Haikyuu: Apocalypse

CHAPTER SEVEN: TETSURO KUROO

There was blood on his hands, and lots of it. Kuroo let go of the stick and it clattered to the ground lifelessly, stained in scarlet red.
Then the zombie beneath him collapsed too, revealing a hyperventilating orange-haired boy who was keeping his eyes shut.
"Is that you, Hinata?" Kuroo asked weakly, breath caught in his throat. Hinata stared back up at him, and made a strange noise in his throat before he started crying. Oh god, the kid must have been so scared.
"Don't cry on me, man," Kuroo muttered awkwardly, helping Hinata sit up.
"Oi, Hinata!"
Kuroo and Hinata turned to see a black-haired figure racing down the slope. As he came into view, Kuroo realized that it was another of Hinata's teammates. The very short libero whose name he couldn't remember. Said libero was clutching his bleeding face and it looked like someone had taken a huge chunk out of his eye.
"Are you okay?" Nishinoya didn't even cast Kuroo a second glance before bending down beside Hinata. "Talk to me, bro!"
"I-I-I'm f-fine." The poor boy was shivering so much from his brush with death that Kuroo almost couldn't make out the words. "B-but your eye..."
Kuroo coughed and the two of them (finally) directed their attention towards him.
"I think I could help with that," he commented. "A few... friends and I live a short walk from here, maybe we could treat your wounds."
"You're the captain of Nekoma, Kuroo, right?" Nishinoya asked, trying to verify the raven-haired male's identity.
"That I am," Kuroo smirked. Then he frowned. "Did the zombies bite your eye out?"
"I don't think so. I can still, like, feel it there and stuff." Nishinoya poked his own eye before pausing.
"Oh and thanks for saving us. How did you know we were in trouble?"
"That screaming, bro. The dead could hear it from their graves."
Hinata was too shaken to absorb any information at this point in time- he just chose to watch their conversation in complete and utter silence. Nishinoya helped Hinata up and they both looked at Kuroo expectantly.
"I'll take you back to our place. Never thought I'd say this, but man, am I glad to see you." Kuroo led them both towards the river.
"Likewise," Nishinoya hissed lowly, not out of hostility but rather out of the pain in his wounded eye.
"W-who e-else is with you?"
Kuroo seemed a bit shocked at Hinata's question, since it was the most comprehensible (and possibly only) thing he'd uttered in the past three minutes.
"Kenma. And Aoba Jousai's OIKAWA and Iwaizumi."
"Those guys too?" muttered Nishinoya. "Wow, we're all in such deep sh-"
"Don't curse, bro. Not in front of the kids."
Kuroo gestured towards Hinata, who was staring at Nishinoya as though he just said that he was a mafia boss.
"Okay, I'm just stressed is all."
"Oh look we reached the river."
"How do we cross?"
"It's not really that deep. Approximately 1.6 meters deep-"
"You can say that because you're over six feet tall you jerk."
Kuroo chuckled.
"Guess I'll carry you across?"
Hinata looked as though he was about to buy the idea but Nishinoya said flatly, with all of the bruised pride he could muster,"No."
"Dude, half your face was bitten off and all you care about is face?"
No one found that pun funny, and before Kuroo could even register what was happening Nishinoya leapt into the water. He was gritting his teeth, the muddy water in his open wounds would probably be painful and overall Kuroo just thought that it was the dumbest decision anyone could ever make. Nishinoya had to literally tiptoe to keep his head above the water, but in the end he managed to clamber on the bank, casting Kuroo a slightly triumphant look.
"Need my help, buddy?"
Kuroo turned to Hinata, who shook his head.
"I-I think I can do this myself."
"If you say so."
Kuroo shrugged and stepped into the water, and a splash behind him indicated at Hinata had done so. Hinata burst out of the water and looked as though he was going to die from the freezing temperature. He wasn't much taller than Nishinoya and had to tiptoe as well, but he was doing fine. The two of them treaded across, and Nishinoya extended a hand to get Hinata onto the bank.
"No hand for me?" Kuroo whined playfully as Nishinoya rolled his good eye.
"You're older than me, senpai."
Kuroo looked as though he was about to faint from happiness at being called that as he clambered onto the bank.
"Where'd you make your camp?"
"Somebody's plantation. Was thinking about actually finding something to eat in there."
"We left our supplies behind..." Nishinoya cringed, remembering the leftover food.
"I'm not making a detour, you two look beat anyway. Maybe I'll get one of those lazy-ass Aoba Jousai kids to get it for us."
Kuroo lead them through the land, into the plantation.
"It's kinda cramped and the conditions are pretty much crap, but it's better than nothing, right?"
"Sounds like home already. Please take me back to the woods to be eaten by zombies please."
Kuroo chuckled, then pointed at a figure a short ways away.
"See that? That's the shed we're all gonna share!"
"I-it really is a little small..." Hinata mumbled. Kuroo patted him on the back.
"Stop being so negative, you two! Who knows, maybe we'll gather some food and we can all have a feast, how does that sound?"
"Mmm..."
"Heyyyy guys!" Kuroo shouted, now that they were just outside the shed. "Look what I found!"
There was no answer.
"Huh, I thought they'd be ecstatic to hear I've found new friends."
"I think they're sad because you're back."
"Nonsense!" Kuroo scoffed. "Everyone loves me."
Twisting open the doorknob, Kuroo's heart plummeted straight from his chest to the ground.
Seeing the change in his expression, Hinata and Nishinoya both looked concerned.
"What..."
"They're gone."