Always: A Hunger Games Fanfiction

Chapter 19

Katniss

"Hey Catnip," I hear a voice behind me. I know that voice. It belongs to my best friend. The one I believed to be dead. Until now. I turn around. Gale.

My jaw drops. "Your dead. . ." I whisper. Gale smiles vaguley but it doesn't last long.

"Come with me," he says.

I hesitate, but take a step forward anyway. Gale sighs quietly and leads me down a hallway. I make sure to be a few steps behind him.

I guess I'm not furious about the possibility of my sister being killed by his bomb. He just made it. He didn't mean to kill her. But he still made the bombs to kill. He also tried hurting Peeta. For that, I can not forgive him.

We come to a big wooden door. Gale takes out a shining, silver key and turns it in the lock. It unlatches and opens.

Inside there are three computers lined up on the wall, and a livingroom area in the middle. "Sit," Gale orders, motioning to the red leather couch in the center of the room. 

He walks to the computers and clicks a few times. I am surprised how well he knows how to work it. Computers in the districts are a huge luxury. But I'm sure he's worked with them for his job in District 2.

The screen turns to a dark green color and a loading icon flahses in big, bold letters.

What looks like a black and white video shows up on the screen. Gale presses a button and the computer shuts off before I can see what it was.

He sits across from me. "You've talked to your mother?" he asks. A hot tear begins to form in my eye. I let it fall. I'm too weak to keep it in right now. 

"She's dead. But, yes, I did," I whisper so quietly I would be surprised if he even heard me.

"She's not dead," Gale says. I look up, thinking that he is playing a horrible, sick joke on me. His grey eyes are serious.

"She's dead," I repeat. "I heard the gunshots outside of her shop."

He shakes his head. "She got shot in the shoulder. But she escaped. She's here, in the hovercraft's hospital wing," he says. My jaw drops slightly and relief floods over me. Maybe they have Peeta here too.

"And. . .Peeta?" I ask quietly. Gale's jaw clenches at his name.

"What about him?" he asks, bitterly. He isn't here.

"You didn't find him?" I ask, deflated.

"No. I didn't even know he was missing," he says. My eyes begin to sting, signaling tears. I blink away the blurriness in my eyes. We sit awkwardly across from eachother for a little while, with only the hum of the hovercraft breaking the silence.

"Why are you here?" I finally ask. "I thought you got killed, back in twelve."

"The bombs went off in the main part if town first. I had time to escape. I got onto a train and went back to thirteen to see if anyone was there. That's how I found this hovercraft." he explains. A name goes through my mind.

"Is Haymitch alive?" I ask, anxiously.

"Yes. We were together when the explosions started. He's here." he says. Happiness explodes in my heart. Haymitch may be drunk all the time, but I know he cares about me. He helped me through the games and the war. 

"So what is this? Another rebel group?" I ask.

"Kind of," he says. "I'll answer more questions later. You can stay in one of our guest rooms."