Up In Flames

Chapter 4

Hi guys!! So I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes. I'm also sorry for having such short chapters. I will try to update once a week so you guys don't get bored. I know Katniss is OOC but I think that having her father still be alive would make her a bit different. I will be doing all three books, all with different twists and turns.

Disclaimer: I do own the hunger games, all three books and the movie, I bought them at Chapters!! But all credit is actually to the amazing Suzanne Collins. Any phrases that sound familiar are probably from the book, as I'm using it as my reference. I'm not trying to copy it, just keep it true to the story. The whole thing should change up closer to the games, more of my own writing shining through.

I forgot to say, Katniss and Peeta are both eighteen now, but Prim is still twelve. Gale is nineteen though.

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The moment the anthem ends, we are taken into custody, Peeta and I forced to pull apart. I don't mean we're handcuffed or anything, but a group of Peacekeepers marches us through the front door of the Justice Building. Maybe tributes  have tried to escape before, I've never seen that happen though.

Once inside, I send one last glance in Peeta's direction before I'm conducted to a room and left alone. It's the richest place I've ever been in, with thick, deep carpets, and a velvet couch and chairs. When I sit on the couch, I can't help but run my fingers over the fabric repeatedly. It helps calm me as I try to prepare for the next hour. The time allotted for the tributes to say goodbye to their loved ones. I cannot afford to get upset, to leave this room with puffy eyes and a red nose. Crying is not an option. There will be more cameras at the train station.

My sister and mother come first. I reach out to Prim and she climbs on my lap, her arms around my neck, her head on my shoulder, just like she did when she was toddler. My mother sits beside me and wraps her arms around us. For a few minutes, we say nothing.  Then I start telling them all the things they must remember to do, now that I will not be here to do them for them.

Prim is not to take any tesserae. They can get by, if they're careful, on selling Prim's goat milk and cheese and the small apothecary business my mother  now runs for the people in the seam. Gale will get her the herbs she doesn't grow herself, some for my father too. He'll also bring them game, he and I made a pact about this a year or two ago, and will probably not ask for compensation, but they should thank him with some kind of trade, like milk or medicine.

When I am done with instructions, I turn to my mother and grip her arm, hard. "Listen to me. Are you listening?" she nods, alarmed by my intensity. "You can't leave again" I say.

My mother's eyes find the floor. "I know, I won't. I couldn't help-

"Well you have to help it this time. Not like when dad got sick, and you knew there was nothing you could do. You can't clock out and leave Prim on her own. There's no me to keep you all alive" My voice has risen to a shout, and I can hear all the anger, the fear at her abandonment.

"I'll be alright Katniss" Prim whispers. "But you have to take care too. You're so fast and brave. Maybe you can win"

I can't win. Prim knows this. Not with Peeta there alongside me, I could never choose myself over him.

"Maybe" but I know it won't happen.

And then the Peacekeeper is at the door, signaling our time is up, and we're all hugging one another so hard and all im saying is "I love you, I love you both" and they're saying it back, then the Peacekeeper orders them out and the door closes.

Someone else enters the room, and I look up, surprised to see Peeta's father.

"Katniss" he acknowledges.

"Hi" I look up for a second. Neither of us is much for chatting a lot, so we just sit in silence for a moment.

"I'll make sure she eats, Prim I mean"

"Thank you" and suddenly a huge weight is lifted from my shoulders, knowing someone will be watching out for my family.

"He loves you, you know." he smiles "Peeta loves you so much"

"I-I" I don't know what to say. "I will try to save him, he deserves to make it out"

"Oh katniss, I'm not asking you to save him. I just thought that you should know that he loves you. You have a kind heart, and you should do what feels right. I can't tell you to save him, because you deserve to win just as much"

"Thank you" I whisper.

"I've grown to care for you as a daughter Katniss, I know you won't go down without a fight."

"Thank you, thank you so much" he gives me a sad smile.

We sit in silence for the next few minutes, until a Peacekeeper summons him. He rises and moves out swiftly, the door closing quietly behind him.

My next guest is also unexpected. Madge walks straight to me. She is not weepy or evasive, instead there is an urgency in her tone that surprises me. "They let you wear one thing from your district in the arena. One thing to remind you of home. Will you wear this?" she holds out the circular gold pin that was on her dress earlier. I hadn't paid much attention to it before, but now I see it's a small bird in flight.

"Your pin?" I say. Wearing a token from my district is about the last thing on my mind.

"Here, I'll put it on your dress, all right?" Madge leans over and fixes the bird to my dress. "Promise you'll wear it in the arena, Katniss?" she asks. "Promise?"

She gives me a kiss on the cheek, and then she's gone. And I'm left thinking that maybe Madge has been my friend all along.

Finally, Gale is here. He opens his arms and embraces me tightly.

"Listen" he says. "Getting a knife should be pretty easy, but you've got to get your hands on a bow. That's you best chance"

"They don't always have bows" I say.

"Then make one," says Gale "Even a weak bow is better than no bow at all"

"I don't even know if there'll be wood"

"There's almost always wood, since the year there wasn't half the tributes died of cold"

"Yes, there's usually some" I say.

"Katniss, it's just hunting. You're the best hunter I know"

"It's not just hunting. They're armed, they think" I say

"So do you. And you've had more practice. Real practice" he says "you know how to kill"

"Not people" I say

"How different can it be, really?" says Gale grimly. "You have to win Katniss, you have to come back to me"

"You know I can't promise you that, not with Peeta there"

"But Katniss..." Gale whispers, moving closer "I love you" and he presses his lips against mine.

I quickly shove him away. "What the hell was that?!" I yell.

"I just wanted to know what it would be like" He smiles sadly. "Good luck, I'll take care of your family, make sure your father gets his medicine"

I don't answer, not knowing what to say.

The Peackeepers are back and Gale asks for more time, but they're taking him away and I start to panic.

"Don't let them starve!" I cry out.

"I won't! You know I won't! Katniss, remember what I said!" he yells, and they yank us apart and slam the door.

It's a short ride from the justice building to the train station. I've never been in a car before, rarely ever ridden in wagons. In the seam, we travel on foot.

As soon as I see Peeta, I run up to him and grab his hand. Clinging desperately to him.

We have to stand for a few minutes in the doorway of the train while the cameras gobble up our images, then we're allowed inside and the doors close behind us.