It was a moment of complete clarity when it happened, covered by joy and euphoria, by happiness at their success, at how far they had come.
How harmoniously they worked together, how unexpectedly well they complemented each other.He had always thought that when... no. IF one of them bit the dust, it was in the midst of a grim struggle, heroic, giving one life to save another.
But this, this wasn't heroic.
This was raw, macabre reality.What resonated in his ears was the sound of squashing flesh between two rows of blunt teeth, a sound too quiet to be heard in battle.What he heard at that moment was the sound of tearing sinews as the screwdriver dug into the undead's eye socket and his jaw loosened with a final gurgle. Fresh, untainted blood was already seeping into the fabric of his jacket as he held the wet, glistening bite up to the warm sunlight in disbelief, with the barely comprehensible knowledge that his hours were henceforth numbered.And all the happiness in his world shattered like hollow glass when he looked over and their eyes met like countless times before.
Day zero - Monday - on the outskirts of the small town of Bosco
It was the last warm day before the summer vacations when it began. Insidiously, unseen and out of ignorance. No one knew exactly where it came from or for what reason, but in the early morning hours of that day, more than 1,000 people had already been infected in the nearest major city. Because the number of infections increased so suddenly and in such a short period of time, it was almost impossible to keep accurate track of the numbers, so many people simply didn't know how dangerous the situation was until it was too late. The news did what it did best, obscuring the seriousness of the situation with false reports for as long as possible.
That morning, as Izuku calmly strolled to his locker before class to put his jacket and a few superfluous books inside, the worrisome phenomenon had already spread to his immediate neighboring town. Apart from reports of mass demonstrations and serious traffic accidents, there was nothing in the news yet. But no one paid much attention to such events, no one read between the lines or followed the camera movements as they zoomed in on the rioting crowds.
By the time the bell tower in the market behind the school rang for lunch break, the infection had reached Izuku's town almost unnoticed. The public only became aware of it, however, when a paramedic attempting resuscitation was suddenly bitten in the carotid artery - by a man who had been pronounced dead. From then on, it was no longer possible to reconstruct the sequence of events.
At the end of the break, about twenty minutes later, more than 50 people were already staggering uncontrollably through the streets, entire streets were already clogged with fleeing people and cars, and the easternmost part of the city had been declared a restricted area.
Now quite officially, from this moment also in the news. The official bulletin of the city announced safe zones and places from which to evacuate. But the website was overloaded in no time due to the numerous hits.
It wasn't until an announcement at 1 p.m., during afternoon classes, called for students to assemble immediately and directly in the gym that no one could ignore the flood of information on the Internet. There was a flurry of activity as nearly 20 classes streamed out of their rooms simultaneously. Although carrying a phone was prohibited at their school, Izuku heard vibrations or ringing in the hallways every second. Students crowded close together and were just a millimeter away from panicking as countless of them focused their eyes on the screen in front of them.
YOU ARE READING
Haywire
Fanfiction"I like you," Kacchan suddenly whispered beside him and Izuku slowly raised his head, as if he had awoken from hypnosis thanks to a bucket of icy water. But Katsuki wasn't looking at him, he stared up into the sky with a strangely distant expression...
