Now we're getting somewhere.

Warning: Angst, insults, Nichu, some GerIta, not really much to worry about here actually :|

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

Into the Storm

Francis was grateful to get out of the van and walk around a bit, mostly to check where they were.

Right. Still in the middle of nowhere. But at least there were some road signs. He was currently examining one. Arthur joined him.

"Laramie, three miles. Cheyenne, fifty-three miles," the Briton read aloud. His eyes traveled to a blue sign further down that read, "Laramie Food: McDonald's, Jack-in-the-Box, Wendy's, Cracker Barrel—you know, I would even go for Alfred's deplorable fast food at this point if I could."

Francis was too tired to laugh. "I do not know. It may do us more harm than good. Le stomach cramps and le diarrhea would not exactly help us."

"You've got a point," Arthur said. "But it beats eating out of a can. Everything tastes like cheap tin."

"Thank cheapskate businesses for that."

"Hmn," Arthur hummed wearily. "How long have we been on the road?"

"Four hours."

"Damn, it feels like it's been forever."

"Oh no," They turned to see Alfred gaping up at the signs.

"What is it?" Arthur asked. "Have a craving for one of the local troughs listed?"

Alfred ignored the last comment and said, "Cheyenne. Shit, that's the capital. It's gonna be big. Less populated than most other capitals, but still. It might still have a bunch of people."

"We have to go there."

They all jumped as one of the other group joined them. He was the one with the baseball cap and thick glasses with a slightly-Asian profile. What was his name? Calvin? Curtis? "Sorry for intruding." He put his hands in his pockets, looking at the ground and kicking a snowbank. "I just heard you guys talking and I thought I should answer you, since I know where we're going and all…"

"So," Francis said. "We're going through it?"

The man nodded. "Yeah. I know it's big and all, but we gotta stick with route 80. We don't have a map—we lost our old one—and the GPS isn't working. If we get lost, we might never be able to get to Illinois."

Alfred frowned. "That's crazy, Carson."

"Carter, actually," the man corrected. "Carter Huang."

"Carter," Alfred corrected. "You can't be serious. Have you never been through towns since before the Uprising? Even the small, deserted ones are potential death traps. We've been through enough of those. The whole reason we had those Organization men on our tail when you picked us up was because we decided to go into a town."

Carter looked a little apprehensive then. "I… it's all Gerald's decision. He's the leader, mostly because he's the only one who knows the way. The rest of us have never been far from the west coast, but Gerald says he's driven through Cheyenne to his sister's before and it's relatively docile."

"'Relatively'?" Arthur parroted. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"That he's not confident in his words," Francis accused. "Did you know Gerald before the Uprising?"

"N-no, but that's not the poi—"

"That's entirely the point, man!" Alfred snapped. "How do you know if you can trust him? Did you just waltz up to anyone who had a car and say 'Hey, can I catch a ride?' 'Cause if you did, I dunno how you ever made it this far."

Carter stared at them and swallowed. "I… there… there's a bunch of you guys and most of you sound foreign. How in the hell did you end up traveling together anyway?"

All of them shut there mouths and stared back. Just like that, they had been cornered by a simple question. Damn, they all needed to discuss how to answer these kinds of things without seeming suspicious.

Luckily, Jeanne was calling them over. "Hey, guys, get over here! We're having lunch!"

Carter's eyes darted to the ground again and his hands slinked back into his pockets as they all followed him back to the parked vehicles.

Lunch was awkwardly silent, but at least they didn't have the poor experience of eating out of a can again.

"Um, so…" Alfred began. "Where did you get this food anyway?" It really was not typical survival food. Some sausages and mushrooms… though the mushrooms seemed to fit the profile enough. They had built a small fire and were roasting them over it. He sure hoped the smoke wouldn't carry, though thankfully there wasn't much wind.

Everyone looked up, but Gerald was quick to answer, "We've been taking out Organization camps from southern California to here. These are the spoils of the most recent one."

"Which mean you don't have much left," Yao predicted.

Gerald was silent for a moment, then sighed. "Yeah. We would have had more if it was just us, but we figured you all would like a nice meal devoid of a can."

"Ve, we really appreciate it!"

Jeanne smiled. "Aren't you a sweet thing? Can I have him? Honestly."

Feliciano latched onto Ludwig's arm. "Sorry, ve, I'm taken."

Jeanne blinked for a moment, studying the blush crawling across Ludwig's cheeks before smiling again. "Good for you, honey." Though there was a note of longing in her voice.

Everyone sensed it and Ivan cleared his throat to break the silence. "Cheyenne. What is plan?"

Gerald looked up at him and it was clear that he was intimidated into responding immediately, even though he really had nothing in mind yet to say. "That! Oh, um… I've been through it before. It's not as populated as other places. And we'll not go through it, only pass it. I doubt there will be anyone on the interstate that will confront us."

"What about petrol?" Arthur asked. "Do you have enough to take us far enough away from it?"

Gerald thought for a moment. "Well, my truck has half a tank, but that'll last us well past it. Jeanne?"

"Hmm, a little less than that."

"Marvin?"

Gilbert snickered again and Lovino pinched him on the ear this time.

"Hmph."

"He means to say the same as Jeanne," Nate replied for him, his snakebite piercings stretching again as he smiled. "But I'm sure you could push it the rest of the way if we run out, right bro?"

"Hmph."

Nate chuckled and gave Marvin a playful punch to the arm. The muscle didn't even ripple from the impact. "Haha, I always crack you up."

Ludwig and the rest of his group just stared. Gilbert leaned over and whispered to Lovino, "I didn't think boulders could laugh."

Lovino was close to pissing his pants just looking at Marvin. "He didn't."

They finished up their lunch (which had them all feeling just a little bit happier) and piled back into the vehicles again. Alfred sniggered when Ivan got in and the van lowered. But then Ivan pulled him in and the van dropped twice as low. It was obvious that Ivan was trying to hold back a smile, but when Alfred mouthed 'no sex' that seemed to sober him a bit.

Matthew sat between Francis and Alfred, eyes trained on the scenery outside to keep his mind off other more… depressing things. But there wasn't much to see. Just white. It seemed almost sad.

Francis grabbed his hand and squeezed it. Matthew didn't bother looking at him. The Frenchman did it so often now he barely flinched.

"Things will get better, petit."

"Things will get worse before they get better," Matthew said tonelessly and Francis was speechless. He couldn't deny that it was nearly true.

Arthur was zoning in and out as he stared out the window. It was a miracle that the roads hadn't been snowed in, though he was pretty sure a time would come when cars would be of no use to them without plows. They needed to get one if they were to continue. There was no way they were ever going to escape this snow if they kept north…

His eyes snapped back open when he realized his head had dropped to Francis's shoulder. The Frenchman looked at him, not seeming to mind. "Dormes, cher," he murmured. "You need it."

Arthur did indeed need it. He had barely caught up on sleep since his nightmares because his hands had been bothering him so much. They burned like hell. But, for now, they seemed cold enough to emit only a dull throb. He glanced once more at their driver, Jeanne, before putting his head on Francis's shoulder again and closing his eyes.

Arthur was woken when he felt the vehicle speed up. He sat up straight, making his vision go black for a bit, afraid that they were going to endure some sort of ambush.

"We're about to go past Cheyenne," Alfred told him, never taking his eyes off the buildings, looking like black sentinals against the iron sky, in the distance. Alfred's hand was on Ivan's knee, fingers digging in gradually harder.

Ivan winced. "Relax, Alfred. We are only going past it, not through it. You said it yourself."

"Stop that," Francis snapped. "You are making everyone nervous."

By 'everyone' Matthew knew Francis meant him. "I'm not nervous,"

Everyone went silent for a moment. Matthew had barely spoken that day.

Then the buildings got closer and closer and—

"Go faster," Alfred urged. "Come on. There are no cops to catch you now. Just go as fast as you can so we can get the fuck away from here."

"I can only go as fast as Gerald," Jeanne replied and brought her eyes back to the rear of the truck they were tailing.

"Pass him, then," Alfred urged. "He'll get the message. If he knows the way, he'll go faster to get back in front, right?"

"Alfred," Arthur sighed. "I doubt anyone could catch us going this fast anyway."

"There could be Organization members watching the roads," Alfred said. "They could have cars of their own and give chase."

"If we go faster we will attract even more attention," Francis pointed out. "Just keep going at the same pace and if we see someone following us, we can deal with them then."

But no one did see them. They passed right by the city, and, somehow, Alfred felt more uncomfortable than reassured.

"Hmph," grunted Marvin.

"What…? Oh." Nate turned around to look at them. "Marvin says we're running out of gas."

"What!" Lovino exclaimed. "Why the fuck didn't we stop for some earlier?!"

"Chill, bro," Nate said. "We siphoned some gas from every abandoned car we've come across. We'll have at least another quarter tank."

"That will barely get us a thirty miles into the state!" Gilbert said.

"We'll siphon some more gas, then," Nate shrugged. "No biggie,"

"Yeah," Lovino scoffed. "If we happen to find another fucking car in the middle of fucking nowhere!"

"There'll be towns coming along," Nate assured. "There are bound to be lines of cars that had been trying to get out before people just abandoned them. It's the same in every state we've been through."

"People live out here?" Lovino frowned, scanning the white, barren landscape. "Yeah, right."

Winter leeched all color out of everything and it only made their situation worse. A storm was gathering ahead of them and it wasn't the rebuilding of the government by cold Organization members. It was a real storm, a crowd of dark thunderheads cresting the horizon and promising a new bout of misery and hardship.

"Hmph," grunted Marvin.

"I know," Nate replied. "But where will we find one?"

"Find what?" Yao asked.

"A snow plow," Nate sighed. "We knew we'd need one eventually, but we haven't seen a damn one of them since we got on the road. Hopefully we'll have a better chance at finding one up here."

"And if we do not?"

Everyone stared. Kiku had not said much since they had all first piled into the van.

Nate shrugged. "Then we'll just have to wing it."

Gilbert and Lovino eyed each other just then, and they both knew they were thinking the same thing: they would not be able to survive another week of trudging through the snow and the cold. Not all of them. Gilbert took his hand and brushed his thumb over it. Lovino wanted to kiss him so much right then, tell him that he would stay with him for as long as he could. But he could only squeeze back, and that conveyed everything.

Gerald huffed as the tires caught. He pressed the gas further, but the wheels only spun, stuck in a dense clump of snow. He stopped the truck and put it in park, turning to address his passengers.

"Welp, I knew this would happen eventually."

Ludwig frowned. "We are stuck."

"Yeah."

Ludwig sighed wearily. He'd known ever since he saw the truck that it wouldn't make it far in such harsh weather conditions without aid. Since first they hit snow, he had been predicting how long it would be until they could go no further. He had been correct.

"We need a snow plow," Ludwig suggested.

"We need more gas, too," Gerald shook his head. "We should probably turn the engine off to conserve fuel."

"Ja," Ludwig replied. "We have endured snow before. But you and Feliciano can stay in here to keep out of the wind."

Gerald blinked. "You're not?"

"Nein," Ludwig moved over slowly, trying not to wake Feliciano who had been dozing on his shoulder. He softly set the Italian down in the seat and looked at Gerald. "I will talk to the others. But we cannot just stay here. When that storm comes, we will be snowed in for the rest of the winter."

Gerald unlocked the door and Ludwig opened it, getting a harsh blast of freezing air the second he did so. He got out quickly so as not to wake Feliciano and walked back to check on the rest of his group. He had forgotten how rough the flatlands really were. There were no trees, no buildings, nothing to break the wind, and he was buffeted around quite aggressively before he arrived at the first van.

Jeanne cracked the window. "Something wrong?"

"Out," Ludwig croaked. "I will tell you."

Everyone exited the vehicle, Jeanne turning it off and Carter running back against the icy gusts to tell the other van to do the same. Once they were all gathered, shivering and huddled together, Ludwig began, "We cannot get past the snow and we are getting low on fuel. In order to move forward, we must find a snow plow and more gasoline."

"Dude, look around," Alfred's teeth were chattering as he hugged himself and jumped from foot to foot to keep warm. "There's nothing out here and, trust me, it'll be pretty much like this until we reach suburban Illinois."

"There has to be some sort of vehicle out here somewhere," Arthur said hopefully. "Assuming others would also run out of fuel."

"You're suggesting we go out there and look?" Lovino balked. "With that storm brewing? You're fucking crazy."

"I will go," Ivan volunteered.

"No," Alfred tugged on his sleeve and shot him a fierce glare. "No, absolutely fucking not. You're not going out there."

Ivan frowned down at him. "I would be the first pick to go out anywhere in the snow. This is spring to me!"

"Good," Ludwig said. "I will be going as well. Anyone else—"

"Where is Feli?" Lovino shot daggers at Ludwig.

Ludwig's brows came together. "In the van—"

"And you're just going to leave without telling him?" Lovino snapped. "You better be good to my fratello, bastard. If you're going, tell him."

"So he can worry about me?" Ludwig flashed back. "So he can get so worked up he cries?"

"So you can say goodbye, dammit," Lovino growled, his voice trembling from the cold and his breaths coming in a pale mist.

Ludwig blinked at him, then cleared his throat before continuing, "Right, now it will be me, Ivan—"

"You asshole," Lovino accused. "You don't take him seriously, do you?"

Ludwig shook his head. "Lovino—"

"Feli fucking loves you," Lovino continued, his voice growing louder. "He told me so. It's not just some damn puppy love like you seem to think it is. You don't think he's fucking mature enough for that, but he is. A bastard like you doesn't deserve someone like him!"

Gilbert balked. "Lovino, cal—"

Lovino pointed stiffly at him. "Stay out of this," he barked, and Gilbert, wisely, was quiet.

Ludwig swallowed when he realized everyone was staring at him. "Th-this… we are wasting time talking about this…"

Lovino rounded on him again. "Oh, now it's a waste of time? Well, excuse my fratello for wasting your fucking precious time!"

Ludwig couldn't believe how fast everything had spiraled out of control. Out of his grasp. But he was angered by Lovino's accusations and needed to address them to avoid future conflict. "I do love, Feliciano!" he shouted and everything seemed impossibly quieter. Ludwig cleared his throat and said a little more softly, "I love him and I would do anything for him. How dare you accuse me of abusing our relationship?"

Lovino appeared sober enough, but he still bit back, "Then don't fucking run off and leave him wondering why you never bothered to say goodbye if you don't ever come back."

Ludwig didn't like to give in to anything. It made him feel weak, and weakness was the product of a lack of self control. Admitting he was wrong was far worse, especially when it was Lovino who was righting him. He took a deep breath and said, "He is sleeping. That should not be an excuse, but it was my initial reaction to let him rest. I suppose I was impatient to start looking for the needed supplies so that we can move on for our own safety." I put the group before Feli. But that part shamed him too much to say aloud. "And I am sorry."

Lovino seemed satisfied (for once) and tried to hold down a smirk. He had won an argument with Ludwig. A feat for the record books… if there were still any that weren't a pile of ashes, that was.

Ludwig tried to make it seem like he didn't feel uncomfortable, but the feeling was already palpable. "Ahem, now… me, Ivan, we will need more."

"I'll go," Alfred said.

Ivan frowned. "Nyet, you will freeze."

"Oh, right," Alfred nodded. "Yeah, I guess I better stay here. Thanks for caring, babe. Shame I couldn't go. Really, it is." And Alfred kissed Ivan on the cheek and made his way back to the vehicle. Ivan stared after him and snorted.

"Stupid prat," Arthur grumbled and pulled his collar tighter around him and sighed, "I'll go, then." When Francis opened his mouth to protest, Arthur snapped, "And don't you start. You need to stay here with Matthew."

"Right," Ludwig said. "Me, Ivan, Arthur…"

"You know it'll be an awesomely successful trip with me along, kesesese!"

Ludwig sighed wearily. Now he had to babysit his brother. "All right, four will be enough—"

"I want to go, too," Matthew said quietly, his voice barely heard over the wind. He tugged at his sleeves.

Francis was immediately at his side. "Non, non, petit, you are injured and should not be moving around much. You will not be of much help and you will hurt yourself further."

Matthew's face took on a sad hue. "Oh…" I'm going to disappear again. And there's nothing I can do about it.

Francis didn't sense his distraught. He was too concerned with leading Matthew back to one of the vans, but not before giving Arthur's hand a squeeze and saying a brief goodbye.

Kiku was just thinking that he was starting to not feel his face when Yao leaned over, muttered, "I love you, yīnghuā," and kissing him on the cheek. Kiku flinched, not expecting the gesture, and he felt his face grow warmer when he realized they were very much being watched. At least his face heating up wasn't exactly a bad thing. Yao let go of his hand.

"I want to go as well," Yao offered, and Kiku, for one of the first times in life, felt his heart jump into his throat for someone else. His mind urged him to grab his hand and tell him no, but his conscience reminded him that he couldn't stop Yao anyway and he stayed silent.

Yao was disappointed, but not discouraged. He would get through to Kiku eventually—he hoped. "Being confined for so long has unsettled me."

Ludwig nodded. "Right, let's grab a couple of packs and set off. That storm looks like it'll be here before long."

Translate:

petit-little one

yīnghuā-cherry blossom

A Word From the Writer: So... okay, I know this seems sorta choppy, but it was kinda difficult trying to go between multiple vehicles at once and... yeah. So, our OCs finally have names! Gerald, Marvin, Nate, Carter, and Jeanne. And it figures that they run out of gas as soon as they hitch a ride (and just as a storm is coming in at that), but I never said I'd let them rest, right? RIGHT?

Nice move on America's part, but honestly I'd be the same. I'm all stick and bones; I could wear three layers of clothing and still be cold in my own house. America may have lost some weight throughout this whole ordeal, but... yeah, hibernation mode will have to come later. And I am liking this whole Nichu thing. Japan is absolutely frickin' adorkable, I just ajhdsfhjdfrutujf.

Anywho, I'm a little drained and cooky, and I am kinda procrastinating on a stop motion project I've been meaning to do and... I'm just a big procrastinator, y'all. I've had senior-itis since junior year and it's definitely not going away any time soon. But at the same time I'm excited because I had a new story idea! But it's not for Hetalia, sorry. Just a little sci-fi thing I'm getting into. But I'm gonna finish this one! (I'm already almost to the big battle scene and I love writing action and gore and guts and drama and... unf. Okay, I'm just waffling on, but you get the point... right?-say you do, say it, say it-).

The shitstorm is coming... SOON.