A/N: Written as a Trick or Treat 2017 exchange gift for rubylily.
Ever since the world's end, the air had felt surreal.
Kurumi had never quite noticed it back at the high school. While living there she had been in a familiar environment. The days had blended into each other, and the feeling of dread and confusion had come with the territory.
But the thick, cloying weight in the air seemed to bog her down. She hadn't thought much about it the other times the School Live Club had gone on supply errands, but ever since her semi-transformation the scents of nature and rotting, discarded flesh nearby had been different.
Everything from the grass to the buildings and the wind was riddled with an extra putrid stench. Gravity seemed to relish in pressing down on her delicate skin and bones, obtrusive and irritable, coaxing her to its whims.
But she always resisted. Because of course she did.
Kurumi winced at the thought. The yellow band of lines separating the street lanes blurred in her mind's eye. She turned the steering wheel absentmindedly. No one else had noticed it besides her and she never relayed to the others that the heaviness in air resulted in headaches.
The medicine had worked and saved her, hadn't it?
Perhaps it was a world void of living souls that irked her. This was a world amassed in traffic jam accidents she constantly had to avoid and pale, forsaken bodies. No chattering voices or neon shop signs existed anymore.
"Kurumi?" Yuuri asked fro mthe side, concerned. She peered from behind the driver's seat. "Do you see any?"
Routinely, zombies descended upon the camper in hordes. Kurumi could never floor the car because the vroom sound of the engine attracted them likes mosquitos to open water. Zombies always attached themselves to the hood and sides. Predictably, it was never pleasant to jump out of the door and whack them off before they pried a window open.
"No." Kurumi poked the gas gauge and examined the low number on it. "It's just that the camper is low on gas. I didn't realize this thing was such a gas guzzler."
Everything about the camper was convenient except the gas. Kurumi hadn't really expected the biggest downfall at first—gas shortage. Megu-nee's car had not consumed as much gas on a daily basis, or perhaps they hadn't run into the issue before because they hadn't gone far away from the school like they were after leaving. The camper's tank had been filled for days after they had found it, luckily for them. But gas was still a precious resource.
"Ah, that makes sense." Miki looked thoughtful as she moved the piece on her board game with Yuki. "But… that's also a problem. What should we do about it?"
"We'll have to wing it," Kurumi admitted with a shrug. She curved to the left and turned down a narrower street. Admitting that she had no clear plan in mind was becoming clichéd phrase for her lately. Despite the shortcomings, she always got them through the direst of moments, so she had no doubt it would workout.
It didn't take long for this problem to resolve itself.
"I see a gas station!" Yuki piped up. She waved her hand of cards excitedly at the window. She pouted at Yuuri with puffed out cheeks. "Can we get snacks? Can we, can we, Rii-san? I want something really, really delicious."
She was trying to upbeat, but the crinkle of a frown spoke of her worries, the knowledge it wouldn't be that easy.
The gas station was small. It sat near the corner of the street, the parking lot barren except for a few abandoned cars on either side of the storefront. Litter from store bought snacks and flyers flittered across the pavement.
Kurumi licked her lips. Usually, gas stations were prime places to gather up supplies and fill up on fresh gas. But… She had to scout out the place first and check inside.
"Only if they have snacks left," Yuuri said in a half-stern, half-amused tone. Her eyes closed thoughtfully, as though she still wanted Kurumi's approval for the adventure.
Covering her eyes from the evening sun, Kurumi pulled down the windshield's sun visor. Normally, the group went together, but the night was not a good time for that. At the very least they might have a place to park for the night.
"It's getting dark." Kurumi moved to the next lane. "So we may have to wait on it. But let's check it out first."
The front doors were smashed in and shards of glass sat in a jagged pile. The shop's sign crookedly swung from its loose hinge. Kurumi carefully drove in the parking lot and parked in furthest spot away as a safety measure.
As she had thought, what concerned Kurumi was the shop's darkness; it was impossible to see any erratic movements from outside. Streaks of fading orange sunset glinted off the windows. All Kurumi could see from her vantage point were spider web shadows from the magazine rack criss-crossing their way over the beauty and fish advertisements plastered on the window.
Things like this were a gamble, but she always handled it.
Kurumi rubbed her temples. The headache was ebbing away, but she still didn't like the thought the air was beating her. Perhaps it was the zombie infection—she just did not like to lose, especially not here, where this was her place to shine. She should take the chance. Getting a breath of fresh air for nerves might do the trick, too.
She adjusted her gloves. Grasping her trusty shovel and a small handbag, she opened the camper's door. The comforting weight of metal rested against her side.
Yuuri, the one now in the middle of her turn in the card game, eyed her hopefully. Her gaze said we'll come and she pushed herself out of her chair, dropping her cards. Kurumi waved her off. She chuckled lightheartedly.
"Once I figure out if we should worry, we can move closer and fill up. Just stay in here, okay? And if not, I'll get a few things," Kurumi promised, shutting the camper's door firmly behind her before anyone could protest.
Miki's gaze watched her as she walked away. Yuuri and Yuki followed suit, confused only at her quickness to leave and not talk about a plan. But Kurumi finally relaxed.
Being suspicious of their surroundings all the time was normal, but Yuuri and Miki trusted Kurumi's instincts, and Yuki believed in her wholeheartedly. It was enough.
Right now, she couldn't sense a zombie. But she didn't want to tell the others the extent to her newfound feelings after her transformation. She actually never understood it herself. The air pressure rose whenever she stumbled upon one of them. Obviously, predicting the future was entirely impossible for Kurumi, but zombies stepping out of unexpected places like alleys were never as strange to Kurumi as it should have realistically been.
Here, she didn't feel one of them lurking around the corner. So she didn't feel bad about leaving her friends out here alone. It made foraging a lot easier sometimes.
Yuuri had joked she had gotten so used to being on alert that she never had to bat an eyelash. Kurumi knew that just wasn't the case. It was… simply hard to explain.
She approached the gas station and squinted. Still, nothing but the bleak shadow met her gaze. Entering places towards dusk was another issue, but she never wanted to back out of something—besides, the camper would not drive itself on an empty tank. She kicked aside a few glass shards at the entrance and tip-toed inside.
A foul odor assaulted her nose immediately. She pinched the bridge of nose. The taste lingered on her tongue, and she had to remind herself to stay on guard. But the spoiled milk and lunch box sushi and molded bread were strong... or a variety of things she didn't want to think about. At the corner of her eye, she saw large things in the isles and—breathe, she had to not look. She usually tried to block out the incessant if we had been here sooner and we wouldn't have waste an important resource anxiety in the pit of her chest. She would find leftovers. She always found them.
Kurumi ducked into the nearest isle and scaled the shelf. She panted lightly, listening intently, eyes gleaming. Slivers of sunlight seeped in through the window, but she was too far away for it to be much use to her needs.
The groaning caught her attention. A banging noise echoed off the walls and the flurry of wrapping paper.
Peering over the edge of the shelf, Kurumi grit her teeth.
The zombie stood above the open-case where a stack of sandwiches sat on a shelf. It swatted at one and chomped down at it, jaws locked on the egg and ham and cheese sandwich. It clutched the wrapper for dear life and bit furiously into it, flecks of water dripping down its chin.
Her breath hitched. Well, a complication appeared, but…
She was not infallible and she knew it too well. One wrong swipe to her arms or neck would spell disastrous results. The true enemy was the darkness and she had not brought a flashlight—an oversight on her part to get a few minutes alone. The store was sheltered enough that the outside didn't bother her as much and that made her feel less threatened. In fact, the zombie didn't scare her.
When did it wander in here? If the food is still packaged, then… This was simple observation on her part. Naturally, zombies would chase the scent of food like a magnet.
All the meat should have been gone if the store's front doors had been open from anywhere from days to months. Did that mean this place was relatively safe? It made her wonder how many stores were untouched from bloodshed if this zombie had recently had taken this store as its own.
Her skin prickled. Kurumi quickly shut out those wandering thoughts out. Not my priority today. I just need pick non-perishable items and leave… And the gas, too.
So she did just that. Cans or drinks or chips—yes, Yuki would like these—found their way into the bag. She placed in them carefully, because she wouldn't have time to shuffle them or deal with clanking if the zombie heard. She scaled the isle. She was currently in the snacks isle, and getting out would alert the zombie to her whereabouts.
How lonely must it have been—living in this store who knows how long? Being trapped in here without a single place to go but bump into things in the darkness? Living off of produce? Was it satisfying, Kurumi wondered? Now that she thought about it, this must be a sad existence…
This is how she and the others had felt before exploring the outside world. The world was an unexplored garden, but there were so many things that thrived and breathed, including the city. The feeling of being confined, Living each day as though it might be their last, trapped in one place. She could understand that better than anyone could, even if the "person" in question was likewise a zombie.
Hearing rattling noises from the left hand side, Kurumi chanced another glance in the zombie's direction. The zombie was bumping into the mid-aisle display counters and didn't have rhyme or reason for its movements. For the first time, she realized its eyes were shut. It flailed blindly, probably accustomed to the store's darkness.
The zombie was still chewing, chomping, slurping. Kurumi heard many other indescribable noises she hated.
Would killing him be noble rather than letting him live like this? She shouldn't feel compassion—that is what would cause trouble—but she still could not help but empathize with the possibility of sharing similar emotions…
Was the air, whatever it was, getting to her that badly?
Like she said, she was here for food. Not to be a heroine. Kurumi wanted to help, but she had to pick her battles. And she had gotten through the store quite deftly so far.
Coming back might be a good idea. Yes, she should look at the positives about the situation. There were still many supplies leftover here. It all depended where she, Yuki, Yuuri, and Miki decided to go in the city from now on. Spending the night may a be good idea after all.
Kurumi trotted on. She grabbed vegetables in cans. Hard candy. The hard candy would keep Yuki happy (she could imagine her getting ideas about early Halloween parties) and give Yuuri something to chew on besides her nails. Miki would pass on candy, but Yuki would make her eat it anyway, and Kurumi vaguely smiled at the thought.
Luckily, she managed to dodge the zombie. She wasn't sure of what to make about it, but in that moment, she did feel a bit of nostalgic kindship with it. That was the only way to describe it. She would kill it in a heartbeat if it jumped at her—but for now, this was it. The zombie didn't move, frozen in its spot, munching and groaning.
She had allowed herself to sidetracked and used the store as her way to get through it. But she felt lighter, a little less bogged down, and she could keep going from here.
Wistfully, she glanced at the counter. She wished she had coins or something to leave behind. But that was just an impulse of days that would fade from her memory.
Kurumi blinked as she stepped over the glass shards at the entrance. The sky was dark, although she had not realized it inside. Faint light from the trailer lead her back. She shifted the bag over her shoulder, opened the door, and handed it off quickly before going back out.
Getting the gas out of the pump was the hardest part. She let the gas drain into the camper through the hose and fill the tank. She had siphoned enough with Megu-nee's car that forcing the gas out was simple enough, but it was more exhausting and took longer for the camper to be fully loaded up, and Kurumi warily eyed the abandoned cars in the parking lot. Using their leftover fuel might have to be a reality if push came to shove at some point. She supposed she had not done that so far because, well, using a car had more connotations of stealing than anything else.
Taking things one day at a time was all she could do.