Well that last chapter was just depressing to right, so I'm going to try and write something at least mildly positive. Also, I've just remembered that I'm an idiot and haven't included Kumajirou in this story! I'll try and drop him in at some point, especially now Canada's gone. I might, for realism's sake, also try to tone down the number of deaths, one every few chapters or something like that - I'm not sure yet. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Day 37
Was that something... cold and wet... pressed against her forehead? And she could feel something soft and deliciously warm wrapped around her small body tightly, keeping her warmer than she had been for the past weeks. What was that on her wrist? Slightly cooler than her own skin, and soft despite how hard it was pressing down. Oh... fingers! Her eyes wouldn't open, yet she weakly swatted the fingers against her wrist - earning an exhale of breath that almost sounded like a chuckle from whoever was next to her.
"I think she's waking up!" Exclaimed a voice that presumably belonged to the person in the room. It was familiar, that of a female who she definitely knew. That accent was recognizable... Suddenly there was another hand - though this was softer and more slender - placed on her own and, instinctively, her hand twitched. The bed creaked quietly in protest as the man sat himself down next to her, and she could almost feel his gaze burning into her.
"Yes, she is." This voice was cool, that of a male who she also recognized. "It should only be a few more minutes."
She felt another shift as he climbed back to his feet, and the sounds of hard shoes tapping on the wooden floor as he waited, albeit slightly impatiently. Her eyes were fluttering slightly - she wished they would just open already, she rather wanted to know where she was with and who the two people with her were. It took a while but, gradually, her eyes began to flutter open. The room around her was at first blurred, and she couldn't make out anything. Slowly, she began to make out individual things in the room: a lamp sat on the bedside table next to her, emitting a painfully bright glow; the delicate white curtains fluttered in the gentle breeze coming through the window; and then there was a flash of blonde curls, and dark locks. Her eyes flashed with recognition and, now able to see perfectly, she sat bolt upright in her bed – regretting this decision when a wave of dizziness came over her. The blonde sat up and gently pushed her down, a smile creeping across her face.
"Elizabeta?" She spluttered, "R-Roderich?"
"Laura! You recognize us!" Hungary chirped happily to Belgium, a beam spreading across her face. "I'm glad, you've been out cold for over a day."
"I have?" Belgium demanded, trying to think back to when she might have been knocked out. How? She was just out with Canada and Italy…. What had happened?
"Yes, we're not really sure why though. We were just going out for medical supplies and we came across two abandoned shopping trolleys full of medicines and bandages. We weren't sure where they had come from so we took a look around; you were just lying on the floor. You're very lucky we reached you first, we even patched up your head!"
"I must confess I'm not the best at first aid, Laura, my apologies." Austria interjected, an apologetic look on his face as Belgium reached up and probed the large dressing on her forehead. It throbbed slightly, as if she had a headache, and she winced. Austria noticed, "It's quite a deep cut. I used antiseptic spray, however, so you shouldn't be in any danger of infection."
"Thank you." The blonde smiled at her two saviors, not caring in the slightest that the bandage might have been a little loose or sloppily done. Had they not come for her she likely wouldn't have a head to worry about anyway. "But if you don't mind me asking, Elizabeta, how did you survive when you were split from us? Everyone thinks you're dead."
"Oh, it was all thanks to Roderich." Hungary replied, her hand slipping into the aristocrat's. "When Francis and Heracles tried to fight off the horde of infected a few of us ran off… I'm not proud of abandoning my fellow countries but I at least managed to survive. Roderich had heard the gunshots and shouts from the others and came to investigate. We found each other and he took me back to this house."
"Oh, what is this place, anyway?"
"Well it's out of the city, so there's far less of a threat out here than where you've been staying. I came across it and decided that this place would be much safer than the UN - with so many of us crowded in one place, attracting attention and demanding a lot of resources that groups would have to go out and get. There was protection enough, we have a gate surrounding the house with one of us guarding it at all times, day and night. It's also self-sustaining, I don't know the logistics of it but there's solar panels and something to do with wind turbines and micro hydro nonsense... Anyway, when I found out we'd have access to electricity and water I realized this was the perfect place to set up what I could of a home. I don't know why the owners would leave this place but I'm grateful they did."
"Wait a minute," Belgium looked slightly baffled. "You said you always have someone guarding the house, but you're both here. Have I missed something?"
"Oh, how could we forget?" Hungary giggled, and Austria's eyes rolled as she skipped past him and out of the room with a 'time to serve the food'. Austria nodded to her, "Look out the window."
Belgium threw the covers off herself, certain that she could stand without falling over, and peered out of the window that the other woman had gestured towards. Standing outside, a long gun that Belgium recognized to be a sniper perched on his shoulder, stood a brown-haired man who was pacing the perimeter of the fence. She tried not to shudder as she remembered how similar the barrier was to the gates of the UN, and instead her mouth fell open as she recognized who it was. Her heart pounded furiously, no, no, no it couldn't be...
"That's not... not..." She started, and both Austria and Hungary looked puzzled.
"Lovino, yes it is." Austria nodded, and Belgium almost stumbled backwards.
"B-but... he's dead." Her voice was barely audible, yet Hungary managed to catch it and she sent Belgium a baffled look.
"He's not dead, he's right there." She pointed out the obvious. "Why would you say something like that?"
"Eduard said he was dead," Belgium told them, betrayal leaking into her voice at her fellow nation's lies. "He told us he saw Lili and Romano dead when he went out for food."
"He said what?!" Austria demanded, eyes narrowing, but Belgium ignored him and sprinted down the stairs - ignoring the pain in her head that seemed to increase as she started running. She yanked open the door and started running towards the brunette on guard.
"Lovino!" She yelled, "Lovi!"
The Italian swirled around, startled slightly, and he barely had time to recognize her before she had enveloped him in a huge hug and was holding him tight. For a moment he didn't know how to react, and then his arms relaxed and he held her tightly back.
"Laura!" He said happily, a rare-to-see grin on his face. "You're finally awake! B-but why are you crying?"
"Eduard said you were dead!" She cried, burying her face in his clothes and sniffing as if to check he was really in front of her, in her arms. "We've all thought for a week that you were gone!"
"The bastardo said I was dead?!" Romano looked furious, pulling her gently away from him and gripping her shoulders. "Why would he say that?!"
"I d-don't know." She wailed. "Maybe it was because Antonio and Vash didn't want to leave the city without you and Lili. Eduard must have done it so we would leave!"
"Wait," Romano's voice faltered. "T-Toni thinks I'm dead?" After a nod of confirmation from Belgium he cursed quietly. "How did he take it? I bet he's back to his usual self, right? I mean... no one cares about me anyway..."
"That's a lie, Lovi, and you know it. All Antonio's been doing is crying and asking for you, he really misses you."
Romano looked dumbfounded. "Tonio... misses me?"
"He loves you, of course he does! You mean the world to him, we were all upset. Feliciano as well, especially Feli!"
"Feli!" Romano's attention was wrenched from Spain, though Belgium could tell the Spaniard was still on his mind - he had obviously been missing his boyfriend terribly as well. "Is he alright?! Is he hurt?! What about the potato-bastard?!"
"Ludwig's fine, he's recovering, but... I don't know about Feli."
Romano froze, his eyes widening. "What do you mean, you don't know?" He asked fearfully, his voice much quieter than usual. Belgium cried a little harder, explaining the whole story to Romano. How she had been with Italy and Canada and had ran off before she could find out what happened to either of them. Between her constant apologies about leaving his twin brother behind, Romano managed to get the whole story and his heart seemed to break into a million pieces. Not only was Spain a wreck thinking that Romano was gone, but his twin, nevertheless baby, brother may or may not have been dead. Suddenly he felt the warm arms of Hungary wrapped around him and started guiding him towards the house.
"Let's talk about this over lunch, okay?" She murmured, and he only nodded in response and allowed Hungary to guide him to the table. His eyes no longer lit up when he saw the steaming pasta and tomatoes waiting for him, he only sat down and began silently prodding the food with his fork - not having the stomach to eat anything anymore. Belgium too felt a little sick, but given the inadequate amounts of food they had been eating over the past few weeks she managed to shovel a few fork-fulls into her mouth. Hungary, sensing the mood, decided to try and make small talk with the other female.
"So, I don't suppose you stumbled across anyone from our small group, have you?" She questioned.
"We came across Ivan but... he didn't last very long, Toris insisted that he be buried wherever they set up camp next - we planned to move out of the city." Then, a nervous look crossed Belgium's face. "My brother... Abel never made it to your group, did he?"
Hungary stared at her sadly, shaking her head, and Belgium nodded. She hadn't really thought Netherlands would make it out after he tripped over China, and she regretted not doing more to help him, but she had expected him to get right back up and hurry after them. She also had no idea where Luxembourg, the youngest of the three siblings, was. She hadn't seen him for months - not even having much contact before the world went to hell. She guessed she'd never really know unless she went looking for him, which was out of the question.
For now, at least, it wouldn't be bad to stay with Austria, Hungary and Romano.
Ugh, I've been working on that for 2 days and I still don't know what that was. Why am I losing this? I'll try and make the next chapter halfway decent, promise.
