Author's note

Just so everyone knows, in this AU the zombie incident happened three months before the first episode of the anime, meaning that most of the stuff that happened in the anime never is going to happen in this universe, aside from Bakugo bullying Deku. Okay, with that out of the way, LEZ GO!

It all started one year ago. The day that everything changed. The first that I heard of it was over the TV. There was a news channel going on about it. How a lab had exploded and spread a strange green gas.

A few days passed with no news about it, and signals from the area stopped completely. Then someone picked up a message that was sent from the area that the lab had exploded in by radio. It got released to the public, and what it said terrified me.

Someone is breathing hard, heaving as if every breath would be their last.

Then they spoke. It was a terrified whisper, full of desperation and pain.

"If you're hearing this, run. Run and never look back. There... There was an accident in the lab. It spread this creepy green gas and some people breathed some of it. The next day they went insane. They- They started attacking everyone in sight and killing them. They were like vampires or something, sucking blood out of people like it was some tasty treat. It seems that their bloodlust worsens the more people's blood they drank, but they will eat the blood of other things without any negative affects. The disease seems to be spread by blood and saliva, meaning that if the infected's blood or saliva gets in your mouth, nose, or bloodstream, you'll get infected to. And-"

Another voice broke in, sounding strained. "The voices. They're talking to me again."

"It's okay Washi. Stay with me. Don't listen to the voices." The first voice said soothingly.

Another voice broke in, sounding gruffer than the other two. "She's been screaming about the voices for days. She's going to turn on us, just like all the others. And you saw her drinking Kyata's blood. She's lost it, we need to kill her."

"We can't kill her! She'll be fine, she just needs h-" The voice was cut off by a yell. After that there was nothing understandable left, just screams. A few seconds later the recording shut off.

After that, all hell broke loose. The infection started spreading farther and farther, and it quickly reached Musutafu. They broke into the house and... I watched my mom get eaten right in front of my eyes. I managed to escape through the fire escape. A month or two went by, and I found Kacchan. Well, more like he found me...

He was rustling through an abandoned convenience store, but all of the non-perishable food had been taken. Almost like someone has already been here...

As if the thought has summoned the mysterious survivor, Deku felt an explosion go off right behind his head. "Who are you?!" An angry voice roared. Not just any angry voice. A familiar angry voice.

"Ka-Kacchan?! It's me!" Deku yelped as he spun around to face him.

"Deku?" Kacchan said, staring at Deku as if he had just sprouted another head. Deku flinched at his name, but nodded anyway. "You're alive? I thought all of the survivors were gone already."

"G-Gone? Gone where?" Deku asked, gulping.

"Either died, or the stronghold up north. It's about twenty six miles from here, called Steelstar, or something like that." Kacchan replied, but Deku just stared at him as if he had just started speaking French.

"What's a-"

"Don't tell me you don't know what a stronghold is."

Deku froze. "Ehhh, but I don't..."

"How did you miss all the radio alerts about them!?" Kacchan roared.

"I- I don't have a radio!"

"Why don't you- ugh, whatever. Strongholds are places people made that are defended against zombies by a group of people that live there. Like a shelter, but with a lot more people." Kacchan reluctantly explained.

"And you're heading towards one?" Deku asked.

"I'm going to, but I need to gather supplies first."

"Oh..." Deku paused for a moment. "C-Can I come with you?" He asked hesitantly.

"Why do you want to come with me?" Kacchan asked, sounding offended.

"I- I just- I can't defend myself against z-zombies because I don't have a quirk and I can't fight and I-" Deku rambled.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Shut up already." Kacchan growled. "You can come with me... but only because you would die if I left you. This does NOT make us friends."

Deku nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Kacchan! Thankyouthankyouthankyou-"

"SHUT UP!"

We ended up surviving together for a week or two. We actually made quite the team. I would be the distraction and Kacchan would kill the zombies from behind. It was pretty tense between us, but we learned to get over it. Eventually it became a daily occurrence for Kacchan to not cuss at me every other sentence for at least five minutes, which was a major improvement. Of course, that was thrown out the window when the big bite happened...

Deku was standing outside of the grocery store that Kacchan and him were taking supplies from. "Do I have to do this, Kacchan? We have plenty of supplies already, and I don't want to get infected." He complained into his radio.

Kacchan's voice crackled over the radio back at him. "I told you already, we don't have any gasoline! Which, if you didn't notice, we kind of need to drive a car!"

"Do you even know how to drive a car?" Deku retorted.

"It can't be THAT hard. Besides, it's not like I have to follow traffic laws! Just get your sorry butt into that store and get the zombies out you damn nerd!" Bakugo roared.

Deku sighed. "Alright." He threw open the door and yelled into the darkness. "Hey, rotting corpses! Over here!" Deku began to shake with fear as ominous growls echoed from within the store. Shadows of movement stirred within it. Out of no where a zombie leapt at Deku.

Deku screamed and darted out of the door, followed by two more zombies. "Kacchan! Kacchan!" He shouted. "Little help?!"

Suddenly he heard a sharp thud behind him. Pivoting around, Deku saw Kacchan explode two zombies away, and pinned the other. He held his hand next to the zombie's face, about to explode it. Deku stared at the zombie's face, which looked no different than a human's. In fact, aside from slightly tattered clothes and the glowing red eyes, the zombie looked exactly like a human, just as all zombies did. Gulped, Deku turned away and covered his eyes as he heard a loud boom sound.

Kacchan stood up and entered the store. Ignoring the corpses, Deku followed him. "Have you ever wondered why their blood is like that?" Deku asked.

"Like what?" Kacchan growled, throwing cans from a shelf into his backpack.

"Y'now. Inky black." Deku continued awkwardly.

"Don't know, don't care." Kacchan hissed. Deku dropped the subject, instead choosing to search through the store for any gasoline canisters. He was about to ask Kacchan another question, when he glanced upwards and realized there was a zombie directly behind him.

"Kacchan! Look out!" Deku shouted leaping towards the zombie. Kacchan whirled around to do something, anything, but the zombie was already diving towards him, teeth bared. Before it could actually hit Kacchan, Deku flew in between the two. Kacchan stared in horror at Deku as time seemed to slow down. Inch by inch the zombie grew closer to Deku, and it's teeth sunk into his shoulder.

Deku fell to the ground, taking the zombie along with him. Before the zombie could do anything, Kacchan grabbed it's chest and set off an explosion. The zombie fell to the ground, dead.

"Ka-Kacchan..." Deku groaned. Kacchan whirled around to face Deku. "Kacchan my head hurts."

"You're gonna be okay, Deku." Kacchan growled. "You better be okay, you damn nerd!" He snatched Deku by the shoulders and shook him.

"Kacchan please stop." Deku groaned. "Please..." Deku blinked, feeling oddly drowsy, and his head hurt. So much. Like Kacchan had set off an explosion inside his mind. Kacchan released his grip of Deku's shoulders, allowing Deku to scramble to his feet.

As he straightened, Deku felt dizziness flood his limbs. His vision was turning blurry, so he blinked to try to clear it. It didn't fix his vision. "Kacchan I think I-" Deku began, but the words came out slurred. The world tilted to the side, then the other. Deku was tired. So tired.

He faintly felt himself fall to the side, but he was too tired to care. Deku was sinking into a comforting darkness, away from his splitting headache. Muffled words reached his ears, but Deku couldn't figure out what they wanted. He wished they would just let him sleep.

Darkness surged in at all sides, and suddenly the pain was gone.