2. A Day to Remember

       Something sunk the bed in; I heard it groan under the weight. I gave a guttural groan and turned over, pulling the pillow over my head. I felt the blanket slowly be ripped from me, I grabbed for it blindly.

            “Wake up, sleepyhead,” Gale crooned. I snorted through my nostrils. Really, again? I really wished Gale didn’t do this, because this was just asking for a beating from me. I would have been happier if Posy had tackled me.

            “Go away,” I mumbled.

            “Not until you get up.”

            “I want my blanket back.”

            “You’re not getting it back.”

            I poked my head out from under the pillow to peek at him. He hovered over me. I really felt the urge to swat him away, but instead I whacked him with a pillow. He shielded himself with his arms. I fought harder, smacking harder until I ended up sitting up, whacking him.

            Gale knocked the pillow from me onto the floor and had me pinned onto the bed, both hands grasped my wrists firmly, but strongly. This was not a good morning for me. I wriggled under him but got nowhere.

            I swore if it was early in the morning, I’d kill him.

            “That’s not fair,” I protested.

            “Life isn’t fair,” he retorted.

            “True. Can you let me up now?”

            “Will you hit me or try and go back to sleep if I do?”

            I sighed. “No.”

            “Good.” He released my wrists and clambered off me. I sat up, scratching the back of my head. “Are you ready to meet Katniss today?”

            “Not really,” I muttered.

            “You’re not still afraid of her, are you?” Gale teased.

            “That’s part of the reason.” I blushed. “I just feel like it’ll be awkward. Can’t you just bring her back here after hunting? I’ll feel more comfortable being here when I meet her.”

            “I thought this wasn’t up for negotiation?”

            “You never said it wasn’t,” I reminded him. “It’s better for me if I meet her here on my own territory, so to speak.”

            “We’ll figure something out,” he agreed. “If Katniss agrees to, which I’m sure she will, she’ll come here when we come back from hunting.”

            “How late are you staying this time?”

            “Probably until dark.”

            “Just hope the fence doesn’t come on, because if it does, you’re screwed.”

            “It won’t be on until the middle of the night, that’s when Peacekeepers think people will try and escape, because it’s dark out and hard for anybody to see.”

            “You better be right about that,” I said.

            Gale got his way, because immediately following breakfast; he dragged me outside with him. I guess I wasn’t going to get my way. I really preferred to meet Katniss at the house after she and Gale hunted, but Gale wanted me out of my comfort zone. Why else would he do this?

            About five times I tried to scamper away from Gale and run back to the house, but after the fifth time, he held my wrist and dragged me behind him. I pouted behind him the entire time he led me to the district boundary fence. In all honesty, I was a tad bit curious as to what lay beyond the fence. Obviously freedom from District 12, that was one thing that was on the other side. So were Peacekeepers who were just dying to strip people of their freedom and punish them, lying in wait in their hovercraft in the cover of the towering trees.

            It was no surprise that Katniss was waiting for Gale at the fence. Her head tilted to the side when she looked at me. It was no surprise to me since she probably didn’t know Gale had brought me along for the haul. If she and I were on the same page, we both didn’t want me here.

            “Can I have an explanation, please?” Katniss asked, arms folded across her chest. Her dark hair was twisted into the trademark braid she wore in the 74th Hunger Games. I wore my hair up in a messy ponytail.

            “This is Katrina,” Gale said. I ripped my wrist from his hand, rubbing it. I could see finger marks hugging my wrist. I glared at him angrily.

            “So this is Katrina,” Katniss mused. “Gale’s told me quite a bit about you.”

            “I can say the same about you,” I whispered.

            “What did she say?” she asked Gale.

            “She’s a little shy,” Gale explained. “She wanted to meet you back at my house, but I dragged her along.”

            “When we’re about to go hunt? Gale, that’s not smart.”

            “Thank you!” I said. “Finally, someone who agrees with me!”

            Katniss looked me over the full three sixty. She couldn’t stop staring at my face, and I was quickly getting uncomfortable. “What?”

            “Have you looked in a mirror lately?” she asked me. She didn’t sound offending in her tone, it was an honest question.

            “Um…no. Why?”

            “I think I’m looking in a mirror.”

            “You’re joking,” I scoffed.

            “Actually, she isn’t,” Gale piped. “Stand next to each other.”

            Uneasily I did. Gale constantly went back and forth between me and Katniss. Were we really that similar? There was no way our faces could be the same, that seemed a little impossible to me. “That is a little scary.”

            “Everybody kept saying we looked pretty alike, I thought it was all just talk,” I admitted.

            “Identical could be close,” Katniss admitted. “Anyway, back to the hunting issue. No offense to you, Katrina, but, Gale, she’d slow us down. And she’s one more person we’ve got to keep safe.”

            “If she sticks close to us, she’ll be fine,” Gale said. Sometimes Gale could be so convinced that what he was doing was right. Even now, as Katniss and I disagreed with him, he never once stopped to ponder the thought of this meeting to be a little stupid.

            “I tried running,” I told Katniss, “but he held me against my will.”

            “That sounds like something he’d do. Well, since there’s no turning back, just stick close to us and keep quiet, okay?” Katniss told me. I nodded. “The fence is off, so we’ve got time.”

            “How can you tell?”

            “It doesn’t hum when it’s off. If it’s on when we come back, we’re going to have to wait it out. That’s something I’m sure we all wouldn’t enjoy.”

            She couldn’t be more right about that.

            Katniss slithered through the fence first then helped me through, Gale came through last. Already I felt different, being out of 12. I felt freedom. Ahead were acres of woods just waiting to be seen by my eyes. Oh if only 12 looked like this now.

            “Here’s how it’s going to work,” Katniss said as we marched into the woods, “Gale and I are going to do the hunting. You keep an eye out for a hovercraft, got it?”

            “Yup, that shouldn’t be too hard,” I told myself. Even though hovercrafts were silent, you could usually tell when one was coming by the trees whipping around above. The hovercrafts may be noiseless, but the wind they gave off alerted people to their presence.

I was glad I was at least contributing by being lookout than just wandering around feeling like a third wheel.

            We took a hike through the forest for fifteen minutes just so Katniss could uncover her bow and sack full of arrows that she kept hidden. It was definitely smart to a point. What if she forgot where she placed them?

            I was too in awe by everything that Gale had to constantly yank me along while Katniss took lead. I wasn’t into the hunting; I was more of a nature lover. I wasn’t obsessed with it like many people thought I was. I just felt that nature was something worth looking at.

It’s a lot better looking over the boundary fence than inside 12.

            We all stayed silent as Katniss took the lead in hunting, bow and arrow at the ready. Other than in the Games, this was my first time watching her up close. No wonder she did well in the Games, she was stealthy. Her footfalls were quiet.

            This was where it all happened, where Gale got the food from. If only 12 was here rather than where it was now. We’d be better off. Then again…we’d sort of resemble District 7 with all the trees and bushes and whatnot. At least we wouldn’t be recovering as much from the bombs if we moved here.

*      *      *

It seemed like the afternoon went by quickly, because before we knew it, the sun was starting to set. We got absolutely squat. Well, it wasn’t all bad for me. At least I got to be on the other side of the district boundary, to experience something that I had never felt before. However, I didn’t think it was something I’d want to do daily like Katniss and Gale. Knowing me, I’d get caught or be stupid enough to actually try and slip through the fence when it’s on.

            The birds sang their sweet song as we headed back for the fence. I was testing my balance on a log, holding my arms out for balance. I took my time.

Suddenly, the birds’ song changed, and it didn’t sound good. They sounded like they were calling out to us, warning us…

            My heart dropped. The Peacekeepers. I quickly searched the skies. Once I saw the tip of the hovercraft peek from the trees, I sounded the alarm. I was glad the birds had warned me; otherwise I wouldn’t have known they were coming.

            “Run for it!” I barked. I leapt off the log, stumbling.

Katniss and Gale took one look at me, then at the hovercraft. I guess they wanted to make sure it wasn’t a false alarm. It sure as hell wasn’t, the proof was hanging above us, ready to spot and capture us.

They took off after confirming my warning. Boy, they sure knew how to run! But despite their speed, I caught up in one stride and even passed them both.

Tree limbs whacked me. I didn’t know how far behind Gale and Katniss were, and honestly, I didn’t care at the moment. At heartless as it sounded, I cared about making it out alive.

            I crashed through a bush when I heard a scream—and it wasn’t Gale’s. Gale came through the bush immediately after me, too quickly, because the moment I turned, he ran right into me. We both clashed and he tackled me, crushing me under him. Breath escaped me, and I quickly tried to wriggle out from under him. My head was throbbing from when it slammed into the ground.

            Gale rolled over just long enough for me to scramble to all fours and crouch in the bushes.

Katniss threw hisses of outrage. A net held her, or at least that’s what I was seeing doubles of. Her face was in a mask of frustration as she tried to rip free, but she couldn’t.

            I felt like I should do something, but what could I do?

I watched in horror as the net was pulled upwards, pulling her away into the hovercraft. I wondered if the Peacekeepers knew that they had just captured the Mockingjay who had been under their radar out in these woods ever since she had to provide for her family. If they did, I really didn’t want to imagine what they planned to do to her.

            “Katniss!” I cried as she was taken away. The wind from the hovercraft almost blew me back on my ass, leaves whipped my face. I saw the only things left on the ground where she once stood were her bow and bag of arrows.

The hovercraft disappeared behind the trees, and so did Katniss.

            “Katrina, what are you doing?” Gale roared. I jumped, popping out of the bush. “We’ve got to get out of here before they come back for another sweep!”

            “I’m sure there’s only one hovercraft, and that was it,” I retorted.

 “Get her bow and arrows first, just in case. We can’t just leave them here.”

Taking a quick chance, I snatched Katniss’s things and ran back to join Gale. Thankfully my vision was back to normal, so I wasn’t picking up two bows and two packs of arrows. With Gale by my side, we ran for the fence.

            I couldn’t believe it; Katniss Everdeen had just been caught poaching. This wasn’t good, not one bit. I always thought I would be the one to get caught by Peacekeepers, not Gale, and especially not Katniss. Once the Peacekeepers knew who they got, I was sure she’d be taken to the Capitol to become an Avox.

That was the third worst fate a person could possibly have, right next to living in the Seam here in 12, and death. Well, maybe it was in the top five if I factored in being thrown into a Hunger Games arena and being tortured in some gruesome fashion by the Capitol. Avoxes had their tongues cut out, preventing them from talking. They served the Capitol and were not to be talked to unless there was an order to give. Even with the new president of Panem, the use of Avoxes didn’t cease.

            Gale and I shot out of the woods, heading for the fence. Well, I met Katniss and barely got to know her. Now she was in the Peacekeepers’ hands. What a day to remember.

            “Kat, no!” Gale called, pulling me back by my arm. I was jerked back so hard that I bashed into him, dropping Katniss’s bow and arrows. I turned to glare at him.

            “What the hell?” I screeched. “I was about ready to go through!”

            “We can’t go through.”

            “Well why not?”

            “The fence is on.”

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