AN: Aaand now it's time for us to find out the initial survivors. This ought to be fun (Sorry, Wolf-of-Worlds, the entire Raira trio doesn't make it. Maybe in a different story). I think y'all are gonna love the group of "survivors," even though two of them aren't going to pop in for a while. I'd love for people to try and guess the other two. XD (Not that it's going to change my opinion). Considering a seventh survivor too, but it'd have to be a novel-only character. You might hate me for killing off some others, but yeah. Life's not fair. Neither are disasters. :P Please read and review.

Disclaimer: We do not in any way own the characters/scenes/… oh you know the drill I'm sure.

When the World Goes "Boom"

A Durarara! Fanfiction written by Foxy

Chapter Two: Awakening (I)

"What was the first thing you remember thinking about when you came to after the quake?"

"The first thought that ran through my mind? 'Well, that was unexpected' came first." "I was wondering how I was going to get out from under the rubble. I really thought I was going to die." "That it was dark." "I was wondering if I was dreaming or if it was real." "My brother. My little brother. I couldn't figure out where he was." "Why my mother wasn't moving." "That my sister had burned our dinner because I was wondering what could make such a foul smell."
*

Wh … where am I?

It wasn't his sight, his hearing, or his feeling that came back to him first; rather, it was his sense of taste. He tasted something warm and metallic-like in his mouth, no doubt a disgusting sensation. When his feeling and movement came back to him, his mind recognized it as blood.

His initial reaction caused him to spit it out, coughing as he did so. He felt weighed down, and when his sight and hearing came to him last, he was shocked at the scene before him. The scale of destruction that he saw did not want to register in his mind. It was mind-blowing; he couldn't bring himself to believe it. He couldn't see anything standing that wasn't broken down the middle or spilled out onto the streets.

He pushed himself up with his arms. Were his arms shaking? Yes, they were. From the shock of the shake, and the shock of the destruction thereafter. His feeble, primitive mind was dominating him, and it was telling him to be scared. To find something, somewhere safe. But he started fighting it back, and brought himself up to his feet. He was shaking. But he knew it couldn't be helped.

Mikado took a deep breath, taking the moment to realize that his apartment had caved in to the one below, and that he'd been thrown clear before the roof caved in as well. He kept breathing, trying to shake off what had happened. It's okay … you're okay … you're still alive … you're still breathing … however, it only gave him the slightest comfort, as his fear of death now gave way to a new fear.

Where is … everyone? He looked wide-eyed around him, still breathing in and out to calm himself. It was then he noticed the bodies. He might not be dead, but there were dead around him.

He quickly turned away, facing what was left of his apartment, trying to keep his gaze on the inanimate rubble rather than the once living. He didn't want to think about the bodies right now. He didn't want to think at all.

But I have to … I need to pull myself together, he decided, and rubbed his sweaty hands together in a new attempt to calm himself. He wiped off the blood trailing from his mouth, trying not to look at it. Trying not to think of why it was there or where it was coming from. He had escaped with a few cuts and a lot of bruises, and the bleeding probably meant something internal. But he didn't want to think about that.

I should gather up what I can salvage … and go look for others. Others are probably gathering somewhere. He decided, and shakily walked back into the mess of what was his apartment, looking for anything he could find. But then he realized he had no idea what to bring because of disasters. He never learned how to prepare for these. Food and water … those are necessities … he also found his bag, and stuffed what little food he found undamaged into it. He also found a water bottle, and put that in as well. He left his school books (he doubted he needed those now), but took his cell phone, the clothes he found, a towel (which wasn't from his apartment, but did it matter right now?), a few pens, a medicine box (also not from his apartment), and a few other things, including a small wallet-sized picture booklet he found that belonged to him. After he was certain he had everything, he mentally prepared himself to head out, and tried not to look at the devastation or the bodies. He needed to find others, first, before night fell. Then he could freak out. If he freaked out now, he might not make it.
*

He felt fear start to ascend in his heart. I can't be the only one left … there are too many people in Ikebukuro for me to be the only one left …! Yet, he could see no one. And those that he could see were simply bodies of what were once people. He felt a sickness rising at the sight of the corpses, at the mangled limbs sticking out from under the rubble, flesh open in the air, blood still draining from open, fatal wounds …

Mikado crouched down and held his mouth shut with his hands to keep from upchucking the contents of his stomach. It wasn't a movie. It wasn't a stunt. And it wasn't a gag. Those were real bodies, laying there, in front of him … they had all once been real people …

He held his position for a few minutes, trying to calm his nerves – and his stomach – down. He breathed in and out, slowly, trying to regain a stable system. He needed to keep the little food in his stomach in; he didn't know when he'd find others, or how widespread the damage stretched. The level of destruction was clear though; nothing was standing. A wall or two here and there, but nothing stood more than two levels amidst the rubble. The tall towers, the giant complexes – they were all gone. What was it …? An earthquake? A bomb? No, I shouldn't think about what it was now, I have to find others …

He stood up once he felt he could keep calm enough. He knew he had to find "shelter" for the night, and that he ought to look for survivors for as long as he could hold out. He knew dusk would become night, and without any sign of electricity, it would be impossible for him to find his way around safely.

"Honey? Honey? Can you hear me? Say something!"

Mikado snapped his head around in the direction he heard the voice, and started over as quickly as he could. There's someone else! There's someone else! He didn't know who it could be, but the excitement and joy he was feeling overwhelmed any suspicions.

However, he slowed down, and stopped, when he saw who had been talking. A man, who had a deep gash down his head, was howling mournful cries as he held – presumably – his love's body in his arms.

Mikado felt a cold chill rush down his blood, his feet growing heavier at the sight. He didn't know what to think. He didn't think he could think. He was witnessing something worse than death …

The man saw him after a few minutes, and his mournfulness turned into anger. "What are you doing here?"

"I … I …" Mikado wasn't sure what to say.

"Get out! GO AWAY!" The man screamed, throwing a stone in Mikado's direction, and resuming his mournful cries.

Mikado shied away, feeling heavy in his heart, and turned and started walking away. Even if it was another survivor, he wouldn't be able to survive with him.

He walked on for another fifteen minutes or so, feeling so many overwhelming emotions, and being unable to express any of them. What do I think? What do I say? What do I do? Nothing he ever learned prepared him for this.

He walked forward a few steps on top of the debris; its height ranged anywhere from ground level to seven feet high; he was climbing over hills of rubble, and he stopped on one of the mounds when he heard some noise. He wasn't sure what it was, but he took the opportunity. "Hello? Is anyone there?" Mikado shouted, cupping his hands to amplify his voice. He then waited silently for any sound to come to him. He heard a muffled response.

Someone – someone else is still alive! Feeling his heart race, he carefully and quickly slid down the rubble pile, going off in the direction of where he heard the noise come from. "If someone's out there, please make some sort of noise!" Mikado shouted again, and once again, he heard a muted reply; it was a voice. Mikado made his way around part of a still-standing wall, avoiding the busted wires on the ground. Inside of what was probably a shop lay overturned shelves and debris from the ceiling. There were dark stains and what looked like … chunks of flesh splattered along the far end. He covered his mouth again, trying to keep himself calm. Just don't go over there and look at it … figure out where the sound is coming from … he hoped it wasn't coming from over there.

He heard more grunting from (thankfully) behind him. He turned around, seeing a shelf overturned on the ground and with ceiling rubble and pipes scattered all around and on top of it. Someone's hand was sticking out from under the mess, and it was moving.

Mikado, grateful that at least this time it was someone that was alive, quickly went over to the hand, putting his own on top of it. Still warm! "Are you okay in there?"

"I can't tell!" Came the muffled response; Mikado could sense some pain in the other's voice. "Get me out of here, I can't move anything!"

"R-right!" Mikado wasn't the strongest nor the most flexible, and he knew that for a fact (most of the girls in his class could outrun him, much to Masaomi's amusement); but he knew if he worked at it long enough, he could make it. He started by hauling away the debris around the hand, soon revealing an arm and clearing out a hole; he couldn't see well in the dark, though, so no matter how hard he squinted he couldn't see the person's face or the damage (though it looked like a kid).

"How badly are you hurt?" Mikado asked. He wasn't a doctor of any sorts, but he knew that sometimes it was actually better to "leave the nail in the wound" because it kept someone from bleeding to death.

"I'm not sure; I can move my arms now, but I still can't feel my legs!" The kid moved his arms, but Mikado could still only see the one.

"Alright, I don't know how badly you're hurt either but I'm going to start taking junk off the top; if you feel bleeding or pain or anything, let me know, alright?"

"Sure thing sempai!"

Mikado nearly twitched at the 'sempai,' but he put it out of his mind and started pushing the pipes and ceiling concrete off of the bookcase, hoping that dusk would hold out for just a few moments longer.

*
Once he was confident that the shaking and subsequent disaster, was over, Orihara Izaya pushed the remnants of one of his bookshelves (as well as what was left of the ceiling) off of himself. He was lucky that the apartments, all except one, anyways, above him had toppled sideways, so nothing crushed him. But, there was a long, vertical pipe embedded deep down into the rubble … he'd missed impalement by a few feet! That made him smile, though it wasn't really a smile of relief.

He scooted his leg out from under a heavy part of the ceiling, enabling him to crawl through the narrow spaces created by the collapse of the apartment above. He had to climb up some points, too, as the apartment under him had too collapsed. Luckily for him, there seemed to be a medium-sized strip of light ahead, meaning he was close to the "surface." Or, at least he had a way out, anyway. He hoped he wouldn't have to dig too much, he wasn't really one for that kind of gritty work.

But, he still had to shove a large piece of debris out of the way, making him a little bit disgruntled. He quickly climbed out, but standing near the entrance caused part of his "tunnel" to collapse. He wiped off his hands and looked around, wide eyed (but not quite so shocked). The devastation was on a massive scale; he wasn't sure that there had been anything like this before. It also meant that not many people made it if he couldn't see a hoard of people fleeing through the ruined streets. Being the weirdo that he is, he gave an eerie smile. "Well now, that's not something you see every day!"

The parkour master easily jumped from one heap of rubble to another, looking around his now ruined apartment. It wasn't too long before he finally made out the figure of –

"Well, what do you know! It's my good old secretary!" Alive she was. Even though he would never admit this, he was slightly relieved. It meant he didn't have to learn how to manipulate or work around new people.

The woman simply sat there, slightly dazed and holding her head. Her right wrist was clearly sprained, a large bruise on her forehead, and there was a fairly deep gash in her shoulder. Her hair was a mess. Her head was swaying back and forth a little, as if she were about to fall asleep again … and again …

Izaya bent down, and started shaking her good shoulder. "Oy, oy, don't conk out on me now."

Startled, her eyes shot open. She surveyed the area with the eyes of a true scientist – cool and calculated. Izaya turned towards the horizon, seeing that dusk was going to set soon. "This isn't good at all. The whole city's been demolished. Maybe Shizuo turned into Godzilla or something. I have to admit though, this is the greatest event that I've ever witnessed! Still …" Izaya's eyes furrowed into a brow, "how many of my precious people has a greater force taken from me?"

Namie looked a little bored. "Hmph, what does it matter? We're alive. Life is about looking after your own interests, anyway."

Izaya turned to her, an eerie grin appearing once more. "Ah, well then, Ms. Yagiri, may I ask if you would not be interested in the least if one of those corpses was your brother?"

Namie felt her heart stop, her eyes immediately changing from calm to fear. "Se-Seiji?"

In the blink of an eye, she lifted herself from the ground. "S-Seiji? Brother?" Her voice was a hushed whisper as she slowly walked forward, not really being as careful as she should be amidst the unstable environment. "Seiji."

Her voice was slowly rising each time she said his name. "Seiji. Seiji. Seiji."

Her voice was louder now, matching the equally loud beating of her heart. "Seiji. Seiji. Seiji. Seiji. Seiji!"

She chanted over and over until she was finally screaming. "SEIJI!" Her heart beat was erratic and she felt herself sweating and panting. To a normal person, it would like she was having a heart attack; though that might have well been the case.

Izaya thought she looked like a deranged old lady with her sluggish movement, limp right hand, and eyes wide. "SEIJI! SEIJI! SEIJI!" Not to mention the shrill voice. She looked nothing like a scientist. Izaya would have thought she'd rationalize or something in a situation like this, but it appeared that when it came to her younger brother, emotions overruled all.
*

With a final push, Mikado had finally managed to completely move all of the wreckage off of the kid trapped under all of it. He let the shattered shelf clatter to the ground, trying to regain his breath and not inhale any of the dust particles that flew upwards. It was too dark to see much of anything now; he could only see shadowy outlines of figures. It probably wouldn't be smart to move him or do anything until morning, if we can wait that long …

"…Are you okay?" Mikado asked, carefully bending down next to him.

"My legs really, really hurt now. They feel like they're broken," came the response.

"Which parts? Feet? Upper Legs? Lower Legs? Knees?"

A pause, then "I really can't tell, sempai."

"… Why are you calling me 'sempai'?"

"You sound like one." Came the response with a little chuckle. "Why? Am I wrong?"

"… I guess it doesn't matter." He felt that the situation rather than what to call the kid was more important.

"My name's Kuronuma Aoba, I am – was – whatever – a middle school student. Who are you?"

"I'm Ryugamine Mikado, I attend – attended – Raira Academy," Mikado answered.

Aoba didn't try to hide the surprise on his face; it wasn't like the other could see him in the dark, anyways. This … this is the guy I've been investigating? The guy that was confronting that woman at the Dollar's meeting? He tried to shove the thoughts out of his mind, but he found it difficult to try.

"Anyways, do you think you're going to be able to stay like this until morning? I don't know how to set legs, especially in the dark."

"I don't know; it hurts, though." Aoba winced. "Hey, Mikado-sempai, I think there were some flashlights in this store … before it fell, of course." He laughed nervously. "Maybe you can feel around for them?"

"Flashlights?" Those would help, that is, if they have batteries in them … "Do you remember which part?"

"Umm, towards the back, I think …"

Mikado froze. He knew that there was probably a dead, deranged body at the back of the store; when he had first got here, he could see the blood splattered in the back, among other things … plus, I can even smell it now … he felt the sickness starting to come back to him, but he fought it down. "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure."

"A-alright, I'll try to go look." Mikado got up, feeling himself shake a little. Please, please don't let me run into the body … he headed towards the back of the store very, very cautiously; he was avoiding the broken glass and objects littered on the tiled floor, feeling his way around.

He kept feeling for what felt like flashlights, but he grabbed numerous other things instead; magazines, bottles, boxes of some sort (This must have been a convenience store, he thought) and other things. "How far back were they?" Mikado called.

"All the way at the back!" Came the answer.

Mikado shivered, knowing that the body was back there. Come on, just keep heading straight … the body was in the other corner. He kept moving forward, and felt his foot hit a rock of sorts. Cursing under his breath, he bent down and started feeling again.

Box … box … can … warm and furry …

…Wait. Warm and furry? He jumped and yelped in surprise when he felt the warm and furry thing squeak and move under his hand, and he heard it scurry off. Eww, a rat … probably … it was a rat, right?

"Are you okay?" Aoba called in worry, having heard Mikado yelp.

"Eh heh-heh, yeah," Mikado sweat dropped, trying to regain himself. It was a rat. He decided he'd keep going on.

He soon reached the back wall; half of the shelf along the back was still standing. He started feeling around for what felt like flashlights, hoping he wouldn't run into another rat. He felt more boxes, so he moved down a little. There were more boxes this time, and these ones felt small. This feels like a match box! He took one of the little boxes, feeling the side where matches were struck. He opened it cautiously and pulled one out, happy enough to have found it, and struck the match. A little flicker of light came to life, and he quickly looked along the shelves, searching for the flash lights. He found them easily; they were on the shelf under the matches. He kept his gaze away from anything else, however, for the stench of the body was stronger at the back and he didn't want to chance seeing it.

He took one of the flashlights, shaking it; it felt heavy, and he could hear batteries shaking inside of it. Good, that means I won't have to search for batteries as well. He waved out the match (it had almost burned down to his fingers) and turned on the flashlight, heading back the way he came.

Aoba was glad to see that the flashlight worked, seeing the approaching figure come back. He had rolled over so he could be lying face-up, despite the pain and protest that his legs had given him when he had done so. Mikado bent down, able to see the other's face and injuries now.

"I'm glad it works," Aoba admitted, looking down at his own legs; his face visibly winced. "They look worse than they feel right now."

Mikado looked as well; Aoba's right leg seemed to be broken all the way up, twisted from the knee down; it had a deep gash as well, but the blood looked like it had mostly dried, and it didn't seem like it had hit a major vein. His left leg seemed luckier; only his foot looked broken, and it was barely scratched.

"… I really don't know how to set legs." Mikado admitted, wanting to look away but he couldn't find himself doing so. "I – I don't really want to try either."

"Maybe tomorrow we can find someone who can," Aoba responded. "I mean, people are going to come looking for others, right? How bad is it out there?"

"…Pretty bad," Mikado admitted, sitting down and turning the flashlight off to save the batteries. "There isn't anything left standing; you're the … second one I've seen alive." He wasn't sure he wanted to remember the first one he came across, but the image was plastered in his mind and rang clearer than anything he could think of.

"Oh." Aoba felt a little disheartened. "You mean the city's basically flattened?"

"Yes, that's a way of putting it … I don't know what did it. All I remember was the ground shaking, and then waking up to see the results."

"I remember the shelf falling on me, the power going out, finding it hard to breathe, and then waking up and finding myself – OWW!" Aoba hissed, pulling his hand up and waving it around.

"What?" Mikado asked, worried. "Is it your legs?"

"No, something bit me!"

Mikado turned the flashlight on, and saw another rat – possibly the same one – scampering away. He moved the flashlight's beam across the area, seeing other little "things" move away. "Rats."

"Ewww," Aoba didn't like rats. Big dangerous sharks? Yes. Tiny furry rats? Nope. "How many of them?"

"I don't know, but … maybe we shouldn't stay here for the night if they're already coming out and biting people." Biting corpses. He shook the thought, and continued to suggest. "I don't know how to set legs, though …" He felt really unsure as to what he should do. He was so lost … What am I supposed to do? I never learned how to prepare for any situation like this …

"I'd rather have my legs be in pain a little more than have rats gnawing on me all night." Aoba muttered, propping himself up a little. " … Do you think you could … carry me?"

"Carry you?"

"Yeah, like piggy-back."

"…I really don't know. I'm not that strong." Mikado frowned; he really wasn't the athletic type. He almost always came in last when it came to racing or track or a game of sorts.

"I'm really, really short and light!" Aoba protested. "Come on, we don't have to go that far! Just somewhere high and where rats won't go! The rats are probably attracted by the food around here!"

That's true … I wouldn't have to go too far … "I can try." He set the flashlight down, but left the light on. He bent down with his back turned, and felt Aoba try to grasp onto his shoulders; once he had a firm grip, Mikado pulled forward and with a great deal of strain, stood up, putting his arms back to support his load. Aoba wrapped his arms around Mikado's neck, feeling secure. Mikado's bag was still secure around his neck, and Aoba took the chance to support his left leg on the actual bag part.

"See? You can do it sempai." Aoba grinned.

"How are your legs?"

"New pain in some areas, less in others. About the same." Aoba answered, wincing at the new pains. "Just get us out of rat land."

Mikado bent down the best he could, and freed one hand quickly to grab the flashlight; he bent back up before his knees could give out on him. "Here, you can hold the flashlight," Mikado passed it up to Aoba, who took it and held it at a good angle to see their way around. They started their way out.

Once they made their way outside of what was the store, Aoba took the opportunity to move the flashlight around, getting a brief glance of the destruction that lay around them. His face winced when the flashlight trailed across some bodies. "…You weren't kidding. Just what happened? A bomb?"

"…I don't know," Mikado admitted, making his way over a mound, doing his best to not look around him. "If it had been a bomb, though, wouldn't there be fire? Clouds? Acid or black rain? There aren't any clouds at all." It was true; from the time he had woken up, the only clouds he encountered were ground-level dust clouds. Even now the sky was lit up by stars, not a cloud in sight.

"Earthquake?"

"… Probably." It left them both in confused, worried states of minds. If it had been an earthquake, then the magnitude must have jolted off the scale; both could only imagine how far the destruction reached. It probably stretched beyond Tokyo, since no "rescue teams," visitors, or the likes could be seen.

"But if it was an earthquake, then would there really be this many casualties? In a big city like this?" He could already smell the stench of the dead.

"… I don't know."

After a while of hiking, Mikado stopped, looking around the best he could.

"What is it, Mikado-sempai?" Aoba asked, moving the flashlight around where Mikado was looking.

"Do you see any good places to stay?" He asked, following where Aoba was pointing the flashlight; his arms and legs were growing tired from carrying the younger around, and he didn't want to go further and see more dead people lying in the streets and under the rubble. They had even passed cars with carcasses inside of them. I doubt an earthquake was the real cause of this … it must be something more.

"Umm …" Aoba continued looking around, unsure. "There isn't really … any 'good' place." Aoba stopped, going quiet. "Do you hear that?"

Mikado held his breath and remained still so he could listen; he then heard what sounded like footsteps, not too far away from them but still distant. "Yeah, I do. Can you tell what direction it's coming from?"

"Oy! Hello out there!" Came a distant voice, causing them both to look around in the general direction from which it had came. Mikado felt he recognized the voice, but he couldn't put a name on it …

"Ah, that way sempai!" Aoba said, pointing the flashlight in the right direction; Mikado couldn't look up at that moment, though, as he was carefully letting his feet slide down the rubble as he tried to maintain balance. However, his right foot slipped more and got caught on a wire, and he felt Aoba's grip tighten as he fell forwards. Yet, he somehow managed to regain his balance and not fall over onto the broken glass and signs in front of him. That was close. He looked back up while Aoba re-stabilized the flashlight.

Mikado's jaw nearly dropped when the beam of light fell on a familiar figure. "… Izaya … san?" He survived too?

"Oh, someone who knows me?" Izaya came closer, another figure trailing slowly behind him. His fur lined jacket had a hole in it … "Ah, it's Mikado-kun! This makes things more interesting!"

Aoba frowned. Who's that? Other than the guy that I see that Heiwajima guy chasing around all the time.

"I'm sure you remember Namie-san, my secretary, too!" Izaya pointed to the woman behind him, who looked distraught and a little … zombified.

… That's the woman that Ryugamine faced off at the Dollars' meeting! Aoba was baffled, and glad that the others couldn't see his face too well, as he was the one with the flashlight and it was pointing away from his face. Mikado, however, appeared surprised at the sight of both of them.

This was bound to prove … interesting.