Static

Katsuki frowned at the overcast sky, wondering what had happened. Just minutes ago it had seemed like a relatively cheery late spring afternoon, but the moment he walked down the street heading towards his childhood home something seemed to change. It was… quiet. Too quiet and eerie, but right now, Katsuki was supposed to be on leave, so he shoved the thoughts to the back of his mind as he concentrated on trying to find his best friend’s home.

The apartment building the Midoriyas lived in remained the same even after all these years, and Katsuki gave a nostalgic hum as he walked up the stairs, deciding against the elevator. He pulled out the key that Deku had mailed to him the week before in anticipation of their first face-to-face meeting in over a decade. Seeing the All Might key topper made him nostalgic, memories of their elementary and middle school years talking about plot twists and new chapters coming to mind like they happened yesterday. He bounded up the staircase to the fourth floor, only to pause as he heard the sounds of a struggle. His duffel was dropped and the key went back into his pocket as he rounded the corner to assess the situation.

A couple of doors were open and he could see a male with green hair trying to throw off a taller figure who seemed to try to bite at him in a frenzied manner ( Deku , what the hell did you do to get someone trying to claw at your face like that!?). Katsuki wasted no time, training kicking in as he pulled the hulking figure off of the smaller one in a choke hold. The man kept trying to lunge at Deku, despite being held back. Katsuki was trained, he knew how to execute a goddamned sleeper hold, but the fucker kept going, and it was all he could do to keep him back as Deku scuttled away. Maybe he wasn’t paying attention (which Aizawa would ream him for if he knew) or maybe he wasn’t expecting the man’s movements to grow wilder the longer he held him, but Katsuki felt himself starting to lose his grip and executed a throw, hoping to create some distance to reassess the threat. Instead of throwing him onto the walkway as intended, Katsuki watched as the man went over the railing.

The sound the body made as it hit the ground four stories below was sickening. Katsuki tried to regulate his breathing, fuck he just threw someone off the god damned apartment building. That was a serious lawsuit waiting to happen but based on Izuku’s frazzled and disheveled state, looking wide-eyed at the railing even as he scrambled towards it, Katsuki might get away with self defense. Maybe. Katsuki walked towards the rails as well, peeking over to look at the damage.

The two watched as what should have been a dead (or at least severely damaged) body got up, obviously sporting a few broken bones, and shuffled away, headed towards one of the next buildings.

“K-Kacchan,” Izuku whispered, voice raspy as he refused to stop watching the body shamble away. “What just happened?”

“Shit if I know, Deku.” Katsuki sat down for a moment, tried to organize his thoughts, tried to wrap his head around what the hell was going on, even as he pulled Izuku down to sit next to him. Sadly, that wasn’t working out too well for him, too many late-night movie marathons pulling at his mind. “How about you tell me who that fucker is and we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

---

It’d been years since Katsuki had seen Izuku in the flesh and he honestly should not have been so charmed by how familiar the absent muttering was, especially with how crazy the last fifteen minutes had been. They had moved up from the hallway, Deku getting a backpack filled with odds and ends at Katsuki’s urging (no telling what the hell was really going on, but Katsuki refused to be a sitting duck here), as the blond went for his own. It was as he was grabbing it that some of his words registered. “Wait, run that by me again— you let in your neighbor, who was complaining that someone on the street took a bite out of him, and then a few minutes later he tried to bite you? Why would you let someone in if they’d been attacked like that?”

He couldn’t see the nerd through the door, but he was sure the look Izuku gave him was scathing. “Pretty much. It wasn’t the first time our neighbors came by complaining about hooligans on a run, but… attempting to take my throat out is kind of new.”

“So… more confirmation that we’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse?” Katsuki asked as his mind started to make plans on where they should head to next, since staying wasn’t appealing.

“Well, I’m not sure if they’re actually zombies, Tanaka-san was definitely still living originally and I haven’t figured out if he suddenly died and reanimated to become, er, undead or not, but—”

“Deku,” Katsuki said with a shake of his head, cutting off the other’s ramble, rounding the door to give his friend a look. “We watched the fucker get up after I threw him over the side of the building. Combined with the fact that they’re trying to bite you and their bite makes other people go crazy like that, it’s a fucking zombie.”

“Uh, then yeah, I guess we’re dealing with zombies?”

The words were absurd on their own, but then there was a telltale groan from one of the closed apartments next to them. It brought out surprised, choked, half-hysterical laughs out of them both. This was Katsuki’s life now— taking leave to reconnect with a childhood friend, only to deal with what appeared to be the zombie apocalypse.

“Well, let’s not wait for any of the rest of them to figure out how to open doors or for your neighbor to shamble back this way. Do you have any wheels?”

---

It turned out that, no, Izuku didn’t have access to wheels; he normally opted to either take public transits or bike to his cushy analyst job at the other end of the city. Which, yes, great for the environment, but not so great for the situation they found themselves in now.

“So where’s Auntie exactly? I know you texted me the other night and said it would just be the two of us.” Katsuki asked as Izuku tried the various cars in the parking lot. As a member of the self-defense forces, he probably should have been more upset about stealing someone’s car, but desperate times, desperate measures— he was more concerned with watching for any more undead, or whatever they were.

Izuku made a small sound of happiness as he found a car unlocked, opening up the driver’s side door in search of keys. “Left to visit Dad in the States last week,” he grumbled under his breath, not finding any. “Ugh, guess I’ll keep looking.”

The sky was getting darker and honestly, Katsuki wasn’t all that keen on wasting more time. There weren’t many cars left in the parking lot to check, and there was always the question of whether they would be unlocked and how long it would be until another zombie popped up. He gave a look at the car; it was an older one, fourth, maybe fifth generation city car which meant he could probably get it working. “Move over, nerd. Get your shit in the back, I’ll get it running.” He’d already shouldered past the other man, grabbing tools out of his duffle. Hot wiring a car wasn’t quite second nature to him but Katsuki had plenty of practice in the years he’d been away from Musutafu. His hands worked deftly and after only a few minutes the engine was revving up and ready to go. He threw his own duffle in the back and got into the driver’s seat while Deku got in on the passenger side.

Katsuki eased the car out and onto the road, tinkering with the radio which was unresponsive. “You said your parents are in the States, right? Where?”

“Somewhere on the east coast I think?” Izuku was staring at his phone, pressing several buttons. “I’m not getting any reception at all, you?”

“No shit? My parents are too, maybe they should get together.” He pulled out his own phone and tossed it to the left and into Deku’s lap. “The code’s 1-5-0-7.” From the corner of his eye, Katsuki could tell the moment Izuku realized what the code meant; he resolutely kept his eyes on the road.

“Kacchan… Why’s my birthday your phone’s pin?”

Even though he felt his ears redden at the scrutiny, he refused to give more than a grunt in acknowledgement to show he heard. He didn’t want to talk about it.

Deku made a sound— the same ‘I know there’s more to this than you’re telling me and I will find out’ one he made so often as a kid— but asked no more questions, instead unlocking the phone and tapping away. “No service either. The military has stuff like that, right? To stop radio frequencies and calls. You haven’t heard anything about super secret government experiments or bio terrorists, right?”

“Deku,” Katsuki groused from behind the wheel, “even if that’s a thing, the brass sure as hell wouldn’t tell a pilot about shit like this. And aren’t you the one more likely to hear about this shit, Doctor Midoriya?”

The flush on Deku’s cheeks was rather nice, even as the other turned away a bit, frowning at the unresponsive phones. “You know I’m not aiming to be that kind of doctor. Sociologists normally don’t deal with end of the world scenarios like zombies.”

Is that what they’re in for, the end of the world? Katsuki thought about it, about the strange quiet and unease he felt coming to the apartment, juxtaposed with the more mundane life he was living less than 24 hours ago, and couldn’t make it stick.

Minutes into their drive, as they ventured into the less residential parts of Musutafu, Katsuki noticed how the traffic was slowing into a stop-and-go, as if— 

“Shit, Deku, look for a map or something, make it look like you’re looking for directions, hurry.”

Something in his voice must have made his urgency known; the green-haired man went scrambling in the glove compartment. The crowing ah ha noise he made was cute, but he was distracted by trying to get the All Might key cover off, placing it over the ignition switch to cover the wires he used to break it. By the time they were driving up to the police checkpoint, Izuku and Katsuki were arguing over directions, lots of ‘we should take the scenic route and pass by Mount Fuji’ and ‘fuck no, that way has tolls’ being doled out.

Katsuki rolled down the window at the urging of the man on the other side of the glass. “Afternoon officer, is something happening?” he asked, hoping for some information.

“No, just doing routine checks. Identification please sir; where are you headed?” The officer wore a helmet that obscured his face, more reminiscent of a SAT team member than the normal traffic cop, and was shining a flashlight in both their faces.

Keeping his movements obvious, Katsuki took his Self-Defense Force ID from his wallet in his lap to hand it to the officer. “Heading up from Shizuoka to Nagano for a reunion— a bunch of us used to be in a movie club back in university and we’re meeting up in someone’s villa this go around.”

The officer angled the card towards himself as he flashed his light against it. Then he handed it back to Katsuki with a nod of his head. “Well, let me not keep you, Warrant Officer Bakugou; I hope you and your friend have a great drive.” He motioned towards someone and the barricade came up, letting them pass through as another car quickly took their place to talk with the officer.

---

As soon as Katsuki drove past the blockade, he gave a sigh of relief. “Shit, that’s… not good.”

“What, that they’re screening everyone coming out of town, or that we just lied to the police?” Izuku’s voice cracked at the end of his question.

As a teen, Katsuki was always a little shit when that happened, but at the moment, he was still contemplating the implications. “That means someone knows something and isn’t telling the rest of us shit.”

They were hardly a few blocks away when one phone started vibrating like mad underneath the map Izuku pulled out. Izuku quickly grabbed it, unlocking his phone to see it light up with several messages. “Well, I’ve got reception now, at least. Don’t see why I couldn’t earlier…” He was already thumbing messages out.

“Is that old man’s place still running? The crazy one who owned that surplus depot?” Katsuki asked.

“Torino-san’s? Yeah, should be, although I don’t see him there very often; Yagi-sensei actually works there now that he’s retired. I’ll direct you as soon as I send this to some co-workers.” Another tense minute passed before Izuku made good on his promise, listing off directions. Of course, the nerd didn’t know street names, but he knew the area well enough, able to tell turns with enough time that Katsuki only cursed him out once when he almost missed one.

Gran Torino’s was a squat, rectangular building with a large parking lot that showed the owner had a lot of money and a lot more nerve to keep developers away. Just like nearly every time he and Deku visited as brats, it was practically deserted with only a handful of other cars in the lot. Katsuki parked the car, twisting the wires to turn the car off before getting out, Izuku following behind. The military and defense surplus store was going to be their first stop in getting what they needed to survive. Katsuki went straight towards the back where the outdoor gear was, looking for sleeping bags and a portable stove, plus some gas canisters. Deku kept going off for minutes at a time, only to return with things like jackets, a solar powered radio and charger, multi-tool knives, a first aid kit, and even a couple of water skeins. They spent more time on searching for the rare ration bars and ready-to-eat meals, which was surprisingly hard, and finding Izuku some boots to replace the red sneakers he wore.

“You know, you guys are the sixth and seventh persons to come in today. I don’t think I’ve ever had so many in one day before,” the clerk commented as she rang them up. “Surprised you found something to eat in there though! The last guy that came in bought so many boxes of it.”

“Yes, well, I don’t know about them, but we’re going on an impromptu camping trip! It’s our good fortune that this store has it all.” Deku said with a laugh, even as he added no less than a dozen rolls of duct tape to their purchase.

She snorted, as she placed the last of their purchases back into the cart, giving them a smile as they left. Katsuki was just glad that neither the owner nor their old teacher was there, because there was no way they would have let this conversation end with just that. They packed the car in silence and Katsuki gave a sigh of relief once they were both safely inside.

“You know we’re going to need more supplies,” Izuku said, looking down at his phone once more. In lieu of answering, Katsuki started up the engine again and started driving. They talked, tried to hash out an action plan, while waiting to see if their parents would respond to their texts as it got later in the day.

This time, Katsuki stayed in the car, handing Izuku his credit card just in case as the other man went in. Unlike near Gran, the conbini was surrounded by other buildings and plenty of people walked past, making him fidget and wonder if they could be future zombies. Better to stay in the car and be ready if needed. Katsuki alternated between fiddling with the radio, hoping to hear some news more relevant than yesterday’s sports news, and trying to get in touch with his team at Yokota and some of his other friends. What fucking use was there in being part of air intelligence when you didn’t know shit when you needed it. Whatever was happening in Musutafu might not have spread that far north yet, but he was going to make damn sure everyone he cared about was ready if things went bad quick.

Minutes passed and Katsuki started to feel uneasy— what if there were zombies inside the conbini already and they took a bite out of Deku? Even though they had chosen this store specifically because they had seen people coming out with no wounds— before the man walked out. He looked sheepish, bogged down by several bags, especially with a teenage boy in a uniform trailing behind with more. Katsuki quickly unlocked the doors, even reaching over the console to open the passenger side. Izuku opened the back door so his help could put the bags inside before putting his own inside, save one which he brought to the front seat with him.

“The fuck did you even get, taking so long in there.”

Izuku handed him a spicy onigiri, surprising Katuski when he realized it was warmed up. “Well, water, plus bandages, lighters (“Deku, why would we need any, I know how to light a fucking fire!”), electrolyte drinks and mixes, basic hygeine stuff and tampons and pads (“But neither of us need those!” “Yeah, but people we meet might, plus they’re good for staunching blood flow for wounds!”), medication, snacks and other foods that will stay good for a long time… Just a bit of everything!”

No wonder the cashier seemed puzzled to help Deku bring all the bags to the car. “Gas next. While I’m filling up the extra tanks, you try to sort that mess back there into some semblance of order.”

“Yes, yes Kacchan.”

Honestly, this would have been fun in any other circumstance— him and Deku, making a road trip and camping out underneath the stars like some American coming-of-age romcom.

---

With a tankful of gas and a trunk and backseat filled with food and other necessities, Katsuki reiterated the plan they had hashed out over the past few hours. “All right, we’ll try to skirt around cities as much as we can as we head up to Fussa. With luck, it will only take a couple of hours as usual and we can make it there before whatever is going on here spreads further.” Fussa meant the base, and his team, and hopefully some answers he would not get here is Musutafu. What took Katsuki about two hours on public transit would take almost an extra hour normally, but he was honestly expecting to take longer if they bypassed and detoured around most of civilization.

Izuku nodded, even as he fiddled with the radio to turn the volume up. “And while you drive, I’ll see what I can find online. Don’t know how much I’ll be able to learn, but I’m starting to see some talk on @chan of ‘mysterious attacks’ today.”

“Stop messing with the station, nerd, I finally found a newscaster and I’m not gonna sit through whatever Oricon pop that you’re about to change it to,” Katsuki swatted at his hand, glad they were stopped at a light.

The lapsed in silence for a few minutes, with nothing but the radio offering nothing but the same tired news stories and absolutely nothing about what they saw at Midoriya’s apartment. The motorcyclist in front of them— Katsuki was split between amusement at the raven-head shaped helmet and wondering where the hell someone would get that— continued on; it seemed like he was heading out of the city as well. The sky grew darker, clouds gathering and promising rain. Then the radio sputtered.

“DEKU!”

“It wasn’t me!” the other man snapped back and yeah, now that he was looking at the corner of his eye, Deku was reaching towards the center console. He swore under his breath as Izuku flipped stations, getting nothing but static, the same way it did when he first started the car earlier.

The same eerie feeling engulfed Katsuki; he clicked the locks on to make sure and kept driving. Despite it happening so fast, it was hard to miss it since he was so focused on the road. The sharp intake of breath meant Deku saw it too.

They were stopped at a light when someone— some thing— rushed onto the street, ramming into the motorcyclist in front of them. There was the sound of a body hitting pavement and the two watched in horror as the zombie clambered over the bike and made its way to the owner. They couldn’t quite see what was happening, the angle wasn’t right, but they could hear the growls and the muffled screams as the thing tore into the biker.

Everything in Katsuki wanted to do something, but he knew he couldn’t. Not without knowing more and not if it meant risking Deku. The moment the light turned blue, the blond took his foot off the break and maneuvered past, resolutely looking ahead in search for more zombies.

“Kacchan!” Izuku’s voice was obviously choked up and Katsuki didn’t need to turn to see that the nerd was crying. “We can’t just, just leave! We have to help.”

Katsuki was quiet for a moment, refusing to look away from the road. “You know it’s not that simple, Deku. You can’t save everyone, especially not from this.”

“But what if—”

“I’m not risking either of us on a hope,” the blond stated, using the same no-nonsense tone he used with his co-workers. From the corner of his eye, he could see Izuku slump in his seat, everything in his posture showing his resignation. Shiny-eyed idealism was all well and good, but Katsuki knew Izuku was smart enough to understand. Not helping people chafed at him too, it was the whole reason he joined the force in the first place. “See if you can message our parents again, okay?”

Izuku made a small sound of agreement, lapsing into silence as he waited to get reception once again.

It began to rain the moment the radio came back on.