One Fell Swoop { A Banana Bus / Hunger Games Story }

Chapter Ten - Before the Games Begin

This was it, Brock thought as he woke, this was the end. This in when the games begin. Quite literally, it was the morning of the bloodbath. He shut his eyes again, trying to will away reality by sleeping. His fears were confirmed when Brian burst into his room, adorning the tribute outfits and a short necklace with a black pendant attached to it. His father had given it to him before he left for the Capitol, a family heirloom.

"Brock, you still aren't up?" Brian asked, leaning against the doorframe with his hipbones jutting out. Brock shook his head, Brian's cheery façade melting as he did.

"I see, I understand. It's only hours away now, but we need to get going Brock. Sitting in bed won't prolong it, it will make it feel worse," Brian tried. Brock nodded, still not saying anything. He swung his legs around the edge of the bed and slowly stood up. Brian walked over to Brock and sat down beside him. He placed a strong hand on Brock's thigh, raising goosebumps.

"Hey, whatever happens in there, happens. I just want you to know that I love you, and that we'll always be together...no matter what happens to us," Brian sighed, his eyes beginning to water. Brock reached up a delicate finger and wiped away the stray tear.

"Thank you, Brian. There's only one victor though, so if you die before me, I'm dying too. I can't live without you," Brock started crying too. Brian looked like he wanted to slap Brock.

"Shut up, don't speak like that. If you're the victor, you have to go on. Not just for your sake, but for mine. When I die - yes, when - you're the only way I can live on. In your memories. Without you, there's no trace of me," Brian replied, hand on Brock's shoulder. Brock took a shaky breath in, eying Brian. There was no sign of lying on his face. Brian's lips were quickly on Brock's, soft and eager. Bittersweet.

"I can't do this, Brian," Brock confessed, eyes screwed shut with his head resting on Brian's strong chest. Their arms wrapped around each other, too scared to let go.

"I know Brock, I know," Brian cooed, rocking Brock slightly, "let's focus on something else."

"Like what?" Brock couldn't get their impending fates off his mind.

"Like our strategy. You know, so we can maximise our time left together," Brian replied, dancing around the elephant in the room.

"What is there to plan? We don't even know where the arena is set," Brock sighed.

"Find water, regardless of the environment we need to get water as soon as possible. Once we get enough water, we get out of there, because the rest of the tributes will try to get to water as well. After that, we stay alive. Avoid other people as much as possible, we can't trust anyone except each other," Brian grabbed Brock's shoulders, a small gesture that filled Brock with the tiniest ounce of hope.

***

"Craig? Are you even awake yet? Evan and Jon are already heading down to the airfield!" Tyler shouted through the bedroom door. He adjusted the collar on his black jacket after noticing that one side was sticking up. Before even considering to knock, Tyler barged in, prepared to drag Craig out of bed.

He wasn't ready to see Craig dripping wet with only a towel covering his modesty.

"Tyler!" Craig shouted, almost dropping his towel in shock. Tyler felt the blood rush to his face, and the blood also rush...southwards? Rivulets of water cascade down Craig's frame, disappearing into the fabric of the white towel. It was hypnotising, Tyler barely noticed that he was staring at Craig now. Craig shouted his name again.

"Oh shit, Craig. I'm sorry," Tyler finally responded. He averted his eyes to Craig's face instead of his sinewy muscle. The shower had plastered his curls to his forehead. "I'll just...wait for you to be ready out in the lounge." Tyler hurried out the door.

The image of an almost naked Craig burned into his head, and he could feel his body reacting to it. But...that can't be. He wasn't super close with Craig before the reaping, it was just subtle nods to each other on corridors, and general polite conversation. This is different, he thought as he grabbed a nearby pillow to hide his issue. Is this what some people preached against back in District 3, but are fine with in the Capitol? Homosexuality? Feelings for his close friend. It was all too intense, this had only appeared over the past week and he needed to quit it. They were only hours away from the Games.

Tyler paused. He only had a 1 in 24 chance of winning, so...would this be in last chance to get off? He eyed the pillow on his lap. He could, if he was quick.

It's not like Craig would ever find out, right?

"Sorry again Tyler, I didn't think you were awake," Craig burst out of his room, fully dressed. Tyler inhaled sharply, heart rate spiking. He didn't expect Craig to come out of no where like that. "Did you say we were meeting Jon and Evan at the airfield?"

"Uh, yeah. We better leave quickly if we want to be on the same aircraft as them. They only seat half of the tributes in each one, did you know?" Craig shook his head. Tyler threw the pillow back to the couch, definite that he'd calmed down by now. Craig grasped Tyler's wrist.

"Should we talk about our official strategy?"

"Yeah, here's the rundown. Get to high ground. Upstream water is always cleaner than downstream water. Plus, we get the height advantage. I spoke to our mentor, the District 3 tributes are always directly south of the Cornucopia, the centre of the arena. I told Evan and Jon last night that we are going to go North West, at least so we can all meet up out of the blast zone, then we can pick a proper place to go." Craig nodded, eyebrows cutely furrowed in deep thought.

No, not cute, Tyler can't have these feelings. It'll hurt even more if Craig dies.

***

Sorry for the shortened chapter and for the temporary hiatus. I was uncomfortable writing with everything surrounding Craig, but then I got writers block and in combination with my current work load I just couldn't update. In the next chapter is when shit hits the fan, so this was almost a filler chapter. Until next time!