Lives were changed that's for sure. Mankind had seemed to give up. It gave up on evolution. Gave up faith. Gave up hope and new opportunities.

Life was high and hopeful. Wars between countries had settled down some and world issues were being fixed. Third world countries were getting the help they needed. Everyone lived in the rich luxury of hope and safety.

But as any hill, once the highest peak and climax has been hit, it must go back down.

The only problem, however, was that it wasn't a slow decline, oh no. It was like when you were a kid and tried to race down that one steep hill except your tire gets caught and you go tumbling. Yes, it was rapid and happened in the blink of an eye.

In the span of a few years, skirmishes had broken out and the world governments had been totally compromised. Everything went into shut down.

Countries hid in fear. The nations of the world hid their eyes and crossed their fingers, hoping they wouldn't dissolve. And just like that, snap, everything went up in flames. There was no such thing as borders and boundaries, no such thing as anything civilized. Countries were a distant thought, a Utopia never to be reached ever again.

Of course, there were communities that banded together, forming clans and tribes, trying to bring order back to the chaotic world.

And then something all together strange and unfathomable happened to the personified nations.

They became mortal.

No one thought it could get worse; but then it did.

An outbreak like no other in history. It was far from contained and mortality rate was increasing day by day.

The weird thing about it how ever was that everyone's body reacted differently from it. In some extreme cases, a few died within days; others could hold out for weeks, even months.

The symptoms were similar to that of the Black Death that had wreaked havoc during the Middle Ages. But it was way different in nature. It caused digestive problems and respiratory complications; it weakened your body and damaged your vision. It meddled with your brain after a while and caused some to go insane or completely berserk.

It was neither airborn nor connected to touch. There were rumors that even completely quarantined people had contracted it. No one knew how it was passed around but anyone could get it at any point.

It appeared in many different forms and levels.

There was no way to stop it.

-~o~-

Lukas cracked open his eyes slowly, not wanting to wake to the hell he lived in. Harsh light from flickering electric bulbs penetrated his lids and caused his headache to return tenfold. The bulbs were what remained in the house from before the mass collapse of society. Many of them had burned out and no one in the small household could find replacements.

On what would've been a normal day years ago, Lukas would have been up and drinking his normal morning coffee and listening to the normal news that broadcasted from the TV in his little kitchen. He would be listening to the normal chirps and tweets of birds outside. It would have been, as was said, normal.

But it wasn't.

Instead, as what became regular and almost familiar, Lukas slept in later. He dreaded the thought of leaving his bed, knowing that when he did, the hell of a nightmare waited for him. Instead of drinking coffee and eating a healthy breakfast, he scavenged what he could from last night's dinner. Instead of the sounds of birds, he fearfully listened to the common sounds of gunfire and explosions, crying and sometimes just sick silence.

Today was a day of sickly and mostly unbroken silence.

The somewhat weakened Norwegian also listened to the slightly nasally and of his younger brother's breaths. Something wet rattled in Emil's lungs and Lukas crossed his fingers in vain hope that it was just a simple cold or allergies.

He opened his deep, cobalt blue eyes and stared at the cracked and caked ceiling. He burrowed down into his blankets and brought them up to his chin. His body shivered some; were the seasons changing already? He hoped not. Winter was always death in gift wrap. Their small little community had had way too many losses on account of winter as is.

He turned onto his side and wrapped his blanket around Emil, snuggling closer for the combined warmth. He saw Emil's lips twitch somewhat upwards and the Icelander touched his older brother's knee lightly.

"Good morning, Ísland.." Norway spoke softly.

"I don't know why you insist on still using our country names when we are no longer nations...but good morning, Norge..." Iceland responded, a bit raspy. His violet eyes fluttered open to meet Lukas's.

"You sound a bit congested... You okay?" Lukas asked worriedly, brow furrowing some. Emil sighed, rolled his eyes. Lukas gave him a serious look. Emil nodded slowly and cuddled closer.

"I'm fine, its just a cold because I forget to wear warmer clothes when I was in the forest." Emil looked away sheepishly, a light flush covering his cheeks in guilty embarrassment.

"Okay, but be careful next time."

"I know." Emil moved in closer to his brother and closed his eyes again, pressing his forehead to Lukas's chest. Lukas slowly stroked Emil's silky white hair, humming. He hummed to the tune of an age old lullaby. Emil whimpered slightly. Lukas pushed him away some to look him in the eye.

"What's wrong?" He asked, eyes filling up with concern. He felt Emil's smallish hands tighten on the fabric of his shirt. This worried him more than he cared to admit. "Em?"

"I'm sick of this...this fucked up world..." The teenager whispered. "I wanted more to my life than this shit...I want to give up so badly..." He started shaking and cried a little. He looked so lost and hopeless, it broke Lukas's already strained and fragile heart.

"Don't say that... We'll all make it through this." Lukas insisted, hating the utterly broken tone of his baby brother's voice. His voice cracked a little at the end. He pulled Emil back to his chest. Emil buried his face into his brother's shirt.

"Are you sure?" He mumbled and nuzzled some. Lukas rubbed his back and tried to find words that weren't the terrible truth but weren't lying either.

Before Lukas could reply, though, the door to the sleeping area and kitchen joint room opened. Lukas felt his heart drop even more. Cigarette smoke could be smelled as heavy footsteps thudded into the room. Lukas knew exactly who it was and this habit was being to gnaw at him. There was a low cough that sounded from the person that had entered and they shuffled around some.

Lukas flipped onto his side, narrowing his eyes, pointedly. "Mathias, put that cigarette out now."

His tired blue eyes landed on the tall man leaning against the counter, cigarette hanging from between chapped lips. His blonde hair was shaggier than it used to be and he didn't put any effort into it anymore. It lay flatter, dirtied and unwashed. Dark circles were obvious under his eyes. His cheeks were a bit more hollow and a bit unshaven. He crossed his arms and bit down on the cigarette. With a roll of his eyes, he pulled it out, blowing out a wisp of smoke.

"Why?" His voice had gotten a bit more gruff, making Lukas mourn in his heart for old time's sake. Emil sat up some and rested his cheek on Lukas's shoulder, staring at the Danish man.

"Is there a need for him to give a reason?" The teenager's voice was irritated, still upholding that shattered tone. Mathias sighed with the knowledge he was upsetting the two most important people in his life. He dropped the little piece of smoldering death and stomped it out with the heel of his foot.

"Better?" Lukas dropped back onto his back and closed his eyes. The Dane smiled softly with a look of deep love. Mathias walked over and knelt next to the bed, setting his chin on the thin mattress. "Norge~"

"Hm?" He moved his hand and rested it on Mathias's head. Emil lay his head on Lukas's chest and grabbed Mathias's hand. Mathias rested his other hand on Lukas's arm in turn.

The three of them sat in comfortable silence, their eyes closed, as they tried to grab at hope and peace for the first time in what seemed like forever.

One thought echoed through Lukas's mind.

Was this a chance at a restart in life or was it truly their death sentence?