Title: Outbreak
Author: VikingKatze
Rating: I'm not sure, but at the very least mature.
Word count: 8500 -ish
Notes: So yeah. I wrote this for last years AkuRoku month. But it never got posted. So here it is. FINALLY! The Lovely Nijuukoo did edit the first half for me last year. But the rest is sadly unbeta read. But hopefully I fixed the worst errors. So, without any further ado, ENJOY! X3
This story has AkuNo in it as well, as in Axel/Reno from FF7, because I like AkuNo, and well... It's my story so I'll do what I want. XD Don't like, don't read.
Experiment X: The GEOSTIGMA Virus.
It had been one of Midgar's biological weapons experiment. It had been under lock and key; only a select few knew of its existence. Everything had been going as planned-it was only supposed to have been a small scale test with rats to see if it worked. They never counted on how potent the virus was, nor how fast it would spread.
They had all thought that it had simply killed the rat which had been infected. It took forty-nine hours until it died. The symptoms had been vague at first: a bit of disorientation, some coughing, and apparent visual loss after ten hours. It was at hour forty-six things really started to show. Black ooze seeping from eyes, nose, mouth and ears, pain spasms, and then eventually death at around hour forty-nine.
The scientists labeled it as a failed experiment. But as one of the scientists, Vexen Samuelson, was preparing to dissect the animal to see what the virus would have done with its organs and brain, the rat, which they all thought dead, attacked.
It bit through two layers of heavy duty gloves and drew blood.
The scientist had claimed it was fine, it didn't get through the second glove...
It wasn't long after that when all hell broke loose.
'All citizens are urged to stay inside-' Axel flicked the TV off before he threw the remote onto the rickety coffee table. He and his workmates were at the fire station as usual waiting to do their job, while hoping that nothing would actually happen. But with the panic that was slowly rising amongst the people in Midgar they could be expecting to have quite a bit of work ahead of them.
The tall redhead frowned at the black screen of the TV as he contemplated over the cause of the panic. There was some sort of virus going around, quite a few of his colleagues were out sick. They seemed to have caught it the other day when they had been called out to help with a big car crash.
"Hey Xaldin?" Axel said, to get the other man's attention. Xaldin lowered his newspaper and to glance at the redhead, waiting for him to continue. "Have you heard anything from Xig?"
The burly man shook his head. "Nope." And that was that. Xaldin wasn't really one to talk much to begin with but he and Xigbar were fairly close.
"...Hopefully they'll be back on their feet soon. We're already understaffed as it is." Axel muttered before he got to his feet, stretching out his back as he did so. Once he'd popped his back thoroughly he fished out his phone from his pocket, looking at the text he had yet to open and read.
He'd called back home the other day, just to check in with his family back at Radiant Garden, to make sure that they were alright and healthy. Axel couldn't help but worry with the onslaught of sick people popping up in Midgar. His mother had assured him that they were all fine, and that Kairi was her usual stormy self, which was a bit of an exaggeration really, but when dealing with collage and hormonal boys, Axel was quite glad that his little sister was not one who would let people step all over her.
What he hadn't expected his mother to mention, however, was Roxas. She'd told Axel that the blond boy had called asking for him, right before she questioned her son why he hadn't given Roxas his new number.
What had irked Axel was that his mother had given out his new number without confirming with him if it was alright, saying something along the lines of Roxas needing a good role model and big brother.
That wasn't the reason why Roxas wanted his number though. Things had been complicated between them. He liked the boy, he really did, but the age gap had him worried. Though Roxas was now in college, Axel's years senior to him had been one of the main reasons why he'd left Radiant Garden three years ago.
Axel looked at the unopened text for a while longer, feeling conflicted about what to do.
The trill of his phone ringing snapped him from his thoughts, and Axel let out a burst of laughter at the image that popped up on the screen, announcing the caller. He accepted the call and moved the device to his ear, a big smile on his lips. "When did you have time to take that friggin' picture, Red?" He asked right away, not even bothering to greet the caller properly.
There was, what could only be called a victorious snicker, at the other end of the line. 'When ya were sleeping so very soundly in my bed and told me not to wake ya.' Axel could positively hear the grin in the others voice, laced with the familiar smug attitude as well.
"Not that I don't appreciate it, lovely angle and all, but I'm not sure everyone around here would think the same." Axel said as he made his way out of the small common room of the station. He could feel Xaldin's annoyed glares from across the room already.
'Not my fault they can't understand fine art when they see it, yo.'
Axel laughed again, taking a seat on one of the benches in the locker room, leaning his back against the cool metal of one of the many rickety lockers. "Right, fine art... if you say so Red." Axel smiled as they made plans for the next day. Both of them would have time off so they could finally do something together, instead of merely participating in their nightly routines. Not to say Axel didn't thoroughly enjoy their time together in bed. It wasn't complicated, it wasn't hard to be around him, it was... nice, carefree. Axel really did look forward to his company, even though he knew that Reno had feelings deeper than lust for him, but they never talked about it, never brought it up.
They left it as it was—simple, effortless, fun and relaxed. They both knew, so they left it at that.
"I'll see you tomorrow then." Axel said, small smile on his lips.
'Just wake me up when ya get here, yo? I'm being released from the claws of work early so I'll be all ready to get dow-"
"Reno... don't scar Rude with your explicit, and very, exaggerated stories and fantasies..." Axel interrupted before Reno got rambling. It wasn't that he minded, but knowing Reno, his partner Rude was probably within earshot, and the guy had probably suffered through enough as it was. "He has to work with you, isn't that punishment enough?"
'Oi! I'll have ya know he values my skills as his partner! An-' Reno halted what he was saying as said partner interrupted, Axel could just barely make out what he was saying, and just laughed. 'He's just shy, he doesn't dare say anything that might give ya the wrong idea about us.'
"Right, if you say so. I should get back to work. I'll wake you when I get back." After a few more lewd jibes and jokes from Reno, Axel hung up and placed the phone back into his pocket, blissfully unaware of how bad things would become within the next twenty four hours.
'The city is being evacuated as we speak! Sector after sector! Frantic citizens are trying to force their way through the checkpoints but the police and military are doing their best to keep things going in an orderly fashion. We continue to advise the citizens of Midgar to evacuate in an orderly-'
Green eyes were intently focused on the screen of the TV, the light casting eerie shadows in the otherwise dark room. When Axel had gotten back to Reno's apartment, the other redhead was nowhere to be found. It looked like he hadn't been back at all.
At first Axel had thought nothing of it, figuring that he'd been held up at work. It had happened before, after all. So Axel had just showered and gone to bed at around six am. He'd only slept for a few hours though when his phone had startled him awake. It had been his mother of all people, calling to see if he was alright. Utterly confused and disoriented he said that he was fine, but as she had questioned him about if he had evacuated the city yet, his brows had furrowed in concern.
She'd told him to watch the news as current events were flooding every major news channel. After flipping to a channel that had a red banner with the words "breaking news" scrolling across the bottom, he told his mother that he would call her back, and hung up without another word. He stared at the screen and the mass of people trying to get out, and people being tested and either let through or taken to the side.
"What the hell is going on?" Axel breathed out, he nearly jumped out of his skin when his phone rang. He answered without checking the ID. "Yeah?"
'Axel?! Ah...' Axel's eyes widened in surprise as the voice registered with him. It was familiar, and at the same time so different from what he remembered. It had changed somewhat in the last few years. "Roxas?" Axel's head seemed to clear in an instance. Roxas sounded odd, his tone tense and rushed. "What's wrong?"
'I'm in Midgar! At the University dorms, I was visiting a friend who moved here...' Axel felt a chill go through his body at the slight quiver that came to Roxa's voice.
"Roxas, calm down." He could hear banging and screaming in the background. Something was wrong.
'I can't get out! They've gone fucking insane! They are-!' There was a loud crash somewhere and Roxas swore, but it sounded as if he'd moved the phone away, his voice wasn't as clear.
"Roxas!?" The blond didn't answer, all Axel could hear was the rushing of air and a crash before the line went dead.
Axel just stood there for a long moment, his mind reeling, until instincts kicked in, at first he tried calling back, but all he got was a busy tone. But then he got moving, rushing around the apartment to get himself together so that he could leave.
He was getting dressed when his phone rang again. At first he felt disappointment when he saw who was calling, then there was relief, and a bit of guilt, before he answered. "Reno?"
'Ax! Good, you're alright...' Reno sounded rushed and Axel could hear that he was moving around.
"What's going on Reno? Are you at one of the checkpoints?" Axel asked as he was pulling on his shoes, pressing the phone to his ear with the help of his shoulder as he went about tying the laces.
'So you've seen the news huh? No I'm not, I'm at ShinRa, or I'm leaving ShinRa right now, we need to get you out Midgar now Ax. This is bad, yo. Like really, really, bad...' Axel heard a door slam close before a motor roared into life.
"What's bad Reno? What the fuck is going on?" There was a long pause. "Reno?!"
'ShinRa is what's going on... fucking idiots... I'm coming to get ya Ax, stay there.'
Axel frowned. "ShinRa?" He asked, his tone cold. Reno worked for ShinRa, the Military section. "You can tell me later. I can't wait for you though. I need to go and get Roxas." There was a long pause, Axel couldn't tell if it was because of how random it was, or how utterly foreign the reason sounded, even to him.
'Roxas? Isn't he in Radiant Garden...?' Axel was tugging on his jacket as he made his way back into the bedroom and went straight for the closet where Reno kept his private gun.
"Apparently he's in Midgar visiting some friend at the university. He just called, but it was cut off... It didn't sound good Reno, he was running from someone." There was another long pause before Reno swore under his breath. 'It's more wide spread than I thought... Fine, I'll meet ya at the University. Take my gun-'
"Already have it." Axel interrupted before he hurried back down the hallway to the front door patting down his jacket to make sure he had the keys to his truck. "I'm heading out now Reno, I'll see you there." He was about to hang up but Reno interrupted him.
'Axel!' Axel stopped just inside the door, there was something in Reno's voice, something very urgent but then he didn't say anything for several moments. The silence on the line was heavy, and menacing.
"Reno?" Axel prompted, his hand resting on the doorknob as he waited for Reno to say whatever it was he was he was about to say. He could hear Reno take a sharp breath and then clear his throat.
'...I...Ah...Be careful Axel, and make sure you don't get hurt.' Axel let out a humorless laugh, knowing full well, but pretending not to notice what Reno had been trying to say.
"I'll do my best. Same goes for you."
'Don't worry about me Ax, I'm a Turk, we don't go down without one hell of a fight.' He was trying for his usual gusto, but it was as fake as Axel's laugh had been. Then they hung up, and Axel couldn't help the worry that was gnawing at his insides.
"What the hell is going on?" He muttered before he hurried out of the apartment into what was a deceptively clear and sunny August day. With trepidation rising in his throat, it felt like it should have been raining, and dark, and yet it wasn't. It looked to be like any other day, except for the complete isolation Axel now found himself in on the side streets. The streets, previously full of life, with people walking up and down and cars driving to and fro, were now barren.
Everyone was trying to leave...
Roxas grabbed the door frame as he skidded through the door leading to the stairwell, he didn't have a clue as to what was going on, aside the fact that he was running for his life. The students who weren't infected were either already out of there or trying to get out.
Then there were the ones that were sick, and Hayner was one of them.
Roxas felt ill thinking about it. Hayner had gone from bad to worse since Roxas had gotten there. Roxas had even slept in a room belonging to Hayner's friend so that he wouldn't catch what seemed to be a nasty cold at first. His friend had brushed it off though, saying it wasn't anything that wouldn't pass like every other cold that swept through the dorms.
It was clear now, with the horror Roxas had witnessed just mere moments ago, it hadn't been a cold that had been creeping through the dorms.
Whatever it was, it was simply horrendous and scary as hell. Roxas had left Hayner be when he hadn't improved and just gone about wandering around campus and some of the city on his own. But that morning, when Hayner hadn't answered the door Roxas had gone inside anyway. He'd wanted to make sure that his childhood friend was alright. He'd found the other blond sprawled out on the floor, and Roxas had seriously thought that Hayner was dead. He'd certainly looked it, lying on the floor, his face streaked with some sort of black goo that seemed to have seeped from his eyes nose, ears and mouth. There was a pool of it, thick and syrupy looking, on the floor where Hayner's head had been resting.
Roxas hadn't even gotten two steps inside the room, to check on his friend, before Hanyer had lunged at him. Roxas had slammed the door shut in Hayner's face on pure reflex, the loud thud that followed startling Roxas into further action as he staggered back, staring at the door for a couple of seconds in shock, before he turned and ran. Nothing made any sense at that point, but Roxas hadn't had any intention of just standing around waiting for someone to clear things up for him. The inhuman look that had been twisted over Hayner's face was enough to make Roxas want to run and never look back.
Roxas had only heard the information about a city wide evacuation by some other students as he'd rushed past them, but as Roxas had attempted to get out of the huge dorm building everything just went from bad to worse in a matter of minutes. The sheer number of infected people, staggering out of every other dorm room, was horrifying. They all had the same black gunk smeared all over their faces and fronts, the terror only intensified along with the panic as it became clear that the infected people were highly aggressive. They jumped at anyone that was near enough and started clawing and biting at them right away, there was no hesitation.
It really was like a horror movie.
All Roxas could do was to run and hide and hope for the best. He'd called Axel in a dead panic, he hadn't know what else to do. Even if he did get out he didn't know which was the fastest way out of the city. He had been hopelessly lost for a good few of hours before he even found the dorm when he had arrived a few days earlier.
But right then, he was phoneless and desperately running for his life. "I don't wanna die!" He breathed out as he looked behind him as he flung himself down the stairs, taking as many steps as he could at a time, nearly falling on his face in the process.
'I need something! I'll take a struggle bat or a fucking broom!' The blond thought frantically to himself as he jumped down the last four steps of the last landing. He came to a dead stop at the door, trying to catch his breath as he attempted to listen if there was any activity in the hallway on the other side. But all he could hear was his own racing heartbeat and his uneven breaths.
Roxas squeezed his eyes shut and rested his forehead against the cool metal of the door, his features set in a pained frown as he forced air down into his, rather out of shape, lungs.
He wasn't sure if he could make himself go out into the hallway, he felt like he was utterly screwed whatever he choose to do. It had seemed like such a good idea to go to Midgar, even if meeting up with Hayner had been a bit of a cover. It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to see his friend. It was just that Axel had been on Roxas mind a lot during the last year. Amongst those thoughts were a lot of questions as well, one of them being why the redhead hadn't kept in touch. Roxas was sure they had been friends, even if Axel was five years older than him.
It seemed like a whole lifetime ago since Roxas family moved to Radiant Garden from Twilight Town, it had almost been ten years already.
Roxas shook his head to clear it and took a few deep breaths. He really didn't have time to simply stand around thinking about the past and a bunch of what if's. He was going to find a way out and go back home, he had to.
Blue eyes stared at the mental door for a long moment.
"I'm not going to die here..." He muttered to himself before he reached out, ignoring the tremors in his hands as his fingers closed around the handle. Roxas took another moment to steel himself before he opened the door, just so that he could take a look. The hallway was empty, and eerily quiet in contrast to the absolute pandemonium on the upper floors, it felt really off.
It was too quiet...
Axel pulled into dorms parking lot and his heart sank even further. There were a lot of trashed cars in the parking lot, some of them were on fire, but that wasn't what had caused his worry to intensify. It was the amount of mutilated bodies littering the ground. They were everywhere...
The firefighter was horrified at what he saw. He couldn't quite believe it. How could things have escalated so fast?
Axel was drawn out of his thoughts by the sound of screeching tires. Axel turned his head just in time to see a familiar car nearly crash right into one of the trees at the edge of the lot before it came to an abrupt stop. "Reno?!" Axel called out, quite shocked at what he'd seen. Reno was a great driver...
Axel hurried over to the parked car and saw Reno, more or less stumble out of it, and worry spread through Axel like wildfire. Reno didn't look good at all, he looked ill. "Reno, are you alright?" Axel asked when he was close enough to speak without yelling, but he hated how his voice wasn't quite under his control, but he couldn't help it. Reno was pale, more so than his usual pasty self. Axel laid a hand on the Reno's shoulder and the Turk raised his head to look at him, a wavering smile settling over his thin lips.
"Just peachy..." He said as he straightened up. "We need to move yo. Can't stay out here." But he didn't move towards the building right away. Instead he reached into his suit pocket and took out a very high-tech looking device. "Give me yer hand." Reno said, and held out his own hand towards Axel, who did what was asked. But he did so with a somewhat wary look in is emerald green eyes, but Reno was more focused on Axel's fingers, and the device, to notice.
"What are yo- OW! The hell, Reno?!" Axel exclaimed and yanked his hand back, Reno had just pricked one of Axel's fingers with the high-tech gadget, thing...
"Just checking something." The blue eyed redhead muttered as he squinted at the device. It let out a series of beeps before and a green light came on. Reno breathed a clear sign of relief and tucked it back into his pocket. "Good..." He breathed before he turned towards the building. "Do ya know where the kid's at?" Reno asked before he retrieved his weapon of choice from the car, Axel had only seen it once before, the Mag-rod.
"No fucking clue... are you sure you're alright Reno? You really look like shit..."
Reno let out a humorless laugh as he started towards the dorm building. "Long night, that's all. What year would his friend be in?" Reno deflected, asking another question instead. Axel fell into steps besides him but kept an eye out for anything, and everything, suspicious.
"Second I think."
"Well that's something at least, not that I have a clue as to where they would be located though. I didn't go to M.U." Reno said before he almost tripped over the steps leading into the dorms. Reno swore loudly under his breath as he staggered up the stairs. He straightened up fast though and glanced around, seemingly checking the perimeter. But Axel noted that Reno was squinting a lot, as if he was having a hard time seeing.
Before Axel could ask about it though, there was a horrible scream coming from farther inside the building. It was a scream of utter horror and pain. Both Axel and Reno had heard similar screams before, due to their lines of work, and with one look at one another they took off in the direction of the scream.
Roxas was slowly making his way down the desolate hallway, there were things strewn about, spilling out into the hallway from some of the rooms. Doors were left wide open, and it was unsettling how quiet it was. Roxas peaked into some of the rooms as he walked past, some were completely upturned, while others were undisturbed.
There were traces of black gunk in a the majority of the upturned rooms, and Roxas stayed well away from them. Eventually he spotted something he'd been half searching for, a phone. He only hoped that whoever owned it didn't have a screen lock on it. He hurried inside the mostly undisturbed room, only a few books and papers littered the floor.
Roxas grabbed the device and pressed the button to get the display showing, his hands were trembling something terribly. But he stilled for a second as the swiped to open the screen. "Yes!" Roxas said in a loud whisper. The phone was unlocked but as he moved to dial Axel's number he drew a blank. Clear-blue eyes stared at the phone in disbelief. He couldn't remember the number... not a single digit. The small burst of hope that he'd felt was instantly gone.
He closed his eyes and gripped the phone tightly in both hands, pressing it to his forehead as he desperately tried to remember, but there was no use. He couldn't recall it at all. With a loud curse he stuffed the phone into his back pocket, just in case he did remember the number at some point.
The screaming had stopped while Axel and Reno ran down the hallway. The Turk grabbed Axel's arm, halting him, and then gestured for the other redhead to keep silent. The both of them listened intently, and Axel's stomach churned. There was a distinct crunching and growling to be heard a bit farther down the hallway. But they couldn't see anything, so it was most likely coming from one of the rooms.
It sounded like a wild animal feasting on prey.
Axel took out the gun, flicking the safety off, before he started down the hallway again. Reno was frowning in displeasure, but he followed close behind nonetheless.
Once at the right door, which hadn't been hard to find, since the sounds coming from it were indisputable what they had heard before. Axel took a calming breath before he quickly peaked inside. Relief and disgust washed over him at the same time. The body being mauled was female. Axel did feel bad for her, but there wasn't anything he nor Reno could do for her at that point. The two persons tearing at her flesh were intently focused on what they were doing, and Axel quickly made his way past the open door, motioning for Reno to follow him. Reno did so and even as he looked inside, Axel wasn't sure if he could actually see the gruesome acts going on within the room. The other redhead was starting to use the wall as a guide, and it worried Axel. But they kept pressing forward, the sounds from the room behind them fading away with every step they took, and soon the silence was pressing down on them once more.
So it wasn't really a surprise, when Axel's phone let out an obnoxious trill in the otherwise completely silent hallway, that the both of them startled quite badly at the unexpected sound. "The fuck Axel?!" Reno hissed as Axel fumbled his phone out of his jacket and quickly accepted the call moving the phone to his ear, not checking the number. He was a little preoccupied checking if there was any man eating zombies rushing their way to attack them.
'Axel?!'
"Roxas? Where are you?! We're in the building."
Reno watched Axel intently as he spoke, his tone hushed after the initial outburst. Even though he had tunnel vision, and it was getting substantially worse by the hour, he could still see well enough when it was in within his line of sight. The absolute worry etched over Axel's features was hard to look at, the way his eyes shifted around as he was desperately trying to figure out what to do, how to get to Roxas.
All that worry and concern... It was all for someone else.
"Ok... stay there, we'll come and get you. Stay on the line." Axel instructed before he continued down the hallway, Reno following a couple of steps behind him.
"We need to hurry Ax. I'm not sure how long they'll keep the checkpoints open if it has spread this far." Reno whispered, he had an plan though. But he wasn't sure if it was possible to get it in motion. It all depended on how things were going back at ShinRa.
"He's on this floor, we should be able to get to him in no time." Axel said as he lead the way, his eyes scanning over the numbers on the dorm room doors as he walked past them, seemingly counting in his head.
If it had only been that easy...
Roxas had barricaded himself in one of the abandoned rooms. He had finally found a baseball bat, and it made the blond feel remotely better, not that he had any real confidence in his fighting skills. He had given up the whole Struggle battle thing years ago...
But he wouldn't give up. Axel was on his way, it would be fine.
"I'm not going to die." Roxas repeated to himself for the umpteenth time, and he was almost starting to believe himself. Clear-blue eyes closed for a long moment as Roxas listened for any telltale sounds of someone walking down the hallway.
He held the phone in one hand, close to his ear, he could hear movement on the other end, but there was no talking. Roxas was listening so keenly on the sounds from the phone that he startled really badly when the door was suddenly opened. The phone dropped from his hand and he grabbed the bat in both hands, his eyes wide and utterly terrified.
"Roxas, you can lower the bat." Axel said calmly, holding his hands up in a placid gesture. Roxas stared at him for a long moment before he did so, and then he just kind of sagged where he stood, crumbling to his knees. Axel hurried over and kneeled down in front of Roxas, grasping his shoulders and trying to make eye contact with the blond. "Are you alright Roxas? You're not hurt are you?" Axel questioned, his tone was remarkably calm. Roxas gave a small nod and let out a shuddering breath.
Axel in turn let out a sigh of relief and gathered Roxas into a firm hug. "I'm so glad you're alright..." Axel whispered and held Roxas close for a long moment before he let go and got to his feet. "Come on, we really need to get moving." He said holding his hand out to Roxas, who took it and let the redhead pull him to his feet.
They left the room, and Roxas took note of another guy standing a couple of feet away, looking down the hallway intently. He was speaking in a hushed tone, and it looked like he had a Bluetooth device in his ear. Roxas looked to Axel with questioning eyes, but Axel's focus was on the other redhead.
"Reno?" Axel asked and Reno turned towards them.
"One sec Ax." He said his attention going back to his call. "...Yeah? Alright, we'll be there." He tapped the device on his ear and turned fully to face Axel and Roxas. "I think we have a sure way out of here, but we need to be quick."
"Where do we need to go?"
"...Guys..." Roxas said, his tone verging on panic. He had just happened to look into the room he'd just left and was looking out the window. There were hundreds of infected people shuffling towards them across the lawn, unseeing eyes and black stained faces contorted in pain, facing their direction.
Axel looked down at Roxas and then shifted his gaze to where Roxas was staring and he balked. "Holy shit!" He exclaimed, which was a big mistake. The shuffling mass surged forward, they had heard him.
"GO!" Roxas yelled and the three of them tore down the hallway at a full out spring. It wasn't long before the sound of several windows being smashed rang through passage. Moments later bodies spilled into the hallway before tearing after them. Axel turned and shot at the ones that were drawing to close for comfort. They fell and caused some of the others to momentarily slow, but they were catching up.
Both Reno and Axel were shooting round after round, but they kept coming, and soon Axel was all out of bullets, and Reno soon after. Reno didn't hesitate to had Axel his gun, along with the extra clip, before readying his Mag-rod to use instead.
A moment later Reno pushed Axel back as the infected people were starting to lunge at them. The Mag-Rod sizzling with electricity, as the Turk dealt with the nearest ones with deadly precision, but they kept coming at them. "Head for the stairs! We need to get to the roof!"
"The roof?! Isn't that the worse place to be?!" Roxas burst out, his grip on the baseball bat unsteady as he held it up in front of himself, ready to beat whatever came to close.
"I have people in a helicopter coming to get us! JUST GET MOVING ALREADY!" Reno yelled at both Roxas and Axel. The fire fighter didn't have to be told twice. He quickly spun Roxas around and shoved him in the direction of the staircase they had passed earlier while they had been searching for the blond.
"There are a lot more of them on the upper floors! How the hell are we going to get past them?!" The panic in the Roxas voice was clear, and Axel felt much the same, even though it didn't show.
"We'll deal with it when we get there, we're screwed if we stay here, we have to risk it." He said, his tone curt. "Reno! Come on!" He called behind him to the other redhead who sent another body sprawling before he hurried after them.
Roxas was first through the door leading to the stairs, Axel close behind him and as soon as Reno was through Axel slammed the heavy metal door shut. "Go go go!" He yelled at Roxas who had stopped, looking down at Axel from a few steps up. Reno was already tearing up the stairs ahead of them. Axel was soon beside him and grabbed a hold of his hand pulling him along. "You don't have time to space out Rox, keep moving." Axel groused out as they climbed the stairs as fast as they could.
The sound of a door slamming above them echoed down the staircase, and a moment later it was followed by a yell of pure agony. "RENO?!" Axel called out. Letting go of Roxas hand before he tore up the stairs. Roxas hurried after him, but Axel longer strides brought him to the next landing way faster. Roxas heard a few shots, and he froze in his tracks for a few seconds, listening but then he forced himself move again.
Reno was hunched over when Roxas caught up, he was gripping his arm, which was bleeding profusely. Axel was right beside him, one hand on the small of Reno's back the other holding Reno's Mag-rod. "I'm fine... we need to continue." Reno said through gritted teeth. It was obvious that he was not fine though, and in a lot of pain.
Axel's brows was knitted together in worry but he gave a choppy nod, even though it was clear that he didn't believe the Turk. "I'll go first, you stay close behind me." Axel instructed as he straightened up.
"Oi, I can take care of myself!" Reno protested glaring at Axel.
"The hell you can! You can't use your fucking arm, how the hell are you going to fight? Let's just get to the roof and hope that your people do get here." What little composure Axel had managed to muster up, flew out the window at that moment and he glared at Reno. It was all getting way out of hand and Axel was starting to doubt if they could get out of it alive.
Reno frowned in a very unhappy way, but relented, and the three of them continued up the stairs, their pace much slower than before. But thankfully the rest of their climb went somewhat smoothly after the attack on Reno. They made it to the roof and Axel scanned the area for something to block the door with.
Roxas stayed near Reno, and helped the redhead sit down, his back propped against a ventilation duct. "You're sick, aren't you." Roxas more stated then asked Reno while he watched Axel block the door with anything and everything he could find. Reno's eyes were closed and he was breathing hard through his nose. But at Roxa's statement he did open his eyes, turning his gaze towards Roxas general direction, but it was obvious that Reno couldn't see him, his eyes couldn't focus on him.
"Yeah." Reno simply said, there really was no point in denying it.
"You're not leaving with us, are you?" The question was barely above a whisper as Roxas continued to watch Axel, who's attention had turned towards the clear skies above them. Roxas heard Reno let out a humorless laugh. "...most likely not."
Roxas sat down near Reno and finally looked at him. He was extremely pale and his skin was covered in a fine sheen of sweat. His shoulder was dislocated and there was a huge chunk of flesh missing from his upper arm. Roxas was amazed that the man was still conscious.
The distant sound of a helicopter approaching drew Roxas attention away from Reno and towards the sky. Axel was jogging over to them, a small wavering smile on his lips. "Hey Red, I think your people came through-" He cut himself off as he saw the look on Roxas face though, there was something like regret and sadness there that Axel couldn't place at first. But before he could ask anything Roxas got up and walked away from them. Deciding on keeping his eyes on the sky for their way out of there, and moving as far away from the two redheads as he could...
"Ax..." Axel turned his attention back to Reno and crouched down in front of him. "Can you stand Red, or do I have to carry you out of here bridal style?" Axel asked jokingly. There was only a flicker of a smirk on Reno's lips but it quickly melted away. He reached out for Axel, but he wasn't quite sure where he was. Axel grabbed the hand and kneeled down between Reno's legs. "Hey... you're going to be fine, it's just a flesh wound right?" Axel continued, his voice not as steady as he aimed for it to be.
"Axel, I'm not going with you guys... I can't."
"That's bullshit, of course you can."
Reno shook his head and took out the device he'd used on Axel earlier. "This is what they use at the checkpoints to see if you're infected or not." He explained before he used it on his useless hand. The device flashed red right away. "I can't get on that helicopter with you guys because we can't risk this virus getting out of Midgar. I wasn't even supposed to have left ShinRa..." He set the device down before he reached for Axel's hand which had come to rest on his leg.
He linked their fingers together and shook his head a little. "Had to make sure ya made it out Ax..." He mumbled.
Axel was completely devastated, He didn't know what to say, what to do. His green eyes focused on Reno's face for a long moment, searching it, hoping with all his might that what Reno was saying wasn't true.
They had to leave. All of them had to get out.
"You're an ass..." Axel eventually groused out, squeezing his eyes shut and his hand squeezing Reno's hand more firmly in his.
"Not what I was hoping to hear." Reno said, a small smirk spreading over his lips. He raised their linked hands to his lips and gave the back of Axel's hand a light kiss before he brought it down again. "I'm sorry Axel."
"Why?" Axel asked, raising his head to look at Reno again.
"For making you think that I was going to leave with ya. For other things as well..." There was a heavy pause between them in which Axel scooted closer and rested his forehead against Reno's. The sound of the helicopter was drawing nearer and the wind was picking up, it was close. It was coming in for landing.
"I..." Axel started to say but he didn't know how to finish it. Reno let out a huff of air, and smiled a little wider. He let go of Axel's hand and let it come to rest on the back of his head instead. Axel raised his hands and cupped the sides of Reno's face in return.
"It's alright Ax." Reno said, pressing him a little closer. "I know. We had a good run though, right? I regret noting. Well... I regret not getting out of here. But at least I managed to get you out, so... no regrets there at least."
Axel closed his eyes again fighting back tears. "It shouldn't end like this." Axel finally said his voice thick, he could only think of regrets at that moment. On what he should have done, how he should have acted, things he should have said. "I'm sorry Reno..." His voice hitched.
"I know Axel."
The helicopter landed and a female voice was shouting at them to get moving. Reno's grip on Axel tightened as she continued to yell at them. He was shaking, Axel could feel it, and it made it so much harder to leave him. He didn't want to leave him.
"Just leave me my gun, alright?" Reno said, and Axel's heart sank. But he did as he was asked. He drew back and retrieved the weapon, moving Reno's hand away from the back of his head so that he could place the gun into Reno's hand.
"You better go. I'd ask for a kiss before ya left, but I don't want to infect ya." Reno said, his fingers wrapping around the handle of the gun and his eyes shifted down as he stared unseeingly at the weapon. It wasn't to defend himself, there was no point. He was dead either way. The only thing he could do was lessen the damage that he himself would undoubtedly do if he was left to his own devices once the virus had taken over.
Reno suddenly felt warm lips press against his cool forehead and he couldn't help but smile just a little. He set the gun down beside his own leg so that he could touch the other redhead. His hand coming to rest on Axel's arm. It was enough.
"Don't feel bad Ax. Just go." But Reno's voice betrayed his words, and it made it so much harder for Axel to move away. There had been a tremor in Reno's voice...
But Axel had to leave, so he did.
He pulled away, his lips pressed into a thin line as he forced himself to stand. He took one last look at Reno, and his heart broke. He quickly turned around and started to walk, and he didn't look back. Axel's green eyes focused on the helicopter and the blond that was standing a few feet away from it. The wind stirred up by the helicopter was whipping Roxas hair and clothes about, and he looked as conflicted as Axel felt. Axel knew that if he were to look back, his resolve would break. He didn't want to leave Reno there.
"Get in already!" A woman with blond hair yelled at them, waving for them to get inside. She cast a glance across the roof, and she looked close to tears. Roxas and Axel were ushered inside and the heavy door was pulled shut. The helicopter was off the roof before the two of them were even strapped into their seats. Axel kept his eyes on the floor, refusing to look outside.
Roxas hesitated for a moment before he reached out and slipped his hand into Axel's, the blond had expected Axel to pull away, but instead his fingers wrapped around his and he held on tightly. But other than that, Roxas didn't know what to do. All of it felt so surreal.
"We'll get you tested once we touch down outside of Midgar. If either of you are infected you do realize that we can't let you go, right?" The woman from before said, their headsets crackling with static. She looked at them from around her seat in the front. Roxas met her gaze and gave a quick nod.
"Yeah." Was the only thing he could think of to say. Axel's grip on his hand was almost painful, but he wasn't about to let go. The woman turned back and said something else, but she must have shifted channels or something so that only the dark skinned man steering the helicopter could hear her.
"Axel..." Roxas started to say but he didn't know how to continue. There was nothing he could say to make things better. Nothing that would change the fact that they had left Reno behind.
It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that there was something between the two of them, so if Roxas thought it was hard to leave Reno behind, it must have been a thousand times worse for Axel.
"You don't have to say anything Roxas." Axel eventually said, his voice thick and uneven as he spoke. Roxas bit his lip, his brows drawing together in a worry. He eventually turned his attention to the window to his right, looking out at the city below. It was pandemonium.
'I really hope we're not infected.' Roxas thought. His mind was a jumble of thoughts before they suddenly drifted to Hayner. He froze for a second, it wasn't until that moment that he realized that Hayner was gone. He hadn't had the time to think about it, to really reflect over it. Roxas turned away from the window, his eyes wide open staring ahead of himself. Hayner was gone. He wasn't coming back.
Tears started to silently roll down his face and he slumped back in his seat. He had made it out alive, but Hayner was gone, and so many other innocent people as well.
It wasn't fair.
Reno heard the sound of the helicopter fade, and soon there was only stillness around him. He could feel the warm August sun on his face, and the gentle breeze that ruffled his bangs. He let out a shuddering breath before he closed his eyes tightly. Tears escaped his unseeing eyes. But he thought they were justified, and it wasn't as if there was anyone around to see them.
The pain from the open wound on his arm was almost forgotten as the absolute terror, of having to face his own mortality, struck him. He was going to die. One way or another, he was going to die.
Either by his own hand or by the virus that was spreading through his system, slowly taking over and changing him into a monster.
Reno tried to calm his breathing, but with little success, as he reached out to pick up his gun. His hand was shaking badly and he had to press his arm to his chest to try to steady himself.
He had to do it.
Reno took a long shuddering breath and let it out before he opened his eyes and turned them towards a sky he could no longer see.
"...A good run."
Reno mumbled before he raised the gun, tilting his head back further to rest against the air duct behind him. He pressed the muzzle against his temple and closed his eyes.
His heart was hammering hard against his chest, and he fought with himself, his finger not obeying him...
'At least...I got Ax out of here...' A small sad smile came to the redheads lips, and he led on to that thought.
At least he got Axel out of Midgar...
"We are reporting live from the outskirts of Midgar. The city is quarantined until further notice. It has been a week since the mysterious disease broke out and spread like wildfire through what used to be one of the most prosperous cities in this nation. The source of this tragic and horrible disease is yet to be discovered. We are-"
Axel muted the TV, his green eyes focused on the screen as they cut to footage from a news copter. The city looked dead. There were no people moving around the streets, no cars, nothing. When the footage cut to the university area he turned away. Kairi was sitting on the couch as well, and her attention shifted from the TV to her older brother.
"Do you want to talk about it yet?" She asked, and Axel glanced over at her and gave her a small smile.
"Not yet." He simply said, and Kairi looked worried but didn't press the issue. Axel's phone let out a shrill melody, signaling that he had a text.
I'm on my way, I'll be there in a little bit.
Axel smiled a little wider before he went to fetch his jacket to head outside. As he was walking down the steps of the small townhouse his parents lived in, Roxas jogged down the street. "Sorry I'm late." He said when he was close enough. "You ready to go?"
"Yeah."
They were going to go to the memorial service held at the city center for all the people who lost their lives in Midgar. But even so Axel couldn't quite get himself to move. It was going to make everything so... final.
Roxas looked around them before he slipped his hand into Axel's and gently tugged him along. It was yet another sunny autumn day, the skies were clear and the weather was mild. And as they started towards the city center Axel couldn't help but feel that it didn't fit. It should have been raining and miserable, at least Axel felt like it should have been like that.
But it wasn't. It was a perfectly normal autumn day, and life moved on...
Axel wondered when he was going to stop feeling guilty, but even through the guilt he couldn't help the small flicker of happiness he felt as his fingers held on tight to Roxas' hand.
Maybe thing would be alright?
The End.