Catching Fire: The New Story

Chapter 42

Katniss's POV

Tears pour down my face as I run out of the little cabin, leaving Gale behind. I don’t hear Gale trying to call me back, so I continue to run. I decide against going back and talking to him once more, so I stash my bow and arrows leaving the woods behind me quickly.

I am almost home, I could see the Victor’s Village sign from where I walked, as more tears came down my cheeks. Gale doesn't approve of this, I knew he wouldn’t. I hate him.

I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, so when I enter my street, I bump into someone and fall to the floor on my back. I never realized how foggy it had gotten around.

"Are you okay?" The person asked, the voice so recognizable it hurt. I couldn't see the face but I hugged Peeta as he came down to me. His voice soothed me as he pulled me up. "I'm so sorry, Katniss. I didn't see you,” he apologized, Peeta seems to be the only person who ever apologizes to me, even when I don’t need it. I shake my head.

"Where were you going?" I ask. I'm glad he couldn't see that I was crying, but he wipes my eyes and cheek clean of the tears and hugs me once more, rubbing my back. I am so grateful for having Peeta.

"To eat dinner with my family,” he says.

"Then I can walk you," I say, smiling. I pull him along before he has time to decline and tell me to go home and rest. He doesn't even ask why I was crying. Again, very grateful.

I think of what I could possible say to Peeta when he is always the conversation starter? It seems that talking to him now, with my secret, is more awkward than when I didn’t even anything about him. What could I tell him that would take up the time walking to the bakery? Maybe the baby, should I tell him now? No, not yet. I have to think of some way to tell him.

I brush that thought off and ask him what's been on my mind since the Victory Tour.

"Peeta, if I said to run away with me. Would you?"

He stops in his tracks. I stand in front of him and wait for an answer, his hand had been in mine since we started walking.

"No, why would you need me to leave for?" he asks, suspiciously. I grow angry. I thought he would at least say yes. Now that Gale knows, he wouldn't want to even look at me, let alone run away with me and be stuck with taking care of me and my child. "Why?"

"Never mind Peeta," I mumble. I let his hand fall from mine, my fingers automatically picking up the cold. I start walking again, quickly, and Peeta follows me.

"Katniss! Hey, hold up!" I stop and kick some snow away from our path. "Why would you-" but he's interrupted by screams from the Square. I look at him dumbfounded and we start running towards them.

The crowd of people is too thick to see through and I wasn't the bit tall enough to see above them. With his bad leg, Peeta lifts himself up on a crate box and looks above the crowd. His hand is reached out for me to go with him to see but he pushes me down before I get the chance.  "Katniss, go home. I'll be there in a little."

"What?" I ask. "Why?"

"Just go!" Peeta says. He looks up again, bringing his eyebrows together in wonderment.

While he's looking, I stumble into the crowd without his notice. I hear the others in the crowd whispering to me, telling me to leave, that I’ll get him killed. Who killed? Once at the edge, I gasp as the sight. Gale, getting whipped. A new Head Peacekeeper stands above him with the whip in his hands. The animal he caught earlier that was on his waist hung above him. His back faced me and I saw more than the amount of lashes a poached animal deserved. The flesh on his back was practically ripped to shreds, his shirt on a heap in front of him, his jacket thrown across the square.

"No!" I scream. "Stop!" But the new Head Peacekeeper doesn't listen to me, probably thinking I was another random from the crowd. Everyone stared at me as I ran to Gale, his hands tied around the pole keeping him upright as he laid against the pole exhausted.

I reach the man carrying the wipe and grab his shoulder plated with the uniform fitted for Peacekeepers, throwing him back away from Gale. He goes for another lash on his already torn back, but I stand in front of Gale, protecting him and getting hit across my cheek.

I fall to the floor but my hands catch me from hitting my face or stomach. My palms are scraped and bleeding. My eyes go blurry and my cheek already feels swollen. The man pulls me up by my arm and was about to whip me once more, I pulled back and missed his swing, landing on my back like earlier.

"Move! Now!" he screams. I stay put in front of Gale and take my stand. He groans as I lightly brush my finger on his back accidentally.

"One more chance girl!" I take that chance to stand. I gasp when he brings his gun from his pocket to view and points the end at my chest. I know Gale heard the click of the trigger. He whimpers my name and stop.

"Go ahead," I whisper. I feel as if no one heard me, but the whole square is so quiet, they probably did. I take a big breathe. I have really pushed it this time.

"No!" I turn and see Haymitch running to me. He trips over a Peacekeeper knocked out on the floor, his red hair reminds me of someone I know, Darius. Oh, crap, maybe it is, his dark skin smeared with red blood, it wasn’t from Gale, and it is his own. Haymitch regains his balance and comes to me. He stops and looks between me and the new Peacekeeper. "What's going on here? Who hit you, sweetheart?"

I look at the man. His gray hair sleeked to the side, he doesn’t look at all like he is from Twelve, his eyes a light hazel, his skin so white, he looks dead. His broad shoulders making him look much bigger than he is. He towers over me and Haymitch.

"She stopped me from the punishment this boy needed!" he explains to Haymitch.

"Put the gun down. What did the boy do?" Haymitch asked.

"Poaching." The man put the gun down as it was still hung in the air, pointing at me.

"Okay. But you didn't have to hit the girl too!" Haymitch says. He brushed my cheek lightly making me whimper. The man, I hear another Peacekeeper call him Thread, listens to what she has to say and stands a bit straighter knowing now the information on all this.

"Okay, his charges are dropped. But if I find him with another poached animal, it's the cell for him,” he promises. “And you, don’t you ever come between me and a criminal when punishment is process, because next time I won’t give you a second chance. I will shoot you, Victor or not.” A few of them grab the Peacekeeper laying on the floor, hulling him up and taking him away. His dark red-purple hair confirms me that it is Darius. He was young. Almost my age. But always extremely nice. And always bought Game from Gale and I. I wonder what happened to him.

“Everyone, inside! Its past curfew! Anyone still out will indeed get shot on the spot!” Thread threatens.

Once all the Peacekeepers left, and the crowd started dying down; I turned to Gale and tried to untie the knotted rope around his hands and the pole. Someone passed down a knife and Peeta helped me rip it off, I never noticed when Peeta came, but I was glad he was here. Gale almost fell forward but we caught him. We bought a flat board from one stand and the lady scooped up her things and dashed away.

Some mine workers, Haymitch and Peeta lifted Gale onto the board and followed Haymitch's instructions to take him to my mother.

"Get some snow on your cheek, sweetheart," Haymitch said. I nodded and grab snow. It melted slowly in my hand wetting my glove and making my fingers freeze. I quickly grabbed Gale's coat which was thrown to the side and saw Delly. She was one of the sweetest people you could meet, but no time to explain. I walked to her.

"Delly. Could you get Hazzelle? And don't let her bring the kids, tell her to come to my house," I said.

"Yes. I'll stay and watch the kids. Don't worry Katniss. Go,” she said. I nod and she hugs me before I leave with everyone.

"Put that coat on, it’s cold," Haymitch says. I nod and slip Gale's coat on. It's much too big but it's warm enough. We started walking and Gale would groan every so often. I listen as the workers and everyone carrying Gale talked about what had happened.

He had begged Thread that he didn't kill the wild bird, but he was tied, his shirt was ripped off and whipped at least forty times before Darius came in to stop. I whimpered. Peeta stood right behind me. He wrapped his arm around my waist and I laid my head on his chest as we walked, his other arm keeping Gale high up on the board. They said he was to only get whipped twenty times. It was max for poaching. And when Thread was told to stop, he hit Darius with the bud of his whip and slashed his head, knocking him out.

Everyone was glad when I came to stop it. Nobody had the guts to do it. If I hadn't come, he wouldn't been hit until he was flat dead.

I stopped listening after that. Peeta helped me walk inside and they laid Gale on the kitchen counter. My mother and Prim started working quickly as someone told them what had happened.

I stood watching them in the doorway to the kitchen. I looked at Haymitch. He shook hands with each mine worker and left money in each of their hands.

Peeta had to push me to sit down and he brought me more snow from outside. I couldn't feel the right side of my face at all, or most of my fingers. Peeta held my hand for a while, I finally got the feeling back in that one. I never took Gale’s coat off. Prim came and told me to remove the melted snow. She skimmed her delicate fingers over my right cheek and I whimpered again.

"Come on Katniss. I need to talk to you," she said. I nodded and left Peeta's hand on the couch.
She pulled me to the office and sat me down. "What did you tell him?"

I looked down. I couldn't admit it to her.

"Did you tell him?" I nod. "What does Peeta think?"

"I didn't tell Peeta," I choke out.

"Then who did you te- oh!" I nodded again. Prim hugged me, and I cried through the one eye that wasn’t swollen shut.

"I don't want to tell Peeta, Prim," I sobbed. She nodded.

"You have to Katniss. He's the father. Right?"

I laugh, "Yes."

"Okay. Good.” I laugh again. Prim smiles. She takes me back to Peeta. He pulls me to his chest and his chin rests on my head.

"He'll be okay, Katniss." I nod. My mother will fix him. I know she will.

*

Author’s Note:

Ughhhhhhhhhh this one is actually the longest one that I made when I was younger, besides like the first three chapters. Okay so yah

Keep reading guys!

~Jez xo