Chapter 87: Luck and shadows
A bold statement. Brimming with confidence. That's what Izaya's words had been.
Had they been rectified? Hard to say. Coming back safe and sound was more of a wish than a guarantee in this setting.
Fading into the distance the monotonous block of doom representing the mall the priest had hijacked was slowly retreating into the background.
"We are alone."
It was Shizuo who had pointed out the obvious detail about their present situation along with a smile that rivaled one of Izaya's when it came to mischief. "Want to bail?" He was referring to his offer. Leaving the group and living with Izaya, no matter where no matter how, was still preferable to anything that was going to endanger their lives.
Shizuo was joking, and yet he was not, because Izaya knew the second he chose to leave, they simply would.
And so he smiled, "Tempting," and looked towards a decent car that had actually been parked instead of cast aside on the run. "But not yet."
Circling over Izaya inspected what appeared to be an SUV. Colors of gray and black made most of the car and would probably serve them better once the sun set.
It was still midday, but this search for a person they had never seen before might turn out to take longer than expected. And Izaya was always expecting the unexpected if he had the chance to.
"Yet?" Shizuo snorted at the implication that the fact that they were going to bail seemed to be rather a topic of time and not ifs.
"First we have to locate this guy," Izaya announced and internally cheered when the front door of the SUV opened without any hindrance.
Luck had never been a proficient skill or anything he would attribute any of his actions to, but in this case he gladly took what was offered when he saw the key to the car dangling from the driver's seat.
"Isn't it a bit huge?" What sounded like a complaint was more of a question stemming from curiosity. Slipping inside the passenger's seat without a second of hesitation told Izaya as much as he pulled the door shut.
"I expect Jo's hoes cleared any zombies in immediate vicinity. And running over a couple strays will be easier with a sturdy front."
A good kilometer separated them from Jo's hoes Izaya estimated and pulled out the map he had borrowed from Namie earlier.
"What were you two looking at when I woke up anyway?" Izaya was referring to Namie and Shizuo who had been studying a ton of maps of the area for some reason.
"She said she was looking for hospitals in the area. Probably in order to stock up some of our bandaids and stuff and I figured two people are faster than one at that."
Hospitals?
A smile sneaked onto Izaya's expression as he shook his head.
"I don't think she was looking for supplies. Namie isn't stupid and a scientist too. The existence of the apheresis machine and my intention to use it should give away a lot more to her than to the others."
Which also meant she should be aware that Izaya already had everything he needed inside that control room back at the underground station.
"Aren't you just trying to create an antidote?"
Surprised, Izaya lifted his gaze from the piece of paper in his hands to look at Shizuo. It was rare for him to try and construct theories.
"Yes, and no," he answered truthfully, obviously not really enlightening the blond at all and so the smile he wore made way for an expression of truth. "Would you like to know?"
For once he wasn't trying to play any stupid games or keep Shizuo on edge on purpose. If there was anyone he was willing to share his plan with at this point in time, then it was Shizuo.
He remembered the conversation he had held with Shinra, about how they should keep quiet about what they knew and planned for the sake of both their allies as well as enemies. But now?
They had become part of Jo's hoes by force and tearing away from that position was directly aligning with Izaya's plans. If anyone was suitable to know of his plan, then it was Shizuo.
A moment of silence followed in which Shizuo both realized the lack of jokes in the question and contemplated an answer.
But a smile grazed his lips faster than Izaya's deductions were able to arrive at a conclusion as he shook his head.
"Come on, we have an asshole to save."
A clear no.
Of course.
As if on cue, Izaya suddenly remembered the day they met Kujiragi. He had tried to hand his knowledge over to the blond, just in case he died.
Which resulted in something that might as well already have been half a confession when Shizuo declared Izaya better lived or else he would never forgive him.
Pleasantly quiet the engine of the SUV started up as Izaya rolled off the parking slot and onto the road leading to their destination.
Looking at the map spread across the headboard Shizuo frowned in mild confusion.
"How are we even going to find him?"
Good question.
"We know the location he was last seen in. Not his face, not his name, nothing else which means it's either going to be painfully obvious who our friend in need will be, or he will recognize us and approach accordingly." Eyes on the road and hands on the steering wheel, Izaya didn't quite capture Shizuo's expression. But he knew the voice of doubt when he heard it.
"...what if it's a trap?"
Was he starting to take on Shizuo's traits or was Shizuo the one smarting up?
Watching various buildings and abandoned cars rush past their windows Izaya smiled in pleasant surprise.
"I didn't think you would consider the third option."
A few weeks ago Shizuo would have taken offense at those words, but not anymore.
"So you think it's possible?"
The coupling was moved, the car accelerated and Izaya drove onto what appeared to be a highway.
"Of course it is. But even if it's a trap, I doubt that bastard intends to get rid of us both." An uncanny smile speaking much more than Izaya was saying spread across his lips as he glanced towards the blond. "So don't stray too far from me if you can."
The implication was clear. The priest had always only asked for Shizuo while Izaya remained an unpleasant wart in his great schemes.
Getting rid of him might as well be the true goal of this mission and so Shizuo's body tensed.
He had not once dropped his caution of course, but now his attention doubled as his eyes narrowed.
"Only over my dead body," he announced with brimming confidence.
Izaya would have laughed at the way Shizuo mimicked a guarding dog, but right now his attention was elsewhere as he glanced towards the map instead.
Rain and clouds were gathering in the sky as more and more droplets collected on his headboard. It was when he followed a shadow of these drops that recognition struck him.
"One of these days I might really start believing in something," he snorted, incredibly amused by this favorable coincidence.
"Why?" Shizuo asked, thinking Izaya had seen something on the streets, but instead he pointed at the map.
"See this?"
Not much was to be spotted in the small section of geography. Streets, buildings, an underground train station-
Realizing what Izaya was hinting at, Shizuo showed surprise. "Again?"
It was the station holding their newest hideout in the form of an old control room.
"I have new tasks to complete," Izaya shrugged and Shizuo's expression darkened.
"That place will be crawling with zombies."
When they arrived it had been flooded with fungi, not to mention the flatworms trapped by the shadows. A mere night had passed, but the night was their realm.
"... actually I doubt that," Izaya announced, visibly doubling Shizuo's confusion.
He didn't blame him. Izaya didn't draw the connection for the longest time either, and he doubted many did at all.
"Do you remember the day after Kujiragi saved us?"
What felt like it had happened ages ago, had barely happened a couple weeks prior and the memory resurfaced as fresh as it had been back then. Izaya had still been injured and Kujiragi branded him with an expiration date when it came to survival. Shizuo thought he had bailed when he had only gone out to rewrap his wound.
"There was not a single creature on the streets. No fungi nor flatworm," Izaya reminded Shizuo and turned his head towards the blond for a moment, "And it's not been the first time we stumbled across areas void of them."
Shizuo blinked as he failed to see the point of Izaya's words, "What are you trying to say?"
"They are learning. Like animals in a way," Izaya explained, his eyes back on the quickly passing road. "The stench of blood stemming from both the virus and parasites should serve enough of a warning to keep new ones at bay."
So Izaya was saying flatworms and fungi were avoiding areas that killed too many of their kind?
"Like a zombie repellent?" Shizuo concluded, and the simplicity of his deduction caused Izaya to snort in amusement.
"Yeah, that analogy works."
Eyes grazing the horizon, Shizuo hummed as he watched the clouds gathering in the distance.
"I hope you are right."
"I'm always right."
The grin izaya wore saying those words didn't need to be seen to be heard. It was confidence of a kind that set Shizuo at ease.
At least for the small amount of time left of their short ride.
Much faster than Shizuo would have expected them to, Izaya stopped their vehicle.
"Alright. Let's find out what our priest has in store for us," Izaya announced without the smallest shimmer of fear as the engine died and slipped out of the car.
"That's the bridge?" quickly following right after Shizuo emerged from their SUV and looked ahead.
He didn't expect it to be this close.
Izaya apparently had as all he had to offer was an amused arch of brows.
"Did you see the wounds on those men? They couldn't have been driving far with those. One had half his face blown off, it's a miracle he even managed to move that car in a straight line."
Ah.
So that's why they had crashed their car. Shizuo had been confused when he didn't find any zombie chasing them, but it was a different story if the driver's vision had been impaired.
The droplets of cold rain started to pick up their pace and caused Shizuo to frown towards the sky. It had already been rather cold and the additional water wasn't exactly bettering that situation.
Sparing the rain no mind Izaya advanced towards the bridge.
It was made of old stone. Stood there for ages probably.
A riverbank made for floods laid below and formed a laughable shallow stream.
The priest's words still rang in Izaya's mind as he turned to look around.
Beneath the bridge had seemed like a fairly accurate description, but seeing as there was nothing but water their search was going to be a bit harder than intended.
This area too-
Most of the city was covered in crashed cars, blood and corpses alike. The same applied to this place. But apart from the general destruction of shop windows and an occasional limb on the side much more action seemed to have taken place in this area.
Signs of fire colored the ground and walls sides in ashen black and the smell of smoke lingered in the air.
An explosion was the first idea that came to mind as Izaya's eyes looked for the source.
A car, torn apart in ways only great force could muster was wrapped around a light pole and seemed to have been the center.
Had they tried to shoot one of the creatures and managed to hit the tank?
A viable deduction.
"Below was all he said, right?" Shizuo asked while glancing over his shoulder. He had gone further than Izaya and even went out of his way to lean over the railguard in order to get a better view of the water below.
But not only Izaya had heard him.
The grunts were something Izaya would probably recognize even in the midst of a raging storm by now. Same for the clacking of jaws as they pressed against gritting teeth and the faint air of danger causing his hair to stand on ends.
There was a shop window.
Not too far, but a couple meters off.
Having raised his voice they seemed to have taken Shizuo's question as an invitation to show themselves.
Emerging one by one the flatworms hissed as they crawled forth from the back of what used to be a grocery store.
So that's what had surprised those guys.
They must have been looking around for supplies. Or maybe one of them thought it would be a good idea to check the store and realized there was more than goods waiting in there.
Seeing as the car he suspected to be the culprit of a previous fire was close to the window, Izaya could very well envision how one of them must have missed a shot.
More and more flatworms appeared from the thick shadows inside the store and Izaya felt a hint of disgust at the sight.
Some of them were looking awfully distorted.
Must have gotten caught in the explosion.
Joining Izaya shoulder by shoulder Shizuo had quickly returned as soon as he spotted the danger ahead.
"You good?" he asked quietly, and Izaya smiled upon the answer to that question.
Because he was.
No matter their strength, as long as they were trapped in their shadows there was no reason to be afraid.
"They still gross me out," he admitted truthfully, but with a smile, "But not enough to make me lose my head." Turning around he steered towards one of the side alleys connected to the main road, and the flatworms groaned as they failed to follow their newest prey.
"Come on, we still have to find someone, he can't be that far."
to be continued~
Well, well, well, who doesn't like hanging around a few flatworms? C: xD