A/N: Okay so this is another one of my RP's-turned-fanfic done with bookmans-lavi from Tumblr and the format on this one is going to be a little different from my usual because I couldn't figure out how to edit it differently. You'll see what I mean :D

I wrote the parts for Allen. bookmans-lavi wrote the parts for... well... Lavi! XD

Immunity
A D Gray-Man & Last of Us Crossover

Summer

Allen walked with eyes open and alert, watching the other figures that mulled through the street with acute attention. The knowledge that very few could be trusted was an ever-present prick at the back of his mind, but he plastered an acknowledging smile on his face whenever anyone passed.

He self-consciously tugged his left sleeve down a little more, despite that his deformed arm was fully covered already, as a passing man glared, a more common response to his smiles than actually having them returned. It didn't bother him so much though, more than used to it. If people didn't give him dirty looks for having glimpsed his abomination of an arm, they glared just because they could, because people were paranoid. It was reasonable enough though, he supposed.

He tried not to look skittish as a group of soldiers marched by, some giving him a visual once-over as if accusing him of some sort of hidden crime they needed only drag out into the open and expose, before doing what they did best… further sew animosity and fear into the uninfected with their own overly harsh tactics of "containment".

The albino male jogged up a few steps to the entryway of an apartment building. He counted the doors lining the halls as he walked before settling on the one he had been searching for, giving an announcing knock first before cracking the door open, glad to find only one person currently inhabited the room.

"Hey, Lavi," Allen greeted casually. "Busy?"

One gunshot today. It was near the neighborhood so Lavi was obligated to go and check it out since Bookman left for the day to gather groceries and check out the town. He got the name and then he put it in the records. Yet another person supposedly infected. The dead bodies were starting to really wear on his mind, so he decided reading would be the best bet of getting his thoughts off of it.

The redhead is splayed out on a couch when he heard a knock on the door, green eye glancing up to see the door open and a familiar head of white hair poke in before he sees two silver eyes. A natural, laid-back smile forms on Lavi's face in greeting as he raises a hand and waves.

"Well if it ain't the Beansprout! Naw, I ain't busy. Come on in," he says cheerily as he closes the book and stands up, heading into the kitchen, "Want some water? I think we're gonna need it for what we have goin' on today!"

He found out that Bookman volunteered his and Allen's time—he knew Allen visited most days—to go and help repair a generator. It's convenient that they have mechanics that can help with these sorts of things. It's nice. It's safe. It's comforting.

Allen narrowed his eyes subtly at the redhead. More specifically, at the use of that atrocious nickname.

"That's Allen to you," he muttered, in an annoyed tone straying from his normally gentlemanly attitude, though it was about the extent of displeasure that he showed. It was quickly replaced by an inquiring expression as he followed Lavi to the entry of the kitchen. "And what exactly do we have going on today?" This question was asked with a notable hint of hesitant uncertainty.

Hopefully it wasn't another one of Lavi's "wise ideas" to stir up mischief. He really wasn't in the mood to be murdered by Kanda(even if he was fully on-board for giving the older male Hell on other days), and if Lavi had other potential targets in mind, well…that always brought trouble he'd rather avoid. He'd gotten enough dirty looks from soldiers and other residents already without adding more on and the possible threat of getting his head blown off by some too-irritable, overworked patrolsmen.

Lavi can't help the low laugh that escapes from his mouth when Allen gives his usual correction to the nickname Lavi uses that Kanda gave him. He grabs two glasses and grabs a gallon of water. He pours in the water and hands a glass to Allen as he doesn't answer the question, letting the dramatic pause take over the silence as he keeps a mischievous smile for a little longer. Leaning against the counter and sipping the drink, he finally speaks.

"Bookman wants us to go an' help fix up a generator near the wall-one of those that makes the air conditioning work in that main building where guards on the wall keep the guns an' weapons. You're willin', ain't ya? Maybe this time we got the chance to go out and look for some parts!"

Personally, leaving the safety of the town is exciting and invigorating for the redhead. Being cooped up made to record and read is far too repetitive. He'd like change. He wants some excitement. He's been out a few times to help get rid of some Infected nearby, but that small taste of freedom made him want more.

Soon, his answer would be answered—and not in the way it should be.

Allen waited for an answer and gave the red-head a look of slight suspicion as he at first omitted saying anything. He knew that the junior Bookmen was merely trying to bait such a reaction, but he couldn't help giving one.

When he finally heard what it was, sipping at his glass of water, he couldn't help but wonder how unpleasant this was going to be. He didn't like working around the guards, or hardly anyone that he wasn't particularly close to for that matter. Work like that was very hands-on, and one of his was deformed. That almost always drew unwanted attention, despite that he often tried to pretend that it didn't bother him in the slightest.

"Oh, is that all?" he mused. Maybe they could even finagle a few extra ration cards out of the guards for their work. The thought of that was always appealing to a food-lover like himself, even if a lot of the food was terrible. Some days he'd just about eat a leather boot though with how much resources were contested over sometimes, just to quell the pinch in his stomach. He hadn't quite sunken that low yet, but he had thought about it more than once.

The idea of going beyond the walls was concerning though. True, he had gone before, normally convinced by the redhead himself, but it always carried massive risk. Nothing tragic had happened yet, but it was only a matter of time. Their luck had to run out eventually. Whether they'd be caught by the guards or, even worse, the Infected, was more of a When rather than an If scenario.

"…and I guess we could see if there's anything worth scavenging, but we probably shouldn't go too far away if we do."

Lavi nods in response to Allen's first question made in passing. He and Allen were best friends. He knows of the glares in Allen's direction over the years. He witnessed them first-hand since people often did them right in front of him. He really has no idea what their problem is regarding the deformed arm—is it because of Clickers since they're deformed Infected?

"They'll probably have us scavenge from the cars near the town's walls, won't they?" the redhead mostly muses to himself as he drinks a bit from the water. He shrugs, though, not looking for an answer as he chugs the rest of the water and puts the glass in the sink. "Anyway, let's get goin'. It's a little hot over there so without their air conditioning they're gonna be annoyed-let's not put 'being late' on their list of things to whine and groan about!"

Waiting for Allen to finish his water, the two then head out and lock the apartment behind them. Lavi yawns, stretching his arms this way and that starting at the shoulders since they would definitely end up having a bit of a work out with the sneaking and then searching through broken-down vehicles.

Allen shrugged, sipping down the last of his drink.

"Who knows if they'll even have us do that much?" he returned, setting the glass aside with a soft clank. He followed behind, bunching up his hair to tie back so it wouldn't get in the way of whatever work the soldiers would want them to do. "You know they can be real hard-asses about anyone going beyond the wall. They hardly trust their own to go out and come back uninfected."

He shoved his hands into his pockets and followed Lavi at his side, not really looking forward to his assigned work but keeping his inward complaints to himself. Even if they did happen to get some time beyond the wall, it would probably be under strict monitoring and grumpy soldiers jumping at every shadow, making all of their lives miserable.

"Well they do say happier soldiers make for happier people," Allen mused as Lavi insisted they hurry up to arrive on time. "Or so I've heard. I'm not entirely sure the saying has much merit behind it."

Laughing in agreement, Lavi can't help but joke with Allen along the way over how the guards would always have something to complain about—stories about when they weren't being the smartest or when they were just plain wrong. Joking and having fun always helped him ease his mind and get his thoughts off how bleak the world had come to be over the past ten years.

The human race is always dwindling every single day.

Lavi goes quiet when they reach the wall, going in through a door and then to the stairs in their immediate left. They go up just one flight to the second floor and upon opening up the door they're immediately met with the generator having been moved to the ground from the roof of the enclosed room where the office is, since the roof is too small for people to work on it. Part of it is opened up already and Arystar Krory is working on the machinery.

But they don't report to him. They report to Leverriere. The snake-eyed man comes out of the office, wiping his head of sweat before smoothing his hair back and approaching the teen and the redhead with a serious look.

"Good, you're here," he sighs. He grunts as he straightens up to say, "Krory said we have to send you over the wall. He has a list of what he needs and a description of what it'll look like."

Allen remained silent most of the way and slid into an easy smile, letting Lavi do one of the things he did best uninterrupted - talk. And talk. And talk some more. Still, it always managed to prove a good distraction from other things he'd rather not think about. It kept his mind occupied as much as it did for the talker himself. Lavi was one of the only people he could manage to almost entirely relax around, despite that he seemed to get along with just about everyone - if you didn't count Kanda.

He could tell they were getting close when Lavi fell silent, losing some of his boisterous errs. Like him, Lavi was quite a bit more reserved in how he presented himself when not around exclusively comfortable company, always changing and adapting to fit whatever necessary mold like water. Even as close as they were, even Allen sometimes had trouble differentiating what were the masks and what was the genuine person. Lavi was a superb actor, after all.

His own eyes wandered over the machine in need of fixing as he followed, already being maintenanced. Allen recognized the man immediately as Krory.

Then his gaze fell on one of the few people in the world that he could say with the utmost honesty that he simply hated. Kanda and him could almost be called best buds when compared to this man, and no amount of conditioning from his foster father could make him pretend to like Leverrier, the smile already falling from his lips. The best he could manage was a neutral, passive expression.

"We'll get it done," Allen responded, after hearing the man's instructions, his tone clipped and indifferent. Whatever meant getting away from the man as soon as and for as long as possible, he was willing to do. You couldn't pay or feed him enough to stay within any proximity of Leverrier for more than a few minutes, and that was stretching it.

With a spine-shaking smile, Leverrier nods at Allen, waving the two of them off to continue to Krory as he turns around and goes back into the office, running a hand through his somewhat disheveled graying hair once again. Lavi throws a glance at Allen with his green eye, stare impassive although Allen should know very well that Lavi isn't exactly happy with the guy either.

He nudges the white-haired teen to their right so that they can make it over to Krory who tossed his own bangs back since he's sweating while trying to work on the air conditioning—lame, considering that he could be working on a variety of other things instead of trying to keep the guardsmen nice and cool when they're taking breaks.

"Hi guys," Krory greets with an awkward smile. He glances over to the office where the blinds are open. The older man gingerly pulls out a paper so as not to smudge it with the black grime on his fingers and holds it out to Allen as he says, "Here's what I need. I think there are a few abandoned cars half a mile up north so you can check those out. The parts I need will be on the engine near the back of it."

Taking a bit more time to explain, he leaves it at that to let the two leave. Lavi waves happily to Krory before pulling Allen along, not wanting to stick around those guardsmen longer than necessary. They stop at the gates where two men have to do a variety of unlatching, and the like, before the two are able to slip out when decided there's no Infected around to spot them.

"When we get out of sight then we'll relax our guard. I guess for now look like we're on high alert or somethin'," Lavi whispers to Allen.

Allen was all too happy to turn away as Leverrier left them with his orders, moving towards a far more friendly face, if not an uncomfortably hot one. He returned Krory's smile.

"Hey Krory," he offered friendlily, taking the piece of paper and glancing it over. He wasn't the most tech-savvy, but he figured Lavi would make up the difference where knowledge was concerned in recognizing the parts. He listened intently to Krory's instructions, nodding his head. Half a mile wasn't far, only maybe a 20 minute walk both ways, excluding the time they'd have to take to dismantle the car parts, assuming trouble didn't find them. He deeply hoped it wouldn't. Maybe there wouldn't be any this close to the Zone.

He snapped out of his thoughts as Lavi grabbed and pulled him along, stumbling a few steps before he regained his feet.

"You could give me a little warning, you know," he admonished. Lavi's whispered words received a nod, though he intended to do more than simply pretend to be on high alert. Venturing outside always worried him.

He made it a point to check the number of bullets in the hand-gun he kept for just such ventures outside the safety of the walls. He hated to use it, and some part of him still lamented the idea of shooting an Infected, knowing they were once human, but that was the key word. Once. There was no such humanity left in those bodies now.

Even so, something about firing live rounds made him uneasy. He much preferred the knife he toted with him, but being that close-range to Infected carried a lot of risk, so he carried the handgun out of necessity if nothing else.

Satisfied he had what he hoped would be enough rounds, he tucked it back into hiding on the back rim of his pants and followed the redhead with senses alert.

Lavi situates a somewhat heavy hammer on his hip—his weapon of choice after a handgun that he normally keeps with him. He doesn't check it for bullets, though, normally accounting for such things far before going anywhere and his eidetic memory telling him that he has no need to check again to see if they were inside. The redhead glances back at the wall where everyone is watching them carefully with guns pointed to the treeline to look for any possible threats.

At least we're safe for the time-being, Lavi thinks to himself.

They walk for perhaps five minutes before they come to the realization that they probably can't be seen anymore. Lavi loosens up since they haven't seen anything yet and he jumps in-place for a little, shaking his hands and arms out while laughing a bit—quietly, though.

"Alright Beansprout. Do you wanna keep goin' through the forest or choose to go along a road instead? Might take a little longer, though," he says.

Allen wasn't quite as eager to loosen up as Lavi was simply because the patrolsmen were out of sight, though he did feel better that they were behind him, somewhat. Then again, if they did come across Infected, he'd rather they be the ones having to shoot than himself.

"That's Allen," he corrected habitually, before going on to answer with little thought, "The forest." They were already half-way there, and Infected were far more rare in forests than they were in urban environments. Usually it was for lack of people in the forest. Not only would it be faster, but likely safer, to keep to their current course.

The path was peacefully quiet. Without much human intervention, the forest had grown into a lush, isolated oasis between the remains of human settlement. A few small animals crossed their path, scavenging, but nothing beyond that.

Allen cautiously hovered a hand over his weapon as he brushed aside tree branches at the periphery of the forest, giving way to concrete and skyscrapers. Silver eyes scanned for signs of the Infected, or even other human figures that might be hostile, but found nothing.

"Clear," he muttered, stepping out. Abandoned cars littered what was once a road, now cracked by grass and tree roots. Most sat on deflated tires, paint weathering off to rust the iron below. "I guess these are the cars Krory wanted us to search."

Despite feeling more at-ease now that the guards are gone and he's left with Allen, Lavi still at least figured it would benefit them for him to be quiet. They trekked through the forest in silence, the redhead being careful of his footfalls so he doesn't make more unnecessary sounds than he already makes. When he could vaguely see the sky scrapers through the openings in the tree canopy, he got out his own gun, waiting for Allen's word on whether it was safe or not.

Now with them stepping out, the older teen carefully keeps his body low as he stalks over to the cars first. He glances around before reaching through a broken window and pulling something so that he can pop the front of the car. With one last look around he opens it up to see the engine intact.

"You ready?" he gently calls to Allen. He props up the wire that holds up the hood, chancing another glance around so that he can be sure he can pick out some parts in peace.

Allen followed close behind, feeling a little more confident as they went. Everything was silent. No clicks or moans to signify the presence of Infected, and no human figures of potential humans in sight. Hopefully things would stay that way, though it was only a 50/50 bet.

He kept his senses alert as Lavi accessed the hood unlock mechanism and followed him to the front of the car, nodding his head.

"Ready whenever you are," he confirmed, throwing off his jacket and stretching his arms in front of him languidly, fingers laced. "Just tell me what you want me to do."

"For now, just keep a lookout an' I'll let ya know if I need your help with gettin' a piece out. Might take me a bit so I can make sure that I'm gettin' the right thing for Kro-chan."

With that said, Lavi completely lets his guard down since he's put his implicit trust in Allen a long time ago. He starts to poke around in the back of the engine, body lax and lazy with his movements as he sticks out his tongue in trying to figure out which part it is that Krory wants as his mind runs through the explanations that the older man gave them.

Allen nodded his head, slow-walking around him across cracked and uprooted, uneven concrete, some dipping lower than other parts of the road.

"Alright." He took to circling the car slightly, his senses trained to see or hear anything immediately concerning. The disquiet was almost somewhat unnerving and he had to try hard not to start spooking at shadows, certain that his paranoid mind was going to start playing tricks. That was the trouble with being on alert. Sometimes your mind was so insistent on seeing or hearing something that it made sights and sounds that weren't there.

He tried to busy himself somewhat as he circled, eyeing car interiors through both in-tact and broken windows for anything salvageable that other scavengers might have missed. Sometimes searching harbored nice finds. He remembered once finding two small, plastic-wrapped palettes of unopened food cans in the back of an old delivery truck, somehow missed under lots of other fallen things for seven years. That had been a lucky find. Most had gone to the ration stockpile the soldiers guarded and only thinly dispersed, but they'd managed to sneak a few cans home for themselves.

He smiled at the memory, but didn't think he'd be so lucky this time. He found a few items, but most were soiled beyond use by weathering.

As he was taking another 360 look around, he spied something through the window of a car where the concrete dipped into a shallow pit. Popping the door open, he leaned over the seat for it. He glanced around again, just to keep to his promise of keeping watch, before flipping open a book on the seat. The very corner was sun-bleached, but otherwise it was all in good order.

Maybe it would contain useful information? Whatever it was, he was sure Lavi would like it. He almost always had his head in a book after all.

"I think I found something for you to add to your bookshelf, Lavi," he tossed idly, shifting to sit in the cracking leather seat and flipping through a few pages.

He thought he heard a noise, like a rock being kicked, and glanced up alertly, but saw nothing. Even so, his senses were sharpened to a point, adrenaline already starting to put him on high alert, ready to flee at a moment's notice.

He jolted as the entire car unexpectedly shifted, bracing himself against the frame, uttering a baffled "What the-" just as the concrete started to crumble away and open into a gaping maw at least twenty feet deep and the car pitched forward like a roller coaster reaching its downward slope, and cursed.

Lavi was feeling pretty confident that he found one piece for-sure for Krory. He was currently dissembling part of the engine in order to get to the piece when he heard Allen say that he might like a book. Leaving the work for the moment to let a green eye wander over to the white-haired teen, he can't help but smile when he sees a book in Allen's hand—something becoming quite rare to find.

"I think ya did. Hopefully I haven't read it yet-doubt I have. Tell me if it's any good."

Going back to the work at hand, the redhead continues to try to pick apart some pieces until he hears a bad and loud sound. He jumps a bit, hitting his head on the hood before holding his head and quickly looking to where Allen was only to see the truck lurching forward, sending Lavi into a panic when he realizes what's going on.

"Shit-ALLEN!"

He tries to run forward in the hopes that he can reach the truck—and what happens after that, he isn't even sure. But he does reach the truck and actually grabs the back of the car, seeing if it's possible for him to pull it into not tipping forward. Or maybe the ground under the truck fell too much and most of the truck is going to fall anyway…