(Untitled)

[worldisburning]

All the way back to the fence, he's thinking about it: there's an uprising in District 8. On the surface, he's still furious with Katniss, but it's more than that. Underneath, his heart is racing a mile a minute because, if they can rise up in Eight then they could do the same in Twelve and then anything is possible. All of his life, Gale's been

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[burnwithus]

The first thing I smell is the blood.

It's a scent I'm too familiar with, one that automatically becomes mixed with roses and terror in my mind. I see the turkey first as I draw closer, ridiculously nailed to the post so that everyone would see what his crime was. It makes my heart catch, because I've seen this before.

I know this scene. It's one straight from my memory.

Gale. There's a mix of emotions when I see him, a flash of something that is probably the bombs in my mind's eye. I met Gwaine two days ago, and now this. It can't be a coincidence. The whole scene in the Capitol plays out in my mind, where no amount of time will erase it

[since_1997]

Paul looks up from the notes he'd been half reading, turning the wire engagement ring on hsi finger. He doesn't recognise her, but, then again, he doesn't need to. He's pushing up out of his chair, dragging his hair back into a ponytail.

"What happened?"

[burnwithus]

My hands are slippery with Gale's blood, coating my palms like a film. "A f- someone from home was whipped forty times. He's unconscious." I'm already walking, already on my way to the door. Things like thoughts and feelings can wait, at least until I'm sure that he'll live.

I've seen enough people die in front of me to make that a good enough incentive to try. The list is too long to ever count, but it doesn't make it any less true.

I'm out the door as soon as I look back to make sure that he's following.

[since_1997]

It's always weird, the change that comes over Paul; it was this way when he delivered Sarah Carter's baby and he slips into it easily now, grabbing a stretcher on his way out of the door. His sneakers scuff on the concrete floor as he jogs to follow her.

"Wait," he says. "Did you say forty?"
Jesus Christ.