Johanna Mason & The Rebel

Chapter 8 - Victims

"It's better for everybody's sake if people have a perception of me rather than knowing me. The last people that knew me aren't alive to say it."

Johanna answered silently. Rorke nodded, keeping his distance from that particular topic.

"Besides, being a victor isn't all that glamorous anyway. People despise those that win because they think we have the Capitol in our hands when it is the other way around. We do what we do for the Capitol to adore us, and for the President to be entertained."

Johanna went on.

"Why are you telling me this?"

He asked.

"I don't know. You listen, you don't judge, and you have the freedom to be a rebel. You are freer than anyone I've ever seen."

She went on to say as she saw someone in the distance. Rorke noticed the same and flashed the light for his companions down there to go into hiding.

"You seem to know me very well after just one day of knowing me."

Rorke answered after a while.

"I don't know you, specifically, but I know your kind. They make me angry at times, mostly because I can't do what you do. I'm being watched all the freaking time by the man in his ivory palace in the Capitol."

Johanna responded. Rorke nodded weakly before signaling to the ones down there that the coast was clear.

Rorke sat there in silence next to her and wondered. Johanna Mason was a victor of the Hunger Games, but more than anything, she felt like it was a prison rather than a liberation. Winning the Games gave you no power whatsoever...none that the Capitol intentionally tried to give to her.

It sounded like she was just as trapped in her district as the rest of the people, and nobody truly knew that. Rorke was starting to realize some things about this rebellion that had never been clear to him in the past – this was never going to be his rebellion.

"Which is why it is important for those that are brave enough to keep the spark of rebellion going. We can't continue to live like this."

Rorke mentioned. Johanna looked over at him.

"We're not technically living, any of us. We are just playing a game of survival with the Capitol. We need to break free, and this rebellion is the only way."

Rorke pointed out. Johanna nodded weakly.

"People have been thinking that for years, but there is a reason nobody tries. People are too scared."

She answered.

"But now...with the couple from twelve defying their rules, who's to say we can't?"

Rorke pointed out.

"If everybody believed it in the same way that you do, there would be no doubt about it."

Johanna answered as she looked over at him, strangely she was smiling at him too.

"Maybe with time...and I think I see you smiling at me. Who would've thought that Johanna Mason could smile at an idiot?"

Rorke commented amused.

"Don't get ahead of yourself."

She answered as she checked the time on her wrist.

"You should signal them in two minutes. It'll give them three minutes to hide before the peacekeepers come."

She added.

Two minutes later, Rorke did as he was told. He received response from Gray down there and they went into hiding in darker parts of the tree-line. Johanna and Rorke lowered their heads slightly as the peacekeepers would look around with their flashlights. They were in conversation over something. Rorke didn't hear it, but he could tell that it caught Johanna's attention. It was as if her focus sharpened as she followed them with her gaze before their voices turned mumbles.

Not long after, Rorke signaled for the guys to continue with their work. They worked in silence through the entire window of opportunity. Rorke eventually looked over at Johanna who was very thoughtful.

"What was that about?"

He asked, snatching her out of her head.

"What were the peacekeepers talking about?"

He repeated as she shook herself out of it before looking over at Rorke.

"Something about preparations for the Victor's Tour. Funny, they want extra strict security around the stages and armed guards everywhere to prevent any particular scenes from District 11..."

She mentioned as she turned thoughtful.

"What happened in 11? We haven't seen anything, have we?"

Rorke asked. Johanna shook her head.

"I may have watched their speech, but it turned blurry after a while. There was some commotion, but I don't think anyone got to see the worst of it."

Johanna responded as she continued to watch straight ahead.

"That means it's happening elsewhere as well."

Rorke mentioned to himself. Johanna looked over at him suspiciously over the way he said that. Why was he so interested in what was going on in another District when District Seven was where he was and always would be? Rorke noticed her looking at him.

"The more districts, the better. It'll be harder for them to control us."

Rorke went on as he looked back down, looking for peacekeepers once more. Johanna shrugged off whatever uneasy feeling she had and looked back down. She looked at her watch again and grabbed Rorke's flashlight before he could react. She gave them the signal to get down.

"You forget that there are districts that will not rebel at all. They supply the peacekeepers and the weapons."

Johanna responded after a while. She proved a valuable point, Rorke realized. It would be hard to succeed with a rebellion unless all thirteen districts were on board.

"With the right amount of weight, they can be persuaded...even they have victims."

Rorke responded after a while. Johanna looked at him.

"No, they don't. Their minds are screwed up. They love that television-show because they think they have some sort of power over themselves when they are just contributing to their own submissiveness."

Johanna responded before she crawled back. Rorke looked over at her. He could tell she was angrier than earlier.

"Peacekeepers will be back in another thirty minutes. I trust you can keep the time on your own."

She said as she tossed him her watch.