Homeless (a Hetalia Fanfic, Book Three)

Cananada...?

A rapid beeping noise cut through the torrential rain that reached Matthew's ears every time he and Vale ceased their teleporting to wait and see if it was smart to continue closing in on Alice's location. Vale and Matthew both glanced at the tracking receiver, which revealed that they were getting very close.

"Eugene isn't that far from here," Canada commented, sparing a quick glance to the west. The very edge of civilization was just barely visible from their vantage point. Therefore, the deciduous trees around the duo did little to mask the trash-strewn highways leading up to the major city. The sight made Canada frown in concern; since when had the state of Alice's land gotten so poor?

'I don't like this' he thought, briefly thinking back to the epidemic that had wiped out numerous species of woodland animals that, only a few weeks before the epidemic came around, could not have been farther away from extinction. 

There were no more pine martens in Oregon. No wolves, foxes, and the beavers were now being closely guarded by animal protective services and the Oregon Department of Forestry. 'Does Alice even know aboot that...?'

"Come on, I think we should teleport just a bit closer," Vale recommended, and Matthew tightened his grip on her hand in response to that. The two of them disappeared and reappeared a few miles away, nearer to the city but still far enough away to still be in what was considered wilderness. 

And yet, when they arrived, they both had to shield their mouths and noses from a horrible stench that wafted up and permeated the air around them. The odor wasn't enough to make them gag, but Matthew could feel the reflex twitching with trepidation. His eyes widened at the sight before him: almost a dozen blacktail deer, their hides riddled with copious amounts of mangy patches and their bodies hideously bloated with decomposition.

"Oh, no... Not the deer, too," Matthew whispered to himself. What in the world was causing the wildlife to die off like this?

'It couldn't be the Darkness inside of Alice, could it? That would make the most sense, actually, since this hasn't been happening anywhere else.' All doubt was pushed out of his mind after arriving to that conclusion. 

"Hang on... She's not here," Vale said to herself, her lower face obscured by the neck of her shirt. "But the signal's over-- Oh, no..."

As if all the dead deer weren't bad enough, something that was a healthy flesh color peeked out from around the base of a fir tree. Vale had to skirt around two rotting does to reach it, but when she did she picked it up with a forlorn look on her face.

It was an arm, clad in a faux skin cover that was starting to slip off. The end where it attached to its owner was stained with a shiny, almost hauntingly pretty red.

"... It's hers, isn't it," Matthew guessed with a sickening turn of his stomach. "Vale?"

"I hate to think how the Darkness knew about the tracking device," the Scribe stated morosely. "Not even Alice knew... And I know how that makes me sound, but trust me. I only had the best intentions when I put it in there."

"But there's b-blood on it," Canada pointed out as he picked his way over to stand in front of Vale. The taller of the two gingerly reached out and held up the bloodied end. "Wh-Why is that?"

"The Darkness tore everything out, or it tried to. This is the port," she explained. "Come on, enough of this. We can't afford to waste any more time talking."

"B-But where do we go from here, eh?" he asked quickly, his grip on the prosthetic tightening. "Can you track her some other way?"

"I can try, but what I can manage at this point isn't going to be as precise," Valasha answered. She took back the limb and slung it over her shoulder easily before taking his hand again. "Let's get back on her trail."