Chapter 11: Cannibals like remedy

o.O The last chapters were muuuuch too short m_ _m my apologies. I will try to make this chapter some longer :) It's just that we're slowly heading for the final and I seriously can't wait to write it *^* Hope you're a little excited too since this will be *drum roll* the last chapter before the final :] whahaha!


[Alice]

While Alice was speeding down the dark corridors, away from the light she still felt how her hand had touched the cold glass of the door and saw Conan's face in her mind how he'd tried to stop her from this. She blinked away some tears, this was not the time to cry and be weak; she was just here because of her own weakness.

She speeded around another corner past the auditorium. It was funny that she was going the way that had taken them hours within minutes now, but pure fear quickened her pace. She didn't want to think about what would happen if the cannibals would catch up with her though they maybe wouldn't eat her it gave her the chills even be close to them.

Now she started to cry anyways. If she only had been able to think of a smarter plan than throwing a globe at a contagious cannibal she wouldn't run all alone threw corridors now, luring a bunch of cannibals away with body parts. At the moment more than 20 were following her; it happened that behind the corner more were waiting, which had spent the time with eating the remnants of the corpses.

Again she shook her head. Yes, she had to blame herself. If she'd only been strong enough to fight this disease, but no! She had even been too weak to properly protect Conan. She had even thought about killing him! Her mind wandered back to Conan, she missed him. She missed how he held her hand and how he looked at her and how he was close to her, with his warm breath, his bright eyes and his heart that was pumping his blood through his… "Oh my god! Stop that!" She warned herself and shook her head once again, this time more insisting.

Finally she slowed down, the disease made itself felt, she had never been that fast in her whole life before, but badly those cannibals were fast too. Alice looked around, she was alone, indeed she could hear their footsteps but somehow she'd left them behind. She calmed her breath and tried to think what to do now. She doubted those cannibals would remember the way back to the main entrance, or even that they wanted to go there so it should be ok for her to find a place to hide till Conan found a remedy. A little calmed she entered the room she was close to. It was the classroom of the 1B; their own classroom. Somehow it made her feel better to be in a well-known room and so she dropped the body parts she'd used as a lure and looked around.

All of a sudden, a pain shot through her body. She wrapped her arms around her body like it could save her from this agony. She clenched her teeth. For the second time in her life she felt this kind of pain. It was as awful as the pain she felt while growing back to Lilly but it still absolute different. The pain while growing was clear, her body first felt hot and then like someone tried to tear it apart, but this new pain… It made her feel numb and still that horrible. Like a blood pressure cuff of a doctor had been wrapped around her whole body, a slow squeezing pain that left a choking numbness.

Just when she thought it'd stop because it ebbed, a new, even worse wave rushed over her. A painful moan made its way out of her mouth and forced her to her knees. She didn't want to die, not here, not yet, not all alone and just because of her own silliness. The pain ebbed again; hardly breathing she supported herself with her hands on the floor. She looked down onto the laminate and onto her own, pale and shivering hands. Before she was able to come to any sort of useful thought the pain increased again; slowly but this time it spread also into her head. "Sh…Shinichi… tasukete" she mumbled and clenched her fingers to fists; the pain reached a new heights and made her throw back her head and scream.


[Conan]

"D… did you hear that?" Conan raised his head and glared back to the school. He, Ai and the kids had decided it'd be best to get some distance between them and the school, just in case one of the cannibals would glare out of a window. Ai threw a look at the school and then at him, she raised an eyebrow "what?" Conan just shook his head, for a moment he thought he'd heard someone calling his name, but most likely it had been the wind.

He turned around again and glared down at the scratchpad he'd have in his pocket. He'd noted down everything they knew about cannibals and everything Ai had told him about her experiments with the chemical and of course the thing that coke seemingly cured them. Conan sighed, fretful he rubbed his head that didn't want to stop aching then he glared at the school. Fast he peeked onto Alice's watch flashlight. 3:32 o'clock it said and again Conan sighed, glaring back at the scratchpad. He kept doing that now since 20 minutes but it didn't help him, he was no doctor, he was a detective. His job was getting the people who kill others, not to cure them. "Are you sure there's nothing else you know?" he asked Ai once again and, once again, she shook her head. "I told you that there isn't, I told you everything I know."

He growled annoyed "but that's not enough!" He didn't want to admit it but slowly he started to panic. If Ai wasn't able to think of a remedy, those doctors the police may sent wouldn't be too. And what should he do if finding a remedy would turn out as difficult as finding a remedy for APTX4869 was? Would Alice and the others be locked away?... Or… even worse? Again he scratched his head. "This is useless! If we can't just pour some coke over them we're…"

"Coke? If you want one, you could simply ask me." Genta suddenly interrupted Conan and hold up a red can of coke. Conan glared at the can like he'd seen a ghost. Genta honestly was carrying a kiosk with him. "Y… you can't be serious" Ai begun and Conan saw her throwing a doubtful look at him and at the coke. "But you said it worked" he replied also not 100% sure but he took the coke though. "Yes… but on mice! We don't know… I mean…" she stuttered but this was enough for Conan. Ai also thought it could work. "Ok, I'll try it" he decided.

"You… what?!" Ai asked with wide eyes and Conan jumped up. "It worked once and… seriously we don't have any other idea, right?" Conan saw Ai throwing a worried look away from the school, over to the horizon behind the city then, when he thought she'd make him stay, she nodded. "Ok, but listen…" she got up too and pulled him away from the kids. "We need to try this on Lilly first."

Conan raised an eyebrow, of course he also wanted to safe Alice, but she could be anywhere in the school and if it really worked it would be safest to let armed people go into the school and use the remedy. "Why…" he begun but Ai interrupted him "I told you APTX4869 changed the disease… I'm afraid… I mean… ok let's skip the medicine talk, some ingredients in APTX4869 suppress this disease, but others support it and… I think, no I'm sure… that on Lilly it could have a permanent effect."

Conan gulped "w… what? You mean the remedy could fail?"

Ai nodded "I watched her back then in the school… I think we have time till… sunrise." Conan's eyes widened. Sunrise was maybe 3 hours away. He put on a serious look "Ok, I'll find her; if it works on her we tell the police and they can cure the others, right?" Ai nodded and then she hesitated "what do you mean with 'I'll find her'? Kudo-kun you won't…"

"Of course I'll go alone; you stay here with the others. Wait for the police; maybe find out what about coke cures the disease. I'll count on you Haibara." She grabbed his arm but he pulled it away "we don't have the time for that. If I'm not back until..." he peeked at Alice's watch again "5 a.m. you know I failed. Try to find a remedy anyways, rescue as many people as possible and… watch out, ok?" Ai knitted her eyebrows "why does anybody think I'm the right person to deliver horrible promises?" Conan smiled "thanks" he said and turned around.

"Kudo, don't forget: You have 2 hours, 3 until it's too late, stay away from their mouths since it's transmitted through saliva and FOR GOD'S SAKE RETURN… or I'll make you pay!" Conan nodded and rushed to the main entrance again. Finally they had a chance, determined he turned on his power-kick-boots. This was the last football the belt could make but he doubted this one ball would help him in there anyways. Carefully he aimed and then he shot.

The ball flew against the hinge of the door and it swung open. This was the only way he would be able to close the door again. Hesitantly he walked into the school, the warmth and the rotten smell returned to him and he twisted his mouth. Now he hurried to close the door again and lock it as good as possible. "Ok, 2 hours, 3 until it's too late" he told himself and vanished inside the school.


[Akito]

Akito saw Conan and Ai walked away from their group, it seemed like they had something to discuss in private again. He crossed his arms behind his head and glared at the school. Who'd thought this bow-girl would lock herself in there with a bunch of cannibals? What exactly was she? A lunatic? A freak? A cannibal? He looked away again. He still couldn't forget about her outburst. She cried she would hurt them… so that was not what she wanted. ..? He clenched his teeth, this would mean this disease would force her to do it… and this would mean this all was his fault.

"This was not what I wanted" he mumbled and looked down on the ground. He felt the detective boys giving him an angry look. "Next time think about what you do" Genta said and Akito nodded. "Ai and Conan will fix everything" Ayumi said after a while of silence and Akito looked up to her. There was no smile on her beautiful face but he knew she tried to cheer him up though she was angry with him. "Right" Mitsuhiko mumbled agreeing "they can fix everything, you know?"

"Hey! Alice can too" Genta interrupted and Ayumi and Mitsuhiko snickered but nodded finally. "And we can too…?" Ayumi asked and looked at her friends. "Of course!" Mitsuhiko agreed "sure! We're the dreaded detective boys" Genta added.

"Dreaded?" a sober voice suddenly asked and Akito saw that Ai had returned. "Yeah, dreaded by all criminals and cannibals." Ayumi explain and they all started to laugh again only Ai and Akito remained silent. "W… what is he going to do?" Akito finally asked Ai, maybe he could help… maybe he could do something. "He'll try something out… he'll try to rescue Alice."

They all exchanged glares. "But isn't that dangerous…? I mean isn't she one of them by now?" Akito asked nervously and instantly the detective boys started jelling at him.

"Hey, I… I just mean she like this Conan, right? If I'd be her I wouldn't want him to be close to me while I'm… a danger to him…" to Akito's surprise his words made the others hush, they exchanged worried glared and Akito saw Ai look back at the school. "I promised her, I'd prevent this…" he heard her mumble.


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