Empire

Chapter 23

Northern Ireland's POV:

I opened my eyes slowly to find myself in a different room. I seemed to be hooked up to a heart monitor and a couple of other machines while shirtless. I sat up slowly and looked around the room. I was in Ireland lying on a bed on the other side of the room. I could tell he was awake.

"The beeping is annoying," He commented.

"I really don't like waking up in places I never was in before," I sighed.

"Boop, boop, boop," Ireland started imitating the heart monitor.

"Why are you so immature?" I asked, already annoyed at how accurate his beeping was.

"I'm stressed. Being a child makes me feel better," He answered and then continued mimicking the monitor.

I tried pulling the little sticky things off my chest, but they were really stuck on tight.

"I already tried, it's impossible. The sticky things are a part of us now," He muttered calmly. He sounded like he had already come to terms with death and was now accepting everything. He also continued beeping like the moron he was.

"Well, at least you guys are awake," I heard the familiar voice of Japan as she walked into the room with a clipboard. She walked over to Ireland first and pulled off one of the sticky things.

"Ow," Ireland muttered as he kept beeping.

As Japan took the last sticky thing off my chest, the monitor stopped beeping and Ireland was left to beep solo, only slightly sadder.

"How well do you two get along?" Japan asked. Ireland kept beeping.

"Not at all," I answered for the both of us.

"Oh, well then. We will need to fix that," She said, marking something off in her clipboard. Something about the way she spoke sent shivers down my spine.

"Actually, that won't work," Ireland said out of nowhere. Japan looked up from what she was doing and eyed Ireland.

"The room is cold, Nepal told you, didn't he?" Japan said with a straight face.

"What? Pfft, no. What's a Nipple?" Ireland said uncomfortably.

"This is going to be more difficult than Korea," Japan sighed to herself.

"Okay, Ireland and Northern Ireland, how about we play a couple of games," Japan said as she recomposed herself.

"Like blackjack?" Ireland asked excitedly.

"Like charades. No better way to find out how well you guys work together than with a game of charades," Japan answered. I watched as Ireland's face sunk in disappointment, but my small moment of joy was interrupted by Japan holding a piece of paper in my face.

"You're up first North," Japan muttered.

I grabbed the paper and unfolded it. The piece of paper read 'dolphin'. I haven't even been here that long and I am already being forced to be a dolphin. I started acting it out and it took Ireland 37 tries to get it right.

We switched roles and Ireland began dancing around and stretching his head and side.

"You're a monkey," I answered.

"Nope," Ireland grinned and continued dancing around.

"What? How are you not a monkey?" I shouted angrily.

"It's really easy, trust me," Ireland commented.

I refused to answer and after and a few minutes of watching Ireland dance around like a monkey, he revealed the answer.

"I was a human child with head lice and skin rash! Come on, that was so easy!" Ireland announced.

"How the f#ck was I supposed to guess that!" I shouted.

Papua New Guinea's POV:

Okay, processing everything that was going on was going to take a while. But here is what I got so far:

- I fell out of the vent.

- I was kidnapped by America.

- My name is now Gray, with an 'a'.

- And no one knows who I am.

This can only go well.

I sat in some kind of van, half-pretending to be asleep so no one tried asking me questions. Like the fact that I have an arm in my bag. They haven't seen it yet, but when they do, they are going to be super confused.

The van stopped, and I still pretended to be asleep. I felt someone pick me up and carry me outside. I could feel the mildly cool air on my face.

"What are we supposed to do with her?" Brazil asked.

"Torture her?" Chile offered. It wouldn't be anything new to be honest.

"No! She is my hostage and we could use her to our own advantage. Bring her inside and take her to one of the spare rooms," America commanded.

I could feel myself to be taken inside. I could hear the muttering of others around me as I passed them. It felt like highschool again.

Eventually, I was placed down on a bed, and I heard the door shut. I thought about opening my eyes, but I sensed another presence in the room.

"I know you aren't asleep, Gray," I heard the voice of America. I opened my eyes and rolled over to look at him. He held my bag in one hand and was hiding his other hand behind his back.

"Hi America," I said mumbly.

"Can you tell me what your were doing in the vent system of the NZE main base?" He asked.

"I live there, it's just a nice place, you know," I smiled.

"Tell me your name," America demanded.

"I believe you named me 'Gray',"

"Are you going to be an enemy of my empire or and ally?"

"Ally, obviously, any place is better than the NZE," I answered.

"Are you being sarcastic with me?"

"No point in trying. You see through lies anyway,"

"Okay then, do you pledge your allyship to the American Empire?"

"Sure, whatever let's me live," I sighed.

America continued asking me questions while laid in the bed answering back with the most obnoxious things I could think of.

"What's in the bag?" America finally asked. I couldn't let him see the arm.

"Nothing important," I lied.

"So you won't mind if I open it then," America said while starting to unzip the bag.

"No!" I shouted as I tried to stop him by jumping off the bed and running over to him, but had already seen it.

His face went pale as he stared into the content of the bag and choked on his words as his mind tried to comprehend the sight.

"Is this a f#cking arm?!" America eventually shouted as his face went green with disgust. He dropped the bag, and the arm fell out and slid across the floor over to me. His gaze met mine, and it only took him a second to run out of the room and lock it behind him.