The day was warmer, but Katsuki could see the clouds in the distance. They looked angry. Dark and clustered together - they were definitely going to be caught in a storm.

Great. And he doesn't see any real place to stay. A gas station, tire repair center, several vehicles scattered about-

"Hey, Katsuki?"

"Mm?"

"How great are your driving skills? Do you think you retained them even though it's been two years? I was a pretty bad driver before. Really slow."

Katsuki scrunched his nose. "I dunno. I was a decent driver. Never got in any accidents. Why?"

Izuku pointed to the tire shop. "Wonder if any of them work? The cars?"

The blond stopped with Izuku, looking at the shop.

Most of the garage doors were closed, one was partially ajar. Looks like they tried closing in a hurry, but the infected were quicker. Dried blood smattered on the concrete and along the wall, body that was mostly skeletal dragged halfway up the driveway and clearly had been feasted on.

"Wouldn't hurt to try. Let's clear it, first."

Katsuki grabbed his machete and approached the shop, Izuku just behind. He glanced around, then crouched, ducking under the garage door. A few vehicles inside. A big silver truck, a small blue sedan lifted and a completely wrecked white sedan. No bodies in the shop.

He pushed open the door into the lobby, glancing over the dusty, bright room. So many windows. He crept through, peering behind the counter - car keys. Likely to the vehicles in the shop. Then he opened the door to the office. A second mostly skeletal body hunched over the desk, gun in-hand with dried, flaking blood splattered on the bookshelves behind and pooled underneath the skull.

They felt no need to further explore.

Izuku grabbed each set of keys, then set one of the three down. "This is for the truck and the blue one."

"Are we gonna be able to get the blue one down?"

"It's just hydraulics," Izuku muttered and shrugged, tossing both sets of keys to Katsuki before turning and going back out into the shop. "I'm sure there's a button or lever."

"Okay, and what about the power? Power most likely won't work, moron."

Izuku huffed and smiled back at him, then pointed to the back. "Gas-powered generator, Kats."

Katsuki scoffed and crossed his arms as Izuku carefully swerved around the tool carts amd avoided kicking anything that might make noise. "If we make all the goddamn noise just for these cars to not fucking work-"

"Wait, Kats!" Izuku halted, looking up at the car lifted in the air above them. "We can't do this one anyway."

"And why not?"

The greenette stretched his arm up, touching a rather rusted rod. "Missing a belt. Fuel line was also cut. Toss me the truck keys."

Katsuki huffed, flipping through the two keychains. "Which if for the fuckin' truck?"

Izuku scrunched his nose, then raised a brow at Katsuki. "Seriously? Look at the make on the truck, then the make on the key. Not one of these cars is the same make. That's how I knew which keys to grab. You are such a blond, Katsuki."

Said blond scowled, shooting a glare at the greenette before glancing to the symbol on the back of the truck.

Chevorlet.

Not a bad make for a truck.

Katsuki tossed the Ford keys onto a nearby cart before throwing the truck keys to Izuku.

Izuku caught them easily, then looked to the truck. He stared for a few moments, long enough for Katsuki to walk up beside him.

"What are you thinking about?"

"It's in good shape, it was tagged as a completed oil change... Half a tank, according to the papers, I saw some gas cans outside I'm hoping have something in them... The problem may be the battery, since it's just been sitting here, however it also wasn't really exposed to the elements, so it should be fairly easy to start... Problem is, I don't want to make any unnecessary noise, but if we want a vehicle, we're going to need the battery to work, so we need to find a way to charge the battery. Did you notice any portable units in the office?"

Katsuki shook his head, brows both raising to his hairline. "There are portable car battery chargers?"

Izuku snorted and grinned, nudging Katsuki. "How is it you don't know any of this? You had a car a lot longer than I did."

"Rich parents. Privileged childhood, blah blah."

"You know, I had a fairly privileged childhood, too. Dad was kind of a millionaire." Izuku started searching around the shop, chewing on his lower lip.

Katsuki hummed and nodded, following. "Yeah, but at least he was there. He actually parented you with your mom. My parents weren't there half the time, too busy running their damn fashion line, and mom always threw expensive shit at me to shut me up. Dad sort of tried, but again... Busy. So, I just got handed stuff. Didn't have any real responsibilty until I went off to college."

Izuku sighed, looking back at him. "They did love you, Katsuki."

"I know. Mom sucked at showing it, dad too damn quiet about it, but I know they did. I'm just... Glad my last phone call with them was... Decent."

The greenette smiled, taking his hand. "Decent," he echoed, tone light and curious.

Katsuki chuckled, smiling back. "Yeah. Dad called during my lunch break, asking how school was going. Told me he was proud of me, and then mom stole the phone screaming shit about how my grades were too good and how she spoke to one of my professors and he only had nice shit to say. It was probably one of the best conversations I ever had with her... She actually sounded happy. She really sounded proud, and I didn't think I'd ever heard her like that before..."

Izuku gave his hand a squeeze. "Were they back home when it all started?"

"Uhm, no. They were... Australia, I think."

The younger stayed quiet, hand falling lax in Katsuki's grasp. He inhaled deeply, giving him a nudge before pulling away. "I found jumper cables, but no units and nothing to attach the cables to. So, let's just hope it works."

"Great idea, nerd."

Izuku shrugged and grinned. "Wanna check the cans outside before we make a ton of noise?"

Katsuki nodded and ducked back under the open garage door. He peered around the corner to the gas cans and pursed his lips. Most of them were tipped over, so not likely anything were in those. Still, he checked. Nothing in any of the tipped ones, but two of the upright ones had some. One half full, the other about a quarter full, each can being roughly five gallons.

"It's something."

"Katsuki!" Izuku's voice hissed from inside.

The blond huffed and hurried back, carrying both cans. "What? I got the damn gas-"

Izuku pressed a button on the keychain and Katsuki froze as the truck chirped, headlights and taillights flashing. Izuku had a face-splitting grin and squinted eyes, bouncing on his toes. "It works!"

Katsuki smirked and hip-checked him. "Then lets get the gas in and go, stupid.

The greenette squeaked and yanked open the driver car door. He searched for a few seconds, then pushed a button that popped open the gas tank. Katsuki unscrewed the cap and poured both tanks, Izuku gasping excitedly as he crawled inside the truck. Katsuki tossed both tanks in the trunk, looking to Izuku.

"Open the garage door and get in!"

Katsuki rolled his eyes, shrugging the duffle bag more up his shoulder. "So damn demanding," he couldn't help but tease as he approached the door. He crouched, lifting the door. He winced at the awful and loud screeching of the wheels and creaking of the door as it lifted. Thankfully, no infected were near enough to immediately attack.  Still too far from city noise.

He set the duffle bag in the back and climbed into the passenger seat as Izuku adjusted the driver's seat to reach the pedals and see over the hood.

"You ever gonna start it?"

"So impatient," Izuku mused, slotting the key inside the ignition. The engine stuttered for a moment before roaring to life, Katsuki a little startled by the movement it caused. Not used to being in vehicles. May take a minute.

Izuku laughed, gripping the wheel. "Sweet! Three quarters of a tank!"

"Just drive before you call the infected and we can't get out!"

"Okay, okay!" Izuku waved and backed the truck out.

A few Biters were dragging themselves from the treeline, but not special were spotted as Izuku drove down the street, carefully to avoid the scattered cars, bodies and to get a feel for the truck.

"Turn up the heat," Izuku instructed, hyper-focused on the road.

Katsuki rolled his eyes, but did as asked.

Just as the beginnings of rain began to sprinkle on the windshield, Katsuki chuckled. Now they have a portable shelter.

-----

1515 words

I know it maybe not be super realistic. But neither are zombies, okay!