Chapter Eleven

If Feliciano had to say he was anything, he would easily state, without hesitation, that he was exhausted. His feet hurt, blisters had developed on his heels, he was covered in scrapes and scratches from his escape through the forest, and his hair was tangled with sap and twigs. The storm had passed over without letting down anything more than a drizzle and so the sun was now shining brightly as Feli made his way down the road. His bag was much lighter now, but while it did provide some relief on one hand, it also meant that he was very low on supplies, leaving a bad taste in his mouth from dehydration and his stomach begging painfully for food. It had been about four days since his separation from Gilbert and Ludwig and while only two of those had been without food and one without water, it was enough to leave him in misery. Not to mention his wrist throbbed with pain and he was fairly certain it was sprained from when he fell in the ravine since he couldn't even try to move it without gasping in pain.

Somehow, despite the fact that he had initially been running away from it, Feliciano had found his way back to the main road. It was lonely and painfully quiet, but he looked ahead with every step, hoping, expecting, to see Gilbert and Ludwig around every corner. He refused to let that hope dwindle with every disappointing turn and trudged on towards what he hoped was the right direction.

As always, he made sure to hide from cars and planes and avoid all semblance of conflict. He came across two more body filled clearings in his travels and always he turned a blind eye and walked past as quickly as possible. Not out of disrespect, but as a way of keeping his own sanity.

It was strange, on his own like he was, he was forced to be strong and rely on himself for comfort and protection, but often found himself faltering. He had to wonder how he ever did this before Ludwig. He was tired of running, of searching and finding only nothing, of being alone. He wanted to watch Ludwig teach him how to speak with his hands, he wanted that strong and comforting presence when he couldn't sleep at night and that strong hand in his every time they searched a town and bodies lay crumpled in the streets. While Feliciano could definitely hold his own when it came down to it, he was simply tired of doing so.

Twice since the separation had he been spotted by those fighting in this meaningless war, twice he had been able to escape but lost in his thoughts now he was only alerted to the German voices speaking not far off until it was too late.

Taking notice of his surroundings, he noticed a group of five or so men standing a little ways down the road holding guns.

He tried to back away slowly but still they noticed him and immediately took aim. Calling out, they refused to lower their guns when Feliciano showed them his flags and so he turn and ran.

A gun shot rang out loud into the air and Feli only realized he was shot once he stumbled and a sharp burning sensation started in his side. Pushing himself back up, he placed a hand over the wound and kept running, making for the cover of the trees.

He ran until his own footsteps where the only ones he could hear and collapsed to the ground. Dropping his pack in front of him, he struggled to catch his breath as he dug out the bandages and pulled off his shirt to inspect the damage. He was a slight bit relieved to find that it was only a graze, but regardless the wound was still pretty nasty.

Regretting not having any water to clean the wound, he bound it up the best he could before pulling his shirt and back pack back on and heading back for the main road.

He kept to the trees for a while, with the road in sight before he felt that he was far enough from where the men had spotted him to return to the easier terrain.

Keeping his eyes forward a profound sense of relief flooded through him as he spotted a city not far down the road.

Within the hour he was walking down the streets. Not as abandoned as he was used to, with stores still open and no dead bodies in the street. In fact, there were people walking down the sidewalks. They mostly ignored Feliciano, but a few sent him glances of either disgust or pity. Everyone avoided him.

Feeling dizzy and exhausted and on the verge of collapse, he entered a small store and grabbed a bottle of water. Pulling his wallet out of his pocket, glad that he had kept it with him, he paid for the water before downing the bottle in a matter of seconds.

"Hey son, are you alright?" the man asked from behind the counter.

Feliciano shook his head, "Is there a hospital around here?" he asked with a weak and hoarse voice.

The man shook his head. "There is but I'm afraid it's full with this war. They're already over their limit, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I should survive," he said. "Though I do have another question. Has a tall blond man that doesn't say anything and a shorter man with a loud voice, white hair and red eyes come through here in the last few days?"

"No, not that I've seen," the cashier said, shaking his head once more. "I haven't seen anyone like that."

Feliciano nodded, trying his best not to be disappointed by the news. He left the counter and wandered the shop, grabbing a few more bottles of water and some food before returning.

"Why are you still here?" he asked, setting the items down to be scanned.

"No reason to run, most people have evacuated because of the war, but I have no place to go. Even if I did leave, when this war finally ends, those damn rioters would have trashed this place more than likely so I would have nothing to come back to either. So I figured my best option was just to hang around for as long as I could and hope for the best."

Feliciano nodded, understanding the answer.

"Hey, do you think you could pass on a message for me?" he asked.

The cashier nodded. "What is it?"

"Those two men I described earlier. Their names are Gilbert and Ludwig." He paused a moment as the man retrieved some paper to write the information down before continuing. "If they happen to come around could you tell them that Feli is safe and alright and if they follow the main road they should find him?"

He jotted down the information before nodding. "Can do. I really doubt that I'll meet this Gilbert and Ludwig, but if I do, I'll pass the information on."

Feliciano smiled, paying for the items and putting them in his bag.

"Thank you," he said with as much gratitude as he could muster.

"Not a problem, anything I can do help in this war, especially for those just trying to escape," he said.

Shrugging his bag back onto his shoulders, Feli nodded. "Good bye," he said before returning once more to his journey.