Broken: A Hunger Games Fan Fiction

Chapter Sixteen

“What are you doing here, Gale?” I asked trying to stay calm and not sound nervous.

                “You know I hate the Capitol, Katniss. I hate this Capitol for putting us through the same hell the older one did.” He took a deep breath as he put his arm around the woman. “Oh, and this is Clay, my wife.” I swallowed at that word since I didn’t assume they were a couple. I shook her hand anyway considering it was the polite thing to do.

                “Nice to meet you, Clay” I said managing a smile. “So,” I cleared my throat “Do you have a plan for this war, Gale?”

                He shook his head. “Not really. What about you, Katniss?”

                I shrugged. “I would but with all of these ambushes lately, it’s impossible.” They both shook their head in agreement.

                “All we can do at this point is just live on our survival instincts and hope we make it out of here alive.” He said grabbing Clay’s hand. “With the one’s we love.” I nodded grabbing Peeta’s hand. He managed a smile at the touch of my skin, but quickly faded once Gale looked at him. “Well, we better get back to eating lunch. It was nice seeing both of you again.”

                I nodded and we left, since it’d be too awkward to hug or even to wave goodbye. I held onto Peeta’s hand tighter as we approached the fire pit. He grabbed me a piece of meat to cook over the fire and cooked his own. We sat close to each other even though the fire had made us both warm.

                I took a bite out of the piece of meat, which tasted delicious. “Did you hunt this?” I asked pointing to the meat. He nodded, and still stayed silent. After I finished one last bite of the meat, I dropped the stick I used to cook the meat with and wrapped my arms around him. I felt his hand touch my back, and pull me a little closer.

                I smiled after he started talking a little bit more. He began talking about how beautiful the night sky looked here compared to how it is in the Districts, where you can’t really see the stars as well as we could now. I looked over at Peeta who seemed to be captivated by the look of the stars.

                I heard Rose singing and as I turned around I watched her twirl. Soon, Peeta started watching as well as she added more moves to the dance. She did a series of twist, turns, twirls, and jumps that made her dance just as captivating as the night sky.

                She twirled over towards me and as soon as she reached me, she fell on my lap and fell fast asleep. Peeta and I laughed as we looked at her, and she was clearly exhausted.             

                I carried her back to the hut, over my shoulder as Peeta followed close behind. Once we got into the hut, I put her down towards the end of the tent and I lay down next to her. I had a headache that didn’t want to leave, but being around Peeta had always seemed to help when I wasn’t feeling at my best.

                I moved my arm on his chest and traveled under his shirt to his warm stomach. “Are you sure you feel better, Peeta.”

                I could hear a faint laugh. “I’m sure Katniss.” He grabbed my hand and kissed it. “Don’t worry about me.” Before I could argue, he had turned around and looked into my eyes. That was all it took, I was a goner. He smiled and placed his warm lips on mine for just a moment. “Goodnight Katniss.” He said turning back around.

                “Goodnight Peeta.” I said with a yawn feeling myself drift off to sleep.

                “Let him go!” I screamed to Gale who was dragging Peeta across the dirt. He let him go, but within a moment he pulled out his bow and shot Peeta. It didn’t kill him, but it made him suffer. “What the hell did he do to deserve that, Gale?”

                He gave me an innocent face, expecting me to believe he was the innocent one in the situation, which I would never believe. I grabbed out my bow and arrow and aimed it at Gale.

                “Shoot me.” I saw him say but I couldn’t hear.

                “Tell me!” I said dropping the bow and arrow, then kicking him in the chest. He could barley breathe at that point. I saw his mouth open, but before he could speak, he was gone.

                I woke up in sweat and fear. I looked to my side seeing Peeta was gone. “Peeta!” I said looking in his usual spots, seeing others there instead. All of a sudden, I felt him hug me from behind, scaring me.  But I began to laugh, relieved that it was a dream and Gale wasn’t the monster my dream made him. “Thank God you’re alive.”

                He laughed. “Why do you say that?”

                “Because I love you.” I laughed kissing him.

                “Nightmare?” he asked letting me go, showing concern in his eyes. My laughter subsided as I remembered why I had been looking for him. I nodded his head and he pulled me closer.

                “Katniss!” I heard Rose come towards me and I could see the fear and panic in her eyes. It looked like she had been crying for hours. “My mom is missing! She’s not in the hut, or by the fire, or-“ Before she could continue I ran back to my hut and grabbed my backpack.

                Before Peeta could stop me, I ran past him towards the other lake. I didn’t what her mom wanted to do there, but I wanted to make sure she was okay. I kept running, even though I began to get exhausted.

                Soon, I saw her laying down in the lake. “Ava? Are you okay?” I shouted. I heard my name come from her and ran towards her. By the time I got there, the lake had begun to flood with red. “Get out Ava!” How stupid of me to think she was alive, because when I saw her, I saw a group of blood sucking fish eating the rest of her up. I began to cry a little, and I soon heard footsteps. I wiped away my tears and didn’t aim my arrow because I knew who it was.

                I felt Peeta wrap his arms around me and I held Rose close to me. “Don’t look.” I said. “I wish you didn’t have to go through this Rose.” That was all I could manage to say. I wanted to feel like I was safe in Peeta’s arms, but knowing that she had died just trying to get water for her daughter, made me feel like it wasn’t safe anywhere here anymore.

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