Katniss
"Get down!" Gale shouts, his military training and lightning fast instincts kicking in. Debris rains down and us, Gale covering my head with his hands, but I push him away. I call for my children, not in a panicked voice, but in that controlled tone that I've taught myself to use. I've been in so many situations like this, it comes naturally now.
My heart clenches as I spot Oenothera reaching for me, climbing over a huge boulder that has fallen in her path. Her little face is determined, not scared, and she drags a frightened Kuwai behind her. He's trying hard to hold back tears of fright, but I can see the marks on his dusty cheeks.
Clambering forward, I reach for my daughter, grabbing her into my arms. Gale is behind me immediately, and he picks up Ku.
"What was that?" I ask increludously, even though the building is still rumbling around us.
"We need to get out of here." Gale glances around, his jaw set, his leadership skills gleaming, but an affectionate hand is still stroking Kuwai's back to comfort him. I almost smile.
Then I see the lights.
"Get down!" Gale shouts again, and this time I do. We run quickly to the corner of what once used to be the room we were asleep in and crouch down, our backs again the wall as the lights begin to descend.
"A hovercraft," Gale says, his tone strange. I try to decipher it, then I come to the same conclusion.
"The Capitol?" I ask quietly. He nods curtly. It could be someone trying to escape the city, but that's unlikely. The attack is too calculated.
"I thought they wanted us alive," I clutch Oeno closer to my chest. She's shuddering now, spellbound by the vehicle crashing down around us, but her lips are still in a straight line.
"They must've changed their mind," Gale mutters, grabbing my hand. "Let's go."
The hovercraft has almost landed completely now in the center of the room. The roof of the building is completely gone and the sky is filled with stars and dust. The vehicle is relatively unscathed - it must be Capitol technology.
Gale leads the way, even though I instinctively want to. Something is pulling my attention towards the lethal craft though. It's not fear, or curiosity.. it's something stronger.
"Stop!" I call, and Gale swivels around, but I am gone, letting Oeno slip to the ground gracefully as I walked purposedly towards the craft. The door sizzles on it, smoke rising from around it. It looks like a spaceship in one of those old, old movies they used to show us.
"What are you doing?" Gale hisses from behind me, but I just hold up my hand to him, not looking back or moving.
The door begins to open, slowly, slowly, and I'm only 5 feet away from it.
Suddenly, I gasp. "Peeta!"
My husband is standing there, pale, with rings under his eyes and a stubborn jaw. He's alive. He's alive.
"Dad!" I hear Kuwai call frantically. But this is not his Dad, or my husband. I realize this too late.
Peeta's hands shoot out and clasp around my neck.
YOU ARE READING
The Hunger Games: Book Four - How it Might Have Been ... Gale.
FanfictionThe end of the Hunger Games - abrupt, unsatisfying, mysterious? Gale Hawthorne was forgotten after the Rebellion ceased - now he is back to tell his tale. Living alone in District 2, Gale still feels as though something is missing in his life - her...
