Who We Are (Hiro x Reader)

chapter twenty-four

The rain stops as soon as the sun comes up. You're tired, but Hiro is still sleeping. You'd hoped to get a little nap in before heading out, but that probably isn't happening. Might as well keep yourself busy so you do not doze off. You dig around in the stash of food for breakfast.

Graham crackers.

Your stomach growls. You tear into the closed box and lift one of the cinnamon flavored crackers. It's soft as you bite into it. Thank goodness for sealed food packed away in tight spaces. You sigh in content and lean back.

Four crackers later, Hiro starts to stir. His eyes open, blink a few times, and then he starts to sit up. When he does, you hold out the box. "Cracker?" you offer through a mouthful.

He smirks and stretches. "Sure." He grabs the box from you.

"How'd ya sleep?" you ask, dusting the crumbs off of your hands and clothes.

"Fine," he replies. He looks up at you and smiles. "You know, you're a great person to cuddle with."

You roll your eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Get eating, Hamada. We've got a long journey today." He nods and sinks back, quiet as he munches on his breakfast. You take out a bottle of water. "You think we'll make it there today?"

Hiro sighs and digs around in his pocket. He pulls out Tadashi's map of the city and lays it down on the floor. "Let's see... we're around here, and the neighborhood is way over here. I say that as long as we go quickly without running into any problems on our way, we could make it by midnight. But we'd have to book it, and you didn't sleep last night."

You take a long drink of water and shake your head. "No, I can do it."

"Are you sure? It's not a problem to stop by one of the stores or cars and sleep-"

"Hiro," you say quickly. "Please. Let's just go. I don't like being out here in the open."

"Okay," he says softly. "We'll go in a few minutes."

Once the graham crackers are gone and Hiro is packed and ready, you two head out towards Fred's neighborhood. The sidewalk is slick with rain water. "We should've put a couple of empty bottles out to catch some water," you say, kicking at a puddle.

"Nah, the rainwater isn't clean enough with all of the pollution. I'm sure we could if we were desperate enough, but we've got plenty of water in your bag."

"Yeah," you say, shifting the bag around your shoulders. "Speaking of, this is really killing my neck and back."

Hiro places his hands on your shoulders and starts to rub. You roll your eyes. "What?" he asks, laughing. "Can't a guy help the girl he loves get comfortable?"

"Whatever," you laugh. "Let's just get through this journey."

He removes his hands and shrugs. "Suit yourself."

You smile. After a few minutes of sadness, you say, "Hiro, how big is Fred's house?"

"Huge. Like, we all thought that he lived under a bridge. Nope. He lives in a mansion."

You let out a sigh of relief. "With comfy beds, I hope."

"Probably," he replies. "I've never slept over there."

"Man, I can't wait to have my own bed again. I'm so tired of sleeping on broken couches and hard floors in vans." You stomp in another puddle, watching the mud get washed off of your shoe and flood into the water.

"Yeah, I don't blame you." Hiro looks down at his map and then taps your arm. "This way." You turn towards an alleyway, then stop dead in your tracks.

"Hiro," you whisper, holding your arm out to stop him. He looks up to see a group of about nine creepers all munching on a dead animal. "There are too many."

He shakes his head and pulls out his knife. "We can take them," he says.

You gasp at him. "Um, no! We can't!"

He looks at you angrily. "There isn't another way there!" he snaps. "Take out your knife and be careful." He nods and quietly starts forward. You follow behind.

The creepers don't notice you or Hiro until both knives are lodged into two skulls. Then they look up from their meal, stand up, and start reaching for you. Hiro pushes one against the brick wall of a pharmacy and crushes its head. While he's doing that, you knock one down and stomp on its head. You turn around, only to see another one grab Hiro's shoulders and lean in for a bite.

"Hiro!" You launch forward and grab the creeper, pulling him towards you. It jerks around and swings its broken arm. You gasp and continue to pull it with you, giving Hiro the room to kill a couple of them. You're backing up with the creeper, watching its every move as you lead yourself closer to the front of the pharmacy. The way you're pushing it away prevents you from bringing your hand up to his head. "Gah - Hiro!" Your arms are shaking with exhaustion. 

"Hang on!" he calls out. "Hang on, I just have to-"

There's a sudden scream out of the silence. A million moans escaping from the dead's lips. Your head whips to the side as the creepers break through the front door of the gas station. Your eyes spot at least two dozen of them. They walk quickly around you, trapping you against the gas station. You were still fighting off one creeper. You couldn't do this. "Hiro!"

"___!" You can hear the panic in his voice. He knows that something is wrong. You can't see him run around the side of the building through the crowd of creepers that are surrounding you. 'I don't want to die!' your head screams. All around you are torn corpses, dripping in blood of victims and caked in their own blood, snapping with yellowed teeth and glaring at you through hazy eyes. You picture yourself as one of them. A danger to Hiro, a danger to everyone else. "___, hang on, I'll get to you!"

"You won't - you can't!" 

You turn your head and see the door of the gas station. Gathering up all of the courage you can, you force your back against the door, walk inside, and allow all of the creepers in with you. "___!" Hiro screams as loud as he can. "___, no!"

You shut the door, lock it, and face the creepers for half a second, before taking off. 

Hiro runs to the door and yanks on the handle. "No!" He slams his fists against it. "Hey, over here!" he screams to the creepers. "Here, here I am! Right here!" They ignore him. Hiro slides against the glass until his knees hit the ground. "No! Get away from her!" he cries. He can't see you. All he can see is them. His tears blind him as the moaning subsides to groans and roars. "Get away from her," he chokes out. He pushes himself against the glass, falling down on his back. "No, no, no."

There's a moan from behind him. He shoots up and grabs his knife, angrily staring down at the creeper. A scream strangles in his throat as he pushes the creeper down and stabs it repeatedly. "Stay away from us!" he shouts. "Stay away from us!"

The creeper is dead, but he doesn't stop until its entire head is unrecognizable.

When Hiro is completely exhausted and the world around him is quiet, he stands up and staggers back. He'd never been alone for this long. You sacrificed yourself for him, something you'd done a hundred times, but he couldn't save you this time. He failed. It's over. He falls to his knees and looks down at his shaking hands. 

It's over.  

// ps. the story isn't over.