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Maybe BigB should have known that his day was gonna be horrible when he woke up to thunder and pouring rain. As he slowly walked to the square the rain was warm and sticky, plastering his clothes and hair to his skin. Only once the Justice Building was in view, together where all the other kids were gathering for the Reaping, did the storm let up into a drizzle and it became more bearable, even if the wind was still howling loudly. BigB stood tall, around his friends, all in various stages of hungover from the night before. Even he was battling a headache, now only pulsating gently as the rain soothed it. On the stage, which had been covered by a flimsy gazebo for the rain, stood District’s 11 Capitol Escort, looking a little frazzled by the weather.
“Good day, District 11! I hope these 149th Life Games may be better than the weather here today! And may the odds be ever in your favor.“
“Yeah, hopefully the weather is great when you kill us.“
BigB murmured under his breath, feeling tears already stinging his eyes as the memory of the year before flooded in. It had been a really beautiful day, sunny and warm, but that hadn’t changed the death sentence that had been imposed on his friend that day.
“The District 11 Tribute for these upcoming games will be: BigB!“
“No! You can’t do this!”
BigB immediately shouted, turning around, ready to flee. He would not let them kill him like an animal, if he was gonna die it’d be in his own terms. But before he could even begin to run his friends stopped him, shouting at him. In a moment there were two Peacekeepers per arm holding him and a fifth one pointing a rifle in his back, who dragged him into the Justice Building. There he waited, still contemplating running, but unable too with so many Peacekeepers around him. He was grateful he was still wet from the rain, so the tears streaking his face would be less noticeable. The knock at the door came unexpected, but he was glad to hear it.
“I didn’t think they would let you in after the stunt I tried.”
He kept his head low in shame, hiding the tears, but soon everyone was around him, holding his hands or hugging him.
“They didn’t want to, but that Capitol guy insisted it was important you get to say goodbye.”
They took the moment, with gratitude, to let out their emotions without shame, it wasn’t the time for shame. It was a kind of intimacy they treasured and unfortunately they had experience in this kind of goodbyes.
“B, don’t give up already, you’re strong. You have a shot at winning.“
“And maybe get a punch in to that 12 girl, if you have the chance!“
“Yeah, yeah…“
There they stayed, together for as long as the Peacekeepers let them, thunder shaking the windows and the storm raging outside.