Paranoia. It's a biotch!

Warning: Angst, tension, threats, controversial topic.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HETALIA. I have fun manipulating their characters, though

Waking to a Nightmare

Matthew jumped and nearly screamed when he heard a sharp knocking on the door. That couldn't possibly be them, could it? They had only been gone for about ten minutes…

Before he knew it, Gilbert was at the door, gun out and aimed. Arthur, Ludwig, and Kiku came in shortly after, all pointing their weapons at the door.

There was another fast rapping and a voice said, "Let us in."

"Ivan?" Arthur asked cautiously.

"Da," Ivan answered and the Briton opened the door.

"What the hell happened?" Gilbert asked, slipping his gun back into its holster at his side. "That was an awfully short trip for exploring the whole town."

"We found something that made us turn back." Alfred said as they all filed in.

"Then what the fuck was it?" Lovino asked, more frightened than demanding, coming over to stand with them all, Feliciano by his side.

"These," Wynston said, holding up a pair of orange jumpers. He dropped them on the floor and everyone stared at them, too shocked to say anything. "They're from Montana State. We found some more murdered people in some of the homes we looked into. The prisoners have been everythin' but passive."

"Mein Gott," Ludwig muttered.

"We can't stay here," Lovino said. "Those bastards will come for us and then we'll be the ones rotting in the basement."

Feliciano started to cry. "Why did you lie to me? That wasn't just an animal down there!"

"Be quiet, Lovino." Gilbert said. "You're making it worse."

Surprisingly, Lovino obeyed.

"But he is right," Francis said. "We have to move. This place is too dangerous…"

"Oh, and what?" Arthur flashed back. "Eke out a living in the woods like we've been doing for the past week and a half? We're all half dead, not to mention one of us might just be dead if we try to move him."

"Yeah," Alfred agreed, thought he was hesitant. "Mattie can't walk and Gilbert is still recovering from whatever happened yesterday… it would be too risky."

"You mean we are just going to fucking stay here and let them get us?" Lovino asked, his voice high with fear. "Do you even know where they fucking went?"

"Lovino," Gilbert warned.

"They may be out there waiting for us." Ivan said. "But we must stay here if ever we are to recover. We have only found two jumpsuits so far. We outnumber them six to one."

"What are we going to do, then?" Feliciano asked, his voice small and quivering. "We can't let them get Sadiq, we can't!"

"And we won't, Feli." Ludwig said.

"We need weapons," Alfred said. "And more ammo… Kiku," He turned to the man expectantly. "Did you spot any guns while you were exploring the house?"

Kiku shook his head. "No, Alfred-san."

Alfred frowned. "Well… is there an attic?"

"Hai, I think there is, but I have not checked there." He had been too afraid to explore other parts of the house after discovering the basement.

"Right," Alfred said, straightening. "Okay, guys, this is what we're gonna do. We'll split up, half of us searching the house for weapons and the other half fortifying the windows and doors. We'll stockpile whatever we find on the kitchen table and go through them to check if they're usable or not. There has to be some sort of gun here. These people live out in the middle of the woods in Wyoming. No one in their right mind would ever think of not owning one out here."

Alfred, Arthur, Kiku, Yao, and Lovino set off to scouring the house for weapons, while the rest (Ivan, Ludwig, Gilbert, and Wynston) ripped up floorboards and gathered wooden debris from around to the house to board up the windows and doors.

"There has to be something," Alfred said as he rifled through another old bin. They were all spread around the cramped and stifling attic, balancing on the beams and hunching over the insulation.

"Maybe the damn criminals got them all." Lovino said with frustration, tearing through yet another gun-empty bin.

"They're criminals," Alfred said. "They couldn't have gotten everything."

Arthur sighed as he moved on to another bin. "We may have guns, but that also means our enemies have just as many if not more." He shook his head. "Why didn't you listen to me, Alfred? This wouldn't have been so dangerous if you had gotten rid of that damned second amendment…"

Alfred stopped what he was doing and sat still. Everyone could sense the tension building and ceased their searching to watch. The American looked at Arthur with hard blue eyes.

Alfred slipped out his handgun and showed it to Arthur, as if explaining it to someone who had never seen anything like it before. It made Arthur bristle. "You see this, Artie?" he asked. "This is my gun, and I've always had it with me, wherever I've gone. You know why?"

"Because you are an asshole and people might shoot you?" Yao inquired.

"No—well, all right, maybe," Alfred huffed. "But I also have this gun because I can defend myself. Just in case anyone decides they want to take my freedoms away, I have this. After my revolution, I took precautions. Sure, I may seem 'gun-happy' to you, but no one really knows what that means except for Americans. I'll tell you: if my government goes down the shitter, which it most certainly has, what am I gonna do to try and bring it down? To try and make sure it can't control me? Well, hell, that would be kinda hard to do with a knife, seeing as I would be standing against the whole military arsenal. You see, Artie, this gun isn't just for defense, it's for upholding my rights, and if anyone tries to take those away from me, I know that I'll be able to face them with a weapon just as deadly as theirs. And that, Igs, is why we have guns here."

Arthur blinked, not knowing what to say. Feeling defeated, he returned to searching, his eyes downcast. Beside him, Alfred was still fuming, now moving aside the items in the bins more roughly than before.

"Alfred-san!" Kiku called from a far corner of the attic. He held up a long, shadowed object. "I found one."

Alfred stood, his anger long forgotten as he walked over and took the gun into his hands. "Whoa," he said. "This is a shotgun… in mint condition, too. I don't think it's ever been used…"

"Is there ammo in there?" Arthur asked.

"Hai," He scooped a couple of small boxes out of the bin, showing them to Alfred.

"Great! Some shots and slugs… how many more are in there?"

"About half of the bin, Alfred-san."

"Holy fuck," Alfred muttered, a smile on his face. "This is great!"

"They have hollow points as well." Lovino said, looking into the bin. "Damn, that's some heavy shit…"

"No, it's awesome." Alfred said. "450 million rounds of these were stockpiled by the government. Shoulda guessed why when I compared it to my 300 million citizens. They're gonna use those to kill us off, but now we can pay them back in full."

Ludwig ripped up another floorboard, the wood creaking and snapping in protest as he yanked it from the floor. His muscles strained, aching from being on the run, and sweat rolled down his face and chest.

He gave a triumphant grunt as the board gave up and allowed itself to be wrenched from the floor. Ludwig took a moment to catch his breath before throwing it over his shoulder and walking to where Ivan was gently hammering a nail into one of the boards on the door. Ludwig thanked God again that they found a hammer and some suitable nails stowed away in the family's garage.

Ivan looked at him as he approached, pausing in his work. "There is a small window in this door… I was thinking of punching out the glass and using it as a sort of gun slot."

"Ja," Ludwig said, setting down the board. "That sounds good."

Ivan nodded, and set down his hammer. He drew back his coat and took out his pickaxe, jabbing it through the glass. It shattered with a scream, shards spilling to the floor. Ludwig watched as Ivan hid the pickaxe in his voluminous coat, never feeling more glad that he wasn't on the Russian's bad side… or at least he thought he wasn't.

Ivan had picked up the hammer again and placed a few nails between his teeth, getting back to work with a knowing smile on his face.

He just loved how frightened people looked because of him.

Gilbert came huffing in, dropping a few boards at Ivan's feet. Ludwig gave him an incredulous look.

"East, I thought I told you to take care of Sadiq."

Gilbert groaned. "But that is so unawesome! Why waste my time with someone who won't even acknowledge my awesomeness? It's so boring!"

"Don't make me break your legs!"

Gilbert began to laugh. "Kesese, you wouldn't—!" But when he saw the serious look in Ludwig's eyes, he said, "A-all right, bruder, jeez. But I get restless when I'm not doing anything and everyone else is…"

"Go help Uncle Matt with his leg." Wynston said, dropping some more boards on the pile. "He says it's crampin' up again. Movin' it once every hour might work the joint back inta place."

"There is your job, Gilbert." Ivan said through his teeth that were holding the nails. "Do not complain, or I will give you something worth complaining about, da?"

Gilbert gladly disappeared back into the living room. All that could be heard was the tap of the hammer and the groaning of floorboards as they were worked from the floor, before Gilbert's voice reached them, "Oh mein Gott, mein Gott,"

Ludwig immediately set down the wood. He knew that tone of Gilbert's voice—complete shock. He rushed into the living room and his eyes went wide.

"Hey, everyone!" he called. "I think you need to come and see this."

It wasn't long before all of them were gathered around Sadiq's mattress, watching the Turk as he groaned and tossed his head before cracking open his eyes.

"W-what…?"

Feliciano's lower lip quivered and he burst into tears.

Lovino pulled his brother to him. "Damn crybaby," But he was extremely relieved as well.

"Mattie," Sadiq muttered, coughing a bit. "Where is he…? My ankle…"

"I'm here, Sadiq," Matthew said, fighting grateful tears down. He looked down at him and smiled from his place being supported by Alfred.

Sadiq tried to move his injured ankle, but he grimaced and suck in air through his teeth. "Ah, hurts…"

Arthur gave a great sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God." So he hadn't killed him.

Yao knelt down and dabbed Sadiq's head with a damp cloth, saying, "Be still. Your ankle is infected. You need to rest."

Sadiq blinked groggily at him. "Then… give me some fucking drugs already."

Ludwig gave him another dose of penicillin. "Here. Drink slowly."

Sadiq's hands shook as he took the pill and the water. After he swallowed the pill, he drank greedily until all the water was gone. He handed the glass back to Ludwig and licked his lips.

"My mouth is so dry… how long was I knocked out?"

"Since last night." Alfred replied. "About a day,"

"Damn, I'm hungry."

"I have some soup on. Shall we eat now?" Arthur didn't wait for an answer as he departed for the kitchen.

They all didn't know how hungry they had been until they started eating. Most of them hadn't had any food for a few days, and Arthur was prompted to put more soup on. Sadiq ate his meal voraciously.

"Not too fast, Sadiq," Matthew warned, though he was eating just as equally fast. "You're still recovering. You wouldn't want an upset stomach to go along with that, too."

Sadiq grunted but ignored him.

Kiku, meanwhile, was very grateful for the food. He had been throwing up so much lately that he'd barely had anything to go on, despite him hiding it from the others.

As the meal came to a close, Wynston volunteered to clean up and headed off to the kitchen. Arthur then felt safe to question Alfred about his condition.

"Are you doing all right?"

Alfred blinked in surprise. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Well, there was that little stunt of yours with the fire… then you got punched in the stomach pretty bad by the Bloodhound guy…"

Alfred scoffed. "Yeah, whatever. That shit tickled compared to…" His eyes went downcast and his hand once again went to his arm. Arthur frowned. He had caught Alfred making the same movement throughout the day at random moments, but he seemed relieved afterward.

"It's your scar, right?" Arthur said.

Alfred looked shocked. "How did you…?"

"Unlike you, I'm perceptive." Arthur explained. "I managed to deduce that when you lose one of your states, its similar to losing one of your leaders. You get a scar."

Alfred was silent for a moment, the laughed in a somber sort of way that concerned Arthur. "Yeah, well, I just hope that Florida doesn't kick the bucket any time soon…"

"And why is that?" Ivan asked. He knew the answer if all the rumors held true.

Alfred blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Let's just say he occupies a very… vital area."

They all burst out laughing, even though the joke was morbid. But it was release from stress, hunger, and tension that they all needed desperately.

Then it became just as serious again.

Alfred had been brooding over the past day and a half, and he needed some answers. "Artie, when those two men took you into the back of the bunker…"

Arthur could see where this was going. All eyes were pinned on him. The Briton shook his head. "No, they didn't hurt me. In fact, I'd say I hurt them more than they ever intended to hurt me."

Francis raised and eyebrow. "And what is that supposed to mean, cher?"

"It means I killed them." Arthur said nonchalantly, though inside he felt sick. Being a country, he had been responsible for millions of deaths, but doing it with his own two hands… that was a different story.

"And then you escaped outside." Ivan said, breaking the palpable shock in the room.

"Yes," Arthur was now very aware that they were all staring at him in disbelief. "It had to be done. There was no other way." And even though he felt sick, Arthur also felt… satisfied about what he had done. Those men deserved it. They were going to rape him. Hell, if anything, he should have found a more violent way to kill them. Anyway, doing it had saved everyone. His guilt lessened with that thought.

Yao cleared his throat. "We should get some sleep."

"Right," Alfred said. "I'll keep watch."

Arthur stood. "Alfred, I don't think you should be getting less sl—"

"I'll get some sleep, don't worry." Alfred replied.

Arthur was skeptical; Alfred, he'd noticed, had become so paranoid lately that he was alert constantly. If anything, the American would surely be up all night.

Arthur leaned over to Kiku and whispered, "Make sure he goes to sleep, okay?"

Kiku nodded and everyone settled down to sleep.

No translations

A Word From the Writer: Oooh, I praised guns. I'm bad. Really baaad. Whatever. But I'm not kidding about those 450 million rounds of hollowpoints that the government is stockpiling. That's one or two bullets for every American citizen. I'm not crying wolf or anything, but with all the scumbags dominating the upper branches I wouldn't put it past them to start anything. You know, after they fuck every woman who works for them. That first.

Annnnnywho, chaos begins next chapter. :D