Automatically I panic. I told Mom I'd take care of Gale and now I can't find him! I forget my thirst and exhaustion and run back to the cave. "Gale!" I cry. "Gale where are you?" I drop to the ground and start to weep; he's probably dead by now.
"Would you like some strawberries?" asks a voice. I recognize this voice, "Gale." I turn around and sure enough he's there with both his hands out with strawberries in them. "I saw a strawberry bush this morning so I went to pick some and when I came back you were gone," he explains. I take a strawberry and eat it. Going almost half a day without eating or drinking I've never liked strawberries better. The juice does something to somewhat put moisture in my mouth but I'm still parched.
"Guess what," I say. "What?" he asks through a mouthful of strawberries. "I found water," I say. His eyes widen with joy, "Then what are we doing here?"
We finish the strawberries on our hike to the lake and when we get there rush to the water, stick our heads in, and gulp it down. It's not the finest water in Panem but it's definitely better than nothing.
I fall backwards on to the ground and let out a big breath. I'm so exhausted from the three hikes I had to make, the worry and crying of Gale missing, and I'm out of breath from my excessive drinking. "We better keep moving," I say. "Alright," responds Gale and we both get up. Soon enough both of our legs are shaking from all the walking. "Prim," says Gale, "I don't think I can walk anymore." I look up at the sky and see that the sun is setting. My legs hurt too but I now the sooner we get to Uncle Gale's, the better. "It's almost night," I say, "think you can hold out a little longer?" He groans but keeps walking anyway.
Once darkness sets over the sky I hear a loud sound that sounds like the train we were on yesterday. I lift up my head and sure enough right in front of me there's a sign that says, "District boundary." There's a fence and over it I see houses, we must be in district six. "Another district down, four more to go," I mumble and we make shelter for the night.