Chess is passed out at his post. He is surprisingly not covered in sweat and tears. Nick wakes up as he rolls his stiff body out of the cot. He sees chess and rubs his arm to wake him up. " Chess wake up, Its morning! " Chess looks up at Nick with a groggy sigh. " Nick... give me 10 more minutes... The bike can wait... " he mumbles as he falls back asleep. " Oi this kid.. sheesh. Gotta do everything for him."
Nick gently picks him up but is shocked at his weight. He has heard of people being light, but not this light. He walks over to Chess's cot and gently lays him on it. " My shift ain't close yet so I can wait here.."
Chess starts crying in his sleep. He puts his hand up to his cheek and holds it there like someone's hand is underneath it. " D-Don't go Nick.. You don't have to g-go.. you can stay.. we can be happy.." Nick lights a fresh cig and blows out a fresh cloud of smoke. ' honestly, I think this kid has been through hell and back already...' Nick stretches then pets chess's head. Right as nick was taking his hand away, Chess grabs it and holds onto it like his life depended on it. " N-Nick don't go!! I swear to god, what am I going to do if your gone?! And don't you dare say anything about that stupid bike!!" Nicks stomach twisted and burned as he heard all of this. He grids his teeth then gently pulls his hand away.
He slaps Chess as hard as he possibly can in the face, a sharp pain echoes in the woods as Chess jerks awake. He looks at Nick with tears in his eyes. " Wh-Why did you do that?.." Nick looks away with a look of disgust in his eyes. " Because.. I didn't want to see you suffering like that. " " EVERDEEN GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE TO YOUR DAMN POST NOW!!" Nick sheepishly laughs. " duty calls..." he stands up a little weak in the legs. " your going to do fine. Remember our promise okay?" He smiles then walks over to his post and sits down.
Chess opens up the stained red picture of him and Nick together. It still smelled like nick.. so did the tags. Someone walks over and slams their hand against his cot.
" rise and shine mamas boy~ aww what's ya got here? Aw is this your dead boyfriend? How sweet and utterly pathetic.. " Chess can feel his heart racing as the guy started to rip at the edges of the photo. " Look at the sky boy.. count the stars." Chess looks confused.
" there isn't a-any starts.." the guy smirks. " fuck yeah their ain't. Zero is how many chances you have of getting your damn boyfriend back!! So stop moping around like a fucking dog and get back to work you worthless piece of shit!!" The guy slaps chess upside the head. Chess winces in pain as the guy is about to tear is picture in half.
Nick hears all the commotion and gets interested. He walks inside and sees the guy and Chess, who is practically in tears scrunched up against the wall. Nick growls then walks over to the guy and sees that he's ripped the photo almost completely in half. " oh you fucking BITCH!!!" He punches the guy as hard as he could in the face, almost breaking his nose in the process. He snags the photo away from the guy then hands it back to Chess. " Get. Out. Bitch." The guy snarls then walks out.
Nick sighs then hugs Chess like a protective brother would. " god I leave you for 2 seconds and you let these guys trample you like that?.. sheesh... let me give you a small tip, They are actually weak as fuck. But if you give them a punch, they will leave you alone. They choose the newbies as their prey, since it's an easy kill." Chess is shaking violently as Nick hugs him. " Chess, what did he say to you." Chess keeps quiet. " Chess answer the god damn question!!! " There was a long moment of silence until Chess breaks the quietness with a small hiccup. " H-He told me to count the stars."
" and?" Nick sounds impatient. " a-and... that's... how much of a chance I have o-of seeing Nick a-again.." Chess can't hold himself together much longer as he Buries his head into Nicks armoured chest and starts sobbing . But no one can hear him cry. He started to train himself to cry silently since it would save him from most of the bitching people.
Nick climbs onto Chess's cot and hugs him tightly as he pets the back of chess's head, in hopes that will calm him down. " E-Everdeen..."
" Yeah?"
" don't forget th-that promise..." Nicks only response was a small nod. " you got it little brother..."
As the black sky flooded the world, there was a scream in the platoon. " Take Cover!!!" Chess looks up at Nick terrified as his body tenses up. " fucking hell..." he whispers then puts Chess's helmet on him. " Chess.. your going to be fine. Understand me? I'm keeping that promise whether hell wants me too or not, I'm keeping it. And so are you." Chess only nods as they walk out into the thick fog.
Nick takes them to cover. " This should be s--" Delta let's out a sharp gurgle then splatters his blood across the grass as he starts going Limp. " We need a damn Medic over here now!! " Medics swarm the soldiers as they desperately try to pry him from deaths claws, but they where too late. With a small gurgle of blood and a twitch of the head, and he was gone. Chess watched in horror as delta, the very person who just asked him to count the stars, is dead. Right in front of him. His eyes glazed over and glassy as blood trickles down his cheek.
" dear lord..." Nick looks away and looks into the fog. " I'm going in.. don't worry Chess Ill be fine okay? " chess smiles weakly. " I know.. go kick some ass big brother.." Nick laughs
" thanks little bro." He runs off with a smile. Chess sighs shakily as he starts aiming and shooting the best he can. He watches as black shadows drop onto the ground with small thuds.
" where fucking blind out here men... blind As a fucking bat!! " Chess could hear the general in the back barking orders at his men. Soon, the opposing side surrendered. But the back line had no idea... " Men hold your fire!! The fight is over!!" Two or three more bullets are fired. The general snarls " WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST TELL YOU?!"
A shadow appears, grabbing its stomach in pain. They drop on the ground. Chess sees the familiar brown skin, with the shaggy, dirty brown hair." FUCK!!! NICK!!!!" He didn't realise how loud he had just screamed that but he didn't care. All hell was being unleashed upon the world as he ran over to him. He drops on his knees to look at Nick... his once sparking, glowing brown eyes are now growing more dull by each passing second.
Chess pulls him close as he can feel himself sobbing harder than ever before. Nick weakly puts his blood soaked hand on Chess's cheek. " g-good job... l-littl--" he starts chocking on his own blood as it gurgled in the back of his throat. " H-Hey... j-just calm down.. " He reaches up to his neck and yanks off his tags and lays them in Chess's hand. " t-take... on--" Nicks head twitches to the side as his arms start jerking and twitching. Chess grabs one of Nicks arms and holds his hand tightly. " N-Nick im here! Just calm d--" " i-im so... sorry... c-che--" His head falls limply back on Chess's arm. His eyes glazed over and foggy, Nick was dead in his arms... Both their uniforms where drenched in Nicks blood, and tears. Chess puts his hand on Nicks cheek. " It-Its okay Nick... I kn-know... " He kisses his forehead. " I love y-you too brother... " the Medic sighs. " He's gone.. "
They take all the belongings off of nick and they give Chess one of the two tags Nick owned, since that's what nick wanted. Chess watched them haul him away. His chest felt tight as his stomach was tied in a knot. After the general was done screaming at the men, he went straight to his cot and put his big brothers tag next to his lovers. No one really bothered Chess after that. Knowing that the shit he just seen, was someone no one should go through.
Chess has no idea what the date or time was, he didn't watch it as closely as he used too. His once glowing purple eyes, are now dull and alone. He had just lost it all...
" M-may you.. rest in p-peace Nickolas Everdeen... may God, and Nick stay by your side... I shall carry around your tags until the day I die, to show both of your legacies to the world and make sure you are never forgotten.. I swear it. Because... someone only dies... when you mention their name... one l-last time.." He starts sobbing in his cot but no one bothered him. Because they knew... they knew he had just seen lucifer himself.
" See you soon Nick and Nikolas Everdeen.. "
