Chapter 3: The Capitol
It's been 3 months now since the end of the Rebellion. Gale has not seen or spoken to Katniss since. He probably never will. The death of Coin shocked them all, especially him. There had been no indication that Katniss would kill Coin. It didn't make sense. Coin had protected them all and if it wasn't for her there would never have been a successful end to the Revolution. What had Katniss been thinking?
Gale goes over in his mind what has happened since the Rebellion. Paylor has taken over command of all the districts and the Capitol. Plutarch is overseeing the strategy related to keeping the Districts in line. It's all about moves and countermoves as Plutarch would say. The rebellion has created an element of lawlessness in the Districts. People don't know how to handle their new found freedom. Without the iron grip of the Capitol, communities are breaking down all across Panem. The Capitol, under Snow, had created boundaries and the certainty around these no longer existed. Without this certainty people have begun to make decisions about their lives that do not always align with the Capitol's plans.
Plutarch, the master of "Propos", is hard at work to ensure that the Districts know who is in charge, but he has the difficult task of convincing them without the threats used by President Snow. The Games had always kept the Districts in line. Now, they need a new idea of how that can be done and it is just a matter of time before Plutarch, with the leadership, will decide what that idea would be. Also, there are still pockets of Capitol rebels resisting the new leadership in Panem. What is obvious to Gale now, and what has always been obvious to the Gamemakers of Panem, is that the games never really come to an end.
Gale lays back on his bed and thinks about Katniss. Since her departure back to District 12 he is beginning to wonder if he really knew her at all. She had always been so guarded. Then, there was the sense of betrayal he felt when she had kissed Peeta during those first Hunger Games. Katniss must have known that he would be watching. "I did what I needed to do to survive" she had said. That might have been true then, but the Quarter Quell had proved that not only had she been lying to him, she had been lying to herself as well. Her dismissal of him after Coin had called her to the meeting had made him see Katniss in a new way. After all, Katniss had been the instigator of the Rebellion and he had taken his lead from her. They had been in the fight together, right up to the very end. He had even risked his own life to rescue Peeta for her. Little did he know at the time that Peeta had been turned into a weapon by the Capitol to destroy Katniss. He should have just left Peeta there to die, but Gale knows it is his own actions, and not Peeta, that are the reason Katniss hates him. Or is she merely indifferent to him now? Either way, he has lost her friendship forever and he doubts there is any way of getting it back.
It is time to head out on Peacekeeping duties. Gale puts on the full gear minus the helmet. The leadership decided, in one of Plutarch's strategic moves, that if people were to trust the new Peacekeeping force that they would need to look less formidable and more approachable. They had downgraded the body armour as well so the vests were similar to the one Cinna had designed for Katniss before the last Games, the one that had saved her life when she was shot in District 2. Peacekeepers still carry weapons, but they are smaller and more discreet, ensuring that the population does not feel threatened. Of course, the Capitol people never felt threatened by the Peacekeepers.
They are more anxious about the swarthes of District people coming into the Capitol either to find work or just sightsee. Many of them are having trouble adjusting to the new regime and can't get used to the strange looks given to them by people from the Districts, who often laugh at them and make fun of their outlandish style. Never having known another way of life, the Capitol people are the ones who feel threatened now. Gale has occasionally had to come to their rescue when they have been surrounded by onlookers in the street. But people from the Districts do not just find them amusing. There is a real anger still towards these vacuous people who have known nothing but luxury and pampering all their lives. Gale has felt it, too. He still has not forgotten what they did to District 12. At the same time he knows that these people are just as much victims of the Capitol as Gale is himself. He wonders if Katniss would agree.
Walking into the evening air, Gale wishes he could see the woods again. The woods in District 12 where he and Katniss had hunted together. Katniss with her bow and arrow, chasing down game and sometimes even looking to him when she needed some help. She had asked his advice once on how to set a trap and he thought the best way to show her was to set a trap for her! Katniss had walked straight into it and, once she had gotten over being angry with him, they had laughed so hard. Katniss did not like anyone to make a fool of her but, as this was a private joke, she didn't hold it against him. She had so much more to hold against him now.