"Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."
― Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam
Haruhi drummed her fingers lightly on her stomach, staring up at the ceiling. Rain pounded roughly against the windows, trapping them all within the confines of the pension. For the last week. It wasn't normally something that got on their nerves, the rain was...well a nice change to the dusty and dry air. They went out and fooled around in the rain the first day, running about. However, they quickly headed in and changed into dry clothes. Not taking the chance on getting a cold.
Now, they were all praying that the storm would move on and they would get some sunlight. A rare occurance, but they really wanted to do something besides sitting around the house, doing occasional chores. It wasn't like they could go for a walk when the forest floor was mud, they couldn't go on the internet, watch television or call up someone. Those things were impossible to do now that nearly everyone was dead.
A loud bang startled everyone in the room. Haruhi launched off the couch, her back and wrists had healed nicely. Being over three months since she had been originally injured. Satoshi and Tamaki both jumped off the other couch where they had been in the middle of a card game. Satoshi grabbing a Katana and sliding it out of it's sheath. Ristu, Chika, Takashi and Mitsukuni darted down the stairs, while Kyouya peered over from his seat at a desk, a frown on his face. The twins headed out of the kitchen, knifes in their grip.
Kaoru passed a knife to Haruhi as she headed towards the door. They supposed it was something harmless, maybe just a branch broke off and hit the door. Haruhi threw open the door, and a surprised noise escaped her lip as a creature burst into the house. Grasping her throat. She choked, but before any damage could be done, Satoshi thrust the katana straight through the creatures head. Causing it's grip to go slack.
Haruhi stumbled backwards and fell onto the ground, knife falling harmlessly to the ground beside her. Everyone in the room stared at the creature, the door still blown wide open. The rain blowing in and soaking the hallway. Hikaru moved and closed the door, locking it. Instantly Takashi and him worked on putting out the candles in the room. She slowly stood up, using the chair to help her.
It was odd that creature had managed to get so far outside of the city. From the smaller groups long time in the city around theses mutations, they had never seen the creatures go outside the city. Always sticking within the confines of the streets. Sure, sometimes they may walk down the paved road, but wouldn't go far. They didn't know that fresher food was out in the forest. They stayed where they were accustomed to. Maybe this one went to the pension when it was alive. Although, it would've walked down the front road and come in through that way.
So, what caused this creature to come all the way from the city?
Their silent questions were answered by the distant scream of a creature following it's pray. Air horns went off, gun shots. Things that would make any creature follow after it. Someone, and they all bet it was the group that had tortured Haruhi, was luring the creatures towards the pension. Takashi grab another one of the katana and motioned towards his brother. They slid out the front door, going to assess the situation. The group stayed still and tense as they waited. The noises slowly growing louder, and louder. Closer and closer.
The door opened again and Satoshi entered quickly, everyone started to get nervous. Was Takashi injured? However, the older man slipped in a few minutes later. They could tell they didn't slip in and out of the situation. A bit of blood was splattered on Takashi's clothes, but his blade was clean. He obviously was trying to make it seem like he didn't kill anyone. Although, they all knew it was the case.
"Move out," Takashi ordered the moment a gunshot sounded near the house. Kyouya grabbed Ritsu's arm and dragged him towards the closet. Together they pulled out large bags, passing them towards the others. Each running around the pension and collecting different items. No one had to ask the question. Why were they leaving? So, no one wasted the time asking. They moved with purpose. Light none perishable food, as well as some perishable food, was packed. Cans were piled into the cellar along with heavier medical equipment. Basic medicine, medical tools and supplies were tucked into the bags. Blankets, extra clothes, ammo, and basic supplies for surviving in the wilderness. Knowing that they couldn't go back to the city for a while. It was unsafe there, with the group of people waiting to slit their throats.
How did they find the pension? It was a question that was on all of their minds as they quickly packed. If one of them was a traitor it would make sense, but they all cared about each other and wouldn't dare to tell those people where their base camp was. The only thing anyone could think of was that they had managed to follow the group back when Takashi and Ritsu had brought Kyouya and Haruhi back. Yet, it was a long time for them to wait. Had they been searching throughout the forest and seen them?
Regardless of how, they were stuck in the now. Get as much as they could and get out. Any weapons they could carry were brought to the front door so they could grab it on their way out, and ammo tucked into the appropriate persons bag. Unless they didn't need ammo for their specific weapon. The rest of the weapons were stuffed into the cellar along with extra items and the cellar door was covered with heavy furniture.
Haruhi did a sweep of the upstairs bedrooms when something crashed through the window. She was lucky enough to be able to duck behind a wardrobe when the bottle of alchohal crashed against the floor, throwing the flammable liquid along with the fire in all directions. She cursed loudly, and gathered her courage. Jumping over some flames and getting to the door.
"Everyone out," she shouted immediately, slamming into the banister. The others looked up and they heard the fire starting to consume the room. Takashi nodded and tossed one of the packs towards the twins. Pulling one on himself. The others tugged on their jackets, packs and grabbed their weapons. Haruhi hurried down the stairs, being helped into her pack by Hikaru as she flicked the safety off on both her guns.
The group burst forth from the door. Not caring to be silent. "Road for speed," Satoshi shouted out to the others. They would've gone through the forest for stealth, but now they needed to get away. The loud rain, near destructive wind and more explosions of Molotov's, added with the scream of the creatures covered the noise of their escape. The group of ten ran down the darkened road, not caring that they were being thoroughly soaked.
It seemed that they were going to be able to escape, but a loud scream behind them caused them to glance back. Slowing them down briefly. A creature was running after them. Takashi shoved his cousin towards the forest and ordered for the others to do the same. Mitsukuni was the first to break the forest line, and Takashi was the last. Haruhi kept running down the road, ignoring Takashi's order. The creature continued to follow her, and she turned, watching as it gained on her. Completely ignoring those who darted into the forest.
Haruhi nodded and ducked into the forest at this point, knowing that the creature would follow her. Allowing the others to get away.
However, the unfortunate part of their plan was they didn't bother to choose a meet up area in case someone gets separated. So, by the time the group stopped for a breather, once they knew the creature wasn't following them, and Takashi did a head count. Haruhi was two miles north of their position and still moving. Her legs ready to give out, but the fear that was flowing through he was enough to keep her moving. Eventually she did give up and yank her gun out. Twisting around. The creature collided with her, sending them both to the floor.
The creature scratched at her, and she did the only thing she could in that position. Slammed her fist into the side of its grotesque face. It worked to get it off her enough that she was able to reach and grab the fallen gun. It grasped her throat and began choking her. Nails digging into her neck and drawing blood. The moment it saw the blood, one of its hands pulled back, but Haruhi moved quicker. Slamming the butt of the gun into it's temple. It howled in pain and she managed to fear her legs and kick it away. With a quick aim, she clenched her jaw and fired two bullets into the creatures skull.
The sounds reverberated loudly through the forest. Able to be heard distantly by the group. They all shared a look before quickly gathering their bags and taking off in the direction. However, with the thick rain and the darkness. They were unable to locate where exactly the noise came from. Takashi was the only one able to track things, and they turned to him finally. Tamaki giving up taking initiative. The older man moved quickly, taking in everything. He touched the bark of a tree. There was dark blood dripping own it. Being washed away by the rain. He quickly assessed which way whatever made it went and the group quickly headed in that direction.
The mud was filling with water and Takashi was able to track the two different tracks to a point where he paused. They all saw the skid and the depression in the mud. Two empty shell casings and a dead creature indicated who came out on top in the situation. Takashi kicked the creature lightly, making sure it really was dead, before Satoshi cut off its head. Ritsu dug through the creatures pockets and pulled out a wallet, opening it and sighing. "Cute kids..." he muttered quietly before tucking the wallet back into its pocket and straighting.
The group was silent as Takashi examined the ground, a determind look on his face. The dirt was getting covered by pine needles and the mud becoming less thick as they followed Haruhi's tracks. It was getting harder to follow, after all, any transfer prints were getting washed away. Eventually they reached the road and saw the tracks were heading back, but were washed away. They knew that Haruhi had gone back into the forest or they'd be able to see her.
"We have to stop looking, it's getting dark," Mitsukuni commented, tugging on Takashi's sleeve. "We should find somewhere to spend the night, Haru-chan is probably doing the same."
Hikaru stepped forwards, shaking his head, "Are you insane? We can't just let Haruhi wander around the forest at night alone!"
"That would be leaving her to die!" Tamaki added on, looking angry with the cousins. Kyouya adjusted his glasses with a sigh and crossing his arms.
"I believe that Haruhi has been in worse scenarios than being alone in the woods," Kyouya commented lightly, waving his hand. Tamaki looked like he was ready to throttle his best friend. The three that had been with Haruhi over the years kept silent, agreeing with Mitsukuni. Wanting to find shelter. Haruhi would leave clues to where she was, and if the rain cleared up they could quickly find her. She would bunker down somewhere if it wasn't safe to be wandering about. She wasn't dumb. However, Tamaki had another opinion.
"It doesn't matter if she's been in worse! She's out there alone! She's just one girl-"
"Her gender doesn't have anything to do with this situation," Takashi barked suddenly, looking throuoghly angry, "I know that she's alone out there, but she's strong and she would be making the same decision to find shelter and leave that one person alone for a night. I am not going to risk all our lives just to find her."
Tamaki's eyes narrowed, "Are you saying her life is that unimportant to you?"
"Tamaki..." Kaoru muttered, catching the look that flashed over Takashi's face. "I think you should calm down-"
"You are a sexist bigot who doesn't understand surivaval," Takashi retorted coolly, surprising everyone by his words. Six years ago he would've never imagined saying that, he would've never insulted someone to that degree. It showed just how much he had changed with all the horror and death around him. Tamaki stared at Takashi in complete horror.
"Takashi," Satoshi smacked his brother on the back, "I think we've all had a stressful couple hours," he gave the others a look, willing them to agree with him. "I think we should rest for a couple hours and try to find her. Besides, Suoh, if we go and look for her right now, it'll get dark and we won't be able to find anything helpful."
The others nodded their head, and Tamaki was still in too much shock to do anything but nod and follow the others as they headed back into the forest. They headed towards where mountains were sticking over the tips of the trees. Hoping that there would be a cave that provided a bit of protection against the wind and rain. However, caves anywhere were seldom unoccupied. They all hoped that Haruhi would have luck in finding a place to hunker down for the night.
In fact, she was having better luck. She had gone back into the forest, using a knife to cut markings into the trees as she walked along. Familiar markings that the younger cousins would be able to identify. She wasn't entirely sure if they would be able to find them. She didn't know where they were, if they noticed her absencene yet, if they heard the gun shot and looked for her. She wondered if they thought she was dead. If they did, she probably would never see them again.
As much as that made her heart squeeze painfully as she walked along, she continued to push on. She was going to live. Even if...she swallowed thickly as she dug the blade into the tree. Even if it meant being alone. Even if it meant never seeing those she loved again. She had been through heartbreak before. Oh, had she suffered. She was young when her mother died, she never experienced the world with a mother. Then she was blessed with a great father who loved her, and yet he was ripped away from her as well. Taken from her by the greediness and idiocy of the governments who caused this apocalypse.
Then she had to kill her father.
Now? She didn't know if she'd ever see those nine people ever again.
Tamaki's idiotic smile and comments.
The twins slyly grin before making a michevious comment.
Kyouya readjusting his glasses and writing in his notebook.
Mitsukuni giggling and eating cake while translating his cousins thoughts.
Takashi silently watching over them and making insightful comments.
Ritsu blushing whenever he got embarrassed, or getting angry and protective.
Satoshi cracking jokes and being a ray of happiness in dark times.
Yasuchika balancing out Satoshi's sometimes blinding happiness, and offering insightful comments.
It wasn't long after those thoughts that she found a probably once marked path. It was wide enough for a car to get through, and yet no tire tracks could be found pressed into the mud. There were vines and grass starting to grow through the dirt but was flattened by the rain drops. The mud, she noticed, with very thin. The dirt was compacted tightly and wasn't turning into smudge. She quickly transferred over. Dipping the mud ladened shoes into a deep puddle near the center and using her hands to wipe a majority off. She wiped the dirt onto a tree instead of marking it with a knife. This close to a road it could be more obvious that a human had made the marking rather than an animal rubbing against it. She made sure that the mud was far enough down and was in a vaguely arrow shape to the direction she was choosing to walk before she took off.
Part of her wondered if her insomnia was going to come back now. After all, there was no protection around her at all. She felt so incredibly unsafe with the world as she walked down the road, trying to leave as little indication that there had been a person as she could. Trying to walk very softly, but she still marked the earth enough for a tracker to be able to follow her. Which was good, she supposed, if she needed to be found quickly by someone. Bad, however, if that person wasn't someone she knew.
The passage was soon met by a wooden arch, symbolizing a nearby shrine. Hope filled her chest and her legs put forth a burst of energy and fueled her to walk further as the shrine came into view. Shelter. Proper shelter. She was nearly running at this point, not caring if she left tracks. Not caring if her shoes slapped against the mud loudly in the fairly quiet area. She headed straight for the main temple and tried the door. It was firmly locked, and that was when she noticed how downtrodded the place looked. Without anyone taking care of it, vines had grown around posts and up the walls, bits of wood were broken and rotten. Once decorative ornaments lay discarded and torn apart by savage winds.
She tried another door before giving up and going to other buildings. It took a while but she finally gave up and took her knife and wedged it between two doors and managed to break the lock with a great deal of effort. It helped that after years of corrosion and rust the lock was fairly brittle.
Haruhi entered quickly and shut the door. Blocking out the ravaging winds and icy rain. It felt amazing to not have either bashing against her back and shoulders. She rolled her shoulders and did a quick 360 check of the room before lowering herself down behind some supplies. It gave her a view of the door but she was sure that she wouldn't be noticed right away if someone entered.
As much as she planned to stay awake, she couldn't fight the exhaustion that was rolling through her body. Who knows how long she was running through the mud? She fought off a creature after all that running, and then ran some more. She walked for ages and she felt as if her legs were rubber. Her eyes closed without warning and she fell asleep. Normally, if she had been out in the rain and knew she was going to fall asleep. She would make sure she had changed out of her wet clothes and at least attempted to dry her hair so she wouldn't catch a cold.
However, she didn't have control of her body at that point, it was just so exhausted that even if she had thought of that, she probably couldn't have built up the amount of will to go through that effort. She didn't even wake up when two people entered the building and moved straight over to her. Taking her pulse and then tossing a blanket around her. She didn't wake when the male lifted her up. She didn't wake up when the blanket was lifted over her head, or when she was carried out of the building and into the main temple.