Survival of the fittest- A Haikyuu apocalypse AU

Chapter 18

Kiyoko looked up at the people surrounding her. Ennoshita, Daichi, Kageyama, and Bokuto were all in the seats around her, and she was sitting alone. The only good thing about being trapped on a bus with a bunch of boys was that it was a bus meant for long charters, so she could go into the bathroom for privacy. Wouldn't be fun, but hey, it was there if she needed it.

She really hoped she didn't need it. 

Iwaizumi sat down with a sigh. Tanaka, Kinoshita, and Yachi were next to him, in front of the stalls that formed their background. He leaned against them and exhaled slowly, trying to calm himself down from the adrenaline that was rushing through his veins. Sure, it wasn't ideal, but he was resilient. He could handle this. He closed his eyes and tried not to hear Yachi sobbing, or Kinoshita trying vainly to comfort her.

"Breathe, Yachi-chan. Deep breaths."

Tanaka's voice surprised her, but she did as told anyway. She was soon crying a little quieter, and eventually not at all. Iwaizumi was glad that the boy with the shaved head was there. He had never been good at dealing with emotions. That was Oikawa. He'd always been the one to support his teammates, and however little he liked to admit it, Iwaizumi was never fully trusted, despite his reliability. He'd never fully managed to make that connection, the one that was so needed for the bonds of trust so deep that they could never be fully severed, no matter what. He found himself remembering his days with the team, when his biggest worry was volleyball, or the next big history test.

He found himself perfectly recalling every fact that he had struggled to learn for so long.

He found himself mumbling them aloud.

He found that soon, everyone else was mumbling them with him.

It almost seemed like a normal day, for just a half of a second. This crazy situation almost seemed like a dream. He wished he could wake up, but he'd come to terms with it long ago. This was real. This was the new normal. His friends had died in front of him. They weren't going to reappear out of thin air. There was no going back.

Not anymore.

Kuroo and Kenma ran the opposite direction, into the gym closet. it seemed to have better odds of survival, from the lockable doors to the brooms that could be used for defense if necessary, and to the shelves that one could hide behind or lean against.

But it was dark. Only five basic figures could be seen.

The only thing that could be heard was everyone breathing heavily. It slowly descended into silence.

"Okay," Nishinoya said, "Who's here with me?"

"Asahi."

"Kenma."

"Kuroo."

"Akaashi."

"Is...that it?"

"I...I think that's it."

"Oh."

"What should we do?"

"I don't know. We don't have any food or water. The zombies are outside, we can't go and get some. Dammit, it's just like-"

Noya suddenly went silent and the group heard him start to cry. Obviously worried, Kuroo looked at Asahi, who was wrapping the smaller boy into a hug, clearly meant to be a gesture of comfort. "It's nothing," the libero said, "It's just- when this whole apocalypse thing began, I was alone at a convenience store- and it was just like this, but I had just broken my arm, and I didn't know if anyone else was alive- I could only grab food once, I did it all alone, and then I couldn't eat or drink, I ran out. I knew if I died no one would be there- no one would know-"

At this moment his voice broke and muffled sobs could be heard. Asahi carried on.

"I found out he was missing and went looking for him. Suga and Daichi came with me. It was good we found Noya when we did, because Suga said that he could've died if we had found him just a few days later. We took off his splint about a week ago, you probably didn't notice because he was wearing his jacket all the time. He still needs to be careful, though. The cast just fell apart and we couldn't make a new one."

"Is that why he wasn't on any of the food runs?"

"That's right. He just started coming a few runs ago, but obviously that's all gone now."

"Wow. I'm really sorry, Nishinoya-kun."

Noya nodded in acknowledgment. "I felt really useless. I appreciate it, really, but I just have to get over myself. It happened. It's not like I should be crying over it."

Kenma piped up, "If it'd happened to me, would you blame me?"

The answer was instantaneous. "Not one bit."

"I see."

Kenma fell silent again.

"Maybe we should go to sleep," Akaashi suggested, "and start looking for people tomorrow. That's something everyone can help with." 

Murmurs of agreement could be heard throughout the group, so they all made sure everything was locked and tried to go to sleep. Nishinoya was still crying, so Asahi did the only thing he could think of. He hugged the little libero, who calmed down a little bit instantly. His sobs eventually faded into little hiccups, and then to silence. Eventually, both fell asleep, Noya still in Asahi's arms.