Kuroo knew he couldn't stay there long. The creatures outside might have looking like monsters without any thought process, but it was obvious that their brains were still working to some degree. The pharmacy was filled of knocked over shelves, ripped magazines, candy bars, gum packets, and the refrigerated boxes had their doors either open or ripped off and their contents all over the floor. There was one of those boxes working, and Kuroo had gladly drank the soda bottle left in a few minutes. Probably should've saved that.
He grabbed painkillers and any antibiotics he could find. All the bandages, too. Anything that could be remotely useful if he got hurt in some way, shape, or form got shoved in the duffel bag he grabbed from the shattered window display of some retailer. He passed a lot of stores that looked like that in his mad dash to get out of the open crossroads where he saw some other confused people gathering.
As much as he'd like to find a person to survive through this with, he knew that numbers would make it harder to run away. He had seen one group of people who looked like a team—a group of people his age and a little younger all running in a crowd together as they grabbed supplies. It seemed that a lot of the population had realized something was really going wrong and that it'd turn into survival of the fittest or best prepared. Then the monsters started popping up. Kuroo saw his first when he stopped in the entrance of an alley to take a breather. A woman and man had been scrambling away from something across the street. He was going to call out, ask them what had them so scared, and if they knew what was going on. He's glad he didn't.
Most of the creatures were rotting. Gorey displays of flesh falling off muscles. Some had pus oozing from open wounds and eyeballs dangling from their sockets. A few he saw were missing limbs, the place where they should be looking as if it had been ripped off, the bone visible. Kuroo was glad he stayed up late with Kenma in the past, playing violent video games with realistic graphics and watching gore filled horror movies. Not to say that seeing that kind of vomit-inducing display in person was anything like the games and movies, but it gave him some kind of readiness. Throwing up while one of those things was just across the street, tearing into the two people viciously would probably have drawn attention.
It seemed after he first saw one, they were everywhere. Each one was in some state of decay. Their flesh all some shade of green, purple, and yellow—making them look like their entire body was bruised. That was just the parts of their body that wasn't falling apart, bleeding, ripped, or had puss dripping from it. Again, Kuroo was really glad he had a strong stomach. When he and Kenma had been watching those movies, he had picked on the shorter a lot for getting nauseous, but he felt bad now since Kenma was probably throwing up at the sight of those things.
Oh god, Kenma. Kuroo hadn't seen or heard from him since the night before, and Kenma had just told him he was spending the night at one of his other friend's house. Kuroo hoped whoever Kenma was with knew what the hell they were doing. He didn't know what friend Kenma was with, since he actually listened when Kenma said he didn't want Kuroo "corrupting them," but he sure wish he did so he could check up on them.
Kuroo shook his head back and forth in an effort to clear those thoughts out of the way. Reminiscing about possibly a possibly dead—nope, not going there. He pushed himself onto and over the counter where people would hand out prescriptions. A lot of the packages were still there, but some had been grabbed—knocking the boxes and rows they were stored in out of line. Kuroo just took it as a sign that someone else was trying to get supplies. He skimmed over the labels as he looked through them. The stronger painkillers went in the duffel bag, along with anti-anxiety and depression pills—just in case he needed them for whatever reason. There were also some better bandages back there, and he grabbed those, too.
Looking down at the contents of his bag, he was happy to note that he definitely had enough and it didn't weigh him down like he had feared. That was his second main worry about stocking up like this. He already grabbed all the candy bars, granola, and bits of food he could from the front counter before he started grabbing medicine. The energy drinks and soda—except for the one he chugged instantly—were ignored in favor of water. He didn't have any way to keep it cold, but it would do.
Kuroo glanced over at where he blocked off the front door with a cabinet. The back door was locked and the front windows were filled with broken glass—too dangerous to climb through—and shelves that had gotten knocked through them. Kuroo almost felt relief before he remembered seeing some of those monsters smash through windows and walk over the sharp pieces without a care in the world. That made the entire place unsafe. He just needed a nap.
Four days seemed like forever. Kuroo had avoided actually getting involved with any of the monsters that were now everywhere the entire time.
He sighed to himself and ran his hands through his messy hair. If he remembered the area well enough, there should be an old style hotel behind the pharmacy. The kind that had master keys to all the rooms a some giant ring in the employee's room. Kuroo could go there, grab the keys, get to a floor that had an emergency exit or window that led him to the roof tops of the building next door, find a room, lock the door behind him, and take a nap. Dear gods he just wanted sleep.
Kuroo did a mental check list to make sure he grabbed everything he planned to before walking to the back door. He used the crowbar he snatched with the duffel bag to bust the lock off the door. Carefully he nudged the door open with his foot, peering out at the back alley it lead into cautiously. Nothing was there. He quickly ran out and pressed his back to the opposite wall of the alley and looked up and down the space again. The end that lead next to the front of the pharmacy was blocked off with an upturned dumpster and pieces that looked a bit like the remnants of a car. He tried not to think about the monsters ripping into some car that more than likely had someone trying to drive away in side, but didn't do too well.
He walked in the opposite direction of that mess, towards where he was fairly sure there was that hotel. Ninety percent sure, at least. If he was wrong, he'd improvise. The slight noise his sneakers made on the cement ground made him worry if those things had super hearing. They probably did, so Kuroo took extra care to walk as quietly but as fast as he could.
The side entrance to the hotel was open, the lock busted off already. Kuroo had to wonder if another actual person had the same plan as him. Seeing another human would be nice.
He slowly pushed the door open further and crept in. The door lead into some side hallway. Kuroo scanned the area carefully, listening for any noises that might break the eerie quiet. He walked inside and closed the door, even if it wasn't locked it'd still give him a second of notice when he heard it open. He sighed in relief and walked down the hall towards the main lobby, crowbar hanging loose in his hand. The lobby was wrecked, as expected. Giant comfortable chairs were flipped and knocked over, the cushions torn up and scattered around the now dirty marble floors.
Kuroo started walking through the room, stepping over papers and shattered vases on the floor. He frowned at a splatter of blood on the floor, but chose to ignore it. He reached the middle of the room and glanced around. Windows were smashed in and tables were flipped and broken. It looked like the destruction was already spread city wide from what he'd seen. Kuroo stiffened when a slight scratching filled the silent air.
He turned around quickly, taking a step back. A creature was shambling to its feet behind a couple of the giant cushioned chairs. Kuroo missed it because of where the chairs were, and he regretted ever thinking it was easy getting into the building. The creature stood up and made a loud gurgling noise, some kind of gross liquid coming out of it's mouth. Kuroo started to slowly move back, fear making his stomach go hollow and chest tight.
The creature's head turned, a cracking noise coming from it. Pus was oozing from its left eye socket and the flesh was almost falling off it's bones. It turned to face Kuroo almost on accident as it seemed to scan the room. There was a moment of tense air where Kuroo felt he could see the cogs turning in its head—like it was considering something. It let out another gurgle and lunged forward, scrambling over a couch.
Kuroo swallowed a scream and started running backwards. The word shit was on repeat in his head and he moved back, crushing some other vase shards under his feet. The back of his knees hit one of the overturned couches and he fell backwards over it. He spat out a loud curse as his elbows hit the ground. He held up the crowbar, ready to swing and knock the creature back, and covered his mouth and nose with his forearm.
The creature peered over the edge of the couch as Kuroo tired to kick himself away while keeping his face covered. It let out a screeching noise and spit came out of its mouth, landing on Kuroo's arm. Suddenly, the creature's voice raised a pitch and when flying to the side. Kuroo stared up at where it had been and blinked in shock. There was a loud crash and shout. A human one.
Kuroo quickly got to his feet, resting his hands on the couch he fell over. Another person was standing there. An actual person. Kuroo gawked in shock. It was a guy his age with wild salt and pepper colored hair—white with black roots all stuck up in crazy directions. He was a little shorter than Kuroo, but with broad shoulders that only came with working out frequently. He had on a t-shirt and jeans, a backpack on his shoulders, and a metal baseball bat in his hands. He had completely bashed the creature's head in, and now the thing was lying on the floor motionless. Kuroo immediately looked away from the disgusting mess the creature was now.
The guy turned to look at him, golden eyes wide and pupils dilated with adrenaline. There was a tense moment where they just stared at each other. The guy pulled his baseball back and glared with a frown.
"W-Wait!" Kuroo shouted, holding his arms up and over his head and face. "Hold up!"
"Sorry, man, but that thing spat on you, can't risk you being infected," the guy said. "It'll be quick."
"IT DIDN'T LAND IN MY MOUTH!" Kuroo nearly screamed, moving back further. His foot landed on a round vase and it rolled out from under him. He cursed loudly again and slammed down on the floor. "That virus thing has like a minute incubation period before it starts doing the flesh rotting. If I got infected I'd be spitting pus by now! Chill out!"
"...Really?" the guy asked. Kuroo peered out from between his arms. The guy looked clueless, eyebrow raised and mouth turned up in a curious pout. Kuroo blinked in surprise before relaxing, arms lowering.
"Yeah," Kuroo said, nodding slowly. The guy stared at him with that confused look for a few more seconds before he lowered the baseball bat, the metal clanking on the floor slightly. Kuroo let out a sigh.
"Well that's good," the guy laughed. Kuroo looked up at him, and he was smiling a little. "Not sure I'd wanna do that again."
"...I'm not gonna ask," Kuroo grumbled.
"Smart move," the guy snorted. He stepped over the couch and offered Kuroo a hand. "I'm Bokuto Koutarou, nice to meet ya."
Kuroo grabbed his hand and Bokuto yanked him up so he was on his feet. "Kuroo Tetsurou, good to meet an actual living person in this hell."