The place looked even worse from up close.
They had just crossed the wide street and were approaching the gas station.
"Do you think those gas pumps even work?" England asked as they got closer.
"Who cares? The cars are completely destroyed anyway." Prussia responded.
Japan was walking next to them, "We can only hope the phone is in better condition."
"If there even is one." Russia mumbled under his breath from behind.
England jumped at the sound of his voice, "GAH!"
They stopped and Russia cocked his head, "What's wrong England?"
"N-Nothing..." England stammered.
The two caught up with the rest of the group. The building was now looming over them. The windows were boarded up and the door -or what was left of it- was swinging on its hinges in the wind.
"Ah! What is that tres terrible stench?" France exclaimed.
"It's smells worse than England's cooking..."
England's head spun, "Who said that?!" he said angrily.
Germany was tired of this, "Cease your bickering! Japan, ready your sword and watch my back. England, you stay out here and watch for hostile forces."
Japan did as Germany said and England stationed himself outside the door. Germany cautiously walked in, gun at the ready, followed by a small procession of nations.
It was dark. Light was barely filtering in through the windows. The place looked completely trashed, giving it an ominous look. Old papers littered the floor. The shelves were broken down with the moldy remains of packaged food on them. A really old coke machine stood in the corner. The paint was faded and it had a large dent in it like someone had hit it really hard. There was an old cash register behind a counter that looked like it hadn't been touched in decades.
Prussia peered over the counter, "Hey guys, I think I found the source of that smell."
Everyone followed his gaze, and saw the gruesome remains of what was probably a dog. The skeleton had rotted meat chunks on it, and the skull, or what the think was the skull, was shattered. It had flies buzzing around it and maggots all over it. It had an old collar around it's neck, with a rusted name-tag on it that had the name Bruiser on it.
France looked sick, "Mon Dieu!"
Russia just stared at it, with the usual 'innocent' smile on his face and said, "There is a basement under the corpse."
Germany took note of that and quickly looked away. He saw an old landline phone on the adjacent wall.
He was about to pick it up and dial when Japan stopped him, "This building has no power, Germany-san. We can't even attempt at using the phone until it does."
Germany looked back down at the phone he was holding a little sheepishly, "Oh right, sorry." He turned to face the others, who had now gotten over the initial shock of the dog corpse, "Prussia, go around to the back of the building with Japan. See if you can find a breaker box and get power to this place."
Japan made a small bow, "Hai, Germany-san."
Prussia just grinned, "Alright West!"
The two went out the back out the front door, passing England who didn't notice them. He was staring intently at a dust devil out in the distance for some reason.
Prussia leaned toward Japan and whispered, "Just leave him be, you know how weird he gets."
Japan nodded in the affirmative as they turned the corner, presumably to the breaker box.
Germany, Russia & France POV:
France watched them leave, "Well, now what?"
Germany glanced over at Russia, who seemed to be investigating the big dent in the soda machine.
Germany looked back and said, "Now we will investigate here. We still have to find America and Canada, and the storage room down in that basement might yield some information."
France nodded, "Oui, but I am not touching zat thing on top of it."
Germany sighed.
Prussia and Japan POV:
Prussia recoiled, "Disgusting! Who used this toilet, an American trucker?!"
Japan looked at him, "I do not believe this pertains to our task..."
"Oh, we'll find the breaker box, don't you worry." Prussia said as he quickly shut the door to the bathroom.
Japan sighed, "I'm still not sure how to get it working again. I don't have much experience with such things."
Prussia just laughed, "Kesekesekese! I'll fix it with my awesome of course!"
They continued, scanning the walls for the little grey box that just might save them. They hadn't realized how wide the building was.
"Ah! I found it!" Japan suddenly exclaimed.
Prussia practically jumped for joy, "Great, now lets fix it and get out of this dried up hell hole!"
They opened up what they thought was the answer to their prayers, only to be extremely disappointed.
Prussia thought for a moment, "Hmmm...Do you think bird nests can conduct electricity?"
Japan stared at him, "You aren't really considering such a thing are you, Prussia-san?"
"Well..."
Japan stopped him, "Never mind. I do not wish to know."
Germany and France POV:
"Uhg, it is all over my hands!" France lamented as they descended the small set of stairs, leading to a small room with cinderblock walls and old boxes.
Germany sighed yet again, "Just go search that side, you can wash it off later."
France went in the direction suggested, mumbling about bacteria and such. Germany turned his back on the frenchman and surveyed his side of the room. The boxes were stacked haphazardly dust and cobwebs all over the place. He began to move boxes around, dusting them off and opening them, finding nothing of note, until something caught his eye.
It was another one of those marbles, this one blue in color. Germany pocketed it, careful not to jolt it too much after seeing what they could do. He would give it to England later.
Meanwhile, France was also searching. But he was not nearly as efficient. He was still upset over the state of his hands. They were sticky and the dust from the boxes was clinging to them. He was about to say as much when something stopped him.
It was a big pile of chains, in a corner. Not the normal kind though. These, upon closer inspection had symbols on them, giving off a feint glow they were made of a metal that France had never seen before. He noticed that they had flecks of blood on them. A nation's blood.
"Germany..."
Germany looked up from a box he was searching, "Yes? Did you find something?"
France nodded, "Yes, come take a look."
Germany walked over and studied the chains, "We must notify the others."
France couldn't agree more.
I think I'm getting better at this. It's becoming easier to write.:D
Hope your liking it so far, thank you so much for the support!
Until next time! ^J^