Johanna Mason & The Rebel

Chapter 7 - Gratitude

             On the next day, Rorke got out of bed, feeling terrible. The injuries on his body were still weighing his bodily functions down. He had been given a two-day rest from the doctor, verified by a peacekeeper, and therefore was not expected to go to work. He was about to take a stroll when he found a package outside of his door. He got down on one knee and picked it up. His ribs hurt as he did, but he managed to punch through it. He tried to see if he could spot who put the packages there but figured that it was left there quite some time ago.

"Thank you for helping me."

Rorke sighed deeply to himself. He had an idea of who it was from, but he would never know where to find her. The old woman disappeared in the crowd, and he never learned a name. Still, a sense of achievement spread in his chest as he had helped another person in need. Sometimes he didn't know why he would risk his life for others. It wasn't the gratitude, at least he didn't think so for quite a while, now he realized that he was wrong. It was because it was the right thing to do.

"I see you're not dead."

He suddenly heard in front of him. Gray stood in front of him, keeping an eye on his surroundings every now and then.

"Yeah, imagine that. Was I a good enough distraction?"

Rorke asked. Gray looked at him apologetically.

"People froze yesterday. Nobody knew what to do even if they knew what they wanted to do. People were scared."

Gray answered. Rorke nodded weakly as he looked down on the package in his hand.

"All but one."

Rorke answered, commenting on a particular person. Gray nodded as he caught his drift.

"Nobody's seen her step out of the Victor's Village like that. It's the first time she's bothered. You know, victors aren't really...they don't really have a place here when they win their Games. They are no longer in danger sort of speak."

Gray answered.

"Maybe there is a reason that victors don't act for the people of their districts. I have heard that some do have families and might be told off by the President."

Rorke answered.

"There's no way for us to know...but it's changed a bit. People talked about Johanna Mason last night. She saved your life. Did she say anything about rebelling?"

Gray asked as he stepped up to Rorke's door. He was keeping his voice lower than before.

"No, she didn't say much about it. She called me an idiot, but that was about it."

Rorke commented. Gray nodded weakly as he looked around once more.

"We want to plant some bombs tonight, but we need someone to keep watch. Considering you're not working, perhaps you could scope out some possible watch-posts? We need to learn the peacekeepers' routines at night."

Gray asked more discretely. Rorke thought about it for a moment. He was not only helping to establish the will to act against the Capitol, he wanted to be a part of it too.

"Okay, I'll try and do some scoping out during today and come up with a safe meeting-point for tonight."

Gray smiled before he stepped away from Rorke's front-door and went back to work. Rorke opened the package in his hand and saw a small piece of freshly baked bread. He grabbed it and took a long smell of it. It was by far some of the best he had ever held in his hands. The cooks in District 13 only made food to get paid. There were no high-quality rations to be had from them.