Countryball AFOW Book 1

Chapter One

'Twas a normal day at the EU headquarters in Brussels. Greece was begging for money, the Netherlands was smoking some high quality weed in the corner, and Germany was demanding poor countries pay their debts. And of course, Poland was cleaning toilets. It was what he did best. "Wow," he thought. "I never thought there were THIS many toilets in the EU HQ. At least I'm done!" Poland put away the cleaning utensils in the storage closet and walked over to Germany for his paycheck. Jesus, it felt like having to walk a MILE to get across the building. Although finally, Poland found Germany rushing down a hall. "My pay?" Poland asked. "Oh yeah, um, here it is, forgot about that." Germany handed over the check to Poland. There was some sort of anxiety in Germany's voice. Something Poland had heard only a few times before. It was very shaky and light, delicate as a thin shard of ice compared to a solid ice chunk. Germany turned away and rushed off down the hall towards France's office. Poland wondered what was going on, because Germany has been acting this way for a while. Poland's curiosity got the best of him. He had to know what was going on. Poland crept down the hall, barely able to keep up with Germany's rabbit-like pace. Germany turned a sharp corner. Into France's office, he thought. Poland hid in a bush outside the door. France greeted Germany as he came in. "Hey," France said. "I have a lot of concern about Italy. He's been feeling really sick, even to the point where he's lost all train of thought." "I think I know what's going on. People in Italy want a new Italy. A newer, stronger Italy. One that refuses to be poor or weak," France replied. "Does this mean revolutions in Italy are soon to come?" Germany said."Other nations have been showing the same signs. Switzerland says places like Yugoslavia, the Horn of Africa, and even Brazil show said symptoms," France continued, "But that doesn't mean revolution. It may pass and all will turn out fine, so don't get too worked up." This soothed Germany, knowing someone trustworthy like France would always be there for him. "Thanks. I really need to take a vacation, to be honest." France agreed. "Anytime you need me, you know where to find me." "In your office?" Germany said. "No, silly, selling baguettes!" Germany and France laughed. Even Poland had to suppress a giggle. "Well, see you later, France!" "Bye!" Germany walked out of the office. Poland squeezed deeper into the bush to conceal himself. Germany walked straight by. After Germany was out of sight, Poland dived out of the bush and walked into the main lobby. Everyone in the lobby was panicking. The TV's were showing live coverage of a revolt in Ethiopia. It was the one France was talking about. Germany was frozen in shock. Poland didn't even know how long Germany had been there. He slowly walked over to Lithuania while watching the TV, and when Poland turned to Lithuania, he was met with a face of pure horror. Lithuania said to him, "I can't believe it. It's...happening." Poland replied saying "What do you mean...?" Lithuania stood there in silence with the same look on her face like everyone else did. Poland looked at the screen. It was a giant bloody battleground, people torturing each other to death, children being killed while the killers laughed... it was the most gruesome scene he had ever seen. Even he stood there in shock. It was like WW2 all over again. Poland looked away in time to see Switzerland bursting through the door with a completely aghast look on his face. Every country in the lobby turned to see Switzerland yell out "We've got revolutions spreading across the Horn of Africa- oh." Switzerland looked at he TV's. They already knew. Everyone turned back towards the televisions. Switzerland joined them. A breaking news announcement aired on the TV. It said, "Djibouti and Eritrea have fallen. The rebels formed a nation called "Fascist Abyssnia." Revolts of the same ideology have begun in Serbia and Croatia. All NATO nations, send reinforcements and supplies. Thank you for listening to this emergency broadcast." The announcement ended and the TV's shut off. Poland noticed in the corner of his eye that Germany had stepped up to the podium. Nobody but Germany had moved. It was so quiet that it felt like the silence was loud. You could practically hear the shock in the silence. Germany began speaking into the mic. "All EU nations not in NATO do not have to participate. All EU nations not in NATO, please step to my left. All EU nations in NATO that only want to send supplies, step to my left. All other nations step to my right." Poland had to decide. Did he want to stay protected or fight against fascists? Hard decision. All the strong nations that wanted to fight went to the right. The Baltics went to the left. Balkans to the right to defend their area. Western Europe to the right. Scandinavians went to the left. Switzerland just walked out of the building in silence. Poland looked over as if to tell Lithuania to stay safe and go to the left. She was gone. Poland looked for her... and there she was. On the right. There wasn't any way in hell Poland would let Lithuania fight without him. He went to the right. Everyone finished up moving and Germany spoke out again. "Good decisions. Left, we need you guys to stay on lockdown and back us up with supplies. Right, your helicopters should be here soon. EU-NATO nations will take care of the two Balkans, the rest of NATO's got Africa." Everyone nodded. Germany began counting heads to make sure everyone was there. "Alright, everyone's here... wait...

...where's Italy?"