Infection

By DXM Junkie

Summary: A virus contaminates an entire country within three days. The top detective in the world seeks answers while the innocent suspect trails along. Tensions rise as death seems imminent. Light and L have no choice but to cling to one another as they search for a way out. LXLIGHT YAOI

Authors Note: What a wonderful day! Note to all college students who have an anime club at your university; join! Anime club is twenty six adults watching the horrible English version of the Charmander Pokémon episode and feeling damn good about it! ("If his flame goes out, he's gonna DIE!") It's going to conventions with groups and getting lost among the Deathnote merchandise! It's making new friends who are just as otaku as you (and having serious debates like "Who would win in a fight, Alucard or D?" It's a Yaoi fangirls par-a-dise!

Before I get down to actually writing this chapter, I want to thank every single person who reviews this story or even just reads it. You have no idea how happy I get when my inbox is flooded with new reviews! (It makes me giggle like a creepy fangirl.) Currently this fanfic has 165 favorites, 208 watches, is in 9 C2's, and has a whopping 33957 hits!! Thank you guys so much for supporting this venture! Anyway, on with the angst!

Chapter Twenty One: Judgment

L's body felt lagged and worn, but as he stood outside the metal door next to Kent he knew that this was the moment he had been waiting for all his life. All his life he had been constantly bored, un-amused with articulate words or actions that seemed enough for everyone else. L wasn't like everyone else. Light had been correct when he had stated that L only did investigations because he suffered from extreme boredom; this was the reason he only took cases that interested him. But right now, L's heart was pounding with adrenaline. He felt a rush of blood come to his face; he felt more than ready to do this. He wouldn't die. If L were to die than Light would die and that would be unacceptable.

Rachel was standing next to them, breathing heavily. Her long red hair was laying limp at her sides; she was wearing a tight black shirt with her cross glinting in the dim lights of the storage room. Kent was loading his gun and cleaning the barrel with ease and precise accuracy. Corey was sitting on the floor in her floral dress holding Cujo, petting him but she had worry etched on her face. She knew what going outside meant, even if she did try to not think about it. She knew that going outside was a bad, bad thing.

"It's noon exactly." Rachel told them, her eyes on her watch. She was trying not to cry, and she knew she wouldn't. That wouldn't be very encouraging, and all she wanted was for them to not leave. That was impossible though, this was all for Light and she cared about Light. She held in her tears and tried to look brave. L looked over at her and nodded at her statement. It was time then. L was wearing a tight white shirt, similar to the one he had first worn when they had arrived in the mall. The tightness didn't affect him anymore; he didn't even notice it when he had put it on. His pants were also tighter than usual, L didn't want to trip over any extra bagginess. He was wearing running shoes, though he still didn't have socks on. They were the same running shoes he had always worn, though they were completely on his feet this time. These were the running shoes he had often worn when playing tennis. He was thankful that Watari had forced him into that sport at this moment, running would be far easier. He had been so enclosed in his work that Watari felt getting some exercise and sunshine would be a good thing. That had kept him in good physical shape. His feet felt sweaty but he ignored it. His gun was in a sling that Kent had given him, strapped around his shoulder.

"We should get going then." Kent told her as soon as he cocked his gun. Flicking off the safety, he adjusted his gear one last time. He was wearing full military gear minus the bulletproof vest. Bullets weren't what they were worried about and it was heavy so he had decided against it. He wanted to be able to run easily. His boots were laced tightly up his calves. Walking over, he crouched in front of Corey.

"Little princess, remember my promise?" He asked her, petting her dark hair with tender ease. Cujo barked softly, and she smiled up at him. She had just lost another tooth so the gaping hole in her mouth was entirely visible. Kent felt such a sense of life at that moment, such a sense that he needed to protect her, and with strong conviction he knew he would.

"You're gonna be my Daddy from now on, right?" She told him. L blinked in surprise but Rachel didn't seem affected. She was staring blankly off at the floor. Kent leaned down and scooped the girl up, hugging her tightly and kissing her head. After letting her go he stood up and grabbed his gun off the floor than went to Rachel. He ruffled her long hair affectionately. She gave him an encouraging smile but it didn't reach her eyes.

"Kent-papa?" Corey asked. He looked down at her. She was holding up a pink bow hair clip. It had been one of the things she had on her when they had first rescued her. Her tiny palm was extended towards him. She was smiling happily, "For luck!"

Kent gave another warm smile and took it, clasping the pink clip on his shirt. It looked ridiculous, tough rugged black man in a military outfit with a little pink bow clip. But it was still beautiful. He thanked her and moved towards the door, preparing to open it by slowly taking the locks off. Because it was the doors that semi's had brought loads of goods in it had many different locks. It made a lot of noise so he had to work meticulously. L also leaned down and hugged Corey, though he felt she was more Kent's child than his own. L had been planning on allowing Corey to stay at Whammy after they got out, but if Kent wanted to adopt her he had no qualms with that. Kent had been hard to deal with, resentful, mean when they had first gotten met. He had been suspicious of L's ties to the government; he had acted racist against Light. L and him hadn't gotten along and L had openly resented the man. But something had shifted, and that something was Corey.

He wouldn't call them friends, that title was reserved for Light alone, but L accepted Kent for his strengths and weaknesses. He wasn't very intelligent, but he was loyal and he loved Corey. L stood next to Rachel then, watching Kent undo the locks. From his left Rachel was unclasping her cross necklace. She hadn't taken it off since she had gotten there. He glanced over at her curiously as she held it out towards him.

"Please… bring this back to me, alright?" She asked him, holding the shimmering necklace out. L was reminded strongly of Whammy as he looked at it, the other important part of his life. Flashbacks of the clock tower he had studied in, of Quillish, of his successors flitted through his mind. He remembered the sunrises over by Walden Pond, of the many lonely classrooms and off the gigantic kitchen that had always held many sweets for him to choose from. Fuck did L miss cake. L took the necklace in his usual manner, between his thumb and forefinger, and stared at it for a long time. He was daydreaming about cake for a moment, strawberry cheese cake actually, but when he looked up at her there was so much emotions in her large green eyes that he decided to consent. He normally hated jewelry because they were decadent and frivolous decorations, but this was important to her. Nodding, he handed it back to her.

"Please put it on me, Miss Rachel, to assure I do not lose it."

Rachel gave such a large smile of relief and nodded, moving behind him and clasping the necklace with her deft hands, "My mum gave me this bloody trinket when I got confirmed at our church. She was so damn happy when I took a liking to it. You better bring this back, you weird man. I won't forgive you if you don't!" She told him seriously, though L knew really what she meant. He nodded.

"I shall, Miss Rachel. Please keep an eye out on the roof for us so you can let us in when we return."

Rachel nodded, "I won't leave my post! I'll check up on Light first, but then I'll be lookout."

L thought about Light, skinny and sick curled under layers of blankets surrounded by art supplies and books. This was all for Light. L wouldn't fail. The door clicked open and harsh sunlight beamed into the storage area; L's pupil's dilated rapidly. He could hear the chirp of bugs, the heat from early summer. Breathing, both Kent and himself readied themselves at the door. Kent gave one last glance back, and grinned.

"Make us some good food later, Rachel. I want something with chicken!" Kent told her in a cocky over confident tone. She gave a real smile and a thumbs up.

"You got it!"

With that, both man walked out of the opening, jumping down to the concrete. Rachel closed the heavy metal door and they heard it click when the lock was replaced. It had been so long since L had been outside (not on the roof) that he took a moment to orient himself. Taking the map that Rachel had made them, he memorized it momentarily before stuffing it in his pocket. Looking at Kent, he gave a nod. Then they began to run.

Scenery blurred by them as they ran at a decent pace, not too fast so they would wear out, but fast enough that it would only take about seven to ten minutes to clear the distance. When they turned the corner that led to the west side of the parking lot, the stench of corpses rotting in heat assaulted them. They both ignored it and continued running. Occasionally they had to jump over corpses, and when they cleared the parking lot they got their first sense of life outside the mall. The chaos that was the rest of Great Britain.

The streets were packed with cars and debris. Random things littered the ground and occasionally the blood of dead could be seen splattered against windows. Most of it had been washed away already from rain but it was sickening and the stench was hard to withstand. They had to dodge broken cars, damaged bikes, human corpses, random luggage. The buildings looked the same as L had always remembered them though. They were tall and old and European. A British flag was waving in the wind up ahead; there was a giant sign on a door that said, "Three survivors here!" But they didn't stop.

Turning a corner that lead to a fountain, L noticed the amounts of wet and torn money that littered the ground. The fountain had stopped running ages ago and there was a child's body decapitated across the cement. Turning around a corner L noted the street sign that dictated they were on Bowman Street, and he soon located the Harikawa pharmacy. They were both breathing fairly heavily when they finally stopped in front of the store. The door was ajar and the glass was broken in but L was disheartened. The place had obviously been robbed. Taking the gun out of the holster and clicking off the safety, Kent and L went on either side of the door and paused, waiting for their breath to resume. If there was infected out there, they would be hiding among the buildings in the darkness of shadow. Stepping in slowly, glass crunched beneath L's feet. The inside of the store was ransacked, a couch had been flipped over, there was a body lying over the counter with a computer keyboard dangling over the edge. After looking around, L motioned for them to step outside.

Kent did so without qualms. They walked back out into the sun but kept their guns out, "I think we should try the other one. This place has obviously been destroyed and because it was open there is a good chance infected lie in wait." L told him. Kent nodded.

"I agree. Which way, then? I lived on the other side of town so I didn't come over here very often."

L pulled the paper out of his pocket again and read Rachel's precise and elegant handwriting. "It'll be another ten minute jog. We have to cross a small bridge."

Kent nodded again, "Let's go then."

They began to run again. As they jogged silently down the street and past countless dead bodies, L forced himself to shut him mind away from the scenery. It was too disgusting to even look at. Instead, L recited the names and symbols of the periodic table. After he was done with that he began to recite lyrics of poetry he had learned from the great books he had been forced to read as a child. This soon grew old, and as they passed the bridge (that was luckily only semi-clogged by cars) L instead thought about the sensations he got when kissing Light. It was the most pleasant thing he could think about.

He thought about how the youth was so good at touching him in sensitive areas and he was so soft and gentle. He always prepared L with his intentions without saying a word, and L knew that Light would never push him to do anything he didn't want to do. L thought about Light's hands, how when they twined with his own he felt such a surge of a foreign emotions inside him that it made him speechless. L, for all his extremely large vocabulary, was rarely speechless.

He thought about Light's hands in his hair, stroking the base of his skull softly. He thought about the trim young body that Light took so much care of. He thought about how this was his Light, and he was currently on the verge of death. For the second freaking time in a week, too. If Light was going to be making this a habit L would be sure to reprimand him. Things were hard enough to deal with without L nagging about Light all the time.

L was startled from his thoughts when he saw the Walgreen's sign in his peripheral vision. Glancing up, he realized they had already reached the end of the bridge and he hadn't even noticed. That was probably not a good thing, he should be watching for Infected. He looked around, scanning for movement in any building. He found none. The Walgreen's was in the middle of a small parking lot. There were only three corpses in vision and no cars. The doors looked locked but there were bloody handprints on the glass. They slowed down and halted at the door. Kent, who had gloves on, pulled at the door. It didn't budge. He smiled up ruggedly at L.

"It's locked." He informed him happily. L was also pleased but he didn't smile.

L nodded and kneeled down, pulling two long metal tools from his back pocket. He began to pick the door as Kent turned around, scanning the area. It took a long minute to finally hear the click of the lock being turned. And L pulled the door apart. It made a sharp screeching noise but L only opened it enough for them to fit in. L went in first, his gun cocked, and he scanned the shelves. They were untouched and organized. He was so thankful. Walking farther in, he heard Kent close the door behind them. He locked it and turned towards L.

"So Mr. Government Agent slash Doctor, what sort of crap do you need to get the Asian brat?"

L scowled, he really hated it when Kent called Light, "The Asian Brat." He could just as easily call Corey "The Indian Kid." But L focused on the medication counter that was locked. A panel of glass was above a white counter. He walked over to the tall white door next to the counter and tested it. It was also locked. Kneeling down again he began to pick the lock. It was eerily quiet.

"I have to find two different drugs and measure them out into enough capsules that Light can take. It's going to take a moderate amount of time."

"Okay, I'm gonna go look around while you do that. You don't need my help, do yah?"

"Negative." L stated as the lock clicked open, the door swaying into the small space. Several signs were posted about various drugs laws that had taken effect, three of which L had personally dictated several months before starting the Kira Investigation. He walked into the room. It was a medium sized room, but filled with many different shelves that held personal records of patient's different medications. The drugs were held in white bottles towards the back, with scales and opened capsules in a drawer beneath an open counter. L pulled the map out of his pocket and turned it around. In his own tiny messy scrawl he had written the two different drugs he would need to make the antibiotic. His eyes quickly scanned out the correct drugs and he opened the bottles, pouring the pills onto the counter. They were in pill form still so he could have to crush them up to mix them. There was a machine next to the counter that did precisely that.

Pouring about twenty pills of each drug into the machine. He tested the power. It didn't work, there was no electricity. He wondered briefly why there wasn't power here when there was still power and running water in the mall. Taking the pills back out L looked around for something he could use to crush them. Finding a large medical drug dictionary, he pounded it down on the pills, hearing them crush beneath the weight. Pushing the book down back and forth with differences in pressure the pills became a fine white powder. He could no longer disconcert the pills from one another. Taking a small precise metal tool, he grabbed a handful of small capsules and began to pour the drug mixture into them.

L had never done this before, but he assumed this was the feeling that illegal drug users got before they took drugs. He was happy. He was thankful. This store hadn't been robbed. If it had and the drugs hadn't been there, they would have done this all for nothing. They were risking a lot. Silently working, L finished about ten capsules by the time he heard Kent's voice.

"It's only one PM, but the sky is getting a little cloudy." Kent told him.

L didn't respond, he just worked faster. After the first few mistakes it was easier to do. L had always had spindly fingers and this seemed to help with the capsules closure. Another ten minutes past, and L had finished about fifty capsules. More than enough for Light. Taking one the pill bottles he had emptied the original drugs out of he poured the red colored capsules into it and closed it tightly.

"Done." He stated. Kent nodded, and there was relief on his face.

"Let's get the hell out of here." Kent told him, turning around. Both men walked out of the store, L handing the pills to Kent. Kent had his baggy army pants on that had Velcro pouches, so Kent flipped one open and deposited the pills inside. They rattled in their bottle. Pausing at the door, L noted also that it was getting a little cloudy. He hoped that didn't affect anything. They opened the door and closed it. L had locked it again behind him just in case. Taking a big breath, they began to jog the way they came. L's stomach was knotted as they jogged down the silent streets, the only sound was their joint breathing and their feet hitting pavement.

A shiver went down his spine and without warning; a shriek was emitted to their left. Both men stopped just as an Infected came running out of a store. It looked severely emaciated and it was hard to tell the sex or race. It ran blindly in front of them, hitting the opposite wall of the narrow street with a large thud. It was blinded obviously. Kent took out his gun, cocked it once, and with one shot the Infected's brain splattered across the wall and its body fell to the floor. The gun shot had echoed loudly and they both took off, knowing the noise would attract more of them. They were crossing the bridge when they heard more screams behind them. The Infected weren't following them though, it was too bright out.

L was running at top speed by this point. Seven more minutes, maybe six if they continued at this pace. Another Infected came running out of a store ten feet in front of them. L shot is dead and they jumped over its body without any consideration. They were back at Bowman Street, they passed Harikawa again. L's throat was beginning to burn, his legs felt like they were on fire. As they ran five more infected came out at various points, but most of them were too blinded to be able to coordinate and they tripped over themselves. Neither L nor Kent shot these people; they didn't want to waste ammo. L had one clip left and Kent had three. The pills in Kent's pocket made a loud noise as they were tossed around inside his pocket.

They turned down at a corner and could see the mall. Their home. Screams were coming from behind them just as a cloud covered the sun. The world around them was noticeably darker, and chancing a glance behind them L saw about twenty Infected chasing them. He ran as fast as he could, he couldn't see Rachel and he hoped it was because she was going to open the door for them. He heard a grunt to his left and skidded to a halt, seeing Kent lying on the ground. He had tripped over a corpse, his arms were scratched up. The Infected were still coming at them at top speed as Kent picked himself up. L aimed his gun and shot one, two, five infected dead. There were too many remaining; they were only ten feet away. Kent also aimed and shot seven infected with good accuracy. Another wave could be seen heading towards them, this time there was double the amount.

L was trembling violently. So had this been what Light had been feeling when he had fell out of the mall? This sense of impending death? This stab in your gut and clouding of your vision and dryness in your mouth? L was so sure this wasn't going to work; he the top detective in the world was going to die. He wouldn't solve the Kira case, he wouldn't see Watari again, he wouldn't taste the wonderful strawberry cheesecake, and he wouldn't kiss Light or even get to tell him that he fucking loved him, that Light was the only person L couldn't live without or even function without anymore. But none of that mattered at all as the infected gain distance on them. L emptied his bullet into three more, the gun clicking blankly when he went for the fourth indicating the clip was empty. Kent shot the remaining three and both men tore back around, beginning to run again as the second wave pounded towards them faster than before and with more vindication.

They cleared the parking lot, but Kent was going too slowly. He was running at half of his normal speed. He had obviously injured himself when he had fallen. L reached towards him to help him but Kent wouldn't allow it. He pushed L away and ran on his own.

"Go faster, dammit!" Kent screamed at him as they turned behind the mall ready for the last stretch. They could see Rachel, red hair bright like a flag, she was screaming at them, but neither could hear her words. L was slightly ahead of Kent when the black soldier fell again with a grunt. L stopped to help him but was prevented with a bottle was thrown violently at his face. He caught in easily and stared helplessly as Kent lay forward on the ground. His leg was twisted in a horrible angle. He wouldn't be getting up.

"GET THE FUCK INSIDE! PROTECT COREY!" Kent screamed wildly, his gun aimed at the infected. Time slowed for L as he had no choice but to turn around. He could hear Rachel's screams mixed with the shrieks of mindless Infected. The sound of gunshots pounding the air, the feeling of his feet pounding against pavement, an inhuman cry…

As L reached the door and grabbed for Rachel's hand, throwing the bottle of pills into the room first, he turned around he see Kent shooting himself with his gun. L almost threw up. His stomach violently lurched as Kent's skull shattered, his pink brains splattering the pavement just as infected reached him. His meaty corpse slammed against the ground but it was soon covered by people eating at him, gnawing away at his throat. Rachel was pulling him into the room and his vision was cut off as the heavy metal door closed in front of him.

The lock clicked, the noise resonating like a bullet.