Kaoru winced as the van clunked over the curb. His breathing was uneven as he swerved around another curb. He really should've learned to drive earlier; who knew it would have come so handy?
But what scared Kaoru the most were the people in the street. There were much more people still out here than Kaoru originally thought… Sure, it wasn't a million people, but he had seen at least ten people outside during his stressful drive. And they all decided to stand on the road. When had that ever been a good idea?
Kaoru gasped, seeing another woman in the middle of the road. He slammed on the breaks suddenly which caused his body to lurch forward. He strained against the seatbelt with his heart pounding against his chest. He glanced up, panting.
Immediately he paled. She was standing inches away from the front of the car. He could have killed her! And… And she hadn't moved at all, facing away from him.
Kaoru rolled down the window, worried. "Uh lady? Are you okay?" he called. There was silence, no movement. Kaoru shuddered in fear. What the hell was wrong with her?
But instead, Kaoru jammed the van into reverse, backed up in a flash, and reeled forward in a burst of speed. He slammed on the break to slow down next to the woman. "Dammit, I'm no good at this," Kaoru muttered as the van abruptly stopped. But he rolled forward, glancing out his window.
"Hey are you…" he trailed off, seeing the woman's face. It was covered in lesions and her graying hair hung limply over her sagging shoulders. Her eyes were glazed as she stared off into the darkening sky. She was the worst Kaoru has ever seen; there was streams of blood trickling down her slackened jaw.
Kaoru stepped on the gas with wide eyes. His arms shook as he accelerated. He watched the speedometer jump up to 60 in no time, not bothering to slow down.
But then he slammed on the breaks again, narrowly missing a car parked in the middle of the street. "Why is everything in the middle of the road?" Kaoru growled, frustrated. Carefully, he navigated his way around the car, bumping over the curb onto the sidewalk and back down again. And he was off again.
It was at least 20 minutes later by the time he was pulling into Haruhi's neighborhood. (He had gotten lost a couple of times.) But when he pulled onto her feeble street, he sighed in relief; it was torture getting there. When this was all over, Kaoru promised to learn to properly drive.
Kaoru jerked to a halt outside the apartment complex and silenced the engine. He breathed deeply and stepped from the van, pulling his backpack with him. Quickly, he made his way up the stairs and knocked on Haruhi's door.
He waited there in silence but nothing happened. So he knocked again, louder and more forcefully. "Come on," he whispered.
Suddenly there was a click on the other side of the door, the sounds of the locks. The door inched open. "Kaoru?" the voice asked thinly.
"Yeah, it's me, Haruhi. Can you let me in?"
There was a pause but then the door swung open anyway. Without warning, Haruhi flung herself into Kaoru's arms, pulling him into a hug. Kaoru, thoroughly surprised, slowly squeezed back. Her small frame shook beneath his grasp.
"Are you okay, Haruhi?" Kaoru mumbled into her hair.
She pulled away and wiped at her tear-streaked eyes. Shaking her head, she replied, "No, not at all."
"What's wrong?" Kaoru asked. He looked her over. She looked absolutely fine. There were no spots on her body; she wasn't coughing; no blood was visible.
"Come inside," she said lowly. Her eyes darted around the neighborhood anxiously before she backed into the apartment, followed by Kaoru.
Inside, she immediately closed the door and locked the bolts and locks. Kaoru never before saw the girl act so paranoid.
"Where is everyone else?" Haruhi questioned suddenly.
"They are all inside the sanctuaries. You and I are the only ones outside," Kaoru explained, walking further inside her home and sitting down on the floor.
Haruhi joined him, leaning against the wall. "Why are you still out here?" she asked.
"Well, I am immune, so I should have gotten in with no doubts. But for some reason, the sanctuary guards didn't believe me when I said I was immune. They thought I was lying. They kicked me out because I was coughing from this small cold I have."
Haruhi nodded. "But you don't seem like you have a cold."
"Getting over it," Kaoru replied.
"And what's that on your arm?"
Kaoru glanced down. "Oh the towel. I cut myself breaking into my own house."
"Let me see," she said, moving towards him. Carefully, she unwound the towel. Kaoru bit his lip at the dull pain of his arm. And when she finally pulled the cloth away, she gasped. "So much blood," she whispered, gaping at the crusted and smearing bloody mess. She glanced up with worry in her eyes. "We need to clean this up."
"But I just did," Kaoru whined.
"Well," Haruhi said with a glare, "the cut is still oozing, so you must've not done a good enough job. You need a bandage on this, not just a towel."
Haruhi stood up and scurried away to the bathroom. When she returned with armfuls of medical objects and immediately she screwed off the top of a water bottle and poured a cool stream down Kaoru's warmed arm; she cleaned the blood away with a wet cloth.
"So why are you still out here? Did you get kicked out too?"
Haruhi shook her head. "No, I didn't even show up for entrance into the sanctuaries."
"Why?" Kaoru asked, worried at the sad expression on her face.
She squirted some disinfectant onto the wound making Kaoru flinch at the stinging sensation. "It's… I'll show you in a second," she said.
Haruhi continued to clean and dress the wound in silence. Kaoru allowed his mind to wander. He thought about all that happened and about what was to come. Sighing, he realized how tiring this all was. Finally, after a few minutes, Haruhi patted on the last part of the bandage.
"There you go," she said softly.
"Thanks." Kaoru flexed his arm, surprised that there was little pain.
Haruhi stood. "Well, I suppose I'll show you," she said. Her face was grave.
Kaoru jumped to his feet and followed her as she walked away towards the back of the apartment. She stopped at one of the doors and rolled it aside. Haruhi stepped back, gesturing for Kaoru enter first.
Gulping, Kaoru forced himself to step inside. The first thing that hit him was the smell; the smell of the dead. And then his eyes were caught on the motionless form on the bed. It was Haruhi's dad, Ranka.
Kaoru felt the blood rush from his face. The man was lying there, sleeping, but he was covered in spots. And those spots could only mean one thing.
I went to Olive Garden a few hours ago and that just inspired me to write. Why would that inspire me? Heck if I know. It just did. Don't question it.