03

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That's Rough, Buddy

Hinata glared at the stranger's back as he trailed him through the house, thinly restraining the urge to stab him in the back with his machete. Honestly, what a conceited jerk. He'd helped him out and all he could do was insult him?

He tried to size him up as they walked, but it was like staring at a blank sheet of paper. He was about 17 centimeters taller, so Hinata guessed he was older, maybe eighteen, though it was monumentally hard to guess his age. He had an angular, sharp face, straight black hair, narrow blue-gray eyes, and the slight beginnings of a five o'clock shadow on his chin, but he had one of those faces that was both old and young.

He moved through the house with practiced tension, as if expecting an attack at any second. His eyes were so sharp and focused, Hinata was almost unnerved whenever they glanced his way. Maybe that was just the way snipers acted? It would make sense since they were supposedly laser-focused. Then again, this guy didn't really strike Hinata as a super-serious sniper—well, maybe super-serious, but not like a killing machine or anything.

"Why are you following me around?" the boy eventually demanded, seemingly growing annoyed by his persistent presence. He spun on his heel and jabbed a finger into Hinata's chest with a glare. "Sure, you helped, whatever: now get lost before I shoot you in the leg and leave you for the corpses."

"That's no way to talk to your savior," Hinata scolded patronizingly. "Besides, would you really shoot someone right after they helped you? Surely you have some morals left."

"You know, it's funny, but they all seem to disappear when annoying redheaded midgets show up," he responded sarcastically, returning to his task of sweeping the house and leaving Hinata steaming behind him. Still, he followed after him resolutely as he took to the stairs.

"You're seriously irritating. Just because I stepped on your little ego by helping you out, you're now threatening to kill me and denying that I helped you?" Hinata clicked his tongue when the sniper ignored him and quickened his pace. "Hey, you could at least tell me your name."

"Why do you even want to know?" the boy responded irately, shooting him another sharp glance. He pulled out a pistol from the holster around his waist and Hinata flinched, though he didn't aim it his way. "If you're going to insist on sticking around, get a weapon and help me clear this place; otherwise, get out."

Hinata muttered obscenities under his breath as they reached the first floor, drawing a small Zev Glock 17 from his backpack and loading the chamber. "Fine, because I'm not leaving here until I get a scrap of decency from you, stranger who refuses to tell me his name."

"Fine, alright?! It's Kageyama Tobio! Not shut up and focus."

"Thank you," Hianta said with satisfaction, taking the other side of the doorway Kageyama was poised to enter. "Now, was that so— Ooh." He paused as the door was pushed open and a zombie came stumbling through, clawing and growling. Hinata kicked it in the back of the knee reflexively, shooting it in the skull when it went down. "Oh, sorry. Hope that wasn't someone you knew."

"I will seriously shoot you," Kageyama scoffed as he stepped over the fallen corpse, quickly scanning the room before progressing down the hallway. Hinata followed behind him with a smug smile, feeling a hint of self-satisfaction as they stopped outside the next door.

Kageyama kept one finger poised over the trigger of his pistol as he kicked it open, but this one was clear. His shoulders didn't relax, however, expression remaining stoic as he headed for the stairs again. Hinata raised an eyebrow questioningly as he trailed behind him. "You sure are serious, aren't you? You're gonna get wrinkles if you always frown like that."

"There aren't many things to smile about," Kageyama responded gruffly, sidestepping a clumsy swipe from a gargling zombie as it careened down the stairs, kicking it in the back to send it tumbling over the railing to the marble floor far below. "In fact, your optimism is baffling. Please, tell me what you find so cheerful about the apocalypse."

"I don't think it's cheerful," Hinata retorted petulantly, clicking his gun safety on and off—a nervous tick he'd started to develop. "It's just life. Stuff happened, and now it's a little harder to keep surviving. Why be depressed about something you can't change?"

It was true: Most people saw the apocalypse as the end of everything; but really, it was just like an earthquake or a wild fire. It made living conditions harder, but it wasn't impossible to stay alive. Hinata figured as long as he could keep fighting, he would stay alive, and that really wasn't so bad, was it? After everything he'd lost, he only valued his own life even more. Somebody had to stick around to remember what things were like before.

But Kageyama didn't seem to share his sentiment. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I figured you were nuts jumping over the fence like that, and now my theory's been confirmed."

Instead of arguing, Hinata simply huffed and crossed his arms, staring at the muscles in Kageyama's back contracting as they climbed. How irritating. This guy really didn't have any manners, did he? And he didn't even seem concerned about his friends living in the house, either—although, maybe they weren't exactly his friends.

He'd said something about 'working' there earlier, but Hinata had assumed he wasn't serious, considering jobs didn't really exist anymore. Looking around at the mansion, though, maybe he really did work for whoever owned it. It did seem plausible that a bunch of rich guys wouldn't be willing to pick up guns and put themselves in danger—but money was worthless now, so why bother working for them?

He thought about asking, but figured Kageyama wasn't feeling particularly talkative. He did, however, not appear to want him dead anymore, as he pushed Hinata flat against the wall. "Zombie." He stepped forward and shot its head off as it came running down the hall, blowing stray strands of raven hair out of his face in annoyance as he studied the corpse's face. "Ah, what a pain... Looks like I just lost my job."

Hinata bent over beside him, although he failed to find any shred of recognition for the fallen corpse, as Kageyama must've. "Hmm. Well, sucks for you, huh?"

As Kageyama headed back to the staircase and towards the mansion's top floor, Hinata trailed after him, whistling softly. So far, they hadn't run into any living people, and a few he'd shot had been recognizable—the last being his (previous) employer, Mr. Madoka. So much for his sweet setup.

"So what are you gonna do now?"

Kageyama clicked his tongue and shot a rough glance over his shoulder at the persistent redheaded annoyance still following him. "Why are you still here?"

"You must take classes in how to be a jerk," Hinata huffed. He side-stepped a swiping zombie that came careening down the corridor and fiddled with the safety on his pistol before giving up and slamming the barrel into the corpse's head as hard as he could. He stomped on its head a few times after it fell before flicking the blood from his boots angrily.

"Umm..." Kageyama watched him with raised brows, coughing awkwardly. "Well then... I guess you can... stay?" He was a bit hesitant to mess with him after that. Geez. Maybe this kid had anger issues, on top of everything else. He still had to hold his ground a little, though, so he put on his best stern face. "As long as you stay out of my way and don't get me killed."

"Wow, you know, my impression of you grows more and more favorable by the second," Hinata responded sarcastically, flipping off his pistol's safety. "And you don't seem particularly upset that, you know, everyone you know is dead."

"How about you mind your own business," Kageyama snapped, kicking open the first door on the top floor. "And it's not like I like these people. They gave me food, I protected them: It was only temporary." He cast a glance back at the redhead after assuring that the room was clear. "And you: Where did you come from, exactly?"

Immediately, his expression changed, at once guarded and inexpressive. Kageyama observed the change with a raised brow as the boy lowered his gaze, giving an obscure answer. "Ah... well, I wandered here from the west a while ago."

"By yourself?" Kageyama questioned, trying to keep his tone indifferent as he headed towards the next door. "Must've been tough for a shrimpy kid like you." Really, Kageyama knew all too well how tough it was. He'd been alone from the beginning, and he got the feeling that maybe Hinata had, too. It would explain why he was guarded about the topic.

"I'm not even going to validate that with a response," the boy said, annoyance creeping back into his voice. "You know, I could seriously shoot you in the back right now, and you're not even worried about that a little bit?"

"Not really, no." Kageyama kicked open the door and immediately jumped back as a zombie came lurching out. He cursed and raised his gun, but the zombie grabbed his arm and he stumbled back, losing his footing on a stupid ornamental rug. He raised his arms to block, but realized a little too late that the extra cloth he usually used to cover his forearms had been dislodged, leaving his left wrist exposed.

Before he even had the chance to panic or come up with another plan, Hinata reacted, reaching out to grab the zombie by the neck and throwing it to the ground, stomping on its skull with the heel of his boot and splattering decomposed brains across the floor—and Kageyama's cheek.

The redhead stood above him, arms crossed. "So, still think you don't need my help?"

Kageyama clicked his tongue and flipped himself back to his feet, ignoring Hinata's proferred hand and wiping the gore from his face. He pulled the black bandanna back over his mouth with a glare the shorter boy's direction, pulling the fabric covering back down over his arm. He retrieved his gun and stalked past him angrily. "I would've been fine. I've always got a backup plan."

"You really are unbelievable!" Hinata exclaimed, chasing after him as he kicked down all the other doors in the hall. "I mean, you have absolutely zero people skil—" A huge, resounding boom! cut him off mid-speech, and both of them stumbled into the walls as the mansion shook, plaster raining down from the ceiling like snow.

"What the hell was that?!" Kageyama righted himself and sprinted down the hall to peer out the windows, squinting through the darkness of the rain. He could barely make out the electrical shed at the edges of the property, flickering white flames consuming the structure: It must've been struck by lightning, which meant...

"Oh, shit." He backed away from the window quickly, nearly tripping over Hinata in his haste. He turned, shoving the redhead ahead of him frantically. "Go, go! We have to run!"

"R-run?" Hinata stammered in confusion as Kageyama dragged him roughly back towards the stairs. "Why are we runn—"

"The generator, dumbass!" Kageyama interrupted impatiently. "Dammit, you're going too slow!" Ignoring his attempts at further communication, Kageyama grabbed Hinata and threw him over his shoulder, sprinting full-speed down the staircase and back the way they had come, cursing under his breath.

Damn. This really had been a great setup. He should've known something so convenient wouldn't last. There wasn't even time to grab any supplies, other than the ones he already had on him. With the stuff in his backpack, he only had provisions for another two to three days... but at least he had his dad's rifle. As long as that was with him, he was confident he would survive.

At least, he would—if he got out of this place in the next thirty seconds.

Luckily, the gate had already been torn off its hinges by the mob, and with a burst of adrenaline-fueled speed, Kageyama leaped over the remains and rolled across the rain-soaked pavement, sheltering Hinata, right as the generator blew. He lowered his head and squeezed his eyes shut as sparks and burning rubble cut smoking paths through the rain, spiraling over his head.

It took several minutes before the chain reactions stopped, rubble settling as the remnants of the fire were distinguished by the rain. Kageyama lifted his head, gasping from the adrenaline. The mansion's front wall had entirely collapsed, a piece of the combusted generator smoldering amidst the remains.

Hinata coughed, shifting beneath him. "Well that... really sucked."