Chapter Three

Gale is waiting for me. I had grabbed my best bow and my quiver from a hiding place once I had gotten past the fence. Gale and I start out quietly, not speaking, nervous about what we're doing.

We walk in the dark for a few hours, getting farther and farther away from District 12. I try to keep track of the different landmarks, knowing we will have to find our way back when we come back for our families.

Every time I think of Prim, a pain jerks through my stomach. I still can't believe I'm leaving her behind. I tell myself it's for her own good, that I'll go back for her, but I still feel horrible about abandoning her.

We keep hiking even after the sun rises, knowing that the farther away we get from District 12, the better.

I wonder where Prim thinks I am right now. She probably assumes I'm out hunting. Once she sees I'm not at school she'll start worrying.

Finally, when the sun is at its highest in the sky, Gale says, "Let's stop and rest. There's a little clearing over there." He points ahead of us where I see sunlight filtering through the branches.

We reach the clearing, and sit down, taking our packs off our backs. I take out some dried meat for us to chew on. I'm already getting really hungry, but I know we have to ration our food. Even though we can both hunt, we can't waste our food.

"How long do you think it will take for the Capitol to start searching for us?" Gale asks, looking warily up at the sky, like at any moment a hovercraft will appear out of no where. Which I guess probably could happen.

"I don't know," I say. "Maybe in a few days? It's not like runaways from District 12 are their top priority."

"How do you know?" Gale asks. "Remember those two people we saw a couple years ago?"

I remember right away who he's talking about. A few years ago we were out hunting and we saw a boy and a girl with red hair running through the woods. I could tell they were trying to escape from something. Then a hovercraft had appeared and caught them.

"We could end up like them," I murmur.

"That's what I'm scared about," Gale tells me.

"We'll be more careful than them. We'll stay out of sight, and keep our ears and eyes open," I reassure him.

Sighing, he stands up and says, "Well if we're going to stay out of sight, we're going to have to get going."

I had been right about the Capitol. Four days after we had left District 12, we spotted a hovercraft.

We had been hiking down a steep slope, still in a forest, nearing the end of the mountain range District 12 was near. Suddenly all of the birds had stopped chirping and a mockingjay gave a warning call. Then a little ways down the slope, a Capitol hovercraft had appeared.

Gale and I had hid in some bushes when the mockingjay had called out, and we watched as the hovercraft had stayed in the place it had appeared in, probably scanning the area for any sign of movement. About five minutes later it had disappeared.

It was dark now, and we had set up camp and had risked a fire. We hoped that no one was searching for us at night, because the fire would make it obvious where we were. But it was cold at night, and we needed a way to cook our food.

I was eating a rabbit leg, when Gale spoke up.

"Do you ever wonder if there are any other communities out there? That aren't ruled by the Capitol?"

"Like…other countries, or something?" I ask, looking up at him.

"Yeah, something like that. I mean, survivors from District 13 must have gone somewhere," he says.

"Everyone in District 13 died," I remind him. The Capitol had burned that into our brains a long time ago.

"There must have been some survivors. Not everyone must have been killed," he said.

"If there are any survivors, they're far away from here," I say. I honestly don't think anyone did survive. When the Capitol does something, they do it thoroughly.

"Well they had to have somewhere to go," Gale says, always the hopeful one. "Unless if they made a home out in the wild…kind of like what we're doing."

"They might all be gone by now," I say. "Unless if people continued to have kids and stuff."

Neither of us spoke for a while. Then I asked, "What's going to happen to us? I mean, we're not going to live forever. Someone from one of our families will be out here all alone some day."

"Unless if there really is some other place out there where people live. Where the Capitol can't reach them."

"Or Prim and one of your brothers could have kids," I say, laughing.

Gale doesn't reply right away, and then he says quietly, "Or we could."

I stare at him, surprised. There has never been anything romantic between us. Where had he gotten that idea from?

"I know you always say you never want kids, because of the Hunger Games and all that, but if we're going to be living out here…well, there isn't any Hunger Games."

I'm still staring at him, trying to figure out if he's actually serious.

"Me and you? Like…married?" I ask, unsure. "But we're just friends. Right?"

Gale takes a moment to answer.

"Look, Catnip," he starts, using his nickname for me. "I've never been able to tell you this before, but-"

Suddenly a mockingjay lets out a call, and as I look up, a hovercraft appears, right over our heads.

The Capitol has found us.