Finland was perched on the front steps of the small farmhouse, letting his mind wander off in thought. He had long since lost track of how long they had even been there. The days only melded together, the longer they waited, and it was beginning to mess with his head. Sweden had busied himself with building up a perimeter. A handmade electric fence set up along the outskirts of the little farmland. He had it hooked up to an old generator they found on a supply run into the nearby town. At the moment, it was running on fuel, but Sweden was hoping to rig up a more permanent solution. Something about a small windmill to keep it running far after the fuel had gone. It might also be useful to keep the equipment, in the house, operational. Most of their appliances were electric, as well as certain medical supplies they had acquired. Some of the citizens had turned a nearby school into a safe house, complete with a hospital wing.

Unfortunately, it wasn't safe for long. Zombies quickly overtook their location, and the survivors were forced to flee, leaving most of their supplies behind. Fortunately for them. If only the sudden loss of so many lives hadn't taken its toll on Ukraine. She became feverish, around that time, experiencing sharp pain in her legs. They tried to get her to lay down, but Ukraine was far too stubborn to sit still. She insisted on not being some damsel in distress, and kept trying to keep herself busy. Right now, she was probably outside tending to her struggling crops.

Despite the slow decline of their population, Denmark was insistent that they would be alright. After all, if the horrors of war and famine hadn't destroyed them yet, then they should be able to handle a few undead. There was, of course, speculation on whether they should head to Japan, but it was voted too hazardous. They'd fought hard to secure this plot of land, and weren't going to let it go down easily.

Within the perimeter of the fence, Denmark had been setting traps. It started as small as trip lines, or snares, and slowly got more and more elaborate. To the point where he had set up stacks of farming implements, and sharpened sticks to catch any that managed to make it past the fence. Not that many did, but it was still a consideration. Denmark's traps didn't necessarily kill the zombies, but it at least stopped them from getting anywhere close to their current home.

"Hey, Tino."

Speak of the devil. Finland glanced up to see Denmark leaning right over-top of his head. "What're you doing out here?"

"Just thinking." Finland sighed, dropping his chin into his hands. His eyes shifting out over the farm. "Wondering if there's anything useful I can do." Course that wasn't completely what he was thinking about, but what good would it do to let him know.

"Well, that's good." Denmark stated, beaming. He planted a hand on Finland's head and used him to vault off the porch. "You can help me out."

Finland rubbed the spot on his head, and glanced up to see Denmark sling a bat against his shoulder. It's a wooden bat that had several large nails driven in a spiral pattern around the end. Wrapped tight to keep the wood from splitting, when he hammered them in. "What do you want?"

"I was gonna walk the perimeter, then into town for a supply run." Denmark beamed, rocking on the balls of his feet. "I could use a hand."

Finland sighed. "I don't know. I don't really like messing with these things."

"Come on. I won't make you touch any corpses." Denmark grabbed Finland by the arm, and hoisted him up. "I just want some company."

Finland decided to relent. It really wasn't worth his effort to fight hurricane Deny.

xXx

They switched the electricity off, at the gate, which lead out to the main road, and started in a slow circle around the perimeter. There was very light chatter, but not much, so they wouldn't alert any surrounding zombies. At least that's what Finland was trying to convince Denmark of. Denmark seemed to have a rather twisted love of dealing with these things. It was like a game to him. A lot of times he would just sit inside the fence coercing the zombies to attack the electrified fence. He would enjoy watching their bodies sizzle, and pop against the current. Often cheering when their heads would explode. They didn't get through very often, and if so, the traps would have definitely caught them. However Denmark liked to take it upon himself to take care of them. It was a tad worrisome, but, then again, at least he was finding a way to amuse himself. Knowing Denmark, he was likely to go stir-crazy without any form of entertainment. His bat swung playfully, in his hand, not seeming at all nervous about catching his leg on the nails. Very eager to play with his toy, in case some were caught on the fence.

As fore mentioned, there wasn't much danger of them getting through the fence, but if the corpses hung onto the wire for too long it could short out part, if not all, of it out. Also, by the off chance they had made it through, they needed to clean Denmark's traps, and dispose of the bodies.

Fortunately, none, within sight, had made it through. Which was good. Finland really didn't want to clean off a trap. He could deal with them, if he had to, but dead bodies were not his forte.

"There's one." Denmark ran up ahead, towards a zombie hanging onto the fence. He was slumped backwards, hands gripped around the wire. Denmark plucked a small hatchet from his hip, and sliced one of the hands off at the wrist.

Finland had to turn away, not liking to even see the blood splattering on Denmark's knuckles. He was never this squeamish before. Why did it bother him this way? Denmark gave no thought to it, as he chopped the other hand off, kicking the body away, through the wire. Finland would have liked to get rid of it. Burn it or something, but Sweden requested they leave it there. They may rot and start to stink up the place, but there always seemed to be less zombies around the areas they were left. They only seemed interested in living things, so maybe the smell hid that there was anyone alive here. There were a couple others laying around the fence as well, from past rounds.

Denmark settled the tip of the hatchet blade under the clinging fingers, proceeding to pry them off. He grinned, turning back to Finland. "See, no problem."

Finland sighed, wistfully. As hard as he tried, he couldn't break his melancholy mood. At least his friend was having fun. "Come on, mopey." Denmark wiped his hands off on his pants, and threw an arm around his compatriot. "We're about halfway done." Finland shied away from the touch, not wanting to get the blood on his clothes as well. "You really need to be more careful with things like that."

"It's fine. I'm careful enough." He started to lead him along the fence again. "What I'm mainly concerned about is why you've been so down lately."

Finland diverted his gaze. "We just haven't heard anything from the others, in a long time. I'm just worried for them, is all."

"It won't do you any good to do so. You should just put them out of your mind." Denmark said, rather offhandedly, barely noticing the fall in Finland's demeanor. "Easy for you to say." He mumbled lightly.

"Hey, there's another one." Denmark made his way over, but Finland didn't like the sight of this. The zombie had knocked over one of the posts, holding up the fence, and was caught in one of the tee-pee traps Denmark had set up. It was rather extraordinary that there was only one that used this opportunity to make it through. There was a small bit of fear that others had sneaked into their barrier, but there was no way any of them could be smart enough to avoid Denmark's traps. At least he hoped they weren't.

The zombie was skewered clear through its chest, with a long sharpened stick.

"Be careful." Finland warned.

"Way ahead of you." Denmark crept up closer, wringing his hand around the hilt of the bat. He reached it out, and jabbed his victim sharply. He didn't like that. The zombie growled at him, trying to twist around to grab Denmark, but he stepped out of its reach. "Alright, you." He positioned himself to swing, lodging the nails deep into its skull. However, when he went to pull it back out, it appeared to be stuck. It did get stuck often. Of course, he could use this to his advantage. "Stand back, Finny."

Finland took a few steps back as Denmark moved so that he could use the lodged bat to lift it from the spire. It took a great deal of strain, but it finally slid off the end and flopped upon the ground. He planted a foot on the zombie's back, and yanked the bat out. "Ha, there." He grabbed the zombie's arms and started dragging him towards the fence. "Watch out." Denmark gave a great heave, and flung the zombie over the fence. How he could stand the feel of that cold dead skin, Finland would never know.

"You don't think anymore could have gotten in, do you?"

"I doubt it." Denmark wiped his hands off on his pants. Apparently, a small part of him didn't like that feeling. "We can barely weave through here, I doubt they can figure it out."

"I suppose. I just don't like this fence being down."

"Well, let's fix it." Denmark stepped between the wires, and on to the other side. "Give me a hand, will ya?"

"But how will you get back over?"

"I'll just walk along the outside. It'll be fine." Denmark waved a dismissive hand to him, and bent over to grab the post. Finland made his way over to help. "Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"It's fine, just help me."

Finland relented, and helped pull the post upright, allowing Denmark to pound it back into place with his bat. "There, see." He beamed, slinging the bat back onto his shoulder, as they started off again.

Finland shook his head. "You're hopeless."

"If I was completely devoid of hope, then I'd be dead."

Finland's heart flipped, upon hearing that, but knew his friend never thought too much about what he was saying, and tried to play it off. "Not necessarily. You can just be lucky."

"Lucky, and full of hope." Denmark stated, waving a finger at him. "I'm just amazing, that way."

Finland couldn't help but crack a smile. "Yes, I suppose you are."

"And don't you forget it." He laughed, swinging the bat around again.

Denmark had to sling one more from hanging off of the wire, before they made it back to the main gate.

"Ok, now get in here, before something shows up." Finland called, opening the gate.

"Alright, already." Denmark chuckled, stepping in. "There's practically nothing around for miles. Other than the occasional strays, and I can handle them no problem." He swung the bat in a golf-like motion, letting the momentum carry him forward a few steps."

"I'm sure you can, but let's not test your amazing luck, shall we." Finland smirked at him, closing the gate, and switched the generator back on. There was a bright spark, from the switch, and the wired fence burst to life. A soft hum started to fill the air around them. Instantly, Finland relaxed. He trusted Sweden's inventions to keep them safe, and always hated when they had to cut the power.

"Here." Finland turned around to see Denmark toss another one of his inventions at him. It was a lead pipe with a piece of thick sharp shrapnel welded onto it, where it faced both ways. It may have been sturdier than his bat, but the wielder also needed to be more precise. Which may have been part of why Denmark didn't use it. Finland did have a handgun attached to his hip, but it was always good to have a backup. That being said, he still didn't want to go.

"Come on, Tino." Denmark laughed, nudging him towards the gate. "We cleared any undead out a long time ago. The most we might find is a couple stragglers."

Finland sighed, relenting, and followed him on out, continuing down the long stretch of road. He was right of course. Denmark had set up a wider perimeter of his traps, and all the others had been picked off on their other runs. The only sign of any dead still being around was when Denmark and Sweden made a run into town, a couple weeks back. They had run into a large swarm through a weak spot, in a fence. Most likely weathered, and beaten against so much that it finally broke. The two nations managed to get the bulk of the herd to follow them into an abandoned warehouse and sealed them in. They did accidentally lock themselves in too, but, of course, they were a lot smarter and made it out through a broken skylight. Unfortunately Sweden had slipped and tore a muscle in his left arm, trying to keep from falling from the slick roof. Since then, he had taken up the brunt of guard duty.

This seemed to be a story that Denmark found thrilling and adventurous. He was beaming as he re-told the tale to them. Finland was trying to tune him out as he attempted to mend Sweden's arm. They didn't have the proper equipment to fix it, so Sweden hasn't gotten full use of his arm back, and it still hurt. But at least it was functional enough to operate his sniper rifle.

"Y'know, I hope Lukas and Emil are doing alright." Denmark let out another off-handed comment, swinging the bat around again.

Finland's mood drooped again. Puffin had been coming by at least once a week to let them keep in contact with Norway and Iceland. However, the little bird hadn't been there at all for a week and a half, and Denmark was definitely getting disheartened. They all were, of course, but he was always the one to keep a weathered eye on the horizon for any airborne monochromatic specs.

"I'm sure they're alright." Finland stated mutely, eyes watching the small puffs of dirt pop up around his feet. "Probably just busy."

Denmark glanced over at his friend. He hadn't meant to say it out loud. "Yea, I'm sure they're fine. Resilient lot they are."

The shy smile, on Finland's lips, broadened. "Of course. Everything's going to be ok."

"Of course it will." Denmark beamed, throwing an arm around his shoulder. He pulled him in closer, grinning. The opposite hand still swinging the bat in the air. "Ya gotta stay positive, Tino. Can't let yourself get-"

Finland wasn't gonna hear what he shouldn't do, because they were both startled by a loud ping, following a woosh. Denmark dragged Finland into the tall grass, drawing his handgun. "What was that?"

"I think someone's shooting at us."

"Did you see where it came from?"

Finland scanned the area. It sounded like the bullet hit something metal, and whoever it was didn't seem to be shooting anymore. The only source of metal was a chain link fence, and a tilted stop sign. He didn't think it was tilted before. Finland started to ease out to take a look. There was a bullet hole right between the o in "стоп".

"What are you doing?"

"Something's strange." Finland stepped out towards the middle of the road.

"Do you want to get shot?"

"Of course not." Finland shook his head, eyes slowly scanning. "That shot was far too precise. If they wanted us dead, then one of us would-" He gasped, spinning around at the sound of another shot. A puff of dust was still drifting up from where it had hit.

"Hey, be careful!" Denmark moved to come out again. His thumb settled on the hammer of his handgun, creeping out behind Finland.

Finland reached a hand back against his arm. "Hold on." He spoke quietly, then something flashed in his peripheral. His eyes followed the flash until he found the source. "Over there." He pointed back the way they'd come, down the road. "I think it's Berwald."

"What?" Denmark narrowed his eyes to try and make out what was going on. Luckily, the sun was setting somewhere behind them, allowing them to make out a series of flashes. Sweden was flickering what must have been his flashlight, in Morse code, to tell them to come back.

"Is something wrong?"

"I don't know. Maybe we should head back."

Denmark scoffed, kicking out a leg to spin around. "It can wait. We need to get down there and back, before it gets dark." He started walking along, down the road again.

"I don't know. It could be important."

Denmark gave a short spin, again, using his leg for momentum. "Well, maybe I don't care. He shot at me, so he can wait." He started off again, and was stopped short, by another shot hitting in front of him. He spun around and growled. "STOP THAT!"

Finland was watching the light flicker again. "He doesn't want us to go into town."

"Well, we need to."

"Hold on." Finland ran back to grab his arm. "It must be important."

Denmark groaned, rolling his eyes. For once, he actually kept his mouth shut, and thought for a few seconds. "So, you think we should head back?"

"I do. He wouldn't stop us if it wasn't important."

"Ok, fine." Denmark started back towards the house, propping the bat on his shoulder. "Let's see what hubby wants."

xXx

"So, what was so important that you had to shoot at us?" Denmark called, making his way to the peak of the steep roof, where Sweden had taken up his post.

"I did not think I could stop you in time any other way."

Finland climbed out of the second floor window, onto the roof. "Why did you need to stop us?"

"That?" Sweden pointed out over past the road. From the roof, there was a clear view of the small town that they were previously heading towards. The tops of the small building were barely visible through what appeared to be a thick fog. Which wouldn't have been so alarming, except that it was a sickly yellow-green tint. It wasn't even a steady thickness. Some areas were saturated more than others, where small patches didn't seem to hold any coverage at all.

Denmark took a step closer, brows knitted in confusion on the town. "What is that?"

"Is it dangerous?"

Sweden shook his head slowly, his long fingers flexing nervously around the barrel of his sniper rifle. "Hard to say. I just didn't like the looks of it."

Finland turned to try and take in the rest of their surroundings. There was stretch of flat planes, outside of their electrified fence, then wooded area as far out as he could see. There appeared to be more patches of the strange fog escaping the canopy of trees. "This doesn't make any sense. Where did it come from?"

"It's too erratic." Denmark stated, following his gaze. "There has to be something causing this."

Finland wrung his hands, taking a step back. "You don't think it'll reach the farmhouse, do you?" He jumped, when Sweden's hand fell onto his shoulder, squeezing lightly. "Let us hope not."

Denmark was staring very intently at the mysterious fog. He plopped down on the landing, on the roof, swinging the sniper rifle towards him, on the pivot on the stand. "I'll take over the shift."

Sweden and Finland both glanced over at him, uncertain. Since when did Denmark start volunteering for guard duty? "You sure?" Finland asked skeptically.

"Yea, sure." Denmark waved a dismissive hand at them. "It's about time I took watch. You two go relax."

Sweden and Finland exchanged an unsure glance. Sweden shrugged, and started inside. Finland started to follow. "O-k? Let us know if you see anything else. I'll bring dinner up."

"That'd be cool. Tak." Denmark waved a hand, still not looking at him.

Finland still hesitated, but climbed in through the window.

Denmark sighed, drawing his knees up to his chin, hugging them close. He didn't know what this weird fog was, but as long as it was there they were trapped in the farm. As secure as their little farm had become, they always knew there would be a point when they would have to flee. Plus, Denmark had been plotting ways to head out and try to find Norway and Iceland. Now, any plans of escape were completely thrown out the window.

##

Hey, check it out. These guys are still alive.

I would also like to apologize if my writing is getting a bit more stagnated. I promise it'll get more interesting and plotty soon. I'm just in that small rut where I don't want to rush things, and need to get a certain number of information out there. I am going back to America's group next chapter, and then I'm getting back to Germany and them. I promise. Then, hopefully, when I'm done with there, everyone will FINALLY be together.

Oh yea, "Tak"- Danish for Thank you.