Hinata wasn't the same. Not after pulling the trigger down on his sister. Not after digging her grave. Not after watching her body fall into the hole he had dug.
"Please, eat something Hinata." Sugawara knitted his eyebrows together, lips pursed with worry. Hinata's lidded eyes stared at the wall across from him with disinterest. Suga swallowed a thick lump in his throat, glancing away, before setting down the bag of chips in front of him.
They were running out of food to eat it. Two weeks into hiding out here at the school and the only meals they could eat were snacks.
"You need to eat." Suga muttered, and Hinata didn't reply, simply parting his lips and sucking in the frosty air. A few gray tendrils of his hair waved with the slight draft that wafted through the cold classroom. "Bye." He uttered quietly, before leaving him in silence.
Hinata felt so empty, like his heart was a black hole, sucking up any emotions that bubbled up. He was left feeling like an empty shell, a husk. Like he was nothing, rooted only by his feet firmly planted against the ground. He was almost afraid he would cave in on himself.
His insipid skin was a muted cream, light and deathly. Hinata looked sick. He felt sick.
Hinata collected himself, bony fingers grabbing at the bag of sour cream and onion chips, the wrapper crinkling deafeningly loudly. The rough flesh of his fingertips tugged at the opening, pulling the bag open with a seemingly loud pop. Hinata crunched on a single chip, the stale flavor making him wrinkle his nose. He ate a couple more, before setting the bag down.
The door opened slowly, the weak form of Yamaguchi shuffling inside and sitting across from him.
"Hinata." Yamaguchi's voice trembled. "Are you doing okay? Suga said you wouldn't eat." They both knew the answer to that. "I'm down to my last pill." Yamaguchi chuckled, but it was filled with absolute terror. Hinata could practically feel the boy's fear in his bones. Hinata let his eyes drift to his feet, mouth somewhat parted. "Daichi wants you to go out with a few others to get supplies. He said it might make you feel a bit better. Or fresher, or something."
Hinata didn't say a thing, didn't even awknowledge his words. Yamaguchi let out a heavy sigh, picking himself up.
"Please take care of yourself, Hinata. The group can't handle another loss." Yamaguchi left the room after that, and Hinata glared at the wood paneling beneath him. He didn't understand how Yamaguchi wasn't terrified out of his mind, with his death drawing nearer and nearer. Unless they could do something about his pills situation, the freckled teen was royally screwed.
Hinata reluctantly took another chip, chewing it with distaste.
"We're leaving right now, Hinata!" The smooth, smug voice of Tsukishima called from down the hall. He stared at the ground for a few beats, before he scrambled to his feet, exiting the classroom he slept in with the other first years. Great, he had to go on the run with the biggest jerk ever. Well, second biggest jerk ever.
"Here's a knife, Hinata. Please try to avoid unnecessary slaughter, you guys. I trust you to be a good mini leader, Tsukishima." Daichi's powerful voice filled his ears.
"Why does he get to be the leader?! I'm the older one!" Tanaka complained, clenching one of his hands around a baseball bat. Daichi rolled his eyes, ignoring Tanaka's childishness.
"That's exactly why you're not the leader." Kageyama muttered to himself, making the shaved headed boy flick his arm. The atmosphere turned gloomy again as Daichi lowered his head, expression serious.
"Please be careful, you guys. We have no idea if it's even somewhat safe out there anymore." He advised, and Hinata gulped fearfully. Nagisa's words came back to him,
"The country's going to go to shit in a matter of days, I guarantee it. The military is failing."
He shuddered as he imagined a multitude of severe apocalyptic scenarios.
"Let's go get our supplies and destroy those reds!" Tanaka cheered. Hinata's nickname for the beasts had spread among the school, and all the people had started to say it. Normally Hinata would feel some form of pride, but he didn't even care.
"Come on, then." Tsuki sighed, appearing uninterested as he led the group out of the school. Kageyama glared after him with disdain, clearly unimpressed with Daichi's choice of leadership for this mission.
The group consisted of Hinata, of course, Tsukishima, Kageyama, Tanaka, and Yachi. Hinata knew he was switched with Yamaguchi at the last minute as the boy's health was a major concern for them.
It was strangely still; silent. Too silent. Hinata raised his shoulders with a faint alertness, eyes darting around the road as they walked past crashed cars and broken down tanks.
"Oh my god." Yachi whimpered, recoiling from the wheels of the tank. She clutched her stomach and turned away. Hinata stared in awe at the battered body of a stranger. Her body was crushed, brown blood dried around obvious lacerations, bones sticking up, unwelcoming. Half of her head was spattered across the pavement, the other half caved in, and her hand was chewed off.
Hinata fluttered his eyes, feeling faint as he stumbled away from the ghastly body.
"Don't look," Tanaka choked out, ushering the group along. A growling sound following by the snapping of something's jaw made Hinata perk up. Tsukishima stopped in his tracks at the front, eyes wide and shoulders rigid. He held a hand up, signaling them to stay still. Hinata peeked his head around the corner of a restaurant, and a horrifying sight made him do a double take. Dozens of reds stood idle amongst the street. There was so many of them he could barely see the end of the road.
"We gotta get out of here." Hinata whispered so lowly he wasn't sure the others had heard him. Nobody said anything, though. Yachi squeaked loudly in fright at the sight of the horde. The group stared at her in horror as the reds turned and looked at them.
"Run!" Kageyama yelled, causing both the group and the reds to stir into action.
Hinata never ran so fast as the group darted away from the hungry reds. Screams of his friends and the growling of the reds chasing them were all he could hear.
"In there, in there!" Tanaka yelled, pointing towards a diner, one of the only buildings without broken windows. They rushed towards it, piling inside and slamming the door behind them, just in time as the reds scraped at the door desperately. Hinata panted, completely out of breath as he slid down onto the ground, gasping for air.
Yachi began to scratch at her throat, tears burning at her eyes as she backed away from the door, her lower back hitting against a table.
"That was close. That was so close." Kageyama gasped, running a hand through his hair and making it untidy. Hinata got to his feet, staring at the reds with a mesmerized gaze. He walked up to the door, holding a hand up against the glass. A red gnashed its teeth at the glass, its eyes wild and desperate.
Hinata didn't even flinch as it banged on the glass in front of him.
"You should get away from the door." Tsukishima said lowly, breaking Hinata from his trance. He backed away, taking a seat on a dining chair.
"What are we gonna do?" Kageyama wondered aloud, fear dispersed in his tone and posture. Nobody answered.
"We gotta get out of here." Tsukishima stated, his words lilted with terror.
"How?!" Yachi finally spoke up, her voice cracking as she tugged at the ends of her blonde hair. "We're stuck here," she grasped her shirt, holding it so tightly her knuckles turned white.
"Shit shit shit shit," Tsukishima muttered, shaking his head in denial. Hinata poked at a pile of salt on the table, trying to bury the fear within him.
"We have to kill the reds." Hinata mumbled all of the sudden, standing up as he pulled the blade Daichi had given him out.
"What are you doing, dumbass? We can't take all of them." Kageyama crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head slightly.
"We might as well try." Hinata objected, and Kageyama scoffed.
"Are you kidding? We're just going to get ourselves killed." The setter glared down at him. Hinata swallowed the rising lump in his throat.
"All the better, then, right? What's the point of living in this world anyways. Not when we have to fight for survival every time we want to step outside." Hinata's voice was barely above a whisper. "We're just going to rot away in here, anyway, if we don't do something." His words left them speechless.
"Look, I know Natsu's death was hard, but-" Right as her name left Kageyama's mouth, Hinata's eyes widened as he cut Kageyama off.
"Shut the fuck up! Don't ever say her name again! I don't wanna hear it!" Hinata screamed, shaking, as he glared venomously at the taller boy. Kageyama recoiled, obviously taken aback. He hadn't expected such an explosive response. The others averted their gazes, tension thickening the air unbearably. Hinata slumped back into his seat, resting his head in his hands as he trembled.
Not a single word was spoken from any of them as hours ticked by, the reds still roaming around right outside the door. The light the sun provided was starting to diminish as night took over. It made everything all the more creepier.
"We have to stay the night here." Tsukishima finally spoke, and everyone stared at the floor. Hinata laid down on the hardwood floor, draping his jacket over himself. He kept his distant from the others, who were all sleeping by the counter.
Hinata licked his lips as he shut his eyes, trying to clear his mind of the clutter of thoughts it held. Everytime he shut his eyes, he heard the gunshot over and over again. A trail of tears slid down his eye, dripping over his nose and hitting the floor with a small tapping sound. A choked, quiet sob left him as he tried not to wake the others. His chest heavy with guilt, he tried his hardest to drift off, and this time he succeeded.
The next morning he awoke to his head pounding with the intensity of a migraine. He shuddered as he remembered the nightmare he had, remembering how he had to kill her over and over again. His little sister...
"Hinata... Do you, do you want some food? We found a little bit of food left in the kitchen." Yachi asked him gently, trying to keep her voice soothing. Hinata chewed on his lower lip.
"Fine." Hinata mumbled, getting to his feet and sliding his jacket on. He walked towards the back, where the kitchen was. Tanaka handed him a bowl of soup, but the glass was cold.
"Sorry, the oven doesn't work. We couldn't heat it up. It should be okay, though." Tanaka explained as Hinata took a spoonful of the soup, shoveling it into his mouth with an intense hunger. Tanaka breathed a sigh of relief as he watched him eat. "Good to see you eating again, shorty." He slapped him on the back, before eating his own bowl of soup.
Hinata reached the bottom of the bowl in no time, but his stomach was still left feeling empty. There wasn't much soup for him to begin with, seeing as they had to equally ration it across five people. But at least it was something.
As he walked towards the door, he noticed the horde of reds still waiting outside for their next meal.
"I thought they'd give up by now." Tsukishima sighed, adjusting his cracked glasses with a hint of annoyance.
"It's over, isn't it?" Hinata murmured, turning away from the door, instead facing Tsukishima.
"What's over?" He asked, confusion twisting his features.
"The world." Hinata barely managed out, his words shaking. His heart dropped to his stomach as the full reality hit him like a truck. No more volleyball. No more going to the store to get a snack. No more normal life. "It's all over." Hinata sniffed, his eyes burning. "We're so screwed." He chuckled through the tears brewing in his eyes.
"You don't know that." Tsukishima replied lamely.
"I do. I mean think about it, the military lost to them. To the reds. If they haven't, then we would be back at the school by now, because they wouldn't have let the reds grow like this. They wouldn't have let it get this bad. It's over, Tsukishima. It's over." Hinata scoffed, squeezing his eyes shut. "I just want to go back home. I just want to go back to playing volleyball. I just want Natsu to still be alive." His voice cracked at the mention of his deceased family.
Wordlessly, Tsukishima turned his head away. Hinata knew Tsukishima realized he was right. It was just common sense.
Hinata looked back at the reds, a hatred igniting in him as he stared at their faces, faces full of desire for human flesh. Their wild eyes. Their scratching fingernails. Their snapping jaws. Reds were the reason Natsu was six feet under. He would kill every single last one he could find. He would slaughter all of them.
Hinata's eyes burned with a promise, a promise to rid the world of these vile creatures. It didn't matter if they were human once, if they still were, he would take care of them either way. Hinata slid the blade out of his pocket, hand rising to the doorknob. Fury ran through his blood steadily as he opened the door, shutting it behind him.
The disgusting creatures stared at him a for a beat, before lunging at him. Hinata's heart pounded in his chest as he stabbed a red in the skull, the blood leaking out. Getting a taste of murder, his vision was taken over by red as rage burned through him, fueling him as he killed every single last one of the reds blocking their way.
Finally, as his vision faded back, he suddenly became aware of the blood that dripped down his knife, the blood that drenched his shirt and pants, splattering across his face.
"Hinata! Hinata?" Tsukishima's voice made him stumble forwards, blinking rapidly as he stared at his blood covered hands.
"Holy shit." Kageyama shook his head in utter disbelief, eyes surveying the bodies of dozens of reds.
Hinata really had killed every last one of them, sparing not a single one.
"We can go back now." Hinata swallowed, shoving the blade back into his pocket. He kicked a red's head as he passed by, and the others followed his path back to the school, Hinata leaving a trail of blood in their wake.
The world was over, anyways. So what did a couple of creatures matter?