AMERICA:

America stood in a small room that was crumbling along with the rest of the old building. Around it were several burned and barely recognizable pictures, objects, posters, and many more things. He averted his gaze from the objects and stared at the charred floor beneath his feet. His heart always hurt when he came here. Even after almost 200 years or so, it had never stopped hurting. Would it always be like this for him? He sat on the ground, tears starting to fill the corners of his eyes. It wasn't fair, they had been so close and then… He pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them, burying his face in his knees.

He ran a trembling hand through his blonde hair and went to fix his glasses but stopped. "That's right…" He closed his eyes tightly as the memories came flooding back to him. He had no more need for those glasses. Texas was gone; almost every single state of his was gone. Delaware, Pennsylvania, Oregon, New Mexico, Ohio, Maine, and a small part of California were all that was left of his once great country. But even they, they who had once loved him so greatly, no longer trusted him. He felt so alone, so isolated. Not even his twin, Canada, spoke with him unless if it were at one of the now rare world meetings. He sniffled and wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve. He looked up, his blue eyes flooded with tears, and stared at an old World War 2 picture of his in black and white. He and the other allies stood happily, enjoying themselves and their semi carefree natures at the time. Not anymore. Nothing would be like that anymore.

Even after all this time he was still not accustomed to it, he detested it; this sense that it was every nation for himself. In fact, there were only a few significant ones left. He ruled all of South and Central America, what was left of it, plus his own country. Canada ruled everything north of his border. The European countries were in chaos except for England who was isolated and ruled all of the U.K. while only the Italian brothers kept to themselves and did not squabble over territories. Russia ruled his own original land plus all of the Middle East while China and Japan had come to an agreement to share what was left, the East and Asian countries. Meanwhile, now they had a new nation to worry about as well. He'd been given territory at the very edge of Russia's and was quickly beginning to expand, although Russia did not see him as a threat. In fact the small nation was hated for both his and his peoples' appearance. They were different and all creatures on Earth, people feared anything different from them. It was apparent throughout history, he thought, and could be found even in the animals' behaviors.

He gave a half-hearted chuckle and turned to leave. He really had to stop coming here so often, it was going to put him in a mental hospital one day. He zipped up his old jacket and stepped out into the cold winter air. It still smelled horribly as the old buildings of D.C. decayed and fell. He looked up at the cloudy, gray sky and remembered the feel of the sun on his skin. He hadn't seen the bright yellow ball for so long and he missed it terribly. He stared at the ground and headed west, to the center of the nation, where he had relocated all of his surviving states and their residents. He sighed, it was once again time to face their dagger-like glares and their cruel whispers.

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N. ITALY:

Both brothers sat still on the couch of their new home. In front of them were several of their people coming to talk to both about the state of the country. Romano listened with an angry expression while Venecciano did the same but with a more worried one. It had been like this, almost every day, since that new country had been formed in Russia's land. Romano had stopped truly listening to the complaints since they were all the same. Venecciano on the other hand continued to listen with as much interest as he could muster.

After about two hours of that, Romano had left as quickly as possible without a word to his brother. He had most likely gone off to see Spain, or at least what was left of it. Spain was barely a country any longer, he looked more like a territory and with the large amounts of his people dying every day, it was clear he would not last much longer. That sole fact hurt Romano and he refused to believe the truth. Italy sighed as he leaned back against the couch, taking his first real rest in a very long time. He missed those times back then, when he had been friends with almost every country, when there had been none of this tension, none of this fighting.

It had been a long time since he had changed. He remembered how he used to be, a silly pasta loving boy, but now he was none of that. He no longer cared much for his food as any at all was greatly welcomed, he was no longer a boy either. After what had happened, after a good percentage of his people had died, after he had been forced to fight to keep his country alive, he had become older in a sense. He no longer did silly things but instead planned military defenses, food rations, and many other things to help his people alongside his leader. No longer was he able to freely cross the Italian border into another country's territory, no longer could he be friends with Germany nor Japan. He missed those times, when he'd had so many friends and had been able to act the way he always had. When he knew that Germany would always back him up and Japan would be there and usually not understand what he said when he spoke nonsense too quickly.

He shut his eyes and took in a deep breath. He let it out slowly and relaxed his entire body on the couch. Now that he thought about the other nations he remembered that the next world meeting would be held soon. "Was that this week or next?" He began to think about it when his thoughts were interrupted by a loud growling noise. He opened his eyes and looked around for the source before realizing it came from him. He grabbed his stomach and smiled sadly. "Everyone is a lot hungrier than I am. I can hold out and skip lunch. I'm not really that hungry." Even as he said it his stomach felt like it was doing little flips and it hurt. But he would hold it in for now. His people were starving on the streets right now as he tried desperately to fix up his nation.

It wasn't fair that his people had to suffer like this. Well, at least he knew what he would say at the meeting. All of his fields had been destroyed, his people were starving, and yet every time he asked for another's help they would deny him. But why? Why wouldn't any country help him? Not even America extended a hand; neither did his old friends Germany and Japan who were thriving at this point. It simply made no sense to him. In fact, it hurt him to know he was alone except for his brother. But then again, his brother had been at home less and less and spent more time with Spain. He actually hadn't a spoken a word directly to him for about five years. The only country he still spoke to was Spain, he trusted no one but Spain. He grumbled and re-positioned himself on the couch so he was lying down.

"Italy, come here we need to start planning." Italy grumbled and got to his feet. Alas, all chance of rest seemed to always leave him.

"Yes, coming!" He called back to his leader and went to the other room down the hall.

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RUSSIA:

With an angry look in his purple eyes, Russia glared at China. Why did the nation always have to interfere whenever he tried to take land for himself? The smaller nation simply met his glare coldly. The snow fell mercilessly on both nations and, despite not saying anything, both were freezing. He took a step toward the new Russian-Chinese border and saw China's eyes glance down and his hand reach for a gun he now kept on him at all times. He sighed and stepped back. He did not have sufficient resources to fight off China, and then Japan since it was well known that both nations were allies.

"I'll back off for now, but you cannot stay stubborn forever." His voice was heavy with his people's fading Russian accent.

"I will stay stubborn for as long as I have to be, aru." China stated coldly back to him. How frustrating! This was starting to get on his nerves. Before he did something he knew he would regret, he turned around and walked back toward what was left of Moscow. As he walked he kicked up snow and glared at it in the same way an angry child would. He gripped the pipe at his side tightly. Somehow, he had never been able to forget it or leave it behind as he had done with most of his things after the bomb. As he neared his capital he slowed. Most of the countries under his rule resented him for conquering them.

Although his main focus had been his people, his leader had told him to go ahead and start gathering land. He couldn't possibly disobey his leader so he had taken a small army of the healthiest Russians he could find and set off conquering smaller countries at first and then bigger ones until he ruled most if not all of the Middle East. Now he was being asked to move farther east into Chinese territory but the nation refused to give up and insisted on fighting him for the land. What a bother.

As he neared the city he seemed to flip a switch inside of him. By the time he greeted one of his citizens he had his regular smiling face and happy eyes. He spoke with a few before entering his new home with his newest leader. Almost as soon as he had come inside the door he heard yelling. The yelling came from his leader who seemed to be furious for some reason. "Ivan, get in here this instant!" He obeyed and went into the room on the other side of the small house. He could hear the angered grumbling of his leader and finally he reached the closed door.

He knocked three times before he heard a low voice call out "come in" with anything but grace and politeness. His new leader was horrible and he hated the man but could do nothing about it. Almost all of the governments were horrible at the moment and everyone was struggling. But this man, if that is what he could be called, was nothing but a liar and a cheat. He almost always did the exact opposite of what he promised and then lied saying things would improve over time. His people loved him but Russia was sure the after effects of everything this man was doing would show up sooner than later.

He walked inside the room and stood in front of the desk at which his leader sat. He had a displeased look in his eyes as he glanced up at Ivan. "You know, Ivan, I am very much displeased with this. I thought I told you to suppress those Linians, not allow them to take Russian territory!" He swallowed hard, trying not to tell the man how much of an ass he was, but swallowed his pride and replied in a kind tone.

"Yes but we should not have to fear them. They owe Russia a debt now because Russia has given them land to live on. They would not dare to fight against us since I keep them surrounded by Russian territory." The leader's hand smacked the desk hard making Russia take a half step backward. He raised his hand and slapped Russia across his cheek. With wide eyes he touched the aching red handprint on his cheek.

"I don't care about that!"

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CHINA:

China stalked off angrily after his confrontation with Russia. That country had become much too cocky lately and it was starting to get ton his nerves. One of these days he would show Russia how unwise it truly was to try and invade his territory. His brown eyes glanced down at the snowy ground and at the rather small footprints he made. He sighed and knew that an eventual fight with Russia was unavoidable. He continued to stare at the snow as he remembered the days when Russia and he had started to get along greatly, before the country had become so ambitious. More so than before, when he always expected everyone would become one with him.

A shudder passed through China's body as he remembered Russia's scary faces back then. He never used those creepy smiles, nor did that ominous aura surround him anymore. In fact, the country looked troubled for lack of a better word. Maybe his people were struggling? "What am I thinking, aru?" He shook his head quickly. Why should he worry about another country when he had his own problems to think of? He turned to head west and came into and old and destroyed town of his. It had been completely destroyed and he could barely recall its name anymore. He went right through it, not bothering to glance at the ruins. It would only hurt if he did, that was his reasoning for not visiting old cities and the mass burial sites he and his people had constructed for all those who had died in the bombing.

He continued walking until he came to a modest house. It was plain and made very badly out of wood but he refused to destroy it and make a better one. It had been his new house since he and his people had re-surfaced from their safe houses underground. He sat on the sheltered porch and began to wipe the snow off of him. He sighed and smiled as he looked up at the sky. No sun, just clouds. It made him sad to think that most of his people now did not know what the sun even looked like. He could remember its warmth and its kind rays heating the skin on his face. Well, at least his people were healthy, though a lot of them worried about being so close to the Linians. But then again, he feared them as well. They were becoming stronger and growing once more in numbers. He did not know how Russia could have them in his lands.

He lay down on the porch and let out a huge breath, watching as it turned white in the cold air and then disappeared. He let out a childish giggle as it did. He preferred living in his own world rather than having to face all the harshness of the real one. He would prefer it if everything were either simpler or back to the way they had been a little before 200 years ago. Oh well. At least there was one thing he could look forward to, the place where all the countries had to get along, even if it was for only a few hours. Speaking of which, he was going to be late if he did not hurry.

He rushed into his house and pulled out a new set of clothes and put them on quickly. Just as he was coming out of his room he heard a soft knock at the door accompanied by a familiar voice. "China-san are you ready yet? We must leave soon." He smiled. At least there was one country he could always count on to be his friend.

"Yes, aru." He said as he opened the door to see Japan. "Shall we go, aru? He walked out, closing the door behind him, and followed Japan. It was time for the next World Meeting.