I don't own Hetalia.
Russia screeched once and toppled over, falling backwards with a horrible thump onto the cold concrete floor. Rolling around in agony, he screamed and screamed, loud cries echoing off the cinderblock walls. His breaths became shuddering and frantic, as if he was suffering the pain of millions of people at once.
The Baltics huddled underneath the entrance to the fallout shelter, eyes wide with horror. For an agonizing moment, Lithuania couldn't breathe. He just stood, shivering with fear, and stared fixedly off into the darkness.
Images raced through his mind of a demolished world - a nuclear wasteland like Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where even the land was burnt and charred. That's not what just happened, was it? He stifled a sob. It couldn't be.
A hand softly touched his arm, and Lithuania jumped, startled. "L-latvia?"
Latvia looked up at Lithuania. His eyes were wet with tears, and he was trembling involuntarily. "Lithuania, are we...are we going to be okay?"
Caught off guard by Latvia's blunt question, Lithuania stumbled over his words. "Ah, I...I think so. I mean, we're all safe now, r-right?"
He glanced around at the other Baltics. Latvia was ghostly pale, and Estonia was shuffling his feet nervously and fidgeting with his glasses. Lithuania knew that he himself looked just as shaken as the others.
Latvia furrowed his brow. "I-I guess," he replied, and looked down at the floor.
Russia's screams became piercing and pleading, and Lithuania winced, trying not to listen to the horrible sound.
"L-lithuania?" Latvia mumbled softly after a while.
"Yes?"
"It's too dark and loud, and...and I'm h-hungry." The Latvian began to sob, pressing his head into Lithuania's shirt.
Lithuania felt like crying himself, but instead he put his arm around the Latvian. "Well, why don't we t-turn on a light and take a look around this p-place?" He had meant to say this light-heartedly, but it came out more shaky than he'd intended.
"O-okay." Latvia wiped his eyes, then took a breath. "Hey, m-maybe Estonia can come with us to help!" He looked over at Estonia, who was staring off in the direction of Russia's screams.
"That's a good idea," said Lithuania.
Latvia reached over and tapped Estonia on the shoulder. "Estonia, d-do you want to look around the b-bomb shelter with us?"
No response. The Estonian was immobile, looking down at the floor.
"E-estonia?" Latvia asked again tentatively. "Estonia, are you o-okay?"
Estonia stared down at the floor, trying to stop his clammy hands from trembling. It's okay, it's okay, it's okay, he thought to himself, but his repeated mantra didn't reassure him at all.
A nuclear bomb had just exploded! A bomb! That meant death, destruction, sickness...and Estonia didn't dare think about the possibility of radioactive fallout. His hands balled into shaky fists. No matter what has happened, the world will never be the same again.
Estonia felt an inner urge to just open his mouth and scream! He took a deep breath, and-
"AAAAAAHHH!" A pained voice bellowed from the center of the room, and Estonia jumped. Squinting in the darkness, he could just make out the crumpled figure of Russia with his mouth open, screeching and wailing.
A shiver went down Estonia's spine. Russia must be hurt beyond belief! It must be torture to have one's land and people almost completely destroyed. He shifted his feet and stared at the ground again, trying to drown out the nation's agonized wails.
The Estonian was beginning to feel very freaked out by this whole situation. He just wanted to be back upstairs in Russia's kitchen cooking borscht, or at least lying down in a quiet place with his hands over his ears. But no, he was in a freezing fallout shelter with the scariest person in the world lying on the floor screaming. What could be worse than that?
"E-estonia? Estonia, are you o-okay?" A tentative voice shattered him out of his thoughts. He sighed and looked down at Latvia, who was peering up at him worriedly.
"What?" he said, maybe a little ruder than he'd meant to. He didn't want to talk to anyone right now, not until he'd had some more time to process what was going on.
Latvia let out a breath in noticeable relief, completely disregarding Estonia's rudeness. "S-sorry, Estonia, but you didn't respond the first time I a-asked you, and I thought-"
Estonia sighed. "No, I'm fine, just...worried. What did you want to ask me?"
"W-well, Lithuania and I are going to l-look for food, and I was wondering if y-you wanted to come with us?"
Estonia rubbed his cold arms and shrugged; it was becoming clear that he wouldn't have any time to himself in this place. "Sure," he told the Latvian. At least that will distract me from Russia. He adjusted his glasses slightly and squinted in the dark. "We might want to turn on a light, though…"
His gaze fell on Latvia's face, which was drawn with worry and fear. He needs something to do, something that will give him something else to think about. "Hey, Latvia?" Estonia said.
Latvia shivered. "W-what?"
"M-maybe you could look for some flashlights or something, get some light in h-here?" Estonia smiled reassuringly at the young teen.
Latvia immediately perked up, although he still trembled a bit. "O-okay, I'll do that! You and L-lithuania can s-start looking around the shelter!"
"Alright. See you soon." Latvia ran off, and Estonia drew a deep, shuddering breath. Latvia was gone, and no matter how scared Estonia was, it was time to face the bomb shelter.
Estonia walked towards Lithuania, who was staring fixedly at the center of the room. "H-hey, Lithuania," said Estonia. "Latvia's getting some f-flashlights, so why don't w-we explore the room?"
The Lithuanian looked up from where he was standing. His face was pale and his legs were trembling, and he looked stricken. "W-what?" he asked, stuttering slightly.
"Ah, is there something wrong?" Estonia asked, immediately worried. There was definitely something off about the oldest Baltic.
Lithuania tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. "N-no, nothing…but Russia's screams sure are loud, a-aren't they?"
A shiver went down Estonia's spine. "Y-yeah, they are. Why do you ask?"
Lithuania shuddered. "You don't happen to hear him screaming any...w-words, do you?"
"W-words? No…" But upon listening closer, Estonia could make out the sound of words, distorted as they were by Russia's wails.
"You hear them, right? I c-can't tell what he's saying, but I thought you could, m-maybe..." Lithuania shuffled his feet nervously.
"Huh, I'll try," said Estonia. Tilting his ear towards where Russia lay in the center of the dark room, he strained to hear individual words among the screams. At first, he could only make out a few sounds. "Po…" "mne, Lit…"
"I-It's in Russian," he grumbled in frustration. "If it were in Estonian, I'd be able to understand it better." After another moment of listening, Estonia found that Russia was repeating the same phrase over and over. "Pomo…gite mne…L-"
Both Baltics realized it at the same time. Lithuania stiffened and yelped softly, and Estonia felt a sudden burst of dread. "P-pomogite mne, Litva - h-help me, Lithuania…" Lithuania murmured, his shaky voice almost inaudible. "He...h-he wants me to h-help him."
"Wh-why would he want you to do th-that?" Estonia asked nervously.
Lithuania wrung his hands. "I-I don't know! He always...preferred me, for some reason. But it's not like I want to help h-him!"
"LITVAAAAAAAA!" Russia howled again, surprising Estonia, who stepped back in surprise at the sheer volume of the yell.
Lithuania shuddered. "But I h-have to do it," he muttered, as if convincing himself. "I can't just...refuse to obey Russia. Who knows wh-what he'll do to us if I don't?"
Estonia felt horrible. He was in way over his head with this; he usually just tried to stay as far away from Russia as he could. "L-lithuania, I-I don't think you-"
Latvia scurried up to the two nations with an armful of flashlights. "I-I found some flashlights!" he said. "B-but I couldn't get much else b-because I didn't want to look a-alone." He paused, looking up at the older two Baltics. "Lithuania, I-I'm hungry. Can we p-please-"
"LITVAAAAAAAA!" Russia screeched again and kicked the floor a few times. All three Baltics jumped and immediately shook in fear.
Latvia began to wail. "I'm scaaaared!" he cried, running over to Lithuania for reassurance. But Lithuania stood still and didn't comfort the youngest Baltic.
"I...I have to h-help him, right?" he murmured. "He n-needs help. I can't just l-leave him there on the f-floor."
Latvia furrowed his brow, confused. "Who needs h-help?" he asked through his tears.
"R-Russia does," explained Estonia, voice quavering.
"But why-"
"I-I don't know! I have no idea what's going on," Estonia snapped, pushing his glasses further up on his nose.
Lithuania turned to face Estonia and put a trembling hand on his shoulder. "I-I know what's going on," he said softly. "Latvia, can I have a f-flashlight?"
Latvia shivered. "S-sure." He passed a flashlight to Lithuania, who turned it on, lighting up the gray fallout shelter and the Baltics' pale faces.
"I can't l-leave him there to s-suffer," Lithuania said, voice quaking. "And...e-even though he's hurt, he's s-still more powerful than any of u-us. I-I must go."
"D-don't go!" Latvia sobbed, reaching out towards Lithuania. "Don't l-leave us!"
Lithuania looked heartbroken. "Latvia, I p-promise-" his voice caught. "I p-promise I'll be b-back soon." He took a few steps into the black depths of the room, his flashlight shining a bright circle on the concrete floor. "I'm only going to the c-center of the room, you k-know."
"W-wait, Lithuania," called Estonia. "Just...be c-careful. Russia can be v-very unpredictable."
"I know. Believe me, I k-know."
Estonia and Latvia watched Lithuania's retreating figure. "Y-you know he's stupid to do this, right?" Estonia said to Latvia.
Latvia nodded silently, tears rolling down his face.
"Well, we might as well find something to eat," Estonia said, taking a flashlight from the pile and turning it on. "Who knows if Russia even has food in here." The two Baltics walked towards the wooden shelves that lined the walls of the shelter.
And Lithuania gasped as his flashlight shone on the Russian lying in the center of the room.
Translations:
Pomogite mne, Litva: Help me, Lithuania (Russian)
I have to say, thank you so much for all the reviews, follows, and favorites! They really mean a lot to me. :)
These chapters take a long time to write, so I'm probably going to update at least every other week. But hopefully it'll be faster than that…