Chapter Text
Zoro frowned in his cell, pacing the cold steel floors. It was dark with no lights to be seen beside the small cracks identifiable from the eye window which had not once been opened while he was inside.
He had been captured a few days prior during a battle with the Marines. He had tossed Luffy from the ocean up onto the Merry, but then he had been the target of the marine’s wrath. The sea stone net originally thrown for Luffy ended up around his body, tangling cold arms in the equally chilly metallic rope.
It had been an unfortunate series of events, and he had snarled at anyone he could when they attempted to grab his swords. Ultimately had become unable to move with all of his strugglings, he had only succeeded in further tangling himself in the net until he was immobile.
So now here he was, stuck in a metal room in a marine base, with no weapons, no haramaki, no bandana, and no boots.
His body had adapted to the room temperature rather quickly, causing his blood to slow and allowing him to de-tangle himself from the mess of rope.
Now for the most concerning part. One of the reasons they hadn’t put more effort into escaping the marines in pursuit was because they were out of food, specifically out of food for Zoro.
They were going to grab a few dead marines from the water for him, but now that was little more than a pipe dream.
Because Zoro was trapped in a metal room, with no sun to keep him calm, no food, and nothing to distract himself with.
And he had no idea how long he had been there.
Judging by the way his stomach pulsed and the way his heart had begun to pick up its pace, though? He’d say a few days.
The monster under his skin sneered and grinned at the thought. It had hated being kept cooped up in the chains when it had first been released when it’s prison was gone. But now? If someone opened those doors while it was active, it would be free to roam and devour anyone it liked.
His stomach pulsed again and the zombie pressed himself into a corner. He quickly grabbed the sea stone ropes and tried to tie them around himself, but the monster said no.
Zoro’s hands went slack and his eyes rolled back.
The monster grinned.
Kurt Moni was not a good man, not by any means. He was a marine who was a marine because it meant perks when out and about, it meant people respected him and feared him. It meant he could get away with a lot.
But that was beside the point, Kurt was a bad person, yes, but that hardly mattered much at the moment.
He had been directed to deliver food to the latest prisoner near the bottom of the base in the coldest deepest cell along with three other marines. They were to slip the food into the eye slot, check to make sure he hadn’t kicked the bucket, and then leave. They were not to talk to the prisoner.
So, Kurt was on standby near the back of the wall with another marine while the first opened the eye slot and peeked into the door.
“Forgot how dark it is in there, anyone got a flashlight?” The woman asked.
“I’ve got one,” the marine beside her handed her a small flashlight, and she held it up to the eye slot while looking inside.
“The hell?”
“What?” The man beside her asked.
“He- he’s not in there!”
“What? You’re probably looking at the wrong angle or something, let me see,” the man who had given her the flashlight scoffed, pushing her out of the way and grabbing the tool. He held the item up the slot and furrowed his brow.
“No way…” He grabbed the keys around his waist and pressed them into the keyhole.
“Hold it! We aren’t supposed to open the door!” Kurt interrupted.
The man opened the door anyway, “It won’t matter if he’s not-”
The door swung open, and hanging upside down from it with a sideway neck was the prisoner. Eyes wide open and lacking all traces of a pupil, jaw dislocated with holes dripping black ooze punched into its cheeks.
It roared, the sound vibrating through the room and down the hall. Kurt put his hands to his ears and grits his teeth from the sheer volume of the sound.
“Holy shit!” Was the only thing the man who had opened the door got out before the beast sprung forward, sinking fingers into the eye sockets of a now screaming Marine.
“Rin!” The woman screamed in horror, but Kurt grabbed her hand and dragged her along after the other marine who had been standing beside him.
“We can’t just leave-”
“We can, and we are! We don’t know what that thing is!”
Another harrowing screech echoed down the hall, this one what sounded like the final cry of agony of Rin. It was wet and the sounds of snapping bones accompanied it. It was cut off shortly thereafter.
The only sounds Kurt and the other marines could hear as their boots thumped up the stairs were crackling and the noises of grotesque eating.
And then it stopped.
All three marines fell to a standstill just to listen, to hear any sound they could.
Tmp.
Tmp.
Tmp.
Tmp.
A few seconds of silence.
Tmptmptmptmptmptmptmptmptmptmp.
It rounded the corner, and now, in the light of the hall, they could see it clearly.
It was covered in blood- Rin’s blood- with a mouth that gaped full of predatory teeth. Marble eyes rolled in its sockets and its hands twitched at the sight of them, sending specks of blood to the previously pristine floors.
“Run,” Kurt whimpered.
It screeched again, a cry that set a deep terror and horror into their bones.
“Run!” He repeated, this time as a yell. It didn’t need to be said again, as the marines quickly began scaling the stairs.
The monster followed behind, running up the stairs on all fours to better catch up to the three. The girl behind him stumbled for a second and fell to her knees, giving the- thing - enough time to tackle her. Kurt looked behind himself to see it sink teeth into her throat and rip out her trachea. He released a cry of horror when the beast looked up and saw him. And then- with a mouth full of viscera and gore- it grinned .
He almost tripped when he reached the top of the stairs, but his fellow marine, who had been in front of him, grabbed his hand and pulled him forward.
“Oh god- oh god- We’re going to die! This is the end!” Kurt cried as they ran.
“Shut up and run!” The other Marine, Kurt had never learned his name, oh god, Kurt had never learned his name, shouted as they booked it down the hall.
The beast released another terrifying screech of pure horror as it ascended to the top of the stairs after them and Kurt nearly shit himself.
“We need to-” The other began, but was cut off by something barreling into his head. The lady Marine’s head rolled for a while before stopping, mouth agape and eyes empty as it stopped. Kurt kept running, even though the other Marine had fallen to the floor, and started screaming for help when the monster caught up to him. Tears of fear streamed down his face as he heard the sound of ripping and tearing that silenced the screams.
“I’m sorry!” He screamed to no one in particular, “Please- I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Was this some kind of divine punishment? Being hunted like a rabbit by something far more powerful than him? But he wasn’t a rabbit, damn it! He was a human!
A human with a gun around his waist.
As soon as he remembered it he took his pistol from his side and began fiddling with it. Unlocking the safety, and pulling back the hammer, he ran as he did it all, and when he turned the next corner and bumped into a few marines, it was all he could do to scream at them. He couldn’t do anything else with the utter fear tearing through his veins.
“What the hell is going on?!” One of them asked, but Kurt- he still couldn’t- he still couldn’t speak! His voice wasn’t working, his eyes still shook, and his hands were so slick with sweat that he could barely hold onto his gun. Unluckily for him, he didn’t need to explain further, as the monster rounded the corner, slamming into the wall at the end of the hall and leaving a bloody imprint before renewing its speed towards them.
“What the fuck ?!” One of the others screamed before taking out her pistol. Kurt- Kurt was supposed to join them. He knew he was, but- but-
He ran. He kept running, even when gunshots shattered the panicked air, and howls of horror, pain, and terror echoed. His worst fear was confirmed when some of the marines, splattered with blood, began running with him, shrieking that bullets didn’t work and that it closed the god damned wounds . They were going to die, they were all going to be eaten alive by the beast that was following behind them. He looked behind for a second to see a severed arm’s bone pierce through the slowest amongst them’s torso, carmine spitting from the wound as they gurgled in terror before their head was ripped from their body.
He was dead- so dead- so dead-
Someone rounded the corner before them, a blonde in a suit that he didn’t recognize.
“RUN!” A Marine shouted to the man, who simply stood there in confusion.
Another horrible shriek from the monster caused the man to stiffen and fall into a defensive position.
“God damn it Zoro…” he muttered as Kurt passed- well- as he tried to pass. The back of his collar was grabbed by the man and he sobbed in terror as he was stopped.
“You’re bait,” he told Kurt, and Kurt finally broke further into sobs. Bait was to be eaten, bait was fodder, he was going to die, and he had been an asshole in life. He turned to watch as the monster rose onto its hind legs, clawed fingers twitching and jaw clicking. But it wasn’t attacking.
“Alright, Marimo, you want the food?”
Oh god, he was the food .
The man ran towards the wall and with a frighteningly impossible kick to the brick, broke through the wall.
“Come and get it!” He shouted before running out, dragging Kurt behind him. The monster roared again before following, bursting forward on all fours as it chased them.
“I’m going to die! I’m going to dieee!” Kurt sobbed while trying to keep up. He was failing miserably, he knew, as he tripped every two seconds. The midday sun was bright and Kurt could see marines fighting people- people that knew the guy dragging him, probably. He was dead.
“Sanji! Lead him here!” A woman with orange hair shouted. The blond cheerfully shouted back, “Yes, Nami-chwwwaaaan!” And Kurt felt faint.
The beast screeched once more as it followed before being abruptly cut off.
“I got him!” Someone shouted, and Kurt finally dropped to the ground, shaking and whimpering. A man with an absurdly long nose and a net gun approached the blond behind Kurt, ignoring the marine himself.
“Good shot, he was probably holding himself back in there,” the blonde murdered before approaching the monster, which was snarling and releasing garbled cries as it tangled itself in the net.
“And who’s this guy?” The ginger girl from earlier pointed her staff at Kurt, which was finally the breaking point, as Kurt felt his eyes roll back and awareness vanish.
Sanji looked over to see the marine he had been dragging along had finally passed out, tears still streaming down his cheeks as he lay there.
The zombie in Zoro’s body was thrashing around violently as it struggled to escape the confines of the net, further entangling itself within.
“Some marine that was running away. Figured he was decent enough bait to make Zoro follow me,” Sanji shrugged.
Another garbled cry.
“God this is so fucked,” Usopp whined while holding the net gun closer. He would always be a little freaked out by Zoro, but he didn’t ever like seeing feral Zoro.
“Agreed,” Sanji sighed.
They stood to watch while Luffy, Robin, and Chopper completed their fights. Slowly, the fight started leaving Zoro’s body and he fell slack with a final animalistic whine. A few seconds later his body started moving again, accompanied by groaning.
“…Fuck…” Zoro moaned.
“Back with us, Marimo?”
“Fuck off, shit-cook,” Zoro huffed. Usopp approached and pulled a knife from his bag to start cutting away at the bloodied fibers to release their crewmate.
“It’s too bright out…” Zoro complained when he finally stood. It wasn’t hard to note the blood coating his body or the bare feet that were black with dead flesh.
“Gross,” Nami grimaced.
“Yeah, fuck you too. Damn, I’m hungry, why the hell didn’t I eat more?” He asked himself, but Sanji simply lit a cigarette before answering the question.
“You looked a bit more like you were enjoying the hunt rather than the product of it,”.
The swordsman frowned at that.
“Zoro! Zoro, hey, Zoro!” Chopper came rolling up to them in guard point, stopping just in front of them before the hilts of three very familiar blades puffed out of his fur.
“I got your swords!” The youngest cheered. Zoro grinned, revealing his still gore-coated fangs before reaching with blood-soaked hands and grabbing his swords.
“Thanks, Chopper, you’re the best,” He complimented idly while holstering his katanas to his side. Chopper’s form shrunk into brain point as he spun around in joy from the compliment, spitting curses all the while.
“Zoro’s back?” Luffy bounded over. Cuts were scattered around his rubber body, and one of his hands was pressed against a stab wound that was bleeding slowly.
“Wah! Luffy’s bleeding! Someone call a doctor!” Chopper cried.
“You’re the doctor,” Zoro reminded him. Chopper stopped his panicking and immediately grabbed Luffy in heavy point to prevent a slippery escape and ran off towards the Merry.
“Glad to have you back, swordsman-san,” Robin smiled as she joined the others. As usual, there was not a speck of blood on her from her fight. She was always too long-range for that to be a possibility. Zoro just grunted in response. He looked around for a moment before grabbing a dead marine.
“Alright, ready to go?” He asked.
“We were just waiting for you Mossy,” Sanji sneered, earning a growl from the zombie.
“Don’t start a fight, right now! We need to go!” Nami huffed. Dutiful as always, Sanji obeyed her demand with a swoon, while Zoro just shut his mouth with a click and began walking back to the ship, dead marine dragged behind him.
The marine known as Kurt would retire from his position the next day. He could no longer go into basements or walk in long halls without fear igniting within his veins.