Chapter 2

Author's Note: Hey, it's been a while since I updated. I finished this a while back, though it'snotthe best. Hope you guys like it!

Alfred and Matthew were seated in the same room. The room was bare except for two chairs in the middle.

"What now Alfred…?" Matthew asked hesitantly.

"I…I'm not sure Matt." Alfred confessed, "I had been hoping that I would get called…and if you got picked I would volunteer…."

Alfred looked down. The fact that both he and his brother might feel the excruciating pain of death was too much for him to bear. Alfred knew he had to find some way to keep his brother alive, even if it meant sacrificing himself. He may even have to go back to his old way of thinking. Maybe for once he really could be the hero.

Suddenly Francis walked in the room, seeming flustered and very emotional.

"Papa!" Matthew exclaimed. Francis wasn't really Matthew's dad, but he was his older brother and had a big part in raising Matthew.

"Matthew!" exclaimed Francis, enveloping Matthew in a hug.

And soon the two had immersed in a deep conversation. Alfred leaned back in his chair and stared at the wall next to him. In the past years he hadn't gotten along with Francis. In fact, he can hardly remember the time when he had even been friends with him. Close family and friends were supposed to visit the tributes when they were placed in these rooms. But Alfred knew no one would be coming to visit him. Everyone he was close to had been picked for the Games. And Alfred was sure this was on purpose.

Soon enough Francis left at the demand of the peace keepers, Alicia's new police force. Then the same peace keepers lead Matthew and Alfred to the bullet train they would be riding to get to the Capitol. As they boarded the train Alfred saw the other countries standing near the platform, wearing faces of sorrow and sympathy for the tributes who were going to have to handle large amounts of pain, both emotional and physical.

Matthew waved goodbye to the countries around him, a soft but sad smile on his face. This earned a few sobs from his close family, and a few confused faces from the others. Even after all he had been through, Matthew still wasn't noticed that much. Unlike his brother, Alfred boarded the train silently, keeping a steady glare aimed at Alicia the whole way in. Now, as he made his way into the train, a few of the watching countries smirked. Alfred wasn't the most loved country there was, for he had made a few…enemies in the past.

Once inside, Matthew and Alfred were rushed to their compartment. Matthew pressed up against the window in their room of the bullet train.

"Alfred, we won't really die…right?" Matthew asked. He had a small fear in the back of his mind that Alicia had found a way to permanently kill countries…in which case he and his brother would never see each other again.

"Right." Alfred replied. "There is no way Alicia could change that, it's impossible." He sounded like he was reassuring his older brother, but he was really trying to reassure himself.

Alfred inspected the room, stopping at what seemed to be a remote control. But there was no TV in sight. Curiosity getting the best of him, Alfred pressed the on button on the remote. Suddenly, the wall in front of him lit up into a picture of a field that he remembered fondly. It was the field that Arthur had found him all those years ago. Alfred hesitantly pressed the left arrow, the picture changing. It was now a picture of lady liberty, the statue which had been destroyed right before his very eyes in the war that led to the creation of Panem.

Alfred smiled a bit at the picture, but it was a sad and longing smile. He pressed the arrow again, but was met with a picture that wiped the smile off of his face. It was an image of the rubble that was left after the war…and the American flag ripped and burned in the middle of it all. Alfred quickly pressed the off button and looked down at his feet. He felt the reassuring hand of his older brother on his shoulder.

"Alfred…it's ok. We've survived this long, haven't we? Who knows…maybe we'll get our land back one day." Matthew said, trying to cheer up his brother. He had always been good at that, putting a positive spin on horrible things, and that sort of attitude was one of the main things that helped keep the two brothers going.

"…Matthew don't you see? Alicia is trying to get us depressed right before the games, as if we weren't sad enough. She wants us to lose….like she would love to see us deteriorate right before he very eyes!" Alfred exclaimed, looking back at his brother.

"A-Alfred! C-cameras, remember…" Matthew muttered, looking at one of the cameras above them.

Alfred sighed, placing the remote back down on the table.

"I'm going to explore the rest of the train. Try not to break anything while I'm gone." Alfred muttered, walking out the door of their room. He glanced both ways down each side of the hall, seeing a familiar face on the left side.

Walking over to the figure, Alfred put on the best smile he could, successfully concealing his fear and anger.

"Yo, Iggy!" he exclaimed as her was close enough to the person, Arthur Kirkland.

"Hm…oh 'ello Alfred… You seem cheerful…shouldn't you be the most effected person here?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah, well, being happy will increase my chances of winning~!" Alfred exclaimed, easily lying.

That was one of the things that came with having to be the bigger brother. He had gotten better at lying to protect his brother and himself from worse depression…but the lying had been slowly eating away at his conscience. Really, he just wanted the other countries to think he was stronger than he really was.

"Ah, well, there is truth in that…" Arthur replied, "So, who do you think will be in your team?"

"Probably not Matthew…Alicia obviously wants to bring Matt and I down so she has more control… I might get someone like Lilli…or…ugh…Ludwig." Alfred replied, shivering a bit at the thought of having to work with Ludwig. He was much stricter and was usually angry…and did NOT get along with Alfred.

"Ah…now that I think about it, I might get someone like Ivan…" Arthur said, a bit of a worried look on his face.

"Heh, at least he would be with you and not against you…" Alfred said, trying to be optimistic for Arthur. In truth, Ivan would probably get paired with his little sister, Natalya, who always scares him.

Just then, a small jingle was heard over the train's P.A system.

"Hello all tributes~! Team picking has been moved to today~! So sorry if this is inconvenient…" it said. "The teams are….. Natalya and Ivan! Ludwig and Lovino! Gilbert and Elizabeta! Toris and Feliks! Alfred and Arthur! And Matthew and Lili! Have fun meeting you're team mates!"

The jingle came on again and everything went silent. Alfred slammed his fist into the wall.

"GOD DAMNIT" he yelled, a scowl replacing his smile.

"Is it really that bad to be teamed up with me?" Arthur asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course not, but Matthew is teamed up with a weakling! His chances of survival are super slim…" Alfred said, removing his fist from the wall. He turns to go to his room.

"I'm gonna go check up on Mattie…."

Arthur nodded and walked into his compartment, a worried look on his face. Alfred took this time to get back to his own compartment, where Matthew was going through the pictures on the wall-screen. The photo that was on the screen right now was of the Canadian and the American flags flying side by side.

"Hey, Matthew?" Alfred asked, sitting beside his brother on the lower bunk bed.

Matthew looked at Alfred, smiling a bit. "Yeah Al?" he asked, turning off the screen.

"Are you ok? You seemed a bit…distant…" Alfred replied, lying. He really just wanted to talk to his brother, but wanted an excuse to do so.

"I'm fine…just a bit scared, ya' know? It's not every day that you lose your land and get forced to play in a fight to the death…" Matthew replied, smiling sheepishly.

"Ah…yeah…I guess not. Why don't we just call it a night? We can skip dinner…" Alfred muttered, glancing at the clock on the wall.

Three p.m., afternoon, a perfect time to dream away the thought of dying at a friend's hand.

Matthew nodded, flicking off the screen and bedroom light. The two then crawled into a bunk, Matthew getting the top.

"Night Matt…" Alfred muttered.

"Sweet dreams of death." Replied Matthew sarcastically. With that, the two drifted off to sleep, the hum of the engine lulling them to sleep.