Gale's Story ~On Hold!~

Chapter 13

Character and plot owned by Suzanne Collins!

Recap:

"It's great that you want to help, but please don't go putting yourself into danger for our families. Just a job at your house after school would already be a ton of help!" I told her shaking my head. I didn't want to be held responsible if we accidentally got caught and sent to a whipping, or to be killed. That was going to stay my problem whenever it happened, which was bound to be soon with the new security. I wasn't going to get Madge mixed up into it.

"You just want a job? I can easily get you that! We could split the work time half and half so you would still have time to hunt, and I would gladly give you this bow and arrow to use if you need it!" She cried getting excited.

"Thanks Madge! It would mean a lot! Let's go back to town now and get some sleep. We can discuss this tomorrow." I told her smiling. Everything was slowly falling into its place.

"Alright!" Madge replied as we headed back into the boundaries of District 12.

***added part to Chapter 12***

Side by side we made our way out of the woods along the familiar path. Well I could call it a familiar path, Madge couldn't. It was easy to notice she was nervous that we would get lost or caught on our way home. Her jittering, uneasy glances to the side and twitching fingers made it pretty obvious.

"Relax Mage! Nobody will catch us! Especially not at this time of day... What were you even doing up so late?" I asked her trying to calm her and start a conversation at the same time. I had a feeling talking would help her relax.

"Are you sure nobody will catch us?" She questioned me shivering at the thought of getting caught... again. I kept forgetting she was probably still worked up about the fact that I had found, and scared her so easily. I bet she's imagining the real peacekeepers five times worse. That would be a pretty understandable explanation of why anyone would act this way.

"I practically live here! I'm sure nobody will be out to harm us, and even if they are I'll just shoot them." I told her making a joke out of it.

"You'll what?" She almost screamed, a paralyzed look coming over her face. I chuckled, only Madge would be capable of believing that. Katniss would have immediately gotten the joke. Oh, how much I missed her.

"We'll hide if they come. I know this part of the woods like the back of my hand. Actually I know most of the woods like the back of my hand." I calmed her covering my joke.

"I thought you said you would shoot them." She whispered. I was about to reply when she cut me off. "Please don't though. I understand that you could tell Katniss things like that just for fun, just to earn a laugh, but I'm not as brave as the two of you. I can't handle thing like that. The second idea might not seem so appealing to you, but I like it better. Let's stick to that one if we get caught." She finished, lowering her gaze. I couldn't believe she thought I was serious about that.

"Madge, I would never shoot a human just so we wouldn't get caught. Nobody would even come out here. I was just joking! If somebody found us I would use the second idea too." I told her remembering the time Katniss and I were almost caught. Our lives were held together by the thin line of luck even then.

******Flashback*********

The boy and girl were running, panicking as the sound of the hovercraft neared. It rumbled so loud that the ground was shaking, whisking our bodies from side to side. Katniss and I watched the boy collapse dead and the red head girl bent down next to him crying. Katniss pressed her body into mine as we watched for protection.