Lately, this world had been rough. One day you'd be waking up to the sounds of birds chirping, and maybe even small whispers from your loved one that lay next to you in bed, but now you'd be lucky if you catch a wink of sleep. Somehow, some odd disease has spread through and infected thousands of people- so many that Arthur Kirkland hadn't seen an actual healthy human in places outside of camps. A normal person would describe them as a zombie, or just plain undead. But they weren't zombies. The people weren't undead. They were contaminated. Sick; Blood thirsty. Their flesh would be rotting from their bones, a deep red stained trail following them wherever they went. Their jaws so broken from eating the chilled flesh of the healthy was normally broken or somehow snapped in a horrifying way. They roamed around at night, trying to find more victims to infect and feed on.

Arthur had seen someone get eaten. His boyfriend. The beasts jumped on him, snarling and gurgling the blood that clogged their throats. Arthur wanted to do something; he really did. But he couldn't move a single bone in his body, for his nerves had been frozen with the cold shards of fear. He just stood there, eyes wide in horror as the beasts tore his boyfriend's stomach open with nothing but their fingernails and teeth. It made him sick, that sight.

The only way to keep yourself from getting contaminated was to keep on a gas mask to filter the infected air you breathe in every second. Though, the air got to most people before they could find a gas mask. You'd be considered lucky. Someone that fate knew would be able to continue on. Arthur was one of those fate had chosen.

Just now, he was searching for more supplies to bring back in camp with a German that had joined the small refugee camp about a month ago. He hated being on search. Arthur and the German, Ludwig, were looking in an abandoned building. Any little bit of wood or cloth had been warring away by munching termites, fungus, or just plain rot. Wooden planks from the ceiling had fallen, creating large piles of dust and chippings of wood. Arthur bent down and lifted a board from a pile, only to jump back in surprise as a large bundle of bugs scattered out in fear of the light.

He sighed softly, and grumbled a little before he threw the plank back down to the floor. "Bloody hell… I don't understand why the bloody-shit-pile-of-a-frog, Francis, has to make us put up with this." He snarled quietly, some words slurred by the gas mask and making Ludwig sigh as well. "Look, he only makes you put up with this because you complain about it."

"…And what gets you out here in this blasted hell hole?"

"Strength, common sense, and a clean slate with Francis."

"Bullshit." Arthur scoffed, and fixed the hold on his hunting rifle that was slung over his shoulder. "Let's just hurry, look around for a little while, go back, and hope that some other pairs found anything." He said, wanting to give up on the whole search group. Ludwig turned towards Arthur, and shook his head slowly with a deep sigh, "We're going to get our heads kicked in." "Hell if I care." Arthur spat out quickly.

Then, a small shuffling was heard behind a rotted bookcase right besides Arthur. "Shh," Arthur hissed softly. He frowned, and took out his hunting rifle before he aimed, and took a few steps to the side to find a good angle. Slowly taking one step, then another. And another. And finally, another.

As if timed perfectly, a horrifying creature shot out from behind the book shelf, arms out to grab Arthur. Its skin was practically rotten down to the bone, and it was missing an eye. He was snarling, and screeching at whatever he could as he rushed out to the Brit. It gave Arthur quite a jump, but not enough for him to lose guard. He quickly shot the creature in the head, making bits of flesh and blood scatter about behind it. Arthur scoffed, and replaced the hunting rifle to his shoulder. "Pff, you'd think these things would put up a much larger fight, ey lad?" Arthur said, not finding this much exciting.

Ludwig shrugged, and continued his search. Arthur rolled his eyes, and began to head down a hallway to continue investigating the building. The building's hallway was dark, for the lights above had been shot somehow. One still flickered lightly, showing off multiple blood stains that showed no mercy. Filing cabinets were knocked over, their drawers cleaned out of papers. Arthur looked around in disgust, hating messy areas such as this. His footsteps echoed in the halls with small little tap tap taps hitting the floor. He looked around, examining more of the blood stains splattered on the floor and walls. …Wait… He thought to himself. These look far too manmade. There's no way that a creature could do something so forc- Just then, Arthur felt himself being pushed into a wall, a sharp object being held up to his neck. His cheeks were against the cold walls, arms gripped behind his back. "Stay still," A voice commanded from behind, "and you'll be fine. Take one move, and your neck gets sliced."

Just then, he felt his heart freeze with terror.

Heh, I hoped you enjoyed. This is really my first 'action' story, so there might be rough edges... u.u Also, my grammar will most likely be weak. 8th grade English isn't really working for me at the moment...

This was originally going to be a role play, but no one seemed to enjoy it as much as I thought they would.

And, blah blah blah, there will be USUK in later chapters- just a warning.