A/N: This chapter is set two weeks after the last chapter.

Tino woke up with an ache in his back and a pain in his leg that could only be described as 'screaming'. He knew that the nurse had told him that it wasn't a serious injury, however, the nurse had also told them that Gilbert's wound wasn't serious even though the man had dripped blood all the way back to the hotel. Even though the nurse had helped them so much Tino found that he didn't - or rather, couldn't - trust him very much. He felt like the man was only telling them everything was alright just to keep them from panicking.

Everything wasn't alright, that was made clear by their previous meeting.

Hardly any of them had any experience in things relating to hunting or gathering, and the ones that did were either incapacitated or too afraid to do anything to help. Gilbert and Ludwig were probably the only two of the group that could adequately defend themselves, and Gilbert himself couldn't even see out of one of his eyes, not to mention he couldn't stay in the sun for too long.

Tino sighed and sat up in bed, scrubbing a hand over his sleep crusty eyes. It was yet another beautiful day, it was just too bad that they couldn't spend it outside. Standing on the roof was pretty much their only reprieve, and everyone wanted to be on the roof at once. That eventually led to Tino just giving up. Tino just settled for sitting under the skylight, soaking in the rays that filtered through the dirty glass. Even though it wasn't the greatest thing, it was better than nothing.

These were the last of Tino's concerns, however. He could live perfectly fine the way he was, but resources were starting to become a big issue for the group. They all knew that the resources would eventually run out, but the entire group silently agreed on not bringing it up until it was absolutely necessary.

They knew it meant going out onto the street with the infected again, and no one wanted to do that.

The thought alone made chills work their way up Tino's back, causing him to bundle himself back up in the blankets and hide under their warmth. He wasn't ready, by any means, to face the infected a second time. He didn't think he would ever be ready to face them. After his past traumatic experiences, and after hearing Gilbert's words about them becoming stronger, sometimes he found himself not even being able to get up from where he lay in his bed.

"Are you all right, Tino," a familiar voice asked, causing him to peek out from under the heavy duvet covers.

It was Berwald, sitting on the corner of his bed with a concerned look on his face. In his arms, he held a sleeping Peter to his chest.

"I'm fine," Tino said, holding his arms out for the baby. He enjoyed taking care of Peter; it was one of the only things truly keeping him sane. "I'm just worried about the meeting today, that's all."

Berwald hummed under his breath as he handed over the small child, cradling the baby's neck so as not to put weight on his neck. Tino could tell just by looking at the man that he was just as concerned, he was just better at hiding it than Tino was.

"I know it's going to be about food," Tino said as he brushed a loose strand of gold hair behind the baby's ear. "I knew it was eventually going to come to this, but part of me hoped that some sort of miracle would happen before we had to act on it."

Berwald nodded his head; pushing his glasses up on his nose as he regarded Tino with concern filled blue eyes. He wasn't saying anything – he normally didn't – but part of Tino was grateful for his silence. Tino needed someone to talk to, uninterrupted so he could get all of his feelings out on the table, and Berwald's silence allowed for him to do so. Berwald was also sincere and trustworthy, so Tino knew that whatever he said in confidence would never leave Berwald's mouth.

The only time Berwald ever spoke was when he felt he needed to, and even then, sometimes he couldn't get anything to come out. Tino knew what this was; after having time to be alone with just Berwald, with no infected on their backs, he realized that the man had a speech impediment, albeit a small one. Even though Berwald never said anything about it, Tino understood.

"I just don't think I can face those things again," Tino said. "And I have this sinking feeling that I'm going to be sent on whatever mission they decide on. Any able-bodied person will be sent." Tino stood up, rocking the baby back and forth in his arms absently. "I mean, what happens if none of us make it when we go on the run? Who will be left behind to tend to Peter, or the others who are chosen to stay behind?"

Berwald finally piped up from where he was sitting, "I will request they leave you here."

Tino turned around, "you can't do that, Berwald, I'm an able-bodied man. I need to be there to help the group."

Berwald was quiet for a moment; he clearly wanted to speak, however, so Tino waited patiently as he tried to get his voice working again. He'd come to learn that he couldn't rush Berwald, and that no matter how much the man wanted to speak, he couldn't rush himself. "Gilbert and Ludwig both said the same thing at the last meeting," Berwald finally said. "They said that one person wouldn't make a difference."

Tino sighed, "but what if one person was the difference they needed?" Tino asked. "What if something bad happens if I don't go, and it ends up costing everyone their lives?"

"You can't do that," Berwald said.

Tino ground his teeth, finally becoming irritated with both himself and Berwald, "can't do what, exactly?"

Berwald stood up and approached Tino, holding the back of his hand to Tino's forehead, "you're running a fever."

Tino scoffed, "please don't try to tell me that my thinking isn't clear because I have a fever." Tino slapped Berwald's hovering hand away, "I'm perfectly lucid."

"I know that," Berwald said. "I'm just worried that you're upsetting yourself too much."

Tino swallowed hard; he was worrying too much. How could he not worry about everything though? The whole world had gone to hell, they were running out of resources, and everyone's lives were in danger every time the night fell and the infected closed in around the hotel.

Tino knew that eventually getting and bringing back resources wouldn't be enough. Eventually they would have to pack up and leave the hotel, eventually the infected would run them out and they would be left vulnerable, travelling the roads with danger following them around at every turn.

Nothing was permanent in their new world.

"Come on," Berwald said, gripping Tino's arm. "Let's sit on the roof before we have to go down for the meeting."

"That's interesting," Kiku said, rolling the heavy plastic object around in his hand. "I had no idea you were so clever with electronics."

Heracles laughed, taking the plastic radio out of Kiku's hand again, "it's what I went to school for." Heracles put the plastic radio into his back pocket, "speaking of school, Ludwig said something about you preparing for your finals before…"

"Mixology," Kiku said, slightly flustered. "It's nowhere near a degree in circuits and electronics, but I guess it's alright."

Heracles sat down in front of Kiku, "if it's something you like, then it really doesn't matter what you chose to do. I would still be impressed even if you were taking a course in taxidermy."

"I guess," Kiku said, still refusing to look up from where his eyes were focused on his own feet. "I do like it."

"That's good then," Heracles said, lying back on the solid concrete with a look on his face that spoke of pure, unadulterated comfort. Kiku couldn't understand the man's ability to find comfort in the most uncomfortable places, so Kiku pegged it as narcolepsy to avoid thinking about it for too long.

He didn't know if Heracles had fallen asleep already, but he began speaking to him despite this, if only to speak his worries aloud. "I'm worried about the meeting today," Heracles didn't answer Kiku, but he continued speaking. "I know what it's going to be about; I overheard Gilbert and Ludwig talking about our increasing lack of food."

"It knew it was going to come to that eventually," Kiku said, sitting up from where he was sprawled on the ground so he could talk to Kiku face to face. He seemed to have something important on his mind. "Do you trust them?"

"Do I trust who?" Kiku asked, even though he understood what Heracles was getting at as soon as he had asked the question.

"Do you trust Gilbert and Ludwig?" Heracles asked, "they're pretty much calling the shots right now, whether they wanted it that way or not."

"Of course I trust them," Kiku said, with the slightest bit of hesitation. However, even though it was only slight, Heracles caught it immediately.

"There's something bothering you, what is it?"

"It's just that," Kiku started, scratching the back of his head. "I trust Ludwig with every part of me, he saved Feliciano and I and ensured our safety by bringing us here…"

"What about Gilbert?"

Kiku twiddled his thumbs and bit his bottom lip as he tried to think of a way to word what he was thinking that would not be rude. "I feel like Ludwig is impartial to his brother, and that if something were to happen, Gilbert would come first."

"So you don't trust Gilbert?"

"It's not that I don't trust him, really," Kiku said. "I don't trust what Ludwig will do if something happened to Gilbert." Kiku stretched his legs, "you saw what Ludwig was like when we brought Gilbert back from the crash, he got very upset."

"You're right," Heracles said. "But I can't really judge him from that, I mean, I don't have a brother, so I can't assume to know how he felt when he saw Gilbert in the condition he was. Let's also not forget that Ludwig had just gotten back to Gilbert. He probably felt very helpless seeing his brother in that kind of condition."

"Yes," Kiku said, but the quirk in his brow said he still had some concern.

"I'm sitting right here, and I'm not going anywhere," Heracles said, "so talk to me."

Kiku sighed contentedly, it felt good to share his concerns with someone for once, "Gilbert hit his head very hard."

"Your point being?"

"I know Antonio said not to worry about it, but I am worrying," Kiku whispered. "I knew just from the look on Antonio's face, and just from the way he spoke so quietly with Matthew, that there's still a chance something could go wrong with Gilbert."

"It's a little too late for his brain to start swelling, Kiku. No matter how hard he hit his he-"

"No, no, not that," he continued whispering, "I'm worried about the kind of brain damage it did."

"You think it might have affected Gilbert's thinking?"

"Not really…"

"He's still the same loud, obnoxious, and bossy man that he was when he first entered the hotel with Roderich and Elizaveta. Trust me, the only difference I noticed in him was his left eye, and his problem with walking into thi-" Heracles stopped as he finally came to a realization.

"Even though he's functioning the same, and even though one of his eyes is back to good condition, he still hasn't regained vision in his left eye."

"That could be hindering," Heracles said, pinching his chin between thumb and forefinger.

"Considering he is most likely going to be one of the people leading us, then yes, it will be very hindering. He doesn't have the advantage we do because he can't see around himself. He's a danger to himself, and to others."

"You're right," Heracles said, "and even out there, with his vision completely intact, Gilbert himself had a hard time holding them back. Even though he's stronger than most of us – arguably as strong as Ludwig – he took a big hit when he lost the eyesight in his left eye. He won't be the same fighter that he was."

"Yes," Kiku said, nodding his head in agreement with Heracles. "His loss was also our loss."

Heracles sighed, "the world just wants to see us burn now, no?"

"Don't you think I know that?" Arthur spat, turning away from Alfred.

"Then you know that we can't stay here," Alfred said. He grabbed Arthur by the elbow and turned him back around to face him. "You know that this hotel isn't big enough to hold all of us, and you know that when the food runs low, we're going to be on the bottom of the list!"

"When did we come to that conclusion?" Arthur asked, ripping his arm away from Alfred's grasp with a scoff.

"We came to this conclusion - we were subject to it - as soon as we fucking collided with their van! We can't live like this, we can't. I know what this next meeting is going to be about; we all know what this next meeting is going to be about. Those god damn German brothers are going to throw us right under the bus!"

"No they won't, don't be ridiculous," Arthur said, however he was starting to understand Alfred's concerns. They were new to the hotel, and they had no attachment with the first group. They meant far less to the group than anyone else. So far the only thing they did for the group was slam into them with their car and injure their own set of survivors.

"Don't forget that we have Peter to think about," Alfred said. "According to all of us, Peter should be number one priority, but according to them, their group is number one priority. Do you see what I'm getting at, Arthur?"

"I see it," Arthur said, "I'm just having a hard time believing that they would do that to us." Arthur sighed, "how could anyone be quite that cruel?"

"Those German brothers, that's who."

"Alfred, you know, just because they're German doesn't mean they're going to be the harsh dictator types, right? Just because their accents are heavy, and they're muscled beyo-"

"I know that, Arthur," Alfred shouted. "What do you take me for, some kind of idiot?"

Arthur opened his mouth, but Alfred cut him off.

"Don't answer that," he said. "What I want you to tell me is what you know about them."

"What I know about them?" Arthur asked incredulously, "why?"

"I'm starting to take you for an idiot," Alfred said, sighing loudly. "Don't you think it's important that we know stuff about them, especially those two fucking krauts who've been giving us the run around since we got here?"

"Of course it is, idiot, but I think we know all that we need to! That meeting we had the day after the crash, yeah, that was all the information we needed to know about who everyone is - or was. What we know about them is that they're very close, they grew up in a quaint little German village, and they both have military training. If anything, we learned that they're exactly what we need for leaders."

"Are you kid-"

"I'm not kidding you, Alfred," Arthur shouted, shoving the man's shoulder. "We know that they're loving brothers, and that they're fiercely protective and very strong. They're perfect for this situation."

Alfred deflated at this – he deflated because he knew that it was true. They saw the true power of the infected, and they knew that alone they weren't strong. With the German brothers, along with the nurse, they had the perfect set up. He just had a hard time wrapping his mind around the idea of being ruled, rather than ruling himself.

"We need these people," Arthur said, voice lowering slowly. "The world isn't safe any more and we need all the help we can get. You can choose to not trust them, and that's fine, just keep your eyes peeled if it bothers you that much. I just don't see where you're getting the danger here. For Christ sake's there's a man who was in seminary before all this shit went down, do you really think he would take food away from a baby if worse came to worse?"

Alfred ran his left hand through his hair and sighed, "I know. I'm just worried, OK, all of this shit…"

"I know," Arthur said, resting a hand on Alfred's shoulder, "but this is how it is now, whether we like it or not."

Ludwig looked up when he heard the sound of light footfalls approaching from behind him. It was Feliciano, coming down the hall with a concerned look constipating his normally soft features.

"Feliciano," Ludwig said with a nod, turning back to where he stood looking up at the skylight.

"Ludwig," Feliciano started, "when is the meeting going to start?"

"Soon," Ludwig said, "I'm just waiting on brother at this point."

Feliciano silently took a place at his side, joining him as he stared up at the light billowing down on them. Feliciano whispered, "you look worried."

"Of course I'm worried," Ludwig said, pushing himself off of the bannister to look at Feliciano. "Aren't you worried?"

"Yes," Feliciano said with a laugh, "but when am I not worried about something? Everything scares me; I'm a baby."

Ludwig smiled, and even though it was a lopsided one, it was a smile nonetheless, "you weren't acting like a baby when we had to walk back to the hotel with everyone. You handled it better than most of us, actually. Better than me."

Feliciano smiled, "you're very kind, Ludiwig." Feliciano bowed his head down, "but there's something I needed to ask y-"

"Brother," a loud, booming voice called from down the hall, "are you ready to go now?"

Ludwig turned around to face his brother before he could answer Feliciano's question, having completely forgotten the Italian's concern as soon as he heard his brother's voice ringing down the hall.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Antonio said. "All of us going would be ridiculous, we need to have people here to hold down the fort."

"We're not kids, Antonio."

"I know that," Antonio said, eyebrows furrowing, "what I'm trying to say is that if something bad happens, and everyone dies, what's going to happen here?"

"They'll just have to survive," Gilbert said.

"There's a baby here," Antonio said, clenching his fists by his side, annoyed at the German's careless attitude. "A baby can't fend for itself, especially during these times."

"We'll leave Elizaveta here with the child," Ludiwig said, as if that solved everything. "If something bad were to happen, she could take care of him."

"Don't decide for me," Elizaveta piped up, "I'm going with you guys."

"You're a woma-"

Elizaveta stood up and slammed her fist down on the table, "don't you dare try to tell me that I'm weak because I'm a woman, I can fight with the best of you." Elizaveta brought her hand back and crossed her arms in front of her chest, "In fact, I'm sure I could fight better than most of you. So don't you talk down to me because next time I'm lay you flat, German."

Ludwig seemed surprised, as did everyone else in the room; so much so that no one else started arguing.

The fight had escalated much quicker than any of them had expected. As soon as the meeting had commenced, Ludwig and Gilbert started everything off by telling everyone what their plan was, and that their resources were running low. They talked about a mall - a super mall - that they had seen while entering the city. It wasn't too far out from where they were, and it would have everything they needed. However, many people wanted different things. Though they all agreed that they needed to stock up on their meager resources, they all wanted to do it in different ways than what Gilbert and Ludwig were suggesting.

Berwald had started off by suggesting Tino stay back with Peter, which started a big fight about how Tino was perfectly capable of fending for his own on a mission. Things had eventually de-escalated when Tino agreed that he was capable of going on the mission, and that they needed as many people as possible to carry goods and resources back. Then the question had arisen about who exactly would stay behind with Peter, which started another argument.

That led to Antonio getting mad about taking everyone, and then Ludwig had suggested Elizaveta stay behind. All of which led to their current situation.

"So we leave Tino behind," Ludwig said with a shrug, "that seems to be our only choice right now. His wounded leg gives him a reason to stay, after all. He couldn't run very fast - or far - on an injured leg."

This started a second round of bickering; however, it didn't last long.

"You're still not catching what we mean," Alfred shouted. "What we're trying to tell you is that everyone shouldn't be thrown under the bus, we need to leave at least half of the group behind!"

"That's not right either!" Heracles piped up from where he was – for the most part – completely quiet.

"Listen, you g-"

A loud, abnormal snap caused everyone in the room to quiet down. It wasn't the familiar sound of the wood creaking from the cold, and it wasn't the sound of someone walking down the stairs. It was the sound of a board snapping in two.

"What was that?" Lovino asked, finally raising his head from where he had it pressed into the table. He had long since resigned himself to his fate as soon as the meeting had started. Even though he and Antonio had just gotten free from the hospital's clutches, they would be thrown into a similar situation, and they would have no say in it.

Gilbert held his index finger up, telling Lovino to quiet down.

Another snap sounded, followed by the familiar sound of the chain link fence being moved.

Glass shattered.

A/N: Phew, I've been writing alllll easter weekend, and I'm exhausted! I finished an article for journalism, I finished half of my application for university, (ha-ha I'm so late with my applications) I finished a huge assignment for Canadian Geography, and I managed to get two chapters out! Wow.

So, this is the last chapter before we get into the next arc, which I think you guys will really enjoy. I wanted to pump this chapter out quickly so I could focus on making the next chapter extra juicy. Anyway, I have a long weekend coming up so I'll have lots of time to settle down this weekend and work at a relaxed – not frantic – pace.

Thanks for readings, guys. Hugs and kisses!