The Volunteers

Chapter 6~ Separated

Strong arms wrap around my body and stay there until I hit. My eyes were pinched shut till I felt myself come in contact with the ground at great force, so I open them to see the soft green grass before my eyes. I grunt and sigh staring up at the sky for a moment. My landing was . . . alright. It certainly wasn't pleasant, but I was surprisingly okay. I blink a few times, trying to decide how this is possible without an injury. Then I hear a low moan from beneath me. My eyes widen as I remember those arms wrapping around me as I plummeted to the ground a brief second ago. Gale. He made sure I was safe before he was by making me land on top of him.

"Gale!" I cry in a panicky voice and roll off him onto my knees. "Gale, Gale, Gale are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah s'okay. I'm okay," he says breathlessly. He doesn't look injured anywhere. He'd only had the breath knocked out of him from the impact of falling. Especially with me landing on top of him. Or so it seems for just that moment.

He cranes his neck to look at the tree. Panic swarms his grey eyes when he sees that the girl is getting close to the ground, glaring at us and smirking maliciously.

"Katniss, go!" he hisses.

"No!" I bite back, realizing now the way my teeth are chattering in the frigid weather conditions.

"Katniss!" he yells and then sighs. He lowers his voice and his next words come out as serene as possible. Maybe he believes it will help his chances of getting me to go without him.

"Please. Please, please, please Catnip. Just go. I'll be behind you, okay?" I bite my lip and watch the girl bend her knees, preparing to jump the last three feet she has between where she stands on the tree and the ground.

"Gale," I whisper, a tear of fear for both him and I slipping from my left eye. I try to steady my frantic breathing and close my eyes for a moment, gathering my composure. "You promise?" I ask

He smiles hollowly. I can tell something's hurting by the grimace on his face, but I don't know what. It's something more than getting his breath knocked out. I wish I could help, but I can barely see him in the dark. I know at that moment the chances of him following close behind me are slim. I pinch my eyes shut to conceal my tears as the realization hits me. He won't follow, he can't. He will probably be killed by this girl. This is it. This is the end. He just stares at me helplessly, hopelessly, knowing he can't promise that.

"Go," he mouths. I position myself to get up, but make sure I lean in close to him before I do to say,

"I can't do that."

Then, I completely stand on my two feet in front of the strong Career girl before me. I realize how implausible it is that I will kill her. I remember something Gale and I'd discussed only a couple of weeks before the reaping. He'd been ranting about the Capitol. This is habitual to him. I always scold him when he does much like my mother would when I was younger and unknowingly yelled things that were similar to his words only dumbed down to something a five year old would say. Though, he never quits. He lowers his voice, yes, but doesn't stop or eat his words. Anyways, he was angry about the games and all the children that die every year. I was biting my tongue, trying not to add on or agree to any of his words. The conversation went something like this,

"I wonder if they know themselves what it's like to kill someone. I mean, I surely don't know, but it can't be anything that's thrilling," he'd said.

Gale had then leaned back onto his elbows and I followed his eyes which gazed at the meadow, squinted in deep thought.

"What do you think it's like Catnip?"

I remember how I'd stared at him tentatively, not wanting any input on the conversation. I'd stood there blankly. When he grew impatient for an answer that he was beginning to realize he wasn't going to receive, he continued on himself.