Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Izuku had been fifteen when the outbreak swept across Japan, when what had once been a simple field trip to the mountains turned into months of survival training and grief.

Soon his sixteenth birthday had slipped by him unnoticed, no longer holding any significance when faced with corpses roaming the land in search of human flesh and groups of survivors that ranged from unreliable to scarier than the literal horror movie that the world had become. It was hard to count his age when what lingered on his mind was the number of violent acts he had committed and witnessed to survive, counting bodies and miles and supplies, adding and crossing out names on a list, marking the calendar only to track the seasons and keep a record of events in hopes of a brighter future.

He had had the good fortune to receive a belated seventeenth birthday meal, though it was technically not just for him, being a simultaneous welcoming feast as well as a reunion party of sorts, but what truly mattered was that he got to spend it with his mother and a number of his dear friends’ relatives. Izuku had never dreamed he could be so lucky when the world fell apart.

His high school life had not been anything close to what he had imagined yet he had still succeeded in gaining the friends he had so dearly desired at the start of his first year, had the chance to reconcile with his old bully enough to be teammates, and gained a confidence he never had before.

The A Class as they had dubbed themselves, named after the one teacher they had come to respect above all others, was a group forged in battle and bound too tightly to be broken apart, to the point where even after being welcomed into one of the safest communal headquarters known and reconnecting with a number of loved ones there they had all still chosen to live together in one of the outer bases with Aizawa, to patrol unexplored zones and gather resources rather than split apart. Even their begrudging guardian could not pretend that having them out of his reach would not have pained him, though he would seldom admit it.
Aizawa may have opened up a bit while caring for them, but he still acted as if he were allergic to sentiment, it was amusing.

The addition of Eri had been unexpected. A result of an unpleasant encounter with a group of very twisted fanatics, the whole business having started when they were first being escorted to their new home. The fight had not been without tragedy, but they had all been prepared for such and deemed it worthwhile, within no time Eri was similarly an inseparable part of their lives and had chosen to stay with them rather than deal with the great number of strangers at headquarters.

Though a little crowded and with a few bumps along the way, the old villa soon became their new home. One that would continue to be so for the foreseeable future.

Having recently just celebrated his eighteenth birthday, the first he had the chance to really celebrate since it all started, Izuku observed the woodland around them wondering if his dreams of understanding the nature of the virus were attainable or even likely to help anyone. Though many of his friends were hopeful and willing to listen to his theories, he knew very few truly believed in such a possibility.

Most survivors had long settled into the idea of never finding a cure and the outbreak’s origin remaining a mystery, after nearly two years of fending off zombies Izuku could understand casting aside such worries for the sake of making life simpler but he could not accept that any deaths would be inevitable. There had to be a solution, a better future, with or without a cure.
Izuku was sure that if he could just work out how the dead functioned, their behaviour patterns and what drove them to hunt, that he could create a way of living in this new world that was safe and hopeful. If humanity could find a way to thrive without further engaging with the hoards, there was a good chance of the virus dying out when the last corpses finally fell apart, though the unfortunate mutation of Mergers and Nomu could make it take a while there was still the possibility.

Izuku was pulled from his thoughts and the lulling peaceful hum of the electric car’s engine by Sero suddenly darting up with a sharp command.

“Stop the car.”

Experienced as they were none of them hesitated, Kaminari carefully hitting the brake and killing the engine to save power but prepared to start again in an instant while he watched their front, Bakugou unbuckling his belt to look over the passenger seat with grim seriousness at Sero who moved to stand up through the open sunroof as Izuku and Kirishima held their weapons at the ready keeping their sights to their back and sides.

Despite the soft early afternoon sun the woodland around them felt far from serene, but then again paranoia could easily twist any peaceful scene.

“What is it?” Bakugou demanded, voice carefully low.

Sero’s tone was troubled as he kept his eyes on the forest.
“I think I saw someone in the woods.”

“Someone or something?” Bakugou pressed.

“It’s not a Nomu.” Sero assured, the tension in the air lightening slightly with the knowledge while he continued to squint into the distance, hands blindly reaching for a set of small binoculars kept in one of his many pockets. “Definitely human-shaped though.”

“Well, that narrows it down to dead or alive at least.” Kaminari joked darkly.

“Yeah, that’s the part I’m not sure about.” Sero grumbled. “It’s not…moving right.”

Curiosity piqued, Izuku set aside his sledgehammer and shuffled over to Sero’s side to slip up through the sunroof beside him, leaning forward enough to peak around the taller teen.

“Where?”

To his question Sero wordlessly pointed a long limb just a little to the left, Izuku following his finger until he spotted the movement that had caught his attention while the other boy finally pulled the binoculars up to his eyes.
Izuku lips pulled into a frown while observing the distant figures unhurried movements. Something definitely struck him as strange about it, before he could think on it, he heard the hiss of air sharply pulled through teeth from beside him, drawing his attention back to Sero.

“Yikes.” Sero leaned away from the binoculars with a grimace. “Yeah, that one’s definitely dead.”

“Are you sure?” Kirishima asked warily.

Sero passed the binoculars back down to the others as he spoke with grim certainty.
“It’s covered in old blood, like, I can’t even tell if there’s still skin under all that.”

Izuku turned back to the zombie, squinting his eyes as he tried to work out the details he could through the trees.

“Oh, yeah, woah that’s a lot.” Kirishima mumbled from beneath. “It’s moving pretty quick for a normal zombie though…”

He was right, even without the binoculars Izuku was struck by how natural and fluid the being’s walking was, its balance at least unusually stable and the head remained steady, at a glance they almost appeared to be a normal bored human on a slow walk. It seemed slender from what he could tell as he rarely got a clear view of the entire body, which would usually make it less steady and yet...

“It might have the Nomu strain.” Sero propositioned to them while Kirishima gave the binoculars to Bakugou who was immediately badgered for them by Kaminari, before turning to look down at Izuku in question. “Mergers tend to have one advanced ability before they form a Nomu with another, right Midoriya?”

Izuku nodded hesitantly.
“That’s true but...”

Izuku held off his answer instead gesturing for the binoculars, that were handed over with a distinct huff and an accompanying whine, so he could use them to better understand what he was seeing first.

Through the magnified glass the person certainly looked dead. Horrifically so.

Layers of dried blood and viscera blended together in such a morbid display of red, brown and black that it was nearly impossible to differentiate flesh from clothing, the hair was beyond a mess, and any features were left indistinguishable underneath all of it, just gore from head to toe. Yet curiously there was no sign of missing limbs, open wounds or broken bones, though slim the body was unusually intact and did not seem to be falling apart any time soon nor was it deformed in any notable way that Nomu were.
Most notable was how it held its head up as it walked, not appearing to be searching or absently wandering as most of the undead did but actively observing the canopy above and trees around, Izuku had never seen anything like it.

“So, is it a Merger?” Sero asked.

“Probably.” Izuku agreed with some trepidation, unsure how else to explain what he was seeing. “It looks like this one is still mostly intact despite all the blood, maybe that’s why the movements are still so natural? It could have some kind of minor healing ability that’s keeping the muscles fully functioning and staving off rot?”

Izuku really hoped that was not the case, if there were dead out there that had a strain of the virus that kept the body as it was alive the hope of waiting until they fell to decay was a fruitless one, even worse were it to develop in Nomu. There was also the possibility that this thing had some kind of body language mimicking to lure prey, which would not be as bad but definitely nightmare inducing.

“Yeah, that’s real creepy. The bony -wobble-shuffle at least lets you forget they were people once, this one looks like it’s taking in the sights.” Kaminari complained with a distinct shudder.

“Good thing we caught it early, we don’t need any more Nomu around.” Kirishima sighed.

Izuku hummed in agreement as he lowered the binoculars, considering the best weapon to take the Merger down from such a distance. They could set up a trap and lure it but that would take more time than they had to spare and getting out of the car would be—

“Pass me the shotgun.”

Everyone stilled at Bakugou’s demand, turning to see him now poking his head out of the front sunroof with one arm reached back to accept the demanded weapon, steely red eyes locked on target.

“Wouldn’t the crossbow be better?” Kirishima proposed, uncertainty evident.

“Even when singular those Nomu are sturdy fuckers and this Merger’s clearly not going down easy.” Bakugou dismissed with a click of his tongue. “I’m not giving it the chance to bolt. Now pass it over.”

“We can’t use the shot gun.” Izuku argued adamantly. “The noise might draw more to us, we’re not even sure it’s alone.”

“It would have merged already if there were more.” Bakugou huffed.

“It could be fresh.”

“All the more reason to use full force.”

Izuku sighed, exasperated with his impatience.
“If you miss more could come and form a Nomu.”

“I won’t fuckin’ miss!” Bakugou spat back, spinning to glare at Izuku for the very insinuation.

A glare which Izuku met with his own determination.
“Kaachan we can’t waste bullets on—”

“I’m not dealing with retrieving all the bolts it will take to keep that thing down!” Bakugou cut him off with a wave.

“Guys?”

“That’s just lazy!” Izuku scowled.

“We’re on a schedule! Just give me the damn gun Deku!” Bakugou ordered.

“Guys.”

“Why?!” Izuku scoffed. “So you can let anything in a two mile radius know exactly where we are?!”

“Shut it you—!”

“Guys! It spotted us!” Sero yelped loudly drawing their attention instantly back to the unknown thing, which was quickly approaching the car.

“Shit it’s coming! It’s coming! How is it even moving that fast?!” Kaminari shrieked.

“Hey-hey calm down!” Kirishima called out.

“Oh for fu—” Bakugou rolled his eyes with a growl. “Outta my way already!”

Bakugou clambered into the back, shoving Sero out the way into the backseats, snatching up the shotgun from the stunned Kirishima before hastily climbing over and popping up through the back sunroof, all while Izuku scrambled to stay steady in the chaos. Izuku’s eyes remained locked on the approaching zombie, his heart thundering as an uneasy queasiness started to fill his throat.
They were all panicking more than what a single undead should warrant given their experience yet the unknown of it all made the situation so viscerally horrifying that it was throwing everyone off their game, and Izuku just knew in his gut that using the gun could not end well.

“Kaachan I really don’t—!”

“No time nerd!”

The shotgun was cocked and directed towards the oncoming zombie with practised aim.

Suddenly the approaching creature stumbled back, hands rising frantically, and just as the trigger was about to be pulled an unknown rough voice cried out.

“Shi— No-o! Don’—ahk— sh-oot!”

The flailing creature lurched behind a tree and clearer the call came again.

“Don’t shoot!”

Silence rang heavy through the forest, not even a breath released between them as everyone froze in place.

Quieter this time, but feeling just as loud, that same voice grumbled into the woods.

“Ugh. Damn shouting hurts.”

A voice that clearly came from behind the tree the supposedly dead person had ducked behind.

A voice that could have only come from the walking corpse.

Bakugou lowered his weapon as he spat. “The fuck?”

Izuku shared that sentiment wholeheartedly.

“Did-did it just talk?!” Kaminari shrieked.

“Nah, no way it—” Kirishima’s shaky denial was instantly cut off.

“Prefer he-him, thanks.” The voice croaked out.

Stunned, they all glanced to one another to reconfirm what they heard, and while Izuku was too occupied processing to speak that was not the case for his companions.

“I’m not cracking right? That zombie is talking.” Sero wheezed out a faintly hysterical laugh. “The talking zombie has pronoun preferences!”

Despite how ill-advised it was to be so loud out in the open like this Izuku could not begin to consider that when his mind was similarly rattled with questions and disbelief, words barely forming in his scrambling mind.

Kirishima mumbled in a daze.
“There’s no way right? No way. This- we didn’t—”

It- He talked. That blood-soaked horror could talk.

“That zombie is talking- definitely talking! I heard it!” Kaminari continued just as frantic, whole body vibrating enough to rattle the steering wheel clutched in his hands. “Have they been able to talk all this time?! What does that mean?!”

Before Izuku’s mind could latch on to the potential nightmare of Kaminari’s question, they were all brought to focus by one crass voice.

“Zombies don’t talk dipshits!” Bakugou snapped before lowering into a growl. “Infected do though.”

Gripping his weapon more securely Bakugou shouted to the person still hidden from sight.
“Hey, dead meat! If you’re thinking of begging for scraps tough shit, I’m not wasting food on someone I’ll have to put down later. If you’re looking for a bullet step right up.”

Finally shaken from his stunned silence, and thoughts quickly becoming more rational, Izuku lightly smacked the blond’s shoulder.

“Kaachan!” he hissed reproachfully, but was not spared a glance, the other’s focus on the stranger behind the tree.

A stranger who, as stated, could not be a zombie but an actual living person who could be horribly injured or traumatised and in need of their help. Even if that probably did involve putting them out of their misery, they could at least try to be more considerate about it rather than needlessly antagonise. While Izuku understood his old friend’s need to remain on guard, he could only imagine what this guy must have been through to appear more dead than the undead.

“Wow. I almost forgot that people could be assholes. Not exactly what I was hoping my first conversation in… Whatever, I’ll take it.” The low voice responded wearily, though seemingly speaking more to themselves than anything.

They all watched as a figure slowly stepped out from behind the tree, hands still raised to their shoulders in a sign of surrender.

Under closer inspection they were just as unnerving as from afar, most of the dead were at least somewhat recognisable but this guy was covered in so much blood Izuku could not begin to imagine what he truly looked like beneath, just imagining how it felt on his own skin made him shiver and guts roil. If he did not know any better, he would have sworn he was seeing the emissary of decay itself rather than an actual person.

“Also, I’m not infected.” The stranger tacked on belatedly under their wide-eyed stares.

“Are you sure about that?” Kaminari squeaked out, undeniably nervous even as he tried to force humour into his strangled voice. “No offence but you look… uh well a bit—”

“Like the walking dead? Yeah. Sort of the point.” The stranger said dryly, rolling eyes clear in their voice even if it could not be seen under his dirty tangled hair.

The response nearly blinded Izuku with the knowledge this person had apparently willingly done that to themselves rather than someone saddled with the unfortunate results of some disaster.
Again, the group looked to each other to confirm they were witnessing the same scene, though even in nightmares Izuku had never imagined someone like this.

A clearing throat reclaimed their focus.

“You can search me. I’m clean.” The person paused to shrug. “Figuratively at least.”

“No thanks!” Kaminari called back.

“We’re good!” Sero concurred.

“Yeah no, not a chance zombie.” Bakugou growled.

To Izuku’s horror Bakugou began to raise the gun again, the defenceless stranger instantly rushing to duck behind another tree as he moved to stop the attack.

“Kaachan wait! We should hear him out first!” He pleaded, scrambling forward to push the weapon back down. “And unnecessary gunfire will just make us a target!”

“Stay out of it, Deku!” Bakugou snarled back, shaking the shotgun to try and throw Izuku off.

“I still don’t see any sign of others, pretty sure the dude’s alone man.” Sero piped up, a little more relaxed though still just as unsettled as the rest.

“He doesn’t even have a weapon Kats’, chill.” Kirishima chided, ever uncomfortable with raising a weapon to a barehanded opponent.

“Yeah, chill Kats’.” The stranger echoed, tone and pitch eerily close to the original despite the underlying mockery.

Bakugou halted in his wrestling with Izuku to point an accusing finger down at the tall mess.

“You shut your fucking mouth zombie!” He cursed through his teeth, clearly unmoored by the uncanny impersonation, which Izuku realised may have been the point.

“I’m not—” The not-zombie cut himself off with a heavy sigh. “Never mind.”

Taking the opportunity of the distraction, Izuku swiped the gun, opening the barrels to tip out the bullets and throwing it back to Kirishima in one swift movement who hurried to shove it under the car seat, Bakugou was looking one second away from socking him across the jaw for it, but their squabble was pre-emptively ended when the stranger spoke again.

“I’m not going to get any closer and I’m not looking for food or supplies.” He leaned out from behind the tree hands still raised, voice far too level for his situation. “I just want directions.”

“Directions?” Izuku parroted with a cock of his head.

Seeing no weapons pointed at him the odd person came back into view, hands slowly lowering to rest casually at his hips as he mirrored the gesture. The mimicry of such a human expression from the gory mess before him was a bit hard for Izuku’s anxious mind to compute, recollections of old superstitions from before the outbreak of doppelgängers and demons in disguise rattling around his skull.

“I’ve been stuck in the woods a while, can’t really use a GPS anymore and the signs are useless.” He shuffled from one foot to the other in slightly sheepish manner. “I would appreciate a hint.”

The casual behaviours and unhurried talking were far too dissonant to what Izuku was looking at, even if this person was truly alive and unharmed that just brought more attention to how much dried gore coated their entire body that he was not apparently bothered by. The A Class had met their fair share of unique strangers, and many had rather unorthodox coping mechanisms for dealing with the end of their peaceful lives, but he could not wrap his head around this.

“Directions right, uh, give us a minute?” Sero called out from the front sunroof, waiting for an accepting nod from the oddity before turning his carefully easy smile towards them with an almost desperate gleam directing all to gather back inside the car. “Team meeting? Now.”

Izuku readily agreed, desperately needing a moment to collect his thoughts.

It took some forceful tugging to get Bakugou to join but eventually they were all gathered uncomfortably close to confer, with the exception of Kaminari still ready at the wheel in the driver’s seat, shifting between looking to one another and staying aware of the world outside through the windows.

“So, uh…what do we do?” Kirishima whispered anxiously, low enough not to travel out the still open sunroofs as his red gaze flickered back and forth between the bloodied figure and the rest of the forest, undecided which to keep watch over.

“I don’t know that’s why I called a meeting.” Sero admitted, nervous smile still in place as he chuckled, resolutely staring out into the forest with his back to the stranger, shoulders kept loose despite his obvious unease.

Izuku had to admire how well Sero could keep up a laid-back attitude to make himself less of a threat, it was a tactic that had avoided escalation a number of times given how emotionally volatile the majority of them were, though it seemed this situation was unnerving enough that he was struggling to maintain it. Not that he could be blamed, Izuku had barely blinked or allowed the morbid figure to escape his periphery for a second, far too confused and unnerved to pretend otherwise as his mind raced in circles for answers.

Though from what Izuku could tell, the outsider was only positioning himself to run not fight which was a little comforting.

“Any suggestions?” Sero hedged hopefully, swiftly placing a hand over Bakugou’s mouth before he could take a breath with a swift scolding glance. “That aren’t shoot first.”

Fiery eyes still locked on the stranger Bakugou sneered but remained silent, allowing them to deliberate as he remained vigilant, though the repetitive clenching of his hands betrayed the confused fear he masked with aggression. Tense moments such as this had become far less fraught once they knew each other’s tells, and as troublesome as it could be they all understood that Bakugou’s rashness came from the need to take control of this unseen situation to ensure the safety of the group.

Still, given that this was new territory and there was no clear threat as of yet, they needed to be more careful with their approach. Glancing between the others as he thought, Izuku saw that no one other than Bakugou had a clear idea what to do.

“I mean- it’s just directions? We can just point and leave.” Kaminari piped up, illustrating his idea with a pointed finger and a wiggle of the wheel in front of him.

“Do you have any brains left for the zombies?” Bakugou sneered.

“Hey man, I’m just saying—”

“We are not giving that freak directions!” He snapped over the complaint.

“Kaachan, he’s lost.” Izuku admonished lightly, trying to plead his case for helping the unfortunate traveller. “The least we can do is direct him where he wants to go. That’s not a big ask.”

The brief fiery glance his way spoke volumes of how insane that idea was considered.

“You want to give the fucker a map while you’re at it?! We don’t even know what hellscape it crawled out of!” He barked back pointing viciously out at the still lingering anomaly through the glass.

“Name’s Shinsou by the way.” Said stranger called over in retort. “Since you didn’t ask.”

Before another insult could be hurled out Izuku quickly used Bakugou’s head as leverage to pop up through the roof again and address Shinsou properly.

“Midoriya Izuku.” Izuku offered as politely as possible despite his wariness, ignoring the vicious cursing bellow. “Sorry about him. He’s Bakugou Katsuki.”

“Shut it nerd!”

“Nice to meet you Midoriya.” Shinsou responded pointedly with a nod towards him, rough voice dipping low in emphasis.

“Uh, yeah, likewise?” Izuku squeaked still not quite comprehending how they were talking so normally in a clearly abnormal situation as the boy beneath his hand nearly unbalanced him to escape.

Despite himself Izuku realised he found Shinsou’s voice pleasant, far too much so given the obvious strain of it and the truly nightmarish packaging it came out of, which was deeply concerning for his mental health. He should not even be aware of such things in this situation, there were clearly other much more pertinent subjects to focus on such as how suspicious the entire scene was, it was surreal.

Though looking again, Shinsou really was slim for a living person, not deathly so but enough to assume he could be easily subdued without a weapon. Especially with how he was unarmed, seemingly alone and without a clue where to run to if he was chased, he was not even standing in a stable enough position to counter an attack and had stepped further into the open while Izuku and his companions were sheltered by the car. As much as Shinsou’s presence had set off all of their survival instincts, realistically he was in far more danger than they were.

The more Izuku considered the situation the more bizarre it was that this person approached their car at all. Unless he was so unhinged that he considered the blood enough of a deterrent against projectiles, but Shinsou seemed reasonably sound for someone that appeared to have crawled out of a massacre. He could only think that Shinsou had to be more desperate than he let on, though whether that desperation was truly just from being lost was unclear.

There were too many inconsistencies to keep up with to form a reasonable narrative, Izuku had no clue what on Earth was happening, not even his fever dreams were this disorientating.

“Anyone else have a name around here.” Shinsou heavily hinted towards the rest peeking through the windows, unknowingly cutting through Izuku’s evaluation of him.

Izuku shot a quick glance to the others for their approval before making introductions.
“The driver’s Kaminari Denki and these two are Sero Hanta and Kirishima Eijirou.”

Each gave a nod or uncertain short wave as they were mentioned but remained quiet, Izuku watching the slight movement of Shinsou’s head that informed him that the stranger was directing his gaze towards each but otherwise he could not discern much of a reaction to any of them besides the brief nod of acknowledgement.

Silence stretched across the woods as Izuku watched the bloodied stranger, sensing a similarly weighted and cautious stare directed back at him though he could not see it. Somehow that he was being observed by such a nightmarish figure was more uncomfortable than frightening, Izuku wondered if the lack of hostility he felt was a misinterpretation on his part for lack of a clear view or if Shinsou truly did not register as a true threat.
Granted, he was not inclined to get close, but neither did his senses urge him to flee.

He wondered what kind of conclusion Shinsou was coming to about him.

“Uh erm I’m just going to…” Izuku mumbled, pointing down into the car hesitantly to signal his escape.

“Sure.” Shinsou responded in kind a hand slowly rising to cup at his nape.

The nervous gesture gave Izuku momentary pause, but he took the chance for dismissal.

Sinking back down to continue their impromptu meeting Izuku noticed all eyes looking to him expectantly as if waiting for his assessment, which he realised they probably were since he had just spent a good minute awkwardly staring down their current mystery trying to puzzle him out. Sometimes he forgot that his classmates turned survival pack actually valued his over analytical tendencies that much, it was especially strange when Bakugou was one of them.

After taking a brief moment to think over his observations and what to say, he somewhat apologetically shrugged.
“He seems nice enough.”

Varying tones of exasperated groans filled the car, though one resembled more of a strangled barely contained shriek of confounded fury. Izuku cringed a little but gladly it seemed his word was enough to ease the tension just a tad.

“It’s cool you’re not getting bad vibes Midoriya, but we are not describing that as nice. Our standards for strangers cannot be that low.” Sero denied lightly, keeping his voice down despite his exasperation. “Let’s go with ‘civil enough’ at best or non-hostile. That’s a decent positive assessment of whatever that guy has going on.”

Kaminari and Kirishima chimed their agreement with that which Izuku similarly agreed was fair.

“Civil? Are you all fucking cracked? Am I the only one here with any survival instincts left?” Bakugou whispered viciously. “Did I fuckin’ die and none of you dipshits thought to tell me that dealing with your idiocy is my punishment for all that shit in middle school?”

Izuku frowned at that, coming to realise that the boy must be truly rattled by all this to dig up the past. Leaning toward the riled-up blond he did his best not to sound reprimanding.

“Kaachan, even if he tried anything we’re the ones at an advantage. We have cover and weapons to fall back on and even one on one we could handle it.” Izuku tried to reassure quietly without alerting said stranger outside.

“Unless it’s a trap.” Kaminari chimed in ominously.

“What kind of trap involves putting us on alert first?” Kirishima countered.

“There’s not many places to hide and we were the ones that spotted him first, I think it’s safe to say this isn’t a trap.” Sero agreed.

“Trap or not, giving that creep the chance to navigate around here is asking for trouble.” Bakugou seethed, fight induced temper finally receding enough to voice his thoughts clearly. “He’s seen the car, he could follow us back to base.”

Izuku chewed his lip as he considered that.

“How?” Kirishima queried not seeing the problem. “We point him in a direction then drive away, easy. He can’t follow us on foot.”

“For all we know he’s an Olympic marathon runner.” Sero jested bleakly.

“Why would you put that thought in my head? Now I’m going to spend half the drive looking in the mirror.” Kaminari whined.

“No, he has a point.” Izuku reluctantly agreed. “Giving directions works both ways, if his memory is good enough he’ll be able to return here later and follow the road we take.”

Even if Shinsou was not hostile that could be dangerous, part of what kept them all safe at base was being aware of who or what was in the area at all times, having an unknown variable to keep an eye out for while hunting could lead to slip ups and in the worst-case scenario it could lead to a raid.

“That won’t lead him straight to base though, he’ll have no idea which rout we took.” Sero posited.

“All he has to do is set up camp and wait for our next patrol this way to find that out, enough times and we’ll lead him right to us. There aren’t many functioning cars around.” Izuku explained, troubled at the thought that they may in fact have to leave Shinsou wondering directionless for the groups safety.

“Okay but consider this: will he last long enough for that to be a problem?” Kaminari asked sceptically.

The response on his tongue immediately fizzled into nothing.

Izuku had in fact not considered that, finding he could not believe that would be the case and from how Bakugou’s anxious scowl lessened into slight irritation he was much the same and was somewhat placated by that. In normal circumstances the chance of being followed was severe but in this case given the state of who they were discussing—

“Look. I’m really not trying to start anything, and I’ll be gone soon enough, so can you at least point me to the nearest supermarket or something.” Shinsou demanded impatiently, raising his roughed voice just enough to catch attention. “The last place I was staying ran out of food, I need a reliable source and a roof to sleep under, but I’ve no idea where anything is around here.”

With one last silent debate amongst themselves they came to an agreement, Izuku and Sero popping out of the sunroof again as Kirishima slightly lowered a window manually to allow for better hearing while carefully pulling out a slingshot just in case while Bakugou returned to glowering and Kaminari kept eyes around them as his fingers drummed the wheel.

“Where did you come from? Which direction?” Sero asked casually.

“If I knew that I wouldn’t be lost. I didn’t even notice the road until your car appeared.” Shinsou griped.

Izuku noted that he had dodged the first question but given how they had just been talking about not wanting this person to follow them back to where they were from it did not say much.

“The nearest town is a mile away, but I wouldn’t recommend it.” Kirishima warned. “The upper town has been cleared out already and the whole lower half is infested.”

“He’s right, you’d be better off sticking to the woods until you’re further west.” Sero seconded. “If you need, we can tell you what’s edible around here?”

It was a decent attempt to bargain for something less risky but it failed nonetheless.

“Not what I asked, just point towards a town and I’ll manage.” Shinsou dismissed bluntly, clearly becoming aggravated with their lack of answer.

“Well, if you’re sure…” Sero sighed, looking to Izuku to relay the information.

“Just head in that direction you should come across a stream.” Izuku pointed over Shinsou’s right shoulder, causing the man to briefly face that direction as he listened. “Once you get there follow it down to the road, then head south, over the bridge and once you take the last turn by the car wreck you’ll be there.”

“Any obstacles I should know about?” Shinsou asked.

Izuku considered the question carefully, trying to recall the area best he could without dwelling on how unlikely it was for Shinsou to reach any of those obstacles while still alive.

“There’s a wild dog pack that lives near the bridge, but they usually keep to themselves.” He advised. “Nothing should be in the car but it’s not a good place to linger and don’t enter town from the west side, there was a chemical spill from a truck but no one knows what of.”

“Right.” Shinsou nodded firmly, gazing off in the pointed direction as if mapping out his rout by eye before turning back to them as he stepped back. “I won’t keep you any longer then.”

“Finally. Good deed done or whatever.” Bakugou grumbled as he shoved himself back into the front passenger seat. “Now drive Sparky.”

“At least let us get back in our seats first.” Kirishima sighed.

With a short salute Sero dipped back into the car leaving only Izuku to linger, hesitant as an ember of guilt and worry flared over allowing Shinsou to venture on his way alone. His gut just would not accept that he had done enough but logic told him they had to get moving and to keep a distance.

Realising that he was being observed in his indecision forced him out of his miasma of negativity.

“Well, um, bye.” Izuku waved feeling incredibly awkward at the gesture. “Hope things go well for you?”

Shinsou’s head cocked to the side but since reading his face was not possible there was no way to tell what the intent of the movement was.

“Thanks.” He replied tonelessly.

Still perplexed but with nothing else to say Izuku ducked back into the car and buckled in. Taking that as their que Kaminari started up the car while the other two settled back into their respective seats to Izuku’s left.

Izuku’s eyes lingered on Shinsou’s form as it turned towards his intended destination but remained still in his spot, head turned just enough to watch them leave. Gradually Kaminari steered them toward the crossroad, and he was forced to break his line of sight away from the stranger as the distance slowly grew.

It felt a little anticlimactic to continue on as before after such an encounter, by their luck things did not usually end so smoothly.

Hurried movement caught the corner of Izuku’s eye as they made to turn left and he almost cursed himself for jinxing them.

“Wait!”

The car jolted as the break was instinctually hit by an on edge Kaminari, Izuku nearly choking on his seat belt as he hurried to look back at the call, spotting Shinsou now stumbling over his last slow steps from an apparent sprint to catch them.

“What!” Bakugou barked back out the window.

For a moment it seemed Shinsou was not going to say anything after that, shoulders hunching as he bristled, but with a sigh he continued.

“A storm blew through two nights ago. Land slide took out a lot of the bigger trees and it dominoed down.” He explained calmly, pointing down the road they were headed. “There’s probably signs of it about three miles in on that route.”

The group took a moment to process the sudden information before realising what it meant for their ability to travel.

Bakugou slammed his fist into the roof.
“Motherfucker! I don’t have time for this shit!”

“Ugh, well at least we brought axes, we can probably clear a way through.” Sero commiserated.

Izuku leaned over him to send a small genuine smile to their unusual messenger.

“Thanks for the warning, Shinsou! Stay safe!” He called back gratefully, though immediately wincing at his choice of words.

“Sure.” Shinsou huffed, an oddly soft tone slipping through as he echoed back with a wave. “Stay safe.”

With his piece apparently said, the unkempt stranger returned to his journey towards town, Izuku twisting around this time to watch his figure shrink and disappear as they drove away.

…

They travelled down the road without a word for some time after losing sight of Shinsou yet by no means did that keep him out of mind.

Izuku replayed the whole meeting over and over, picking apart every word and gesture Shinsou had given them as he tried to appease whatever feeling it was that had him unsure if they had made the right call or not. Now given time for the adrenaline of fright to fade out, he could not suppress the thought of how lonesome Shinsou’s trudge through the woods seemed and the weight of tragedy that coated him like the blood distorting his image.

“Soooo.” Kaminari drawled slowly, finally breaking the silence. “We all agree he’s definitely infected, right? No normal person walks around like that.”

The two black haired boys in the back hummed in agreement, while Izuku remaining quiet in his own thoughts.

Kirishima sent a pitying glance back through the windshield as he readjusted his headband.
“He didn’t have anything with him, he was probably abandoned by his party.”

“Or they all got slaughtered in front of him and the poor guy lost it.” Sero added uneasily. “That blood had to come from somewhere. Pretty impressive that he can still hold a conversation like that honestly.”

“Maybe the bite’s fresh?” Kaminari theorised.

“The blood wasn’t. Has to be at least five days old to be in that state, I’d say he’s got two days tops.” Sero pointed out with a shudder. “What a nightmare.”

“He helped though. It really sucks to see good guys left like that.” Kirishima lamented, shuffling uncomfortably. “It’s gonna get dark soon…Is it bad to hope he turns before he gets to town?”

“Maybe he can make some friends there when he does.” Kaminari shrugs.

The other two paused to stare at the blond dumbfounded.

“Dude.” Sero shook his head in reproach.

“Well, better than being alone, right?!” Kaminari defended, glancing back with an awkward half-smile. “I mean, if he’s not looking for an out, might as well find a silver lining in the whole process, yeah?”

“Fucker can die where he likes as long as he doesn’t come crawling back to our place.” Bakugou cut in clearly done with their morbid back and forth.

“Kaachan I think he really might not have been infected.” Izuku piped up, unable to ignore his own mix of curiosity and guilt niggling at his consciousness any longer. “He wasn’t showing any of the usual symptoms and he was speaking clearly the entire time, he didn’t even seem injured. We should have at least offered him a weapon.”

“The freak was covered in blood and wasn’t even trying to clean it off or explain it.” Bakugou hissed, glaring out in front of them. “Dead, dying or whatever, I’m not giving someone like that a weapon.”

No one had a response to that.

Silently Izuku pulled out his small notebook of names to carefully pencil in Shinsou with the date and last known location, then after a brief pause forlornly crossed it out in finality.

Shinsou, 21 ^st  July, Alderan Forest.

Yet another victim of the apocalypse.

Yet another that could not be saved.

Yet another his hands could not reach.

Izuku stared out at the passing trees and tried to let the sight of nature wash away his painful thoughts.

A solemn air haunted their return home.