Bloom and Scatter [Free! Zombie AU]

Hopeless - Part 1

Rin couldn't stop staring.

"That zombie," Makoto said with a slight wheeze and a self-deprecating chuckle, "He got me real good, huh? I can barely feel my arm." Makoto looked down at the palm of his trembling left hand, trying to flex and close his fist, though the full-body wince that went through him seemed to signify that the acid had done damage beyond the original splatter zone. He tried to rotate his shoulder but he inhaled sharply partway through and slumped, wheezing through the mouthpiece of his gas mask. It was a good thing he was a rightie.

Makoto seemed to notice that Rin hadn't said a word.

"Rin?" He asked, "Something wrong?"

Though he was listening to Makoto, Rin couldn't seem to parse the words he wanted to say. Conversations flashed through his mind. Some he recalled as-a-matter-of-factually. Some he regretted from the bottom of his heart. I really want to be stone cold before my corpse so much as sniffs you out and thinks you're edible. The words felt like lead on his tongue.

"Earth to Rin," Makoto waved a hand in front of his face.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be.

"Are you okay?" He frowned when Rin didn't answer, "What are you looking at?"

His eyes travelled downwards, following the line of Rin's sight...

... and rested on the bite mark on the back of his left forearm.

The colour left Makoto's face.

"No," Makoto whispered, seized with sudden grief and fear, "No. It... It can't be."

"You got bit," Rin said hoarsely, pale as a sheet, "When did you get bit?"

"I-I don't know," Makoto stammered, "I don't know. All I know was that I-I shot the spewer and then he... fell on top of me, and then I..." The realisation hit then, Makoto's voice becoming thick, "Then I kicked him off."

"He fell on top of you. Face first."

Makoto could only nod, feeling his blood run cold.

"Despite having his head shot into."

"H-His teeth," Makoto said, "He still had teeth. I was already injured and..."

There was a long shriek from the direction of the hospital. Both of them looked towards it briefly before their eyes met.

"We need to go."

This wasn't how it was supposed to be.

It wasn't long before they staggered out of the lake district. Rin refused Makoto's offer of assistance and limped the entire journey, steeling himself to ignore the rejection in Makoto's downcast eyes and dragged feet. They had been through too much damage to be able to fight their way through zombies, be they a hoard or just stragglers, and took to a winding path that weaved through the remnants of the shopping and housing districts. Makoto still clutched at his arm, blood mostly dry but still oozing down his wrist. Rin was careful to keep him at a distance, in case he... Well. In case.