SURPRISE! I had a sudden inspiration to continue this story at work. It's short but pls bear with me.
Chapter 2
The racket outside drew Haymitch Abernathy out of his house, shirtless and in crumpled pants. The backdoor swung opened with a creak and he stuck his neck out, looking at the pen.
The unmistakable orange fur of a fox explained it all. Haymitch grabbed a shovel, the nearest item leaning against the wall, and hit it against the upended metal pail. The long noise startled it enough for it to turn its head towards Haymitch who repeated his actions and stomped his foot loudly. It worked enough that the fox scampered back into the woods.
The damage was done, though. A goose lay dead in the pen with the white of its feather stained red.
"Hey, Haymitch!"
Glancing up, he saw Peeta waving in his direction. Haymitch raised his hand in acknowledgment and nodded at his neighbour. As far as neighbours goes, Haymitch liked this one. They spent some nights sitting on Haymitch's porch as he drank and the boy talked. Peeta was polite and Haymitch liked him best because of the pastries he often dropped at his house.
"One more day," Peeta grinned. "Katniss is probably already on the train."
So is Effie, Haymitch added, not that the boy would know that, of course.
Now that he thought about it, Katniss and Effie were probably in the same train headed to Twelve.
"Yeah," Haymitch chuckled, shooting him a bemused look at the apparent excitement.
Peeta had been counting the days until he could meet his fiancé again. The girl had taken up a short contract to coach archery to a group of children in the city and was finally coming home now that the contract had ended.
"I never thanked you for… you know, introducing her to me."
"No big deal," he shrugged. "I'll come with you to the station tomorrow."
The boy perked up, clearly thinking that his interest in meeting Katniss with him at the station was something unselfish but he had promised to meet Effie there, and it was time to introduce her to the girl he had, in a way, raised and her fiancé along with it.
Effie knew of them, of course, she knew them from the stories he told and she had always wanted to meet them but they were his and for a long while, introducing her to them would have made it real. Back then, he wasn't prepared for it and it had been one of the many reasons they argued especially when she found out that they had no knowledge of her at all. But now… Now that she had given up everything for him, he wanted to share every aspect of his life with her, including these kids.
It scared him, naturally, but he wanted to try, and he wouldn't want to try it with anyone but her.
He had screwed up but this was his chance. He would introduce them all to each other at the same time. It would work, he convinced himself. Katniss might find her odd but Peeta would be nice about it.
"Alright," Peeta smiled. "We'll leave right after breakfast."
He muttered something about him being too eager but the boy merely laughed quietly and returned back to his house. Haymitch went round to the front of his house to pick up the milk when he saw three armed Peacekeepers walking in the direction of his house.
There were two men in blue protective suit walking behind them.
Hazmat suit, he noted, frowning at the peculiarity of them being here.
He waited, hands propped on the fence until they came over. He had never liked Peacekeepers. They kept the peace, sure, but they do so harshly.
"What do you want?" Haymitch demanded, coming to stand at the gate to bar them from entering the premises of his house.
"We are aware that you keep geese," a Peacekeeper said. "We need to inspect the live stocks. Move aside."
Haymitch raised an eyebrow, finding their request downright odd.
"What for?"
They had never bothered about what he kept in his yard before.
"Let us in, Mr. Abernathy."
"Look - " he tried to say before he was cut off.
"You do not have a permit for them."
Now, that was new.
"What? Like there's a law that says I gotta have one," Haymitch sneered. "Get outta here."
They didn't. He was promptly shoved aside.
"You're fuckin' trespassing. This is my fucking property," he snarled, catching up with them in two long strides.
"Back of his house," the Peacekeeper gestured to the men in hazmat suit.
"What the fuck is going on?"
"Sir," the taller hazmat guy, Haymitch had quietly labeled as H-1, turned to address him. His voice was muffled by the protective suit. "You need to step aside. There is a possible bird flu outbreak in the region."
There were rumours coming down from District 11 that live stocks were being put down; talks of mad cow disease and bird flu.
"No, that's fucking bullshit," he argued. He couldn't let them get in there. He had a dead goose from a fox attack and they would use that as an excuse. "You ain't killing my birds."
He tried to grab one of them by the arm. Not his smartest move because a Peacekeeper knocked his temple hard with the butt of his rifle. Haymitch staggered, blinking and shaking his head to get his focus back.
Now he was pissed.
In his house, the muted television was showing report of mysterious death in District Four.
