CHAPTER SEVEN

WEAPONS

It had been a three weeks, which was about two and a half weeks longer then what the countries thought that they were going to be allowed to stay. The girls hadn't pushed them out, they hadn't forced them on runs and they hadn't judged either of the Italian brothers for sleeping in their beds for most of the first week and half of the next. They were actually quite pleasant to live with, supplying them with food, shelter and warmth while only having them doing menial jobs and hunts or runs when they wanted to pitch in.

However they girls were stingy with their guns, which was odd considering that they had literally taken over an armory full of guns. They continued to ask but whenever they asked about them they gave them a hard glare and said that they needed to earn their guns. Earning, which hadn't been done after seven or more runs and learning which of the countries works best with who… How were they supposed to earn things like weapons from girls that didn't tell them how they should do so?

They couldn't complain however, during runs they were allowed to keep any and all firearms that were found along with their own weapons and they were given free ammo for the weapons themselves. Then the groups they actually formed were great in themselves. The groups were made to suit their strengths, what they liked and were overly good at.

Alfred, Ivan and Ludwig had discovered that they were good at crafting weapons on the go and using anything at hand to fight close range zombies along with being able to stealth kill anything that got too close to the group. They had assumed when seeing this group that Bee must have lead it or maybe Charm, stealth seemed to be something that she would be good at…the last thing they expected was watching the overly loud Storm to stealth kill three clickers in one run without the other infected even noticing. Storm herself began giving them extra crafting supplies to help her with stealth killing, adding Kiku into her close range group when she finally got to see his skills with his katana. It was almost odd that she could lead the four of them so well when heading off a horde coming after the rest of their group.

The midrange was a little more diverse when it was thought of, it was a mixture of people with great aim with guns and an even better speed that could get them out of any situation and into storage areas. Bee lead the group made up of Gilbert, Arthur (who everyone, even the others, were surprised that he was such a good shot), Frances (who was much better at throwing knives at midrange then actually shooting a gun, though no one knew why), and Antonio and Matthew (who were both skilled at close and midrange but there speed knocked them over into Bee's group). The group lacked cohesion but it worked best that way, they usually split up and worked in different areas since they were all very able to take care of themselves.

The final group was long range. Charm, who was the last anyone expected to lead the sniping squad, though they should have known better with her steady hand and level head. She was often seen on top of trucks during the first runs, alone, taking out anything too far away to be seen with a well-aimed arrow or a silenced shot from a gun. It wasn't until later she finally decided to allow some of the men to attempt to join her. Yao was handy with a bow and the Italian brothers could make some mean Molotov Cocktails that had more range and could throw them further then Charm herself though she would never admit it. (None of the girls would admit that they secretly had hoped for the boys to be long range and far from trouble and the worst part would be they could see the other group was relieved as well.)

The groups however, while working together well in most situations in battle didn't seem to mesh or hang out together outside of the stress of the outside world. Alfred and Ivan both seemed to enjoy the company of their 'troop leader' as they began to call her in private (not private enough considering Charm and Bee were now calling her that as a joke and she would shrug it off) and would hang out with her both together, which the other countries were mildly surprised by. However they weren't the only ones that seemed to consistently be around the overly loud girl but it seemed that she had completely drew the older of the two Italian brothers into her web, which scared the countries even more considering the fact that both of the Italians were terrified of Ivan. The four of them were consistently loud, bouncy and consistently pushing each other into building stronger weapons that they could make out of random things they found…and drink while they did so…which everyone was a little more then a little dangerous but the others were scared to tell any of them to stop.

The Asian on the other hand were completely attached to Charm. It seemed people with strong auras consistently were drawn together. The three of them were consistently going over how to write all the languages of Asia and attempting to teach her random words and sayings. Then the one person that none of them saw hanging around the three of them almost everyday was Antonio! The man seemed to stay with the girl constantly when he wasn't running to bug Lovino he was standing over the girls shoulder and staring at her writing or asking how she was cooking, what books he should read while he was there. The two of the groups never crossed, it was always either the Asians or Antonio never at the same time for some strange reason. There was that one odd day that Antonio and Yao tried to help Charm in the kitchen, which ended up in Charm storming out and a large food fight in the kitchen and a late dinner.

The German brothers stuck together and stuck with Bee, the three of them rarely separated after Bee realized that one German had an OCD issue much like she did and a person consistently trying to hug them (much to both of their dismays) and the second had her screw everything attitude that she had some days. The three of them fit, one of the groups always pulling back or pushing the third that wasn't on their level that day. When Arthur started to come around them more often with tea that he had continued to steal from dorm rooms and Starbucks that they came across he was quickly pulled in. Bee insisted to everyone it was for his amazing tea since she could no longer find her precious coffee but everyone else knew that she enjoyed talking with him about Shakespeare and creative insults that they could make people tilt their heads in confusion.

Feliciano seemed to float, though no one was surprised about. He loved Ludwig and his brother and then Charm seemed to absolutely charm him, so he could never have chosen a group. The girls constantly dote over him, smiling brightly and talking to him about his past cooking experiences along with everything else.

Matthew and Frances however were consistently on the outskirts. None of the girls were taken with the thought of letting any of them in. Matt freaked them out with his cold eyes and willingness to rip them apart for his family, though they had a great respect for his devotion to them. Frances was just an odd one out, none of them gaining an attachment to them and none of them actually attempting to water that idea of friendship. The pair of them sat in the corner whispering in French to each other, sometimes drawing Storm's attention with certain words she understood, but it was worrisome at times considering all three of the girls knew that Storm usually only knew smart remarks, curse words and anything violent that she thought to look up.

Another run was scheduled for today, a dangerous one that had not only the three girls going all out with extra knives, guns, arrows and any ammo they could grab but a direct order/ask that every single one of the countries follow along. They weren't sure what was happening, where they were going or even what they were looking for, but the girls had continued to toss weapons at them when they had refused to even let them touch any of them before. The girls made sure to tell them several times that they were not for keeps only for this run and not to get used to having free weapons.

Yao raised an eyebrow as he belted another scoped gun that was tossed at him from Storm's direction, "What is going on?"

"We told you it's a run," Bee repeated for what seemed like the thirtieth time that day, pushing back her hair and double-checking her sword that was strapped on her back.

"You all seem more…stressed than usual," Frances said calmly, watching as Charm inspected another throwing knife before she passed it back to him.

"It's just a run," she said firmly.

"I do not think so," Kiku disagreed, watching as Charm continued to stiffly move about shelves of weapons and deciding on more ammo for her sniper rifle.

"It's just a long trek," Charm told him with a shrug, "We've never taken you this far…and the past way is wrecked."

"What do you mean wrecked?" Matt asked, looking up from double-checking the shotgun he had lifted off a dead soldier last week, clacking the barrel shut again.

"The roads we went through four months ago were completely covered in tanks, soldiers, zombies, everything…" Storm answered, sharpening her axe for a moment more before slipping it into her holder on her back, "So we tossed a few bombs, lit a few tanks on fire with some cloth and fire…we didn't expect everything to go sky high, ya know?"

"So the roads are gone?" Matt asked, his voice full of skepticism, "You guys blew up all the roads?"

"That was so not our plan," Storm groused, crossing her arms.

"But we are still going?" Arthur questioned, checking his handgun.

"There is a sewer system that Bee checked out a few weeks ago that was clear and lead directly to the city," Charm explained, standing up and squaring her shoulders, "the only problem is that the sewers are full."

"Full of what exactly?" Gilbert asked, his voice mildly concerned.

"Unicorns of course," Storm snapped, turning on them, "Clickers, infected, bloaters, whole nine yards."

"Bloaters?" Lovino broke in with his voice quivering, he and the others had heard of clickers and infected but what in the world was a bloater? It didn't sound pleasant…or wanted…

"Bloaters are…a lot of infection festering in one body for a very long time," Bee explained, sticking out her tongue in disgust, "hard to look and even harder to kill. They are like seven feet tall, loud and fat, usually they throw spores in our direction so be aware and wear these."

Storm tossed a small box in their direction, the insides were filled with gas masks. "Each of you will need one, we have our own, but some of the ones that have been decaying will give off spores and if you breathe them in you are as good as dead," Charm supplied the answer to the confused looks on their faces.

The men stiffened, none of them had heard about anything like that, it was…mildly more then a little terrifying. Alfred clenched his fist around the shiv in his hand and looked at the ground. He had never known that people had been infected that long or that those who have been infected lasted that long…maybe Bee was right, maybe they were monsters in the end.

"Hey," Storm poked him in the side, making him jump slightly, "you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine dude," Alfred smiled at her, "I just got a little confused."

"Okay…" she agreed slowly, turning back to the others, "Are we ready?"

"Well we are," Bee said slowly, shifting her backpack on her shoulders before handing Storm her own, "Are you guys?"

The countries moved slowly, nodding at them with doubt shining in their eyes as they grabbed their own light backpacks and put them on. They were used to their backpacks being light, they never packed extra weapons or ammo that they didn't carry on their person, nor do they have med kits like the girls did; instead all they packed was a little extra food and a flashlight with extra batteries in case they were separated. Today however, it seemed the girls had hidden extra supplies inside, it almost made a few of them smile as they were shown a little bit of extra care.

"We'll be back in three days time," Charm explained, "One day of travel there, around one day of rest and stocking up and then the third will be a day of travel back here. It's a basic mission if it wasn't for all the extra zombies."

"And if we run into the army while we are traveling?" Ivan questioned, his hands twisting around his pipe, "You said they were there before so there is the possibility that they will come back."

"They don't usually come back when the roads aren't there," Storm answered, moving next to him and pulling Alfred along with her, "they like to have enough protection in case of zombies and without their vehicles," she shrugged slightly, "not to mention they think that no one will travel in the city if the roads are gone!"

"Which is usually right," Bee added, "if they didn't want to go through the sewers which most don't, but we have a stubborn streak and need extra supplies."

"Well let's go while the sun is still above the horizon," Antonio announced, shifting one his feet, "I mean it should be safer from the infected right?"

"He's right," Charm agreed, sending him a smile, "let's head out." The others followed as the girl's escaped out the doors, placing the proper precautions behind them.