A Shot in the Dark

Chapter 5

By: WonderGirl556

AN: Thank you to all of you that take the time out of their day to read, review, or do anything else associated with this story! If you do have a few moments of time on your hands, please do leave a review, it helps me see if I am doing okay writing this story! I will love you forever if you do! And one more thing... this story has hit 1,000 views! SCORE! Thanks for that guys!

.Ludwig – thanks for the review! I think you're right about that, it will make it more angsty. I will be doing more in D12!

Bellanator116 – Thanks for the review! Your wish is my command! ;)

Strawberryluv – My goodness! You have too much fun with this! :) I will be spending more time in D12! And you're right... Cato as a Peacekeeper is pretty hot. :) Thanks for the review!

It's day four now.

Yesterday, after bawling my heart out in Gale's arms, we figured out a way to get over the fence.

We plan to gather all the roots and berries our arms can hold, but only bring back a small sack of game, which we will bring to the Hob to trade at night, hopefully, when the peacekeepers are getting their beauty sleep.

We arrive at the fence and begin our plan. Gale hoists a rusty, old, ladder, that's been in his garage for years, (Sadly, this ladder is the kind that is supposed to lean against something, but beggars can't be choosers.) into air. Then, he lets the ladder fall diagonally towards the fence. Using all six-foot three inches of his frame, he forces the ladder above the pulsing fence.

Now it's my turn, I quickly scurry up the ladder like a squirrel, Gale groans at my weight, "Hold on!" I call as I reach the top bar, I take a deep breath and ready myself for the 10 foot drop I am about to make. This is the most dangerous part of the entire plan, if land badly and hurt myself, I am stuck there for the rest of the week, but feeding Prim is worth it.

"You ready Katnip?" Gale shouts up.

"As ready as I'm going to be." I reply.

"Remember," he responds "keep your knees loose and bent. Once your feet touch the ground fall back on your ass! Got it!"

"Sure." I answer, before making the leap.

I've always read that free falling is an amazing, relaxing, centering feeling.

Those people are full of shit, falling is one of the scariest things ever.

My arms flailed in circles as I fell, but I remembered what Gale told me and hung on to it.

I hit the ground and fell back on my butt like Gale told me. My ankles hurt like hell for a few seconds, but the pain subsided quickly. I stood up slowly and sent him a thumbs up with a smile. Gale returned that with his own wide smile.

'I can see myself marrying him.' I thought to myself as I watched him hide the ladder in the tall grass, 'It would be okay, we would respect and care for each other, maybe even love each other.'

At the word love, a blonde face popped into my mind.

'I wonder who Cato is in love with.' I pondered

'Probably some equally arrogant girl from his own district.' I mentally answered.

A pang of jealousy pulsed through me. "Stop it Katniss!" I verbally commanded myself 'What would a handsome District 2 boy, want with some scrawny Seam rat like you?'

A bird's call snapped me out of my thoughts and brought me back to the task at hand.

The next step of the plan was for me to hit the switch that turned the fence on and off.

The switch was located in plain sight, 20 feet from the fence. It was clearly marked with the words on and off. I flicked the switch to off, and the low, electric hum of the fence subsided.

Gale then proceeded to slip under the hole which we had previously created in the fence.

He ran past me and joyfully yelled "Let's go!" over his shoulder to me.

I let out a laugh at his excitement. Being out of the woods had taken a toll on Gale. The woods was the one spot he could get away from all that was resting on his shoulders. He must like me it that aspect.

For the next few hours we gather pounds and pounds of wild berries, that Gale had deemed safe, plants weren't my thing, hunting was, I shot 3 birds and 2 squirrels today, a decent haul even on a normal day, but during Peacekeeper week this was a banquet.

It was probably around 2 PM when we went to leave the woods. The plan was to simple slip out under the fence and for Gale to slingshot a rock, that flipped the switch back on.

I know surprising, Gale with a slingshot! Who knew? But apparently he had been practicing and was quite accurate with it.

We happily chatted about how happily surprised out families would be about the food. After a couple days of nothing but grains, meat begins seeming pretty damn good!

Suddenly I heard voices, not mine or Gale's. I motioned at Gale to be quiet. He complied. After a second I whispered to him "Are you hearing that?"

He nodded his reply. We remained silent, flattened ourselves against the trees, and moved closer to where we believed the voices were coming from.

We continued inching our way forward for a couple more minutes, until we got to a familiar clearing where Darius was talking with, you guess it, the Junior Peacekeepers.

Gale and I sent each other knowing looks. We knew we weren't getting out anytime soon, so we decided to listen in on their little seminar.

"You will have three hours to explore these woods. You may travel in groups if you like. Try to get a feel for the terrain, find some landmarks, and a water supply, you never know what you will need to know about these woods in the future. Feel free to bag some game along the way, the people of the District will really appreciate it, and there will be a special "privilege" for the winner. When the horn sounds start making your way back to the fence. And remember to have fun!" Darius cheerfully said.

"Shit!" Gale cursed. And shit was right, we now had 40 well-trained, vicious, Junior Peacekeepers gallivanting through the woods, in search of something to kill, and one of them was Cato, the brutal boy that Gale loathed, and I think I've fallen for.

Ohhhh! Kinda cliffy! Hey would you guys like a site where I post the details to my writing? Tell me in the reviews if you do! No Cato. :( But there was a little mention! But no worries, Cato will be a prominent character in the next chapter! Review please! Kisses!