"Sometimes it felt like her life was a series of falls from ever-greater heights." ~ Scott Westerfeld

Katherine Farrow

Rebel

It's been a year since the takeover. A year since the death of one of my best friends, and one of the best spies this country has and will ever see. It's been a year of being on the run, and hiding from Alexandra Rabbel, though by now I think everyone in the country knows she's a Snow.

We are currently on the outskirts of District 7 living outside of the fence of the District. We've made contact with people inside, and they've provided us supplies when needed. Alexandra has been on a rampage, and our pictures are everywhere all over the country.

We've built a four bedroom cottage in an area that I know for a fact is uncensored. Being the President, even if it was for a short time, had its perks. It's not as big as the Presidential mansion, but it gives us all the space we need. Of course, Sailor and Alma have to share the room due to Adela being with us.

The poor girl has had so much loss in her short little life, but throughout this year I've seen incredible strides to happiness for her. It's almost as if the trauma of what she went through was forgotten. Though, can watching your parents be murdered ever really be forgotten?

A knock on my door snaps me out of thoughts as Lenovo Cane opens the door. He's been quite the surprise since joining our tiny group of rebels. He's been excellent at spy surveillance as far as computer hacking goes, and he's been able to sneak into District 7 multiple times on missions to take care of things for us.

"Katherine, you're going to want to see this," he says as he turns around and quickly walks out of the room. Something in his eyes let me know that this wasn't something that was going to be pleasant.

I get out of my bed and put a robe on before leaving the bedroom. Sailor and Alma are already at the breakfast table looking worried, and Clyde is outside chopping wood for the day. Sailor gives me a smile that tells me "don't panic everything is going to be okay," which is also a direct indication that everything is not okay.

"According to my geolocator that that Peacekeeper managed to sneak me out of the mayor's office, the Capitol is expanding its search for us; we need to get moving again."

"Already?" I ask sadly. "We just built this place. It was starting to feel like home."

"Unless you want to get caught by Alexandra, yes, it's time to go." he says.

I frown as I look around the room and take everything in. I don't want to forget any of it. This is the place that's sheltered me from the cold, the rain, the heat. This is the place that has helped me survive living away from all of the luxuries that I once had back in the Capitol. This was the place that showed me what it meant to be a survivor. Other than winning the games of course.

"So where are we off to next?" I ask him as I sit down and grab an apple from the center bowl. Sailor begins to relax as they see my response is somewhat normal, but I can tell that they're still feeling a bit on edge.

"I was thinking back to District 13," says Lenovo. "If what you guys say about it was true, they have more than enough ammunition to keep us protected, and not to mention they hate the Capitol as much as we do."

"That's a long walk," says Sailor. "Are we sure that we want to go there?"

"Don't remind me about the walk," says Lenovo. "I've already stressed myself out enough that I'll no longer have something to sit on when needing to go to the bathroom. I don't want to think about actually having to move that much."

"How the hell did you win the games, again?" ask Alma as she gives him an incredulous look.

"Watch your language."

"Oh please, Mom." she says defiantly, "Like you don't say it."

Something in her changed the day that she killed Alexander Rabbel. I used to say that I have the perfect daughter, but now she's been moody. I don't know if it's because she's just going through that typical teenage girl phase, or if she is upset about always having to be on the run, nonetheless I wish she would talk to me again. I miss the relationship we had.

"Alma, watch your tone with your mother," says Clyde as he walks in carrying a stack of wood. "I guess he told you, babe?" ask Clyde as he kisses me on the head as he walks by.

"Yes, I've been informed," I say with a pout. "When do we leave."

"Tomorrow," says Lenovo. "They're supposed to be sending the hovercraft out sometime next week. I figure that will give us enough time to put some distance between us, and I'm estimating the dreaded walk to 13 is going to take about two weeks."

"The games will be starting then," says Clyde. "There will be Capitol escorts everywhere. We'll need to stay out of the way."

"I'm not worried," says Sailor. "People still don't know me, and if we need anything I'm pretty sure I can sneak by without detection," she says as she takes the last bite of her oatmeal. "Worst case you lose another spy."

"Too soon, Sailor." says Alma sadly.

"You're right, that was morbid." Sailor agrees.

Tiny footsteps start to patter across the floor, and I shift my gaze to see Adela standing in her doorway. She is carrying her blanket and is wiping her eye when she sees me staring and begins to walk over here.

"You're loud." the four-year-old says in a grumpy voice. "How am I supposed to be beautiful if I can't sleep?" she asks me as she begins to climb on my lap. She faces me when she's sitting down and smiles. "So woman, what's the plan today."

"Aunt Katherine is preferred," I say

"Alma calls you woman," says Adela with a smile. "I wanna be like her!"

"Only hopefully less moody," says Clyde from the kitchen. Alma gives him a rude eye roll before taking her last bite of breakfast and bringing it to the wash bucket. She sets it in the tub and then walks back to her room slamming the door.

"Who put a bee in her undies?" ask Adela with a shocked expression. "I thought that door was gonna fall right off!"

I laugh as she looks exasperated and then she begins to turn around to face the table. She reaches for an apple but then she throws it down. I give her a shocked look, and she laughs. "Haha, I was trying to be Alma."

"We don't do that," I say trying to hold back a giggle. Sailor is having no such luck and is currently turning red with laughing. "Hey, Adela," I say changing the subject.

"Oh, no." says the toddler. "What's happening?"

"We are moving," I say in an excited tone. "We are going on a little trip, and I need you to go pick out your favorite toys because we have to pack light."

"You can't just tell me to pick out my favorite toys!" she says sadly. "I love them all!"

"I know you do, baby." I say, "But we have to go on this trip."

"Okay, Aunt Katherine," she says as she climbs down off my lap. "I'll go pick them now. Then I'm going to hide the ones I'm not taking so no one else can have them. They're mine." she runs back into her room and attempts to slam the door like my daughter, but isn't quite as successful.

"There is so much of Jada in her," says Sailor. "It's quite humorous."

"That wasn't Jada," says Clyde. "Trust me, that was all Amber."

The twins died in the same year. They used to mention how they planned on dying not far apart because they were always so used to being together. It was hard enough for Amber to get married and Jada to move into her own apartment, so when Amber died, I think we all knew that Jada would pass soon after.

Those two were destined to be together. Two peas in the same pod. Literally, they shared a uterus.

"Well, we better start packing," says Lenovo breaking the silence that I didn't realize filled the room. "We have a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it. Chop chop people. I need my beauty rest, so I'm not cranky, and you guys know I won't sleep until we're ready."

"Oh Lord," says Sailor. "This is going to be worse than anything Alexandra can do to us."

Hello all, and welcome to my 12th SYOT. I'm not quite finished with HOB2, but I'm in the top 10, and I always post the prologue for my next story in the top 10.

Like always, rules and form are on my profile. I will not accept review submissions, and I have a strict deadline is flexible policy. So just be aware of that. Best to let me know you're sending one in because I'm quick to close spots. (Apologies, but they are NOW there. I'm a dingus and took a nap right after I posted this.)

I hope you liked this; I was nervous to stick my toe back into this trilogy. I feel like I've hyped this too much, so I hope the writing doesn't disappoint. I also didn't want anything big and crazy happening first chapter, but this is a series on Katherine Farrow, so don't worry. It's coming.

Hope to see some excellent tributes. Big thanks to Scott Westerfeld for the quote.

Keep it classy,

Caleb