hi guys! Yay it didn't take me forever to update! Short but important chapter this week so I hope you like it. ENJOY :D

Chapter 16

The stairs nearly trip me as I run down them, taking them two, then three steps at a time. Anything just to get out of this house faster. I hear Nora asking me what's wrong, but I can't respond, too busy throwing on my shoes and jacket.

"Madge, what is it?" There's fear in her voice. Fear that I now know has a viable reason to be there. She should be afraid. We all should.

I hug her tightly, and her arms just reach up to embrace me back when I let her go.

"I have to go," I tell her, rushing out the door without any further explanation.

I run. Past shops and houses and people who cry out as I push past them. I run until my fist slams against a heavy wooden door. I knock violently, abandoning etiquette and manners entirely.

There's a voice that shouts for someone to answer me, and then the door is being wrenched open. Gale's cross expression widens into surprise when he sees me standing on his porch, my breathing labored, and hair sticking to my forehead. "Madge?"

"We need to talk. Now."

Gale must sense the urgency in my voice because he doesn't question me, only opens the door wider to allow me entrance to his home. But I shake my head at the offer. It's too risky to talk in a place with so many ears. Not to mention, who knows if our homes are safe from the Capitol's bugs?

He seems to understand, and he quickly grabs his coat from behind the door, calling out to his family that he'll be back before shutting the door and walking past me.

I follow him, my heart beating wildly as I try to think of what to say. All the pieces of the puzzle have finally come together- at least most of them have anyway. For the first time in months I feel like I can see clearly. But that doesn't mean I know how to explain it to Gale. I have no clue where to start.

I don't question him on where he is going, but, as soon as the fence comes into view, I know that he doesn't plan on having this conversation inside the District at all. Gale goes into the hole in the fence first, helping me reach my feet once we are inside the forest. For the first time, these woods do nothing to ease my stress.

Gale continues walking, putting so much distance between us and the fence that I wonder how we will ever manage to find our way back. I recall all the times in the Games that I led the way through the forest, but the only reason for my confidence was the presence of my ethereal aunt. And, once again, the weight of her departure weighs down on me so much it's almost enough to overcome what watching the uprising in District Eight has done to me. Almost, but not quite.

We keep walking, and I want to ask him why go so far when I force myself to swallow the words. They knew about his and Katniss's kiss. He must want to be extra cautious.

By the time he stops walking, I'm sure it's late morning- although the sun is still hidden behind the dark grey clouds.

Gale turns to face me, raising his hands in a sign for me to speak.

All the words I'd been practicing on the walk up here slip from my mind, and, instead, I blurt out, "There's an uprising in District Eight."

"I know-"

"-I know it sounds insane but you have to-wait, what did you say?"

I stare at him as he nods his head, confirming what I thought I heard. "I know about the uprising."

"H-how?"

He shifts slightly on his feet. "Katniss told me."

A flare of red hot jealousy leaps into my heart, and I fight hard to push it away. Now is not the time for that. "And how did she know?"

He shifts again, and I realize that he's actually uncomfortable. "She was in the woods when she stumbled upon some refugees from Eight. They told her that they fled the city when it was bombed weeks ago, right around when we got back from the Tour. They didn't tell her much. It didn't seem like they trusted her, but they told her they were headed to District Thirteen."

"There is no District Thirteen. It's just rubble," I interject.

"That's what she told them. But they just said that they were hopeful to find something there."

He pauses, and I feel myself biting my lip. "How long have you known about this?"

"Just this morning. I had just gotten back when you knocked." He stops another moment before adding, "I was going to tell you."

I don't know if I believe him or not. We said no more secrets from each other, but that still doesn't make up for the fact that I ran straight to his house when I found out while he did not seek me out at all.

But there are bigger issues here than my hurt feelings. "I think Snow lied to us. When he told us our act was for the Capitol, I think it was really aimed towards the districts."

"How do you figure?"

I gnaw on my lip harder, "I don't know. But I know for a fact that the Capitol was already enthralled with us before the Tour. The way they yelled out names, there was no shred of doubt in their faces. I doubt there ever was. Which means Snow had another reason why he wanted us to convince Panem of our love story. Why would he have put so much effort into scaring us unless he knew it could help him quell the uprisings?"

"Do you remember how some of the Districts chanted out names? Like a war cry. I felt like they were a pot of boiling water, ready to spill over the sides," Gale says.

"I felt the same way. When I told Haymitch, he dismissed it. But he was wrong, those people are angry. And ready to fight."

"But what is our part in it?"

The wind begins to pick up and a shiver runs down my spine and I stuff my hands in the pockets of my coat, shivering still as I say, "Haymitch told me the Capitol never wanted two Victors, The Districts have to know that too. What if… what if they saw our victory as not a victory of the Hunger Games, but as a victory over the Capitol?"

"You think they took our win as a sign of rebellion?"

"Maybe? I don't know."

"No, I think you might be right. Is that why you pulled the berries out? Because you knew the Capitol wouldn't have let us both die?"

Saying yes would be much easier than admitting the truth, but I don't want to lie to him. "No. That's not why I did it."

He looks at me, his expression softening, and I quickly draw my eyes away from him, not needing to see the pity in his eyes again. "Do you really think they are rebelling because of us?" he asks.

I shake my head. "No. I think they are rebelling because their children are being sent to their deaths and people are dying of starvation. That's the real reason they're uprising. But maybe, maybe we were what sparked it."

"You think we're the spark," Gale concludes.

I cross my arms around myself, shivering against the cold. "I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe I'm wrong, and it has nothing to do with us."

"I doubt it."

I also doubt it. There's another lengthy pause and before I can no longer contain myself. "I thought you'd be…I don't know, happy about this. That you'd be off singing songs of rebellion."

His shoulders slump forward, and he sighs deeply. "A year ago I would have been. But now that it's happening… Honestly, Madge, I'm scared shitless. I know what's at risk, what the Capitol can and will do. That doesn't mean I'm not going to do everything I can to help though."

I understand completely how conflicted he is, because I am too. It's startling really, to realize that we are both on the same page for once. But then my curiosity gets the best of me, and I dig my hands in my pockets as I ask something I'm sure to regret. "What did Katniss think of the uprising?"

I prepare myself to hear how she has already rallied an army of miners and is marching for the Justice Building as we speak, but Gale just looks away from me, his expression stony. I ready myself for the punch. "She asked me to run away with her."

The shock is actually more powerful than the pain at first. Katniss Everdeen, the feared and sullen huntress, wants to run away? That doesn't sound like her at all.

"Congratulations," I say, the words sounding more sincere than I thought they would.

He scoffs, shaking his head. "Not exactly. I'm not going."

I really didn't think he would. But still for a moment I thought maybe he was considering it. It is Katniss after all.

"I didn't think you would," I admit. "Not when there's a chance of an uprising her in Twelve. She must not have taken it very well."

"Hardly. Told me I wasn't thinking of the ones I care about. But I told her that I would always look after our family, that I loved her. She told me she knows."

That must have hurt. Nearly as much as hearing it does. Gale seems to realize his mistake because his head quickly snaps up, his eyes wide and his mouth open to apologize, or backpedal. But he doesn't need to. I know from the confusion and lack of pain of voice how he meant it. Which is that he didn't know how he meant it. "It's confusing isn't it?" I ask him, my voice lower than normal. "Love."

"Unbelievably so."

"I'm sorry." I tell him. And I am. I'm sorry that he is unsure of his feelings. I'm sorry I dragged him into this by professing my love for him to the entire country.

"It's not your fau-" he stops himself, and I almost laugh at the sheepish look on his face.

"Right." I say, the laugh I'm holding in coming out in a smile.

He smiles back, stretching his back as he asks, "How is Jude taking all this?"

His question catches me off guard, especially because he used his first name. "He's being very understanding." I respond, tugging at the end of my hair. "We aren't together anymore."

"That doesn't seem very understanding."

I laugh aloud, the noise caused more by nerves and stress than anything else. A moment later Gale's laughter joins mine, and then we are grinning at each a moment, I can forget that seconds ago we were discussing an uprising and bombings and how all of our lives are in danger.

"We better head back," he tells me.

We walk back side by side, quiet but not a tense sort of silence like before. Now everything is on the table, now we both on the same page. We reach the fence and once again Gale helps me through the hole.

"I'm going to the bakery, you heading into town?" he asks me once he helps me to my feet.

I don't really need bread, but I do need to go apologize to Nora for scaring the daylights out of her. "Sure."

"Mind if I walk with you?" I shake my head and we continue our quiet walk.

People make way for us as we get to the edge of town, and I flinch when I see a mother pull her child away from us. The stares have certainly lessened, but some still remain. I know they will never fade completely; Haymitch still stuffers through them as well.

Gale quickly links his hand together with mine, and the warmth of his hand is startling. How could it possibly be warm when there are snowflakes in my hair? I look up but find him already looking at me, his expression suddenly somber and his voice barely above a whisper.

"Before, when I said that I told Katniss I wouldn't leave with her, you said that of course I wouldn't since there is a chance of an uprising. But even if there wasn't a chance, you know I wouldn't have ran away with her, right?"

"I do." And it's true. Gale is no coward. He wouldn't make people pay the price of his decisions. "I know you wouldn't have left when you knew people who had nothing to do with it could get hurt."

That doesn't seem to be enough for him though. "And you. I wouldn't have left without you. And Haymitch. I wouldn't have abandoned you."

"Yes, I know," I reassure him, squeezing his hand. "I know you wouldn't have. We're still allies right?"

He smiles, squeezing my hand tightly back. "Of course we are."

We're halfway to the bakery now, but the amount of people on the streets has diminished to hardly any. But then we see it, a large group of people in the square, and Gale and I both tense as we come closer into view of it.

"What's going on?" I ask him.

"I have no idea."

Then there's a sound, a high sound like a whistle. Then the sound of impact and, a moment later, a bloodcurdling scream. The scream is what stops us in our tracks, and I don't have to look at Gale to know that the buildings are disappearing for him too, that the air is thicker and hotter, that the ground is dirt with roots threatening to trip you rather than solid road.

"Come on," I say, tugging Gale along with me. I have no way to describe the sound as it begins again: whistle, blow, scream. There's no image that accompanies it, no act that comes to mind that could cause those noises. All I know is that I need to know what it is. And whose scream that is.

The crowd is thick, and, the moment we reach the square, the screams cease. But the whistling does not, instead it picks up at a faster pace, the impact getting louder as the crowd gasps again and again.

Gale pushes people aside, his towering height being put to good use as he peers over their heads. I'm still holding onto his hand, following close behind him, wary of losing him in the thong of people.

We're nearly at the front of the crowd now, and the noise is so loud its almost sickening when suddenly Gale stops moving, making me run hard into his back. "Gale?"

He spins around to face me, his back to the square as he grabs both of my shoulders. "Go to your father's house. Go now."

"What?" I say, confusion plain on my face as the whistling continues. "Gale, what's going on?"

"Please. Please Madge, get out of here." His voice is urgent, and it terrifies me in a way I haven't felt since the Games. "Go to your father's house. I'll be right behind you."

I try to side step around Gale, but a strong hand grabs my arm, pulling me close to their hard body and completely blocking my view of the square. I look up to see Darius' cold face, his grip so hard it's bordering on painful. "Darius?"

He ignores me, practically throwing me into Gale's arms. "Get her out of here! Now!"

My eyes are as wide as saucers as Gale roughly grabs my arm, pulling back with him into the crowd when the whistling happens again. And my head snaps back as Darius just moves from blocking my view enough for me to see the mop of blonde hair. The hands tied up above his head. The wild turkey that is nailed though its neck above that. The bare bloody back.

The images make no sense to me, and I can't understand them, I can't piece them together until I hear the whistling and the whip comes crashing down on the tattered shreds of what used to be my best friend's back.

okay so what did you think? Short chapter I know but is promise the next chapter will be jam packed! So I wrote a Katniss POV that goes along with this but I don't think I will post it as a chapter with this story. Instead I'm going to post it as just a normal one-shot, maybe as a chapter in the Glimpses which is my collection of random Gadgey one-shots or it may just be posted as a stand alone. It might also be used in a flashback in this story much much later but I don't know yet! So as of now I'm planning on posting it as a stand alone one-shot and I will inform you all when I post next chapter how I ended up posting the POV so you can check it out if you want.

So if there is any confusion on the timeline you can PM me or leave a review, just to remind everyone I moved the timeline up a bit which is why the whipping/twill and Bonnie/The D8 bombing happened so close together. As usual I love you all, please REVIEW ! Kisses from all