We Are Zodiac (Hetalia Fanfic)

Chapter 19

The border between Washington and Idaho was drawing nearer. Alfred felt it on a plane of understanding he couldn't quite put his finger on. Somehow, he just knew. 

'That little monument I made for them... It's farther south, though.' His frown had deepened noticeably, but no one commented on it. It was best to leave him to his thoughts, they knew.

The same went for Lithuania at the moment. He wasn't talking to anyone and hardly eating what he needed to keep up his strength. Poland had been carried off the day before, and that night Liet had offered to take the first watch. He hadn't woken anyone up until dawn.

'Why did he stay up all night? I would have thought he would want to at least get a little bit of sleep' England thought to himself. Then he berated himself. 'You wouldn't want to sleep after your best friend was carried off, either.'

The Pend Oreille River came in sight as they were right on top of the border. Since they were still walking on the road, a signpost marked its exact location. "Welcome to Idaho" the sign said in sun-faded letters. 

~

The Priest River came and went. However, with one less country in their group, they traveled slower than they had before. It took them three days to reach a city called Sandpoint, and even then they had to skirt around it.

That is, until Alfred took a look at the map and was delighted to see a Walmart Supercenter listed near their very location. 

"Guys! We should totally go there!"

"Vhat's "zhere"?" Ludwig asked, peering at the map as well. "A Valmart?"

"Guyyys," Alfred whined. "There's a camping gear section! And food! And medicine! We have to go check it out."

"... Sì. We-a need more supplies," Lovino chimed in. "Let's go and-a see what's-a there."

"Alright," Ludwig said after a shallow sigh. "Ve can stop und see vhat is zhere. Ve just can't stay for too long."

"Okay," Mary agreed. "Then let's get there before the sun sets, and we'll ransack the place."

"Yeah, baby!" America cheered as he held up a fist to Mary. She smirked and bumped fists with him before shouldering her pack and following along. 

Lithuania remained silent the entire time.

~ 

"The doors don't work. Of course," Alfred muttered after he'd sprinted across the entire parking lot to reach the Supercenter first. It was no big deal for him to pry the doors open, though, and they stayed open once they were pushed back all the way. Then he turned and waved to the others before disappearing inside.

The first thing that struck him was the multitude of dust that was everywhere. He had to hold in a sneeze after only a few seconds of breathing that stale air. A musty odor wafted into his nostrils, and only then did he let loose his sneeze.

"Ugh," he groaned, wiping at his nose before moving past the check-out stands and down a main aisle that went past baby clothes and underwear. The sporting goods section had to be around here somewhere... "Ah-ha!"

The others in his "party" were just coming through the front doors when he busted open a case of ammunition and started loading his pockets with the right caliber for his pistol. When that was done, he moved on to examine the knives and other weapons sitting inside their protective glass cases.

He selected a hunting knife with a serrated blade and a sheath with straps. This one was an inch and a half longer than the one already bound to his thigh. His other one was a little short for his liking, so this would fix that problem. Still, he planned to keep the first blade as a back-up in case he needed it later on in life.