Hetalia of the Dead

Chapter Two

Arthur arched a large dark brow and stared apathetically at the quivering American who was still pointing at the door with wide eyes and an open mouth. He glanced at the cracked window and said, "Come again?"

Slowly and still with a look of pure terror on his face, Alfred turned his head to look at his friend. He didn't lower his arm as he repeated, "Zombies!" When Arthur didn't give any comment or acknowledge him with a facial expression, Alfred lowered his arm and said in a clearer but no less terrified voice, "Arthur. There are zombies out there! Go and have a look"

Arthur blinked and then a small smiled worked its way onto his face before he let out a little laugh, "Seriously Alfred" he chuckled, "You have got to stop playing all those horror games. You expect me to believe that zombies are out there? It's not April Fools you know?"

Alfred growled in frustration and grabbed the Brit's arm and dragged him over to the door. "Alfre-", he was silenced by the other by placing a hand over his protesting mouth.

"Sshh" Alfred whispered, "We don't want them to hear us". He lowered the older boy so that he could look through the keyhole for himself. Arthur, scared over the American's strange actions just looked fearfully at the other, wondering what was going on inside of his head. He tried to squirm out of the others grip, but Alfred was stronger. Arthur had always hated that Alfred was younger than him by a year but was so much taller and stronger than him.

As he struggled to be set free, Alfred had no choice but to force the Brit's head towards the keyhole. "Just look" he urged, "I'm not trying to hurt or fool you, Artie"

Arthur blinked and then turned towards the keyhole, deciding that if it was what the American wanted, then he was going to do it if it meant being set free. What he saw made him scream behind the American's hand.

Blood was smeared all over the walls and floor of the corridor, male and female students slumped to the floor, unmoving and probably dead. As he watched, a wound covered male student came into view and dropped to his knees and began tearing the flesh off a girl who was already dead on the ground with his teeth. Arthur screamed again as the flesh in the zombies mouth was swallowed, red blood dribbling down his chin. The zombie whose flesh was pale with a tinge of green glanced blankly at the door the two boys were hiding behind. Arthur saw that its eyes were a blank, milky white and that his left cheek had been bitten off, little teeth marks adorning the edges of the wound and when the zombie turned back to its victim, instead of biting again it grabbed the girl by her face and dug its nails into the top of her skull where, with a hungry moan, the monster began peeling off the skin of the girls face, almost like he knew he had an audience and he was putting on a cruel show. Sickened, Arthur clamped his eyes shut as Alfred pulled him back from the keyhole.

"Don't scream" Alfred muttered as he let the Englishman go and removed his hand from his mouth. "Do you have the key for this door? We need to lock it"

"What the Hell?" Arthur gasped, dropping his head where he was facing the blue carpeted floor, "What the bloody fuck?"

"I don't know" Alfred cried as he went back over to the door and looked again, "Maybe we can get out of here. There's only one of them and they're pretty slow if-"

"Go out there!?" Arthur hissed, using the table to get to his feet, "Go. Out. There?" he went over to the chair and sank down into it, "We need to call the police!"

"We won't get through" Alfred said, going over to the other and putting his hand over Arthur's that had just grabbed the phone. Arthur looked up and said, "What?"

"Remember when Amelia tried to get through this morning? She couldn't and I don't think we can either. Those 'drunks' we saw, they must have infected the school! They came from off the street so I bet even if we got through to the police station; no one will be there to answer. They'll all be outside trying to help people"

"And you want us to go out there?" Arthur whispered, tearing his hand away from Alfred's. "That's suicidal. I don't care how many zombie games you've played, this is real life! We don't have any weapons. No guns, no baseball bats or knifes, heck not even a spoon!"

"We can't stay here, either" Alfred protested, "They'll sniff us out eventually and then we're dead! Why don't you lock the door while we think out a plan?"

Arthur bit his lip nervously as he pulled the top drawer of the desk open and handed Alfred over the little silver key. Alfred snatched it out of his hand and went back over to the door and carefully slid it into the hole. Tongue peeking out between his lips, Alfred gently and as quietly as he could turned the key and waited till it clicked shut. He pulled it out and checked on the zombie again, but it didn't seem to have heard as it was now eating the girl's skin free face. With a grimace, he pocketed the little key and turned back to the Council President who had his elbows resting on the table and face in his hands.

"Dude, we're going to be alright. We just need to think of a good plan" Alfred said, walking over to the desk.

Arthur glanced up at the American and said, "Oh? And what do you suggest?"

"Well" Alfred said slowly, making it up as he went along, "Getting outta the school is our main priority but we also need to find other survivors. My brother is here too and I need to find him, dead or alive, hopefully the latter. The more people we have in our group means more eyes on the lookout"

"And more people to make mistakes and get us killed" Arthur hissed, "Bad plan. I say we get away as soon as possible and don't look back"

"Nu huh" Alfred replied, shaking his head, "I'm not leaving here until I know about Mattie. If he's alive, I'd hate to leave him here. And what about you?"

"Me?" Arthur asked, "What about me? I'm not going on any rescue missions"

"Peter!" Alfred snapped, "He's in the Middle School across the road, right? He might still be alive!"

"Shit" Arthur groaned, hiding his face in his palms again, "You're right. But what if I get over there and he's already dead?"

"We'll never know" Alfred sighed, sitting on the desk so that he was facing away from the Brit. He looked over his shoulder and said, "I'll help you find your brother if you help me find mine"

Arthur was silent for a moment, contemplating Alfred's offer. It was true that he couldn't escape without searching for his little brother first, but what if he went to Peter's school to find that the boy had already been killed – it would have been a useless risk. But still, he had to at least try and look for him, just in case he was still alive.

Taking in a deep breath, he removed his hands from his face and said to Alfred's back, "Fine. But how are we meant to find them?"

A small smile wormed its way onto the young American's lips as he turned to face his friend. "I have absolutely no idea. All we can do is search the school"

Arthur's face turned from horror to utter despair, "You don't have a plan?"

"Of course not" Alfred defended, looking at the roof with a crease between his brows, "I don't spend my spare time thinking up survival plans for a zombie apocalypse, you know?"

"You play games, watch the films" Arthur growled.

"Like you said, this is real life" Alfred answered, "We don't get helpful hints, cheat codes or infinite life. If we get bitten we can't go back to our last save point, what we do is blow the infected brains out, if we had a gun"

"I understood only ten per cent of what you've just said" Arthur hissed, "Do you want to simplify that for a non-game nerd?"

"Simple huh? If you get bitten by a zombie, you're as good as dead. That's if they're your classic zombie, the infection could easily be spread airborne"

"You know a lot about zombie infections for someone who failed biology" Arthur sighed, resting his chin on his hand. "We need to think of something fast, who knows what's happening to our brothers right now?"

"Hopefully nothing bad" Alfred sighed sadly.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

How he had gotten past them, he would always wonder. He had been eating lunch alone in an empty classroom, waiting for Francis when a student had walked in. He had smiled and said hello to the student but he had soon realised that his company was not quite right. He had stood up but had not walked closer to the boy, making sure there was at least one table between them. All his life, people had passed by him like he was invisible so why now could he be noticed? He had sighed at the irony.

"Can I help you?" he had asked the other student, wary that the front of the others shirt was covered in dark red blood. "Are you hurt?"

Since the newcomer had his head down, the Canadian could not see his face, but he could see his hands and noticed that they had an odd green tinge in colour. He was worried about the other boy but was too scared to act directly. While his unwanted companion stood still, he took the chance to grab his bag from the floor. This motion had caused the other to snap his head up and this is what made the Canadian scream.

The boy's face looked like it was half melted off and one of his eyes was missing, the other was pure white. What scared the Canadian the most was that his lower jaw was missing.

"Get away from me!" Matthew had screamed, running over to the door but as he was about to reach the handle of the door, something had grabbed his ankle and dragged him to the floor. "What the-"

Another terrified scream escaped his lips when he saw that a decomposing female student with one arm was clawing at his ankle, her yellow and broken teeth snapping at him in a frightful manner. Matthew had let out a whimper and with his bag, swiped at her face, making her head fly off her weak neck. Fighting his gag reflex, he had quickly got to his feet and charged through the door, only to find two more monsters coming towards him down the corridor. There were no other rooms around so if he wanted free, he would have to run past the two zombies, or take his chances with the jawless zombie back in the other room.

Using his bag as a shield, with a warrior like cry, he dashed down the corridor and barrelled through the monsters, both males and past them. As soon as he turned a corner, he had gone through the first door he saw and went inside. To his dismay, it was a broom cupboard and that was where Matthew Williams now resided.

"What the hell?" he whispered; sliding down the wall he was leaning against. "What were they?"

He shuddered as tears fell from his violet blue eyes. With shaking hands, he took off his glasses and wiped the moisture away. He let out a hiccup and replaced his eyewear.

"Where's Alfred?" he muttered, pulling his legs against his chest and resting his chin on his knees. "And where's Francis? Are they ok?"

Within seconds, his knees became damp and his nose was running. Not really caring, he let his eyes and nose flow. He let out another hiccup but soon froze when he heard movement just outside the cupboard door. Holding his breath and watching the door with wide, terrified eyes, he couldn't move because he was so scared. If he could have moved, he would have grabbed a broom or something similar to help defend himself with. Fortunately whatever was making the noise soon disappeared and Matthew let out all of his held in breath. After a few seconds, he felt it safe to move, so with trembling fingers, he opened his large school bag and pulled out something precious to him. It was a white, dirt free polar bear teddy he had called Mr Kumajirou. He knew that a teddy bear wasn't something that a normal boy of fifteen would carry around but when on his own, the stuffed bear was his only object of safety and comfort. Whenever he was scared and didn't have either Alfred or Francis, he would pull out Mr Kumajirou until one of the aforementioned arrived.

"Oh Mr Kumajirou" Matthew whispered as he crushed the bear to his chest and pushed his wet face into its fur, "I think I'm about to die"

If he had said this to Alfred, his brother would have gotten angry at him and then would have made some hero remark about getting them both out to safety and a happily ever after. Francis on the other hand would have gathered him up into his arms, kissed him and would tell him that everything would be alright and that somehow they would escape. Mr Kumajirou did nothing.

As he wept, he heard another noise but this was different from the shuffling feet from a few moments before. This was something new – running. Could zombies run?

He didn't know but he wanted to be ready. Mr Kumajirou under one arm, he got to his feet and looked around the dark old broom cupboard. As its name stated, there were plenty of brooms here, including mops, buckets, sponges and other semi-useful items. Instinctively, he went for the most lethal looking object and that was a hard bristle broom with a long, thick wooden handle. Dropping his bear, he also picked up an empty bucket as a pathetic shield.

"Not ideal but it's something" he muttered to himself, thinking himself lucky for actually having something at hand. "Now think, what would Alfred do?" he sighed, "He'd probably go out all guns blazing and get himself killed . . . Francis? No, he'd just sit here and wait it out, hoping for someone to find him. What do I do?"

"Matthieu" he heard whispered not from far away, "Mon amore, where are you?"

'Speak of the devil' the young Canadian thought, hoping it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him and that his boyfriend was really outside. Gulping, he reached out and took the handle of the cupboard into his hand and slowly cracked it open. What he saw was a corridor void of zombies but full of bodies. He hadn't noticed them before because he was running for his life but the floor was smeared with blood, corpses and half eaten body parts. He gagged at the sight and the smell and looked down the other side of the corridor. Facing away from him was a gore covered teenager with shoulder length blond hair. He was wearing the school shirt and trousers but was no longer wearing the blazer. With more courage than he thought he had, Matthew cleared his throat and whispered his lover's name, "Francis!"

The Frenchman quickly spun around; his light blue eyes wide and his mouth open in a silent scream. He stared at the Canadian for a few seconds before crystal tears formed in his eyes and he practically ran at the other and tightly enveloped him in a bear like embrace.

"Mon Dieu" Francis gasped as he pulled back and looked at Matthew fully. "You're . . . you're not hurt are you?"

"No" Matthew replied, gripping the other boys hands tightly, "Get into the cupboard, it's not safe here"

"Oui, oui, the whole place isn't safe" Francis said as he followed his partner into the cupboard. Once the door was closed, he pulled the younger to his body, cupped his face in his hands and gave him a loving and desperate kiss. All too obliging, the Canadian dropped his tools and wrapped his arms around his lover, pushing the kiss further. For once in their love life, it was Francis who broke the embrace off.

"We need to figure out how to get out of here" he gasped, rubbing circles on Matthews's cheeks with his thumbs. "I came looking for you. One of the monsters grabbed me but I managed to get away by taking off my jacket. I was so scared"

"I was waiting for you in the classroom" Matthew mumbled, "One came in and I ran for it. Another caught me but I escaped unharmed. Once I got out of the room I ran into here! I don't know why I didn't continue on. I just saw a door and went through it"

"Sshh" Francis whispered, pulling Matthew's head into his chest and stroking his hair. "As long as you're safe, as long as you are unharmed. That is all that matters to me. We'll both make it out together"

"M-my brother" Matthew stuttered, "I need to find my brother"

Francis looked sadly down at his love and wiped his tears away. "I'm afraid that he might be dead, my sweet"

"No" Matthew grunted, "He's a stubborn bastard, I know he's somewhere and I need to get to him"

"And if he's already dead by the time we get to him? What then?"

"Then we leave" Matthew sighed, looking at the wall over Francis' shoulder, unable to look him in the face. "I just need to be sure about where Alfred is before I even think about leaving the school. I'm sure he's looking for me too, so hopefully we don't miss one another"

"You're a better man than me" Francis muttered, "But then, I don't have anyone at this school to look for - other than you - and I've found you"

"But what about Michelle?" Matthew asked.

"On holiday with my mother" Francis smiled, happy that two members of his family would not be caught up in the same mess they were in. "My father on the other hand . . ."

"We can look for him when we get out" Matthew nodded, "We need to find as many people as we can, preferably someone who knows how to drive and knows this town like the back of their hand"

"I've lived here since I was ten years old" Francis said, "I know my way around pretty well"

"Good" Matthew whispered, keeping his voice to a minimum, "We find survivors and get out of here. Is that the plan we're going for?"

"Oui, it seems like the best we can come up with" Francis agreed. "Now to find that idiotic brother of yours."

"Alfred," Matthew whispered, "I hope you're okay."

I know I could give Francis an accent but I decided not too, he's been living away from France for years so he's lost it – that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it. In fact I won't be writing accents, just the occasional words here and there – I'm not good at writing them. This is going to be the layout for the first few chapters – first half following Alfred and Arthur the second half following someone else.

Please review if you enjoyed this, it would be very much obliged :)