"Let her go, Aomine! For God's sake, let go!"

The urgent, strained commands fell on deaf ears, and Aomine clung to the convulsing body with fingers like claws, face buried in lackluster pink hair, his screaming sobs of raw grief only slightly muffled by the strands; each one a merciless blow to Kagami's gut. He pulled the tense, muscled arm again, trying to drag his friend away, but Aomine either refused or was unable to budge, shaking his head rigidly with wrenching, inarticulate sounds of denial that twisted at Kagami's heart.

"Aomine, we have to go! Now!" he insisted, pleading as he put his strength into another desperate heave, and suddenly the weight was reduced drastically, and Aomine's solid figure was lifted away from the spasming body of his childhood friend, which fell to the pavement with a sickening, dead thud.

Glancing up at the source of his aid, Kagami glimpsed the towering form of Murasakibara, supporting Aomine's other arm and helping to hold him back, while the distraught man fought like a demon, trying to get free and return to Momoi's stiff, lifeless corpse on the bloodstained ground.

"Thanks," Kagami panted gratefully, breaking off with a grunt as Aomine's strong elbow plunged in protest into his stomach.

"Neh... Mine-chin is very sad," Murasakibara observed dully, keeping his vice-like grip on Aomine's bicep, preventing him from moving despite his fervent attempts, lashing limbs, and frantic, ragged screams of "No! No!"

The dark man's face was a mess, now that Kagami could glimpse it. A grisly mask painted richly with Momoi's blood, streaked with grime and gore and the tears flowing freely from his wide, haunted eyes. Eyes that were fixed unwaveringly on the body on the ground, still twitching, foam frothing from once-soft, once-pink lips, eyes gone glassy and sightless.

"She's gone, Aomine!" Kagami shouted, trying to be heard over his screaming. "There's nothing we can do!"

"No! Let me go! Satsuki - !" On that last, soul-rending screech, Aomine shuddered violently and crumpled, only kept from collapsing by Kagami and Murasakibara holding his arms hostage.

A calm voice broke into the chaos, "Let's get him out of here."

Kagami looked up from the horrifying sight of Momoi's eyes losing all color, becoming cloudy white, frozen open; and met a familiar, icy blue gaze belonging to Kuroko, who seemed to have just arrived at the scene, hoisting a heavy shotgun over his small shoulder, shirt and face spattered with red. He took Aomine's wrist in his free hand, helping Kagami and Murasakibara guide him, now unresisting, away from the splayed corpse soaking in a puddle of blood and viscera. Kagami could feel a significant amount of relief, to lay eyes on him; after he'd lost track of him in the fray, a gnawing, protective part of him was afraid he wouldn't see him return.

Heaving a sigh, Kuroko glanced back at him, eyes deadpan as ever, but leaden with sorrow, "Akashi-kun won't be pleased to hear that we lost another…" he murmured. "Momoi-san was a valuable asset, and now we're just that much frailer."

Aomine's shoulders shook and he made a sound like a hiccup, head hanging low and exhausted as he let himself be dragged along by the arms, stumbling over his own feet.

"Will he be okay?" Kagami found himself asking, jerking his chin in the incapacitated man's direction to indicate what he meant. "I mean... will he even be able to -?"

"Aomine-kun is strong," Kuroko replied levelly. "He will recover from this loss, and fight even harder to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else he loves."

Looking back for a moment at the parking lot they'd left behind, Kagami hesitated with his next question, "And Momoi…?"

"Is already changing, as we speak," Kuroko grit out between clenched teeth, keeping his gaze ahead. "She will be on her feet again before nightfall."

Kagami winced, his imagination already formulating a picture of the sweet, intelligent woman, shambling and drooling, oozing pus and corruption and death, hungering only for living flesh. As dusk slowly set, the parking lot was already being overrun with moaning, staggering droves of zombies… They hadn't moved a moment too soon.

"What happened to your weapons?" Kuroko asked after a moment, eyes flitting from Kagami to Aomine - though he was unable to make eye contact - to Murasakibara, leaving the question open for any of them to answer.

"I ran out of ammo," Kagami explained. "So I took Momoi's pistol when she…" he let the sentence trail off. "But she didn't have much left either. Aomine dropped his so he could carry her out of there, but we... we didn't get far."

"I'm out of bullets too…" Murasakibara muttered, in his lazy, noncommittal drawl.

"Damn," Kuroko cursed, and both Kagami and Murasakibara blinked; it was rare that he ever swore. "So we're four guns and two people short of what we had this morning."

"T-two people?" Kagami stammered.

"Akashi-kun's group lost one. They can't find Kise-kun anywhere."

"Did he…?"

"We don't know," Kuroko interrupted, frosty eyes calculating. "But if he's out there alone... it's likely he won't last the night."

"Aka-chin and Mido-chin are on their own then?" Murasakibara asked, leaning down so he could meet Kuroko's gaze. "Neh... I should go back to them."

"Not by yourself," Kuroko argued calmly. "And definitely not unarmed. We'll reunite with them, and the others, back at the shelter."

"What if they don't make it that far…?" Kagami began.

Kuroko fixed him with a steely glare, "We'll just have to have some faith. Don't forget who we're talking about; Akashi-kun hasn't led us astray yet."

Aomine seemed to have found his voice, though it was dry, brittle and pained, "He led Satsuki astray…"

"No," Kuroko said softly, glancing at his friend's gaunt, tortured face. "What happened to Momoi-san was a random occurrence. It could have been any of us."

"But he was the one who sent us -!" Aomine snarled, fighting the grip on his arms as he lunged at Kuroko, unsuccessfully. "And you'd take his side, Tetsu? Satsuki is dead!"

"I am not your enemy, Aomine-kun." the slighter man's level voice had taken on a gentler tone, at odds with his currently fierce and bloodstained appearance. "Focus your anger on Momoi-san's true killers."

Aomine fell silent, slumping again, unable to argue with him, and Kagami felt a twinge of what might have been guilt. He knew Aomine loved Kuroko, had for a long time, and that was why he surrendered to him like this without a fight. For some reason he didn't seem to resent Kagami for stepping in and claiming the smaller man's affections for his own, and he continued to be Kagami's rival and even his friend... but he still sometimes got morose and distant, as though mourning the loss.

He had plenty of reason to despair today, after what he'd seen happen to one of his closest friends; after watching her die right in his arms and then... start the change. Given his way, he probably would have stayed there clinging to her body all night, even after the transformation completed and she roused again; a mindless, lifeless killing machine.

Kuroko halted finally, and the others followed suit, Aomine lurching a little, as if not expecting the abrupt stop. The current base the group had staked out and fought tooth and nail to keep secure had once been an exercise gym, though most of the equipment was used for blockades rather than for its intended purposes. It was easy to keep watch in a room full of mirrors, though the windows to the outside had been boarded up entirely, but for small slats through which the muzzles of several forms of artillery had been fitted.

The main benefit was the underground level that had at one point been a workout center with a track and a now empty swimming pool. It was as secure as a bomb shelter, solid concrete with no windows, and contained a powerful generator that had kept actual, honest-to-God electricity running in the place; used sparingly in the nights they had spent there. It wouldn't last forever, but for now, being able to turn the lights on and take a hot shower at night made the grueling days just a little more bearable. The place had been stocked up with whatever weaponry, first aid supplies, and food they could gather, most of it hoarded down below. While Kagami could sense that the others felt safer underground, and treated the lower level like a bunker to retreat into if they lost the ground level, he was not so assured. If they were driven into that concrete, windowless cave and barred the door behind them, they would be trapped with no escape.

Kagami caught sight of a single brown eye peeking between the slats in the boards, and with much shuffling of heavy objects and clinking of chains, the door was wrenched open, and the bloody, exhausted foursome traipsed inside. Kuroko and Kagami immediately found themselves being swept up in a crushing hug by one person, as the door was once again bolted and braced behind them by two others; Mitobe and Himuro. When Riko finally allowed them air, she was beaming with undisguised relief, her tired eyes shining with a warmth reserved just for seeing her friends unharmed.

"You're okay! Thank God; when we didn't hear from Akashi since noon, we thought -" she broke off as Murasakibara let go of Aomine's arm, and the other man simply collapsed against the wall, as if every ounce of his strength had deserted him.

"...What happened?" she asked hesitantly. "Why is Murasakibara not with his group? Where's…?"

Kuroko released a low exhale, lowering his shotgun to his side, "Momoi-san is dead. And we lost track of Kise-kun in the struggle. The others should be on their way soon."

Riko covered her mouth with a hand, eyes going wide with horror. She and Momoi hadn't been close, hadn't even seemed to get along well, but it was still a shock to hear of one of her compatriots' demise, no matter who it was.

After a moment, Tatsuya spoke up uncertainly, "At least... did you -?"

"No." Aomine growled, from where he was slumped defeatedly against the cracked plaster. "We didn't get food, or gas, and as usual, we didn't find anyone else. Couldn't even pick up a goddamn radio signal. Akashi's senseless mission of the day failed."

"You don't know that," Kuroko objected, a fervor in the otherwise passive words. "Maybe Akashi-kun and Midorima-kun found something."

"Fan-fucking-tastic, let's all celebrate." Aomine scowled sarcastically, standing up in a rush. "And is whatever measly scrap they may or may not have managed to dig up worth Satsuki's life? The gamble of going out there day after day is too damn high. It's pointless."

"We can't just stay here forever," Kagami pointed out. "We'd all die eventually."

"We're all dying now!" Aomine retorted, rounding on him with bared teeth, startlingly white against the dark gore smearing his face.

"We're still here." Kuroko said serenely. "Those of us that remain. And we can either band together or crumble from the inside."

Aomine grit his teeth, fists clenched, "I'm going -" he began in a snarl, some of the anger lessening to plain weariness when he went on, " - to get cleaned up." And he stormed off without another word; it only took Kagami a moment to see that he was still limping.

Kagami remembered his heart leaping into his throat, watching the darker man hurtle forward and break through the windshield of the van that had been their previous shelter, sliced by shards of glass as he tumbled down the hood and fell onto the asphalt below. And why? Because he'd insisted the others take the seats with seatbelts, and when the car had crashed - running over a bullet-filled zombie corpse in the road - there had been no constraint or airbag to protect him. Aomine defended those that were close to him with a fire, and placed their safety far above his own. It was one of his greatest qualities, and one of his greatest downfalls.

"His leg still hasn't healed from last week," Kuroko murmured, as if reading Kagami's mind. "If he doesn't rest, it is going to get worse."

"None of us can rest," Kagami sighed, lacing their bloodstained fingers together. "You know that."

There was a long moment of heavy silence, and those assembled simply looked at each other, at a loss for words. Murasakibara, having grown bored, was rooting around in the box of food placed on one of the old bench press machines, no doubt looking for snacks; a search that was often in vain, and led to pouting and even occasional tantrums from the gigantic man. Eventually, since the questions and arguments seemed to have died down, Tatsuya approached Kagami and gave him a brief, fierce hug around the shoulders in passing, "I'm glad you came back safe, brother." he stated softly, voice casual, but carrying a deeper level of compassion to which Kagami could only give a short nod of acknowledgment.

Through the cracks between the wooden beams barring up the windows, it could be seen that night was falling quickly outside, and that was inciting the usual restlessness. The hordes of the lumbering undead seemed to multiply tenfold after dark, and the lack of light gave no cover; it had quickly become apparent that the zombies did not rely on vision to find their meals, nor on hearing or smell or any other ordinary sense... they simply seemed drawn to living creatures, as if a pulse was a magnetic field that pulled them in by the dozens. Kagami felt an unexpected pang to remember that they wouldn't have Momoi's help studying the monsters and collecting such helpful data anymore. They were on their own.

A rapping knock on the metal door jolted him out of his thoughts, and in fact made everyone in the room jump about a foot in the air. It was no surprise that they had all become tense and agitated; spooking at their own shadows and any sudden noise, and though it had gotten better with time, and since claiming this new, sturdier shelter, everyone was still far from okay. And understandably so.

Mitobe peered through the slats, and then gave a quick nod to no one in particular and started working at the barricade blocking the door. Snapping to action, just wanting to be of some use, Kagami turned to help him, moving the heavy weights and even an entire treadmill aside so that it could be opened. Immediately, Akashi staggered in, drenched from head to toe in blood, a pistol clenched in each hand. He was accompanied by a shaky, panting Midorima sporting a hunting rifle, the barrel tied with a string of turquoise beads, which Kagami could only infer was for an attempt at good luck, if such a thing even existed anymore. But they were not alone.

"Is that…?" Riko began.

"Takao-kun?" Kuroko blinked, stepping forward to scrutinize the exhausted, equally blood-soaked person sagging against Midorima's shoulder. Takao opened one narrow, silver eye at the sound of his name, but said nothing, fatigue robbing him of his usual chatty nature. He was skin and bones, his dark curtains of hair hanging unusually lank and stringy about his ashen face. And unlike Akashi and Midorima, if the brighter crimson and sluggish flow down his face and neck was any indication, a good deal of the blood covering him was his own.

"What happened?" Kagami asked, laying a hand on Kuroko's shoulder and likewise sizing up the newcomer. "Where did you come from?"

Mitobe locked the door behind the trio and started piling dumbbells and crates against it again, but in the face of this new development, Kagami didn't jump in to help him this time. Tatsuya picked up the slack, dragging the treadmill over and pressing it up against the metal surface, and Takao was guided to sit down on one of the weight machines, Midorima remaining close to his former teammate as if he would keel over at any moment. He just might, Kagami thought.

"We found Kazunari in an abandoned gas station," Akashi announced, his smooth, authoritative voice commanding the attention of everyone in the room. "Dreadful place, absolutely crawling with rats, and... those vermin. We had no such luck obtaining any gas."

"I was... l-living off the food in the little... convenience store there... f-for about a week," Takao stammered, gingerly touching a hand to his forehead, and drawing it away immediately stained with fresh blood. "But it wasn't much; it had... a-already been ransacked by someone..."

"Was there anyone else there?" Riko prompted, clearly forcing patience to not sound like she was interrogating the poor man.

"Y-yes, I think he was... the store clerk, but... he was long dead when I got there."

Kagami tensed, "By dead, you mean…?"

"A corpse," Akashi stated, his heterochromatic eyes resting on Kagami's for a brief, chilling moment. "I believe the man had taken a fatal blow to the head, when his store was robbed."

"How were you injured, Takao-kun?" Kuroko asked, concern lacing his matter-of-fact voice.

"T-two of the... of the zombies got into the store, and I t-tried to escape…"

"Were you bitten?" Tatsuya interrupted, speaking up from the other side of the room.

Takao shook his head, stopping when the motion seemed to make him dizzy, "A cooler fell off... one of the shelves and hit me in the head…"

"He was unconscious when we showed up," Midorima spoke, for the first time since arriving. "We heard the noise and went to investigate. If we had been a moment later…"

"Shintarou performed excellently," Akashi said silkily. "And carried Kazunari on his back as we fought our way out of there. We stopped to rest and revive him on the way back; that is why we are so late returning to you."

Midorima fell silent, looking at the floor, and Kagami thought he saw a pleased flush creeping up his face. A compliment from their captain, the leader of their little group, was high praise indeed, and positive comments of any kind from him were few and far between.

After a few seconds' silence, Akashi spoke again, "Tetsuya, why don't you retrieve some antiseptic and bandages for our injured company?"

Kuroko glanced at Kagami quickly, and then nodded, "Right away, Akashi-kun. …Kagami-kun, come with me; we can check up on Aomine-kun as well while we're down there."

Kagami inclined his head, and followed him to the door that lead downstairs, to the underground level. He had seen the worried flash in Kuroko's usually inscrutable eyes, and knew he was concerned about Aomine being gone for so much time, especially in his current emotional state.

There was no sound of running water as they passed by the showering area, nor any humidity in the air; if Aomine had washed himself as he'd said he would, he had finished long ago. In fact, all around there was an eerie, complete silence, except for the quiet hum of a fan in the back of the room. The lights were all on, so someone must have been down there, but there were no other signs of life.

"Aomine-kun?" Kuroko asked, his relatively quiet voice reverberating in the still air.

"Yo, Aomine!" Kagami called, louder, listening to the echo of his own words, bouncing off the rounded walls.

There was a discouraging lack of reply.

"Well he couldn't have gone anywhere…" Kagami muttered, suppressing the painful pulse of worry that had gripped his stomach at the dead silence. Aomine was loud, by nature and merely with his presence. He wasn't easy to ignore, and it wasn't easy for him to disappear.

"We could split up, and look for him." Kuroko suggested tentatively, letting go of Kagami's hand with obvious reluctance.

"Alright," Kagami agreed. If he's playing a trick on us, I am really going to tear him a new one. Jumping out to scare them hadn't been funny in the past, and it certainly wasn't now... when so much else was absolutely terrifying.

Several minutes passed with no luck. Kagami located the medical supplies, and gathered what they would need to help Takao, but he found neither hide nor hair of one large, blue-headed idiot.

He just about jumped out of his skin as he heard Kuroko's voice again, closer as he'd come full circle around the room. "Over here, Kagami-kun."

Swallowing down bile at the uncertain tone of his voice, he traversed over to where his boyfriend was standing, legs feeling like lead. He didn't know what state he would find Aomine in when he got there, but if he hadn't responded to their calls…

Peering over Kuroko's shoulder, he caught a glimpse of a dark room he didn't recognize. As his eyes adjusted, they fell upon a very familiar, navy-haired figure, towel still in hand, curled motionless on the floor.

TBC