The Hunger Games: Book Four - How it Might Have Been ... Gale.

Page Nineteen

Peeta

I'm still running down the corridor, breathless, when I realize the mistake I've made. So far, the whole dungeon section of whereever I have been held captive is completely empty, not one soul anywhere. The alarms that began to blare once I escaped have been silenced, though not by the sound of my heart pounding in my ears, as I first thought.

I stop quickly, my worn shoes skidding. Looking around, I see no one. Escaping has been a mistake. I don't know where I'm going, where I am, or how I could possibly even find a way of escape. The guards must have regained consciousness by now - but where are they? I've made a huge mistake.

Maybe they were testing me, trying to lure me out to see how much strength I had left, to see if I had a plan. Apart from the scratches I made on the wall, I have no other plan, but to run.

But run to where? Preferably District 2, where Gale has my wife, so I could get her back and punish him for what he's done. But there's no way I could get there alone, alive. And surely they'd follow me. It's Katniss they want - I am only bait for her. This is too easy.

So I stop looking around and compose myself, sitting on the cold floor and leaning my back against the wall. I close my eyes and listen, wondering if they are watching me now on cameras. Surely I've been chipped or something. Who knows what sort of technology this new and more ruthless Capitol have?

After a moment of strange and eerie silence, a crackle comes from a speaker somewhere in the corridor I cannot see.

"Peeta Mellark," the voice says, in a Capitol accent so strong it makes me shiver. I haven't heard anyone say my name in that accent for such a long time. "We are the Capitol. You cannot run from us. Unless we tell you to." This confuses me. I hear a metal clang coming from way off in the corridor and scramble to my feet. I knew this was too easy. "Now, we are telling you to run."

I am running again before I can see them. I hear their ferocious barks, they're modified growls. The mutts are after me, and there's no way I can win.