The peacekeepers dragged me to the town square. A crowd soon formed. Most of them shook their heads, probably recognizing me from the whipping. The peacekeepers forced me to my knees and the one who had whipped me stood above me and reached for his gun. He pulled it out and cocked it. He put it between my eyes and put his finger on the trigger. I shut my eyes and awaited the shot.
"Stop!" a voice rang out from the crowd.
My eyes fluttered open and I saw Katniss running toward me.
"Stop it! Stop!" she exclaimed, breathing heavily.
"What is this interruption?!" the peacekeeper exclaimed, not removing the gun from my head.
"She didn't do it," Katniss said. "I saw the whole thing. Somebody stole her money and dropped the candy in her bag so that it would look like she stole it."
That would explain the movement I felt by my side right before the peacekeeper had come over...
"All the evidence shows that she stole it," the peacekeeper said, still not removing the gun.
"Fine, if you're going to be that way," Katniss said, shoving me aside and sitting down in my place. "Shoot."
Gale suddenly emerged from the crowd and sat beside Katniss. He moved the gun to his head.
"Both of us," he said.
The peacekeeper fumed.
"Get out of here, both of you!" he shouted, pointing the gun at me. "She deserves the punishment!"
"We'll take her punishment!" Gale shouted.
"So will I," a voice from the crowd said. I turned and looked at the boy who I had seen at the other bakery. Peeta, I think his name was. He sat down beside Katniss and moved the peacekeepers gone back to their heads. The peacekeeper was even more mad.
"Get out of here!" he shouted.
"It's all of us or none of us," Katniss said.
The peacekeeper was silent for a few moments. All I could do was sit there and watch. I was sure he would pull the trigger when he slowly pulled the gun away and put it in his holster.
"Go away," he muttered. "But let this be your warning. Don't ever come across me or any other peacekeeper again."
And then he walked away. Everybody was silent; even the birds. Katniss slowly got to her feet, followed by Gale and Peeta. She walked over to me and reached down a hand. I took it and she helped me to my feet.
"Woah, that looks like it hurts," Katniss said.
"What?" I said, looking down. My pants had a hole where my knee was and my knee was bleeding. "I must've skinned it when they shoved me to the ground."
"I'll get my mom to help you with that," Katniss said. "Come on."
"Thank you," I said, feeling close to tears. I usually wasn't a crier, but the weight of what had just happened had finally hit me. They would have all died for me. All of them.
"You didn't deserve to die," Peeta said, patting my shoulder.
"The peacekeepers can be ruthless," Gale said.
"I see that," I said. "Thank you. All of you. It... it means so much. But, if you don't mind me asking, why did you do it?"
"You were innocent," Katniss said, shrugging. "Nobody deserves to die if they're innocent. Now come on, you gotta get cleaned up."
"I have to go; my mom's waiting for me at the baker," Peeta said. "I'm glad you're okay."
"Thanks you so much, Peeta," I said.
He smiled and nodded, then headed toward the bakery.
"I have to get home. Posy's waiting for me," Gale said.
"Thank you, Gale," I said.
"Anytime," he said, smiling and walking toward his home.
Katniss led me through the crowd of people who stared at us as we swerved through them. They were whispering and I heard my name more than once.
"Ignore them," Katniss whispered to me.
She led me out of the crowd and to her house. She opened the front door and led me inside.
"Mom!" she called. "A little help!"
Miss Everdeen poked her head around the corner and her mouth dropped open, her eyes wandering to my leg.
"Oh my!" she exclaimed. "Get her over here!"
Katniss led me over to a chair and I sat down in it while Miss Everdeen started to work on my leg. She cleaned it first with some sort of liquid that stung and then pulled out a needle and thread and started to sew it up. I bit my lip and tried not to look. A tear started to slide down my cheek but I quickly wiped it away. I wasn't crying because of the pain, but because Katniss, Gale, and Peeta had actually cared enough to risk their lives for me. Nobody had ever done that for me.
"Hey, you okay?" Katniss asked, obviously noticing the tear.
"I'm fine," I said, taking in a big breath. "I just can't believe you helped me."
"Don't mention it," Katniss said, grinning.
Miss Everdeen cut the thread and looked up at me.
"Alright, you're good to go," she said, smiling.
My father and Katniss's father had died in the same mine crash, I realized now, looking at Katniss. I'd seen her by the mines along with my family, waiting for the man that would never come out. Waiting for the father that would never come home again. And I admired this family so much; the way they'd wake up everyday despite the fact that their father/husband was gone. The way they still smiled even though they'd gone through so much pain. I'd rarely smiled after my father's death, and when I did it was only slightly. I couldn't smile, though, because whenever I tried to it always turned into a frown. But seeing this family full of hope and bravery let out a smile despite their losses gave me hope myself. Maybe I could smile again, and if I really, really tried, maybe I could even laugh.