Oh shit, it's the Labyrinth! (Look out for David Bowie!)(/joking). XD

Warning: Angst, a chase, suspense.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HETALIA. I have fun manipulating their characters, though

Tunnel Rats

Kiku's lungs were aching with the amount of air he took in and he was getting a painful stitch in his side, but he did not stop to recover. He did not even dare slow to look over his shoulder.

Quick footsteps approaching made him flinch.

"Where are the others?" Ludwig's voice beside him sounded anxious.

Kiku stiffened. "The others…? You mean, they are gone?"

"Ja, they must have taken the other pipe." The German's voice was hard to understand with his loud and ragged breathing. Kiku looked through the gloom to Ludwig's back, where Gilbert still lay limply, held up only by the fact that Ludwig's back was humped over. "Scheiße," Ludwig cursed. "I knew this would happen."

"Who is here?" Kiku asked, still too afraid to look behind him.

Ludwig huffed. "Us, Ivan, Yao, and Alfred."

Kiku felt sick to the stomach with anxiety. His ill feeling only escalated when he heard the shouting of the Bloodhounds gaining on them further down the pipe. He prayed for a miracle, and all at once, they received one: the curve in the tunnel. Picking up their pace, they all sped around it, Kiku stopping abruptly as he spotted a small, three-foot-high drain leading off the main one. "Ludwig-san!" he whispered harshly, catching the German on the shoulder as he tried to speed past and pointing to the opening of the drain at the bottom of the concave-slanting wall.

Ludwig nodded and stopped, crawling on his belly into the drain with haste, Gilbert lying limply on top of his back. Yao went next, giving Kiku a worried look, knowing what he was going to experience once inside, entering the pipe as fast as possible. Once he was inside, Kiku motioned for Alfred to go. He and Ivan had a little, time-consuming squabble about who would go in first (and whether the decision would determine the level of their cowardice) before Ivan finally shoved Alfred over to the drain and glared at him until Alfred had disappeared into the drain.

Ivan clapped Kiku on the back, making the man stiffen. "Good eye, comrade." Mens' voices were closing in, and Ivan took this as impetus to get down onto all fours and crawl through the drain.

Kiku hesitated, staring at the drain as Ivan's feet disappeared. Oh God. First the tunnel in the bunker, then the pipe, then a smaller pipe? Today just wasn't his day and he already felt another good retch bubbling in his stomach and burning his throat with the thought of crawling into yet another claustrophobically small space.

Then the sound of several feet fast approaching the corner drove Kiku onto his hands a knees and darting into the hole. Just as he tucked his legs in, they came rushing past, not minding to examine the pipe for an instant before continuing on into the dark.

Kiku was so frantic to get out of the tunnel, that he crawled at break-neck speed… right into Ivan's ass. The Russian gave a growl, and Kiku quickly backed away, allowing the younger nation to amble on at a speed favorable to him.

Ivan was not one to be rushed in any circumstance.

Finally (and it really was finally, because Kiku didn't think he could stand it for much longer without passing out), they all pushed out of the pipe into (thankfully) another large main pipe.

As they all stood up and righted themselves, squinting in the dark to get their bearings (though not succeeding in the least), Alfred straightened, breathing hard, and asked, "W-what the hell are we gonna to do? We're lost!"

The question had barely passed his lips before Kiku—who was at the back of the group—turned quickly, peering down the length of the tunnel behind them as footsteps echoed off the wall and got gradually faster.

"They have found us." he whispered, hand instinctively going down to grasp the grip of his katana.

Ivan turned to look as well. "Hm, so they have." And he pushed aside his coat, producing his rifle.

"That's it!" Alfred growled, taking his gun out as well. "I'm gonna kill these bastards. I'm tired of being chased around!"

"Nein!" Ludwig said. They all looked defiantly at him. But the German stood his ground. "East… East might be hurt. I cannot afford to be in a fight with him."

"Then run now." Ivan said. "We will cover you."

"No," Yao snapped. "Too many. We will lose without the others' help. We should all just run."

"I said I'm not running anymore!" Alfred rounded on him. "Who're you to tell me what I can and can't do?" He was silent as they glared at each other, the footsteps getting louder. "Leave if you're not willing."

"Nein." Ludwig said firmly. "We will not be split up again."

"Then what are we supposed to—?" The words were barely out of Alfred's mouth before shadowy forms ran around the bend and right at them.

"Sadiq, are you doing all right?"

"Evet," the Turk panted, though he sounded pained. "I will be… okay."

Matthew sighed. He knew Sadiq was lying. It was quite obvious when he was. Francis gave Matthew a worried look, and Matthew and he shared the same thought between them: They needed to find a place to rest, and if they didn't find one soon, Sadiq would most likely lose consciousness.

They rounded a bend (Matthew knew this because Wynston muttered a pained 'Sonofabitch!' before saying, "Yup. That's a wall!") and he felt his way along with one hand outstretched, feeling the wall. He bit his lip to keep from crying out as his hand slipped into a nook. Matthew was about to pull it back out when an idea struck him.

Acting quickly, he tugged Sadiq around, not minding his alarmed squirming and mutterings, stuffing him in the three-foot-wide crevice. Francis followed, pushing Matthew further down into it. Matthew held his breath, hoping that it was large enough to contain all of them.

Francis caught Arthur by the arm (as evident by his harsh "Bloody hell!") and pulled him forcibly inside, subduing him with a hand clamped over his mouth.

"Wynston, Lovi, Feli! Come here!" Francis called, and the nations and the state felt their way (agonizingly slow) to the crack in the wall. Feliciano was pulled in first, shuttled in along with his brother ("Get your fucking hands off me, wine bastard!" "Heh, it's not like I can, cher.") into the middle, Wynston cramming himself in just in time, the Bloodhounds running past without a second glance, their shouting too loud to hear their heavy breathing.

After a minute or so, when they could no longer hear the mens' footsteps or see the streams from their flashlights, Wynston shimmied out, followed by Arthur, Francis, and everyone else.

When they were out, Arthur promptly punched Francis hard in the arm.

"Aïe! That hurt, mon chéri." He pouted as he rubbed the forming bruise.

"You bloody well deserved it, pulling me in there like that with no explanation at all!" Arthur snapped back.

"What did you expect me to do?" Francis flashed back. "Give you an entire speech about why I was trying to save your life?"

Arthur was about to retort when Wynston said, "Hey, how far does that crack go inta that wall?"

Matthew put his arm through until he could feel the other side… the open space of another pipe. "All the way through. Come on." He pulled Sadiq with him, Francis helping, the others following quickly, stuffing themselves into the tiny space with much huffing and swearing. Once they made it out on the other side, Wynston pointed down the tunnel.

"That way," he said. "I don't see any lights or hear anythin'."

They all conceded with hesitation, now more than ever just wanting to get out of the damned pipe system.

Within moments, they blindly rounded a corner, running at a break-neck speed, not noticing until it was too late, that they were running into a group of people that seemed to be lying in wait for them. Matthew had just enough time to twist Sadiq around so that he was out of harm's way and give a startled yelp before he and the others collided with the strangers.

Translations:

Evet-Yes

A Word From the Writer: Aaaannnnd, cue snowball! Lol, if they formed themselves into a human boulder they could totally run those men down like Indiana Jones! *geekalicious* And how big are they tunnels anyway? Well, you're about to find out!