The Runaways

the first few nights

They leave under the cover of darkness. The Victor's Village group includes her mother, her sister, Peeta and Peeta's middle brother. Despite her best efforts, Haymitch would not agree to leave but swore not to turn them in. Her heart aches for her mentor as she runs past his house, dark, gloomy, and alone.

They're prepared. Her, Peeta and Gale had been slowly collecting supplies. Her and Gale have already taken them to a pre-approved meeting spot, deep in the woods. All they carry in their backpacks now are immediate necessities. Water, blanket, food, matches, that sort of thing.

They exit the district through a loose part of the fence near the Village. Everyone makes it under alright, although Peeta's leg gets momentarily caught in the wire, causing her to panic for the seconds it takes him to free himself.

The hike is silent. Katniss is surrounded by inexperienced footsteps and grows worried about potentially leaving obvious tracks for Peacekeepers. She keeps her sister at her side and she's glad to see she walks with a light tread. She doesn't have to worry too much about her in that department.

An hour later they reach the meeting spot. Gale is there with his family and they're all glad to see each other. Gale even smiles. She can't find it in her to smile back yet, her mind obsessing over every way this plan could go wrong. What if they're pursued by hovercraft? What if they're taken and befall the same fate as the redheaded avox girl?

Everyone adds to their load as they divide the supplies among them, everything from sleeping bags to their meager first aid supplies.

They continue their hike, continuing beyond her typical hunting grounds. Their aspiration is to eventually exit Panem all together and to find a way to survive there, wherever that may be.

Prim's feet begin to drag, and she sees Gale's siblings and the Mellark's begin to hunch their shoulders forward. They must be exhausted, she thinks, with as little experience as they have in the woods it's to be expected.

"Let's find somewhere to camp for the night," she suggests, and the majority of the group agrees.

"Now? I think we should keep going. We could put another hour between us and the District," Gale counters with a serious expression. She can see where he's coming from but they're already far, they've hiked for the majority of the night and she's worried about how this will affect the others in the long run. They need to stay in the best health they can.

"We should stay," she insists, looking around at the rest of the group for someone to back her up. "We need to keep our strengths up and stay away from potential injuries."

Her mother nods along but doesn't speak up. She looks at the others and is glad not to be on her own.

"Katniss is right, Gale" Hazelle steps forward with an approving look in her direction.

"I agree," Peeta says at virtually the same time and she's eternally grateful to still have her district partner.

"Makes sense," Peeta's brother, Rye, smiles at her and she sees she has another ally in him.

"Alright," Gale concedes shortly. "We should probably look for somewhere with lots of tree cover. Maybe we could even climb up into the trees."

She finds that unlikely, considering the how many children they have, and both Gale's and her own mother's lack of climbing ability.

Peeta, Rye and Prim end up finding the perfect solution. They've formed a trio off to her right where she's able to still keep an eye on Prim as they walk. They're walking along a rocky wall. Prim must have said something funny, because both brothers chuckle right before Prim gasps.