Nicholas knew this could easily be the last time he ever saw Amabelle, but that didn't change the speed that he ran with to get to her. The trip took hours, but he had only told her that a it took an hour to get to her. But it was well worth it either way.
He left his house silently, sneaking out with only his clothes, an axe, and the rope. He made his way through the town, making sure to stay behind the houses. Today was the only day of the year where they had no work, but that didn't mean people were out and about. Most were at home, praying their child wouldn't be picked, already starting their preparations, but not his family. He'd be lucky if his parents were even able to speak, but that wasn't a normal occasion.
As Nicholas reached the high fence, he grimaced at the loud hum of the sparking top part of the fence, preventing you from climbing it, and the foundation under neath it, preventing someone from getting under. He sighed, and pulled out the rope, making sure no one was watching. It wasn't a secret that he left the district sometimes though. People had seen him before, but because of his kindness to everyone, they knew not to tell anyone. Punishment was bad in district 11, and the sentence would most certainly be a long, slow death to him, and his family.
Nicholas took the rope out from his jacket pocket, swinging the looped end up, hooking it on a thick branch. Then, he started pulling himself up, using his arm strength. He pulled himself up to the branch, and put his stomach on, swinging his legs up and shimmying himself closer to the trunk, making sure not to fall. He arrived at the trunk, and made his way down a few branches after grabbing the rope and putting it back in his pocket.
The grass on the ground bellow him provided a soft landing for his feet as he jumped. He took a deep breath of the fresh air, a smile coming to his face as he started running, a fast light jogging pace, towards the meeting place of his and Amabelle's.
Their meeting was brief, and filled with lot of holding, and few words, and directly after, he made his way back to his district, knowing he didn't have much time until the reaping. He made his way back over the fence, being seen by no one yet again, and sprinted to his house, already out of breath from the treck to Amabelle.
His sister, Mel, was already washed, her hair still dripping wet, and she was only wearing a robe. He gave her a hug quickly, kissing the top of her head and asking where his brothers were. In total, there were 6 kids. 5 boys, and 1 girl. "They are bathing. Except James. He refuses to come inside," Rosy said, ringing the water from her hair with her frail hands. James was the middle boy, 14 years old, and he always was trying to be an adult. Nicholas nodded his head, realeasing his sister and going to the back of the shack house.
James was sitting in the dirt, staring off into the distance. Nicholas walked to him, putting his arm around his brother and picking him up before he could protest. "You've got to get ready for the big day," Nicholas said, a slightly sarcastic tone to his voice as he dusted some dirt off his brothers shoulders. James shook his head, saying he wouldn't go. Nicholas sighed, and instead of talking it out with him, he picked him up and put him over his shoulder, bringing him into the cabin, leaving James kicking.
He dropped him on the ground, arriving inside just in time to see his other three brothers walk from the kitchen, each with a towel around their waist and using the two spare ones to twirl up and hit each other with. How they could be having fun on such a horrid day, was way past his thoughts. He snatched the towels out of their hands, taking one for himself and handing the other to James.
"On a scale of one to ten, how dirty is the water?" Nicholas asked. "Thirty eight!" His brother Max said, a chuckle escaping his lips, but instantly stopping from the deathstare Nicholas gave him. "Heat up the water," He said to James, pushing him out of the room. He had too many siblings, and being the oldest was hard, especially when he was the provider.
Nicholas turned to Rosy, seeing her sitting there with her eyes wide and curious. He walked to the cabinet and grabbed the only clothes in the bottom drawer, the nice clothes. There were clothes for his parents, although they always needed help, Rosy helping their mother and Nicholas and the boys helping their father. He grabbed both dresses and handed them to Rosy, shooing her off to go wake their mother and dress her. Then he grabbed the boys clothes. On top were his, and at the sight of them, he froze a little.
They had been his older brother, Jack's, but he had been a tribute a few years ago and died during the games. Next were his old ones, for Greg, the next brother. The next ones were Greg's old ones, and so on and so on. He handed them out to his brothers, watched as they changed, and saw James run into the room, cleaned and ready to change. He tosses him his clothes, and went into the kitchen.
James had filled up the tub (large bucket thing) with clean, warm water for him. Nicholas stripped and went into the water, starting to scrub dirt off his skin and hair. He made sure to go quick, knowing there was not a lot of time until the reaping, and he exited and got dressed. He entered the main room again, and saw everyone dressed, Greg helping Rosy.
Nicholas sighed, and picked up his youngest brother Tom, who was only 5. He handed him to his mom, who reluctantly took him, not quite sure what was going on.
The family made their way to the town square, splitting up into their age groups.Nicholas stayed close to the rope keeping him apart from Greg, keeping eye contact with him as it began. The girl from the district was called, someone who he knew pretty well, and silence re entered the square.
"And for the boy," the capitol made escort said, reaching his hand into the bowl and selecting another name.
"Gregory Bray!"
Greg's face went fail, his hands starting to shake as he took a small step towards the stage, but something held him back. It was Nicholas's hand on his shoulder. Greg looked questioningly at him, then he understood what the hand meant and started shaking his head, words barely forming in his mouth."No- you-you can't," he whispered, meaning to say it louder but unable. Nicholas nodded his head, then turned toward the stage. " I volunteer." He said, making his way toward the stage and avoiding the eyes of the other citizens.
Most of the crowd was silent, but as Nicholas reached the stage, there was a scream from the crowd. His mother. She was crying, clutching to Tom and his father, but the outburst was not to be tolerated by the peace keepers, and he knew that. It hurt his that she would be beaten and punished once again, and that was his last thought as he made it onto stage.
((Sorry it's long... I got really into it.))