She spots him out in the woods one afternoon. He crouches quietly behind a bush and she wonders what he's up to. He seems to be waiting on something, peering above the leaves at an animal in the distance. She sees it too. A tiny, harmless little squirrel slowly makes it's way toward a strategically placed acorn. Gale tenses as the squirrel gets closer. Madge furrows her brows, wondering what Gale has planned, when-

SNAP!

Madge stifles a gasp. The poor animal has it's leg and part of it's tail caught in a trap. It struggles to free itself, but the more it tries, the more damage it's doing. The sharp claws that enclose it's leg tear off bits of fur and dig into it's bone. She hears the strangest sound emerge from it's mouth, a strangled sort of scream. It sends chills down her spine.

She watches Gale, waits for him to do something, to finish off the squirrel and put it out of it's misery. He gets up and walks over to the suffering animal. He stands a few feet away, crosses his arms, and leans against a tree, staring at the squirrel. A minute passes. Two minutes. The animal keeps struggling. He doesn't move. She doesn't know how he can stand it.

Then, she realizes. This isn't a quick and easy death meant to capture some meat and bring it back for dinner tonight. This is a game. A cruel, twisted game. He's letting it die a slow and painful death, trying to see how long the creature can last before it either bites it's own leg off or starves to death.

Gale doesn't flinch. He just stands there, straight-faced, watching.

And that's when the fear creeps in and stays there, hiding in a dark corner of her heart.

At first he seemed a little different. But now...Now, she knows he's different. Changed. Something about him, a little off.

Madge notices it in his voice. There's a slight edge to it, a harshness that wasn't there before.
And there's something missing too. Remorse. Compassion. Grief.
Yes, all his grieving is done. Over-with. Now, all that is left is dry anger. Arcane enmity.

It's beginning to come between them. She doesn't exactly know how to bring it up and discuss it. She's a little scared to mention anything to him.

That's something else that was never present in their relationship before: Fear. But now she feels it in bucket loads.

"Something wrong?" Gale asks after she's opened her door and he sees the distraught look on her face. She finds it hard to meet his gaze. "Madge?"

She shakes her head and hugs herself.

"It's nothing." She mumbles.

He eyes her some more, sensing there is something she's not telling him. He decides to let it go. If she wants him to know, she'll tell him eventually.

"I was hoping you'd take a walk with me." He says.

She looks up at him, hesitation in her eyes.

"Okay...sure." She bites her lip and closes the door behind her.

He waits for her to join him and they begin their stroll.

The silence surrounds them like a poisonous gas. She's afraid she just might start choking on it, when, finally, Gale clears his throat to speak.

"Madge, I..." He pauses for a moment, stopping her with his hand. "I don't know exactly how to say this..."

"What is it?" She asks him. Since when has conversation between them become so difficult?

"I've always taken pride in being able to control myself. No matter how terrible a situation was, I always managed to keep my cool. Even on that day when Katniss was first reaped, I had kept calm. I never let my inner emotions and feelings get the best of me." He explains, sighing and running his hands nervously through his hair. Madge waits for him to continue. "I'm finding that harder and harder to do lately. There's...there's an anger inside of me that I can't seem to rid myself of."

"Anger for what?" She asks shakily, her voice quiet.

"The Capitol. President Snow. The Games. Everything within me wants to fight, to exact revenge. I want to find a way to destroy those who have slowly been destroying all of us over the years."

She notices how his hands form tight fists at his sides. She doesn't tell him that she feels exactly same way, she just does a better job of hiding it.

"I can't sleep at night. Hate is all that consumes my thoughts. My mother tells me it's hopeless, that there's nothing anyone can do, but I can't seem to grasp that fact. There might be a possibility...I've been having ideas..."

His voice trails off, as if he's afraid of continuing on.

"What if...what if we made an army?"

"Who's we?" Madge asks, averting his intense gaze. Her heart thumps wildly in her chest.

"Us. The poorer districts."

Oh, if only he knew how on point he was.

"We outnumber the capitol easily. All we need is a place to gather, some time to build weapons and traps, to create a plan..."

"Gale," she cuts him off. "Don't say such things. It's too dangerous to think this way." Although she knows that, if he were to go off and join such an army, she'd go along with him in a heartbeat.

"That's the thing, Madge!" He grasps her shoulders, forcing her to look up at him. "I can't stop. I don't want to. I can't help but think of how an idea like this could actually work."

She shakes him off, taking a few steps back.

"And what do you think you would do? Lead this 'army' of rebels?" She demands. He stays silent, watching her.

I'm sorry, father. I can't hold this back from him anymore.

The truth rises up from inside of her, making it's way up her throat, ready to be spit out. She takes a breath, steadying herself.

"There's something I haven't told you." She says finally. Gale reaches out to touch her sleeve.

"What?"

"It's true. There is an army."

She suddenly realizes why she's been so scared. It isn't Gale who's been scaring her. It's his emotions, his anger, his frustration. She identifies with all of it.

She's had her share of suffering by the hands of President Snow. Her own aunt, Maysilee, had died in the Games. Madge suspects this made a major contribution to her mother's current unstable and slightly insane mental state. Her father is constantly being dogged by Capitol officials and it's taking it's toll on him, she can tell. Katniss is going back a second time and no one's sure how much luck will be in her favor this round. Madge has grown up watching the people in her district practically starve to death.

The same hate that Gale has expressed to her has been bubbling and boiling inside of her for years. And though she's done her best to conceal it and put on an innocently calm demeanor, she's ready to blow.

But what happens when the both of them explode at the same time? What happens when the whole country is ready to burst? What kind of mass destruction will that lead to?