Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Zombie AU. Now that they had Kasamatsu, a trained human-weapon since the age of four, on their side – Aomine and the others finally figure out how this toxin outbreak happened and what they need to do to save humanity. [ Continuation of A Whisper in the Wind ]
It has been three months.
Well, three months and now two and a half weeks since they met Kasamatsu Yukio. Three months, two and a half weeks since Kasamatsu Yukio joined them in their fight for survival. Three months, two and a half weeks since Kasamatsu Yukio told them that the possibility of the outbreak could have been caused by their parents.
Kasamatsu has stated that the people who took him and many other children in at such a young age to train them for this very reason used to work at the company that Aomine and the other's parents all worked at. Kasamatsu's group had split from them, disgusted about the talk of creating a toxic gas that the government would use for 'special cases'.
They were disgusted by the fact that while in attempt for finding a remedy – a cure – the higher-ups had taken to using their own blood, their children at such young and delicate ages, experimenting on them and erasing their memories. Kasamatsu believed that they, the other survivors apart from Kasamatsu himself, were the very children.
Aomine had to agree. It did make sense. He did recall that there was a point in his life that was fuzzy, as if he had forgotten important memories. He also remembered having dreams, but at the time – that was what Aomine thought they were… Dreams.
His dreams proved to be a reality and now the seven, now eight, were determined to find a cure to fix the entire mess their parents caused. To take responsibility and restore humanity by curing the remaining infected. Hopefully, it would work…
"I need to go."
"What?" Aomine raised his eyebrow, scoffing as he turned from his place on the ratty, old couch, squinting at Kasamatsu who stood across the room. The older teenager was geared up and ready to head outside, holding his infamous HK21. His hood was pulled away, creating a shadow over his eyes, making it impossible for Aomine or anyone else to try and read his expression or to know what he was thinking.
Luckily, they did not need to read his mind because he spoke again, clarifying, "To my old HQ."
"You had an HQ?!" Kise gaped, looking shocked and excited at the idea. Kasamatsu looked at the blond and cocked an eyebrow (not that anyone could see) and nodded. "Oh, well… I guess it makes sense… Because of what happened, when you told us that-" Kise never got to finish because Midorima had shot him a glare, silently reminding him that it was a touchy subject for Kasamatsu. The once-model seemed to get the idea and he shut up instantly, creating an awkward silence in the living room of their base of operations. "Hehe…" Kise laughed, scratching his cheek, not knowing what else to do or say.
Kasamatsu just tilted his head and turned around, pulling the safety off his gun. "There is hardly any infected walking around at this time, in this area, so I'll be alright by myself."
Aomine once again scoffed, pushing himself up off the couch. "We're sure you'll be alright, but you aren't going alone." He stated, crossing his arms over his chest. Kasamatsu stopped and half-turned to Aomine, staring at him from the corner of his shadowed eyes.
"Fine." Kasamatsu said after a moment, almost reluctantly. "But just you, I don't need to look after a bunch of idiots, namely Kise."
"Ehhh, Kasamatsu-senpaaai. You're so mean!" Kise whined out, a pout on his face. Both Aomine and Kasamatsu rolled their eyes at him before Aomine hopped over the couch. He jogged over to their little 'armory' and collected his things before catching up to Kasamatsu who was waiting by the chained up door.
"Ready?" Kasamatsu asked.
Aomine replied with a nod, "Ready."
It was evening by the time they reached Kasamatsu's old HQ.
Aomine was surprised. When Kasamatsu said HQ, he expected some type of impenetrable, giant military building decked out with guns and such. However, what he saw appeared to be an ordinary large house that could maybe fit 4 families, in the least. The yard was bigger than average, equipped with a small 'training field' which probably appeared to be an odd-looking playset for the children.
"You used to live here?" Aomine asked, doubting it. If he did not know Kasamatsu, then he would not have guessed such a thing. He looked over at Kasamatsu, just in time to see him nodding in affirmation. "Should we-" Aomine fell silent, watching as Kasamatsu walked up to the large doors. He changed his question, "Do you have a key?" The blue haired teenager asked.
"Not needed." Kasamatsu gave a short reply, pulling up what appeared to be a large door-knocker and revealing a set of keys, for a code.
"Cool." Aomine stated, feeling slightly impressed at Kasamatsu's old life, despite how horrible it seemed. Because really, what child would want to go through harsh training for an undead apocalypse? He heard a noise, tensed and turned around, but saw nothing. He kept his guard up, just in case, his fingers gripping the AK47 in his hands.
Kasamatsu punched in a code, the action familiar and unforgettable. The sound of a heavy lock snapping open filled the air and then the door creaked open. Kasamatsu stepped aside to further open the door, holding it open for Aomine as he entered. Aomine slipped through and the door closed automatically behind him, the lock slipping back into place.
The tanned skinned teen watched Kasamatsu walk ahead of him, while Aomine chose to lag behind, looking at all (correction: the few) pictures that lingered on the walls, unbroken but collecting dust. He noticed one had a big group of children in it, along with a few tough-looking adults. There was one adult who had a smile on his face instead of a sneer like the other adults, and he was holding up a boy who was shorter than the rest. Aomine tilted his head but when he noticed Kasamatsu disappear through a door, he jogged after him, not wanting to lose the older teen in the maze of his once-house.
He turned to the door and saw stairs that lead down into a basement. Aomine followed Kasamatsu down the stairs and was surprised to see it how large it was. The basement seemed to stretch further than the house, with a large hall that leads into different rooms. The main room where Kasamatsu walked towards, however, was filled with scientific equipment. Aomine could see beakers and different sized tubes with clouded and bright liquids still inside, cobwebs stretched around the unused equipment, giving it an eerie feel. "What are we here for?" Aomine asked, holding his gun close as Kasamatsu stopped in front of a large table filled with various tubes and cases.
Kasamatsu looked at him before turning his gaze back to the empty case in front of him. He began to read over the labels on some of the chemicals, mumbling to himself. Aomine arched his eyebrow but did not push the older teen and instead picked up a random folder that was on a dusty stool. "Bring that to me."
Startled by Kasamatsu's voice, Aomine jolted and knocked over a small beaker with a faint green liquid in it. It shattered on the floor and he winced, turning to look at Kasamatsu. Kasamatsu just stared at him, holding his hand out for the folder in his hands. Aomine gave it to him and stepped away from the spilled chemical mixture, not knowing what it would or could do. He watched Kasamatsu fill the case with various chemicals and such, tucking the folder Aomine handed him, as well as a few others, into the side of the case. "Let's go back now."
"What exactly did we come here for?" Aomine thought he would try and ask again, hoping that Kasamatsu would not brush him off or ignore him again.
Kasamatsu glanced back at him as he ascended the stairs, his grip tightening on the case. "A chance."
"A chance?" Aomine asked quizzically, furrowing his eyebrows.
"To help them."
"Who?"
"The infected, obviously." Kasamatsu turned and smacked Aomine upside the head, a small smirk playing on his face. "Idiot." He added in a teasing way, making Aomine huff at him.
"You mean…" Aomine's eyes widened. "A way to turn them back to him?"
"Yes. An antidote, for starters. If we can figure out what went wrong before, then our chance of restoring humanity to what it once was goes up a whole lot more." Kasamatsu said as he navigated his way through the doors to the house and outside.
The sun was nearly down by now, welcoming the warming colors of the sky with the faint glittering of stars. Kasamatsu stared up at the fluffy white clouds for a moment, momentarily dropping his guard. Aomine looked up at the sky, wondering what Kasamatsu was thinking at that moment, but figured if he tried to understand the 'weapon', he might get a bad headache or something.
Aomine stared at Kasamatsu, a faint smile on his face. "Kasamatsu, if we do this… Then everything would go back to normal, right?"
Kasamatsu paused in his steps, looking at Aomine with a hint of sadness. "Nothing could go back to the way it was." He replied, in all seriousness. "The infected that are dead, the ones we've killed, will stay dead. The remaining will still have a chance though, even if it is slim."
Aomine was silent, listening to the raven haired boy solemnly. "How slim?"
Kasamatsu shook his head, "There are still tons of things we need to work out with the anti-toxin. We don't know how it will cure an infected from the very beginning, versus an infected from say a week ago. We don't have a way of knowing what will happen, because we don't have a way of knowing how long they had the toxin in their system." He explained, making Aomine's head hurt slightly with all the possibilities of the antidote.
"We don't know how long it'll take to fix the antidote, too." Aomine added to the growing list, a deep frown on his face. "But at least we have you. If you, Midorima and Akashi work together, then I'm sure we can get it right, no matter how many times we need to try."
Kasamatsu turned to face him, eyes widened slightly. His surprised gaze melted into one of contentment and minor amusement, a small, warm smile appearing on Kasamatsu's face. "You'd be lost without me, wouldn't you?"
Aomine snorted, scratching his cheek which may have felt a little warmer than usual, "And you say that I'm narcissistic."
"Well, I did learn from the best," Kasamatsu shrugged.
I know, I know… I set myself up from the last chapter. Er, day... Or, installment?.. Whatever it was, I kinda wanted to write more of Zombie AU. xDD Just because who doesn't like such an overused AU idea? 8D Don't worry, you'll get something different tomorrow.
Also! Title is a title of an amazing song~ Go listen to it, now! I command theeee *slapped* Heh. Anyway, it's XYLØ – Between the Devil and Deep Blue Sea. (Another good song by them is America. Listen to that as well. 8D) The song doesn't really have much to do with the story, I'm just sorta obsessed with it atm… But at least the title somewhat relates to it… Devil as in the zombies… between zombies and the sea (cause their on an island)…? *shot* It makes sense in my head lol
AND FINALLY – Dear Guest8: That is an interesting idea for an AU. Would Kasa be the cheerleader and Aomine the football player? Or am I just thinking about it weirdly? Keheheh. How would Kasacchi even get into cheerleading though? OAO
~WinterAssassin~