Chapter 11 Chapter 11 Powered Isolation Net

Before I had time to think about it, I quickly retreated and hid in the woods through the twilight. At the same time, I covered my mouth with gloves to prevent the white gas I exhaled from being discovered.As new danger looms, my adrenaline rushes and the events of the day are swept from my mind.How is this going?Stride electrified the isolation net to strengthen the defense?Or already know that I got out of here today?Was he determined to keep me out of District 12 so he could find a reason to arrest me?Then drag me to the square, put me in the prison pen, whip me or hang me? I command myself to be calm.It's not the first time I've been isolated from District 12 by the grid, it's happened a few times over the years, but it's always been with Gale.Back then we both just climbed a tree and sat comfortably until the power went out, which it always does eventually.Sometimes when I go back late, Prim will habitually go to the "ranch" to see if the fence is powered on, so that my mother won't worry.

But today, my family would never think of me running into the woods anyway, and I even lied to them on purpose.They must be worried that I didn't come home on time.On the very day I got into the woods, the fence was electrified. I'm not sure if it's just a coincidence, so I'm also a little anxious.I don't think anyone saw me slip through the fence, but who's to say?Someone is always hired to do eyeliner.Gail kissed me right here, hadn't it been reported?Of course, that happened during the day, and I wasn't too prudent then.Will there be surveillance cameras?I've had my doubts before.Did President Snow use this method to find out about our kiss?It was still dark when I got out this morning, and my face was wrapped in a thick scarf, so I should not have been found; however, few people dared to cross the fence and enter the forest.

The slightest contact with the fence or the barbed wire at the top of the fence can kill a person instantly.I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to get under the net, not to mention that the ground is still frozen hard at this time.Then there is only one choice, and I have to go through here anyway. I walked forward along the fence, but still dare not leave the woods.I want to find a large tree of the right height and climb over the fence from the branches.After walking about a mile, I finally came across a tall maple tree that might do the trick.But the trunk is thick, the bark is icy and slippery, and there are no low branches on the tree, so it is difficult to climb.So I climbed up a neighboring tree and jumped onto the maple tree, but the bark was slippery and I nearly missed it.Steadying my body as much as I could, I slowly climbed onto a branch that was stretched over the fence.

When I climbed the tree, I realized why Gail and I would rather wait until the power went out than jump over the fence.To avoid getting shocked, you have to climb high enough, and there is a good twenty feet from the ground. I estimate that the branch I am climbing now is twenty-five feet high.Jumping from such a height is dangerous even for someone with years of tree climbing experience.But what else can I do?I could find another twig, but it's almost completely dark now.The ever-falling snowflakes also dimmed the moonlight.At this point, at least I could see a small snowdrift on the ground to dampen the impact of my impact on the ground.Even if I could find a twig—God knows if I would—I don't know what the ground would be like.I slung the empty game bag over my shoulder and moved slowly down, hanging from the branch with both hands.I paused briefly to cheer myself up, and then let go of my grip on the branch.

I fell to the ground with a bang, and the moment I touched the ground, a strong shock went up my spine, and then I landed on my butt.I lay in the snow, thinking about how hard I fell.I knew I was injured by the pain in my left heel and tailbone before I was even on my feet.The only question is how hard did it fall?I hoped it was just a bruise, but when I braced myself to my feet, I thought a bone must have been broken.Anyway, I was barely able to walk, so I moved forward slowly, trying not to show myself limping. There's no way Mom and Prim knew I was in the woods, and I had to find an excuse, however implausible it might be.Some shops in the square weren't closed, so I went into one and bought some bandages.It just so happened that the bandages at home were almost used up.At another store, I bought Prim a bag of candy.I put a candy bar in my mouth, um, peppermint, and that's when I realized I hadn't eaten all day.I wanted to eat something by the lake, but when I saw Turrell and Bonnie so hungry, I couldn't bear another bite.

When I got home, I couldn't use my left heel at all.I was going to tell my mother that I accidentally fell down while repairing the roof of the old house.As for the food, I try not to mention who I gave it to.I shuffled through the door with difficulty, and was about to collapse at once before the fireplace, but what I saw surprised me. Two security guards, a man and a woman, were standing at the kitchen door.When she saw me, the woman had no expression on her face, but there was a look of surprise on the man's face.They didn't expect me to show up.They know I'm in the woods and I'm supposed to be stuck there.

"Hello." I said nonchalantly. Then the mother appeared behind them, but still kept some distance from them. "Look, she's back, just in time for supper," she said lightly, but I'd long since missed dinner. I thought about taking off my boots as I usually do when I come home, but I doubt that doing so will reveal my hurt.So I just took off the wet turban and brushed the snow off my head. "Is there anything I can do for you?" I asked the security officer. "Our head, Stride, sent us a message for you," said the woman. "They've been waiting for hours," Mom added.

They've been waiting, waiting to hear that I can't come back.Waiting to confirm that I've been electrocuted in the fence, or stuck in the woods so they can take my family away for questioning. "This letter must be very important," I said. "May we ask where you've been, Miss Everdeen?" asked the woman. "It would be easier to ask where I haven't been," I replied, not without exasperation.I went into the kitchen and tried to walk as nonchalantly as possible, even though every step hurt like hell.I walked between two vigilantes and went straight to a table.I threw away the backpack and turned to Prim, who was standing stiffly by the fireplace.Haymitch and Peeta were there too, playing chess in two rocking chairs.Did they come to my house by chance, or were they "invited" by the Sheriff's Police?Anyway, I'm glad to see them.

"Well, where have you been?" Haymitch said flatly. "Alas, I failed to tell the old sheepman that Prim's sheep were pregnant, someone lived in the wrong place," I yelled at Prim. "No, I'm not mistaken," Prim said, "I told you exactly what I told you." "You said he lived west of the mouth of the mine," I said. "East," Prim corrected me. "You said west, and I said, 'By the slag pile?' And you said, 'Yes.'" I said. "I said the east side of the slag pile." Prim insisted on her own words persistently.

"No. When did you say that?" I kept insisting. "Last night," Haymitch cut in. "Definitely the east," Peeta said.He looked at Haymitch, and they both laughed.I glared at Peeta, who pretended to regret. "Sorry, I keep saying that, you never listen well when people talk." "I'm sure someone told you he doesn't live there anymore, you just didn't hear," Haymitch said. "You shut up, Haymitch," I said, obviously saying he was right. Haymitch and Peeta laughed, and Prim laughed too. "Okay, get someone else to deliver the damn sheep," I said, and they laughed even harder.I thought to myself, Haymitch and Peeta, there really are them, they can handle anything.

I look at the vigilante.The man was also laughing, but the woman didn't quite believe it. "What's in the bag?" she asked sharply. I understood that she was looking for game or wild vegetables, something that would obviously incriminate me.I immediately dumped the contents of the bag on the table. "Here, see for yourself." "Oh, that's great," Mom said when she saw the bandages. "We're almost out of bandages." Peeta comes to the table and picks up the candy. "Oh, peppermints," he said, popping a piece of sugar into his mouth. "That's mine." I reached out to grab the candy, but he tossed the bag to Haymitch, who stuffed a handful of candy into her mouth, then tossed it to a giggling Prim. "None of you deserve candy today!" I said. "What, just because we're right?" Peeta steps up and wraps his arms around me, and the pain in my tailbone makes me go "yo."I tried to hide it like I was angry, but I could tell from his eyes that he knew I was hurt. "Okay, Prim said west, and I heard west. We're all idiots. Is that okay?" "That's about it." I said, accepting his kiss.Then I looked at the vigilantes, and it seemed like I suddenly remembered that they were still there. "You send me a message?" "It's a letter from Sheriff Stride," the woman said. "He wants you to know that the fence in Districts 10 and 2 will be powered on twenty-four hours a day." "Isn't it already powered on?" I asked, pretending to be completely ignorant. "He thinks you might like to tell your cousin the letter," said the woman. "Thank you, I'll let him know. I think we can all sleep better now that the isolation network is on." I'm talking too much, but I feel a sense of satisfaction when I say it. The woman was still sullen.Nothing had gone according to their plan, but she had no other orders to carry out.She gave me a slight nod and left, with the man right behind her.When my mother closed the door, I fell down at the table. "What's wrong?" Peeta asked, hugging me tightly. "Oh, I fell on my left foot, the heel, and my coccyx hurts too." He helped me to a rocking chair, and I slowly lay down on the cushions. Mom carefully took off my boots: "What happened?" "I slipped and fell," I said.Four pairs of eyes looked at me distrustfully. "On the ice." But we all knew the room must have been bugged, and the conversation was not safe.Nothing can be said here and now. Mom took off my socks and touched my left heel tentatively with her hands. I couldn't help but frown in pain. "It must have been broken," she said.Then she checked the other foot. "This foot looks fine." She looked at my tailbone again, it was bruised and swollen. Mom told Prim to get my pajamas and dressing gown.After I changed, my mother put my feet on the cushions and put a cold compress on my heels.I sat there eating three big bowls of stew and half a loaf of bread while the others ate at the table.I stared blankly at the fire in the fireplace, thinking of Bonnie and Turrell, and hoping that the clammy snow would cover my tracks. Prim came and sat on the floor next to me, with her head on my knee.We ate peppermints and I brushed her soft blond hair behind her ears. "How are you at school?" I asked. "It's good that we learned about the by-products of coal," she said.Our eyes were fixed on the flames of the fireplace.After a while, she said, "Would you like to try on a wedding dress?" "Not tonight, maybe tomorrow." I said. "I'll try it when I get home, okay?" she said. "Sure." If they hadn't caught me before then.I wonder. Mom poured me a cup of chamomile tea spiked with a hypnotic syrup, and my eyelids were scooping up in no time.She bandaged the wound on my foot, and Peeta volunteered to help me into bed.At first, he held me and I leaned on his shoulders, but I wobbled and Peeta just picked me up and carried me upstairs.He tucked me in, said good night to me, and was about to leave when I grabbed his hand and hugged him.One of the side effects of sleep syrup is that it makes people less shy, it works like alcohol; but I know I have to keep my mouth shut.For some reason, I can't make such a request of him. "No, wait until I fall asleep." I said. So Peeta sat on the edge of my bed and warmed my hands in his. "You weren't here at dinner today, I thought you'd changed your mind." I was sleepy, but I knew what he meant.The isolation grid was powered on, and I didn't come back for dinner on time. He thought I ran away, and maybe followed Gale. "No, I'll tell you," I said.I brought his hand closer, pressed my face against the back of his hand, and smelled the faint aroma of cinnamon and dill on his hand, which must have been on his hand when he baked bread.I wanted to tell him about Bonnie, Turrell, the riots, and District 13, but now it's not safe, and I'm about to fall asleep, so all I can say is, "Don't go." When the sleep syrup finally kicked in and lulled me to sleep, I heard him whisper something to me, but I couldn't catch it. Mom let me sleep until noon, then woke me up to check my heels.She ordered me to stay in bed for a week, and I didn't object, because I felt very tired, not just in my heels and tailbone, but in my whole body.So, I let my mother treat me with peace of mind, and even ate breakfast in bed, and she brought me a quilt to wrap around me.Then I lay quietly in bed, staring out the window at the winter sky, trying to mentally process what had happened.I thought about Bonnie and Turrell, and the white wedding dress downstairs, and how Stride would come and arrest me if he found out how I got back.Anyway, my previous crimes were enough for him to get me arrested.But maybe he'll have to find solid evidence to take me away, after all I've already won the Hunger Games.I wonder if President Snow has been in touch with Stride.I think he may not even know the existence of the old sheriff Clay, but now that I am famous all over the country, maybe he should carefully instruct Stride what to do?Or, did Stride do it all on his own terms?I'm sure they both agreed to keep me locked up in District 12 no matter the cost.Even if I knew how to get out—maybe I put a rope around that maple tree and could climb out of the branches—my family and friends couldn't.But anyway, I also told Gail that I'm staying and fighting with them. For the next few days, I would jump out of bed whenever I heard a knock on the door.But no security police came to arrest me. Gradually, I relaxed.I was even more relieved when Peeta told me that workers were reinforcing the wire at the bottom of the fence and that some places had lost power.Stride must have thought I could get under even with a deadly electric current.But in any case, this is a temporary relief for the people in the district, because the security police are busy repairing the isolation net in addition to punishing the people. Peeta came to see me every day and brought me cheese bread while he started helping me with our family herb book.The book was old and made of parchment and leather.My mother's herbal doctor compiled this book many years ago.Page after page of the book is drawn with plant sketches, and at the same time there are text descriptions of the medicinal value of this plant.Dad included in this book the edible plants that helped us survive after his death.For a long time, I wanted to add the knowledge I had accumulated, including what I learned from Gale, and what I learned while participating in the Hunger Games training.But I never did that because I'm not an artist, and plant drawings need to be detailed and precise.Now it's time for Peeta to help.Among the plants to be painted, some he already knew, others had specimens, and others depended on my description.He first typed out a draft on paper until I thought he was right and satisfied, and then he drew the picture on the book. At work, we are quiet and focused, and I put my worries aside.When Peeta draws, I like to see his hands. It is these hands that fill a blank sheet of paper with various lines and color the original black and yellow pages.When he was concentrating on doing things, he had a special expression on his face. He usually had a relaxed expression, but now he was so focused, as if the whole world was locked out.I've seen him do it before: in the arena, when he spoke to the crowd, and that time when he pushed the muzzle of the vigilante away from me in the Eleventh.I don't know what language to use to describe it.I stared at his eyelashes again.Usually his eyelashes are not very noticeable, that is because the color is very light.But up close, the lashes are so long, their golden hue reflected in the setting sun from the window, that I wonder why they don't get tangled up when he blinks. One afternoon, when Peeta stopped what she was doing and looked up suddenly, I was startled, as if I had been caught spying on him, and maybe I was spying on him.But he said calmly, "Look, I think this is the first time we've been doing something normal together." "Yeah." I thought so too.Our relationship has always been tainted by the Hunger Games. "Normal" is never included. "It's a nice change," I said. Every afternoon, he carried me downstairs for a change of scenery, and every time I turned on the TV, everyone was very annoying.Generally, we only turn on the TV when there is a mandatory viewing, because the propaganda and boasting of Capitol power is really disgusting, and this content includes the seventy-fourth Hunger Games episode.But now, I wanted to see something special, to find the Mockingjay that Bonnie and Turrell had dreamed of.I know it's mostly a stupid idea, but it's a stupid idea, and I want to find evidence to rule it out and get rid of the idea of ​​a thriving District 13 from my mind forever. When I turned on the TV, what I saw was a TV film about the "Dark Ages".I see the burning embers of the Thirteenth District Courthouse, and the black and white wings of a mockingjay flash across the top right corner of the screen.This doesn't say anything, it's just an outdated image in an outdated story. However, after a few days, something caught my attention.The announcer is broadcasting a message that a shortage of graphite is affecting the production of certain products in District Three.A female reporter appeared on the TV, wearing protective clothing, standing in the ruins in front of the 13th district court building, reporting on the spot.She reported through the mask that, unfortunately, a study showed that the mines in District 13 were still too toxic to be approached.At the end of the report, I clearly saw that same mockingjay wing flash across the screen. This reporter just entered the old TV film through editing, and she was not in the thirteenth district at all.The question that immediately arises is, what exactly is there in the thirteenth district?