Humans vs Zombies
The Ultimate Tag
[A/n: First of all, I'm going to address this here since people have anonymously messaged me and I can't respond to them. This story will show up when you search for Sasori and Deidara because they are both main characters in this story. This isn't a SasoDei story and it isn't even really an DeiIta story because the relationship part is not important for the story. That note is in the summary in case you absolutely hate DeiIta/ItaDei and don't want to read it, but Sasori will remain as a character tag because he is a main character so please don't message me telling me to remove the tag or report the fic because of 'inappropriate tagging'.
If you have a problem with that, come off anon so I can respond to you privately, or message me on my tumblr so I can respond (my tumblr's the same as my pen name) that way.
Second, thanks for reading and reviews! Sorry this took so long to post, this semester's been a bit more stressful than I anticipated.]
Chapter two:
Venturing out.
"We should get hoards of alcohol!"
"I don't think that would be a good idea," Itachi said, checking the time on his phone. "The RA will protest, plus Kisame gets a little weird when he's had a lot of alcohol… You do too, you know."
"So does Sasori, ha!" Deidara swung his bag in wide angles. "All the more reason, un! Let's have a party this weekend!"
"Maybe, but we're really late getting back, we shouldn't get into any more trouble than we already might be," Itachi said, shouldering his bag. He ignored Deidara's grumbling as they headed back to the school. They had gotten kicked out of the movie theater halfway through for not actually watching the movie and had to run before the movie called the cops. Instead they had found a city park to curl up together in private again. Movies were always boring after all. When they finally untangled, the clocks on their phones read two in the morning and they had to scramble to pull their clothes back on and ran back to the school. The gate was closed, so they were walking around looking for somewhere to climb. They had to get over or they would be disqualified from the game.
Deidara waved him off, eyeing a tree that grew close to the wall. "This one's good. Kinda close to the dorms, don't you think?"
"Not really…" Itachi muttered, but walked up to it.
"You first."
"Why?"
"So I can stare at your butt while you're going up, un," Deidara replied with a smirk. Itachi gave him a look, but Deidara just continued grinning at him. "Well, go on."
"Maybe… I want to star—"
"Too bad," Deidara waved him off, smirking the whole time. "You're my bitch and I say I get to watch you climb up the tree, un." He propped himself against the tree to prepare his viewing pleasure, but Itachi just inched forward until he was leaned against Deidara, kissing him softly. "No, no, no. You can't kiss your way out of this," Deidara laughed, giving him a small shove. "Get your ass up there, un."
"One more," Itachi said, leaning down.
Deidara grinned and leaned up to give him a kiss, but stopped and pulled away. "Did you hear that?" he asked, looking up the tree.
"What?" Itachi asked, looking unhappy as he stood up straighter.
"People yelling," Deidara replied with a frown.
"Like you said Sasori's been hearing?" Itachi asked, raising an eyebrow, but he listened carefully. "People shouldn't be out this late though…"
Deidara gave a broad gesture to the two of them, reminding him that they were also out much later than they were allowed. Turning, he climbed up the tree first and slid on top of the brick wall that protected the school's boundaries. Itachi joined him, perching carefully on his toes as he glanced around the school grounds.
They had walked further down the wall from the gate that they had originally thought. Before them was the cluster of trees that made up the small woods on campus and the Social Science buildings. They couldn't see anyone from their position, but there were definitely voices yelling on the grounds. Great bursts of yelling, scared and uncertain. It didn't sound much like a game to them, but either way why were these people making so much noise? They would get campus security out here and everyone would get into trouble. Including one particular couple that had accidentally spent too much time alone and naked who needed to sneak back into their dorms before anyone saw them.
"What the hell is going on, un?" Deidara finally voiced both of their confusions, but he sounded more annoyed than alarmed. "Fuck, I'm going to have to apologize to Sasori for making fun of him…"
Itachi gave a soft nod, still trying to figure out what was going on, but it was impossible from their angle. "I don't think we should go straight down the path in case security comes to stop those people," he said, gesturing. "Let's go around through the woods and cross the baseball fields. It's less open than the pavilion field."
Deidara nodded, then smirked. "Get lost in the—"
Itachi nudged him, rolling his eyes. "We're not sleeping in the woods tonight."
"Who said anythi—"
"Let's just go now," Itachi said, feeling slightly exasperated as he gripped the sides of the wall to slid his body down, dropping the last three feet with a soft thump on the grass. Deidara didn't slide, but jumped down, landing in a rolling heap with a groan as he stood up slowly to check to see if he hadn't broken anything. Itachi gave him a simmering look, but Deidara just smirked and strutted off into the woods with the brunette following after him wondering when his heart would finally give out because of the blond.
Walking through the unkempt woods was difficult in the dark. The lights that shone across the brick laid pathways around campus didn't penetrate the leaves very well, though they could see enough to know which direction they were going. Several times they tripped over roots and loose stones and had to grab onto each other or nearby trees to steady themselves. Very quickly, Deidara grew less interested in getting through the woods and more taking advantage in the dark, but a sound ahead of them made him pause in a second attempt to pull Itachi into a kiss. Someone was pushing through the brush towards them, panting heavily like they had been running. As they burst through the trees, Itachi reached his hand out to catch the person and steady them as they began to tumble.
"Are you alright?" he asked, but the person pushed him away, backing up in a panic.
When his eyes finally fell on the two of them, it died. "Sorry," he said, glancing back from where he came. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just thought that…"
"Thought what?" Itachi asked, following his gaze.
"What the hell are you people doing making all this noise?" Deidara demanded, pointing back to the center of campus.
The man stared at him as if his question wasn't quite sinking in. "What are you doing out here?" he asked, eyes darting from Deidara to Itachi.
"Hey, I asked first, un," Deidara said irritably, taking a step forward, but Itachi stilled him with a hand on his shoulder.
"We're heading back to the dorms," Itachi said, frowning. "Why are you out so late?"
"I'm trying to get out!" the man exclaimed. "They're crazy!"
"Who?"
"The people on this campus! Everyone's lost their minds," he said, the panic returning. "I hope I'm fucking dreaming."
"Uh…" Deidara's irritation was replaced by confusion. "Why?"
"Because they killed my friend!" the man nearly shrieked. "What the hell is going on?"
"Who killed them?" Itachi said, as confused as Deidara was. Had someone snuck onto campus and started attacking people? The man's panic seemed worse than that.
"The students, a teacher—I don't know what's going on!" the man was yelling now, ignoring Itachi's quiet gesture for him to calm down.
Behind him, another person emerged from the trees, staggering as the bushes caught their clothes. Deidara and Itachi could barely see the person in the dark, but as the man turned to follow the sound, he gave a strangling scream as the person grabbed at him, pulling him closer to bite down on the exposed flesh of his arm. Shocked into silence, Deidara and Itachi stared frozen as the newcomer dragged the man still screaming to the ground, still gnawing at his skin.
"Zombie!" Deidara exclaimed suddenly, making Itachi jump. He wasn't sure if the blond had said the word out of fear or excitement, but it was almost as ridiculous as what they were watching.
Itachi grabbed Deidara's arm and forced him to plunge back into the trees, running with his hand up to keep himself from accidently running into a blackened tree. "Is this some kind of joke to go along with the game?" he asked as they slide out of the woods and against the link fence that bordered the baseball field. They climbed over it and knelt down on the grass together, Deidara's eyes owlishly wide. "I mean…" Itachi wasn't really sure what he meant.
"They wouldn't let us play this late at night, un," Deidara said, crawling closer. "Oh my god, Itachi, do you think that was a real zombie?"
"Zombies aren't real," Itachi said firmly, but Deidara was quickly shaking his head, still wide eyed. 'Famous last words', they said, though the blond didn't say that aloud. "If it was, we just left someone to get eaten."
"We don't have any weapons!" Deidara said, shaking his school bag. "I just have duct tape and the nerf gun, un. Maybe a pen or two."
"We're not killing anyone," Itachi said firmly. "This is probably just a really stupid joke and we're all going to get in trouble for being out after curfew. Let's just get back to the dorm."
Deidara nodded, clearly enthralled by the idea that had wedged itself in his mind. They kept to the edges of the field, hurrying to hop the other fence and over a small stream. The bridge was nearby, but Itachi didn't want to be seen and the blond's blind love of excitement seemed to overwhelm any apprehension he should be feeling. Their dorm was on the other side, across a small street where people could pull their cars up to the back parking lot. There were people outside.
"Fire exit," Deidara said, pointing to the unmarked door on the side.
"Wont that set off the alarm?"
Deidara shook his head. "The alarm isn't triggered by the door opening, un," he explained. "Sasori and I use it all the time cause it's faster than going all the way around. You just need a swipe key card."
"And you have one."
"Of course," Deidara smirked. As they hurried across the street, a few people noticed them and started coming towards them. Itachi noticed that they stumbled slightly like the person in the woods. Maybe their clothes hadn't gotten caught on the brush like he had thought. Deidara took the winding stairs to the side door three at a time and pulled his wallet from his pocket to dig out the swipe key to get them inside.
As they leaned against the door, breathing heavily, Itachi glanced over at the blond. "Where did you get that card?" he asked.
"They were in the offices," Deidara told him. Something bumped against the door behind them and they both took a step away from it. "Each dorm has their own staff key card."
"You stole it?"
"It's not stealing if I return it, un," said the blond with his nose turned up defiantly.
Itachi decided not to argue with him and together they climbed the stairs to the fifth floor. He could see why Deidara preferred to use this exit, the opening on their floor was just two doors down from their own room and Deidara always hated waiting for elevators. The hallway was empty, so they hurried without sneaking to their door and quickly slipped inside, slamming it shut.
Kisame startled awake on the couch where he had been dozing after a movie, looking up at them as he blinked sleep from his eyes. "Where the hell have you guys been?" he asked, managing to look slightly amused. "You have leaves in your hair."
"We did," Itachi said, reaching up to brush out the offending leaves. "But the—"
"There are zombies outside!" Deidara burst out. "We saw someone eating someone else, un!"
"What?" Kisame frowned.
"I think it's a joke," Itachi muttered.
"Where's Sasori? I have to tell him," Deidara was practically bursting with excitement as he turned to walk towards Sasori's door.
"I thought he was with you."
Stopping, Deidara backed out of the hallway and stared at him. "What?" he asked, looking confused. "No, we went out on a date, un. Sasori didn't come back?"
Kisame shook his head and reached for the remote to turn the TV off. "I thought he tagged along with you guys," he repeated.
Deidara looked back at Itachi, excitement from the run fading to concern. The brunette dug into his bag for his phone and looked at it. Their classes had gotten out five hours ago. "Maybe he found something to do?" Itachi suggested, unsure.
The blond pulled his bag off his shoulder and dug out his own phone. Usually the two of them didn't call one another. Neither enjoyed talking on the phone, but he was not waiting for a text message. Quickly dialing the redhead's number, he put the phone to his ear and began pacing irritably back and forth.
No answer.
"Shit, what the hell," he snapped, pulling it away so he could send the text in case the redhead wasn't answering him on principle.
"Maybe he met somebody and is getting some," Kisame suggested, though he looked a little uncertain. Deidara's worry was slightly infectious.
"Sasori?" the blond clarified. "He hates touching people. How would that even work, un?"
"He doesn't mind you," Kisame added with a shrug.
"That's different," Deidara waved it off, then turned to look at Itachi. "I have to go back out and find him, un."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Itachi said softly. "It's too late anyway, Dei. You've been up all day."
"But that guy said they killed his friend, un!"
"It's a game," Itachi insisted. "Real zombies being here, eating people is impossible."
"But what if it's not?" Deidara cried, throwing his hands up. "What if… he… Itachi—" His panic was stopped by Itachi smothering him into a gentle hug, the brunette rubbing his shoulder gently.
"I know you're worried, but you can't do anything right now," Itachi whispered. "We'll go when the sun comes up. It'll be safer…"
Deidara wanted to sleep in his own room, but Itachi asked him to stay with him instead. Even if that meant being kept awake by the blond's restlessness. The brunette was worried that the man would dart out by himself to find Sasori even though he had promised not to. Deidara didn't usually break his promises, but promises didn't usually involve his best friend. The ceiling of Itachi's bedroom would be illuminated every five minutes from the screen light of Deidara's phone as he checked to see if Sasori had messaged him back.
When the sun finally rose, Itachi rolled over and reached for the blond, finding him gone and awoke completely with a start, fearing that he had indeed left. A sigh of relief slipped out when he saw the blond sitting in on the desk staring out the window towards the campus grounds.
"I thought you left," Itachi said, sitting up.
"I promised I wouldn't, un," Deidara mumbled, resting his head against the window.
Sliding off the bed, Itachi went over and followed his gaze. There were still people wandering around outside, not seeming to have anywhere in particular to go. It was eerie and made his the hair on the back of his neck stand on edge. "Did you sleep?" he asked quietly, reaching over to move Deidara's hair so he could see his face.
"A little... not much," Deidara muttered, peeling his eyes away from the window and rest his head against Itachi's shoulder. "What the hell is going on, un?"
"I don't know... I wonder if someone's called the police," Itachi replied, patting his shoulder and turned to the door as a knock sounded and Kisame stepped in, already dressed.
"Couldn't sleep much myself," he commented, shifting from foot to foot. "I keep getting text from friends on campus asking if I know if this thing is a joke or something. You think we should just stay here until someone figures out what's going on?"
Deidara shook his head firmly. "I'm going to find Sasori," he stated.
"I figured," Kisame gave a smirk and shook his school backpack. "I packed some stuff. You know, necessary survival shit. Cause we're coming with you."
Itachi nodded his agreement, leaning against his desk as he spun a bit of Deidara's hair around his finger. "I would feel better if we came."
Kisame nodded seriously. "It always starts to go to hell when someone goes off on their own," he commented.
The brunette started to remind them that this was a game not real, but remembering the screaming last night and the person in the woods, he wasn't sure. "What sort of stuff?" he asked.
"Food, extra water, first aid, blanket, my knife," Kisame shrugged.
"I'll get my bag," Deidara mumbled then left the room to head to his own across the suite.
When he was gone, Itachi heaved a sigh and stretched his back. "You think someone's called the cops?" he asked again.
"Probably," Kisame said with a shrug. "I don't know if whatever's going on is campus wide though. The people who've texted me are mostly on the science side of campus."
"This side."
"Yeah."
Going to his dresser, Itachi pulled out clothes to tug on so when Deidara came back he would be mostly ready. "It's weird seeing Deidara worried, but it's cause of Sasori... if he was here, they'd both want to go out anyway."
"It is like a game though," Kisame grinned.
"Except that people could be dead," Itachi reminded him.
"Like a game," Kisame repeated.
Itachi sighed and finished getting dressed while Kisame went back into the common room. Itachi didn't think much of this game anymore. Emptying his backpack of his school supplies and books, he wondered what to replace them with. Deidara and Kisame liked survival things much more than he did. Yet he wanted to contribute, so he dug through his drawers, pulling out an extra set of clothes just in case, his own knife Deidara had given him in Sophomore year for his birthday, matches and a lighter, a flashlight with extra batteries and his throw blanket. When he stepped into the common room, he walked to the kitchen and added the bars of granola and other things that wouldn't spoil and would be easy to eat.
"Deidara?" he called softly. The blond answered as he came out of his own room, dressed in his normal clothes again and zipping up his hoodie under his jacket. "Here, eat this," he said, tossing him an apple. "You didn't sleep much, it'll keep you awake better than coffee." He slipped some pain reliever and allergy medicine in his bag just in case before putting a few water bottles inside. It was a little heavy, but not as heavy as it was with his school books inside.
Deidara ate the apple without arguing, sliding his backpack on himself as he did so and went to the door to stair through the keyhole on his tip-toes. "Do you think they're in the dorms?" he asked after a moment.
"I don't know," Itachi replied, shaking his head. "I think we should decide where we're going before we leave though."
"I agree," Kisame said, coming over to the kitchen counter. "We don't know where exactly Sasori … got distracted," he finally decided. "It could be anywhere on campus, or maybe he never left the building."
"I was going to start at the Social Science building, un," Deidara said, pointing at the obligatory map that each of the dorms had. "That's where I last saw him. Our class was on the third floor, un. I left before he did last night, so it probably took him a while to leave…"
"Why?" Kisame asked, frowning at the map.
"It just takes him a while to leave places," Deidara said shortly, as though it was something that wasn't important and didn't need to be explained. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a sharpie and began drawing on the map, marking off the building with an X. The two of them never questioned each other's' quirks, but helped when they got too bad. Their class got out at 8:50PM, which meant that Sasori probably hadn't left the building until 9:30 or 9:45. He and Itachi hadn't seen any weird things when they had left. People had even chased them out of the campus like the real game.
Squinting at the map, he gave a frustrated sigh. "I think the Social Science building," he repeated, tapping the marked spot.
"Should we check the other buildings closer to the dorms?" Kisame asked, gesturing to them as he came over. "If he left and had to take cover…"
"No, Deidara's right, we should check that building first. Retrace steps," Itachi said with a nod.
"I hate when I lose Sasori," Deidara said, with a roll of his eyes. It took Itachi a moment to realize Deidara was making a joke. The blond had an expression on his face halfway between concern and bitter amusement. It made Itachi feel better to know that he was able to do so. Deidara was always useless when he was frantic about something, his emotions skyrocketing in the most inconvenient times. If he could make a joke, however bitter the humor was, he would keep his head.
They climbed down the stairs, Kisame reaching out every so often to keep Deidara from getting too ahead of them by tugging at the back of his backpack. When they got to the first floor, Kisame cracked it open a few inches, peering around at the parking lot visible.
"How are we getting to the building without being seen?" Itachi asked.
The other two considered this for a moment, then Deidara gave a small shrug. "The woods again?" Deidara suggested.
"Might be dangerous… it'd be easy for them to sneak up on us," Kisame commented. "The bridge is kinda dangerous, right? Could get cornered…"
"And we'd have to jump," Deidara said, turning to stare wide eyed at Itachi. He grabbed the brunette's hand and pulled him close. "Together."
He snorted as Itachi rolled his eyes. "It's only six feet above the water," the brunette muttered as he glanced out of the door way himself. "How about we go the longer way? Through the parking garage. There will be more places to hide… more escape routes and if we climb the fence on the far end it'll put us near the Art building."
"Then we can go around to the south door to the science building, cool, un," Deidara said with a nod. "Let's go."
They walked over the grass and street to cross the low stream and climb over the concrete wall into the parking structure. No one noticed them, but there were people wandering aimlessly in the structure so they had to creep between the small space between the cars and wall. Itachi wasn't sure if he should be amused or scared. Really, what they were doing was absolutely ridiculous. Zombies? That was just insane. This had to be a joke. Deidara's concern was real though. Even though his eyes were lighting up each time they dodged or flattened themselves under a car, Itachi saw him continuously glancing out to see how close they were to the place they needed to climb out.
"Deidara," he whispered, reaching out to catch his sleeve before he could dart away again. "He'll be fine."
"I know," Deidara assured him, shrugging it off. "He's too stubborn to be anything else, un."
Itachi nodded and let him go so he could hurry between the cars to where Kisame was waiting. "That girl is covered in blood," Kisame pointed out when Itachi joined them.
"Hey, she's in my science class," Deidara commented, peering over the car. "She's at the table next to me and Sasori, un… She looks horrible…" Her hair was matted in the blood and looked that she hadn't showered in days. Her clothes were rumpled and dirty and she was missing her jacket.
Kisame peered at her with a frown, then looked back at them. "If she is a zombie, she's dead…"
"Holy shit we're looking at a dead person from my class, un."
"Don't say things like that," Itachi said, pulling them away. "She's not dead, she's right there. Let's just get Sasori and get back to the dorms."
The two nodded and they turned away from the girl and continued their path. Itachi was happy to find out that there was a small set of stairs leading out of the lot which meant they didn't have to climb over the wall. Deidara made several unhappy complaints as they slipped out, wanting to have more of an adventure by climbing over things. They hurried against the wall of the building ducking low when they saw people, when the people had stumbled passed, they ran to the Social Science building and leaned against it to peer around and make sure no one had seen them.
"Okay, let's go in—"
"Wait," Deidara cried, starting forward. Kisame jerked him back and they fell to the ground behind a bush in the garden they were standing in. A zombie person was slumping passed them, arms slumped to his sides with his school bag dragging behind him. When he had his back to them, Deidara pulled out of Kisame's grip and crawled out to pick something up off the ground. "It's Sasori's phone," the blond told them, holding it up. Its screen was cracked even though the black and red case was still on it. The blond held it carefully, pushing the power button. The screen lit up, displaying the notifications of the many messages Deidara had sent him. "I don't understand…"
Kisame peered at it then where it had been. "What don't you understand? He dropped it maybe."
"Sasori takes really good care of his things… he wouldn't let his phone break, un… He wouldn't just leave it," Deidara started to stand but the other two grabbed him and yanked him back.
"He's not in the Science building," Itachi whispered. He looked around then looked up. "The window's open…"
His friends looked up and frowned. "That's too high," Kisame said, shaking his head. "There's no way he'd jump down from there… Hell, I wouldn't even try that."
"Maybe… something happened," Itachi said quietly, his hand clenched tightly on Deidara's, feeling the blonds anxiety rising almost as fast as his own. "He had to… Dei-Deidara!" He held him tighter as the blond tried again to leap to his feet. "Calm down, you have to calm down and think," he said calmly. "Where would he go?"
"If he jumped—"
"We have to find him fast," Itachi finished, nodding slowly. "Where would he go?"
"The Art building?" Kisame suggested, holding onto Deidara as well. "If he jumped down, he might've hurt himself… especially if he just left his phone here. He was trying to get away, that's the closest place."
Deidara, staring wide eyed at Itachi, nodded like a bobble head. "There's a door… there, un," he said, glancing over Itachi's shoulder. "What if he's a zombie?"
Itachi opened his mouth, but couldn't think of anything to say. Kisame answered instead, patting the blond on the head, "you can keep him as a pet in the shed and he'll never beat you at video games again."
Deidara gave a slightly high pitched laugh and Itachi assumed Kisame had made a reference to a movie. A sudden voice shouted a warning, causing them all to jump. Two men were walking slowly towards them, their eyes glassy and their legs stumbling. Their mouths hung slack as their heads lulled on their shoulders as if they didn't have much strength to hold them up. The three of them leapt to their feet and backed away, but the two men took a few faster steps closer. The voice that had warned them called out again and Kisame glanced around to see the window of the first floor of the Art building open and a girl waving to get their attention, pointing at the door.
Kisame grabbed his friends arms and shoved them towards the building. They half ran, half walked, still a little confused, but as they cleared the building a few others spotted them and started hurrying towards them as well, a horrible preening sound coming from their mouths. The sound made Deidara run a bit faster, throwing himself at the door. One didn't open, barred from the inside, but the right side did and he threw it open, letting Kisame and Itachi in before he slammed it shut. The left side door was barricaded closed and a man was already pushing the vending machine in front of the one they had come through as the girl in the window came around the corner.
"Are you guys okay?" the man asked as he stepped away from the machine.
"Are you bitten?" the girl asked, a little more sternly.
"No," Kisame said, holding out his arms to show her. "What's going on? Do you guys know anything?"
"Who the hell knows, but people are going batshit insane," the girl said. She had a sharp tool in her hand, one Itachi had seen in the art studio at Deidara's house.
"Have you seen a little redhead kid, un?" Deidara asked, holding his hand out to gesture Sasori's height, a few inches below his own.
The two looked at one another, but shook their heads. "We only got here this morning," the man said with a shrug. "We had classes... but there's dead people everywhere! Even teachers."
"They're really zombies?" Kisame asked, looking torn from being mortified and interested.
"For lack of any other word," the man replied. "We only cleared that classroom there, but there could be people in the other rooms..."
Deidara gave a firm nod and started towards the center of the building with Itachi following close behind. "Should we have some kind of weapon just in case?" he asked the blond who seemed to have developed tunnel vision.
"I'll find something, un," Deidara muttered darkly.
Itachi gave a quiet chuckle. "I hope you get this determined if you ever lose me," he said just as quiet, but Deidara stopped and turned to look at him with a confused look.
"Of course I would," the blond replied. "I'd blow up the whole school if you get hurt, so make sure you don't, okay?" He reached out and prodded Itachi's shoulder firmly, making the brunette laugh softly in slight embarrassment. Deidara smirked back at him, then began peeking into the classrooms. "Where would you go, you idiot..." he murmured under his breath.
"Hey, careful you two," Kisame called, coming up behind them. "Those two said there were zombies in here too. They just cleared the classroom and hallway."
Itachi peered around the hallway corner when they came to it and frowned. There was a body lying on the hallway, unmoving. No one he recognized, but he couldn't tell if it was alive or dead. "Does Sasori have a class in here? Maybe he went somewhere familiar."
"Upstairs," Deidara said quietly, then jumped and whirled around as a hand came down on his shoulder.
The man who had let them in shushed him and jumped away to avoid Deidara's swing. "Shit, it's just me," he cried softly. "Look, come into the classroom with us. It's too dangerous."
"Our friend could be in this building," Itachi said. "And he might be hurt."
"And he might be a zombie," the man said with a slight sneer. "Either way, you can't just run in blindly."
Itachi started to put together an argument to agree with the man that Deidara would listen to, but the blond had already broken away from them and ran up the stairs to the next floor. His shoes made a sharp sound on the steps so he shifted his weight as he ran to land on his toes, silencing his footfalls. When he reached the landing to the second floor, he carefully pushed the door opened, but it still made a horrible scraping sound that echoed in the stairwell. Cringing, he crouched low and glanced back apologetically as Itachi came up with Kisame close by.
"Sorry," he whispered and pushed the door open a little more, wincing horribly at the sounds. Did no one ever oil these doors? Stepping out into the hallway, he glanced to both sides then began walking down the hall, pausing every so often to listen. Itachi was a little surprised to watch him. The blond hated silence and made noise just by being alive and he certainly wasn't a quiet walker, but he was being quite silent in his movements.
They turned the corner with nothing in sight and Itachi felt the tension in his shoulders lesson slightly, Kisame standing up straighter next to him. Maybe there was nothing on this floor at all, or everything was behind closed classroom doors. A hand shot out in front of him making him jump backwards into Kisame as the body it belonged to stumbled out of an open classroom door towards them. Itachi was too shocked to react as the teacher grabbed at him, but was thrown off by the class room door slamming into his body as Deidara slammed it closed. The man grunted as his body was crushed in between the door and frame, but the blond pulled the door opened to repeat the process again and again until the man had fallen back into the classroom. He threw his body against the door, it clicked shut with a solid latch, but the door angled slightly. The man's fingers were still trapped in the wood, broken and bleeding. The man turned as best he was able and opened his mouth against it. If he was making a noise, they couldn't hear it.
Breathing heavily, Deidara rounded on Itachi with such an angry expression the brunette took a step away from him, but the blond just reached out to make sure he wasn't hurt. "Damn," Kisame sounded impressed behind him, but the blond didn't reply.
"He didn't…" Itachi started, staring at the door window, "react at all…" He stepped away from the door, his hand finding Deidara's to pull him along. He should be in pain, terrible pain. He had never seen Deidara react to something so violently before though he knew he had a horrible temper. The blond had reacted to keep him safe, but the amount of times he had crushed the man should have done more damage than it actually did.
Deidara gave a firm and irritated scoff, but it was directed towards the attacker. This was definitely a teacher. Deidara didn't have any of his classes, but he was always coming in to borrow chalk from his professor, disrupting class loudly in a joking manner. He felt his chest tightening as his heart pounded against his ribs. If Sasori wasn't in this building, he wouldn't know where else to look, not that that would stop him from looking. But staying out too much would put Itachi in danger which was something he absolutely did not want to do. It was frustrating. He could stuff Itachi into a safer place or go find Sasori, not do both. Itachi wouldn't let him go off on his own.
He walked faster, his eyes darting around with his hand firmly grasped in Itachi's. Each open door looked dangerous now. Each closed door had an ominous air to them. If Sasori was here, he'd be in his classroom. The redhead wasn't stupid, even if he was running away and hiding, he'd do it logically, so Deidara had to think logically too. He would hide somewhere that someone would find him if they followed a trail, only Sasori didn't leave a trail, so Deidara was going off their own class schedule. He stopped suddenly, Itachi crashing into him, and frowned. What if he couldn't get to the second floor? The phone tucked safely away in his pocket made a shiver roll down his back. That had been a really far height to fall from.
He had to find him, so he continued walking, letting go of Itachi's hand so he could defend himself if he had to. They passed a few more open doors, which they quietly closed as they passed when there were people inside. Deidara stopped at an open door to the art room he and Sasori had classes in thrice a week, vaguely aware that Itachi was right behind him and peered inside. There was a girl in the room, but she was walking strangely enough that they knew she was one of the zombies. She was pacing the length of a desk pushed against the wall, sometimes clawing at its surface but couldn't move it. Itachi grabbed Deidara's arm and pulled him back.
"Something's—"
"Behind it," Deidara nodded, glancing back in with him. "Do you think it's him?"
"I hope so," Itachi murmured.
They silently debated different ways of getting passed the girl, but Kisame walked passed them and picked up the closest chair to use as a weapon as he smashed it against the girl's head. She fell under the chair as it clattered loudly in the room causing them all to cringe and listen. "What?" he asked at their stares. "I wanted to drop one too." Itachi and Deidara hurried inside as Kisame dragged the girl into the hallway and they shut the door. They didn't know if the blow had killed the zombie girl, nor did they want any more coming because of the noise. Deidara went over to the desk, glancing back at Itachi looking uncertain. Itachi gave him a nod and the blond turned and tapped four times on the desk surface with his finger.
There was a moments silence before the tap was returned.
"Shit," Deidara gasped, grabbing the sides of the desk and pulling it away from the wall as the other two hurried over to help. The desk had a sliding door on the other side Deidara knew to contain various art supplies, but when he had the desk away from the wall so he could open it, his eyes fell on Sasori instead, his brown eyes wider than the blond had ever seen them. Deidara reached in and dragged him out and into a bone breaking embrace that the redhead, for once, collapsed into without a single protest.
R&R