The zombie virus
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Summary: Murder convict Hinata Hyuga was only trying to get to safety without being bitten but instead she finds a young boy being attacked and ends up joining a small group also trying to escape.
Hinata hissed and then stumbled.
She nearly fell but was able to stable herself at the last second lest she get another injury she couldn't afford to have. She was already slow as it was with her leg injury so she couldn't afford to be any slower than she was now.
Especially with those things out there, probably watching her every move, just waiting for her to mess up.
Which she couldn't afford. She had to keep moving. She had to keep going. She couldn't stop just because her leg was screaming in pain. She couldn't stop just because her whole body was begging her to stop. She couldn't stop. Not when those things were behind her, those once humans now monsters chasing after her, wanting to eat her flesh.
Cringing quickly turned into wincing when she ended up stumbling over something on the road. She cursed softly in her head but froze when she thought she heard something. Keeping very still, her head quickly moved from left to right, trying to find the source of the noise.
Her head flocked left and right so fast that if anybody passing by had saw her, they probably would have given her a strange look as they passed. But the reason for it was because she was trying to figure out where that sound had come from and who had made such a noise.
Was it one of those flesh eaters or was it another human being?
If it wasn't one of those flesh eaters but instead a human being, should she stop to help them or just mind her own business?
Her head screamed no, that she was in no shape to be helping anybody when she was in such bad shape as it was. But her heart screamed that she couldn't dare leave another human being out there on their own against those flesh eaters.
Her heart screamed that she couldn't be that selfish woman she had once been those long years ago when she had joined her love as he took her down a dark road.
She had promised herself after finally being released from prison, that she was never going to be that woman again. She would never be so selfish again.
Pushing a sigh pass her lips, Hinata knew what she had to do but first she had to find where the noise had come from. It didn't take her long to pinpoint which way it had come from but she froze mid-step when the sound seemed to get closer to her location.
Her mind raced on what to do but she didn't have time to figure it out as somebody came crashing through the thicket and crashed right into her.
She let out a loud groan as she and the other person went crashing to the ground just as the flesh eater that obviously had been chasing them came racing out the thicket as well.
Its dead eyes glazed around, obviously having a hard time locating them. Hinata wanted to count herself lucky for it but the body on top of her let out a loud groan and cursed.
Hinata eyes immediately flickered to the body above her and then over to the flesh eater who seemed to have heard them. It let out a gruff groan and stumbled its way over to them.
The body above her didn't seem to notice or hadn't heard as they finally lifted themselves off of her but froze when their eyes met.
"Um..." A flush worked its way onto her pale cheeks when she noticed, it was a male who was hovering above her and that he was staring right into her eyes. Her cheeks lost their color though when she saw the flesh eater coming closer and closer. "B-Behind you." She stumbled out.
The boy snapped out of his daze and turned his head. He saw the flesh eater creeping up on them but instead of looking fearful, he had a smirk on his face as it crept closer. Hinata was almost fearful that he was going to let it eat them but when it came close enough, his leg sprang out and knocked the flesh eater on his butt.
Hinata struggled to get up, her body protesting loudly but she wanted to help him. She didn't want him fighting the flesh eater on his own especially if he had no weapon on him. She had tried fighting one and had ended up seriously injuring herself.
However, her legs trembled and she dropped back down to her knees. She wasn't going to be much help to him with her legs not working. She groaned quietly, hoping the boy would be alright on his own but her head sprang up when she heard a loud shot ring through the silence.
With wide eyes, she realized that the boy who had run into her couldn't be no older than fifteen and was holding a gun in his shaking hands. He looked scared as he held it and Hinata wanted nothing more than to go over there and take it away but she couldn't move.
He didn't waist another moment to pull the trigger and plant a bullet right through the flesh eaters face. It's head exploded and blood went everywhere but it dropped this time and didn't move again.
The fifteen year old made his way over to the flesh eater and after giving it one good kick, was glad to know it wasn't going to be moving ever again. After chasing him for hours on end, it finally met its end and by his hands as well. He could feel a hint of pride touch him at that thought and a smirk worked its way onto his face.
A soft sound behind him broke him out of his prideful thoughts. Behind him, the girl, no woman he corrected that he had run into was struggling to get to her feet. Her legs were shaking like crazy and just didn't seem to be able to hold up her body anymore.
Now, as he got a good look at her, he was amazed to see how beaten up she looked. She had a couple of bruises on her arms and legs but her biggest injury was the long gash on her thigh that looked rough and appeared to be bleeding.
Dirt caked her body as well, probably mixing into those bruises and causing her more pain. Sweat also coated her body but made her skin look shiny. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun that was slowly fallen out. Bangs were soaked to her forehead, probably from the sweat coating her body.
Her eyes looked tired and worn. She clothes looked no better. What was once a simple shirt was now torn apart, barely shielding her body from injuries or mother nature. Her pants looked like they fared much better than her shirt had. There was only a few little tears in them but otherwise they looked fine except the dirt that covered them.
All and all, she looked a complete mess but she was still beautiful.
Keeping those thoughts for later, he quickly put his gun away and made his way over to her. She was still struggling but was barely making any sound as she did so. She even had tears flushing down her cheeks and yet she made no sound at all.
"Hey, are you alright?" He asked once he reached her.
"Y-yes, I-I just can't move my l-legs." She mumbled out, a flush coming to her cheeks as she glanced over at him. She was embarrassed that she wasn't able to move her legs or even get to her feet and would most likely have to ask him to help her. How embarrassing was that? She had been planning on saving him not the other way around.
"Do you need help?" He asked, bending down till he was sort of eye level with her. He could see her cheeks flushing darker and followed it as it traveled down her neck and disappeared under her shirt.
"Y-yes." She whispered.
The fifteen year old only smiled as he latched onto her arms and lifted her up. She stumbled slightly but was able to stay on her feet. He could tell though that the gash on her leg was hurting her as he saw her wince as she stood on her feet. He knew she would be unable to travel much longer before she just collapsed.
"T-Thank you." She quietly said.
"It's no problem. It was my fault you were on the ground in the first place." He said, giving her a small smile which she returned.
"O-Oh no, please don't blame yourself." She quickly said. "I should have been more careful just standing in the middle of the road."
"Okay lets agree to disagree. It was both our faults."
"Okay." She agreed with another small smile. "Oh! I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Hinata."
"I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki and its a pleasure to meet you Hinata."
She flushed slightly but smiled as he did. "I-Its a pleasure to meet you too Naruto."
Naruto flashed her another grin which dropped when he heard something faint coming close. Naruto shot a glance at Hinata and than down the road where he heard the noise before back at Hinata.
"I think something is coming." He quickly said, glancing down the road as the thing came closer and closer.
"What should we do?" She asked back, glancing down the road and trying to see what could be coming. Was it people? A car? Or was it the flesh eaters? Had they caught up with her already?
What would she do if it was the flesh eaters? She couldn't put Naruto in anymore danger and she would hate herself for bringing him into her own problems.
"Can you see what's coming?" He asked, trying and failing to see what was coming. The setting of the sun made it hard to see in the distance which made it hard for him and her to pinpoint exactly what was coming for them.
"No, I'm sorry." She apologized trying to see past the shining of the sun. Before more could be said, the roaring got louder and they could just barely make out something in the distance. Because Naruto had stepped forward when he had heard the sound, he could make it out a little bit better than she could.
"It...Its a car!" He yelled, when he was finally able to make out what it was.
"A-A car?" Hinata questioned. She hadn't seen a car since she left the city and that was days ago. She thought she would never see another car or person again.
"Its a car! A car! Come on, Hinata!" He yelled as he tangled his fingers together with hers and pulled her along as he raced down the road towards the car. He hoped he be able to catch their attention before it passed them by.
He didn't want to walk the rest of the way and knew for Hinata that would be painful.
"Hey! Hey! Over here!" He yelled. "Hey! Hey! Over here! We need help! Hey!"
"I-I don't think their going to stop." Hinata whispered to the youthful boy.
Naruto ignored her as he continued yelling out to the speeding car. It was getting closer and Hinata feared that they wouldn't stop for them. She feared that she and Naruto would be forced to walk to the next town and she knew, just knew she would be unable to do so.
She was barely making her way there as it was but now, after she had been knocked down and had reopened that gash on her leg, she knew she would be unable to walk anymore.
Naruto didn't seem as fearful as her though. He was excitedly waving his hand, trying to catch the attention of the speeding car. He had a big smile on his face and his crystal blue eyes sparkled like the sea as the sun hit it.
Finally the speeding car seemed to slow to a stop just a foot away from them. Naruto immediately dropped his waving hand and raced over towards the car. Hinata felt nervousness bubble in her stomach as they got closer. She hadn't interacted or even seen a other human being in a long time and wasn't sure how these people were going to react towards them.
What if they were hostile? What if they tried to hurt them or even left them?
What if they tried to steal from them and then leave them on the side of the road?
Her nervousness burst even further when the front car doors shifted open and two adults stepped out. They immediately pulled at something from their pockets and flashed them forward, revealing twin pairs of guns pointed at them. She could feel the nervousness practically choking her as they slid to a stop at the front of the car.
"Don't come any closer!" The male adult yelled.
"Do you think their bitten!" The woman asked as she kept her gaze on Hinata and Naruto.
"I don't know and I'm not taking the chance." He said back.
"Wait!" Naruto cut into the couple's conversation. "We don't mean you any harm. We just want a ride to the next town, that's it!"
"Just a ride?" The woman questioned, slowly lowering her gun.
"Yea! My friend is injured and I don't think we will make it to the next town if we try to walk it." Naruto said, hoping they would take sympathy on Hinata and allow them to get a ride.
"She injured? Was she bitten?" The woman questioned.
"N-No I wasn't bitten by those flesh eaters." Hinata cut in before Naruto could answer for her. She was still nervous around these people as she didn't trust them but she realized this would be the easier way of getting to the next town than trying to walk it.
"Than how did you get injured?" The man called, still keeping his gun pointed at them.
Hinata swallowed and debated with telling them of what had happened to her or simply lying. Lying could possibly get her in trouble but at the same time, who was to say that they would believe her if she did tell them the truth. Either way she could be screwed if they didn't believe her.
"I-I was being chased by some f-flesh eaters and I-I wasn't watching where I was going and fell down a small cliff." She quickly said before the man decided to just be rid of them because she had taken so long to answer his simple question.
As embarrassing as it was, it was the truth. She was being chased by a couple of flesh eaters that had found her when she was trying to sneak by and had chased her. She had already been running for days and was dead tired. So tired she was that she didn't notice that cliff and had went tumbling down it. She ended up badly bruised and with a long gash on her thigh which throbbed every-time she walked.
However the good news was that she was able escape the flesh eaters who had been following her. Though that didn't last long as they had found a way down, a way she hadn't taken and continued to follow her till she was finally able to lose them completely.
"Do you think she's telling the truth?" The woman asked.
"I don't know." The man answered back. "What do you think?"
"I think we should at least take them to the next town than be rid of them." She truthfully answered.
The man was silent for a few minutes before he finally lowered his gun and put it away. He beckoned the couple over and after they got into the truck, jumped in along with his wife before heading off. He could only hope, as he drove them to the next town, that he hadn't brought them more trouble or that he hadn't doomed them off by collecting this young couple.
He could only hope.
000