Izaya waited for the excruciating pain that would surely come from having his throat ripped out with rotting teeth, heck, he might even live long enough to feel the thing tear into his insides. None of that happened, the only thing he felt was the splatters of blood hitting his face and the sound of the zombie screech before it hit the ground, followed by a single gunshot. Opening his eyes, Izaya exhaled a slow breath as he looked down at the unmoving body. He trailed his fingers over his throat, as though making sure no teeth had caught him. Shit, that was close. His hand shook slightly before falling at his side, eyes casting over to the soldier now stood in front of him. Damn, the medic had saved his life again. "Izaya!" blinking, the raven shook his head, bringing himself out of the shock of nearly dying. "Are you okay, did it get you at all?" Izaya shook his head and then wiped the blood from his face on the sleeve of his jacket. "I wasn't sure if I would reach you in time." Then a frown crossed Yuudai's face as he gritted his teeth. "What the hell were you thinking, I thought you were right behind me, why did you stop?"

Izaya glanced at the staircase beside him, his hesitation to decide whether he should take his chances alone had almost got him killed. That wasn't what had him shaken up, at least, not the main reason. What had him shaken the most, was the fact that he froze, it was like he had made a subconscious decision right there and then to just give up. It was almost as if he didn't want to survive; of course he wanted to survive! And yet, when that zombie came at him, he made absolutely no move to fight it off, as though there was no point. Was that why he gave up? Somewhere deep inside, maybe he realized there was no point trying to survive in this world, it wasn't going to get better, was it. Soon, probably all of Japan was going to fall victim to these things, so perhaps dying now was a lot better than dying later.

Izaya snapped out of his thoughts again when a hand grabbed his wrist, pulling him forward. "Come on, let's get out of here and get to the roof before more of these find their way here," Yuudai told him before releasing his wrist. Izaya just nodded, his near demise had forced him to realize that he wouldn't make it if he left on his own. He followed the soldier past the bodies lying in the corridor, furrowing his eyebrows when a thought popped into his head. There were at least nine other zombies out here when they barricaded themselves inside that room at the end, why now had there only been four? They could have retreated down the stairwell, but Izaya had a feeling that wasn't the case. Technically, he and Yuudai were potential meals, and even though the infected were just mindless beasts now, Izaya would guess that they wouldn't leave that opportunity alone.

Where did the other five go? As he looked up, he was forced to stop abruptly when Yuudai stood still in front of him. Stepping to the side, his eyes trailed over to what had caused the medic to suddenly freeze up.

The door to the roof –

Was open.

"Why would they leave the door open so carelessly?" Izaya muttered, more to himself then a direct question; nevertheless, Yuudai answered anyway.

"I don't think they had a choice," Yuudai replied slowly and then gestured with his gun to the door. "Look."

Izaya looked at the door, oh, half of it was covered in blood. So then, the missing zombies…... did they come from the roof, or did they head toward it? Izaya followed Yuudai through the open door, not entirely sure he even wanted to. The moment they stepped out onto the roof, their sight was met with several scattered, mostly torn apart bodies. The roof remained lit with spotlights shining brightly. So, the zombies they had encountered in the corridor might have come from the roof, in which case, there could be a lot more than the five missing ones. "I thought you said the roof would be safer," Izaya hissed in annoyance, he knew he should have taken his chances heading back to the second floor.

Yuudai didn't reply, he walked carefully over the bodies, checking them, making sure they were dead. He didn't understand, his commanding officer had assured him the all-clear up here when they last spoke, what had happened? He searched around the area, there were at least fifteen bodies. Yuudai gasped as he stopped beside the painted lines of a helicopter symbol, and there he was, his commanding officer. Eyes staring up at him, full and lifeless, his mouth open in a silent scream of what was probably pain.

Izaya watched him from a slight distance, making sure to keep close to the door. "Most of them got away," he said, loud enough for Yuudai to hear him. "If they hadn't, the helicopters would still be here."

Yuudai turned his head slightly when he heard Izaya speak. "You're right," he replied, turning his full attention to the raven. "But, these people had to die."

Izaya sighed and turned his attention elsewhere, why did he have to be stuck with the moral type? Yes, it was a hard sight to see the fates of those on the ground, he wasn't such an asshole that he wouldn't be affected by this. In just four days – his humans, they were slowly being taken away in the most horrific ways. "Casualties," he said in response with a frown as he turned to the soldier. "You told me that your commander said to expect casualties." In this situation, casualties were highly expected.

A loud groaning caught Izaya's attention, he had wondered where those things had got to, he half hoped they had stumbled off the roof. Hearing a shuffling from a slight distance ahead, Izaya gripped the gun in his hand as they slowly shifted out from their positions. "One…. two…. three." Three in front of him, a glance to his right, "Four…..five…..six." Yuudai had his attention on the other group. Does sound make them more aggressive? Izaya tried not to let his fear show, he took a few careful steps back toward the door, glad he had chosen to stay close. If we don't react, could we just –

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

Eyes wide, Izaya snapped his head to his companion, so much for attempting that theory. A loud screech sounded in front of him, and he turned back to see the three closest to him rush at him all at once. Shit! Raising his gun, he pulled the trigger with tremendous hope that his aim wasn't as bad as he thought. One bullet snagged a shoulder, one on the chest, but the other – at least one of the shots pierced right through the skull of the one furthest behind. Izaya grimaced, damn, he really missed his knives. If I had those, killing these things wouldn't be so much of a problem, it would undoubtedly be less distracting to them. At least the other shots he had fired had slowed them a little. Before he could attempt to aim again, two shots from the side of him sounded off, and a cut off growl came from their throats before they thudded to the floor.

There was another gunshot, and Izaya turned in time to see Yuudai jogging toward him. For a moment, he wasn't sure why the soldier's face had contorted into such a worried expression. It wasn't until Yuudai stopped beside him and turned back, did he see, at least six of the bodies they had found – were slowly rising.

"Let's go back while we still can," Yuudai said, causing Izaya to frown; if they had just done that in the beginning.

Without replying, Izaya turned away and jogged through the door, he glanced behind him when he heard it slam shut. There was something strange about this whole thing, and Izaya was beginning to think that Yuudai knew more then he said he did. For one, why was it that - except for the nurse that had tried to warn, and of course, the soldier - had he not seen another single living person? He understood the evacuation part, it certainly made sense, except – there didn't appear to be anyone left to evacuate, even before they got this far.

"Come on," Yuudai spoke quietly as he took the lead once more, heading back into the corridor. It didn't take Izaya long to notice the change in the soldier's movements, and in the flickering of power still available to the lights, Izaya's eyes trailed down to the bottom of his leg. The raven stopped walking and acted on instinct, raising his gun and pulled back the safety. The click seemed loud within the silent corridor; the soldier heard it. Yuudai turned around, and even though he listened to the sound, a shocked expression still crossed his face. "Izaya?"

"Explain that," Izaya said as he gestured to the dark patch of red that was forming around Yuudai's calf, just above his boot. "You didn't have that injury when we first got to the roof."

Yuudai smiled at him and shook his head. "It's nothing, I just caught it on something back there."

Izaya narrowed his eyes. "Like their teeth?" he took a few steps forward, with his gun still raised. "There were six of them when we first got there, I fired three shots after you also fired three. I killed one, you killed five, which makes a total of six shots, one for each. Explain the other shot, I heard it, so don't bother lying." Yuudai looked at Izaya in surprise, impressed with his quick observation. "I'm an information broker, so naturally, it's my job to observe my surroundings with precise accuracy."

Yuudai huffed a laugh and smiled. "I believe you. I fired the other shot because the one I was standing next to was my commanding officer, and I saw him move so – but my wound isn't human inflicted, I promise."

Izaya was hardly convinced, he wasn't going to drop his guard just on the man's words, soldier or not. "Do you think I'm just going to believe you?"

Yuudai sighed and raised his weapon toward Izaya. "My rifle against your beretta Izaya, I've also seen your aim, you're right, you are bad."

Izaya tightened his grip on the handle; on the outside, he looked calm, but he knew that if either of them was to fire their weapon, it would be him that lost his life.

"Besides," Yuudai spoke again, "I believed you."

Izaya sneered at him. "You've seen my wound, and there's another thing you should know about me."

The medic tilted his head with a half-smile. "What's that?"

"Humans," the raven spoke quietly, "I've dedicated almost thirteen years of my life, observing and understanding every emotion that exists. I know what they think, how they might feel in any given situation, though usually, it's because I've created that situation."

Yuudai was suddenly aware that Izaya wasn't someone to underestimate, that he wasn't just an ordinary civilian, and he briefly wondered why the raven had been stabbed. Instead, though, he asked a different question, simply because now he was curious. "I see. If you can tell all that, then what am I thinking, how am I feeling?"

A small grin flashed across Izaya's face; for a moment, he felt as though he was in control. For a moment, he wasn't in a world full of infected humans desperate to tear at other's flesh to eat and survive. "How you are feeling is mostly guilt, though I believe only you know the answer as to why that is. For the thinking part, I know you are lying about your wound."

Yuudai tensed slightly, it might have been easy to figure out for anyone, but the way Izaya told him, it was like he did know. "How?"

Izaya smirked. "Because that is what I would have done. Sometimes lying is a key-way to survive. In these circumstances, a person can lie about something as serious as say – a bite wound or scratch, simply because they don't want to accept it or because they don't want anyone else to find out. If another person did find out, then you would be ultimately putting what life you have left in someone else's hands. From the moment you were bitten, your life was out of your control, but as long as you are still you, you will do everything you can to remain in control for as long as possible. Even if that means putting someone else's life in danger by lying about what fate awaits you."

The medic could only stare at the raven now, nothing but disbelief showed on his expression. He had seriously underestimated him, thinking how normal Izaya was based on his reactions in the beginning, how wrong he was. Yuudai felt he was being used now to learn everything there was to know before being left on his own. After a few more seconds, he lowered his weapon to the point where he placed it on the ground.

Izaya's smirk faded then as he watched the man remove the rucksack and chuck it toward him. He frowned at the bag, and then his eyes snapped back to the soldier, waiting for an explanation. "Show me your wound," he said, but he was responded with a head shake.

"You would have probably made a good soldier Izaya," Yuudai said with a smile, he suspected there was regret showing in his eyes now. "Truth is, I haven't been honest with you from the start."

Izaya frowned, it wasn't like he hadn't already figured that out, but he couldn't help being curious as to what the truth was.

"There was no evacuation ordered. This hospital was already doomed from the start, we all were, to be honest. My orders weren't to lead survivors to the escape zone, there was no arrangement to evacuate anyone. My orders were to clear this hospital of any remaining."

Izaya's eyes widened upon hearing this, it certainly explained a lot, but that didn't mean he was less surprised. "That nurse-" she had told him; she had said it herself –

"Oh, Mr. Orihara, it's not safe here right now," she spoke with a panicked tone and then pointed at the door. "You must come with me; the hospital is being evacuated."

"I told her that to create a good enough distraction, so no one would notice."

Izaya couldn't believe it, he was – the raven frowned, trying to hide the fact that the soldier's confession had sent shivers down his spine. If I hadn't reacted the way I did, he would have fucking shot me, as though I were just a dog needing to be put down. Izaya gritted his teeth, this entire hospital – its survivors, they were nothing more than sacrificial lambs.

"It worked for quite some time, I got held back a little, and that's when the nurse – well, you know. When you appeared from the room, I just – I don't know, something about you seemed different. You weren't wearing any of your hospital clothing, that in itself was enough to tell you already had good instincts. I was supposed to shoot you, I had a few good opportunities too."

Izaya clenched his fist, thinking back on those times when the soldier had saved him before. The zombie outside his room, the one he shot on the second floor – and also – when he had thought Yuudai was going to shoot him back in the corridor, had he really planned to do so? Leading him into that room – barricading the door, was that why he hesitated? Then there was the near-death incident, that fucking zombie nearly ripped out his throat.

"Yeah, I had plenty of opportunities, it was my orders – because any survivors meant more potential zombies. After we left the room, I was going to shoot that zombie from my position, because I knew that if I did, the bullet would pierce not only that thing's skull but yours too. It would have been quick, you wouldn't have known anything, I would have made the shot before it could even sink its teeth into you."

Izaya's throat felt constricted, this was precisely the reason he never trusted anyone, if you couldn't rely on someone whose job was to protect people, then no one was worth trusting. He might have trusted him for a split second, but that was only for his benefit, he was grateful for his instincts.

"I couldn't shoot you Izaya, I don't know why. Maybe it was proof that you weren't infected. Because with all the others, there was always doubt, but I thought if I could save even one person here – it might ease my conscience."

Izaya narrowed his eyes, he understood the concept of survival, humans did things they usually wouldn't do to survive. He'd seen it for himself, he had even used that to his advantage in the past. Despite this, it still made him extremely annoyed, borderline angry if he was honest. "So, my survival depended solely on your guilt?"

Yuudai nodded with a sigh, he was staring at the floor, arms slack at his sides. "I'm sorry, Izaya."

Izaya snorted. "I don't need an apology; perhaps if I had trusted you from the start, it might have been necessary. I had you figured out before your little confession."

With a smile, the medic looked up at Izaya, because he had decided. "I want you to shoot me."

Izaya's eyes grew wide for a moment, surprise etched across his face. Killing someone who had already turned was one thing, he had already taken that step, but could he kill a person that was still human? Was there a difference? Izaya had never denied the type of person he was, but he didn't know if he could kill someone just because that person asked. Perhaps if he waited until the infection took him over and he didn't look so – normal. He had been confident before, mainly because there had been a gun aimed at him, so at least he could have the excuse of self-defense. The weapon shook in his hand now, what right did that soldier have to ask him this?

"I don't want to turn. I want to die while I'm still me, please, Izaya."

Izaya frowned. If it were him – he'd want to die his way too, probably. He couldn't imagine turning into one of those things – a mindless, rotting corpse, just wandering until someone finally did put a bullet in his head. Izaya understood that, but was it fair to place the idea on someone else's shoulders? Was it fair to ask someone to kill them for you?

Yuudai noticed the raven's hesitation, and he wouldn't blame him for that, no matter what kind of person Izaya claimed to be, the soldier knew he wasn't a killer. "You said you understand humans, so do you think they deserve a death worth having, or an extended life that they won't even know about?"

Damn, even Izaya couldn't have said it better himself, and yet it didn't make this any easier.

Izaya stared into his eyes.

In this world –

Izaya raised the gun to Yuudai's head as the man knelt in front of him. "Good luck, Izaya."

– Even for a soldier –

Izaya pulled the trigger.

– Death was inevitable.

BANG!