"You need to stay here," Roderich said as he re-bandaged Heracles' wounded shoulder. "You would only be a burden to the group in your state."
Heracles opened his mouth to protest, but winced when Roderich pulled the gauze tight around his shoulder to secure it. Roderich was right; he wouldn't be of much help to their cause with his injury. He would be better off watching over them and directing them as they approached the hospital. "You're right," he said as Roderich finished taping the gauze down.
"Of course I am," Roderich said.
Gilbert laughed from where he leaned against the window; his figure blocking the sun and casting a long shadow on the room.
"What's so funny?" Roderich asked, turning on the spot to sneer at Gilbert.
"You shouldn't come with us either."
"Are you insane?" Roderich asked, eyebrows shooting up to his hairline at the suggestion. "I'm just as much of a help as anyone else."
"You won't be able to keep your mind clear with Elizaveta still here," Gilbert said matter-of-factly.
"You're going to have the same pro-"
"No, I'm not," Gilbert chuckled. "Unlike you, my brother and I weren't raised being spoon-fed. We keep our minds on the task at hand, not on our hearts."
Roderich scoffed, "you heard that nurse, at least forty soldiers were taken down in less than two hours."
"And?" Gilbert asked, stepping away from the window and allowing the sun to filter in. "Maybe we're smarter than them."
Roderich rolled his eyes, "it's not about physical strength, Gilbert. These men had weapons, lots of them, and they weren't capable of taking down even a few of those things."
"It's not about weapons or physical strength," Gilbert said, holding the back of his hand against Elizaveta's forehead to check her temperature. He sighed at the sickly warmth emanating from her, it wasn't going down. "It's about intelligence."
"And you think I'm not intelligent?" Roderich laughed, "coming from the alcoholic German, that isn't much of an insult…"
"I wasn't talking about generic intelligence, Roderich," Gilbert frowned when the name left his mouth. "I'm saying that you're not the kind of intelligent that we need for this."
"And what kind of intelligence is that?" Roderich asked, cocking one hip out to the left as he sized Gilbert up. Gilbert, however, didn't answer and began walking toward the door with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. But, Gilbert was stopped promptly by Roderich covering the door with his body. "Tell me."
Gilbert looked up into Roderich's eyes, smile still present on his face, "what do you want me to tell you?" Gilbert shoved Roderich out of the way, causing him to fall onto the edge of Heracles' bed. "I can tell you that the kind of intelligence we need doesn't require someone that would mock us around every corner. We need to pull together for this, not apart." Gilbert finally left the room, and Roderich didn't stop him.
Roderich sat on the edge of the bed, head hung in between his knees as he considered what Gilbert had said to him.
Was he really that rude? Would his personality really hold the group back?
As he pondered this, he had completely forgotten that Heracles was still awake, and sitting directly behind him, ergo he almost jumped out of his skin when Heracles rested a hand on his shoulder.
"I know you, Roderich," Heracles said calmly. "You may be over-bearing at times, but I know you mean well."
Roderich laughed, still not turning his face away from the floor. However, he lifted one of his hands out of his lap and laid it over Heracles' hand in a silent 'thank you'.
"I'll watch over from the roof," Heracles said as he fished a second radio out of his front pocket. "I'll be of more use if I can tell you where to go, and where not to go."
The rest of the room nodded.
"The same for me," Roderich joined in, surprising everyone in the room. Everyone other than Gilbert, at least.
"Why would you stay behind?" Ludwig asked, eyeing the dark haired man incredulously. "We need all the power we can get."
Roderich, about to answer Ludwig's question with honesty, was cut off by Gilbert.
"He's staying behind because what you just said, brother, is not true," Gilbert stood up from where he was seated across a table. "The more people, the more noise, and the more chance of accidentally leaving someone behind," Gilbert stood beside his brother. "With less people, we could be stealthier."
Roderich cocked his head to the side, wondering why Gilbert hadn't told the group what he had told him. It almost seemed as if Gilbert was trying to protect Roderich's feelings even though he had been the one to hurt them in the first place.
"I suppose you're right," Ludwig said, grasping his chin between thumb and forefinger as he considered what his brother suggested to him. "But what if we were to get cornered? We would need as much help as possible in that kind of situation."
"You heard the Spanish nurse," Gilbert said, shrugging. "Armed soldiers couldn't stop them, with our little group; one person isn't going to even make a dent. If we're cornered by them, that's it, we're done."
"That's scary," Feliciano said, tugging at the hem of his shirt. "I really don't want to get trapped."
"We won't allow ourselves to get trapped," Gilbert said gently to the small Italian. "And I won't let them get you, Feliciano." Gilbert smiled at the boy to reassure him.
"Ok, I trust you!" Feliciano smiled back at him, "if you're like Ludwig, than I believe you."
Gilbert laughed raucously, causing Ludwig to roll his eyes at his older brother's nasally laugh. He wouldn't admit to himself how much he had truly missed hearing it, and how happy it made him.
"So, we're all settled?" Kiku asked, tilting his head to acquire their attention.
"Yes," Ludwig said, taking in all the faces in the room. "Gilbert, Feliciano, Kiku, and I will travel to the hospital, find the surveillance van, and help Feliciano's brother and the nurse escape." He locked eyes with Gilbert for a moment, and then looked back down at his hands. "After that, we will return with both of them - under the guidance of Heracles, of course."
"If we're lucky, we'll be out of there before it gets dark outside."
"There's nothing ahead," Heracles said, voice filtering evenly through the radio speakers.
"Alright," Ludwig said, nodding back toward the group to indicate they could keep moving.
They weaved through the dead cars littering the streets, they ran behind buildings, and they hid in the shadows of the trees. Their journey, however, was surprisingly easy; the roads were quiet and nothing stopped their journey. Only a few times they saw the occasional infected straggler wandering around the streets. They were very easily manoeuvred around by the small group.
"Now be careful on this road coming up," Heracles voice whispered through the radio. "It's very out in the open because it leads to the highway, there's not much cover there. But, the good news is, you're almost at the hospital."
Ludwig nodded and turned to the group, "Heracles said we're coming up to the highway, so we have to be careful. We don't have much cover coming our way."
The group nodded.
"I remember going this way," Feliciano said.
Ludwig smiled sadly, but patted Feliciano on the back gently. "You don't need to think of that time any more, Feliciano. You're brother's alive."
Feliciano frowned, "but I left him," he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands. "He's going to hate me when he finds out what I did."
"He's not going to hate you, Fel-"
"Look at all he's been through because I made the decision to leave him behind. Wouldn't you hate your brother for doing that to you?"
"Of course not," Ludwig and Gilbert both said at the same time, incredulously.
Feliciano laughed, "I wish I could say Lovino's like you guys," Feliciano looked up at the puffy white clouds melting into the blue sky. "But let's not worry about that right now, we need to get him out first."
Kiku nodded his head, and took the initiative. He walked in front of the group and onto the highway; looking carefully around the bend in the road to be sure nothing was standing there. He glanced around and found two stragglers, unfortunately stumbling around in the middle of the road. "There's two up ahead, and there's no way we can avoid them," Kiku whispered back at the group behind the large oak tree.
Ludwig nodded his head to acknowledge what Kiku had said and brought the radio up to his lips. "Heracles," he whispered. "Can you see the two infected ones on the road?"
The radio was silent for a moment before it blatted to life again, Heracles' voice filtering through easily. "I knew we would come to this kind of problem eventually," he sighed. "I can't see them from over the trees; part of the road is blocked from my view."
"Damn it," Ludwig said, pulling the radio away from his lips. He chewed on the antennae for a moment as he considered what they could do with their situation. They had a abundance of weapons, that was true, but he didn't know how strong the things straggling around were any more They could have gotten stronger, they could have gotten weaker, there was no way to know. And, on the other hand, they had lots of weapons but no guns. The only kind of weapons they had were knives and hatchets.
"We're going to have to take our chances," Gilbert said, standing up from where he was hunkered down beside his brother. "We didn't take these weapons as ornaments, after all." Gilbert looked back at his brother's concerned face, and frowned. "Come on, brother, we can do this," he reached his hand down to help him up.
Ludwig took his hand reluctantly and let his brother help him to his feet. He agreed with Gilbert, even though he didn't want to be in this kind of situation. They had brought weapons for a reason, and there were only two stragglers. If they were lucky, they could even sneak up on them and take them down like that. "You're right," Ludwig said.
Gilbert laughed again, "aren't I always, little brother?"
Ludwig smiled at his brother despite his concern.
"Feliciano," Ludwig asked. "Do you think you can do this?"
Feliciano looked down at the hatchet in his hands with trepidation, but felt himself nodding despite his fear. He wanted to help his brother, and if doing this meant saving his life, then so be it. Feliciano gripped the handle of the hatchet tightly in his hands and met Ludwig's eyes. "Yes, I can do this."
"Good," Ludwig said. "Now follow behind us, but be very quiet. We're going to try to sneak up on them to get the upper hand. If we're lucky, we'll take them by surprise and they won't even have time to react to us being there."
Feliciano hummed in agreement and took to his feet and stood next to Gilbert and Ludwig. "Let's go then."
Ludwig and Gilbert gave each other one last look before they walked out from behind the tree with Kiku and Feliciano following close behind. The stragglers on the street were, so far, facing the opposite direction that the survivors were advancing on, and it seemed like they would make it home free. Gilbert had his knife raised in front of his chest, ready to plunge it into the first infected person currently stumbling down the road.
Ahead of the group, Gilbert quickly advanced on the stragglers and raised his knife even higher, holding it up above his head, clasped tight in both of his hands. But, just as he was about to plunge the knife into one of their heads, the second one turned. Gilbert didn't even have time to react before the creature was on him, teeth snapping and clacking at his face. There was so much strength behind it that it had him on the ground in an instant.
"Shit, Gilbert!" Ludwig cried out, rushing to meet his brother before the second one had time to react.
However, before Ludwig could even make it to his brother's side, the second creature turned and was bearing down on him. He cursed and backed up, bending his knees and holding the hatchet in his hand out to the side. He expected some resistance when he tried to attack the creature, but he didn't expect the level that he was met with. When his hatchet buried itself in the creatures head, it did nothing. The creature kept coming after him, despite the deep, morbid gash on the side of its head.
"Ludwig," Feliciano cried from behind him as he tried to prevent the creature from wrestling him to the ground. Even with his strength, he could barely keep it off of him.
His worst fears had come true; the creatures had gotten stronger since the outbreak.
Ludwig was so deep in thought that he hadn't even noticed Kiku walking up behind the creature and stabbing it through the chest, causing it to finally plummet to the ground in a messy, bloody heap. Ludwig stood with a confused expression contorting his features, arms still raised in front of him.
"A little help," Gilbert called from where he was lying underneath one of the creatures, straining to keep it from biting him. "I like the strength and all, but I really don't want to turn into one of these god damn things."
Ludwig walked over and chopped the back of the creature's neck with his hatchet, despite the strength behind the attack; he only cut half of its neck. It took three more chops to completely dislocate the creatures head from its body, and even then it continued to bite out at the chilly air in hunger.
Feliciano, they all noticed, had almost retreated back to the tree they had been taking refuge behind.
"I'm starting to wonder if taking him was a bad idea," Ludwig said, watching as the dainty Italian slowly made his way back to them. "He gets this look of determination in his eyes when he talks about his brother, yet as soon as he's spooked he runs away."
Gilbert hummed under his breath, "it's understandable. I mean, Lud, look at how tiny he is."
"That's what I'm worried about," Ludwig said, eyebrows creasing. "He's so delicate looking, I'm just afraid that if we're not around he won't be able to defend himself…"
Gilbert looked up at his brother, holding a hand over his eyes to block out the sun. "You can't worry about stuff like that right now," Gilbert said. "He'll adapt eventually."
Ludwig didn't look convinced, but he nodded his head at his brother despite this pang of worry at the back of his head. As he watched the Italian get steadily closer, he worried if Feliciano would even be able to fight for himself. He was so small…
"Let's go," Gilbert said, pulling at one of his brother's sleeves. "We can't dilly dally any more with our lack of cover, we're walking targets right now."
"Right," Ludwig said as Feliciano finally caught up to them. Ludwig, once again, brought the radio to his lips. "We're on our way to the hospital now."
The radio was silent again for another few minutes, then Heracles familiar voice came through to them. "Good, any problems?"
Ludwig considered lying at this point. He didn't want to make the others at the hotel worry any more than they already were. However, lying to them might put them in danger if one of the infected happened to wander into the hotel. He needed to tell them that they were getting stronger.
Ludwig rolled his shoulders as he brought the radio back up to his lips. "They're stronger," he stated simply. "I couldn't hold even one back, I needed Kiku's help, and Gilbert got tackled to the ground."
"He's not bit?"
"No, he was capable of holding it back; he just couldn't get it off of him."
Heracles clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth in annoyance, and then let out a loud sigh, "this is really bad news for us."
"I know," Ludwig said as he armed at the sweat forming on his brow. "Four of us could barely hold back two of those things."
The radio was silent for another moment as Heracles seemed to be thinking about the situation on the other end. He was probably wondering the same thing as Ludwig. Would it be safe for them to continue on any further? How would Feliciano's brother and the nurse get out of that kind of situation? If the whole place was really infested with them, then it would be next to impossible for them to get out of there alive.
He couldn't let Feliciano down, however. They needed to at least try to help. If there truly was a surveillance van in the parking lot, then they would have much better chances at survival.
Heracles, as if coming to same revelation as Ludwig, finally started speaking on the other end. "You're only a block away from the hospital, keep going. There's a dish on the top of the white van, it sticks out like a sore thumb so you will be able to find it with relative ease." Heracles was quiet for a long moment, but the light static emanating from the radio made it clear that Heracles still wasn't finished speaking. "Good luck," Heracles whispered.
The voice died away with Ludwig's confidence following close behind.
They walked down the road with ease, and no creatures were waiting for them in the parking lot of the hospital. They were lucky for this little bit of relief. They all came to a stop at the foot of the parking lot, scanning all of the cars for a surveillance van sitting adjacent in the parking lot.
"There it is," Feliciano said, pointed one slender finger to the far left of the parking lot. "I can see the satellite on the roof."
"Good eye," Gilbert said, patting him on the shoulder. "Now let's get those losers out of there!"
Ludwig smiled and followed behind his brother, weaving through the complacent vehicles, looking around for any intruders. However, when Gilbert stopped suddenly, Ludwig felt his heart sink into his stomach.
Gilbert looked back at the group and waved his hands in front of his chest, "no, no, it's nothing." He cocked his head, "I just feel kind of dizzy all of a sudden."
"Brother?" Ludwig asked, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder in fear of his brother passing out. "You weren't bit, were you?"
"Nope, I would have felt that," Gilbert whispered. "I think the heat is starting to get to me."
That was the thing Ludwig had been unconsciously worrying about from the very beginning of their mission. His brother was albino, after all, over exposure to the sun wasn't good for him. "We're almost to the van," Ludwig said. "You'll have some shade in there."
"Is Gilbert alright?" Feliciano asked with a concerned tone from behind Ludwig, craning his neck over Ludwig's back to look at the cocky man kneeling on the ground.
Gilbert laughed and gave the red-head a thumbs up, "I'm fine, don't worry about it."
Ludwig, however, didn't believe him, but he followed behind without any qualms as Gilbert continued weaving through the cars. It was no use worrying about it now, he couldn't very well tell Gilbert to turn back around at this point.
When they finally got to the van Gilbert piled into it noisily, lying flat on his back on the leather matted floors. The sun had had a very negative effect on his body.
"Gilbert," Feliciano inquired, jumping into the car behind him frantically.
"He's fine," Ludwig said, "he's just not supposed to be exposed to the sun for long periods of time." Ludwig held the back of his hand against his brother's forehead, and clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth at the heat emanating from his brother's pale skin. He already had a horrible sun burn on his forehead and his cheeks just from two hours of exposure. "Hand me the water," Ludwig asked, holding his hand out for one of the survivors to hand it over to him.
Kiku handed it to him tentatively as he stepped into the van, closing the door behind himself as he did so. He looked down at Gilbert and marked his reddened cheeks and forehead. "Your brother," Kiku began. "He is albino, correct?"
"Yes," Ludwig said as he held the chilled water bottle to his brother's forehead. "I completely forgot about him not being able to stand against the sun for long periods of time; he didn't even put sun screen on."
Kiku hummed under his breath, "I went to a school with a boy like that." Kiku held his own water bottle to Gilbert's heated cheeks, "I felt so bad, we would all be enjoying gym class, and he would be stuck sitting in the shade of the school's over hang."
Ludwig nodded, "Gilbert's experience was something like that."
"Let's not spread personal information now, little brother," Gilbert finally spoke up, opening his eyes to the three hovering survivors. "I'm fine, so contact Heracles and tell him we're in. Then call those other two idiots stuck in there."
Only then did Ludwig take the time to observe the inside of the van, and the fact that yes, it was a surveillance van. The walls were scaled with small television sets and speakers, along with twin radio sets in the front seat and a small pistol on the dashboard.
Feliciano himself was busy turning on each TV set, impatiently searching for the one that was set on his brother and the nurse.
Ludwig nodded his head, but told Kiku to continue looking over Gilbert, despite his brother's angry protests at the notion. Ludwig joined Feliciano in turning on the TV sets as he brought the radio to his mouth. "We're in the surveillance van," he said.
This time it took Heracles no time in answering him, "good, I'm assuming there are cameras set up?"
"Yes," Ludwig said. "There's even a pistol in the front seat."
"That's great," Heracles breathed out in a sigh of relief. "I was so worried that the van wasn't what I thought it was." Heracles was quiet for a moment, "now it's pretty much up to you guys, the only thing I can do now is warn you if I see something strange from the outside. Good luck"
Ludwig felt his confidence building again. They could do this, if they tried hard enough they could get the nurse and Feliciano's brother out alive. Ludwig turned quickly when he heard Feliciano let out a small sob, only to realize that it was a sob of relief.
On the monitor standing in front of Feliciano sat a dark haired man – and another man that looked like the spitting image of Feliciano – curled up on the floor together.
They were sleeping even though it was the middle of the day, it was clear that their hours were mixed up from being inside the hospital for so long.
"Fratello," Feliciano cried, holding a hand over the screen that harboured his older brother.
Ludwig gave Feliciano time to recuperate, but quickly began shooting questions at him. He understood Feliciano's worries, but they had no time to spare. If he really wanted to save his brother, then he should have known they needed to act quickly in order to get him out of there as soon as possible. "Feliciano, what room number is that?"
Feliciano looked at the screen for a moment, scanning around the information in the upper corner. "It says floor number five, room 216"
"Alright," Ludwig said with a sense of finality. "We need to get them out of there." Ludwig gulped as he looked at the monitor for all of the other rooms, all of which were scaled wall-to-wall with infected hospital patients.
It would a tricky escape for the two trapped inside its walls, he was happy that he wasn't in their position.
Ludwig pulled the radio out of his pocket and changed the channel accordingly, tapping it three times. He took in a deep breath and began speaking into the radio, loud enough so that it would wake up the two sleeping men.
Antonio woke up with a start to the sound of the radio buzzing to life in his ear with a different voice filtering through than before. He scrambled up from where he lay and untangled himself from the thin sheet shielding he and Lovino from the cold. Antonio picked the radio up off of the floor and held it in front of his face, listening to the voice as it escaped the speakers.
"We found a surveillance van," the voice spoke in an almost General like voice. "We can see every room in the hospital."
"That's great," Antonio said, however, he was beginning to feel doubtful. The man talking to him didn't seem to be happy about what he was seeing in the monitors. "Is there a way out for us?" Antonio asked, almost wanting to cover the mouth of the speaker so he couldn't hear the answer he was going to get.
"That's the thing," the severe voice said. "Just about every room surrounding you right now is, well…" the voice eked off, causing a sense of hopelessness to rise in the pit of Antonio's stomach.
"What is it," Antonio asked. "There's no point in hiding things from us now," Antonio felt anger bubbling despite his normally calm demeanour He was hungry, cranky, cold, and he was feeling the effects of cabin fever nipping at his heels, he was in no mood to be playing guessing games with a complete stranger. "Tell me," he demanded.
The person on the other end seemed to have heard the severity in his tone, and finally answered him truthfully. "You're surrounded, from one end to the next."
"Crap," Antonio said to himself, pulling the radio from his mouth and lowering his head onto his knees. He knew the answer wasn't going to be good, but some part of him had hoped that there was at least a slight chance for them to make their escape safely.
The voice on the other end began speaking again, causing Antonio to lift his head from his knees.
"I'm not trying to further damper your spirits, but I feel the need to warn you about the infected before you make your escape."
Antonio sighed in disbelief; the Gods truly weren't smiling down on him at all. It was one thing after another for him, and it didn't seem to be getting any better. He tried to keep his head high, however, as he didn't want to damper Lovino's spirits. More than anything, he wanted to get Lovino to his brother. He didn't want to see him dying in vein. He couldn't explain it, but he himself would rather die than see Lovino hurting.
"Lay it on me," Antonio said, looking back over his shoulder at the emaciated Italian boy with his eyebrows knitting together.
"They seem to have gotten stronger," the man on the other end said, causing Antonio to remember the incredibly loud bang one of them had made when he and Lovino were hiding in he dispensary. "It's almost as if they're-"
"Mutating," Antonio said.
The voice coming through the other end was silent, but Antonio knew that the person was thinking the same thing that he was. Everything was getting worse, and this was horrible, considering the beginning was barely liveable.
"Antonio," Lovino said from behind the Spaniard, his voice still sleepy. "Is everything alright?"
Antonio turned around and smiled at Lovino reassuringly, "everything's fine, Lovi." However, Antonio quickly dropped the act when he realized what he was doing. If anything, he would only make their situation worse if he started lying to Lovino. The last thing he needed was to create a rift in Lovino's trust in him. "You know what, Lovi, I was lying just then, everything is not fine."
Lovino's eyebrows shot up, eyes frantic, "what do you mean?"
"Look, Lovi, I don't want you to panic…"
"Oh my god, Antonio, don't you think it's a little too late to tell me something like that? We're kind of trapped in the middle of a horde of zombies; I can't imagine it getting worse than this."
Antonio scratched the back of his head, Lovino was right, it was pointless trying to make their situation seem less dire than what it really was. Lovino wouldn't panic; he hadn't panicked even after they had been chased into a corner. If anything, Antonio would be the one to start panicking. "They said the infected have gotten even stronger than when the outbreak first started," Antonio said, wincing at the urgency in his voice.
"OK," Lovino said, shrugging his shoulders. "We kind of got a glimpse of that yesterday."
"Yeah," Antonio said, "but that's not everything you need to know."
"What?" Lovino asked, his voice weak from malnourishment.
"They found a surveillance van in the parking lot, the soldiers must have been using it to check on the progress of the ones on the inside…"
"Lot of good that did them," Lovino said with a scoff.
"We're surrounded, whatever room we choose is going to be infested," Antonio finished.
Lovino looked at Antonio like he was crazy for a moment, eyebrows knit together in a harsh line. For a moment, Antonio thought Lovino was going to snap, but was surprised when Lovino reacted in a completely different fashion than what he had expected.
"And," Lovino asked, holding his hands out in front of his chest, indicating that this wasn't news to him.
"Well, Lovi-"
"I kind of figured that out when we got trapped in the dispensary," Lovino said as he shrugged his shoulders. "And don't call me Lovi, how many times am I going to have to correct you?"
Antonio was stuck with a dumbfounded look at Lovino words, they were so relaxed, it was almost as if Lovino wasn't worried at all. Antonio continually worried about Lovino freaking out, when in reality, he should have been worrying about himself. Lovino had come to terms with their situation long before Antonio himself could. Antonio couldn't help the laugh that bubbled to the surface.
"Oh fuck, don't tell me you're going to snap. That's the last thing I need right now."
Antonio held a hand to his stomach in an attempt to hold the laughter at bay.
"Really, what's so funny?" Lovino asked, grabbing Antonio's shoulder to get his attention.
Antonio finally looked up, meeting Lovino's willow green eyes with his own dark browns. Antonio smiled at the concerned look on Lovino's face despite his angry words, "it's just that, Lovi, you're so calm."
"What, why is that surprising?" Lovino almost screamed, causing Antonio to almost bust into another cackling fit at the irony.
"No reason, Lovi," Antonio said as he finally stood up from where he was perched on the floor. Antonio grabbed the radio and brought it back up to his mouth, "OK, tell us what we need to do."
The radio was silent for another few minutes before it buzzed back to life, this time with another voice speaking through to them. It was Lovino's brother, Antonio could tell this by the happy lilt to his voice. Lovino had told Antonio about his over-abundance of happiness in a sleepy daze.
"Ludwig will tell you what to do," the voice said. "Just let me speak to my brother first, it's only going to take a minute, please?"
"Of course," Antonio said, pulling the radio away from his mouth to hand the radio to Lovino. Lovino took it from his without question, holding the radio up to his mouth with trembling hands. It seemed as soon as he was about to talk to his brother, he lost all of his composure.
"Feli," Lovino said into the radio. His hands began to fidget as he waited for his brother, as if he was afraid of what he would be answered with.
"Lovi," Antonio could hear Feliciano's voice, just barely, filtering through the speaker of the radio. His voice was softer than Antonio had remembered it, but Antonio knew why it was like that. This was Feliciano trying to say goodbye, just in case things didn't turn out for the better. Antonio felt his heart pang against his chest painfully.
The group on the other end didn't think they were going to make it out alive.
"Lovino, I'm so sorry you have to go through this," Feliciano whined through the speakers. "I would do anything to get you out of there."
"I know you would," Lovino said. "You are my stupid little brother, after all."
Feliciano laughed, "You're so mean, Lovi."
Lovino hummed into the speaker, his eyes softening, "how are you doing so far, Feliciano? Are you somewhere safe?"
"Yes," Feliciano said happily, "and when you get out, you can be safe with us."
Lovino laughed; a cold thing that caused Antonio chest to tighten painfully. Antonio knew from this laugh that Lovino thought he wasn't making it out alive as well. He was humouring his brother, nothing more. Antonio felt his confidence fall flat on its face again. Who was he kidding, thinking that they would make it out alive? Four more levels to go, and every room in the hospital was death trap.
"Feliciano," Lovino began, worrying his lip between his teeth as he thought about what he was going to say to his younger brother. "Don't stay hung up on my death if I don't make it out of here alive, promise me that."
The words chilled Antonio, but he understood. If Lovino's brother was as soft as he had told him, then it was better to clear the air sooner rather than later. There was no point in leaving behind regrets.
"Lovi-" Feliciano began, wilting at his brother's words.
"Don't start crying," Lovino said. "You can't do that, not in your situation, you don't have the liberty to be a baby any more You have to keep yourself safe, that's the most important thing right now. Weakness and tears do not keep you safe, little brother."
"Lovi," Feliciano said, his voice filled with tears despite his brother's warnings. "I won't be able to handle your death, not a second time."
Lovino bit down on his lip to stop it from trembling; his brother really knew how to pluck his heartstrings. Nonetheless, Lovino couldn't sit down and cry with his brother, he needed to stay strong. He needed to stay strong so Feliciano could stay strong as well. "You know what it's like in here," Lovino said. "You can see everything where you are, right?"
Feliciano was silent on the other side of the radio for a long moment, before he finally spoke again. "I do."
"Then you know our chances of escape are slim," Lovino said, shaking his head. "I want you to know that there was nothing you could do, and that if I die, it isn't your fault."
Feliciano sniffled but stopped crying when he realized Lovino was ready to end their conversation. "I love you, Lovino."
"I love you too, Feliciano," Lovino handed the radio over to Antonio and turned away from the cameras to silently weep, no tears, just soft sobs of dismay. Antonio didn't comment on it and left Lovino to compose himself before they had to set off.
"Are you ready?" The same gruff voice from before called through the speakers this time.
"I think so," Antonio said, before shaking his head, "I mean yes, yes we're ready."
"Other than directions, I have nothing else to offer you," the man said. "I wish I could say otherwise."
"It's alright," Antonio said, smiling softly as if the person on the other end could see him. "I think I have an idea, anyway."
"Tell me," the surly voice asked.
"Well, when Lovi and I entered this room we would have died if not for the corpse in the corner of the room. There was a dead body rotting on the bed, assumedly a patient. For some reason the corpse warded off the infected patients."
"What do you mean, how is that possible? There are dead bodies littering the streets everywhere, and yet we were still followed when the outbreak first happened."
"The corpses blood," Antonio said simply. "For some reason, when we covered ourselves in it, they lost our scent."
"That's sick," the voice said. "But it does make sense."
"They still haven't come back, so it's a good sign. We were even able to rest for a few hours."
"Good," the man said sincerely on the other end. "You're going to need to be well rested and alert for what you're about to do."
"I know," Antonio said. "As a nurse, I've always had to be alert. Now just tell me which way would be safer for us, and we'll head out. There's no point in dancing around the issue any more."
The static died on the other end so suddenly that for one frightening moment Antonio thought something had happened to the survivors on the other end. However, the voice started up almost as soon as it had left, this time with instructions for Antonio.
"From where I'm looking into your room, the best way for you to go right now would be out by the soldier's dead body, where the operating table is."
"Yes," Antonio said, waiting impatiently for the voice to continue with directions.
"Go through the exit there, then you will be in a long hallway," the voice was quiet, whispering something to himself. Antonio could tell that he was looking at the monitors, and which route would be the safest for them. Judging by his silence, not much looked safe. "From the hallway, you turn left, then you'll come to another exit door. If I'm correct, the stairs actually lead down three levels, leaving you on the second floor…"
"Yes, I remember that stairwell," Antonio felt a small bit of encouragement. If they could get to the second floor, it would give them a huge chance at escape.
"The problem is," the voice began, but suddenly stopped, as if the person on the other end was considering how to word something without offending. It made Antonio's heartbeat pick up.
"Spit it out!" Antonio jumped when Lovino screamed right beside him. He hadn't even noticed the young Italian standing up from where he was sitting, let alone walking over to him.
"Sorry," the gruff voice apologized. "The hallway isn't so bad, you'll probably come across at least seven of them wandering in and out of rooms, but the second floor is bad. But, if what you said about the blood of the corpse's if true, then maybe you have a stronger fighting chance than what I initially thought."
"How bad is the second floor?" Antonio asked.
"Bad," the man stated simply. "It's crowded down there, much like what you would see in New York City."
"Crap," Lovino bit out, bending over and resting his hands on his knees.
"Why are they all migrating like that?" Antonio asked.
"I couldn't tell you," the man said with a shrug in his voice. "I just know that it can't be for anything good."
"Know of anything down there that could be attracting them?" Lovino asked, finally standing up from where he was hunched over.
"I don't think so," Antonio scratched his head as he tried to remember what was on the second floor. "I'm never really down there, because my duties are up here, so it's hard to remember."
"Oh well," Lovino said, "it's not like it would have changed our situation anyway."
Antonio nodded, and then brought the radio back up to his mouth, "it doesn't matter," he said into the speaker. "We can't plan for something like that, so we'll just hope our idea with the blood will work out for us."
"Ok," the man said. "Then get going."
A/N: I actually had to split this chapter into two parts because it was so long! I really hope that you guys appreciate this because this means that I'm putting out two extra chapters this week! : ) The second part of this chapter will be up tomorrow, or early tonight. Keep your eyes open!
March Break works wonders on the mind.
As always, thanks for reading!