Do you realize how much the world could change in just the blink of an eye? Think about it. One moment, everything is fine. A second passes and all is lost. So many things could happen in an instant. A gun shot could take a life. A miscalculation could cause two planes to collide. One wrong step and someone could trip into the street. A hasty decision could be made and start a nasty addiction. An answer could be made that changes everything. So many things could happen.

Cherish the present. Don't wish to be in the past and don't focus solely on the future. Focus on what's happening now because soon you'll find yourself regretting ever letting it slip through your fingers.

Now, our remaining survivors have their own experience with their life changing in a second. They experienced it all already, every passing minute becoming another personal record on how things change.

I know, I know. You wish to continue on the story; see the chaos that's about to take place with the approaching herd. However, the wait must lengthen for there are things I must address.

Stories of those who have taken the shadow amongst the main ones. Stick with me, please, and listen to their pleas before we continue on. I'm sure you can wait for a just a little longer.

You'll be at a loss if you don't hear their cries.

...

Let's embark on the story of the Prussian and Austrian.

At the start of it all, the two were in Rodriech's house along with Elizaveta. It was a normal day for them which didn't give off any alarm. The outbreak outside wasn't even known to them at the time.

"Will you be quiet? I am trying to appreciate the art of Mozart." Rodriech whined as his slender fingers danced along the piano keys before him. Gilbert, who was in the middle of a long and pointless story, gave a short, obnoxious laugh.

"Quiet? You can't quiet awesomeness like me!" He shouted with another booming laugh. "Why listen to that old coot when you can listen to me! I'm far cooler than a boring piano guy. At least I can-" Gilbert's words were cut short when a conductor stick smacked him on the forehead.

"You are nothing compared to Mozart. He was a genius and you are pathetic. The mere sentence is highly disrespectful and offensive. You wouldn't be able to match his exquisite intellect in music knowledge. I bet you can't even tell the difference between a sixteenth note and an eighth note."

The two got into one of their long arguments as they usually did with Gilbert being so egotistical and loud and Rodriech being snobbish about it all. These fights happened often but never thought about once they were over. It happened and then it's done. That's it. It wasn't pondered upon again nor brought up.

"You two... Why do I always walk into this room to find you both arguing? I don't think I've ever come in here to where you two weren't arguing." Their words faltered as they turned to the doorway. Long brown hair draped down over broad shoulders. Gentle green eyes complimented pink lips that curved into a smile. Gilbert turned all his focus from Rodriech to the one who, he believed, deserved his attention most. Elizaveta leaned against the doorway with crossed arms as she stared at the two bickering men.

Rodriech scoffed, turning sharply away from the two to face his piano again. "That is impossible since this buffoon always visits." Even though he turned away, out of the corner of his eye he observed Gilbert.

Gilbert blinked before laughing once more, walking towards Elizaveta. "Well, since you've stayed with him, I haven't been able to argue with you anymore. So, I've moved onto this stuck up noble!" When he spoke with her, his tone was much different from the one with Rodriech. Playfulness and the faintest hint of friendliness layered his words. Only Rodriech seemed to catch this for Elizaveta furrowed her brows as a smirk played across her lips.

"Ha, seems so. I pity Rodriech for having to endure your lame arguments. I always found them to be a waste of time." She, too, had the littlest touch of playfulness as well but did so unintentionally. "Unlike you two, I have important things to do."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Gilbert smirked back.

"Like picking up some flowers in town." Elizaveta replied. "The ones in the dining room are wilting and I thought getting some fresh ones would be better." She gave them both a fake scolding stare before continuing. "Well, I'll leave you two to your fighting. I'll be back after I get the flowers, okay?" And with that, she left the room once more.

Gilbert stared after her, the smile on his face still hanging there. He always was fond of Elizaveta... Even when they were little. Of course, he couldn't really show that back then since he thought she was a guy. A guy liking another guy back then was frowned upon greatly, if you wish to sugarcoat it, so he just shoved his feelings down and denied them. However, she wasn't a guy so where's the hurt in showing his feelings now?

"When are you going to tell her?" Rodriech's teasing voice broke the Prussian's thoughts. Gilbert chuckled lightly, turning to him.

"What do you mean?"

"You like her. It doesn't take a genius like me to figure that out. I'm surprised how little you seem to hide it."

It was amusing how obvious he made it yet the only person who didn't seem to catch on was Elizaveta. Gilbert looked over at Rodriech, shaking his head.

"I'll tell her... when she gets back." He responded sincerely. "I had to prepare what to say, you know?"

Rodriech couldn't help but laugh at the words coming out of the other's mouth. "You? Preparing? I never thought someone with your confidence and ego would need to prepare a confrontation of any sort."

Gilbert shrugged and scratched the back of his head. Yeah, even he couldn't really believe that he needed to prepare for this. He didn't give a shit about what anyone said with anything he did cause, well, he didn't care. But when it came to confessing to Elizaveta, it was something he just had to think over.

"I'm just full of surprises, aren't I?"

Fast forward

Two days after that day, Elizaveta didn't come back. She left to gather flowers but never returned. Usually, that wouldn't be pondered on that much since there were tons of harmless possibilities for that. She could've forgotten and went back home. She saw another nation and hung out with them. She remembered things to do and went to do that. She was pulled aside by her boss and had to tend to things in her own country. There were tons of things that could've happen, but that wasn't what changed Gilbert's life.

A blink of an eye was all it took before he lost his chance to confess. A blink of an eye was all it took before Elizaveta left the room to get flowers. A blink of an eye.

About an hour after Elizaveta left, a bomb exploded two miles away. That bomb was followed by four more that shook the entire place. It hit the town with the second bomb and the others scattered about in various areas around. Half of Rodriech's house collapsed due to this but, fortunately, him and Gilbert were not heavily injured. Only minor scrapes and bruises.

The reason for bombings concerned Rodriech greatly. Turned out that because of the apocalypse, government officials in many nations decided to bomb their own countries in an attempt to get rid of the infected. A dumb decision but who knows what people would do in this situation. Since Rodriech's house was always secluded from citizens (it gave him a noble, expensive feel to it- and that's how a majority of all nation houses were), they weren't aware of the start of the apocalypse. Life was still as perfect as ever there. They were oblivious to the start of the end of the world... until now.

Unlike Rodriech, the bombs were not Gilbert's main worries. He was worried about Elizaveta.

"Where is she? Is she okay? Rodriech, tell me, is she okay?" Gilbert asked hurriedly as he paced one of the debris infested rooms.

"Gilbert..." Rodriech said slowly and calmly. He just got back from asking around whoever was still alive if they saw a woman fitting Elizaveta's description. He even went to the flower shop she said she was going to. No one knew anything about her whereabouts or her living status. The only thing that gave any hint on what happened was...

"She said she'd be back with flowers. Why hasn't she come back?!" The man was in utter distraught. Rodriech knew he was trying not to accept the only logical explanation for why she didn't return. "Flowers don't take long to gather, right?! You just pick a pretty batch and buy them!"

The Austrian sighed, walking over to him. "Gilbert... Please, calm down." He put a hand on the male's shoulder, trying not to get him even more worked up. "Look.. No one knew what happened to her. No one saw her. I went to the flower shop and found-"

"Found? Found what? What did you find?"

"I... I found this." Rodriech took out a scrap of Elizaveta's dress. It was a light green, the color that always complimented her eyes, but appeared like it was dipped in a dark red on one end. Gilbert stared at it and felt his face lose all color.

Shakily, he took the scrap of fabric and simply held it like it was a crystal about to break. No, no. This couldn't be hers. This couldn't be her clothing. This couldn't be her blood- no. Not that. It can't be that. Oh, but even with his thoughts of denial he couldn't ignore that fact. Did this mean she was...

"I'm sorry... Gilbert. Truly, I am. I'm sorry." Rodriech apologized, his face etched in pity and sadness. Gilbert didn't say anything back. His attention was all on the fabric and only the fabric. This couldn't be true, it could not be true.

"No. No. Don't be sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for." The Prussian exclaimed, shaking his head. "Why are you sorry? Nothing happened. We'll wait here. She'll come back with the flowers she went to buy. Yes, that's what's going to happen. We just have to wait." He nodded, convincing himself that's all. "We will wait."

They waited for a week which then turned to two. On the third week, Rodriech decided it was time to go along. Ludwig did tell them if anything happened they were to report to Berlin.

After some manipulation, Rodriech managed to get Gilbert to go to Berlin. He told him they'd leave a note at the house telling Elizaveta that they went to Berlin and were following Ludwig's orders. If she were to get it, then she would arrive at Berlin.

"We'll wait there for her, okay?" Rodriech informed. "Your brother told us to go there so we should head here. When Elizaveta comes back... she'll read the note and come with us. Okay?"

Gilbert agreed to that and the two started their journey to Berlin.

Unfortunately, it wasn't as smooth as they were hoping for. Another bomb was dropped that erupted chaos with everyone still living which resulted in more destroyed buildings and damage. In the midst of that, Gilbert and Rodriech were split up in the midst of the chaos.

Gilbert made it to Berlin first, half expecting to see Elizaveta there. Rodriech joined him a month later.

Ever since the Prussian arrived, he waited anxiously by the door for the Hungarian to walk through. It was like he was a dog waiting desperately for its owner to come back. But its owner had long gone. We all know dogs though. They don't understand and wait hopeful for the impossible.

She was dead. Elizaveta was dead and the main reason why Gilbert was so in denial for her death was that he waited too long to tell her how he felt. And now... his confession was too late. He would never get to confess. Never.

...

The next story that desires to be told is the first Berlin inhabitants.

Ludwig, Feliciano, and Lovino were there at the start. Feliciano and Lovino were talking over with Ludwig about the whole disturbances in the world and how they felt something was wrong. That's when the breakout first happened. They had it easy on getting to Berlin since... well... they were already there. However, that didn't take away all their problems. There were still dangers to deal with there.

Gilbert arrived at the doorstep silent and reserved a month after the start. Rodriech arrived a month later, his whole demeanor at a loss with its usual pretentious and high class manner. Then a couple weeks after that Antonio came staggering up.

"Feliciano, there's someone at the door." Lovino mumbled absentmindedly as he took a glimpse at the approaching figure. The breakout didn't really effect him and his attitude. Maybe the slightest bit of change was that he wasn't that rude to anyone anymore. Sure, he still had that hard, "I don't care" exterior but it wasn't as obnoxious as it was before.

His brother nodded at that and quickly went down to greet the new comer.

Antonio didn't even have the time to knock before the door swung open before him. He blinked in surprise and looked up to see Feliciano standing with his eyes wide and mouth open.

"Antonio! It's you! You're here!" Feliciano exclaimed happily. He ran over to the Spaniard and immediately pulled him into a big hug. Antonio flinched a bit at that but, him being him, put up his fake cheerful facade and hugged back hesitantly.

"Si, mi amigo. I'm here..." He responded quietly, his tone not matching his fake smile. Feliciano didn't take notice of that and quickly pulled him inside.

Ludwig had taken notice of the Italian's excitement, which was something that never happened anymore on such a high degree, and came downstairs to see what was going on. When Antonio came to view, he cracked a small smile.

"Hello, Antonio. I see you've made it. Welcome." Ludwig greeted, making a motion for Feliciano to give the man some space. He did so and Antonio nodded and went up to Ludwig.

"It was a long journey but... I'm here." He spoke in such an odd tone for himself. Despite his forced smile, his eyes told a different story. It's usual vibrant and lively green was now shattered and darkened with events from the past. It was as if a once strong lion that had such a lively aura about him was now shot down by a hunter and left cowering in the shadows in its own misery.

Antonio was an empty shell. His appearance was one thing but inside he was nothing. That was before he saw him again.

"What are you guys being so excited about, huh? Did my stupid brother find another bag of pasta? Fratello, I told you we can't make pasta because we don't have any fucking tomatoes." The irritated voice of Lovino came bouncing off the walls as he came trotting down the stairs. Once he turned the corner, he saw Antonio standing at the door way.

Both men froze where they were. Antonio's empty complexion suddenly revived with life as his dull eyes shined once more. His whole demeanor changed when he saw Lovino come into view. Lovino felt his mouth open slightly in surprise, just like how Feliciano did. His body relaxed a bit from his tense posture as he slowly took steps towards Antonio. Was this really him? Antonio? That annoying Spaniard?

"Lovi..." Antonio choked out quietly as he felt a genuine smile break across his face. When he spoke, Lovino suddenly broke down in tears and ran over to him.

"Fuck you!" Lovino sobbed, burying his face into Antonio's shoulder. The Spaniard chuckled and pulled the Italian into a tight yet warm hug as if afraid to let go. "Fuck you! You fucking jerk! I thought you were dead! Why didn't you come here earlier?! Dammit, I wasted about three days crying over your pathetic ass!"

Everyone there knew Lovino was just being emotional and showing his care. He always did in the most colorful of ways. Antonio laughed at his words, running his fingers through his hair as the hug continued. "I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. I had to travel by foot most of the time, you know. Spain isn't that close to Germany when you don't have an airplane. Plus, you wouldn't believe the things I witnessed on my journey over here. There was this girl who tried to tou-"

"Shut up. Shut up." Lovino silenced him through his racking sobs. "I don't want to hear about it. You talk too much. Dammit. Just... Just stay here. Don't leave. Stay here, don't go away. I waited for nearly three fucking months for you to come by. Don't go leaving me again." Of course, he thought that since this wonderful thing happened something bad would follow. In a world like this, its only logical to get suspicious when something very good happens in your life. You expect something even worse to trail behind to even out the events.

That did happen... But not in the way Lovino had thought. It wasn't him losing Antonio again. It was Antonio losing him.

Thud Thud

"Coming, I'm coming." Lovino called out in annoyance.

It was three weeks after Antonio's arrival. He had gotten settled and everything and became a part of the Berlin pack. Everything seemed well since everything was going well. It was only time before danger crept up on them.

"Cut it off, will you? I said I'm coming!" Lovino spat out irritably as the knocking at the door grew louder. Even though it was the apocalypse, urgent knocks still annoyed him. Besides he was closest to the door and everyone was either in the living room or in their own rooms. Rodriech and Gilbert were in their own rooms at the time since that's where they usually were nowadays.

Sighing, Lovino reached door and unlocked it. Suddenly, the door was slammed open as a group of four men piled inside. They weren't nations, that was obvious from the start. They were regular humans who decided to raid this place and even take it over.

One of the men, the leader to be exact, shoved Lovino up against the wall as he held a knife to his neck.

"Are there others here?" The man snapped at the Italian, the knife pressing even more to Lovino's neck.

"Why would I tell you?! Get the fuck off me." He hissed, trying to push the male away from him. This wasn't a good thing. What if they took over this building? All the nations who survived would come here. It would be terrible if they came but came to nothing, or worse...

The man glared at him as he started to see Lovino as a nuisance. He looked over at the other three men beside him and motioned for them to split up to check the place. "Look around. If you see anyone, kill them. They'll only slow us down."

At that, Lovino felt his face pale slightly. Squirming, he tried to get out of the man's hold. "Feliciano! Ludwig! Antonio! Gilbert! Rodriech! Help! There's people here trying to take over this place! Feliciano! Anto-"

Slice

In a second, Lovino felt his words cut short as something cut deep into his neck. He gasped as the arm holding him to the wall released him.

Lovino collapsed to the ground, holding a shaking hand to his neck. Blood flowed in drastic amounts from the deep incision the knife made. It seeped through his fingers as he tried to cover it up. But it was no use. Nothing could save him now. It was only a matter of precious time before-

"Lovi? Lovi! Oh no, oh no, oh no." Antonio's worried voice echoed around the dying Italian. Lovino felt a pair of hands quickly slip underneath him and hold him up. Before he knew it, he was staring up at a pair of tear filled forest green eyes from his beloved Spaniard.

"A-Antonio.." He gasped, feeling his words send more daggers into his neck. Talking hurt like hell and breathing was becoming harder to do by the second. Antonio shook his head desperately as he put his own hand to Lovino's wound, trying to stop it from bleeding and save him.

"Don't speak. Y-You're going to be all right. Y-You will!" He sobbed, staring down at the dying man in his arms. Lovino shook his head in disagreement, knowing for a fact he was dying. Tears began to stream down his cheeks as well as he stared up at Antonio.

This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening. All was well before. This couldn't be it. But, the hard truth for both of them was that it was happening. It took him a second to open the door. A second to realize his mistake. A second to for the man to trap him. A second for his life to be taken away.

Lovino gasped for air as he cried in Antonio's arms. Unable to form a sentence, he merely desperately held on to the life that was pooling in large amounts beneath his body. Antonio was in hysterics as he kept telling Lovino the same thing over and over: "stay alive" "you're going to be okay"

"T-Toni..." Lovino choked out, his eyes faltering. He raised his hand in an attempt to touch the Spaniard's face as he mouthed words he desperately tried to get out. "I-... sorry... ti-.. am-.." He gasped once more as his brows furrowed in defeat. With that, the hazel eyes dulled and the hand barely touching Antonio's cheek fell to its owner's side. Lovino's mouth relaxed as words failed to come out anymore. His body suddenly became heavier in Antonio's arms, causing the other's breathing to hitch.

"Lovi?" Antonio breathed, terrified at the sudden calmness. He shook the Italian in his arms for a response. Nothing. "Lovi?" Nothing. "Lovino?" Nothing. "Romano?" Nothing.

Feliciano, Ludwig, Gilbert, and Rodriech came running down the hall to where Antonio was. They'd just taken care of the four men that entered. They all halted when they saw the pool of blood and body of Lovino. Antonio didn't even acknowledged them for all his focus and attention was on his beloved in his arms.

"Fratello?" Feliciano quickly came down beside Antonio as he saw his brother. "Fratello? Wake up, big brother. Why are you taking a siesta now? Wh-What's the matter? Antonio, why isn't he w-waking up?" Antonio didn't even look at Feliciano. He couldn't. That was an action he simply could not do.

At the silence he received, Feliciano started to feel tears race down his cheeks. At the sound of his whimpers, Antonio lost it. He broke.

Screams pierced through the air as Antonio bowed his head over Lovino. He screamed in pain despite never being wounded. He cried till no tears were left to cry. He felt the world around him collapse to the ground as he held the dead body of the one he loved most in the world. Through his tears, Antonio saw the still face of the Italian who always caused him trouble. The one who always called him names and criticized every little thing he did. The one who was a pain in the ass yet the best thing to ever happen to him. He cried and cried till his tears mixed in with the blood beneath him. Trembling, Antonio lowered his forehead to touch Lovino's pale one.

"D-Don't be dead... Please don't b-be dead..." He begged, his words layered in grief. This couldn't be true. It couldn't be true...

But it was. Lovino, the first to fall in the house, lied dead in Antonio's arms. That was reality. It was no dream, no imaginative thought that didn't exist. It was real. He was dead.

About an hour after his death, he came back as a biter. Antonio cried even more at that since seeing his corpse become such a monstrous creature only made it worse. Ludwig deduced that the knife he was killed with was infected with whatever was in the biters and passed it to him. Henceforth, causing him to turn into one. Everyone knew he was gone and this was just his corpse being a puppet in death's little game. However, Feliciano chose to use this as a way to convince him he still was alive.

"He's sick! He's sick! Why are you going to kill him?" He exclaimed to Ludwig when he tried to tell him Lovino was a biter. "We just need to find a cure to heal him! Ludwig... Please don't kill my brother. We can help him! Just don't kill him..."

That's when Ludwig made the decision to chain him up in the basement. He couldn't just let Lovino's biter roam free. It would kill them all. So, since Feliciano begged him not to kill the biter, he had to comply and lock it up downstairs where it wouldn't hurt anyone. That's where he was put and that's where he's been all this time.

After his death, Antonio retired back to his blank, broken state. His revived happiness drained away like before and there was no way of gaining it back. It was gone forever.

...

Stories like this couldn't be mentioned or implied without going in depth. No stories should be silenced. Every person's stories is as important as the next. Doesn't matter what you've done in life or what your background is. Every person's story is important. You can't have a story that doesn't matter. Every story connects to each other somehow. It might not be noticeable at first but as time goes on, the connection is shown.

These stories were important to share. Why? It gives you, dear readers, the feel of those who tended to stay silent behind the shadows of other characters. So you connect more with their story and feelings. This could be good and bad- however you choose to perceive it. Come back and let me know whether it was good or bad once you finished this story. You'll find out for yourself if this added information was helpful or not when it comes to the upcoming chapters.

Trust me. These next chapters will be a wonder. I pray you won't hate me too much for what is to come. The end is drawing near; that is inevitable. Chaos is erupting. Lives are at stake. Secrets will soon be revealed.

Bundle up. There's an east wind coming.