Ch 3: Verruckt

Day 1

The asylum was two miles isolated from the struggling city. War definitely took a heavy toll on Germany's capital. Feeling slightly depressed about the war, Germany drove up to the ruined building. It was a much bigger two story building. There was a cracked up concrete wall and the only entrance was an iron gate. The morning sun shone brightly as America tried to pry open the gate, without avail.

"Here, let me try it," offered Russia, easily opening the gates. America gaped stupidly at Russia and asked how Russia did that. Russia ignored his question and walked inside, holding up his gun and searching for zombies. There was nothing, not even bodies. Germany went ahead to the front door of the sanitarium. Carefully, he opened the door, aiming his gun just in case anything attacked him. He almost stepped on a dead body. German zombie. Germany beckoned for them to follow him and they did.

Bodies were sprawled on the bloody green and white checkered floor, the walls were beige, and dirty. The 4 countries checked if the bodies were still animated, but they knew at first glance that their decapitated bodies will lay still forever.

"Damn," said America, trying not to step on the bloody mush on the ground. "We're going to need a major shower when we're done." Japan gave him a skeptical look.

"IF we ever get out," Japan corrected, looking out a broken window.

"HEY! Don't kill my dream of staying alive!" America whined, giving Japan a puppy face. Japan raised his eyebrow and shook his head disapprovingly.

"I'm just being realistic, we don't know if we'll going to get out of this alive," Japan clarified.

"Don't talk to me about realistic when you come up with crazy stories like, I don't know! Gay demon butlers? 'Soul reapers' who wield gigantic swords? A kid who defeats his enemies with a giant key?" America exclaimed, his temper rising up.

"HEY! I don't come up with all the crazy superheroes like.. I don't know! A nerdy guy who turns into a superhero just by being bit by a radioactive spider? A hero who uses gadgets and becomes a knight of the night? Or a flying super human who shoots lasers out of his eyes? Don't scold me about realisticness!" Japan stabbed his finger into America's chest and America was about to lose it when Germany pushed them both apart.

"Enough!" He exclaimed, arms extended to keep the men away from each other. "Japan is right, we have to be realistic or else we'll actually end up dead. Now this team can't break up or one of us will die for sure, and we don't want that, now do we?" Germany glared at both men, who bowed their heads in shame and apologized to each other. "Now that's much better. Lets continue recon and see if we can find any element 115. Agreed?" Everyone nodded and began to realize that Germany was taking charge as the leader, not that they minded, Germany was the only level minded one out of all of them. Japan is too soft spoken, America is, well, America, and Russia liked to drink vodka and get drunk, and America joins him sometimes. "All right, America, Japan, you guys go that direction, Russia and I will go this way." The partners went their separate directions.

"Look at this," Russia said, looking at a doorway. Beside it said "Lightning banishes darkness". There was a lot of heavy duty wiring along the frames and short metal rods were sticking out from the tops, the wires connected to them. Along the bottom was a metal plate. "I wonder what this is for." Russia found a switch beside the door and flipped it down. Nothing happened. "Huh, I thought it was going to do something interesting." Germany read the inscription on the switch.

"In order to activate the Electro-shock defense, you must first turn on the power," he read out loud. "The power is off." Germany looked back to Russia and Russia just shrugged. "Is there a map of the area nearby? I wonder where the power room is at." They continued to wander the corridors.

"Whoa! This place sure looks like the shits!" America said, gazing at a bloody hand on the wall. Japan was investigating a wall with bloody symbols on it.

"America, look at this!" Japan said. America joined him and stared at the wall. There was many doodles made out of blood, a hand print and an interesting set of numbers. "' 9:21' I wonder what they mean." Japan took out a small notebook and a pencil and wrote down the numbers. "Maybe they're important," Japan said to answer America's questioning look. Afterwards, they continued their recon.

"Hey look! Soda!" America ran to a vending machine that said "Perk-a-Cola" and America gazed at it with adoring eyes. America took out some random change and put a coin in to get a soda. Thing is, America didn't realize that the power was off. "Hey! Where's my soda!" America kicked the vending machine. Japan explained to him that the power was off. "Oh. Sorry vending machine, you can keep my change." Japan shook his head and continued investigating.

At noon, the men regrouped out front and made camp there. They exchanged their findings and tried to come up with a plan to find the 115.

"Well, it seems like the power needs to be turned on in order for us to effectively look for it," Germany said. "Also, those numbers are intriguing. I got to research them."

"I think they might be coordinates or something," Japan said, speculating the numbers again.

"So where do you think the element 115 is at?" America asked. Germany shrugged. "Should we continue looking or do we want to rest?"

"Let's rest for an hour and we continue our search." Everyone nodded in agreement. America went to sleep, Russia went to drink a bit, Japan rested near a tree. Germany took out a piece of paper from his battle journal and began to write a letter.

"Dear Italy,

We're at the second location of our mission, I don't know how long we're going to be here, could be a day, or months, who knows. I just wanted to say that all of us are doing fine, for now. I hope you are doing well. I'm sorry I can't write you constantly, it's because we're busy, but I will write to you, don't worry."

After folding the letter, placing it in an envelope, and writing Italy's address on it, Germany hid it in his jacket pocket.

4:30 p.m.

After having full bellies and rested eyes, the men went back into the building and continued to search. They all separated into pairs again, and wandered more into the building.

"This is Germany, over," America's two way radio buzzed. "This is America, we hear you loud and clear, over." America turned to Japan, who also had a two way radio, and sputtered that they were cool.

"How are you guys doing over there? Over."

"We're doing fine, nothing yet, over."

"Well call us when you find anything interesting, over and out."

America turned to Japan. "You heard the man! Let's go!" America and Japan wandered into a room on the first floor, not knowing that a door, which can only be opened when the power was on, separated the group.

"SAM!" a screechy voice cried out. Germany turned to Russia and Russia turned to him.

"Did you say that?" Germany asked Russia.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Russia replied. Germany took out his radio and asked the other two if they cried out a random name, both gave a negative answer but also said they heard the name be called out, well, screeched. Germany glanced out a barricaded window and saw nothing. He turned to speak to Russia and saw it, the person who cried out "Sam," well, more like thing.

"Duck!" Germany cried as he swung his gun and aimed it at the oncoming zombie.

Headshot.

"Where the hell are they coming from?" Russia asked, shooting another zombie.

"Guys, zombies are coming!" They heard America call out from both the radio and the other side of a door. Germany didn't respond, he called out to the other men through the door and tried to open it while Russia was occupied with the zombies.

"Damn it! I think we have to have the electricity on to open the door!" Germany concluded and swung around to shoot at zombies. They heard gunfire from the other side of the door but they didn't worry. They heard a demonic giggle and the zombies stopped coming. Germany and Russia ran out to the corridor and saw no zombies were coming… yet. They saw America and Japan come out of their room, but a barricade separated them still. Then, all four of them saw zombies coming out of the ground in the courtyard. The zombies were staggering and stumbling. Some had staples keeping their heads together. Germany thought he saw a few holding their shaking heads, as if they refuse to believe they're dead. From their vantage point, the countries shot down the undead before they could get into the corridors. Germany and Russia ran down the hall, still shooting the zombies. There was a crackle on the radio and Germany thought he heard Japan say something about electricity.

"Hey Japan! This room… It's… the power room!" America called running into a concrete room which had a similar box as he one in the other zombie area was at, the box with the question marks on it. America disregarded the box and ran to the lever. America yelped and jumped back after realizing a hand was still clutching onto the lever, a rather rotten, disembodied hand.

"What are you doing? Pull the lever!" Japan demanded, shooting at some zombies. America whimpered and whined that he couldn't. "You're a coward!" Japan shot a zombie and he pulled down on the lever. That's when the asylum came back to life.

Germany and Russia felt the power turn on and ran to one of the electro-shock defenses and turned it on just as the zombies were about to strike. Streams of electricity flowed from the top of the doorframe to the bottom and electrocuted the zombies to redeath. They heard the door that separated the group open and America and Japan ran through it and met up with the other two.

"Good, you guys turned on the power. Just what we needed," Germany said, refilling his gun with ammo. More zombies were headed towards them and again, electrocution. "We have to find the element!" A zombie grabbed Germany's arm. The zombie's dirty nails dug into Germany's arm and the zombie was about to knock the life out of Germany, but Germany shot the reanimated out of the brain.

The moon came out, and all the fighting stopped. Blood dripped from Germany's scratch wound, and everyone was splattered with blood. They all went back to the front, but no zombies lurked out there. Their camp was untouched and everyone gathered around Germany, wondering if becoming a zombie is contagious. Germany stared at his broken skin, but it just looks broken, nothing was spreading.

"But I've read that there's a virus that actually turns you into a flesh eating zombie!" America said, eyes widening and he stepped back from Germany, who was tending to his wound.

"But these zombies don't want to eat our flesh, they just want us dead," Japan said. "They haven't tried to bite us or anything."

"Japan has a point," Russia said. "Has any zombie tried to bite you, America?" America had to think about it, but none had tried to bite him.

"Those men at Nacht Der Untoten met their demise via being pound to death, scratched, and bleeding to death, no sign of illness," Germany stated. America finally understood and helped Germany bandage up his arm. For some reason, this reminded Germany about someone. A little image of Italy's smile flashed through Germany's mind and a small smile formed on his lips. "Ah guys, I have an errand to do tomorrow, do you mind if I take the jeep to send a letter?" The other guys stared at Germany questioningly. "I promised a friend I'd send him letters so he wouldn't have to worry about me." The guys gave him the approval. Germany felt relieved and took out his letter to Italy and added some more to it.

"I've been injured, but it's nothing huge, just a scratch, I'll be fine… While someone was dressing my wound, I remembered you, for some reason. But I will admit, it made me a little happy… I'll write to you as soon as I can.

-Germany"

Germany placed the letter back into his jacket pocket and lay down to sleep.

"Germany! Can I use your kitchen? I want to make pasta!" Italy said happily, waving his arms around and he pranced into the kitchen. Germany followed after him, making sure Italy doesn't make a mess in his kitchen. Everywhere Italy went in the kitchen, Germany was ready with a rag to clean any tiny mess. Italy looked at him with questioning eyes and Germany said "Don't mind me!" After making some spaghetti, Italy set down a few plates and served some pasta to Germany. "What do you think?" Germany's mouth was in heaven. Now he knows why Italy loves pasta so much.

Day 2

The sun rays punched Germany awake from his dream. Germany sat up and saw that Japan was awake. Germany stood up and walked to Japan. Japan watched as Germany sat next to him and served him some rice. Germany told Japan about his dream, and Japan came to one conclusion.

Germany was in love with Italy.

"What? How can that be? We're just friends!" Germany said, cheeks reddening.

"I know you're writing to Italy. Our little idiot friend need comfort from one of his, what did he call us?" Japan asked. Japan thought for a bit and remembered. "BFFs." Germany smiled at that.

"Well, I have to mail this letter to Italy. He's probably losing his mind about me not writing to him," Germany stood up and walked to the Jeep. He got on and left the asylum to Berlin, where he knows there is still one small post office that's still working.

The ride was bumpy, and the city was nearly in ruins. The battle was taken somewhere else, and it was safe for Germany to wander around. He then found the post office and walked inside. The he found a little old lady reading a book.

"Guten tag," Germany chirped. The old lady looked up at him with scared eyes. Germany, wondering, set down his letter. "I want to send this to Italy…" The old lady grabbed his arm and stared desperately into his eyes.

"They come out in the afternoon…" she said in a frail voice that quivered. "Their power source lies in the middle! My grandson has seen it! The glowing rock…" Germany suddenly knew what she meant and set a hand on her arm.

"We're taking care of it," Germany said soothingly. The woman gazed up at Germany and smiled. She muttered a thank you and proceeded to help Germany with his letter.

When Germany got back thirty minutes later, the others were huddled together, heatedly discussing something.

"I am back," Germany called. Everyone acknowledged him and continued their discussion. "What's going on?"

"We think we found the element," Japan said. Germany looked at all of them. "It's in the courtyard, where the zombies spawn."

"Yes, you're right… the old woman who attended me at the post office told me her grandson saw a glowing rock in the middle, meaning the courtyard. Where in the courtyard?" Germany asked.

"I think it's in the broken fountain," America said. "We have to go back and check again."

"Then lets go back and check again."

It was a rather odd hiding place for a dangerous element. The element was wedged into the broken fountain.

"Lets gather the bodies and burn them here."

Again the daunting task of dragging bodies.

"Why do we even burn them?" America asked Germany.

"Last time they were buried, they came back," Germany answered. America saw that as logical and continued to pile up the corpses. Russia threw a few Molotov cocktails and set the bodies ablaze. Germany clapped his hands together to clean off dust. "There, now we don't have to worry about fighting any more zombies." Just as they turned to leave, a hand came out from under the ground, and then another one. Multiple hands came out grabbing for the men's feet. The men jumped and ran. They left their guns at the campsite and are now defenseless.

"What are we going to do?" Japan asked. They were cornered in the power room.

"Maybe that box has something interesting in it!" America said, lifting up the lid. Inside was an armory of various weapons, including the ray gun. Russia took the ray gun, Japan took out a katana, America took out an MP40, and Germany took out a Gewehr 43 and some bouncing betties.. They began to defend themselves.

"Why are they coming out right now? It's still morning… and why aren't they dropping dead?" Germany yelled. Again, a zombie was reaching for his arm. Germany didn't want to get scratched again. Then the zombie screeched something.

"Sam!" This zombies eyes were glowing fiercely and swung at Germany.

"Sam…?" Germany dodged the swing and kicked the zombie. He looked around to check on his comrades and all were busy fighting a zombie. Germany saw an opening out of the room and he called out to his comrades. They all ran out of room, into the corridors, and saw an intriguing sight. The zombies were trying to put out the fire, which almost reached the element.

"They're protecting the element!" Russia said, taking aim and shooting the zombies.

"That's why they came out! And of course it's taking long for them to drop dead, the fire hasn't reached the element yet! Quick, America, Japan, make the fire bigger and don't be afraid to throw grenades at the element, Russia and I will lure away the zombies!" Russia and Germany jumped from the balcony onto the courtyard and dashed around, making the zombies gather after them. America and Japan quickly ran to the fountain and added more fire. While America was making more fire, Japan killed any stray zombies.

"Man, I wish I had a flamethrower!" America exclaimed. "This would go by much faster!"

"We don't have that luxary!" Japan exclaimed back, chopping off the head of a zombie. "Stay focused and…"

An explosion.

The shockwaves threw back America and Japan, and it knocked Russia and Germany off their feet. The zombies disintegrated. Slowly, everyone got up, checking if they were severely hurt.

"Are you dudes okay?" America asked from across the courtyard. Both Germany and Russia called back that they were okay. "Japan, are you oka-" Japan wasn't stirring, he just lay facedown on the floor. "J-Japan?" America nudged him over. Japan still wasn't stirring. America grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "JAPAN WAKE UP!"

"Stop that! You'll hurt him even more!" Germany said, pushing away America and checked for a pulse. There was a pulse. He checked for breathing. There was breath. He was just knocked out cold. "He'll be okay, he's just knocked out." Germany picked up Japan and carried him out of the asylum as everyone followed.

"So… when the element is threatened, the zombies come out to play," Russia said.

"It appears so… Looks like we have to think up of a plan to do this more carefully. Figure out where the element is on the map and see what we can do to take out the element." Germany murmured.

"We'll have to wait until we reach the locations…" America said. They were driving away from the asylum, Japan lying across the back seat, and the other three in the front, hoping Japan will wake up soon…