I saw Katniss through the fence. I moved silently into the woods through a hole in the chain-link. It was a poor idea to disturb her at work, which was a sight to see. She handled a bow with a grace all her own, arrow after arrow finding their mark in the woodland creatures.

She noticed me soon enough, and lowered her bow hand. I had to reach down to embrace her; though shorter than me, we shared the grayish eyes, olive skin, and dark hair common to the District 12 'Seam' slum. "Gale, your snares did almost as well as my arrows. Almost." As I emptied traps into my game bag, I suppose she was right.

We met each other out here about four years ago. 'Catnip' had been too nervous to say her name clearly. Our fathers, from whom we learned our respective hunting arts, had recently died in the same coal mine explosion. The government of Panem aimed to starve its people into submission, so what we were doing was most highly illegal – and necessary - for both of us. So we shared a common heritage, but also something more that we couldn't quite identify.

A couple centuries ago, the world had been battered by natural disasters and the subsequent wars. Panem rose from the ashes of a northern continent. The Capitol's rule over its 13 districts grew harsher, and this broke out in open rebellion seventy-four years ago. All suffered; District 13 was entirely obliterated. Capitol masterminds seemed to take sadistic glee in what they did both before the war and after.

Thinking 'after' shocked me back to the present. The centerpiece of their torture was the annual Hunger Games, where 24 children (a boy and girl from each district) fought to the death. Tomorrow was Reaping Day, where officials chose at random who would receive the 'honor'. At eighteen, this was my last year. At twelve, my brother Rory's first. Twelve! Katniss, herself in the middle, had similar worries for her sister Prim.

We sat down in the grass at the top of a hill, reflecting upon the impending doom. Katniss opens, "I wouldn't want to have children, condemn them to the reaping too." I couldn't blame her. It was hard enough as is to have your favorites in the Games only to watch them die. There was already no way to escape the specter of the arena.

We walked in tandem on the way back out of the woods. She stopped merely to stow her archery equipment and pick herbs for her healer mother. As usual, there was more than our families could eat, so we cut across town to the Hob, an old warehouse turned black market center.

The two of us (and our loaded bags) were instantly recognized. Ripper, a moonshiner, quit complaining about the arm she lost to the mines. I didn't partake of her product, but she handed over a few coins for some of mine. After trading at various other stalls, Greasy Sae the cook cashed us out. She took more and was less picky about it. Fortunately, she could salvage the lesser meat, so I sat down for a soup bowl. District 12 Head 'Peacekeeper' Cray was on my right – as usual, he took 'looking the other way' to a whole new level. Katniss gulped. The look on her face was a mixture of anger, fear and relief. However lenient he was, he had an odious habit of soliciting prostitution from desperate young women in the district. Better an arrowhead than Cray's bed. Cray I dealt with. I liked some of the rank and file, especially Darius, but he wasn't here right now.

I headed to our house, such as it was. Vick and Posy were glad to see their big brother; Rory was too nervous to be cheerful about anything. I had to take him aside. "Hey, little man, don't worry – they haven't picked me in six years, and there are fewer entries for the younger ones anyway." Showing my nerves wasn't going to help him, so I didn't phrase it as more entries for the older ones.

Not to mention tesserae – the Capitol tosses you meager extra rations for additional Reaping entries. I did that for all of us. My mother was at the washtub like usual. She summed it up: "Even all this just isn't enough." And us Hawthornes and the Everdeens were better off than most anyone else in the Seam! Those in the merchant section were mostly decent folk, and were often our best customers, but I resented that they were well off enough to not need tesserae.

I slept surprisingly well, considering what was coming the next morning.