Roman Roulette - Countryhumans America x China

Dragon

"Kill them." 

The command was clear.

America blinked. "Excuse me?"

As if someone was controlling my limbs, I moved fluidly, ducking and rolling America out of the way of the pistol's aim. I knocked a chair over ourselves and braced for impact. America screamed next to my ear, and I grunted in an effort to shield her. 

Knowing that staying still meant serious pain or death, I pushed America aside and dove under Italy's desk as two more shots rang clear. The Russian had surprisingly bad aim, but he didn't care that he wasn't doing a good job. 

"Kill them, kill them," Italy kept chanting from his corner. I crawled over to Italy and pushed him in front of me, hoping that Russia wouldn't dare touch his ally. 

Italy yelped frantically, pushing me away. The burly man aimed straight at us, and in horror, I realised that Russia didn't care if he injured his business partner. Ducking again, I decided that our only chance was to run away. With luck, the two wouldn't pursue us. 

I caught America's eye and motioned towards the door. Instead of going towards it, she remained rooted on the spot, shaking her head. Groaning, I pushed over the desk and sprinted towards the door. Another two bullets right above my head froze me, and I involuntarily rolled onto the floor. The stern voice of my martial arts teacher rang clear.

"Who are you?" he would demand. "who are you?!"

"I am China," I would say. 

"No. No, not China," he would take out a bamboo stick. "You are the dragon, lóng. Fight like a dragon!"

Dragons have wings and fire. Dragons don't have a debt. Dragons aren't real. 

It seemed that Russia had grown tired of his pistol and threw it on the ground, reaching into his pocket to produce an arsenal of knives. He then retired to old-fashioned methods of knife-throwing. He was much, much more accurate with it. I reached America in three steps before I felt a white-hot flash near the soft base between neck and shoulder. Millimetres away from my windpipe. I ripped the object out and threw it on the floor with a fluid motion. 

"America!" I abandoned all pretence. "the door, the door!" She barrelled into the door, knocking it down and ran.  It was lucky that we ran fast enough because I saw a knife blade stuck into the carpet nearby. Another two followed, almost hitting me another time. "Follow me!" I ordered. She obeyed without comment, eyes wide and panting. 

"China! You're bleeding," She gasped. 

"Let's get to the room first," I said, out of breath. "I can't feel it much." That was a lie. Every step I took felt excruciating. One never knows how connected the body is until they get injured. I gritted my teeth and kept my pace. We sprinted out of the maze blindly, wildly searching for a way out. To our relief, there was no pursuit. 

"China!" America called. "Stop. We need to figure this out."

"No, no." I shook my head like a batting ram. "We need to move."

"Wait," she took my shoulder. "it could be a trap. They might want us to go this way."

"Then where should we go?" I snapped. "back there?"

She pointed upwards. "What we should be doing is following the fluorescent 'EXIT' signs," she said reasonably. We scampered down, following the signs and eventually found a stairwell that led down. Bright, dazzling sunset streamed into my eyes and I let out a fresh sigh of relief.  

America glanced at me. "You should go to the hospital," she looked at my neck. "it looks serious."

"I'm not going to any place that is partnered with that vile duo," I hissed. I placed my hand gingerly on the site to find it all wet and warm.