can't go down there, and people are trying to get up, along with his own choice words, and then he just mumbles obscenities, pushing me, shoving me, getting me away. I look back and see it's a new Peacekeeper organizing this. I purse my lips and hold my ground as I hear Gale come from behind to tell him to stop pushing and let me go down.
"You let me do my work, kids!" he spits. I glare at him, but he just looks away and counts how many people have gotten in or out yet. Then he looks back up, sees we're here still, and starts to walk slowly over.
"Whattaya doin'?!" Haymitch. I turn around and see him holding a bottle of beer, sloshing it around. "Let her go. Let her go in!" My mentor laughs hysterically as his bottle of liquor sloshes behind him like a slug's slime trail. I watch him eye the man before me critically, his teeth barred. He's drunk as ever, and everyone can tell.
"You let her go in, I kill you. You ever touch her again, I kill you."
Haymitch would never say something like this if he caught the scene while sober. He'd make some publicity thing up. Actually, he doesn't have to make it up; I have the Victory Tour soon, and my prep team will drive me insane with their worry that I chipped a nail, so no physical harm can be done until after then. None serious, anyway.
"Sir—"
"That's Katniss Everdeen—don't you recognize her?"
"Vaguely. The circumstances recently have prevented me from watch the Games for the past two years." The Peacekeeper pauses, his face and voice blank, devoid of fear, rage, or any emotion. "Sir, remove these two from the premises or I'll be forced to take the boy in."
"Why not me, too?" I blurt out. "He tried to keep me back, after all."
"Katniss." I look at Gale's face as he stares on at the man rebelliously, not daring to look away. He's the ficklest person I know, Gale is, but he's my best friend, and every little flaw and everything about him has kept me alive since the day we met, so I can't ever complain, truly, and neither can he. We owe each other, but it's never like that—we never think of it like that. "You need sleep. Your mom and my mom and Rory can wait for Prim while you and I go away, okay?"
He flicks a look at me that could easily be misconstrued as him looking to me for confirmation, but I know by his look that we're going into the woods. For what purpose I'm not sure. I would think Gale would want to stay here and fight for the right to stay and wait for Prim with me. I can't think of a reason why he wouldn't want to, unless…
No, that's not a possibility, is it?
The man snarls, and Gale leads me back to the Victors' Village. I don't know why, but I continue to follow him, because he usually has good ideas. Once we're inside the house that belongs to me, Gale turns and looks at me, studies me. Then he tells me it's time we go someplace, and by that he means the woods, but it's certain that my house is bugged, so he doesn't say the woods specifically.
The phone next to me rings. I look over and see the phone number. It looks like Cinna's house phone number, so I hold up a finger to Gale and answer it.
"It's Cinna, Gale. I'll meet you there," I tell Gale as Cinna greets me.
"Hi," I say back.
He doesn't say a word about Prim, and I love this man over the phone for it. But he does say something about Cato.
"Cato's awake," he tells me. "I was there when he woke up. He woke up out of nowhere, sat up, and said, 'Katniss.' He wanted to talk to you after the situation was explained to him. I think they're going to him you in a minute. If they do, just hang up—I'll know."
I'm about to say something when the phone beeps.
"It's them. Bye…Cinna."
"Girl on fire," he says dismissively and then hangs up.
The nurse on the other line says, "Katniss Everdeen?"
"Here," I say.
"Cato is coming to District Twelve tomorrow."
I fiddle around with the phone until I hit speaker.
"Say that again?" I request, dumbfounded, so Gale can hear.
"Cato Allens," the nurse says slowly, "is—coming to—District Twelve—tomorrow."
Gale's face hardens with tight fiery hatred and anger. "I'll kill him."
And the worst part is, I actually believe he will.
A/N: Better?
