Second chapter already, but I had it done so I guessed I might as well put it up. Thank you for your reviews, which are much appreciated! Also, please PM me if you're interested in helping me beta this :)
Me only cruel immortality
Consumes; I wither slowly in thine arms,
Here at the quiet limit of the world,
A white-hair'd shadow roaming like a dream
The ever-silent spaces of the East,
Far-folded mists, and gleaming halls of morn.
-Tithonus by Tennyson
There are startled yells, and when someone finally throws back the black-out curtain, the room illuminates with natural light. Outside is very much the same, the sun shining and the birds chirping, but there are no sounds of people anymore. Alfred looks out into the street, but there is no one walking around anymore, and the only signs of life are the fluttering birds.
"I need to leave, please excuse me, but I will not be taking part of the rest of the meeting." Switzerland says crisply, and a burst of murmurs erupt. "Maybe it would be best if we all returned to our homes." He says as an afterthought, closing his briefcase with a snap, and silently pads to the door. "We all have people to protect, do we not?"
There are silent agreements as other nations begin to apologize as well, and head out the door. Soon the only nations left in the room were Alfred, Arthur, Matthew, Francis, Antonio and Romano. There was a tiny moan from Mexico, and with a gesture Spain and Romano left the room as well.
"What should we do with her?" Matthew says quietly, kneeling down next to the unconscious nation. "We can't leave her here, obviously." He brushed her hair from her face, lightly running a finger over the extruding veins. "But we can't take her with us, can we?"
"I am…worried about what is happening to her. I am thinking that maybe it must have originated from her land, and now it's affecting her." Francis pauses, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But if she becomes one of those… cannibale' then she will be impossible to kill. Her immortality could be our downfall."
"And if we're infected, then we'll be impossible to kill." Arthur finished for him, and his face went hard and emotionless. "We should lock her up somewhere, but with a way that if she wakes up completely human then she can get out."
"The boiler room." Alfred suggested, running a hand through his hair and sighing shakily. "We can leave the key with her."
"Dieu nous aide" France muttered, looking away. "God help us."
"Help me lift her then." Arthur said determinedly, grabbing her legs. "Alfred, you have freakish strength, so help me." Alfred complied silently, holding her arms and body up. They maneuvered their way out of the door, France and Canada trailing behind.
"Did Australia leave? I didn't see him after the lights went out." Matthew said suddenly, making everyone stop. " Do you think he went to his boss?"
"I'll call him later. He probably panicked and ran out of the door." Arthur muttered, and pushed forward. "I bet that stupid git is probably trying to find the most dangerous animal he can find to attack these zombies."
"Which wouldn't be hard." Alfred tried to laugh, but he couldn't stop shaking. He hoped that Australia had something fearsome enough to battle those things. He also hoped that Adeline actually had found her very, very human father, or was at least safe.
But he wasn't trying to fool himself.
"So, what do we do after this?" He asked hesitantly, following Arthur down the stairs. "I mean, since I'm the hero I'll be the one to save the day-"
"Alfred, stop pretending. This is too serious." Arthur snapped tiredly, and the American felt something shatter inside of him. That was his last line of defense, how was he supposed to mentally handle anything if he didn't even believe in himself?
"Not pretending." He muttered back, and when they were finally to the basement he let Francis open the door for them. They laid Mexico on the ground and put a hoodie underneath her head, putting the key in her pocket.
She looked dead already, all the life gone from her face and her body cold to the touch. It was terrifying and horrible, but it had to be done. Alfred quickly pulled her into his arms, squeezing tight.
"I am so, so sorry Josefine, but I'll try to make everything better, okay? So hold tight." He murmured, and pulled away. A slip of paper fell out of her coat pocket, and when Alfred picked it up he felt like he was invading her privacy.
It was obviously from Antonio, his handwriting still a horrible scrawl. It was dotted with tears and make quickly, and was probably a good bye letter of some sort. He could only pick out a few words, but he knew that it was too personal for him to look further into.
"Should we leave a note?" Matthew asked from behind him. "If she wakes up I bet she'll be pretty confused."
"I think Antonio covered it." Alfred stood up, brushing off his pants. "We should probably go-"
"Shit!" Arthur cursed, almost giving Alfred a fucking heart attack.
"Holy fuck what?! Is it the zombies?!" Alfred asked hysterically, pulling Arthur away from the door and pulling him close. "What the hell is wrong?!"
"I just cut myself on something, jesus Alfred, calm the hell down." Arthur muttered, and rested his head on Alfred's chest before pulling away to show him. "See?" He said, showing him the little cut. "I'm perfectly fine." A drop of blood fell to the floor, and a second later there was a small groan from behind them.
"Mon Dieu, she's waking up." France warned, and Alfred jumped back. "I just saw her arm twitch."
"Alfred, I think we should leave." Matthew said softly, tugging on his arm. "If she turns out to be… well, you know, then I don't think you should see it."
"But what if she's just waking up? It would be a little rude if we just-"
Groan
"Sorry Mexico, I seriously love you and I hope you aren't a zombie." He squeaked, pulling them out and slamming the door shut with a bang. They waited for a few more minutes, and when they didn't hear anything Alfred finally admitted to himself that she probably wasn't going to wake up.
We should call Australia. Where else are we going to stay?" Arthur sighed, and pulled out his phone. He tapped on it for a while before his frown deepened, eyes shooting up to meet theirs. "It won't bloody turn on." He tried to explain, and had Francis pull out his phone. Seconds later and when his hadn't turned on either, Alfred started to panic again.
If phones didn't work and neither did everything else, then how was he supposed to contact his boss and his family? Eyes flickered to green, and he forced himself to remain calm.
"Probably ran out of battery. Let's just head back to the hotel." He tried, and started to walk up the stairs when there was a sudden bang on the boiler room door.
"Fuck." Matthew whispered, eyes flickering to Alfred. "I think we need to leave now."
"I-" Alfred swallowed deeply, frozen to the stairs, "I can't fucking do this." His throat was starting to seize, and the floor got blurry with tears.
"Alfred, calm down." A hand reached his, pulling him along and up the stairs. "Everything's fine." All he could do was nod dumbly, pushing the memories of Addy screaming to the back of his mind. "Let's just go upstairs and lock the door."
And so they did, Francis keeping a close eye on the two twins, Arthur pulling them both along, the Frenchman and him sharing a knowing look. It was sad and desperate, filled with hope that couldn't be given.
After they got to the main floor they all stumbled outside, the sun beating harshly on them. Matthew stopped, pulling out his phone and glaring at it.
"It won't turn on." He shoved it back into his pocket, trying to tell himself that the battery was just dead, and everything was fine of course. "It must be dead like the other phones."
"The others couldn't have left already." Alfred said hopefully, reaching his black convertible and opening the door. "No one's out right now anyway. It must be a lock down or something."
"Let's just find some actual people, and figure out what we're going to do." Arthur sighed, stepping in after him. Everyone was loaded into the car and waiting for it to start, but each time Alfred was unsuccessful to start it.
"Jesus Christ." He growled, hitting the steering wheel and slumping back. "Does nothing fucking work anymore?"
"I guess we're walking." France muttered grumpily, opening the car's door. "The hotel was that way, right?"
"I know where it is, just follow me." Matthew pulled on his hand, leading him down the street. "It's only a bit away, like a mile or something." Alfred crinkled his nose, shooting Matthew a look.
"I can't believe we have to walk." He complained, but after a slap on the head from England he shut up.
/~?/
A while later they finally made it to the hotel, and had still seen or heard no one. It was like they had simply disappeared. Occasionally Alfred would feel eyes on him, and have to stop and look around. It was unnerving and starting to piss him off. None of them mentioned Mexico or their predicament, but for now that was fine with him.
Instead he focused on how hot it was and how he was happy to be spending time with the three of them, even if it was for a totally fucked up reason. They were kinda like a family, Alfred mused to himself, almost laughing when he imagined Arthur in an apron.
Yep, totally sexy.
The hotel they were staying in showed no sign of line, but as they walked up they heard a certain German man yell at him,
"You there! Stop and put your hands up!"
Alfred rolled his eyes, and looked up at Switzerland, who was hanging out a second story window. He could see Lichtenstein standing behind him, and holy shit was that a sniper rifle?
"I thought you were going home!" Alfred yelled back up at him. "Has anyone else left yet?"
Switzerland was about to reply when Germany pushed him aside, leaned out and yelled,
"Come inside and we'll explain!" In that angry tough voice of his. Alfred gave him a mock salute and sauntered inside, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw the normal humans walking around and whispering to each other.
The others followed after him, Matthew mumbling about having to go and get his phone charger from his room. Francis followed the Canadian, leaving him and Arthur alone.
"Thanks for not letting me freak out." He said finally, breaking the silence. "I mean, I still am of course, but thanks for keeping it at bay."
Arthur looked surprised, but only nodded and turned his face away, obviously trying to hide his pleased little smile. Alfred just rolled his eyes affectingly and got out of the elevator, heading down the hallway to were Germany was.
Inside was mass chaos, random countries sitting on the bed and on the floor, all talking in the same quiet whisper. Spain was in the corner obviously trying very hard not to cry when he saw that Mexico was not with them, and Japan was quietly talking to a concerned looking China on the bed.
"Okay we're here, so what's up? Why aren't cars or phones working?" Alfred sat down on the floor, moving over for Arthur to sit next to him. Germany looked away sullenly, leaving the talking to Prussia, which didn't really seem like a good decision.
"There was a bomb released over the area. It stops everything electrical from working. Right now the city's on lock down and everyone's supposed to be inside. I'm surprised you weren't shot down walking in the street like that." He explained, leaning against the window. "What the hell were you guys doing anyway?"
"Moving Mexico to a safe location." Arthur said softly, looking at his feet. "I'm afraid she's… turned into whatever the hell those things are."
"Oh dios porqué" Spain moaned from his corner. "She was just fine a while ago!" He was shushed by Romano who gave him a hug, who just ended up being pulled next to Antonio.
"You locked her away, right?" Estonio asked from one of the beds, looking a tad awkward. "So that she won't get out."
"Where's Australia? He just seemed to… disappear." Alfred said quickly, ignoring Estonia. He didn't feel like thinking about those things right now.
"We thought he was with you?" Switzerland asked, setting the gun down. "If he is not, then were could he be?"
"Might have been headed to see his Minister before the power shut down." Prussia offered. "Maybe he got a text or something."
"Well, he better bloody well be okay." Arthur said irately, but the concern was obvious.
"We all hope so too."
Disclaimer: I own no one but Mexico :)
Please remember to review! xx
-Talia