The Girl Who Sparked the Capitol - Book 2 - Peeta

Chapter 11

Alessia's feet back up automatically and she blends into the trees. She covers her mouth with the glove to disperse the white of her breath in the icy air. Adrenaline courses through her, wiping all the concerns of the day from her mind as she focuses on the immediate threat before her. What is going on? Has Thread turned on the fence as an additional security precaution? Or does he somehow know she's escaped his net today? Is he determined to strand her outside District 12 until he can apprehend and arrest her? Drag her to the square to be locked in the stockade or whipped or hanged?

Calm down, she orders herself. It's not as if this is the first time she's been caught outside of the district by an electrified fence. It's happened a few times over the years, but Gale and Katniss were always with her. The three of them would just pick a comfortable tree to hang out in until the power shut off, which it always did eventually. If Alessia and Katniss were running late, Prim even got in a habit of going to the meadow to check if the fence was charged, to spare Mrs. Everdeen worry.

But today they would never imagine that Alessia would be in the woods. She's even taken steps to mislead them. So if Alessia doesn't show up, worry they will. And there's a part of Alessia that's worried, too, because she's sure it's just a coincidence, the power coming on the very day she returns to the woods.

Alessia thought no one saw her sneak under the fence, but who knows? There are always eyes for hire. Someone reported Gale kissing her in that very spot. Still, that was in daylight and before Alessia was more careful about her behavior. Could there be surveillance cameras? She's wondered about this before. Is this the way President Snow knows about the kiss? It was dark when Alessia went under and her face was bundled in a scarf. But the list of suspects likely to be trespassing into the woods is probably very short.

Alessia's eyes peer through the trees, past the fence, into the Meadow. All she can see is the wet snow illuminated here and there by the light from the windows on the edge of the Seam. No Peacekeepers in sight, no signs Alessia is being hunted. Whether Thread knows she left the district today or not, she realizes her course of action must be the same: to get back inside the fence unseen and pretend she never left.

Any contact with the chain link or the coils of barbed wire that guard the top would mean instant electrocution. Alessia doesn't think she can burrow under the fence without risking detection, and the ground's frozen hard, anyway. That leaves only one choice. Somehow she is going to have to go over it.

Alessia begins to skirt along the tree line, searching for a tree with a branch high and long enough to fit her needs. After about a mile, she comes upon an old maple that might do. The trunk is too wide and icy to shinny up, though, and there are no low branches. She climbs a neighboring tree and leaps precariously into the maple, almost losing her hold on the slick bark. But she manages to get a grip and slowly inch her way out on a limb that hangs above the barbed wire.

As Alessia looks down, she remembers why Gale and her and Katniss always waited in the woods rather than try to tackle the fence. Being high enough to avoid getting fried means you've got to be at least twenty feet in the air. Alessia guesses her branch must be twenty-five. That's a dangerously long drop, even for someone who's had years of practice in trees. But what choice does she have? She could look for another branch, but it is almost dark now. The falling snow will obscure any moonlight. Here, at least, she can see she's got a snowbank to cushion her landing. Even if she could find another, which is doubtful, who knows what she'd be jumping into? Alessia throws her empty game bag around her neck and slowly lowers herself until she's hanging by her hands. For a moment, she gathers her courage. Then she releases her fingers.

There's the sensation of falling, then she hits the ground with a jolt that goes right up her spine. A second later, her rear end slams into the ground. She lies in the snow, trying to assess the damage. Without standing, Alessia can tell by the pain in her left heel and her tailbone that she's injured. The only question is how badly. She's hoping for bruises, but when she forces herself onto my feet, she suspects she's broken something as well. She can walk, though, so she gets moving, trying to hide her limp as best she can.