This Is Our Last Song

Two- Boats and Birds

“America! You’re late again you bloody twat,” the Brit called to him from where he sat at the table. There was no hint of malice on his bandaged face. Just a sorrowful smile.

Alfred looked to him wearily. “What’s with the smile, dude? It’s creepin’ me out.” He, too, felt his face crack with the hint of a grin.

“Ah, America. You are finally here,” a French accent cut it, almost unheard due to it’s quiet. “Please, sit down. We have news for you.”

“News?” he asked, confused, “What kind of news? And why am I only just hearing it?”

Francis shifted uncomfortably. England supplied the words. “Lad, we love you; have ever since I called you my little brother. But,” His voice broke. “But, this is going to be our final goodbye.”

Alfred looked stunned. “W-what do you mean?”

“Our people are dead, our governments fallen, and our land destroyed. We are no longer countries, and soon enough our bodies will realize this and Fade. We’ll be joining the others soon, Alfred.” A tear fell down his face.

“No! No, this can’t happen. I won’t let this happen to you! I can’t lose you two too!” His voice had escalated from normal to a rough scream. He’d already lost his friends, his allies, and his people. He couldn’t live through losing his family too. “I- I can save us all! I can! Just hold on for a little longer! Please!” he begged them, falling to his knees at their feet.

“I’m sorry, cher, you can’t fix this one. Goodbye.”

They smiled when they Faded.

-----

Alfred woke up screaming, hands pulling at hair and fabric, trying to grasp on to anything he could. Remind himself that he was here and that he wasn’t reliving their final goodbyes once again.

He brought his knees up to his chest, wrapping his hands around his legs and bowing his head, sobbing. “I could have saved you both,” he whispered. “I could have saved everyone. I just needed a little more time and I could have done it...”

“America!” someone yelled, bursting through the door to his unit. “Are you alright?”

“I could have saved them!” he screeched, never changing his position. “I could have saved them all! This didn’t need to fucking happen!”

The person walked closer, lightly resting a hand on his shoulder for just a moment. As soon as they made contact with his skin, he recoiled like he had been burned. “Do not touch me!”

They backed up, retreating to the doorway when they saw the look in his eyes. Wild.

Alfred curled back in on himself. “Please,” he choked out, “Please go. I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want you to leave me like they did, too.”

The other person looked conflicted for a minute, before finally deciding to keep watch outside until the personification calmed down enough to be okay again.

“Don’t worry, America. I won’t leave you.”

——–

Alfred walked out of the dark room a few hours later, hair still disheveled and eyes dark and downcast.

“America, are you alright?” Phi, a boy about his age asked him.

“I’m alright, Phi. I’m… I’m sorry if I scared you last night.” He brought a hand up, rubbing his arm self-consciously.

“No, it’s fine. I know you’ve been through more than I could ever imagine. Just,” he laid a hand on Alfred’s shoulder, “Don’t blame yourself for what happened. There’s nothing you could have done to prevent it.” He smiled, and America smiled back. But it was made of glass. I may not have been able to prevent what happened, but I could have made it so it didn’t have to end the way it did.

“Well, if that’s settled,” he started, snapping out of his stupor, “Where can a nation get some coffee around here?”

“Coffee’s gone, chief,” Phi told him. “It’s ‘most ten in the morning.”

“What?” Alfred gasped dramatically. “Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?”

“Ah, figured you could use some sleep. Sounded like a rough night.”

Alfred laughed nervously. “It was. Nightmares, you know?”

Phi smiled again. “Believe me, I know. Sometimes I dream that I’m stuck in a tiny box that just,” he held his hands close together, emphasizing his point, “Keeps. Getting. Smaller. And I don’t wake up until it crushes me.”

“Sounds intense.”

“Totally is dude.”

The two walked out of the building they were in. The sun was dim through the perminent haze that had settled itself over the earth after the Thermonuclear Storm ravaged it.

The land was tinted blue. There no grass left, but a spongy, dark blue plant of some kind that resembled moss blanketed the ground instead. The sky was a shade of brown similar to beige, that lightened where the sun shone ever brightly. There was a circle of buildings, all with their doors facing a center square with a stage in the middle and an announcement board off to one side.

There were a few people milling about, some talking, some waiting for others, some looking for new things posted on the board. When he walked out, people’s heads turned and everyone in the square came to greet him.

“We heard what happened, America,” a voice called from the small assembled crowd.

“Are you gonna make an announcement about it today?”

“That’s a good question, dude,” Phi mumbled to him. He was standing behind him, so he was shadowed off from everyone and partially hidden.

Alfred addressed the crowd when he spoke. “Yes, I am going to announce it before sundown today along with the rest of the announcements. It’ll be broadcasted over the Station, but I will also be giving a speech here just after dark.

"If anyone wishes to join me tonight, I’ll be sitting vigil for the fall of the Canadian Provincial Democracy. We’ll light the plaza with red and white in memory, as we did with everyone before him.”

People nodded, and the crowd dispersed once again. “You know,” Phi started, moving around him and making eye contact, “You make quite the leader. Why didn’t you lead before all this?”

“It wasn’t that easy,” Alfred looked up, searching for a break in the never ending cloud of dust. “I would have if I could, but my people didn’t even know that I existed until the thirties when everything went to hell and the president tried to blame me for what happened. Luckily for me, you all didn’t believe him and I came to lead what was left of society once it happened.”

Phi followed his gaze, clear green eyes open wide. “You know,” Alfred said after a time, “You remind me quite a lot of someone I used to know.”

“Really?” he asked, tilting his head curiously.

“Yep. A long, long time ago. His name was Davie. He liked flowers. Blue ones from England.”

“Davie, huh?” he repeated. “I like it.”

~*~*~
gahhhh exposition!! i hate writing it but its neccesary to the plot!!!