The Disease Of Chaos Chapter 2: Sleep is what I fear now, a hetalia - axis powers fanfic

Day One

Arthur – with Alfred

England - with America

It had been hard but we're finally in a safe place. A few weeks have passed since the government broadcasted about this strange disease. Alfred panicked about it when it first came over; because when he first arrived, I was covered in his sister's blood. Then I explained her DNA never got in my body, therefore I am 'pure', as the government would say. Those infected are 'impure' and must killed is what the government ordered. Those without any trace of the disease are 'pure' and must be saved. At the present moment, Alfred and I are 'pure' although a bit shaken.

"Let's stop running for now, Alfred," I say, sliding down the wall of the classroom. We had recently run into a school for cover. It's the summer holidays so the 'zombies' never got into the school. The desks are still lined up neatly, the walls blank for a fresh start. No sign of 'zombies' here. "We need to rest."

"Agreed. I hate running like this," Alfred says, looking out the window. I head to the doors and secure them shut, just in case. We're on the fourth floor so if 'zombies' get in, we're screwed. "Arthur? Think we'll survive?"

"Bloody hell, Alfred," I say, my normal cursing self coming back. I smile at him. "Of course we will. I mean, I still got to find my two surviving brothers. And your twin is still in Canada right?"

"Yeah, he is," Alfred says, hanging his head. "I hope he says where he is. The broadcast said Canada is completely uninfected. But…"

"It's unlikely to stay that way," I say, finishing off his trail of thought. I think for a moment. "I wonder how Ian and Peter are… I hope they're alright."

"Dude, they will be," Alfred says, rubbing my shoulder. "They will be…"

A scream comes from outside and I stand up quickly, looking out the window. A young girl with long blonde hair tied up in two high ponytails on each side on her head. Her red glasses have one side broken. Her plain short sleeved blue dress has been torn up bad and she's been chased by two guys on motorbikes. "Alfred," I say. We look at each other and understand. We hurry down the stairs as fast as we can.

One of the guys with badly dyed black hair takes her face in his hand. "Well, ain't you a cutie?" he says teasingly. The girl slaps his hand away and steps back.

"Get away from me!" she screams in his face. The other guy grabs her from behind. He's got scruffy brown hair, covered in blood. The black haired one stops his motorbike and starts rubbing his hands over her face. She struggles for a moment.

I fire an arrow and it cuts the tip of the black haired guy's nose. "Shit! What was that?!" The guy shouts, turning in the direction of Alfred and me.

"Let the girl go," I say plainly, loading another arrow. "Or the next one might just leave you dead on the floor." I glare at him. The girl looks in fear at me.

"Whatever bastard!" The brown haired guy tries to start his motorbike and run when I fire the arrow at his shoulder. He falls off his bike, writhing in pain. "Shit! Fuck you!"

"Not my fault you never listened. Alfred," I signal him. Alfred runs forward, putting his arm round the girl, holding a pistol to the brown haired guy while I have my bow pointed at the black haired guy. "Now, we'll be protecting her in the right way a lady should be protected."

The two guys glare at us and straighten up quick. The brown haired guy pulls out the arrow sharply and throws it to the ground. They spit and drive away on their motorbikes.

"Miss, are you alright?" I say, turning to the girl in Alfred's arms. She's not actually much younger than Alfred. I'm about 22, Alfred's 20 so my guess is this girl is 19 perhaps.

"I'm fine," she says, pushing away from Alfred's arms. "… Thank you."

"It's no problem!" Alfred says, grinning.

"If you want, Miss, you may stay with us," I offer. "We won't try anything unlike them. I just want to find my brothers and Alfred just wants to get out alive."

"I'd… I'd like that. But if you try anything, you can trust me to kick your asses," she threatens.

I smile a little at that and look about the street. It's still empty, despite the commotion. That's a relief. "Well, let's head back to the classroom. You don't look in a good condition right now," I say, gesturing to the girl's clothes.

She looks down and realizes just how much is showing and blushes. "Okay… Thanks. My name's Rose* Smith by the way."

fem!England*

"Arthur Kirkland," I say. "And this is Al-"

"Alfred Jones," Alfred shouts out, interrupting me. "The Hero from the USA!" He smirks and kisses Rose's hand. "At your-"

SLAP. Rose's hand goes right across his face and she just turns away and walks by me, as I lead the way back to the classroom we were hiding out in beforehand. Alfred follows behind, the kicked puppy look clear upon his face.

We get up there and I tell Alfred to search for some clothes while I patch Rose's wounds. It looks like we might be here for the rest of the day…

Ian – with Peter

Scotland - with Sealand

"Dammit!" I shout. Peter, my little brother of 12, cuddles in the corner, scared of my rage. He has blonde hair and bushy eyebrows just like Arthur; but he has sea blue eyes instead. He's short and he's wearing a white top and brown shorts and shoes just now; whatever I could get on him before I ran away with him. Myself, I'm a red head with bushy eyebrows and emerald green eyes too. I'm dressed in a white shirt and blue combat trousers with big black boots. I have a rifle strapped to my back. I had been at the shooting range at the time of the chaos.

"Ian?" Peter says timidly from the corner of the van, we're hiding out in. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Peter…" I say, kneeling next to him, taking him into my arms. "Don't worry about me, 'kay?" Peter nods into my shoulder. Since the chaos started, I had been trying to get back to Arthur to at least let him take care of Peter.

I'm not a good brother. I'll make him see something horrible, I just know it. But I can't do anything now except search for Arthur. I know Arthur would probably search for a way out of the UK so that meant an airport; but which one?

Moans sound through the walls of the van and I realize my kick to the wall was louder than I thought. "Fuck," I curse, pulling Peter up into my arms. "Hold on, close your eyes and don't scream." He does this and I push open the back door lightly. One 'zombie' falls over after the door hitting it in the face. I jump out, landing on my feet soundlessly. I bend over slowly and pick up a rock. I throw the rock into the van and the sound rings throughout.

The 'zombies' start stumbling over one another to get closer to the sound; thinking it is a human. I turn and run. Run, run, run; that's our life now, and it will be unless this disease is cured or I die. I hope it's not the latter. If it's the latter for me, please… please don't let it be the same for Peter. Let Peter live. Let Peter escape this Hell.

I run on and on, heading for the closest airport. It's the only airport taking and sending out flights; Heathrow airport.

Matthew

Canada

I stare at the cracked mirror. My blonde hair reminds me of him. My sky blue eyes remind me of him. My glasses remind me of him. I sigh, my awkward curl bouncing. It had been a few weeks since my twin had gone to England to meet Arthur, but right afterwards, this chaos started. I had to get to England. My name's Matthew Williams. Our surnames are different only because of our parents' split when we were younger. That's also another reason why I live in Canada and Alfred lives in the USA. But recently, over the past year, we'd been meeting up in either country or emailing or video chatting. We'd gotten really close recently. So I have to go to England. I don't care if I die from the disease, I won't let him die without his twin.

I pack my stuff quickly and lift my suitcase down the stairs. The other residents look at me funnily. No one is leaving Canada because it's uninfected. But I'm different. If I leave, I can't get back in. That's it for me, and that's what I've decided. I'm never coming back.

Gilbert - with Ludwig, Roderich, Elizaveta, Vladmir, Vash and Lilli

Prussia - with Germany, Hungary, Romania, Switzerland and Liechtenstein

I pull on a black long sleeved shirt and then put on my sunglasses then look in the mirror. I look at my white albino hair then through my sunglasses at my pinkish red eyes. At a time like this, being an albino is inconvenient. For 24 years, I've been an albino and I've never found it difficult, but now…

"Big brother?" I hear Ludwig say through the door. "We got to hurry."

"Ja, I'll be out soon," I say, looking over myself again. Ludwig had been smart and called over our older brother, Roderich, and his wife, Elizaveta, and then a close family friend, Vash Zwingli, and Vash took his little sister, Lilli. Elizaveta had also taken Vladmir Cinca with her; a very odd name, but the guy's Romanian, can't blame him, I guess.

I take another look in the mirror at my blue jeans, black shirt and black shoes then pull on a pair of blue gloves and a hat before walking out. "Ready to go," I say to my little brother, who is actually taller and fitter than me by far.

My brother, Ludwig Beilschmidt – I'm Gilbert Beilschmidt which sounds so much more awesome – has blonde hair, which isn't slicked back for a change, blue eyes and is wearing combat trousers, big black boots and a black tank top. He's 21, while I'm 24. I have to admit. My little brother is sexy. Too bad has personality's a bit… well, rough.

Roderich approaches us, wearing a suit. He's a famous pianist in Austria but he'd been staying in Germany with Elizaveta recently. He and Elizaveta got married about a year ago and they are a stupid lovey-dovey couple. Roderich's got chocolate brown hair which sits neatly no matter what – which pisses the hell out of me and I don't know why – and his eyes are an unusual violet colour. He's 25, older than me sadly. Elizaveta comes up close behind him. She's beautiful; her hair is a lovely hazelnut brown and her eyes are peridot green and they seem to sparkle. No wonder Roderich married her. She's also wearing a beautiful green dress today. Her hair is hanging loose through a white bandana. She's my age, 24. If I could marry her, I would. I did actually think about it but marriage isn't my thing.

"We should be going," Roderich says. "Gilbert, you look stupid."

"It's not my fault, you know! I still look more awesome than you, prissy-pants," I retort, walking away. I hear Ludwig sigh behind me then follow while Elizaveta laughs at my retort.

I walk out the house and then to the eight-seat car, that Roderich and Elizaveta own, and get in the very back with Ludwig. Vash, 25, is sitting in the middle of the middle row with his younger sister, Lilli, 17. They both have the same hairstyles yet Lilli wears a ribbon to the side of her hair. They're both blonde and green-eyed and both wearing the same green uniform, strapped with a black belt. Vash has a rifle strapped to his back – when doesn't he? – and Lilli has a pistol in a holster. Ludwig and I both have pistols too but I have a secret combat knife hidden between my shoulder blades.

Vladmir gets in next to Vash. Vladmir's 26, the oldest of us. He's got light brown hair and the weirdest sense of style. Even now, he's wearing something like a vampire would wear. Well, he is named after a vampire I guess. He's wearing a purple magician's suit with a short purple cape over his shoulders. Upon his head is a small purple top hat. For being a human, though, he's got some sharp teeth. He really gives me the creeps.

Roderich and Elizaveta finally get in the front and start the car. Roderich has the wheel at the moment. We had decided we're heading to Switzerland from the centre of Germany. Switzerland is the closest place that's uninfected. As long as we get there uninjured, we can go in. But that's the hard part; staying uninjured.

Francoise

fem!France

Panic everywhere. As soon as the UK got infected, France was infected almost straight away. It was impossible to prevent. France was a hazard just like the UK and the USA. I run and run, deciding my own option was to head for Switzerland. I live in Paris so, although it's far, I know I can make it. But it'll be hard.

Being alone at a time like this… It'll be difficult. If only. If only I had some family… If only my brother… No, I can't think of stuff like that. I put my seatbelt on and start driving. It's only a small red mini I drive so I hope I don't attract too much attention. I drive for a bit. I hope I don't walk into trouble. Now that would be bad.

Lovino – with Antonio, Feliciano, Morgens, Emma, Marcello and Leonardo

Romano - with Spain, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Serborga and San Marino

My twin hugs my arm as I close the curtains of the windows and lock the door. My twin and I both turned 18 not long ago. We're both very alike look wise actually. I, Lovino Vargas, have tanned skin, brown eyes and hazel brown hair which all sits neat, except for one bit. My brother, Feliciano Vargas, is a little less tanned than I and his hair is more auburn brown; but we both have a strand of hair that curls up. We're also in matching uniforms for we had been ready for a day of work at the café when the chaos started here in Italy.

Our younger brother, Leonardo Vargas, 16, comes running down the stairs. "Antonio called! He said he's coming here," Leonardo says. I sigh. Leonardo's got my hair colour but he's pale as can be. His eyes are also an unusual violet colour. He's dressed in a pair of jeans and a shirt that he's in the middle of buttoning up.

Our oldest brother comes down not far behind. "Antonio's coming?" he says, pulling a plain white t-shirt over his head. He's also wearing a pair of cream shorts and big brown boots. Marcello, 20, heads over to Feliciano and me and ruffles our hair. "Better change then, trouble's a-brewing." A strange look crosses his face as Feliciano nods and drags me upstairs.

I change into a pair of light brown trousers and a loose black tank top with a pair of black boots while my twin changes into a pair of loose blue trousers, black tank top and a pair of black boots. We head downstairs and sit at a table to wait for Antonio.

A knock comes at the door and I stand up to answer. I open the door and standing there is an extremely tanned, tall guy with brown hair and viridian green eyes. His clothes are almost the exact same as mine except for the pistol in a holster at his waist.

"Antonio Carriedo," I say plainly to him. He smiles and hugs me. "Let go!" I shout, squirming. Antonio's always been strange. Even though I'm 18 and he's 25, he seems to have taken a liking to me. Once out of his arms, I notice the two people behind him. The man, who looks maybe 27, is even taller than Antonio. His light blonde hair stands on end and his pale green eyes seem to stare right through me. He's wearing a big light brown coat with loose cotton trousers and knee high black boots; strange with just that in Italy's weather and just to add to it, he's wearing a blue and white striped scarf.

The lady isn't as weird. She appears maybe 23 or 24. Her hair is a bright ginger, held in place by a red ribbon. Her eyes are a slightly darker shade of green than the man's. She's wearing a knee-length, lilac dress, tied at the waist with a light green sash. She's wearing a green cardigan of the same shade and lilac shoes.

"Who are they?" I ask, standing aside to let them all in.

Antonio walks in first and puts an arm round my shoulders – to my dismay – and points to the man. "That's Morgens Vos. We played football together when we were younger. We're just friends now," Antonio says, smiling away at Morgens. Morgens shrugs back at Antonio and takes a seat. "And this is the lovely Emma Vermeulen," Antonio says, taking Emma by the hand and leading her to a seat.

I look outside quickly for anything and then quickly lock the door and take my seat, next to my twin, again.

It all stays silent for a moment before Marcello speaks up. "We have to get away from this place. We have to find somewhere safe. We can't stay here…" We all look at Marcello and nod. We all know the situation. Although the disease isn't bad here in Italy, it's spreading. People are packing and leaving."

"Switzerland," I say. "That's where everyone else is heading. It must be…" I gulp for a moment. "Pure, as the government would say."

"Leaving straight away would be best," Marcello says and I nod in agreement.

"But…" I hear Antonio say.

"But?" Feliciano inquires.

"But, we need to prepare for the worst. We need weapons, food and first aid stuff," Antonio says, frowning. It's very unlike him to be the sensible one but I guess pressure does that to us.

"So, should we get that and get ready to leave?" Leonardo asks, looking worried. He looks towards the door and I follow his gaze. Suddenly something bangs on the door.

"Help! HELP! H-" The screaming is abruptly cut off and become cries of pain. The noise moves and I run to the door and pull it open. A little girl hovers over the woman, screaming. Blood trails from the girl's mouth as she bites and eats the woman alive. My eyes widen and I try to look away but I can't. My eyes are glued to the scene unfolding before me. The woman then stops moving.

I hear hurried foot steps behind me as the woman stands up slowly and reaches for me; and my feet won't move. Someone pulls me back as the woman's hand grabs thin air and the door slams shut, making the woman's hand crunch. I blink for a moment as a sharp pain goes through my leg. I cry out and see the little girl cutting my leg with a sharp nail; she must have moved right up to me and got pulled in. She's away to bite me when Morgens picks her up and throws her out the window, before closing it again.

"Lovi?" I hear Antonio ask in my ear.

"Did I get the disease?" I ask, worried.

"What?" Antonio says back stupidly.

"No, you didn't," Morgens says. "Her nail was clean, lucky for you. If she'd bitten you, then you would be infected."

I nod back, feeling something wet trail down my face. I'm crying. I'm crying in front of my brothers and stupid Antonio; only it's Antonio I hug. I bury my face in his shoulder. Just the sight of that little girl's face. Her eye was falling out and her arm looked ready to fall off. Some teeth had fallen out but she would still be able to bite. And her leg was bent the wrong way. It was horrible… Just horrible…

"We'll get ready today and leave tomorrow," Antonio says, stroking my head. I hear everyone walk away and Antonio carries me to a chair. "Wait here, Lovi," he says, before rushing to the kitchen. He returns a few moments later with a first aid kit. I'm now trembling and crying and I won't stop. Antonio rubs my shoulder gently and pulls me into another hug. It calms me down a little for me to stop trembling but the tears just won't stop. Antonio kneels down and begins bandaging my leg. He does it in silence so the only sound is my sobbing and some shouting and laughter from upstairs.

"There, all better," Antonio says, standing up. I look down and nod. "Hey, Lovi… Everything will be alright. Antonio's here for you."

I nod again and mutter quietly, "Don't call me Lovi, bastard." Antonio laughs and hugs me again.

"That's my Lovi, and he better not change, 'cause I might cry too if he does," Antonio says; which earns him a punch in the face.

Paulette - with Jack and Daniel

Wy - with Australia and New Zealand

Name's Paulette! Paulette Taylor. I'm short – only 12 – chocolate brown haired, hazel eyes and cute! At this moment I'm wearing a pair of sandals, beige shorts, and a white top which doesn't even cover my stomach and has thin straps, with a pink, short sleeved jacket over that! My hair's tied up in a ponytail using a pink ribbon too! But enough about me! Let me tell you a little about the situation. Not that I know much.

But from what I do know is my brother, Jack Taylor, 24, said we got to leave Australia and come to England to find someone. And well, here we are in England. Only Jack took his New Zealand friend too, Daniel Wilson, 22. Jack has the same hair colour and eye colour as me, although his hair's spiky and short and awesome. He's in a weird outfit. It's like a beige shirt and shorts… but in one! With a belt in the middle. He also has these big brown boots and this awesome hat – not that he'll need it in England.

Daniel's a bit more normal, except for the fact he looks like a businessman. He's wearing a white shirt with the top few buttons undone, a pair of smart black trousers and shoes. And a tie, who even wears those? His hair's kind of weird too. It's like this light blonde and it's kind of gelled back but not… His eyes are a pretty green though.

Anyway, we're here in England at the airport; the only one open in England at the moment. I got told there's some disease going around by DNA. And DNA's in our saliva and hair and stuff and our… blood… Well, I got told to be careful and not go close to other people. How am I supposed to transfer blood with someone? Drink their blood? Jeez, brothers are so overprotective. But I have to do as I'm told.

Jack pushes me in front of him as he walks quickly. People look at us strangely as they all queue to leave and we're walking out the door into the chaos they just came from. I wonder just how bad it is. It can't be that bad… can it?

And I'm wrong. We walk out and the cars are all parked squint every where. Some have been crashed into, some still have the doors open and some are even still on. "Jack! Why'd we come here?!" I shout out, turning around and clinging to him.

Jack pets my hair and kneels down, Daniel standing a little away. "We came here to find Arthur and his brothers. You remember Peter right?" I nod, knowing the boy he talks of. "Well, we're here to find and help them." I nod again.

"Wasn't Australia safe?" I ask. "Couldn't we of stayed there?"

"We could have stayed, but it wasn't safe," Jack says, standing up straight. "C'mon. We need to find somewhere safe to spend the night." Daniel and I nod, following Jack to find somewhere safe.

In the end, we find somewhere that is safe, well… a little safe.

Nikolai – with Emil and Mathias

Norway - with Iceland and Denmark

Nikolai Bondevik, 20 years old. Blonde hair, lilac eyes, stupid curl of hair that won't stay down. Wearing a sky blue shirt and dark blue tie with black trousers and shoes. Done wondering who I am? Good.

My brother, Emil Bondevik, 17, has silver blonde hair and lavender eyes. He's wearing the same as me except no tie and the shirt's white. Speaking of my brother, he's sitting next to me right now. The two of us live in Norway. And our government just released the news.

"Citizens of Sweden, Norway and Finland. Our countries are pure, uninfected. We do not have to fear the disease. No one gets in, no one gets out. Denmark and Iceland would be part of this but their countries have been plagued with the disease already. We cannot allow this impureness to enter our country. So, all the borders and coast lines have been sealed…"

The government keeps speaking but I tune out at that point. Sealed, huh? So we're trapped. What a wonderful way to spend the rest of our lives. I listen to the news again as it explains the known details of the disease.

"…passed through DNA such as blood or saliva. Biting is the main way. The disease also increases the thirst for blood. It was thought it may slow down movements but all evidence shows that it only makes people rely on instinct alone, therefore speed is unaffected…"

It continues on. I already know all that. I looked it up yesterday. This country, pure? I highly doubt it since the UK has it so bad. We probably got it and don't know it.

"This is so stupid," I mutter. Emil looks over to me from his side of the sofa.

"Nik, do you think we're really safe?" he asks, looking a bit worried, most likely trying to read my face's emotionless expression.

"No, I don't. Not being so close to the UK," I reply, not caring if I hurt him. He deserves to know the truth.

"Oh," he says, despair dripping from his voice.

"If the disease is here, then we'll just be trapped in Norway. They won't unseal the borders. Meaning we need to head to Finland, and get into Russia, or go south and cross to Denmark," I say, knowing that neither way is possible. We really are trapped.

"But they'll be patrolling the waters between Norway, Sweden and Denmark right? And Russia's almost as bad as Japan right?" Emil says, proud of his knowledge, sad for their lack of options.

"Correct, meaning we just have to survive until they realize we need to get out of here. And who knows when that'll be?" I say, standing. "But, you know what they say."

"What?" Emil asks innocently.

"There's safety in numbers. Let's go see Mathias, he'll help," I say, grabbing my coat and throwing Emil's over to him.

With a 10 minute walk, we're at Mathias's. Mathias doesn't answer the door but we hear noise from inside. We both hear a girl's voice say, "Oh, Mathias Jensen… It seems we have a guest," followed by an evil giggle. Stumbling foot steps are heard and Mathias finally gets the door open. Mathias is a bit older than I; he's 22. He has spiky blonde hair and ice blue eyes. He's in the normal red shirt, black dress trousers and black shoes. His shirt though is undone by many buttons and his black tie is slung round his neck.

"Mathias, at a time like this, and you're drinking with a girl?!" I shout out, annoyed.

"Jealous are we, Nikky?" Mathias says, smirking. I bite my lip to stop myself from shouting at him and barge past.

"You do realize the world is plagued with a disease right?!" I say, trying to keep the tone down. The girl he was with seems to have heard me shouting and is over to see what's up. She's tall and skinny with waist length white hair, clearly dyed. Her eyes are an unusual pink colour with some hints of red. She has a cross shaped scar on her right cheek. She's in a short white skirt and a black tank top. I notice her black boots are sitting by the door.

"Why hello there. Short guy, you do realize, Norway is pure? Free from the disease?" she says, smiling innocently.

"I don't trust what the government said. I doubt we're uninfected," I say, giving her a slight glare.

"Well, that's your choice," she says, glaring right back at me. She walks forward to tower over me, taking advantage of my height.

"Who are you, anyway?" I hear Emil say pulling me back. He smiles sweetly at her.

"Vanessa*. Vanessa Schulze. 23 years old, if you really want to know," she answers, smiling sweetly at my brother before glaring at me again.

fem!Prussia*

Mathias pushes the two of us apart and grins. "Now, now, get along. Nikky, if something happens, you know I'll protect your brother and you, 'kay?"

"I don't need you to protect me or my brother, it's just safety in numbers," I say. Vanessa laughs.

"Unless two of them have a… disagreement and someone ends up murdered," she says, giggling.

"I would never murder someone," I say, turning away from her.

"Who said you were doing the murdering?" She smiles evilly.

"Mathias, I'm heading to the guest room. Emil, c'mon," I say, walking away from the two of them. Looks like it's going to be a long stay… Just to make things worse, we never know when the disease might actually break out. We might not be prepared.

Taika – with Berwald and Hanatamago

fem!Finland - with Sweden and Hanatamago

"Taika, dear?" I hear my husband, Berwald Oxenstierna, call to me. I'm standing in the kitchen, with Hanatamago, my dog, running around my feet. She's a white fluffy dog with floppy ears. I run through to the living room, with mine and Berwald's coffee.

"Yes, dear?" I say, as Hanatamago, circles my feet. Berwald's really tall compared to me. He's got blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes, framed by some black glasses. He's in a shirt and pair of trousers at the moment, his shoes sitting at the door. I've got long pale blonde hair, tied in two plaits at the moment. I'm wearing a simple purple dress with flower designs at the hem. My eyes are kind of an odd blue with purple.

"More news on the disease," he says plainly. I quickly put down the two cups of coffee and take a seat next to him.

"Sealed?" I question.

"Meaning we're trapped. People are going to react badly to this. It's obvious they are," Berwald says, putting his arm around my shoulders.

"Trapped… People won't handle the pressure of being confined… right?" I ask.

"Exactly. The sealed borders may keep the disease out but insane citizens are a worse and more dangerous problem," Berwald says, rubbing my shoulder. I lean into him, resting my head on his shoulder.

"So, we're actually making more danger for ourselves? Well… That was smart of the governments," I say, giggling a little without emotion.

"I just hope they unseal the borders soon. We're not in a particularly safe place," Berwald says, looking to the news again. It had explained the disease and is now onto the diseased countries.

"The United States of America, United Kingdom, Spain, France and Germany are just some of the few countries to have the disease. It's already known Iceland and Denmark have been hit badly. Russia and Japan are the worst off. Hardly any country is safe. The only known countries to be safe are Sweden, Finland, Norway and Switzerland. Where else is safe, is unknown. Canada is also thought to be free from disease…"

I glance out the window. Berwald and I live in Finland, close to the border of Russia. Maybe the disease… slipped past before the borders were sealed.

Berwald speaks up, "You're thinking the disease might be here, right?" I jump a little and nod. "And you might be right. We'll just have to be careful. Let's just go on as normal and wait for more news, okay?"

"Okay, my dear," I answer.

Jia Long - with Erawan, Hoa and Deven

Hong Kong - with Thailand, Viet Nam and India

I hold my knees to my chest as noise sounds all around me. Erawan Yunram puts his arm round me and pulls me close into his arms. His glasses slide down his nose, his black, spiky hair flopping forward. He takes me by the shoulders and looks into my hazel brown eyes with his ice blue ones. "Jia Long. Everything will be alright, got it?" I nod in reply as he stands up.

At the start of all this, there was Erawan Yunram, 23, Hoa Nguyen, 22, Yao Wang, 25, and me, 19. But Erawan, Hoa and I got separated from Yao in the chaos and saved by someone called Deven Sharma, 24. It was lucky. If he hadn't been there, I would be dead.

Erawan's once new white shirt, black trousers and shoes are now all ruined; torn and covered in blood. Hoa is wearing a green dress with cotton trousers underneath and black slip-on shoes. Her clothes are also ruined. She's got long black hair pulled into a ponytail at the back and she has beautiful brown eyes. Deven's a bit odd. He's dressed in a black suit, including a tie. When he saved us, he was wearing black sunglasses which got broken in the fight. His suit is also torn and blood covered so he's removed the jacket. He told us he was visiting Japan from India. Yes, we're in Japan; one of the places the disease is at its worst.

I hear a gunshot and cover my ears again, ducking my head down, allowing my dark brown hair fall forward. I stare at the red of my long sleeved tunic. I'm wearing cotton trousers too with black slip-on shoes. I look up and see Hoa looking out the window. We're hiding out in a hotel. It had been the only secure place we could find. The room we're in has been torn apart. The bed is normal but the covers are a different matter. They've been scratched up and torn apart and thrown across the room, same with the feather pillows. The table is lying on its side, scratch marks covering the top. The bathroom is messed up and the tiles there have been smashed. Blood covers the walls of the two rooms too. But it's safe. We've cleaned up what we can and I'm now hiding next to the bed.

Hoa stands out on the balcony and her rifle hanging by her side. She aims it and shoots. Another loud bang and again I cover my ears. I hate this noise. I want out. I want out of Japan, out of this Hell. I hear Erawan and Deven talking again. I don't listen. I don't want anything to do with this chaos, I just want out. I clench my eyes shut tightly and block out all noise.

This place is horrible. What did we do to deserve this? What did the world do? Is this the world's way of getting revenge for how we treat it? Or maybe it's God? Just tell us. What did we do wrong? Why do we deserve this? Is there-

"Jia Long," I hear after a hand placing itself on my shoulder. I look up to see Deven, looking worried. "You alright?"

I want out. "I'm fine," I reply.

"You look pale Jia…" he says, placing the back of his hand on my forehead.

We're not going to live. "I might just be ill 'cause of the pressure…"

"That's not good. Well, you'll survive," Deven says, smiling.

No, we won't. "Yeah, I will."

"We're just going to stay here till tomorrow. No point moving. It's close to night. How about you lie down and get some rest?"

Sleep is what I fear now. "Okay. I will."

Kiku – with Yao, Mei Mei and Yong Soo

Japan - with China, Taiwan and South Korea

Yao continues pacing back and forth in the bus. He had told us that his name was Yao Wang, 25 years old, and that he had been with three other people but got separated. He's wearing a Chinese style red tunic with cotton trousers and black slip-on shoes. He has long dark brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and honey brown eyes. It appears he had only been visiting Japan when this happened.

I, myself, live in Japan. My name's Kiku Honda. I'm 23 years old. I have black hair in a bob and hazel brown eyes. At the moment, I'm wearing my uniform. It's completely white with gold lining. I also have a black belt and black boots on. On my waist, I have a traditional katana that has been passed down my family. I used it for the first time this morning, protecting Yao.

Mei Mei _, my girlfriend, comes over from the back of the bus and sits next to me. She's originally from Taiwan. She's 22 years old. She's got very long dark brown hair, almost black, and the most beautiful chocolate brown eyes. She's wearing a flowing pink dress with sleeves that go over her hands. The sleeves gradually turn white just like the bottom of the dress. There are also some faint flower patterns around the hem. "Kiku? You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I say. I glance to Yao again and then the back of the bus before looking at Mei Mei. "How's Yong Soo doing?" Mei Mei looks away.

My friend, Yong Soo _, had been injured badly. We had been running when something attacked him. He's 24 so he said "As the oldest, not including Yao, I have to protect you, so I'll go at the rear." It was the biggest mistake we made. I had been at the head of the group, with Mei Mei behind me then Yao, with Yong Soo at the back.

We had stopped for a moment. We hadn't expected those infected to be able to move so quickly. A corpse near by had looked like it wouldn't get up. We didn't take two looks. It stood up as we passed and it had grabbed Yong Soo. It had scarred him bad on his back. Yao had grabbed anything and hit the 'zombie'. We had been lucky. And now Yong Soo is ill. That had only been about half an hour ago. We were worried the disease had infected him. But half an hour is a big enough time period right?

Wrong. There's movement from the back of the bus suddenly. Yao freezes and pivots round. "Yong Soo?" he says. I stand up quickly, along with Mei Mei. Yong Soo is now standing but he's hunched over, his head flopped forward. His floppy black hair sways with him. His head lifts a little. I see his brown eyes; except they're not brown, they're white. He takes one shaky step forward and Mei Mei screams. My friend is one of them now.

I gently push past Mei Mei and then Yao and walk towards what used to be Yong Soo. My foot steps make little sounds on the metal of the bus. It looks towards the noise and suddenly charges. I tell myself, that is not Yong Soo. I draw my katana. It gets close, its arms reaching out to me. I lift my katana above my head and then strike down. It falls to the ground. I lift my foot and stamp down. I hear a crack and a crunch. I feel the bone and mush below my foot. I look away. Mei Mei has her eyes covered. Yao seems to have no idea how to react, whether he should look away or something. He just stares.

I lift my foot and stand back. I don't look at the mess I just made. I sheathe my katana before wrapping my arms round Mei Mei. I make comforting sounds in her ear. I hear Yao shift behind me. He places a hand on my hand and then mutters, "Sorry." Then walks past us and sits in the driver's seat at the front.

I continue hugging Mei Mei till her sobs quiet down and then I turn her to face the front of the bus. We walk to the front and look to Yao.

He looks up at Mei Mei and me and says, "You do realize we'll probably never live."

I nod in reply. "But we can try."

"Yes. Yes, we can," Yao says, getting up and walking out the bus first. I let Mei Mei go ahead of me. I look back finally at the mess I made and feel like vomiting. I just killed someone; someone who used to be my friend. I turn away and hurry off the bus.

And together we run. I run to protect Mei Mei. I hoped to marry her before this started. Yao runs to find his friends. But together we run to survive.