Salvatorio- Seborga

Drahoslav- Slovakia

Bohumila- Czech Republic

...

Fucking hell am I scraping the barrel for characters. Years I've been waiting for Slovakia to show up, and this is how I write him for the first time? Okay then.

Still, sorry this is late. I was feeling ill all week and this chapter was longer than anticipated so basically I've shit up my whole schedule. Still, a lot of the next two chapters has already been written so hopefully updates will be fast.

...

But what Stelios didn't know was that there was very much life remaining in the hospital. However long that would last was another story entirely.

She'd almost not seen it coming.

Mei jumped back as her colleague tried to swipe at her, ducking under the bed in time to feel the thing shudder as her assailant tore into a patient instead. No, wait, she'd not meant that! She wasn't supposed to let her patients die! This bastard was eating them!

Well that was the last straw! Mei rolled up her sleeves and bit her cheek to stop herself from being sick, crawling out and grabbing the nearest chair to defend herself.

What illness was this?

Salvatorio prided himself on his appearance, never to the point of vanity, but enough to make him stand out from the tired, almost zombie-like faces of the other overworked staff. Mei had honestly wished to know his secrets- probably expensive products, but it wasn't like her paycheck was going on much right now, since she never had time to spend it on anything.

However, now he looked more terrifying than even the tiredest, most overworked doctor. In fact, Mei was certain no amount of stress could ever make her skin peel and flesh necrotise. The zombie Sal hissed and drooled, lips peeled back to reveal rancid yellow teeth, like a row of blunt, rotten daggers, and though she didn't want to notice, she couldn't help but pick up on how his split gums spilt blood and pus.

"Get back!" she cried, "leave us alone! Vargas, what's gotten into you?"

"I don't think he can understand you anymore," nurse Drahoslav commented, using a fire extinguisher to fend off yet more of them. Beside him, another nurse, Bohumila, leapt forward and brought down a bedpan on the head of a zombified patient, causing Mei to let out a shriek.

"What are you doing?" she cried as she ducked back from Sal's swipe, swinging her chair to fend him off, "those are people!"

"Not anymore," Bohumila growled, and with another whack, her attacker was motionless, "look at them! They're undead! Except that one; he's actually dead."

Undead. Was such a thing even possible? Mei stared at Sal as he hobbled closer, and she knew her colleague was right about one thing: there was nothing she could do to save him. The monsters were trying to kill her, and it was them or her now. And she quite liked being alive.

"Okay," she swung the chair at Sal, catching his head with a leg and the whole thing came off. Mei suppressed a squeal and leapt back. Okay, she certainly hadn't hit him that hard! How disgusting! She could see right down his neck the second before the zombie's body collapsed next to its head. Woah, these things fell apart pretty easily.

As Mei came to that conclusion, she heard a scream from beside her, and wheeled round to find Drahoslav pulled to the floor by a horde of the creatures with a cry of distress. She saw his wide, terrified eyes a moment before they were gone, before he disappeared under a pile of rotting bodies.

"No you give him back!" Bohumila jumped in after the other, swiping and beating, but it did little else other than to get her killed too, with a piercing howl that was abruptly silenced. As the zombies pulled themselves away, Mei was left staring at two headless corpses.

She had to get out of here.

By now, most of the patients were dead, the last few either turning or being finished off, and there were no more staff left alive.

She was the last one.

And all attention was on her.

Mei ducked under a sweeping arm, letting out a squeak before dashing for the door to the ward and bursting through. She wasted no time stopping, and was halfway down the corridor by the time the zombies were spilling out of the ward. Mei's pumps slipped and slid, and she considered taking them off, though laying eyes on a pile of organs in a pile next to the bodies of a family soon changed her mind, as did the puddles and puddles of blood.

What the hell was happening?!

Mei chanced a glance behind her to find she was being followed, and the things were managing to keep up.

She wondered just how long she could keep running. And would it be enough to outrun them?

But there was one thing Mei was certain of: she wasn't dying today!

...

She was truly, truly sorry, but sitting on the bed was against regulations.

Angie hated that look of betrayal Kuzey threw at her as he pulled himself away from his dad and sat back in the chair. He could sleep in Sadik's bed in the hospice if he wanted, but here it was out of the question.

"Oh come on," Sadik tried as she made to walk away, "the lad's not doing any harm."

"I'm sorry, Mr Adnan, but Kuzey could spread germs-"

"What are those gonna do?" Sadik raised an eyebrow, "kill me?"

"No, but if he pulled at your IV or catheter, that could hurt."

"You stay where you are," he joked, giving Kuzey and mock-glare.

As the pair lapsed back into conversation, Angie glanced over at the neighbouring bed. Tino was still here too, fussing over his husband, though she suspected Berwald was exhausted. He blinked slowly, forcing the tiniest of smiles at each question, and in all honesty, just looked like he'd rather be asleep, but he didn't say anything. He never did. Their love must've been something special for such an introverted guy to put up with that, especially someone with his condition. Or he was a poor communicator. That thought made Angie wonder if she should step in.

"Mr Oxenstjärna," she began, "would you like to rest?"

"N'need," Berwald replied, "M'fine. H' can't visit tomorrow."

Oh, of course. Berwald's operation. The operation he might never come back from, the operation that could leave Tino a widower, or give the Oxenstjärna-Väinämöinen family their father back. Everything about their situation was so uncertain, and the two needed to cling to every little moment and shred of hope they had.

"Well, if you're sure, I'll leave you be then."

Angie decided she should probably check up on another ward, and was surprised no one had paged her asking for something in a while. By how she should have heard dozens of little beeps! That could only mean Stelios and Mei were being absolutely swamped, and she hoped the workload wouldn't be too much on them. Still, rather those two than her!

Angie opened the door to the ward, and had barely set foot outside when Mei barrelled into her, pushing her back inside.

"Oh God Angie help! Quick, we have to barricade the door!"

Mei dragged the cupboard next to Sadik's bed over to the door, before ducking over to the wall next to it, gesturing for Angie to move to the other side. As she did so, the pair heard a series of low growls, and Mei pressed her finger to her lips. Angie almost couldn't believe her ears, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know what was making those noises. The two listened for those long, drawn out minutes, desperate to not make even the tiniest of noises. Angie could see Mei's chest rising and falling rapidly out of the corner of her eye, and she couldn't stop her own arms from trembling and her legs from shaking so bad she feared she'd fall. They'd hear that for sure!

Eventually, whatever it was passed, and Angie sighed in relief.

"What the hell?" she hissed, and Mei turned to her.

"They attacked everyone," she squeaked, "in the ward, and I was the only one to get out."

"Who did?"

"Patients, staff, even young Sal! They turned into monsters and tried to eat me. They ate Drahoslav and Bohumila. Right in front of me!"

"They're dead? Everyone?" Angie covered a mouth with a hand, "it can't be?" What the hell was Mei saying? "Everyone can't be dead!" If this was true, then it was a complete disaster, but what sick bastard would commit mass murder in a hospital?

"I'm afraid it might just be us left," Mei sighed, a sickly shade of green. "I didn't find anyone else when I ran, only bodies. I was so relieved when I saw you were alive though!"

"I'm glad you're okay too," Angie smiled briefly, "but what should we do?"

"I honestly don't know, but we can't stay here forever. They'll get in eventually."

"I can't expect the patients to run, from whatever's attacking everyone," Angie glanced over the handful of people in the ward, most oblivious to the commotion, though Tino and Kuzey were looking over curiously and Sadik had certainly noticed the noise and panic. "I'm not leaving them either."

"I'm not sure we have a choice."

"We do!" Angie gave a determined nod, "I don't care what happens; I'm staying."

"Excuse me," began Tino quietly, "I couldn't help overhearing something about a possible evacuation, am I right? You were talking about whether or not to leave. I want to know what's going on."

Angie sighed. Honesty was most likely the best policy here, and Tino didn't look like he'd react too… loudly. Besides, he could run and save himself. "This hospital is no longer safe."

Tino's brows furrowed together. "What do you mean? Unsafe for patients?"

"Patients, staff," Mei mumbled, "visitors. Any living, sentient being."

"In what way?" asked Tino, "is there a fire?"

"I wish," Angie sighed, "then I'd know what to do. We're just... I'm in way over my head here."

Tino didn't reply for a long moment. "Okay, what's wrong?"

"Zombies," Mei finally admitted, to them, to herself.

It appeared Angie was more prepared to buy it than Tino, who subsequently assumed they were insulting his intelligence. "I don't believe this, is this just some big joke to you? What's really going on?"

"No, seriously," Mei gestured to her blood-stained uniform, "I'm not kidding around. There are people dead and these things killed them."

Tino still didn't look convinced, and Mei sighed before dragging him to the door.

"Look," she growled, "see for yourself."

Tino peered through the window, barely catching a glimpse of something moving in the room opposite, a hulking shadow, a piercing wail, blood spattered everywhere, before he jumped back, covering his mouth with a hand.

"What the fuck," he whispered.

"Now do you believe me?"

He shrugged. "I believe something's attacking everyone, yes."

Mei scowled, but didn't reply.

"Something's attacking us?"

The trio wheeled round to find Kuzey, sitting in his chair, looking up attentively and as sharp-eared as ever. And at his comment, Berwald and Sadik looked over in confusion, panicked and unknowing.

"How much did you hear?" asked Angie. The idea was for the patients to know as little as possible, so they could remain calm whilst the doctors thought of a plan. But in all honesty, neither of them really had a plan besides staying put and trying to find weapons.

"Everything," Kuzey replied. "Zombies, huh? That seems rather far fetched. But like Mr Väinämöinen said, that fact that someone is attacking people is a concern." He glanced over at his father. "Will we need to evacuate?"

"I don't think we can," Mei sighed, "the place is overrun and I don't think we could escape unless we ran for the exit."

"Or wheeled beds?" Kuzey suggested hopefully.

"The four of us couldn't get everyone out." Angie confessed, "even if we had enough people to push them, we'd never be able to outrun our attackers. Everyone would die."

"So what are you going to do?" asked Sadik, quieter than normal. He reached out a hand for his son, who took it in his own, tiny, freezing hands, taking in the warmth of his father, fearing the worst.

"I'm staying," Angie told him, "I'll try to protect you for as long as I can, but I'm not sure I could keep it up forever."

"Help would have to come pretty quickly," Tino commented, settling back down next to his husband. He stroked Berwald's forehead, the man barely awake through the conversation, though he understood his beloved Tino was in danger, and that thought alone prevented him from slipping under completely.

"What about Kuzey?" asked Sadik slowly.

"I'll stay here with you!" the boy cried, "I can protect you!"

"I'll hear of no such thing!" The was probably the loudest the old man had been in months, and even Berwald glanced over in surprise.

"You need to be safe," he added, quieter. "Get out of here." He looked over in the direction of Mei and Angie; "you two can't stay either."

Angie frowned. "But we need to prot-"

"Protect me from death? You're wasting your time," he tilted his head backwards, "Dr Angel, I'm going to guess you're a young lady, mid twenties?"

"Indeed," Angie raised an eyebrow.

"You too, Dr Chen?"

"Yes," Mei sighed.

"That's a whole lotta life you'll miss out on if you die," Sadik commented, "same with you, son. You're a child! And you're my child too and I won't let you die."

"But I don't want to leave you," Kuzey's face crumpled, and the tears he was saving for the days after his father's death began sneaking through. Sadik tried to tune him out.

"Doctors, take Kuzey and run, please. Get out of here and get him out of here!"

"Mei can take him; I'll stay here and take care of you."

Sadik reached out his other hand to Angie, "you've taken care of me enough whilst I've been here; you're a kind, loving lady and you have your whole life ahead of you. Think of all the things you haven't done! I only had weeks to live anyway."

"But what about the others?" Angie tried, glancing around at the other patients, most too sick to stay awake, all unaware of the impending danger, "who would be left to save them?"

"I'll stay."

Everyone turned to an ashen-faced Tino, glaring at the floor as he tried to ignore his husband's look of horror. He seemed scared, and wasn't trying to hide it, but there was a steely determination there too. There was no way he was going to stand back and let Berwald- or anyone else in the room- get torn apart.

"No," Berwald rasped, "y'have to go."

"I can't leave you," Tino replied firmly, "I won't leave you."

"Please."

"Doctors, I think I can fend anything sinister off for a while," Tino refused to look as his husband as he spoke, "it won't be forever though. Help would have to come pretty quick, but you don't have to worry about that."

"But what if help doesn't come?" Kuzey piped up.

"It will," Sadik insisted, "someone will have contacted the police by now. Or even the army."

"Is the army necessary?" asked Berwald, barely heard by the others.

"I'd say it was," Mei replied, "so many people are dead because of those things! Not sure even the police could stand up to them."

"Go, Tino go get out of here," Berwald tried to lift his head up, but the strength to do such a thing had long left him.

"No," the man replied simply, a childish edge to his voice.

"Mei, Kuzey, we have to go," Angie hissed, "we have to see if anyone else is left and get out of this place."

"There are people left here," Kuzey sobbed, for once not caring that he was crying in front of others. They couldn't take him away from his Baba!

"And I'll look after them," Tino promised, "your Baba won't die whilst I'm here."

"And what if you die?" questioned Kuzey, "what will happen then?"

"Then things will have become so dire you'll have no choice but to focus on yourself and your own survival."

Kuzey didn't look all too pleased at that answer, and when Angie took his hand and pulled him up, the protests started up again.

"No, I won't go! You can't force me!" He tried to yank away, but the doctor was stronger than she looked, and, honestly, she looked like she was about to collapse, though from fear or exhaustion he couldn't tell. Kuzey himself was pretty terrified, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't want to stay in this room partly because he feared what was waiting for them outside.

"Kuzey Selim Adnan," growled Sadik, "do what I tell you for once and get out of here."

"No! I don't want to."

"Come on, I'm not afraid of zombies! Besides, you have to ask Dr Angelopoulos if he's wet himself yet."

Kuzey's face crumpled, "Baba how can you joke at a time like this?"

"What else can I do?"

"Kuzey we have to go," Angie lead him over to the door, and the boy could do nothing but look back at his ailing father and let the tears stream down his face. Sadik had settled back down, looking forlornly in his direction, and never before had he looked so small and fragile. He was going to die and Kuzey just couldn't let that happen.

"Baba," he whispered, not really expecting the man to hear.

"Be good for Dr Angel and Dr Chen," Sadik called back softly, "try to stay out of trouble."

"You too."

Mei had moved the cupboard out of the way by now, and was peeking through the window, checking the coast was clear before nodding to Angie.

"It's time," she whispered, before opening the door and glancing around. Still clear.

"On my signal," she told them in the quietest voice possible, "we run and don't stop, okay?"

"Okay," the others replied.

"Then let's go."

Tino didn't watch them leave.

He sat there with his head in his hands, quivering and trying to keep his lunch down. He couldn't do it. He would not be able to protect Berwald and the other patients. Not for long, at least.

Why the hell had he promised to stay? Oh, but of course, loyalty to his husband! And not to mention he couldn't stand by and let the others die from stubbornness, like himself.

Tino didn't really regret staying. If he was going to die, to die trying to save Berwald didn't sound like a bad way to go. Dying with a guarantee that his husband wouldn't be torn apart five seconds later would've been even better though.

But how could he just run off on Berwald like that? Tino wouldn't hear of it!

At least their children would be safe. That was something.

It was a tragedy that things would have to come to this at all.

"T'no," Berwald tried, "speak t'me."

"Your operation was tomorrow," the man whispered, "you were going to start getting better and you'd be able to come home."

Berwald gave a sigh. "I know."

"We were so close," Tino's eyes were shining now, "we were going to be a family again."

"We 'lways were," Berwald reminded him, "me being in h'spital wasn't going to change that."

"I know, I know," Tino buried his head in his hands. All the dreams, the longings to have his partner by his side again, with no visiting times and regulations and no fucking leukaemia! "I just… for months now, I've just wanted to take you home where you belong and for this... fucking cancer to be gone! Is that too much to ask? Really?"

He looked up, barely able to see Berwald through the watery veil of tears.

"What did we do wrong? Tell me, what did you or I do to deserve this?"

Berwald didn't reply.

"Tell me!"

The man didn't speak for a moment, taking a long, rattling breath. "Nothing," he finally muttered. "We did nothing. That's just how things are sometimes."

"It's not fair."

"Y'think?"

"Hey, I don't mean to interrupt…"

The pair glanced over at Sadik, lying back and staring at the ceiling, but as Tino opened his mouth to reply, they heard what he'd heard.

A thump resounded through the room, and Tino's blood ran cold. Oh shit, he should've put the cupboard back. Another thump, and he got up slowly, grabbing the legs of his chair

"I guess it's time," he muttered, "bring it on you zombie cunts."

...

Sorry Slovakia and Czech, this wasn't how I was planning on introducing them but at least I have some grasp on the characters that I can build on in the future.

Funnily enough, Taiwan was probably the Hetalia girl I personally found least interesting, but writing this gave me a whole new love for her.