Just keep moving, and you stay alive.
Izuku panted as he sprinted down the tracks, sweat and tears mixing with the blood staining his face. At this point, he couldn't even remember if it belonged to him or someone else. He was certain most of it wasn't his own.
He swallowed back the bile that rose in his throat, recalling the coppery stench and the enraged roars of the monster that tried to catch him. The one built like a beast with its brain exposed for all to see. It was only one of many that had begun to overrun the country. If he remembered right, which he hoped he did, they were called Nomu.
How long had it been since they showed up, seemingly out of nowhere, to wreak havoc upon Japan?
How long had it been since he had been able to sleep soundly?
How long had it been since he had last seen his mother, alive and well?
How long had it been since he's uttered a word to anyone?
How long had it been since he was tossed to the side and left for dead because of his Quirkless status?
How had it been since that hero took that blow for him and fell dead almost in an instant? Since he threw that vial at him and told him to leave?
How long had he been running?
To him, it felt like years. Years on the run, scraping together what he could to survive. Any kind of food or water, or even a weapon he could use to defend himself.
In all reality, it had only been 8 months.
8 months.
It was almost comical how quickly their world seemed to fall apart with the arrival of the Nomu. How the heroes tried to combat them as best they could. Most of them were overpowered and brutally ripped to shreds, while others were incapacitated and taken away. Heroes from around the world offered their help, until a certain point and then nobody reached out.
Izuku skidded to a stop and threw himself behind one of the many idle trains that had been abandoned months ago. He clapped a hand over his mouth and made himself as small as possible.
He sensed its presence long before it had even arrived; the dread churning in his gut had been warning enough.
He gripped his injured side with his other hand as the ground shook with the arrival of the monster. He didn't know if this one was the same one as before or if it was different. All he knew was that it had probably been tracking him for a while now, as other monsters had.
He breathed as quietly as he could as he heard it stomp around the tracks. He hoped whatever sound he made, as quiet as it was, would be muffled by the churning waves below and the distant thunder far above.
He flinched as the metal of the train he was hiding behind screamed as something heavy landed on it. He refused to look up as he heard heavy stomping above him. The monster walked around atop the train, crushing the metal beneath it with each step.
Izuku shuddered as the stomping came to a sudden stop. He withheld a scream as the Nomu suddenly appeared in front of him, looming from atop the train. The exposed brain took up most of the space where the face should be. An unhinged jaw hung loosely from it, minor wounds sat across its throat and mouth, injuries Izuku had managed to give it before he managed to escape.
He stared at the beast, waiting for it to attack him before it screamed in his face. Spittle and flecks of blood went flying before it stopped and waited. Waiting for some kind of movement to indicate where its prey would be. It let out another growl before righting itself and stomping away.
Izuku didn't move as he heard it walk around, feeling the tracks tremble as it jumped off to search the area. He shook his head and swallowed the sob that threatened to rise from his throat. He felt hot tears gather in his eyes as he listened for the monster.
If it's far enough, I might be able to make the run across the tracks.
He eyed his tattered bag of supplies warily. He was low on food and water, and he had no medical supplies left. He used the last of it to dress the injuries the Nomu gave him, it had dug its claws into him, and he was sure it had been about to kill him. And then it had stopped all of a sudden, before trying to drag him off.
Izuku looked around before grabbing a small rock beside him and slowly getting to his feet. He shifted his weight to his good leg before peeking around the train. The Nomu was creeping around the other broken-down trains, occasionally screaming and waiting for something to move.
It would occasionally grow frustrated and punch the car before moving on.
He saw it begin to walk away before throwing the rock as hard as he could. He heard it clang against something and heard a shattering noise. He watched the Nomu perk up before screaming again and racing to the source. Izuku watched it run past him before starting to sneak away. He kept his footsteps as quiet as possible, using one hand to keep his balance and another to keep himself from yelling out.
He just had to get out of the area and find a decent place to hide for the night. Or until the Nomu left him alone, whatever came first. He couldn't help but recall one of the last times he had been chased by one, how he spent days inside a crack in the wall with a sprained ankle trying to wait out the Nomu chasing him.
He ended up staying in that place for three days before he was finally able to make a break for it. Then after that he…
Izuku shook his head and continued to move forward, still keeping an ear out for the Nomu frantically searching for its prey. He could see the end of the tracks; he could see stable land. He was sure that he might eventually find a haven or even a broken-down store if he went far enough. Anything is better than nothing.
Just as he was about to make a sprint for the end, another loud crash sent him freezing in place. He pressed himself against the train as the screaming Nomu was abruptly cut off, and another crash sent the train shaking.
Izuku dared a few steps forward and peeked around the train car to see a new Nomu had shown up. Unlike the other Nomu, this one had eyes that swiveled around in their sockets, not only that but it also sported a large pair of wings on its back like the other one. He cringed at it before ducking out of sight.
I have to get out of here, I have to get out, now!
It had eyes, and for all he knew it probably had some kind of adjusted vision. All the Nomu had some kind of modification to them, the more obvious one being that they're all made to have superhuman strength. Every single one, on top of whatever Quirks they have.
If the new Nomu had some kind of X-ray or heat vision then he was done for. He was either going to be killed or dragged off, or maybe both. Nobody knew what happened to the people who were taken by them.
He was sure they were killed, maybe taken to someplace to be used as food for the sick, twisted monsters. Or maybe they just gathered them to kill them for later, he had no idea. And he wasn't intending to find out.
Izuku began moving again as the two hissed and screamed at each other. Making the ground and the surrounding trains shake and wobble. He was sure they were going to bring down the tracks if they didn't stop, and take him with them. He crept across the rest of the tracks, occasionally having to stop and press himself against the train before he could move forward again.
He could see the station ahead of him, an impossible distance away with no cover. If he was going to reach it then he had to make a mad dash for it. He had to hope he wouldn't get caught. He peeked around to see the two Nomu still fighting, they were trying to tear into each other but could only do so much with the freakish regeneration they had. If anything it seemed like they had taken their fight further away.
Maybe I can make it, then I can just find a small space to slip into.
Izuku stared at the Nomu before looking back to his destination. The one with the eyes was taking the most damage, and looked to be the least focused out of the two. He figured he could get away if he moved quickly enough.
Izuku took a deep breath, bracing himself.
One...two…
An ear-splitting, scraping noise made him cover his ears and duck down. He heard one of the Nomu screams, and that was enough to send him sprinting without care. He just needed to get out of there.
He sprinted forward and raced for the train station, already thinking of places he could hide. Desks or small storage rooms. Places out of the way he could duck into that the Nomu wouldn't find.
Izuku listened to them continue their fighting as he made his way to the platform, throwing his bag on top before dragging himself up. He was never this thankful for two Nomu to be in the same spot, it wasn't often they fought but when they did it was the perfect time to slip away.
They both seemed like they were on the same level, so they would keep each other busy for a while. Though it could only last so long until they either got bored or something else drew their attention. Izuku just hoped that it wouldn't be him who grabbed their attention.
He heard another shriek as he ran out of the station.
For now, he just had to get out of there and put as much distance between himself and those monsters as he could.
He just had to survive.
-.-
"Don't touch me!"
He stumbled away from his mother, confused with her yelling. She had never raised her voice at him, not like this.
"Mama?"
"Don't touch me. You stay away from me!"
He took a step back. He knew better than to disobey his mother, especially when she was like this.
"You keep taking and taking and taking from me." She muttered as she moved away from him. "You're no better than him. You only steal things away from people who truly deserve it!"
"Mama…"
"And you don't listen! You don't listen to me, you hardly put anything I say into consideration. How many times Izuku? How many times have I told you to wear your gloves? And then you don't, and then I have to yell at you. Do you like being yelled at?"
Izuku took another step back. He didn't mean to forget his gloves, but he didn't like wearing them. They made his hands all sweaty and after a while, they felt itchy.
His dad said he didn't have to wear them at home, but his mom would get upset if he didn't.
He remembered the last time they discussed that rule. How loud his mother had gotten, and how calm his father was. How he never raised his voice, how he talked through each argument while remaining so calm.
Usually, after the fight, his father would come into his room and find him hiding under the bed or in the closet. He'd usually comfort Izuku and assure him it was alright, that his mother was just in another one of her moods. She was never going to hurt him, she might yell at him but she would never lay a finger on him.
He promised.
He promised…
-.-
Izuku woke up with a start, withholding a gasp of pain as he heard a low growl fill the room. He froze up and looked around for the source of the noise, desperately hoping he was just hearing things. He looked down at his bag and slowly reached for it.
He stopped when something nearby crashed to the ground. His eyes darted over and he saw a large, lumbering figure towering over the desk it overturned.
He had managed to find an abandoned furniture shop a little while after running from the station. There was hardly anything there, but there was just enough that he was able to sleep under one of the worn-down desks.
He thought he had managed to get away, that they would have moved ahead. He didn't think either of them would have been able to track him down. He had at least hoped they would have lost interest.
Of course, he had no luck.
Izuku sat up slightly to get a look at which Nomu it was, thankfully it was the one with no eyes. It gave him a little room to work with. He just had to make no noise.
Izuku looked down at himself, he was going to have to forgo treating himself at all. Instead, he buttoned up his shirt and gakuran. It was times like this he regretted running straight out of his house instead of gathering supplies. If he had taken more then, maybe he would have more now.
He was jerked out of his thoughts when the Nomu threw something to the side and made him jump. His jacket was half-buttoned, better than nothing. He grabbed his bag and slowly stood up, he looked around to see where the Nomu was and saw it was looking over what it destroyed.
Izuku swallowed hard and willed himself not to flinch as it screamed at the destroyed furniture and waited for something to respond. When it got no answer it moved onto another part of the store, grabbing whatever it could and throwing it around.
He slowly moved out from his hiding spot and began creeping towards the front door. He was mindful of the debris on the floor that could give his position away should he step wrong. It was a relatively small shop, so he could keep the Nomu within his line of vision at almost all times.
Quiet...quiet…
He cringed as he stepped on broken glass that crunched beneath his weight. He quickly looked over to the Nomu and nearly sighed in relief. It was too busy making noise by itself to have heard that. He thanked whatever lucky stars he might have left and moved through the rest of the store.
Occasionally he would freeze up and step to the side whenever the Nomu came too close. Any indication he was there and it was all over, Izuku would die. He watched it peer around the counter and listened to it scream again before moving forward.
What does it want with me? Why has this stupid thing been following me!
He bit his lip and shook his head, right now was not the time to be asking questions. He had to focus on getting out. He probably slept too long, that's how they were able to catch up. Or had to have made some kind of mistake that they were still on his tail. They just wanted more victims, he was sure of it.
He watched it walk past him and Izuku moved forward again, this time a little more hurriedly. He stepped around the debris and had a few close calls, but he was sure the Nomu hadn't caught on just yet. It didn't matter, once he was gone he would run as far as he could to make sure it couldn't find him again.
Izuku listened to the Nomu scream as he slipped out past the broken door.
He looked behind him to make sure it wasn't following him. Once he was sure he took off at a run, despite his body's protests.
A harsh wind blew past him and made him shiver. He looked up at the sky to see it was completely covered by dark gray clouds. Thunder and lightning roared out from far above him. What raised the most concern was how the clouds looked. It was one thing for it to be a rainy day, but it was another to see the clouds swirling around what looked like a dark vortex in the sky.
A storm? You've gotta be kidding me!
There was no way any kind of shelter he found would be able to completely withstand whatever was coming. With how bad it looked he wouldn't be surprised if it would wash away part of the city.
What was the end of the world without a hellish storm after all? He was just surprised it hadn't come sooner.
While he was mulling over his thoughts he hadn't noticed the shadow coming up behind him. Before he could turn a corner and go down a different street he was slammed into the ground.
Izuku couldn't help the cry of pain that escaped from him, as waved of white hot pain rolled through him. Every scrape, bruise, and jagged injury burned with pain as he was dragged across the street and thrown to the side.
He couldn't breathe, the pain was so much that he couldn't even draw in a single breath. He slowly looked up through spotty vision to see the second Nomu from yesterday, the one with wings.
All of its eyes looked down at him, scanning him as if he had something it wanted. It leaned in close before shrieking at him and wrapping its talons around his torso. It had no issue with digging its claws into his wound, reopening it, and causing him to scream out in pain. His throat ached from bruises that had yet to heal, leading to even worse aching.
Without warning the Nomu took to the skies, leaving Izuku to flail and struggle.
He was caught, he was going to die!
Izuku tried to reach for his bag, unable to even reach it in the position he was in.
He tried to beat his fist against the Nomu's talons, to loosen its grip somehow. Even if he did manage to get it to let go he'd die from the height of the fall. It didn't matter, not to him at least. He would rather die on his own terms than whatever was going to happen to him.
The thunder roared from overhead. They were already nearby the station, erasing all the progress he had managed to make. Izuku looked to the sky, seeing the dark vortex overhead. He swore he could see something in the center of it all, something was building up.
Izuku looked down to see they were over the water, he wasn't sure but he supposed from that height maybe the fall would kill him. If not, then the freezing temperatures of the water would.
Anything was better than nothing.
Before he could act on his feeble plan, the energy from the vortex above suddenly rang out. A bright light filled the sky before a bolt of lightning struck them.
Izuku screamed in pain as volts of electricity coursed through his body. It felt like he was being dissolved, his entire being was being burned away and made into dust.
For a moment his vision went black and everything was numb.
It came back slowly, everything slowly trickling back to him. He felt sick. He could feel the wind whipping in his face, then he was able to register the sensation of falling.
He pried his eyes open and it was like the world had suddenly shifted. From the barren cityscape he was in, he thought he caught a glimpse of floating isles, until he felt like he was flung in a completely different direction. He felt a wave of nausea overcome him, but that was quickly dispelled when he realized he was falling again.
He was plummeting towards a dark ocean that awaited far below. He flailed around and tried to think of a solution, something, anything, until he crashed into the water.
It was cold, and he was sinking further into the depths of the sea.
Struck by lightning...and now I'm drowning…
He would have laughed if he could have.
I guess this is how I die…
"Not yet."