Katniss sloshed her way down the street, feet numbing from the cold. Eyes down in the puddles and little hills of ice, she almost bumped into her fiance. His smile seemed to warm the very air.
"Peeta," Katniss said, unable to put off the inevitable, "We have to run. In the forest. All of our families."
"Okay."
Leaning back slightly, she gave him a highly skeptical look. "You have no problem with this? Because I got a lot of criticism from Gale on this one."
"No."
"It would be," Katniss performed some finger addition, "Thirteen total people, six of which are children."
"Alright."
"Also," she continued, "We know from the fact that President Snow knew about my kiss with Gale that the forest is monitored by the Capitol, so all our movements would be tracked. But, if you really think it's-," leaning around Peeta, she pointed to a growing crowd, "what's that?"
Peeta looked over his shoulder, and came back with a much more serious expression than before. "Katniss, you should not see that."
"Well, now I have to see it."
Placing his warm, bread-crafting hands onto Katniss's cold shoulders, Peeta shook his head. "You shouldn't see it. It will just make things worse for everyone."
She slid past him. "I'm not going to live in constant wonder just so that things can be slightly better for everyone, come on. Excuse me, Hunger Games Victor coming through," she said, maneuvering herself to the front of the crowd.
Peeta caught her hand. "I'm not messing around here, Katniss, we need to leave."
"Yeah, neither am I. If I don't find out what it is at this point, it'll drive me bananas." She broke through the circle.
A Peacekeeper, one she didn't recognize, was about to bring a black whip down onto the bloody slab of Gale's raw back. Running forward, she absorbed the blow with her extended arms and face, before falling to the icy ground.
Clutching her face with both hands, Katniss rolled back and forth in the remaining snow. "It would have been worse not to know-I regret nothing!"
The unfamiliar Peacekeeper raised his whip again, and she raised her arms defensively.
"Excuse me, what are you doing?" Haymitch inquired of him.
"Fulfilling a lawful punishment," he answered, clearly recognizing Haymitch as someone who's status probably prevented him from being whipped.
"She's got a photo-shoot in two days! Not to mention that Prom is tomorrow!"
The Peacekeeper removed a radio from his belt. "Let's get a stretcher down here."