Alfred settled the backpack filled with supplies on his back. He was glad that they were going to try and make it to civilization, but scared at the same time about what might lay ahead. He didn't have time to think about that too much, though. Heroes didn't do that; they barged forward and saved the day. Alfred smiled confidently into the direction that he and Ivan were going to be traveling. He was going to save them both and be the hero.
Ivan slapped Alfred on the back of the head as he walked forward. "Get your head out of the clouds, Fredka," Ivan mumbled. Alfred shook his head and rubbed the point of contact. It stung for a second, but there was still a lingering, low pain that stayed for several moments.
"I am. Gosh." Alfred was grumpy now that Ivan had ruined his moment. He followed the other man down the gravel path. The reassuring crunch of the rocks underfoot brought a sliver of hope to the blonde man. Maybe they would come upon a main road and hitch-hike their way back home! Alfred walked forward, his pace quickening.
"Slow down!" Ivan called from behind Alfred. He was taking his time along the gravel path, but it was getting harder to see the further they went due to the snow coverage. Ivan looked at Alfred's back which who was several paces in front of him.
"No time, dude! We got to get home!" Alfred shouted over his shoulder. Alfred listened to his steps. Where was the gravel? He came to a complete half and looked at the ground. His narrowed his blue eyes and furrowed his brow in concentration. Ivan, not knowing very much before hand of the stop, ran right into Alfred.
"What is the hold up?" he asked in a slightly irritated tone. Ivan stepped off to the side, holding a steady glare at Alfred.
"One, your face is freaking creepy right now. Two, where's the gravel, dude?" Alfred looked around. He visually followed their tracks to where the gravel path curved around a tree and out of sight. Ivan shrugged, not too surprised of any of the events.
"I don't know. It looks like the snow has covered it. Ivan stated, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Alfred rolled his eyes.
"Maybe we should continue going this direction?" he asked. "You're the expert on snow and stuff."
"Da. You are correct. We will go this way." Ivan pointed in the same direction they were walking before. Alfred nodded and they were off. Alfred stayed closer to Ivan the further they went. The scenery started to blend after a while. Each evergreen looked the same as the last and every barren tree was just as gloomy as the rest.
"That bush looks just like the one I peed on thirty minutes ago," Alfred whined. He didn't like all of this walking and was about to just sit down and freeze his butt off in the snow. Ivan pulled Alfred by the arm so that the other man didn't have the luxurious opportunity to sit.
Ivan looked down to see if Alfred was correct about the bush and sure enough there were old foot prints half covered with the slowly falling new snow. Ivan sighed and a warm cloud replaced the clear air in front of his lips. He looked in a direction they had not traveled and took off.
"We will go this way, da?" He asked as he kept walking, leaving Alfred half jogging to catch up with the other man's sudden, rapid movements.
"Hey! You could have warned me before you set off, bro!" Alfred said as she walked beside Ivan, breathing deeper than normal due to the sudden burst of energy. Ivan didn't respond in any way, leaving Alfred in the shadows of what was going on.
"Dude, I mean it. What's going on? Is there something that your commie ears can only pick up?" Alfred asked, poking the other man in the face repetitively.
"Stop! Be quiet! Can you seriously not hear the snow crunching behind us?" Ivan slapped away Alfred's hand and covered the younger man's loud mouth with his other hand. They need to get out of here and fast. Ivan had an unsure feeling in his gut that those distant, crunching footsteps weren't human ones.
Alfred tugged on Ivan's sleeve and pointed to a tall, old oak tree that any little kid would love to climb. Alfred a goofy smile on his face as he run up to the tree and started climbing it ever so slowly, going up one sturdy branch at a time.
Ivan watched, his head tilted in confusion until it hit him. There was a sharp bark, then a sustained howl. Ivan's violet eyes widened as he desperately clawed at the lowest tree limb. In the distance, he saw what looked like a giant moving hairball that was getting closer with each passing second. Alfred reached a sturdy hand down to Ivan.
"Dude! Take my hand!" Alfred yelled, panic filling his eyes. Without Ivan, he would probably die in the wilderness of starvation. That couldn't happen. Ivan grabbed the other man's hand and they were both propelled into the wide trunk of the ancient tree. They were both breathing heavily, sucking in the sweet air in large quantities as if they would never get any again.
"Thank you for helping me, Fredka," Ivan breathed. He was holding onto the other man as his heart slowed down from the initial shock of the pack of wolves that were now beneath them, tearing at the tree and snapping at each other.
Alfred took a look down to see at least eight of the creatures. They disrupted the once crisp snow with their wild prints. They snarled at the two men in the tree, even though they were very distant from each other. Alfred gulped and looked back at Ivan who had detached himself from Alfred and sitting a good foot away from him on the branch, straddling it between his legs like Alfred was doing.
"No problem. I couldn't let you get mauled by wolves. That would be totally unheroic," Alfred said in a shaky voice. He glanced back down at the wolves. They slowly started to disperse, only one staying back, keeping an eye on them. Alfred shuddered, then pulled his pack from his back and set it in front of him, his hands keeping a tight hold on it.
"Want some canned spaghetti?" Alfred asked, pulling a can of the stuff from the bag. He put his hand in the bag and fished around for some forks. His hand caught two sporks, which Alfred thought was the coolest thing in the world. He waved the sporks in Ivan's face until the violet eyed man pushed his hand away.
"Sure, Alfred." Ivan said gently, removing one of the sporks from the other's hand and waiting as Alfred pulled back the tab and dug the Spork into the mushy spaghetti. Ivan smiled and they shared the meal. It was nice for once to relax without worrying over a broken door or a pack of wolves that would probably eat their faces off, but still, it was nice.
Alfred smiled and leaned against the trunk of the tree and spoke, breaking the silence, "Hey, Ivan. Do you think we can go on?"
"I think so," Ivan stated, looking at the ground as he did so. The pack seemed to have gone away and there wasn't a trace of them besides their half covered tracks. The two proceeded to swing down from the tree, zipped backpack and all. Alfred landed with an 'oof'.
"Let's keep going that way," Alfred suggested, pointing in the direction they were going earlier. They did, crunching fresh snow underfoot. Alfred hummed his national anthem and every other song to do with his nation. Those were really the only songs he remembered.
"Amber waves of grain…" he sang quietly as they went over a log.
"Ivan! Do I have amber waves of grain?"
"What?" Ivan asked, completely oblivious to what Alfred had been doing for the past hour.
"Like the song! Amber waves of grain!" the childish nation exclaimed.
"Uh, sure." Ivan said half heartedly. He really had very little idea of what Alfred was talking about, but it was best to agree with the other country since he would sit there and argue for a long time or until you said something about hamburgers.
"Thanks." Alfred ran a hand through his golden blonde hair, looking pretty content with himself. They continued on like that until sunset finally came, casting long dark shadows in their path. Night was falling and they weren't alone.
There was a crunch in the snow that didn't fall in time with either of their steps and continued when they stopped. Then, there was growl ahead of them. They stopped.
"D-d-dude! I think those wolves are back!" Alfred said, grabbing hold of the Ivan. Ivan was shaking. He could deal with anything except whole packs of wolves. There were just too many bodies to deal with all at once.
These weren't the wolves from earlier. One stepped out, growling and staring at the two men. It was smooth furred and easily the size of a large bear. Its nose was smooshed against its face. Its beady black eyes were positioned close together on its head. It had the look of something that could undoubtedly maul them and eat them. It was like a science experiment gone wrong and now they were after the two countries.
Hulk-mutts stepped out around them, seeming to be the same ones from earlier. There was foam dripping from their mouths. It was a surprise that they even worked together in a semi pack form besides from the occasional fight.
"Ivan! Get out of your own little world and help me save you from rabies!" Alfred said as he un-holstered his pistol. He aimed it and shot at the terminal, rabies invested monstrosities.
"What are those things?" Ivan hissed as he retrieved the lead pip he always kept on his person. One lunged at him and he took a swing, meeting the beast in the temple. It whined and passed out. Alfred shrugged and shot at another, rapidly moving beast, getting it in between the eyes.
Another hulk-mutt lashed out with its huge flattened paw, its claws slashing into the American. Alfred let out a blood curdling scream and sunk to the ground, holding his wound on his abdomen with one hand while firing at the monster with his other.
"You may have got me, but I'm not letting you hurt my commie!" Alfred shouted as he killed the monster.
Ivan was in shock. Alfred only wanted to save him. He of all people was on the top of Alfred's priority list. The Russian narrowed his eyes and cracked down, whacking each mutt as it came at him. Blood was smeared on his clothing as well as Alfred's as they attacked the mutts.
One snapped at Ivan, threatening to bite the man. Foam sprayed on the front of Ivan's jacket from the beast's snapping jaws. He held it off with his outstretched horizontally placed pipe in its mouth. Alfred shot the monster through the eye, then the temple, causing it to fall to its death. The thud rang through the now covered forest.
Ivan and Alfred stood there, half in shock, half in exhaustion. Their heavy breathing was the only sound until Alfred's light laughter hit Ivan's ears. He found himself laughing also in relief that the treat was gone. There they stood, two blood covered idiots laughing in a pool of their enemy's blood.
Alfred found himself in Ivan's embrace and he didn't care. He was glad that they were both okay, even though he had a deep gash in his side that had bled through his t-shirt. Ivan looked at Alfred's wound, making a small tsk sound.
"I am not lying when I say that wound is very bad." Ivan poked at it, getting a satisfying yelp fro Alfred. "I guess all we can do at this point is bandage you up, then we still must keep going."
A/N:: Hi! It's about 3 am right not and my brain is poop. I hope that this reads as good as it sounded in my head! Thanks to all my faithful readers (So sorry i randomly changed pen names on you guys!) and reviewers. They really do mean a lot to me and they bring a smile to my face whenever I open those emails. Bye! I love you all!