Chapter Two
The infected person had a large gash on his wrist, blood staining the graying skin around it. His shirt was torn in several places and also stained with crimson. Its hair was matted with blood and seemed to be dyed the same horrible color. It was stumbling towards the door until it heard the group approaching. Its eyes were bloodshot and had a glossy look to them. It held its mouth open in a snarl and lunged forward feebly. Its hand brushed America's arm and the American jumped back. "They're real." He, and others in the crowd, whispered.
Russia leveled his revolver and shot the zombie in the head. It fell backwards, half of its head scattered on the floor and certainly dead. Whispers of fear spread through the unarmed group. "You weren't lying. America, do you know how this happened?" Austria asked, leaning against a railing.
"I have no idea. I kinda remember a small experiment a group of my scientists were doing. The rats they tested on lost their eyesight and became very dangerous. Like rabies, but it acted faster. I don't remember if they proved it to be infectious or not. I ordered them to stop the experiment because I thought nothing good would come of it. I couldn't imagine using it as a bioweapon." America explained, examining the corpse carefully.
"So it's your fault?" Iceland asked, looking suspiciously at the American. He paused and then nodded.
"What else? I should have let them continue, at least until they found a cure."
"America, we have no idea what the bloody hell has happened. We just need to get out of here and find someplace to figure out what we're going to do." England explained sternly, getting anxious after seeing the proof. He just hoped it couldn't spread to anywhere else. He felt selfish, but he didn't need zombies in his home.
"Fine. Let's go." America opened the next door and revealed another empty hallway. A small table was knocked over, along with the vase that had rested on it. Other than that, the hallway was clean.
"This can't be right…only one zombie so far? Where's everyone else?" Switzerland asked no one in particular while advancing forward.
"This is weird." America replied slowly. He found the next set of stairs and opened the door. Nothing again. There was a bright flash and a harsh beeping filled the air. "Shit." America tilted his head back to look at the fire alarm flashing.
"There's a fire too?" Someone from the group asked.
Russia pulled his scarf over his nose. "I don't see any smoke yet." He turned to America, who was quickly advancing down the stairs. "We're on the first floor?"
"Yeah." America was watching smoke curl up from under the final door. "Everyone try to cover your mouth and nose with something. I know what it's like to be in a burning building." After waiting a few moments and attempting to brace himself, America opened the door. The expected cloud of smoke poured into the room, stinging his eyes.
He continued forward, trying to watch for attacking zombies. The thick smoke made it near impossible to see, though Russia seemed to be able to navigate easily. The temperature didn't change much, so the fire had to be in another room. He hoped it was away from the main lobby, but he couldn't tell.
"Where now? Left or right?" Russia asked, peering down both of the hallways.
"Left!" A muffled voice shouted from the group. "I took the stairs up to here."
Russia nodded and led the way down the hallway. The shouting became louder and independent fires were burning paintings and chairs. He kept himself pressed close to the right wall, watching for zombies and fire. He couldn't see clearly, but his vision was better than the rest of the group.
"We should be near the entrance now. Do you see anyone?" The same voice, which sounded like Hungary, yelled the directions. Russia continued, America stalking behind him carefully.
"No one yet…" Russia announced, turning the corner of the hall carefully. From the thinning smoke, an infected human emerged and growled at the Russian. He took a few steps back and fired the revolver. The infected stumbled back from the blow, but remained determined. Russia shot him again, this time knocking it to the ground, hopefully killing it. He stamped the heel of his boot into the zombie's head; making sure it was dead.
America strode up next to Russia. The smoke was collecting at the ceiling and it was easier to see. They had reached the lobby, but the view was not promising. The fire seemed to have been caused by the vehicle that crashed through the glass front. A few zombies wandered around the open space with no humans in view. Outside, a few surviving people were running the streets and escaping in vehicles. The zombies outside were gathered in large groups, rather than being singled out. Police and military vehicles could be seen, although the officers were missing.
"Where do you suggest we go?" Switzerland asked, approaching the two leading. America remained silent. They were in San Jose, California; on the other side of the country from the capitol. He needed to get in contact with the president, or, at the least, the Secret Service. None of the government personnel here would know him.
"I don't live here." Russia replied while America was quiet. "I say we get out of the city and go somewhere else."
"We might have to take temporary shelter in the city. I need to contact my president, but there's no way any cell phone calls are going to get though." America noted, still thinking of a possible place to go.
"Remember, you're not the only one who needs to contact someone. All of us want to know if the worst has reached our home yet." Russia said in response to him. With America being close to his home and the disease possibly being airborne, it could already be affecting the citizens of Siberia.
"I know…" America muttered in contempt.
"Hey!" Germany shouted from behind the three. "Your zombies are getting closer to us; we should be heading out of here shortly." The infected in the lobby area were indeed beginning to shamble closer to the group. From the distance, they didn't pose much of a threat though.
"So? Where to?" The Swiss asked America.
"The library is close to here…and it's tall. I don't know how easy it is to defend, but it should be good." America answered. He had decided on the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, about half a mile from their current location. Any other landmarks were further away and required crossing into main roads.
"Fantastic." Russia commented with a note of sarcasm. "Lead the way, America."
The American nodded and began forward, raising his gun to ward off the zombies. The infected were getting closer and America was cautious about shooting them. The few bullets they had couldn't be wasted. He could also see the hordes of zombies outside of building and to him, shooting the few zombies inside seemed pointless.
Switzerland had the same thoughts as America. "Try to avoid the zombies if possible. We're lacking ammo and don't have any melee weapons."
"Melee weapons…" America echoed thoughtfully. "We should grab some of those, even if they are improvised."
Switzerland glanced over at him, stopping momentarily. "What do you suggest we take? This place doesn't seem like it what have anything useful, improvised weapons or not."
"You've never played Dead Rising have you?" America asked with a smirk. He turned to the gathered group behind him and announced, "Try to grab anything you can get. Whatever it is, it can probably be made into a weapon one way or another."
Denmark kicked the glass protecting a fire extinguisher. The glass shattered and he grabbed the extinguisher, which was now a weapon. "Will this work?"
America nodded. "Just don't go out of your way to kill zombies." He warned. "Even though that would be fun…"
As America turned to lead the group outside; fear was beginning to set in for some of the nations. They had been through worse. The Black Death, which most of the older European countries had experienced. The two World Wars had significant death tolls and brought terrifying new weapons to the world. Every country could share their stories about disasters, natural or man-made. The violence of this strain of virus had shocked a few nations, but most ignored it, knowing it will pass eventually. Some still kept this mindset, but some refused to shake the fear of an apocalypse.
They passed by the zombies quietly, but the infected still shuffled after them. The noise outside was overwhelming. Sirens blared, voices shouted, vehicles crashed, glass shattered. A small horde of zombies hung around the street, next to a toppled police car.
"Which way do we go? Your building can't be too far, right?" Germany asked, approaching America who stood observing the landscape.
"We need to cut through the park up ahead, go between those two buildings, go up South 2nd Street, take a right down East Fernando Street, and then we should be at the library." America explained, hoping his vague memory of the city was correct.
"Lead the way; I'll try to keep everyone together." Germany said, turning back to the group.
"You do know we can take care of ourselves?" England asked, annoyed by the fact that Germany was trying to take care of them.
"You may have grenades, but everyone else is weaponless." Germany retorted, passing by England and ignoring him.
"We're still countries though. It's not like this can kill us." England muttered in disdain. He could only assume what would happen if one of them was bit, but they had been through much worse. It would be irrational to overreact to something as trivial as this.
"Since we are outside, I suggest you keep quiet about 'us'. Also, this should be taken as seriously as any other situation, should it be a nuclear war or a trifling strain of a virus." Germany warned, pausing in his brisk walk to look at England.
"He's right. Zombies are serious." Prussia replied with a smirk. "Especially because I can be considered a zombie."
"You're…a zombie?" Latvia, who was standing near Prussia, asked timidly.
"Well I don't 'exist', so I must be dead." Prussia explained while glaring at Russia.
Latvia followed his look. "I've never heard him say anything about you…w-well at least not recently."
"Good. Damn commie needs to learn when to shut his mouth." Prussia grabbed a metal rod off the ground, which seemed to come from a fallen light post.
"No need to start a war, bruder." Germany warned lightly, passing by Prussia. He merely laughed it off and gave his weapon a practice swing, nearly hitting Austria.
The crowd of zombies before them was still remained together and didn't show signs of attacking. However, they blocked the group's route to the library. "England!" Switzerland shouted while still trying to stay quiet. "A grenade could be useful here."
England nodded and approached the Swiss. "I think the explosion would just alert more of the infected. Surely there is a way around them?"
"According to our leader, America, the only way there is through these zombies." Switzerland remarked with an exasperated sigh. "Give a warning and throw the grenade. Try not to miss."
"I've thrown countless grenades before. Don't worry."
"Stand back!" England shouted to the collection behind him. He took the pin of the explosive in his mouth and tossed the grenade rather gently towards the zombies. The grenade rolled towards the horde; reaching the edge of the assembly of infected. The following explosion left several of the zombies dead, though some still remained standing.
"Nice." America complimented, walking up to England and admiring the aftermath of the grenade.
"Not to trouble you or anything," Norway said to America from near the back of the crowd. ", but I think we have another problem."
Thanks for reading! :D Please review if you can. I appreciate everything, even if it is just a favorite. (but seriously reviews are awesome. I would really appreciate a critique)