Red Winter - /Haikyuu/

14. Old Friend

(I feel so stupid lmao I was looking up zombie shows to watch to get some inspo and I watched Black Summer and I just realized... Black Summer? RED WINTER?! Jesus Christ.)

Daichi and the others had managed to secure a portion school, and they had also found a few others who were hiding around the school. They all felt better with the sliver of safety the walls of the school provided, and they all knew there was no more creatures inside near them anyways, because they had cleared them out on their side.

Daichi thought of Date, and how they took her body and buried it in the school yard by the gym. It almost felt wrong to just bury her when they had killed many other creatures.

After the girl's death, the group was on edge, and deathly quiet. People rarely spoke, unless absolutely necessary. Except now, when there was nervous chatter amongst the teens.

"I'll go, too. To help clear out the other side." Tsukishima spoke, his eyes void of emotion. But by the way he stood, Daichi could tell he was nervous, too.

"Alright. Be careful, guys. Maybe I should go with you." Daichi thought for a moment, mulling over the idea. "No. You all can handle yourselves. But remember: we don't know what's on the other side of the school. It could be absolute chaos for all we know." Daichi warned.

"Okay, okay. We're leaving now." Nishinoya said, resting his rake over his shoulder nonchalantly. "Let's go, guys." Noya began walking off, Tsukishima, Tanaka, and Asahi following after. The room felt oddly quiet with their two loudest people gone.

"Uh, Daichi? Can I go to the bathroom?" A girl squeaked, who they had found hiding in the janitor's closet.

"Of course. Take a knife or something. And don't be afraid to scream if something attacks you." Daichi passed a knife to her, and she walked off. The group of teens sat in silence for a few minutes, before some boy he didn't know the name of started to ramble on about something.

It was only what felt like hours later that the door to the classroom burst open, Noya rushing through. The small boy put his hands on his knees, panting heavily, as he tried to speak.

"It's Tsukishima! He's hurt!" Noya exhaled deeply, sucking in a deeper breath. His words made Daichi's posture straighten, his stomach lurching. A few seconds later, Tanaka ran into the room, dragging Tsukishima with. Asahi timidly rushed inside as well, shutting the door with a click.

"What happened?" Daichi asked as the tangy smell of blood drifted into his nose, clogging his sense of smell.

"We were- We were searching the school and a few of those thingies attacked us in the cooking classroom. While we were running Tsukishima fell on a knife. His arm-" Noya cut his explanation off and grabbed ahold of Tsukishima's shoulder, forcing his arm into sight.

Daichi gagged as he stared at the long, red slit on Tsukishima's arm, the boy's skin stained with red.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. S-Sit down, Tsukishima. Just sit down." Daichi mumbled out, and the blonde haired boy did as he was told. Tsukishima's face was deathly pale, sweat beading on his forehead and all over his neck, so much so that his hair plastered to his neck. Shallow breaths left him, seemingly struggling to breathe.

"It's fine. It's not that bad." Tsukishima croaked out in a raspy voice, his eyes lidded and glazed over. Daichi pressed the back of his hand to Tsukishima's head, and sure enough, he was burning up.

"You have a fever. You need medical attention, gauze, antibiotics or something." Daichi furrowed his eyebrows, face contorted.

"But we don't have anything of those things," Kinoshita protested weakly.