Chapter 52

Two weeks. That's how long it took me to get out of the hospital. It still hurts to move, but I power through the pain.

Gale told me that Paylor has stationed soldiers at every street corner in District Twelve, just to protect the damn Mockingjay.

His words not mine.

At the end of physical therapy I jog down the little dirt path into the woods and climb a sizeable tree.

It smells like pine.

It's a nice smell. I mean it reminds me of home. I never really connected smells with home until I went into the Games. The Arena smelled plenty like home, but it had an artificial feel to it.

I smile as I climb higher and higher. I love heights.

District Three is not a pretty district. It's mostly high tech machinery, buildings, and a few factories. This District's official color seems to be gray.

Volts probably loves it here. There's so much for him to do. But an idiot like me just sees gray colors and lots of wires I'm not allowed to touch.

I don't think anyone has any idea how strong the urge to touch them is for me.

I told Rachael this the other day and she laughed. She laughed for a solid four minutes or so.

I sit back in my usual position, my ankles crossed out in front of me and my hands behind my head. I feel a slight breeze and I close my eyes. I'm so high up I can feel the tree sway about two feet or so.

I smile and breathe in.

Suddenly, I hear someone climbing up the tree.

"Oh, hi Johanna," Rachael's speaker box chirps.

"Hi," I say looking over at her perched on the branch beside me.

"What're you doing here?"

"Same as you," I say closing my eyes again.

"Getting away from the guns?" She asks sitting back against the trunk.

"Yeah, I've always preferred blades to a gun. You don't have to disassemble and reassemble them, and they don't misfire."

"But it's easy to miss, and if you miss. You have to retrieve it."

"You have a point. But they aren't loud. Guns are loud and bulky and obvious. You can't just kill the guy and run off, you have to actually worry about location." I say shrugging.

"Only you would think of it as in the case of needing to be quiet. On a battlefield you don't have to be quiet."

"You have a point." I say chuckling. I sigh. "I better get back to camp."

"See you Johanna." Her voice box chirps as I rapidly climb back down.

I jog back towards camp to find Paylor rushing towards me.

"They're moving." She says breathlessly.

"Who's moving? The rebels? Where are they going? Calm down, where are the rebels going?"

"I don't know, but they have their aircrafts."

"Okay," I say calmly. "You did this in District Eight. Get everyone together and scatter on rooftops. Stay away from big targets. I'll get everyone organized. We need to evacuate the hospital, and get other places where there would be many people. There could be bombs on those aircrafts."

With that, I leave in a rush.

"Jo!" Gale shouts as he assists a family into a bomb shelter.

I run past him towards the hospital. He pounds next to me. Not outrunning me, he has longer legs, but I'm faster.

"Hospital," I say nodding towards it.

"I'll get the market place." He says branching off from my path.

I burst in and up to the front desk panting. "Rebels are on the move. They're using the aircrafts. Could have bombs, evacuate who you can."

And again, I'm off.

That's about when the first bomb fell. I crash to the ground. I grunt in pain and look up. I scramble to my feet to see where the bomb hit.

The market place is in flames.

My eyes go wide.

"Not now Jo." I whisper to myself. "Not now."

I run off in the opposite direction towards the other side of town.

"Get out of here." I shout as people filter out of the buildings and such to see what's going on. They see me in my filthy green t-shirt and my army cargo pants, my combat boots, my ax. "Get out of here! This is the next target for their bombs! Get out of here!"

That starts panic.

People are so stupid.

Eventually they leave the crippled and dead, due to the trampling, in the dust.

The people scatter everywhere in hast to get away from the bombing. Like roaches, scattering from light, they scatter from open sky.

Like that'll help.

I run off towards a storage building where Paylor has begun shooting the aircrafts down.

They're not doing so well.

District Three is not the weapons district. We have technology, but we don't have cutting edge bombs and guns.

I move towards the fire escape when another bomb drops sending me off the bottom rungs of the ladder and to the dusty earth below me.

I growl as I scramble up to the roof. I grab a gun from some idiot's hands. He can barely point the thing away from him.

I set up like a true sniper next to Paylor.

"Where's Hawthorne?" She shouts over the rounds of bullets being shot towards the aircrafts.

"I don't know." I say trying to keep emotion from my voice. "He went to the market place to evacuate. Seeing as it's in flames currently, I'd assume he's not going to be joining us."

She pats my shoulder as we continue back to the shooting.

The entire fleet, all nine of them, fly over head, with barely a scorch mark.

"Fuck!" I shout standing up. "That engineer they had, he's good."

"They learned off of what the Capitol did wrong." Paylor says more calmly than I am, clearly.

I'm so angry, I could, well; I could blow up the planet.

I let off a long strand of expletives at the disappearing aircrafts.

Finally I calm myself. "We have to get to the Mockingjay before they do." I say rubbing my temples.

"We'll call up the soldiers." Paylor says diplomatically.

"We need to transport her by ground. Not trains, not hovercraft. Just a few well-trained soldiers." I say clenching my fists at my sides.

"Why only a few?" Paylor says loudly. "She needs more."

"I don't doubt her ability to take care of herself, Paylor." I say coldly. "You and I, Volts, Enobaria, we're Victors, and we take care of ourselves. But, she's a Victor too, don't forget that. Those soldiers are to keep her in line. Also, to provide back up at the very least. They're not her body guards. I wouldn't trust anybody but me, Gale, Peeta, Volts, and anybody else you've known long before the Rebellion, with her life. A larger party is a larger target. That's my input. Feel free to ignore me. But you know me Paylor."

She looks slightly worried, in that stone cold way of hers. "Alright,"

I nod stiffly and walk towards the ladder.

"Where are you going?" She asks.

"To see if Gorgeous is dead or not." I say offhandedly.

I wipe sweat and grime from my face. Well, I more of, smear it all over my face.

I jog towards the market place, trying not to seem as panicked on the outside as I am on the inside.

The flames have died down some, due to the fire officers spraying water all over the place.

In the corner, a slightly blackened man squats in front of a crying little girl.

I walk over to see if either of them have information.

That would be a very much charred Gale.

I touch Gale's shoulder as I squat down next to him. "What's your name Sweetheart?" I ask.

She's sobbing too hard to answer. The poor kid is scared.

"Her name is Sally." Gale says gently.

He makes eye contact with me, telling me exactly what happened in that explosion.

"Well Sally, let's go to the hospital, make sure you're not hurt, and then, we can get you something to eat and drink." I say standing up.

She nods. Gale takes her hand and I lead them off through rubble filled streets and into a slightly damaged hospital.

Gale gets her situated and I wait outside the room, standing almost like a sentinel, although I'm facing the wrong direction.

I watch as the doctor checks her over and a nod for Gale to leave the room for a more thorough evaluation, and for the therapists to question her.

Gale leans against the wall across the hall. We're sat across the hall on opposite walls.

He leans his head back and groans, a shiver going down his back.

"Flashbacks," He says simply as I watch him.

"I know the feeling." I say simply. "I got the pleasure of watching with Snow."

He looks up at me. I'm looking further down the hall.

"You saw all of that?"

"Yeah," I say shrugging. "Everyone called you a hero, still call you a hero, because of it. What you did was impressive."

"Your thoughts?" He asks quirking an eyebrow.

"I think that heroes don't exist anymore."

Gale nods. "My thoughts as well."

I smirk a little. "It took all I had not to run towards the market place and go towards downtown." I say, my slightly subdued mood turning dark.

He smiles. His teeth are white against his ash caked skin. "I'm glad you did."

I nod. "Yeah," I say stretching. "The aircrafts got away."

"They did?" Gale says. His voice doesn't indicate worry, but his eyes shine with it.

"Don't worry. Your precious Mockingjay is being moved by a few well trained soldiers. I told Paylor not to send an army with her. She can take care of herself. She's a big girl now." I say mockingly.

"She's not my 'precious Mockingjay'." Gale growls. "She's a childhood friend. We helped each other out of starvation."

"Oh my bad." I say sarcastically.

Gale runs both of his hands through his hair and sighs. "Sometimes Jo," He says dangerously. "You make me want to strangle you."

"Kinky, Gorgeous, but I'll play along." I say a wicked smirk taking over my face.

Strangely enough, he starts to laugh.

"I guess I set myself up for that one."

"How do you know it wasn't a long wind up?" I say laughing. "I'm known for driving people into little traps."

"I know you Jo. You wouldn't make a joke like that unless it was passed beneath your nose. You just can't let perfect situations like that go by. It's cute." He quips.

I roll my eyes. "You have a point."

He moves to sit next to me and drapes his arm around my shoulders. On instinct I lay my head on his shoulder.

"You think the soldiers will get her to safety?" Gale asks.

"I'm not sure. We're not the only capable soldiers out there. I'm sure they're at least able to hold a gun."

"So reassuring, Jo." Gale says a low chuckle resonating in the back of his throat.

"You know me. Queen of Encouragement,"

"I thought you were Queen of the Universe?"

"I specialize in encouragement. I also accept Goddess."

"I'll remember that." Gale says chuckling and kissing the top of my head.

He notices a red stain seeping through my shirt. "Jo?" He says pointing to it.

I scrunch my shirt up to look at my gun wound. "I guess I ripped one of the stitches." I say shrugging. "I got thrown to the ground a lot, and I was running, so I guess it's not much of a surprise."

He strokes my hair. "C'mon, let's get you stitched up again. Wouldn't want anything else coming out." He says smiling slightly.

He helps me up. Leading me down the corridor by an arm around my shoulders, he grabs the attention of a nurse.

She sews my wound up pretty quickly. I only ripped a couple of stitches on the surface.

The hospital speeds up and Sally is pushed out, seeing as she's taking up valuable space for a somewhat unharmed girl.

"C'mon, let's get out of here." I say nervously as people flood the place.

I don't like large crowds okay? It smells like burning flesh.

We take her back to base where someone swoops towards us and immediately takes over.

Gale and I drag our tired feet to base, where I immediately collapse into a chair.

"I don't have enough energy for this." I say leaning back in my chair.

"It's been an, eh, exciting day." He says as Paylor comes in looking worried.

"We sent them off. We have no idea how it's going right now. They don't have a radio, so we'll find out if they're safe once they get to District Four. I've sent an army into District Two to arrest everyone there."

I sigh. "This is going to be a good three days without sleep am I correct?" I say looking at Paylor.

"For me, perhaps. Johanna, I'm sending you off to District four to intercept the Mockingjay. Even grievously injured, you're better than most of my soldiers."

"I'm trustable." I grumble. "Alright, alright, I'll intercept them."

"Hawthorne, I need you to get base ready for the incoming criminals."

"Not in District Four?" Gale says tilting his head.

"No, I need you here." She says.

Without a dismissal or a goodbye, she leaves.

"Stellar manners," I say after her.

Gale smiles sadly at me. "I'll walk you to the train station."

We meander towards the train station, both of us nervous about using public transportation. I mean, with the rebels out of District Two, there could be bombs and terrorists on every street corner.

In the atrium, scared people with only the bare necessities crowding around the tracks waiting for the train, Gale and I stop.

I pull him down to me, our lips molding together.

He breaks it off and hugs me, careful not to hurt me. I lay my head on his blackened shirt. "Don't get yourself killed, got it Gorgeous?"

He chuckles and looks at me. "No problem. Do you get it?"

I nod. I want to say more, but something stops me. "Seriously, don't die."

"That seems to be the only thing on your mind today." He says tracing my jaw line.

"Not the only thing, security will be fucking annoying." I say smirking.

He chuckles and pulls me back into a hug. This whole 'hugging' thing, is still new to me. But I don't quite mind.

I can feel his muscles.

Yeah, one way to make any woman, including the not-so-average woman like me, happy, is to have muscles.

Oh! And you let us feel them too.

He's got some wonderful abs. Then again, so do I. But hey, I don't have biceps the size of my thighs.

I'm also not six foot four. That always helps.

Gale chuckles. "Thinking about my muscles?"

"Why would I do that? I'm not a perv." I say smiling into his neck.

"Johanna Mason? A pervert? No!" He says sarcastically.

"Hey you hugged me, stop complaining."

"Who said I was complaining?" He says teasingly.

I push him away smiling.

Come on, say it! A voice says in my head.

Oh yeah, the voice that said, 'go on kill her, it'll be fun'. What a trustworthy voice.

We stand there awkwardly, both knowing the other wants to say something, but also knowing that they can't quite get out what they want to say.

I scratch the back of my neck and glance at the tracks. No train.

The one time I want the train to be on time, it's late. When I want it to be late, it's early.

I never win.

Gale shifts awkwardly. "So, eh, the Mockingjay?"

"Yeah, I'm excited." I say drily. "She's my best friend can't you tell?"

"Yeah, it shows." He says chuckling nervously.

I lean against the wall of the atrium, my energy seeming to drain through my wound.

"I hate this." I growl closing my eyes. "I hate being injured, but I hate taking orders more."

"Somehow, I'm not surprised." Gale says chuckling. "You just strike me as a submissive person."

"I'm tired." I say sliding down to sit on the ground.

He sits next to me and puts his hand on my thigh. "You can sleep on the train."

I laugh. "You know that won't happen."

He kisses my cheek. "Yeah, I thought so."

Someone trips over my feet. "Hey watch it!" I snap as he scrambles to catch his balance.

"You're the one with your feet-"He stops, recognizing me, he runs off.

Gale chuckles. "So polite, Jo."

"I get it from Dad." I say shrugging and cocking an eyebrow.

Silence falls between us. I watch the people around us. They're so quirky. The nerdy, District Three people, the mousy kids, the brightly colored Capitol people, flooding from the District, all of them are just looking for a safe place to stay.

"Kind of like rats aren't they?" Gale says musing.

"Rats?"

"Yeah, rats being flood from the nest." Gale says not looking at me.

"They are aren't they? They're just as disgusting too."

"How?" Gale asks scrutinizing me.

"Whatever happened to stand up and defend your home? It went right out the window once the bandwagon fell apart." I grumble.

"Morals and values change." Gale says shrugging. "We just got through a war. Nobody wants more conflict."

"It's not going to happen." I say bitterly. "Ever,"

I lean my head against his shoulder. He kisses the top of my head. Silence falls again.

"Jo?" Gale breaks the silence. I look up at him.

"Hm?"

He looks beyond nervous. "I, eh," He pauses to try to find his words.

"What?" I say rolling my eyes.

The corner of his mouth twitches upwards slightly. "I, eh, I love you Jo." He says looking away quickly.

Ha! Take that fifteen years old me! I didn't have to say it first! Ha!

But other than that little victory dance in my head, I'm relatively surprised.

I don't know why. Honestly, the world had it coming. My dog could have seen it coming from forty miles away.

Speaking of, I can't find Raider anywhere.

Focus on the current problem Johanna.

I can see his self confidence draining from his eyes second by second. "I love you too, you romantic prick." I say shoving his shoulder.

His smile is brighter than I've ever seen it.

The guy has some white teeth.

I can't help but smile back. "At a train station really? I guess it could get sappier. It could've been in a forest, at night, or better yet, right before I went into District Two." I say smirking.

Gale laughs. "I have to work with what I've got Jo. You're leaving right about now."

"For what? Two weeks? Not long."

"I figured, seeing as you were so interested in my staying alive, I should at least keep you interested."

"Because I love dramatic, romantic, sap fests, am I right?"

He chuckles. "Yeah," He says wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

The train comes rattling into the station loudly, fights break out as people scramble to get on.

"Well," Gale says shoving a guy who had tried to shove him. "Use your elbows."

I laugh and grab my ax from my belt. "I'm Johanna Mason, elbows, such a downgrade." I scoff.

It's absolutely hilarious how quickly people move out of my way.

A/N I. Am. Amazing. I have studied for not one, not three, not four, but seven and a half hours straight. I decided to finish this up as my break. I hate romance. I hate romance so much. Yet, it's kind of the major plot of the story. I have midterms/finals next week. Don't expect updates. Review?