A note from ME!Yayies, next chappie! I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter.
Thank you for the reviews! There's a couple of things I picked out which I wanted to explain briefly. First of all, the Zombies. I did have an explanation o them, but I wasn't sure whether or not I'd put it in. I think I probably will now, but later on.
Second, the details to everyone meeting, primarily Alfred, Matthew and Ivan. That's actually going to be revealed later on, and I'm hoping it will answer some questions through the story…
There's more character development in this chapter – you find out more about the others goals, and Arthur and Francis. Arthur and Francis go waaaay back. XD
Chapter 2 – They argue
Arthur, it turned out, was exceedingly – disturbingly – talented at cracking locks, and so that night the group of eight moved from the house they had been using to a house stocked with food, and a fridge that still worked, running on a generator. The other man – Francis – searched the other rooms, and soon came back with a key, which he used to lock the door again. Arthur dropped his satchel on the floor, laid his sword next to it, and moved to slump on the sofa. He spent the next half hour talking to the other survivors as Francis fed and washed a shell-shocked Feliciano. After he heard their story and situation, Arthur looked at Ludwig.
"And you're the leader?" He asked. Ludwig choked on the cold beer he was happily downing, before putting it on the coffee table, clearing his throat.
"I'm not sure you would call me the leader type…" He muttered, embarrassed. "Besides, we don't have one." Arthur frowned.
"I disagree. You were the first to act when you saw your friends in danger, and the last to come into the house. The moment you were in, you checked every window and door, made sure the house was safe to stay in and arranged jobs for everyone to secure your position here." Ludwig felt his ears' burning as the list was read off. "From what I've seen, you're confident, smart, and strong, you look out for others, and every one of your group looks up to you." Arthur crossed one leg over the other, leaning back in the sofa. "Besides, a group of this sort without a leader falls into anarchy, no matter how big. You find conflicting interests, and with no higher word to decide what you'll do, the group will split to satisfy these interests."
"Mr Arthur's right, Ludwig." A quiet voice called from the door, and everyone looked around. "You're a great leader." Ludwig sighed in relief as he saw Feliciano, Francis standing behind him. He still looked slightly shaken, but sported a small reassuring smile as everyone else ran to him, making sure he was alright. Kiku apologised for walking ahead and not thinking to stay by his side, at which Feli shook his head, reassuring Kiku that it was his own fault, and he should have kept a tighter hold of the art supplies. Ludwig frowned. So now he knew what the crash was… but he had heard the crash literally seconds before he got to the window. So, how did the zombies suddenly flood him?
"They're getting faster…" He realised, his eyes widening. Arthur scowled.
"I bloody well hope not…" He muttered. "But I suppose it's to be expected. They are getting used to being 'alive', so to speak… they're not too different from toddlers. Giant, strong, terrifying toddlers…"
"Um… Mr Arthur?" Feliciano called, extracting himself from his friends. "I've already said this to Francis, but thank you for saving me." Arthur's scowl darkened as he stood up.
"You put yourself and your friends in danger." He said. "The weak won't survive long here. You need to toughen up; next time you're in such a pitiful situation, it won't be my problem." The room grew silent as Arthur left to explore. The original group had grown fond of Feliciano – If Ludwig was the leader, then Feli was the mascot, always there with a bright smile on his face, pattering round and cooking, or dragging the others into a game to relieve the stress of living in a world plagued by zombies. Behind them, Francis brought his hand to his face, shaking his head, before giving the group an apologetic smile and following his friend.
"You really know how to make friends, Arthur." He sighed when he caught up with him. Arthur shrugged, looking into a cupboard.
"I don't need friends. I just need to survive." He said, closing the cupboard door with a frown, before moving into a room to examine the contents. Francis followed, smirking.
"'I don't need friend's', Hmm?" He quoted. "Where have I heard that one before…" Arthur rolled his eyes, knowing a lecture on the importance of 'L'amour' was coming. "Oh, that's right. There was the time you said that to me when you went to Primary School. And Secondary. And College. And when you moved to America. And who's still here with you?" Francis asked, his smirk growing. Arthur growled.
"You don't count." He said. "You just follow me around everywhere." Francis smiled fondly at the Briton, and ruffled his already messy hair.
"So you say, mon petit Lapin, so you say." He wrapped an arm around Arthur's shoulders as the blonde was inspecting a snow globe, tugging him into his chest, before placing a kiss on his for head. Arthur blushed, and tugged away, looking anywhere but Francis.
"D- Don't call me a rabbit." He muttered, replacing the snow globe. Francis smiled as he stalked away.
"Ah, Arthur…" He muttered. "Whatever happened to that innocent child who tried so hard to impress?"
Ludwig sat on the wide windowsill, a gun resting in his lap, and watched the streets, his eyes focused on the undead, their limping forms lit up in eerie white detail by the moon above. He glanced up as Francis sat down next to him, cradling a glass of wine, and offering the German a bottle of beer, which he took gratefully. Francis sipped at the wine.
"She is beautiful, non?" He asked, staring at the moon. Surprised, Ludwig looked up as well.
"I… I suppose so." He said, taking a swig of beer. "It's always just been a rock to me, though." Francis chuckled as Ludwig glanced around at the faces of their sleeping companions.
"I suppose you two will be travelling with us now…" He said, frowning. Getting eight people through the country was hard enough… two more just made it that little bit harder. Francis smiled gently.
"I suppose so. I'm glad." He said. Ludwig glanced at him from the corner of his eye.
"Really? Doesn't it make it more dangerous for you?" He asked. Francis nodded.
"Oui, but I'm not bothered by that. I'm just glad to know Arthur will be with people other then just me." He laughed. "Although I can get a little bit possessive of mon Cheri, so hopefully he doesn't get too close to anyone…" Ludwig ran his eye over the English blonde, who was curled up in a tight ball on one end of the sofa.
"Huh… he doesn't look so much like a bastard when he's asleep, does he?" Francis nodded, and took another refined sip of wine. Ludwig turned back to him.
"Have you known each other for long?" He asked. Francis smiled.
"We've been friends since he was five." He replied. "He never did make many friends, not even when he was younger… his brothers were horrible to him, so he ran to me. He used to be so lonely though, at school…" He looked back up at Ludwig. "I'm three years older then him, you see." Ludwig nodded in understanding, but both paused as Arthur murmured in his sleep, moving his head deeper into the sofa cushion. Francis's smile faded, but the fond twinkle in his eye never let.
"A few years ago, he decided to move here from England. He wanted to escape his family, and so came to University in America. A couple of months later, I got an apprenticeship here and flew out." He laughed. "The look on his face was priceless…" Ludwig's gaze fixed itself on the Frenchman as he steeled himself to ask the question that had been bugging him since they met the two blondes.
"Do you love him?" Francis met his gaze, before smiling.
"Oui. But Arthur is a man who likes to argue – as long as I am the only one he's arguing with, I'm happy." Ludwig didn't push the subject, and looked out of the window again, readjusting his gun on his lap. Francis soon followed suit.
In the darkness, neither noticed the bright, almost glowing shade of red Arthur's face was, as he fought to quell the inconceivable, inexplicable joy at those simple words.
Preparing to leave the next day was a stiff, uneasy affair. None of the original group had taken to Arthur, who wouldn't even change in the same room as them. Francis, on the other hand, was a different story. He was charming and funny, and apologised deeply for Arthur's words the day before. The only one, it seemed, that wasn't affected, was Feliciano, who was pottering around the kitchen as everyone woke up, and even asked the Englishman what he wanted for breakfast, a large smile gracing his features. Of course, Arthur seemed to fail to realise the death glares Gilbert was sending him, or the murderous aura surrounding the smiling Ivan. Either that or he didn't care. He sat at the table in the kitchen as he waited for everyone to finish getting ready, his large satchel sitting next to his chair as he took a sip of Earl Grey and watched Feli prepare everyone's breakfast, a frown bringing together thick eyebrows.
Everyone's annoyance at Arthur, however, was put on hold temporarily as their attention was drawn to a more pressing matter.
"Alfred! Ivan!" Ludwig snapped standing up and slamming his hands on the table during breakfast. His eyes were blazing with an as yet unseen anger as he observed the two in question in fury. The two men turned from each other as Ludwig started to speak, his voice low and dangerous.
"We do not bring each others family into this." He growled. Alfred flinched. "It is stupid, and immature. Do you two think this is some way of getting at each other? Do you realize how many people have died because of this damn… whatever it is?" Ivan's gaze dropped slightly. "Right now, we have to look out for each other. All of us." Everyone noticed the blonde's eyes flicker to Arthur, but said nothing. "Do you both understand?" Ivan and Alfred nodded, and mumbled their apologies to each other. Ludwig sighed as he sat down. If it wasn't bad enough with Arthur, now Alfred had to bring up Ivan's missing sisters? Of course a brother would try to protect his siblings, but with no way of contacting them, and no knowledge where they might be, did it never occur to the American that bringing them up was just rubbing unnecessary salt into the wound?
And didn't Ivan realise bringing up Alfred's own, undead parents affected, not just the loudmouthed self proclaimed hero, but Matthew too? Ludwig glanced at said boy from the corner of his eyes. He was talking to an animated Gilbert, trying his best to fix a natural smile on his face. He wasn't succeeding. Ludwig sighed.
"God help us if this keeps up…" He mumbled under his breath, and started to eat breakfast.
A note from ME! Yes, Arthur is a jerk. A very big jerk. He'll get better! Maybe… XD But yeah… Alfred and Ivan have issues.