With only Gilbird for company

"Now" Ludwig said to himself "Where am I?" He looked around the inside of the room, he was in a typical hallway with mahogany coloured walls and a staircase at the far end. It was dark and dreary. There was a door on his right side, he walked up to it and slowly opened it. He peered cautiously inside, there was nobody there so he walked in. It was a living room with soft, inviting looking sofa in the corner. Ludwig sighed, he was tired and his legs hurt, That sofa was very desirable at this point in time. He walked over to it and flopped down onto the cushions. Gilbird chirped and started to preen Ludwig's hair.

"I'm not that dirty am I?" he asked the bird, he looked down at his arms and ended up taking a whiff of himself "Ugh, perhaps I am" He settled further into the sofa "I shoud keep moving" he said outloud "I don't know when that thing will come back and I need a weapon" But he couldn't make himself move, instead slowly falling asleep.

The house seemed to be deserted, which was a good thing. Gilbert wasn't really in the mood to deal with anyone, friend or foe. The damned cockroach monster that managed to separate his previous group had gotten a good blow in and that fact pissed him off. "I am NOT getting soft," he snarled as he searched the house for a first aid kit to patch up the shallow gash on his right shoulder.

After locating the supplies he needed in the bathroom, his bloodied clothes were tossed carelessly on the floor. "Stop bleeding like such a bitch," he grumbled as he poked the wound.

He was in the middle of re-buttoning his shirt, having awkwardly cleaned and patched his shoulder, when he heard someone open the door. Gilbert froze, listening intently to the muffled, familiar sounding voice in the hallway. As a precaution, he flicked off the lightswitch and crouched next to the doorway, straining his ears to hear what sounded like...a chirp? Then the voice started up again, clearer this time. There was no mistaking who that was, a quick peek around the door proving his theory even more. He had finally found his brother.

He walked into the living room carefully, stopping a few feet away from the couch before quietly asking "Oye, West. Are you really asleep right now?"

A small grin graced his features as he crossed the remaining distance and nudged his brother. "Heey. Ludwig, wake up! Your amazing older bruder is talking to you! Pay attention!"

There was something poking at his side, Ludwig shifted, a bit annoyed at whatever the thing was. He heard a voice somewhere in the background, it was fuzzy sounding and he decided just to ignore it and continue sleeping. Whatever the thing was though, it kept on proding him and talking to him. Ludwig, reluctantly, groggily opened his eyes to see Gilbert's face grinning down at him.

"Gilbert, go away, I'm trying to sleep" he muttered before rolling over to continue snoozing. Wait, he thought, this doesn't look like my sofa and why would I be sleeping on my sofa instead of the bed? Suddenly everything came back to him and he jolted upright.

"Gilbert!" he cried "you're alive!" He was glad to see his brother, he was worried about him especially since he found Gilbird. Speaking of the bird, Gilbird took this as his cue to leave his perch on top of his head and fly over to Gilbert's head instead. Ludwig noticed there was a slight bulge underneath his shirt on his shoulder. "Gilbert? Are you alright?"

A smirk graced Gilbert's face as he waited for his brother's brain to catch up with him. Ludwig was so cute when he was off guard. He barely refrained from jumping in shock by his brother's sudden change in volume, though it was to be expected. After all, many people shouted while in his awesome presence, they probably couldn't contain themselves over how amazed they were of him. Or something like that. "Whoa Ludwig, what were you expecting? Don't go counting me out so soon!"

He smiled as he felt the familiar weight of Gilbird settling in his hair. He was ecstatic that his small feathered friend had managed to come back unscathed. He started to reach up with his right arm, but stopped and switched to his left when he felt a twinge of discomfort. Because calling it pain would make him a pussy. "You even had Gilbird with you! Awww Gilbird, I was so worried that something ate you!" he cooed, deliberately ignoring his brother's question.

Ludwig smiled as he watched his brother play with his pet bird, he noticed though, that his brother wincing as he reached out to pet Gilbird. Gilbert still had not answered and was clearly trying to ignore the issue. Ludwig pushed himself up off the sofa and stood up in front of his brother.

"Gilbert, would you answer me?" He asked. "You look like you've hurt your shoulder"

Ludwig reached out to touch the shoulder and, before Gilbert could get away, shifted the shirt up over the shoulder. The shoulder was inexpertly bandaged and Ludwig could see small spots of blood seeping through.

"Did you get attacked by one of things?" he asked already knowing the answer.

Ludwig's voice fell upon deaf ears as the albino played with the small chick on his head. Since he was distracted by the reappearance of his cute pet, Gilbert failed to notice the other until he was too close to avoid, tensing up slightly when his brother grabbed his shirt, relaxing with a sigh and allowed him to view his injury. Keeping secrets at this point would only trouble them in the future, especially ones that could hamper them in a fight. "It's not that bad Luddy...it's just a scratch. Compared to other injuries, this is just a scratch."

He wasn't keeping secrets from his brother, but that didn't mean he couldn't downplay it for his ego's sake. After all, he was telling the truth for the most part. It would heal fine and using his arm in battle wouldn't be too much trouble. It was just an annoying place for a wound. As for 'those things'...did that mean Ludwig had seen one too? "The cockroach blobs? You ran into them too? They attacked the group I was with earlier. Cheating bastard split into four! Kiku's sword couldn't even slice it. I was with him, Feli and Emma and none of us could do a damn thing to it. We all got split up trying to escape."

Still, if Ludwig had run into the same thing, then that meant that there could be more of these things laying in wait around the town. Everyone he was with was still in danger, even if they got away from the cockroaches from before.

Sighing, Ludwig rolled Gilbert's shirt back up over his shoulder. Gilbert was probably right in that the injury wasn't too bad, but still, he'll keep a watch on it, just in case.

"Cockroach?" he asked, the creature he saw did not look much like a cockroach but then again Vash did say that the creatures did not all look the same. "No, the creature I saw was more like..." he paused, he never really saw the creature properly, like it was constantly in the shadows and he found himself unsure of how to describe it "...like a huge black thing. It didn't split itself up anyway. I was with Vash when it attacked. I tried hitting it with a chair leg but it didn't really do anything. We got split up too"

He wasn't sure whether to glad at hearing that Feliciano, Kiku and Emma were with Gilbert, on one hand they clearly were alright but on they other hand it meant that they were also here as well and missing. They wasn't much he could do about it though, just hope that they were ok. That and try to find them. How many of them were here? All of them?

In the mean time Ludwig wondered what he and Gilbert should do next, the creatures clearly could attack at any moment and he still didn't have a weapon. "Gilbert? Do you have any weapons on you?"

Gilbert re-adjusted his shirt as he listened to Ludwig. So there were other types of creatures in this place? Damn, what a pain this was turning out to be. With a frown, he looked over at the couch his brother just vacated longingly. The nap that he took back at cockroach manor ended up draining him more than staying awake would have. It would be nice to lie down right now, but if Ludwig was unarmed as well, it was more important to get a weapon. "Nah, ...it.... ate my coat rack."

Right, weapons. Gilbert was just about to speak again when he was interrupted by his stomach growling. Now that he thought about it, when was the last time he had eaten? Hopefully, this house had a better choice in food, but just in case... he gave Ludwig a sheepish grin and asked, "Hey bro...You wouldn't happen to have any food on you, would you?"

Great, Ludwig thought as he heard his brother, we have no weapons. He wondered briefly how one would fight with a coat rack before deciding that it was best not to think about it. Hopefully there would be weapons, or something that they could use as a weapon, somewhere in this house.

"Perhaps we should look for some then" he suggested to his brother "If those things come in here, we don't really want to be unarmed"

He then heard a rather loud rumbling noise coming from Gilbert's direction. Ludwig stared at him and sighed when his brother asked for food. But, then again, he was feeling hungry too. How long ago was it since he'd eaten?

"Sorry Gilbert, I don't have anything. Maybe we could look for some food as well?"

Yes, looking for food seemed like a terrific idea! It was right under sleeping on Gilbert's list of extremely awesome ideas for the moment. Unfortunately, the sleep idea, while it sounded amazing, would have to be put off until they had managed to secure some food. Oh, and some weapons too, let's not forget that. In fact, weapons would be beneficial for warding off kitchens infested with cockroach monsters. Maybe they could find a flamethrower? That would show those damned insects.

Although a flamethrower did seem like a bit of a long shot, Gilbert was still going to search for one. After all, if this town was infested with monsters, who said its residents didn't keep flamethrowers in their homes either. This was starting to feel more and more like one of his video games. The only problem was that, unlike video games, he didn't get to reset when he died. Unless.....unless they did? But that was highly unlikely.

He gave his brother a nod and said, "We should look for food first, I don't know about you, but I don't think I'll be able to take on one of those things in this state."

"Yes, you're right" Ludwig nodded. "Come on then, the kitchen must be on this floor, let's get looking"

He went to leave the room and motioned for his brother to follow, he creeped slowly down the dark hallway ignoring the pain that was beginning to form on his. That thing must have flung him harder than he thought. He peered into the first room he passed and smiled when he saw that it was the kitchen.

Ludwig slowly walked in, keeping a careful look out for anything hiding in the dark corners of the room. There didn't seem to be anything hiding there, good. He grabbed hold of the handle of the closest cupboard and yanked it open. It was then he was hit by a most horrendous smell.

"What on earth?" There was food there, it may have once been fruit, it was now little more than slush. Horrible smelly slush.

With a nod, Gilbert followed after his brother carefully, testing the mobility of his right arm. It wouldn't go as far as he would have preferred, but at least he still had adequate movement in it. 'It would have sucked hardcore if I couldn't use this arm in a fight,' he thought as he scanned the area for movement that wasn't friendly. He followed Ludwig into the first room they reached, which was fortunately the much sought after kitchen. He was listening carefully for the telltale sound of scuttling in the cabinets, which would have warned them of any potential cockroach monsters that may have lay in wait for them, when the overpowering stench of rotting produce reached his nostrils. With a gag, his head whipped around to where his brother was standing, door open and rotten foodlike slush exposed. Were all the houses really going to be like this? It was getting ridiculous.

In two quick steps, he reached his sibling and pushed the cupboard door shut before ushering him out of the kitchen. There was no point in staying in the place if it couldn't help them. That, and the smell was ridiculous. After exiting the room, he turned to Ludwig with a chuckle. "Well, I guess the food here is worse than England's, though I didn't think that was possible."

It looked like the only option was to go to the store, where Kiku had stocked up on his supplies. In the meantime, they could search for weapons and maybe get some sleep in while they were at this house. After informing his brother of this option, he looked around for any potential doorways that screamed 'flamethrower here'. Yes, he didn't plan on giving up that hope.

Ludwig let himself get shoved out of the kitchen by his brother only too grateful to get away from the foul stench.

He listened to his brother's plan and Ludwig nodded in response, that did seem like the only option left. Sighing, he followed Gilbert in looking for weapons. He walked down the hallway and opened the two other doors that were on this floor. Seeing nothing of interest in either of the rooms he continued on up the stairs.

Ludwig entered the first room on his right, inside was what appeared to be a child's bedroom. Toys and clothing were still left lying across the floor, the bed unmade and a half eaten packet of crisps was left beside a half built lego model. What happened here? he wondered Everything was just abandoned and quickly Realising that there was highly unlikely to be anything to be found in this room Ludwig shut the door.

He turned to Gilbert, who had come upstairs before he had, "Have you found anything?" Ludwig asked "I haven't"

Deciding that Ludwig could take care of the rest of the bottom floor, Gilbert walked up the stairs to the second story. It wasn't as dark and foreboding as the one that he was in before, but still creeped him out. Now, according to the logic of video games, the item was always in the last room, so checking all these other doors was pointless.

He made his way to the room at the end of the hall and opened the door slowly and quietly, as to keep from alerting potential enemies. A quick glance around revealed that the room was clear, so he entered to check it out. It was what appeared to be the master bedroom, a plain looking place with a giant bed and not much else. With nothing of value to be found here, the Prussian decided to continue his search elsewhere, leaving the door open to signify that it was already inspected. Apparently the law of video games didn't apply to real life as well as he had hoped.

He was in what appeared to be a study when he heard the sound of footsteps in the direction of the stairs. 'That must be Ludwig,' he thought as he opened another drawer on the large, ornate desk in the middle of the room. He was about to give up his search and head in the direction of his brother when something caught his eye. A small revolver lay in the back of the drawer. Checking it over, Gilbert was sad to find that it was completely unloaded. Perhaps another drawer had ammunition in it?

The search for bullets left the desk in a much more dishivelled state, papers thrown carelessly aside and office supplies dumped on the floor. After he found the small box of bullets, he cackled and left to show his sibling, whom he found in the hallway. "Yo, West! Check it out," he called, holding the gun out to Ludwig.

Ludwig found himself grinning at Gilbert's enthusium, finally a weapon!

"Great!" He answered back "Is there any chance you happened to find a second one?" Ludwig then asked, though he somehow doubted he'd get a positive response. Still, with a weapon they might actually stand a chance against those creatures!

"Well, I didn't manage to find anything downstairs, unless we go into the kitchen again and find some knives. Though I don't think they'll do much damage to those things" Ludwig sighed and found himself yawning, he was still rather tired, having only managed to sleep for a few minutes before Gilbert woke him up. Perhaps they should try and find a place to sleep now, though it would have to be secure. He didn't like the thought of one those monsters ambushing them while they slept. Maybe he should go down and get those knives, after all extra weapons couldn't hurt.

After voicing his idea to his brother, Ludwig went back downstairs and into the kitchen. He walked up to one of the drawers and opened it. Bingo. He grabbed a couple of them, one with a serrated blade, the other a large carving knife. He ran back up the stairs where Gilbert was still waiting.

"Well, shall we go find somewhere to sleep?"

Gilbert felt his enthusiasm drain a little when his brother asked if he had another. That's right... there was two of them. Darn. "Sorry bro. It was all I could do to find bullets for this thing,"

He watched Ludwig run down the stairs to go fetch some knives. While he did that, the Prussian decided to give all the rooms a quick check over, to see which would be most beneficial for sleeping and found that only the master bedroom he looked through before had a lock. Well, at least the bed was big enough. He walked back to the hallway, just in time to see Ludwig come back up with some of the more sinister looking kitchen knives. "Ja, I found one with a lock on the door. It's right over here."

He jerked a thumb in the direction of the room before walking towards it once again.

Ludwig followed his brother into the room, he saw that there was only one bed but at least it was a double and had sheets and a couple of pillows. Not a terribly clean pillow mind you, but still, it would do for the night. Maybe...possibly...perhaps he could do without the pillow...

"Yes" he said "This looks...adequete" he turned to look at Gilbert, a sudden thought coming to him. "Do you have the key for the door?"

Hopefully Gilbert will say yes, surely he will say yes, it's not like he would have suggested the room otherwise...but if they didn't they were going to have to have someone stay up and keep watch. Or find the key, which could be anywhere.

He'd better say yes.