As Shouyou Hinata leans against the cold car window, he can't help but stare at the bustling city of Tokyo. He'd never been to such a city before, and the tall towers seem to make the already short middle schooler feel even smaller. The sidewalks were crowded with people and the streets were having surprisingly light traffic. But they weren't going to head into the city just yet, which discouraged Hinata. Their destination was a little different. They were headed to their grandparents house when it all went wrong.
Impatiently, Hinata tapped his hand to the window, the glass making little clicking sounds as his nails hit it. It was almost as though he wished to be freed from the confinement that was of his seat. He longed to be outside in the crowds, maybe even being pushed around by them due to his small size.
Most importantly, he wanted this ride to be over. He'd been confined to his seat for over nine hours now, much too long for the action craving middle schooler. He wanted anything but to be confined for a moment longer with his now silently sleeping little sister and his loudly snoring father.
He looked over to the sleeping figure that was his sister, watching as her small chest rose up and down peacefully. She almost seemed like a mini version of him. Same orange hair as him. Same spirit in her eyes. Heck, she even did the same things as him. She always wanted to be like her big brother Shouyou.
They continued the ride for another hour, his little sister waking up about halfway through to complain and whine that she was hungry. Eventually, Hinata's parents and her made an agreement that if she stayed quiet for another fifteen minutes, they would pull off to a convenience store to get snacks and drinks. Reluctantly, she agreed, making Hinata sigh in relief. Being stuck in a car with his annoying little sister was one thing. But being stuck with her while she was hungry? Whole other problem entirely.
Hinata closed his eyes for a moment, letting his head lean against the window further, using it as sort of a makeshift pillow. He let his mind drift for a moment, letting the whole world go black.
Slowly, as though it was a scripted moment, he felt the car pulling away from the main road. To Hinata, he thought it had been fifteen minutes, and that they were going to the convenience store. Which, to his credit, was half of the truth. But not the full thing entirely.
A piercing scream from outside broke Hinata's momentary calm, his eyes snapping open. His head snapped up as he turned to look over to his sister, trying to gauge if it was her that had screamed, someone else outside, or maybe just his imagination.
His eyes drifted to look out her window, where a ditch was coming closer and fast. It got closer and closer until the car hit the ditch, sending it flying off the road. Hinata's whole body jolted to his window as the car flipped on its side, glass shattering up front in the process. His sister screamed, a sound he didn't normally hear coming from lively little Natsu.
She screamed for a while, until Hinata could tell that her lungs had given out. Or, her voice had gotten raspy enough that she couldn't scream without pain. Her screams turned to tears, and Hinata watched as the small tears dripped down from her eyes, all the way to The ground.
Slowly and carefully, Hinata unbuckled his seat, a movement he shouldn't have done in his position.
Glass shattered and fell onto both him and his sister. The window above them had cracked when they hit the ground, just as the front window did. And Hinata's sudden movement had broken the glass. A new, sharp pain surged through Hinata's right cheek. He lifted his hand to his face, only to feel blood dripping out of the new cut. Similar pain started to shoot through his lower leg, telling him that the glass had cut more than his face. All he could do was be glad that it hadn't hit his eye, and hadn't cut his sister.
"Hold on Natsu. I'll get you out of here," Hinata reassured her in the most calm voice that he could muster. His heart was pounding in his ears. He knew moving would probably make his leg bleed more, but he had to get Natsu out of the car. Her crying was tugging at Hinata's heart strings, but he couldn't be detoured from his mission.
Slowly, Hinata tried to stand, but almost got stabbed in the head by a piece of glass hanging onto the window by a thread. Cursing, he puts an arm around Natsu's waist and with his free hand, unbuckles her. He holds her in his arms, pushing her face into his chest for a moment. But it's not like he had a choice, because she started clinging to him like a newborn does to its mother.
Thinking about his parents for a moment, he called out for them. "Mom! Dad! Are you alright?!" Even though they are in the same car, he still yells. The ringing in his ears makes it hard to hear anything.
Even though he can't hear much, he can tell it's dead silence from the two in the front of the car. He yells for them again, but nothing. Not a single breath coming from the front two seats.
Tears start to reach his eyes. His parents are dead. He can't believe anything going on. All he wants is for Natsu to shake him awake and tell him that it was just a dream. That none of this is really happening, but he knows that's not true. He knows that from the very real fear gripping at his heart and the pain surging through his face and leg, that this is reality, and that all of what's going on is real.
Grabbing the back of Natsu's chair, he pulls himself and Natsu up and out of the car. His grip on the chair slips a little, and he lifts Natsu telling her to get out of the car, and that he'll find a way out.
Nodding softly and with the help of Hinata, Natsu climbs out of the car, only to scream once she gets out. Thinking that Natsu had been cut or worse, one of her limbs was broken, Hinata changes his grip on the chair, and pulls on it to climb out of the car's broken window. He himself gets a gash on his arm, but looks around for what Natsu was yelling about, seeing as she isn't hurt. And then he sees it.
The bloody and cracked flesh of what seems to be a human, but different. His, if it can even be called by a name, pale white skin that seems so ghost-like. The twisted ways its arms broke. The piece of brain that Hinata can see. All of this tells him, this isn't a human anymore.
It locks eyes with Hinata and starts walking toward Hinata and Natsu in the most threatening way it can seemingly muster. Natsu tries to scream, but Hinata puts his hand over her mouth.
He mouths the words 'Don't', and through tears, Natsu nods. As Hinata looks for an escape from this inhuman being, he realizes that they are surrounded by more of the creatures. He has to make sure that he and Natsu escape alive. For all he knows, she's the only person he has left.
Hinata takes Natsu's hand and slides of that car gently, so he doesn't alert the monstrous things. He motions for Natsu to follow him, but she seems more scared then earlier. He tugs on her arm, only to find tension coming from her body. The fear that had pitted in his stomach only grew and he watched the monsters crawl up and onto the car. He pulls on Natsu harder, but he knows he can't do anything to stop what is about to come.
The thing grabs Natsu's head, and for a moment, the tension in the air feels like it's a tangible thing. Her hand tightens in his, making Hinata more scared then he'd ever been before in his life. He had to get her out, he had to make sure she lived. But the loud snap sends all those thoughts back down.
Natsu's hand goes limp. Hinata looked up only to watch as his sister, the only family he had left, rolled her eyes back and dropped her head into the monster's lap. Hinata felt everything boiling in him. He felt fear, pain, sadness, and a whole lot of anger.
All he wanted to do was reverse time, or realize this was all a dream and wake up to the smell of cinnamon rolls and his mothers soft voice. But this was real. This wasn't something he could just escape, like he did all his other problems and worries. If he wanted to survive, he had to face the facts. His sister was dead, and he didn't do a thing to save her.
Hinata watches as the monster licks its cracked lips and takes a bite out of Natsu's arm. The bite is deep, leaving a piece of her arm gone. Red starts to stain the white shirt she had on. Blood starts to drip down the car and onto the ground near Hinata. And all he can do is watch.
Keeping a tight grip on Natsu's hand, Hinata tries to force down the bile that has creeped its way into his throat. Throwing up now would only hinder his grief over her death.
The torture of Natsu's dead body doesn't stop there. A sickening crack sends Hinata back to reality, and back to the horror show of his sister's dead body. The monster grips her head tightly, preparing for something big. Another sickening crack, and Hinata can tell what's about to happen.
Blood is the first thing that Hinata can see. But it's not the only thing there. Natsu's soft skin was always prone to scratches, Hinata had known that he'd accidentally scraped her arm by handing her a puzzle piece.
Another loud snap, and Hinata looks back up again. Horror floods through him as he watches the monster tear her head off slowly. He watched each part of her neck snap. He saw the flesh snap, the bones break, and the sickening plop of her head on the car roof.
A clear coat of blood stains everything near her, including Hinata. It only takes a moment before Hinata's eyes go wide in shock. This is his sister's blood. The sister he's known for a long time. The sister that would always cheer him on, even when it was just a silly little Volleyball match. And she was dead.
Knowing he's next if he sticks around any longer, he decided it's best to start running. He doesn't want to leave Natsu behind. He doesn't want to leave any of this behind. So he decided to slip the bracelet that Natsu was wearing off her arm, and slip it on his own.
He squeezes her hand one last time, taking in her soft skin, before he lets go and sprints the other way. He runs until his lungs burn from the extortion and he can barely move his legs without them making horrible popping noises, almost like the ones that Natsu's head made.
That memory plays over and over in his head. Even if he wanted to stop the tears, they came and wouldn't stop. He cried for Natsu, for his dead parents, and for himself. All he could do to numb the pain was cry.
Fear and pain mix as he spits up the chips and sandwich he'd eaten for lunch. It only makes him feel worse. Had it only been an hour since he'd eaten? How long has it been since Natsu died? How long would he survive alone, with no one to go back to after all this craziness settled down?
More of his lunch comes up, and more questions fill in its place. How would he even survive those things? He barely knew how to make a fire on his own, much less hunt or protect himself. He would never make it in this world alone.
Not only did he just watch his parents die in a car crash, but he didn't try to save Natsu. he could have saved her. He could have made sure she lived. But he was too scared to do anything.
Feeling the guilt grip him harder, he drops to the ground and throws up more. There's none of his lunch left, and it's mostly just bile by now. Uncharacteristically, he whimpers. The fear is setting in hard.
"They killed her…" he whispers, "They killed her…" He says that like a deadly mantra. He repeats it over and over again. He keeps saying it, as though it would make him feel better. But it's only making it worse.
Finally, he stops regurgitating his lunch and looks up to Tokyo, only to find the once bright city even brighter from flames. Tokyo Tower, the main attraction of this amazing city, had broken down. Now, and only now, did Hinata finally realize what was going on.
It was the beginning of the Zombie apocalypse, and the end of all normal civilization.