Well this is late isn't it?
I didn't mean to take an entire month off. I just got swamped with work. I've finally gotten back into the flow of writing and editing, so I decided to finally release this. Hopefully I'll have another chapter out in a week or two, but I don't really know. The last few weeks of school are gonna be hectic for me, but I'l try to update as often as possible because I really enjoy writing this story. And I hope you enjoy reading it as well.
Without any more delay, don't forget to follow and favorite if you haven't already, and leave a review. Tell me what you think. I'm always up for some positive critics (and only positive pls).
Enjoy!
It was a lot harder than Bakugou thought it would be. His heart was racing, his breath uneven as he and the officer began to make their way to the truck. It was so loud. Moan and groans of dead corpses ringing in Bakugou's ears. He barely heard any of the noise inside the gyms. The insulated walls kept out the noise of the infected. Now outside, abandoned by the protection of thick cement walls, fear really began to well within him.
"Stay close," the officer whispered. "There seems to be a small horde of them heading towards the truck. We take out as many as we can so the girls can get in. Got it."
"Shut up," Bakugu said to the officer, watching as the heads of some infected turned towards them. "You're drawing some of them towards us." He raised his bat above his head, his feet gripping the cement as he aimed at the infected. A loud crack resonated through the air, catching the attention of some other infected. Bakugou and the officer began to clear the way for the others.
He wasn't deaf. He could hear the surprise gasping from his classmates behind him. He could have sworn he even heard one of them dry heave in sync with the officer bashing in the head of an infected. When he turned around, everyone's face was green except for Midoriya's. She seemed to be soldiering on, pulling at the other girl's wrist to get to the truck. He didn't like the look of determination on her face. Tsubasa took out an infection behind the girls, seeming unbalanced from the swing.
"Be quick," the officer said once the girls reached the truck. "We'll cover from out here." The girls nodded their heads. Midoriya jumped into the truck, grunting as she pulled herself up. Bakugou gripped at her wrist, his eyes meeting hers. Despite not saying anything to her, she smiled, and it made his heart flutter.
"I'm fine, Kacchan," she claimed. Her smile dropped for a moment, her gaze looking behind him, but their eyes met again and her smile returned. Though, it wasn't nearly as bright.
She shook his grip from her wrist and began to hand things to the other boys. Bakugou raised his bat when he heard the grunt of an infected near him, easily taking it down in one swing. He ignored the urge to throw up bile from the sound of its brain being smashed to bits, or the smell of the decaying flesh from the recent rain they had. Taking in deep breaths and turning back around. His heart dropped as he looked towards the others. The two boys were handling a handful of infected the best they could, but they were obviously overpowered. The officer was gone, away from his post at the back of the bus to keep infected at bay.
"Bakugou! Help!" He heard Tsubasa yell. He ran to the front of the others, his bat raised well above his head as he swung down on the target. His eyes were scanning, alert for the only adult with them. There was more than just that cluster. At least a couple dozen were heading in their direction, and there was no way they could take down all of them and make it back unscathed.
"Where the fuck is the–"
BANG!
Bakugou ducked to the ground, his heart racing as he looked for the source of the sound. None of them had a gun, so where did that noise come from?
"The officer!" one of the guys yelled, running off to find the man. Bakugou almost reached to grab him, but then a scream was heard from inside the truck. His mind blanking, He immediately ran to the back of the truck, panic surging through him at the thought of Midoriya getting hurt. The truck was supposed to be the safest place for the two of them to be. What could possibly be in there that could scare the two?
The back of the truck was the darkest place in the vehicle, but that didn't mean Bakugou couldn't see Midoriya bashing in the brain of the infected. It was a grown man, well over three times her size, and it didn't seem to be dying. Midoriya kept swinging, stepping back with each swing to create distance between the two of them. The other girl was sitting in shock, her eyes locked on the monster in front of them. She didn't move her foot when Midoriya came around, and it made the greenette trip and fall out of the truck's compartment. Her head hit the ground in a loud smack, and she stopped moving.
"Fuck, Deku," Bakugou said, pulling her out of the way of the infected. The man fell out of the truck, laying kindly as he stared at Midoriya like she was a five-star meal. He glared at the black-haired girl, a snarl on the tip of his tongue. "Kill it!" The girls just looked shocked, jumping out of the truck and running towards the gym doors. Bakugou cursed under his breath, letting go of Midoriya and aiming his bat at the man. Then another scream rang through the air.
"Tsubasa!" he heard. Turning around, he could see the chubby boy being bitten by one of the infected. He yelled out in pain as the monster bit his wrist, intent on taking the arm. The other boy swings his bat at the infected, taking it down easily and clearing the way for Tsubasa to get out.
"Kacchan," Midoriya said, her eyes fluttering open. "The food." The blonde boy nodded, throwing a few swings at the infected in front of them.
Ryu, the boy who had cleared the way for Tsubasa, seemed to realize they were taking as much food as they could and booking it towards the gym. They each managed to get a box of preserved food each before they left, barely getting out of the grasp of the horde. Bakugou ignored how close the groans were, or how it felt like he had no air left in his lungs as they ran. Midoriya was tripping behind him, unbalanced and breathing heavily. He wanted to take the box from her to make the trip easier, but his box was heavy enough.
"Drop it," he ordered. Midoriya shook her head, straightening out as they approached the doors. Ms. Imada helped them open for them, locking it behind them once all three entered. Out of breath and legs tired, the three dropped to the ground, flinching when the gym doors were pounded on.
"Where's the cop?" Hitomi asked. The others shrugged their shoulders.
"This is all you got?" Aoi asked. "You were out there for so long. I thought you would have gotten more."
"Shut up," Bakugou growled. "We're lucky we even got this. We almost died because some asshole let off his gun."
"It was the officer," Ryu said. "He had a gun." Midoriya looked at him, eyes foggy as she ran her hand through her hair.
"Where is he?" she asked. Ryu pointed outside. Bakugou's eyes widened. Outside, just a few feet from where he had taken out the lone walker on the side of the truck, there the officer lay, getting eaten by multiple infected. It was clear that the man was dead. He had the fate that all of them could've had.
Midoriya let out a sob next to him. Her hand was covering her mouth, her body shaking. At first, he thought she was looking at the officer, but then he realized she was looking at the large man she struggled to take down. It was still, its brains bashed in.
"I-I wasn't s-strong e-enough," she cried, gripping her middle tight. Bakugou reached toward her, his hand freezing as he looked at the back of her head. She was bleeding, a thin trickle of blood falling down the back of her head. Bakugou gingerly touched the back of her head, flinching when she gasped out in pain.
"You're bleeding," he told her. "Did it…" His eyes swung over to Tsubasa. The chubby boy was holding his wrist tight, breathing hard as he tried to stop the bleeding. He had forgotten so quickly what had happened to him. Should they have let him back in? He was going to turn soon, another enemy they needed to get rid of like the rest out there.
"Is she bitten?" Aoi asked. "Is she going to turn into one of those things?" Midoriya looked scared, sliding against the floor away from the redhead. Bakugou could feel the tension rising in the room against the greenette.
"No," he said. "She fell and hit her head. Besides, It's not her we need to worry about." He gestured towards Tsubasa, who wasn't even paying attention to them. The others gasped in shock, surrounding the boy and asking if he was okay. Bakugou glared at them before turning to the greenette. Clearly shaken up, she barely met his eyes.
"Your head..." he said vaguely. She looked back at Tsubasa, shaking breaths escaping her.
"What are we going to do about him? He's bitten," she said. Her eyes widened as she looked back at him. "I'm not, it was from the fall."
"I know," he said. "Let's get you cleaned up." They went to where their beds were, which happened to be in the corner farthest from the door. Midoriya was unstable, gripping Bakugou's arm for support tenderly. He pretended not to notice the way his heart jumped at the contact.
"I wasn't strong enough," she mumbled. Bakugou didn't miss the way her eyes seemed to droop in sleepiness. He wondered if she even thought about what she said, and how shitty that claim was. "I'm sorry you needed to help me. I know you hate me being in the way." She closed her eyes, soft breathes following her apology. He didn't say anything as she dozed off, he just made sure she was comfortable on her cot before sliding down the wall and placing his head in his hands.
Too much happened in so little time. He didn't feel like moving, much less eating anything they had managed to snag. With the officer gone and one of them bitten, things were obviously about to change. It didn't help either that they were already targeting Midoriya…
He reached behind her head, gently caressing the nape of her neck. Moving closer towards the crown of her head, he felt the swelling of her wound. She hissed, flinching at his touch, but didn't open her eyes. He sighed, registering the words she said.
Though he'd never admit it out loud, Midoriya was never as big of an annoyance to him as she thought he was. He was just an asshole, one who didn't know how to control his emotions or how to emit them. He just didn't know what to do when his heart raced at the speed of light whenever he saw her, or how when other guys gave her attention, rage boiled within him so hot all he could see was red. He never meant for it to get so out of control, for him to be the prime reason why she was an outcast.
He couldn't think too hard about it. As much as he wanted to apologize, his pride would never allow it. He'd never uttered a single apology since his existence, and he wasn't gonna start then.
"What are we gonna do about her?" Aoi asked, suddenly standing above his shoulder. He glared up at her, instinctually blocking Midoriya from her line of sight.
"What does it matter to you, Carrots?" he asked. She glared at him, crossing her arms. Clearly, she thought that would intimidate him. It just irritated him further.
"She's bleeding a lot. Are you sure she just fell?" Aoi taunted him. She had an annoying smirk on her face like she had won some argument, but all she had done was anger him more. The idea of Midoriya being bitten was out of the question.
"Worry about Tsubasa's ass, Carrots."
"What is with you?" she suddenly snapped, not seeming like a sly fox but a whining kid. Bakugou's glare faltered at the change of tone in her voice. Suddenly, the conversation wasn't about Midoriya being bitten anymore.
"More important things are happening."
"You never cared this much about her before," Aoi claimed. "All you did was bully her, and now it's the end of the world and suddenly your best friends? If anything I thought you'd be the first one to vote her out."
"Are you done?" he snapped at her. "I'm not sure if you noticed, but Deku's is the only person here getting a single goddamn thing done. She actually tried to learn how to fight them, she got the food, and better yet she'll probably even help Tsubasa out even though his fat ass and that other bitch left her for dead."
"It's more than that," Aoi stated. "You like her, don't you?"
Bakugou was filled with shame, the same shame he felt when his mother had called him out on it, and the same shame he felt when Tsubasa picked up on it too. It wasn't the fact that it was Midoriya that made it shameful, it was the fact that after everything he'd done to her he still felt it.
"Why the fuck would I like her?" he slowly breathed out, replacing the ever-building shame and guilt in the lie with his ever-constant anger. "Wannabe fucking helpful? Get her some bandages for her head and some water. Do something with your worthless self." He didn't care how cruel and evil he sounded, she had crossed too many lines for him to tolerate her.
She scoffed, walking away from the two. Bakugou could feel the eyes of the others watching him, analyzing him like he was some sort of puzzle. He didn't have enough energy to meet their gazes with fiery vexation. Instead, he climbed into his cot and turned his back to the others. He tuned the world out, tuned out his own emotion and hunger, and just stared at a wall to avoid communicating with anyone.
Midoriya woke up to an enormous headache. She palmed at the back of her head, her fingertips grazing the soft texture of a bandage. She looked around, confused as to why her head hurt so much, and then it hit her. She fell out of a truck, the food truck, they got the food, but when did they get back?
Her memories were slowly coming back to her, one by one, until she realized the group was one short and about to lose another. Tsubasa looked worse for wear, glossy eyes and labored coughs coming from him. The others kept their distance from him, but not as much as they were keeping from her like she was the one about to turn before their very eyes.
"Here," Bakugou said, handing her a bowl of rice. Midoriya grasped it, her hands gripping at the bowl. Her hands were cold, as was the rest of her body. She never did well in the colder seasons.
"Thank you," she said, meeting his eyes. Despite the fact that they now had food, he looked tired, like he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. "Are you ok–" he glared at her. She bowed her head. "Sorry."
"Your head," he said, seeming awkward as he took a bite out of his bowl. "Is it okay?" Her eyes widened, her fingers curling tighter around her chopsticks. When was the last time he asked her if she was okay? Was it when they were kids? When she had ironically hurt herself trying to prove she was strong to him? No. It was right before she passed out, the last clear memory she had after seeing the corpse of the officer. He had asked it then, and he had sounded just as concerned.
"I-It's okay," she managed to get out. "It could be worse." They were both met with silence again. He didn't try to make conversation, and Midoriya was too scared to say anything and prompt him to move away from her. He seemed to be the only one okay with being around her. She frowned when all of them avoided her gaze.
"Don't look at them," he growled. "They're being assholes."
"Tsubasa's gonna turn soon," she whispered to him. "Without the officer to handle him, the others are going to panic. I don't think Ms. Imada can handle taking out one of her students."
"Mmm," he mumbled. "She might use the gun again."
"Again?" she asked. Ms. Imada couldn't have used a gun. Unless… "She took the shot? I thought that was the officer."
"He used his gun after the first shot. It wouldn't make sense for him to use it when he was surrounded by a bunch of them, that would only draw attention to himself. And even if he did, they all would've headed in his direction instead of ours, and Tsubasa wouldn't have been bitten."
"Where would she have gotten the gun from?" she asked. Bakugou pointed towards the door near where the officer was shot. It made sense for both the adults to have guns. Extra protection with people who know how to use it, or who could at least handle it better than a bunch of kids.
"Worst-case scenario, we take the gun and we leave," he told her. She nearly dropped her chopsticks. That would be a super bold move, even for him. Did he even know how to handle a gun?
"We shouldn't make plans like this."
"What else can we do?" he snapped at her. "Sooner or later they're gonna want you out of here. Whether they think it's because you're gonna turn or because they need one less mouth to feed, they'll leave you out."
"Why do you care?" she suddenly asked, emotion building within her. "Wouldn't that be best for you?" He looked shocked, eyes wide as he stared into her green ones. Suddenly she felt like she had misspoken. Like she had made a mistake. She must have to have shocked the Bakugou Katsuki.
"Nobody else here has a chance," he said under his breath. "If it's about survival, then I'm choosing the people who have a chance." He left. Midoriya wished that she had just said nothing at all.
She watched his retreating figure, and then her eyes met blue. Aoi was glaring at her like she always was, but she was also smirking. She was sitting with Hitomi and her friend, but unlike Aoi, the other two looked fearful when Midoriya looked at them. The girl with the black hair especially. When she thought Midoriya had looked away, she started whispering to Aoi again. It didn't feel like normal gossip either. Midoriya was starting to understand what Bakugou meant about the others turning on her.
She felt it was gonna be a lot sooner than she thought too.
Midoriya removed the wet cloth from Tsubasa's forehead. The boy was pale, even paler than her. His eyes were unfocused, and he often tended to moan more than he did speak. He had lasted longer than the officer–it was almost day two–but the look in his eyes and the way he barely seemed to breathe, Midoriya would give him till the evening.
Tension had been higher than ever, to the point where even Midoriya was having trouble falling asleep. It was like the other's eyes were on her constantly, just waiting for her to turn. She had no fever or cough, her eyes weren't glassy and bloodshot, but that didn't seem to matter. She was attacked, she bled, so they assumed she too was bitten.
Under the gaze of the others, she began to crack. She coughed. Once, then twice, then a third time much more violently than the first two. Her hand went over her mouth to stop the spray of saliva and germs, and then she froze. Warm, red liquid escaped through her fingers.
She looked at the others. They were already away from her, standing in the corner alert. They each had their own bat in the air, ready to attack. Bakugou had a gun, and it was aiming at her head.
There was a growl…
BANG!
Midoriya woke from the nightmare, a nightmare she'd been having since Tsubasa was bitten. It was dark, the only thing lighting the room was a small flashlight in the corner by the officer. Midoriya's heart was beating out of her chest, and cold sweat built along her brow. She was whimpering quietly to herself, trying to gain her composure as she looked into the darkness. She was still hearing the noise. The noise of chewing that was in her nightmare. Was someone eating?
She got out of her cot and started to follow the noise. It was loud, somewhere in the corner by Ms. Imada. Midoriya took the flashlight and moved it in the direction of the noise. Her steps were slow, her legs telling her to run in the other direction but her mind urging her to move on. It didn't feel right, it felt like something was wrong and she should know what it was, but her mind couldn't pinpoint exactly what.
"Ms. Imada," she said quietly. The small woman was bent over something, blood covering her body as she breathed out heavily. Midoriya couldn't see her injury and it was concerning her, but what was more concerning was the chewing noise coming from her direction. "Are you okay?"
The small woman turned towards her, eyes a fogging white as the light reflected in her irises. She looked dead, skin pale and neck split wide open as she looked at the greenette. Midoriya didn't know what to do, she didn't know if she should help her or wake the others. She could see the outline of a foot in front of Ms. Imada, and then suddenly she realized what happened to the lady.
She turned.
It was almost as if Ms. Imada read her mind because the moment she turned to wake everyone up Ms. Imada lunged and grabbed her leg. She screamed, her jaw meeting the ground in a loud thump before she was dragged under the teacher. Ms. Imada tried to bite at her, snarling and pushing against the flashlight she had on the woman's neck. She was crying, using all her strength to keep the women off her.
How did she turn? There was no bite, not any Midoriya could see, and she never had a fever? There was a big, open slit across the woman's neck, blood gushing all over Midoriya and getting into her mouth, prompting the girl to spit out the vile substance. Her arms weakened, and Ms. Imada got scarily close to her neck before a surge of strength passed through her arms. She managed to get the teacher off her before shakily rising to her feet. The teacher was relentless, grabbing her wrist and forcing the girl to look back at her. Midoriya did what was only logical at that moment.
She hit the woman with the flashlight.
In an attempt to save herself, her mind clouded with instinct as she backed the flashlight in the woman's head repeatedly. She stopped when her baby blue eyes bulged out of her skull and her nose caved in. Midoriya had stopped mid-swing when she realized what she had done. She dropped the flashlight, scooting away from the woman on her knees. Her back met with another figure, blood dripping on the top of her head as she looked up. It was Tsubasa. He loomed over her, eyes dead as he reached for her. She just flinched away, caving into herself as the bigger chubby boy attacked.
Bang!
She shook for a long while, waiting for the pain to settle, but it never did. She felt arms wrap around her, and she panicked and tried to move away. They were strong though and held her tight in her place. She risked looking up and her eyes met ruby red. The other's flashlights were on now, and she could see what she had done to Ms. Imada. To that poor, poor woman. She couldn't stop shaking, her mind blanked out. She didn't know if she was crying or not, if she was even breathing, but she knew she had done something very wrong.
