CHAPTER NINE

HOSTILE

They had been wondering in the darkness with flashlights on for hours, every moment seeming like nonsense but the girls in front of them seemed sure of every step. The group took another turn down a dark and narrow off branch of the sewer system. "Do you guys seriously know where we are going?" Arthur asked.

He held back another groan as none of the girl's offered him an answer and instead turned into another line of sewer. Arthur knew he was the last one to complain, with his horrid weather and the smell that had permeated the streets during the dark ages, the smell and the wetness around him was nothing…but if they got them lost in zombie infested sewers after all that they had to deal with today he would not stand for it.

"We need to pull into our smaller groups now," Charm spoke softly, signaling something and though the countries didn't know what they moved immediately.

The water dripped down steadily and the girls hadn't taken a step since the order was given, it was almost like they were waiting for something. Arthur shifted slighted, earning a sharp glare from Bee. "What are we waiting for?" he hissed at her.

"You must really be getting old," Frances whispered back, his eyes sharp and unmoving from in front of him, "can you not hear that?"

"Hear wha…" Arthur paused when the sound finally reached his ears.

The soft clicking, several sounds of sharp clicking…Clickers and from the sound there had to have been several of them piled into the tunnel in front of them. How could they make it around those creatures without someone getting hurt? Darn it all, he wished that they knew if a country could be infected or not by this virus, that would make everything so much easier.

Then he heard the hushed whispers coming from the front group, the shifting of backpacks and the whispering of numbers. What was the close range group thinking? That couldn't possibly think that they could beat at least twelve Clickers without getting hurt, there were only four of them. "They'll be fine," Charm whispered, clutching at his arm to stop him from moving forward; he hadn't noticed that he moved to stop them.

"What do you mean?" he hissed, glaring back at her, how could she be so calm about this. Her friend could be killed so quickly.

"Trust them, they know what they are doing."

The close combat group was moving now, the small splashes of water allowing the others to hear the group moving slowly forward, attempting to be as silent as possible when facing the blind creatures. Alfred ducked behind a crate, Storm edging along the side of the wall away from them, Ivan following her movements and finally Ludwig ducked behind another crate that was much closer to the creatures. Silence was key right now and the worst part of any of this was that three of the four of their group were never good at being silent.

Ludwig tightened and then readjusted the grip he held on his shiv, touching his side slightly to check his other weapons to make sure that they were ready to use. His heart rate skyrocket, much like it did during any of the other fights, but this was much more dangerous, one bite and he was done…or one of his allies would be. He heard Ivan throw the bottle across the room instead of saw it, the Clickers immediately going crazy.

He watched them rush the wall, clawing at the ground were the shards of the bottle had landed before a second hit the opposite wall making four of them rush away while the others continued to dig for a person that wasn't there. This was it, separating them was the only chance they had without getting anyone hurt and without more shelter around the room to hide.

Another bottle and another pair separated from the original group, the other four still standing in the opposite corner. Ludwig took another deep breath this was his turn now, to throw the brick in the correct place to set his group of Clickers up. Taking a quick peek around the crate, making sure that the course was clear before throwing another brick at the wall.

The Clickers were going insane, the groups of the Clickers to a much more manageable groups…but now they had to kill every one of the clickers without allowing them to make a noise, which was almost physically impossible. Then two bodies hit the floor with a pair of loud splashes, at least one person was already moving…shit, he was running behind, this was nothing like him.

He threw himself into motion swiftly, spinning around the Clicker without it turning away from the corner or the second Clicker that was digging it's hands into the ground. A swift shiv into the head ended it's sad life in ten seconds and the second hadn't even noticed before he had dug the knife into it's skull as well, slick blood type liquid sliding down his arm making him shiver with disgust.

He had almost tuned everyone out around him, clearing his own Clickers had been his job, and now he was just staring at his hand. The infected blood was running down his arm like syrup would run from a maple tree; that alone made the quality of it unreal. Something in their blood made it seem to thicken and turn into the eerie black substance running over his arm that he couldn't seem to take his eyes away from.

It was only in the back corner of his mind did he realize that he had killed the Clicker incorrectly; that the blood shouldn't be allowed to cover his skin like this and that the girls had trained him better then this, that he could be infected from any open wound. The irony of that hit him squarely in the chest; he had always so ready for battle against humans in the past, so strict to stick to his training. He clenched his fist tightly, allowing his nails to bite into his skin. He shouldn't be alive when it was so unlikely that anyone in the human race was going to survive, he should have disappeared…he should have…

"What are you doing, you moron?" Bee hissed at him, grabbing his wrist and attempting to wipe away all evidence of blood that she could reach.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Charm added her own words in a quiet voice, glancing around quickly before passing Bee another rag that he had known was meant for first aid or more Molotov Cocktails and instead these very venerable human girls were using it on blood that could infect him…when none of them even knew if they could be infected.

"Open up your hand now," Storm ordered, prying his fingers away from his palm so that Bee could clean there as well, "I told you never let their blood get on you like that, were you seriously ignoring me when I was telling you guys that stuff?"

"Don't touch you face or any wounds you could get until we get to that hospital," Bee told him, tossing the rags to the ground after the girls had cleaned their own hands again, "We need to disinfect that."

He nodded stiffly, looking at the girls with cold eyes, he could see himself reflected in Bee's irises. Ludwig hadn't known he could look so old, but he had been wrong…shiza he couldn't let himself live if these girls were killed when they were with them or ever if he was honest with himself. He had lived for so long and these girls were going through their youth fighting for their lives alone, verdammt.

"We have to keep moving if we want to get there before dark hits," Charm waved absently ahead, "No more stops."

The others nodded, their eyes slipping back and forth between Ludwig and the women, not knowing which they should watch. The girls began to move however, which made their decision much easier, so all eyes watched Ludwig who was still staring blankly in front of him. "Hey, bro," Gilbert spoke first, gaining his bearings as he moved to Ludwig's side and grabbing his shoulder, "Are you okay?"

"We can't let them die," Ludwig whispered the words, but his voice was fierce.

"What?" Gilbert jerked back slightly, thinking that his little brother should have been the last of them to gain such a protective streak over these girls.

"We can't let them die," he repeated harshly, suddenly looking to the others, "They are so young and yet they are alone and fighting. We are…we are all so old, we've fought so long and done things so unforgivable that we should have disappeared before. Yet we are still here. I've failed my people and my country, so many things… They can't be another one to add to my list. I will sooner become infected myself then allow another human to be killed in front of me when I could have stopped it."

"We had no plans on letting them die," Kiku said quickly, his hand going to his katana, "they have taken us in and fed us, it would be dishonorable to let them down."

"Seems like some manners have stuck with you," Yao grumbled, though his voice held no heat.

"They are…our amigos," Antonio agreed, sending him a smile, "you don't let friends die."

"Especially in sewers," Frances agreed with a wrinkled nose.

"Then we should really stick to them then, because they are kind of gone," Matt pointed out with a slight smile.

"Come on dudes," Alfred declared quietly…well as quietly as Alfred could be as he rushed after them, the countries shared a small look before following.

Walking away they all shared the same thought. A strong connection with a human in this situation could not end well, not well at all.

They had been wondering for at least four more hours, they were all sure that the sun had to be going down by now outside the sewer where time actually mattered. Down here on the other hand, the girls hadn't stopped for a moment in their trek through the stinky murky waters that were around them, not even to grab a something from the pack that they had packed to eat. Following the dim, yellow glow of the flashlight bulb they moved through rooms filled with debris and zombies without stopping even for a moment, it was almost as if they had a time limit.

"It's been seven hours down here," Arthur mentally calculated, "one more above the surface and we had started the day around 11 this morning, which means that it has to be six in the afternoon."

"We are going to stop soon," Charm told them, glancing back with a smile, "We need to grab a snack before we finish the last of this maze."

"Thank goodness," Storm groaned, stretching her arms above her head with a loud yawn, "my feet freaking hurt."

Arthur heard a chuckle from the Italian twins, probably both of them for once happy they didn't have to complain about the trouble. "What do you think is up ahead?" Arthur questioned, tilting his head.

"Nothing good," Charm answered bluntly, shaking her flashlight as the light wavered, "we have been able to sneak past almost everything so far, well except the beginning stuff, but it gets worse the deeper you get in."

"It get's worse then Clickers?"

"We already told you that there were Bloaters down here," Bee broke in, turning her head so that they could see her raised brow.

"Do you really think we will run into one, bella?" Feliciano asked, his body tightening with anxiousness.

"Don't worry," Storm smiled back at him, "we'll protect you!"

"Let's stop here," Bee broke in suddenly, giving the group enough time to look around the crates that were stacked around the room…as if someone had been stacking them for something just like…

"We have been working on this room for a while," Charm smiled slightly proud, as if she were looking upon some great masterpiece.

"You three have been working on all this alone?" Alfred sounded in awe, touching the crates as gently as Arthur had seen him do anything in years, "How did you get all of these down here? They have to weigh ten pounds a piece."

"We…" Bee coughed suddenly looking away from the crates and down to her feet. Arthur would have swore that this girl would have almost looked sheepish if he didn't know better.

"We weren't originally alone," Charm finished, attempting to draw their attention to her instead of Storm, who was placing a gentle hand on Bee's back. "We had other's with us, they helped."

Everyone paused, taken aback for a moment, they had assumed that they had been the first to join this group. The girls weren't exactly welcoming and on top of that seemed completely overprotective of each other and all of their supplies. That final thought made Arthur pause, the though suddenly coming to him that they may not have been this way…could they have been…

"What happened to the others?" he asked the question boldly, ignoring the pointed looks he was getting from the other countries. He knew this was important, something that they should know.

"Sorry, you have to be a level four friend to unlock our tragic backstory," Storm answered, not missing a beat in closing off the idea of this conversation, but her answer said enough, they had been betrayed.

"They weren't good people that you were with, were they?" Matt asked, apparently refusing to let go of the conversation…Arthur sighed to himself, Matt had certainly changed since this all happened, that must have been what happened to these girls too.

"Two of them were," Bee answered sharply, leveling a glare with Matt, "but we lost the others too."

"So you were betrayed and lost people?" Arthur asked slowly.

"We are in a world made up of a bunch of monsters, you are always going to lose people," Charm answered stiffly, "it's a part of life now."

Arthur felt the sting of her words, the pain that was arching through them to admit that they were alone. "But you made it through," Antonio added, hoping to lighten the situation with his normal cheer.

"Not completely in one piece as you can all tell," Bee snapped at him, leaning against some of the crates, Storm at her side.

"I doubt anyone would," Arthur sighed, looking at the girls with sympathy in his eyes.

"Sit down and eat some food or we will start going as soon as we are done," Charm snapped, pulling off her backpack quickly and digging through it for an extra granola bar.

The countries grew quiet then, not doubting the statement in the slightest, they knew the girls would leave them behind. It was almost funny to Arthur, the thought that they could, as a matter of fact that they should leave them behind; they were only slowing them down. He was sure if they had been alone the women would have been well past their destination by now and already setting up for the night. He sighed, leaning back against the crates; he wasn't very hungry anymore.

"You either, aru?" Yao questioned, appearing at his side.

"They make us seem…incompetent…" Arthur bit out the words as if they were physically painful.

"I guess for now we kind of are," Yao shrugged as if he was unbothered but Arthur knew better. He had been around Yao for centuries and he could see the stress line between his eyes and the tightening of his mouth that he only did when he was truly frustrated.

"There has to be something we can do to help," Arthur grumbled, crossing and uncrossing his arms.

Yao tightened his lips again, looking straight ahead into the darkness in the tunnels behind the group. Something was going on in his head that even Arthur couldn't decipher, so instead he sighed and allowed Yao to meddle through his thoughts for a few minutes. Then he sighed loudly, Yao was taking too long, "What are you thinking, Yao?"

"Maybe there is something that we could do," Yao nodded his head forward into the darkness, "We could move ahead, give them information about what is ahead…"

"Do you think that would help?" Arthur asked, standing a little straighter, though hope was bursting through him. Maybe for once in this hell he wouldn't be useless, he knew that compared to some people in this group he wasn't as bad off but it was nothing like the old days, when he was a pirate…hell even after that, he was a powerhouse! He was amazing and now he was nothing!

"Of course it would help!" Yao said fervently, "They need to move forward and they are only…" he paused on the word human, worried that his words might be overheard by one of the girls.

"Do you want to tell the others?" Arthur raised one large eyebrow at his friend.

"The more of us that sneak ahead the more of a chance is that we would get caught," Yao disagreed immediately, sneaking glances around, "We are the ones that have the best chance of getting away without noticing."

Arthur nodded stiffly, he understood Yao in this, and Yao was just like him. Yao wanted to regain his glory too; he didn't like to be so helpless either. This was there only chance he supposed for either of them to regain anything…they were useful too. "Let's get going then," Arthur agreed, bending down slightly and checking the women.

The girls were huddled together, facing only each other and the wall beside them, giving the pair a huge blind spot to sneak through. They exchanged a look, nodding before sneaking past the girls, none of the other countries bothering to look away from any side conversations or introverted thinking to look up at the elder countries sneaking away.

They made their way around the corner, moving as stealthy as they could before standing back up to their full height. Arthur smiled brightly over at Yao, stretching his tight muscles before turning back to the darkness and flipping on a flashlight. It felt as if a weight was lifted off of his stiff shoulders suddenly, like he wasn't being forced to do anything, there were no expectations, he felt…free.

"We should just go a few tunnels ahead," Yao explained, his eyes suddenly serious, "We might not know the way back and the others will notice, we only have a few minutes."

"Of course," Arthur chuckled, attempting to sound cocky, "Only three tunnels and then we turn back."

"Sooner if we run into anything," Yao added, "there is no way we could use our weapons without them noticing."

Arthur nodded again, a short movement that was barely perceivable but he knew Yao noticed. Arthur was the first to move, leading the way with his flashlight down the empty tunnel then down another. He almost smiled, allowing himself to relax further knowing that there was most likely nothing ahead of them if two tunnels were deserted already, not only that but likelihood that any of the infected could have been this quiet was highly improbable.

"Do you think we should go ahead one more? Or…" Yao questioned, looked down tunnel as they reached the end.

The pair paused, it had only been a few minutes but this tunnel was now reaching a dead-end, a dead-end with two tunnels leading in the opposite directions. Arthur didn't know how long they could be walking before they reached the end or what they could run into…they could always split up, but that idea almost made his skin crawl with the thought, but if they wanted to explore the tunnel… "We need to split up," Arthur sighed, looking both ways with his flashlight.

"We can't see the ends," Yao added, moving to reach into his backpack, pulling out his own light and a gas mask, "put your own on too, we don't know what could happen."

Arthur shivered slightly, the thought of needing the gasmask…of running into those spores. He took of his pack quickly, shoving his own mask over his face just like Yao was doing with his own. "Be careful," Arthur whispered the words, as if something were listening, "we don't know if we are immune to this stuff yet."

"You take that side," Yao answered, ignoring the question completely, motioning his flashlight to the left then to the right, "I'll go this way."

"In 60 seconds we turn around and meet back here," Arthur added, tightening his grip on the flashlight, "no exceptions."

"We'll head back then and report anything to everyone else," Yao threw back the comment before walking away, splashing his way through the muck that covered the water.

Arthur stared at him a moment more, making sure to take in the sight of his friend as much as he could before turning away himself. Fear spiked through him as he began to move down the tunnel. He counted slowly in his head to calm himself he moved the flashlight back and forth between the walls, leaving nothing unchecked from the water to the ceiling itself.

He had been walking exactly 39 seconds when he saw the air start to cloud with a green gas. He cursed, suddenly glad of Yao's paranoia of the air and the spores that all of the women were talking about beforehand, but he continued forward. Then he saw the bodies…

They lined the wall, six of them ripped into blood pieces and scattered on the concrete of the tunnel. Their bodies decaying and rotted, spores pouring from their bodies as they continued to mildew in the watery depths. This wasn't right…there was something…A roar echoed through the air behind him, loud and deep, causing his entire body to quake with fear before rapidly turning away from the bodies to face the end of his tunnel.

It stood there for a moment, the creature that allowed Arthur's light to stay on it's form, allowing him to truly see what he was facing. The bulbous creature stood in the water, green and oozing more and more green liquid from protrusions if they were wounds caused by the fallen or veins that once pumped blood through human organs, he wasn't sure. There was no face to speak of, just a face and several disk like things that were making up his head like a flower of sorts. It was only then that he noticed that several of them made up his thick arms and legs, jetting up from it's back and stomach, he felt ill. A smell of death and decay reached his nose as the creature turned to him and yet he was frozen for a minute more.

The creature lifted it's arm, throwing something in his direction that exploded with a huge amount of spores. In that moment he finally got the feeling back in his legs and he ran, splashing through the water, he was breathing rabidly, his lungs burning. He lost were he was counting, he didn't know if Yao would be where they were supposed to meet, where should he run? He couldn't run back to Yao, he could get him killed! The group would have a better chance at survival but on such short notice…

"Arthur?" Yao called his name, it was only then that he noticed that he had made it back to their meeting place.

"Run!" he screamed the word, his voice hoarse but Yao got the message.

He could see the horror dawning on Yao's face, the widening of the eyes behind his mask was all he could see but he was sure his face was twisted in disgust. He turned then, taking off in the direction of the group and the choice of where to run was made. "Guys!" he screamed the word and it echoed through the tunnels. Logically they both knew it would draw the attention of every infected in the area, but this would kill all of them if it got too close. "There's a…" He heard him cut off, unsure of how to continue, he didn't know the names!

"What did you do?" Bee's voice was the first they heard as they reached the group.

"It's coming!" Arthur screamed back at them and he watched as their eyes went behind him widening with horror.

"Masks now!" Charm shouted, digging through her cast aside bag to grab a cocktail.

The others wrapped their masks around their faces, almost in sync with each other and just in time for another object to burst out thousands of spores around them. Charm seemed to ignore everything as she lit the end of the cocktail on fire, throwing it towards the end of the tunnel. The creature screamed as it lit up with flames, shaking it's massive body and throwing out more spores, stomping into the water as if it were trying to dose the flames.

"Throw another one, what are you doing?" Storm hissed, but none of the countries moved, frozen into place as the creature began it's movement forward.

It's body was blackened with dead skin and burnt flaking outer shell, it was grotesque in everyway and yet none of them could move to fight it. "We shouldn't have brought them here," Bee hissed under her breath, yanking a bag away from the Italian brothers and tossing another cocktail to Charm, "Keep going!"

Charm hissed out a frustrated nose before lighting a second and tossing it again in it's direction. More screams and burning flesh, more fear…they couldn't move…they had been through wars, they had set actual people alight like this and yet they were so afraid. Then after a third it stopped. The creature fell to the ground with a loud splash and then there was no movement.

The countries finally turned, they finally could move and now they could see the women stood in front of them…they were…protecting them. "We shouldn't have brought them here," Bee snarled for a second time, her hands tightening into fists.

"Maybe not,'' Charm agreed, looking down at her hands for a moment, noting that she had burnt some of her fingers in her haste.

"What I want to know is what did you two do?" Storm snarled.

"We told you to wait!" Charm agreed, crossing her arms and turning on them.

"So tell us, what did you do?" Bee asked again, glaring down at them.