We Are Zodiac (Hetalia Fanfic)

Chapter Twenty

"More highway-a walking..." Lovino muttered under his breath as he trudged along. At least the clouds obscured the sun today.

This is getting old. Something new needs to happen before the boredom kills them off before the Zodiac can...

Their location: road 200 in northern Idaho. They'd skirted around Ponderay and Kootenai earlier that morning and were already getting close to the edge of the Kaniksu National Forest.

A winding, crazy-looking river met their sight, and with it came a humongous group of Pisces in the water below.

"Whoa!" Alfred exclaimed when he saw the water roiling with fish-people, and not the singing kind from Disney, either. "That's a thing."

"Definitely proceed with caution," Arthur said, keeping an eye on them as he continued walking.

The road went over the rivers and twisted around like a burrow of snakes. Below them, the Pisces stilled and stared up at the possible mobile meals.

"Uh, guys? They're looking right at us," Alfred reported worriedly.

"Just keep valking," Ludwig advised. "Zhey can't leave zhe vater."

Unsettled and definitely not comfortable with this, Alfred kept walking.

Meanwhile, Mary's stomach was doing a full-blown gymnastics routine inside her torso at the sight of the Pisces. She hadn't seen one since... since she went home to look for her family. 'Katie...'

Even though he was still wallowing in his own misery, when Toris glanced over at her he could plainly see that she was holding back tears. He stepped closer and put a hand on her shoulder while sending her a concerned look.

She tried to laugh it off as she brushed lightly at her eyes. "I'm fine, Toris. Thanks."

"If you're sure," the brunette said quietly. He dropped his hand to his side and forged steadily ahead.

At the end of the first bridge, however, a little welcoming committee seemed to be waiting for them.

Aquarius.

"Oh, no..." Lovino groaned, fear worming its way into his stomach. Why now? Why this?

"Have zhey seen us yet?" Ludwig wondered aloud. The group had halted as soon as the Aquarius had made their presence known.

"Uh... Yeah! Yeah, they have!" Alfred yelped.

The cluster of maybe a dozen Aquarius were surging toward them in a tidal wave of venomous fangs, vampiric hissing, and hateful glares.

"Those are Aquarius?" Mary asked as they drew nearer. "How do we fight them off?"

"They've got venomous fangs, they can burn you with their hands, and their reflexes are almost feline," Arthur listed while he drew out his pistol and loaded it. "We can't let them get too close, or we're goners."

"We-- We can't shoot them!" Mary exclaimed.

"They can spray their poison, too. Did I forget to mention that?" Arthur replied with authority as he took aim and squeezed the trigger. The gun kicked in his hand, and an Aquarius fell dead.

Mary shrieked and glared at the Brit angrily. "Don't do that again."

"Mary, we have to get across the bridge," Alfred tried reasoning as he also pulled out his gun. The Aquarius were closing in, shortening the distance between them all. "We can't dive off the bridge and we have to get to land. This is the only way."

"But we can rush at them and knock them out, or something!" Mary bargained, hammer at the ready in her right hand.

"Mary, ve're not discussing zhis," Ludwig stated firmly. "Ve're not risking our lives just to go easy on zhem."