Wow...that was a quick update. I was so bored in study time...so i hijacked a computer XD


When Ivan arrived home that day, he did not hesitate to turn on the television, and what he saw was the cause of him doubling up, spluttering with laughter.

It wasn't the fact that the news reporter had stumbled on his words, or that the picture of Matt was of him with his glasses askew, but the irony of the picture of Ivan's own face.

Russia had thrown his head back laughing in the photo, and the person who had taken it, was of course, Canada.

"Armed and dangerous, we would advise anyone who happens to see this man not to approach him at any cost, but to alert securities immediately."

"Idiots," Ivan chuckled, "You'll never find me."

Taking a large swig of vodka, he let his head roll back, and fell asleep.

In his dreams he was once again visited by the lady who sung, and this time he caught a glimpse of where she was. She sat in an enormous and elaborately decorated room. He recognised it from somewhere, and then he was awake.

He sat up, sweating, desperately trying to retrieve the fragments of the song she sung, all the words slipping away into an abyss of forgetting until he was left with little more than he had before.

Hanging his head, he wondered what he had in store today.

Then he remembered who had been next on the list, and shivered at the thought of his old friend.

Ivan shook the thought out of his head. You don't have friends. Friends are for the weak, and those who can't deal with being solitary.

Determined, he got up and put his coat on, which had now been covered in a thick layer of dirt, turning it from a light shade of beige to a darker, more rancid colour, a filthy brown.

As he walked out, he wondered if he would even be recognised.

"This time," spoke Pavel, slightly out of breath. "You will need to take extra care not to be recognised as it is crucial that only he knows you. Now, it is a fast acting parasitical virus, but here," he said, opening the door to the basement with a card, "we have a simple vaccination, that once you have taken we are all safe."

Pavel finally handed Ivan a small syringe, and Ivan stabbed himself in the arm, emptying the contents into his bloodstream.

Then he was given a heavy metal tube.

"This is the virus," explained Ilyanov, "Just twist the knob here and gas will immediately start to escape. As it spreads fast you won't have to worry about any of security catching you, but before it has acted do not be recognised, except, of course, by him."

Ivan felt the cold metal of the tube, and wondered what the symptoms of the virus were.

Knowing Ilyanov it will either be incredibly efficient or one hell of a mess.

Smiling in return, Russia walked out of the basement, and climbed the hard concrete stairs to the cold air of outside.

After a few hours of endless driving he arrived at his destination, and observed the city.

All of the other nations he had passed through to arrive here had enforced the security by tenfold, but here the inhabitants seemed to think they were safe, or just cared even less that a killer could be after them.

Ignoring the stares of curious onlookers, he walked straight into the building at the heart of the city. Even the people inside seemed relaxed. Silently, he slipped into the lift and went straight to the top floor. Ivan knew that his victim would settle for no less than the best and most sophisticated, no matter what it did to his economy.

Luckily for Ivan the man ahead was alone in his office. Quietly, Ivan walked in.

"Francis." He said. The man before him looked up, and fear flashed in his blue eyes.

"Ivan…Mon Dieu what have you done to yourself…"

Smiling, Ivan did not reply but opened the tube, and placed it, hissing, on the table.

Francis coughed, trying to get up, then all of a sudden a dark spot appeared in the corner of his eye.

It grew, and dripped red down his face, while Francis desperately tried to breathe.

Ivan decided to stay, and sat down, slightly amused. His experience with Canada had been different, the people had only started dropping like flies when he had been dead for a full five minutes, but as the life left France Ivan heard a silence that spread like oil on metal, thick with danger and black as night.

Slowly, Ivan rose and walked back to the lift, the ping as it opened to a room, a city of the dead echoing throughout the entire nation.

He walked on, noticing a couple of children who had been splashing in the water fountain slumped over each other, and some birds that had been in a tree had fallen to the ground.

Ivan heard a whirr beside him, and looked up to find himself staring into the screen of a security camera. He waved, and moved on, got in his car, and drove away.


Review?

Flames will be used to stoke your funeral pyre.

The lady...you will have to wait to find out. But guesses are not discouraged, I would love to hear who you think she is.