Chapter 3 - A new friend

Over the last couple of years, Gilbert had been travelling with his little brother and his friends. Ludwig was trying to find a place where they could stay for a while. They had a place that was theirs but it was taken over by the walking corpses.

Zombies... That really is the right world for them; he didn't like it but it fit.

Ludwig was always so serious, and while it was good to have someone like that on their team, it was really hard to have any fun with him around. He had wanted to travel with Antonio and Francis but he didn't know where they were. He didn't want to admit that he was worried about them, they were stronger than they looked, he kept telling himself.

Ludwig looked like he was starting go get annoyed with his little Italian friend, Feli. Feli was always bubbly and happy, just the opposite of Ludwig. His other friend, Kiku, was very quiet and didn't seem to like to get into even the slightest argument. He had found out just recently that he was a lot older than he looked.

They found themselves camping in the forest once again. He didn't really mind all that much, he had Lud and done this a lot as children but the other two weren't really outdoorsy people. So while he and Lud set up a defensive perimeter, the other two set up a sleeping arrangements and food for the night.

In the middle of doing this, Gilbert heard the sounds of a small group of zombies approaching them. Without really thinking about it, he took off with his sword in hand. Ludwig was calling after him but he didn't stop. He loved his sword, it was a replica an ancient Prussian sword, that made it really special. When he used it, it felt like he was fighting for this homeland, even though it didn't exist anymore.

There were about 5 of them gathered around a river, eating live birds. They weren't very hard to take out, as long as you paid attention to your surroundings. When he did, there was a little noise coming from one of the trees. He went over to it to check it out, just out of curiosity.

He had found that one of those clumsy guys had knocked over a birds nest killing most of the chicks. Only one of them survived and it was crying out. Carefully, he scooped up the chick and held it to eye level. It was so small and innocent and cute.

"It won't survive." said his brother behind him. Gilbert stood up quickly, a little embarrassed that he hadn't noticed him. "Yes he will. This is Gilbird and he is strong. Mine little birdy friend will be the most awesomest little birdy ever. I will feed and protect him until he is strong enough to laugh at all the other little birds." he said, becoming more and more proud of this chick who hadn't done anything yet.

Ludwig pointed a finger at him, "You do know how baby chicks are fed, right?" Gilbert had to admit that he may have overlooked that. It didn't matter though, it wasn't the grossest thing that had happened to them recently. In fact, killing those zombies was grosser than the thought of how to feed a baby bird. "Of course I do, keskeskes."

Ludwig shrugged his shoulders and made his way back to camp to finish. Gilbert looked at some loose dirt and wondered if he could get by with just smashing up worms to feed to Gilbird.