Chapter 89: Lost and found

Izaya couldn't remember the last time he had slept without a care in the world. Not even because of the virus breaking free, or their journey, but in general.

He had always been the type to rather pull all nighters than to settle down in bed at nine.

But now?

He didn't know how long he had been sleeping, but considering the sun had barely been about to set it must have been over half a day.

Because the night had been skipped.

Eyes fluttering open, Izaya's vision cleared and a yawn sneaked to his face as he watched a caterpillar crawl across the car window's glass.

A soft crack in the surface corrected the little buddies route and the sunlight reflected from its dark red wings.

The bug of course wasn't what had woken Izaya, but a bird.

Settled upon the car frame it attempted to pick the morning dish off the glass, but lucky as the little fellow was he just so happened to drop before the greedy beak had a chance to skewer him.

Fluttering sounds joined the even thrumming of water racing past their crashed car.

Izaya hadn't quite noticed when exactly he had fallen asleep.

He remembered the flatworms chasing them, Shizuo's stunt with their car, them going at it and his mind unhinging slightly at the end.

A deep breath filled Izaya's lungs as he felt the slightest tinge of embarrassment and regret for freaking out like that.

It wasn't like he didn't understand his own action, but he still thought he would have had a stronger conscience to deal with all this.

"Slept well?"

His newly abused bed asked, and Izaya tilted his head to look at the one he had been resting upon.

Perfectly clear eyes, lacking any sign of drowsiness, met Izaya's and he sighed.

"When did you wake up?"

Because Shizuo obviously did, long before Izaya.

Glancing to the side the blond looked into the distance down the stream. The sun was halfway done with her rise to the top and he shrugged.

"Somewhere around sunrise?"

One or two hours then.

"And you aren't getting a stiff back?" Izaya snorted, but already appreciated the blond's actions. Because as much as he would have liked to deny it, this night's sleep had been more refreshing than any night he had spent for the past three years.

"You looked too peaceful to wake," Shizuo shrugged and a smile cast upon Izaya's lips.

This guy, really- when exactly did Shizuo start knowing him so well?

Any other human would have concluded that the night they spent at their van had already been more than enough of a power boost.

To Izaya it had quite the opposite effect. He slept. He slept well too. But upon waking it took only a couple hours to feel the ignored fatigue of the previous days. One night of sleep wasn't going to change that immediately, and it seemed Shizuo had picked up on that.

Shifting in his position, Izaya flipped around to rest upon Shizuo's chest as he met his eyes.

"Ready for another search?" he asked, and the blond groaned for a second before glancing towards the sun.

It was morning. Soon midday. The sun was shining brightly compared to the day before and he sighed.

"Better now than later, right?"

A grin was all he received, as Izaya pushed himself up.

The driver's door next to him was pushed, but refused to budge even the slightest.

Of course, it made sense. After a stunt like that, surviving had already been a miracle, having the door intact was simply too much to ask for.

"Could you-" he started, but Shizuo already understood without having to receive instructions. Pushing against the seat he kicked the door out of its hinges with minimal effort and Izaya grinned back at him.

"Always useful to have you around."

A short snort was all that was given, as the two emerged from the side. The water traveled below the car's bottom and Izaya surmised the distance between them and the shore.

It was a good ten meters. Too far to jump.

"And now?" Shizuo asked, but Izaya was already acting upon his idea. Shirt going missing and pants bundled into a knot the blond looked at him in unsure fascination.

"You can swim, right?" Izaya asked, and after forming a ball, threw his clothes to the other side of the stream before diving head first into the ice cold water.

Splashing upwards Shizuo cringed at the temperature and watched Izaya as he made the distance in under a few seconds.

Emerging like he couldn't be bothered less, Izaya surfaced on the other side and pulled himself out again while Shizuo felt the reluctance in his body only rise.

He fucking hated cold water.

And this was as fucking cold as it could get-

But what other choice did he have?

Pulling his own clothes off he yanked them across the stream in a far inferior way to Izaya's before dipping into the hell made of ice.

Needles stabbed him from head to toe and his body moved even faster as he made his way through. And actually- it wasn't too unpleasant.

Showers had rarely crossed their ways and after their various forms of workout the day before, so this was the best he could get, as he felt the remains of sweat wash off his body in a clean sweep.

That, and he was definitely wide awake now.

Rising from the water he hit the side of his head in an attempt to get rid of some water stuck in his left ear, and Izaya hummed at the sight.

Shizuo's hair had grown a little, just as the color made way for the streaks of brown at the top. Dripping with water it seemed even longer and stuck to Shizuo's skin in forced curls.

Noticing the glance, Shizuo snorted in light amusement. "Like the view?" he asked, and Izaya grinned.

Already dressed and ready to move on, he pushed Shizuo's clothes that he had picked up towards the blond.

"Actually I do," he hummed, close enough to brush Shizuo's nose with his own. A kiss was what Shizuo expected, but with a grin Izaya backed away. "But hurry up, we don't know when we will get new guests."

Because as much as he would have loved to continue where they left off yesterday, this was not the time and place to do so.

Expression reverting to one of stoicism, Shizuo agreed with a quick nod and put the clothes he had spared the fate of soaking in cold water back onto his body.

They still had a mission.

An exceedingly difficult one too, considering this bastard they were supposed to locate was nowhere to be found.

Under the bridge. The instruction couldn't be easier and yet-

Lifting his gaze Shizuo looked at the bridge towering above them.

And suddenly he saw it.

The one detail they missed.

"Izaya-" Shizuo called, and Izaya turned on his way to walk towards the city. "What's that?" The blond was pointing towards the bridge and Izaya followed his gaze.

There it was.

In a blind spot, impossible to see from above.

A space upon the pillar, holding the bridge above.

It was nothing unusual, and repeated itself across a few other pillars. What was special about this one, was that it had been covered by a tarpaulin of some sorts, making it look exceedingly like a makeshift hideout.

A smart one too, considering it was located high enough to avoid being surprised by either infected or maniacs. Just the location and temperature was probably gruesome to a certain degree and as if on cue, Izaya spotted a shadow, moving for just a second.

"Izaya-" Shizuo called, but he was already climbing up a ladder settled into stone on the side of the pillar.

Quicker than Shizuo probably liked, Izaya advanced. His ears were perked and his body tense as he tried to make out the familiar sound of grunting noises and clicking of jaws. But none of that was to be heard.

Following right behind Izaya didn't need to look down to know that Shizuo was ready to pull him down if anything jumped out of that secret space and so Izaya reached the top and brushed the trapolin aside-

Darkness was the first he saw as the inside of the secret space was awfully dimmed from sunlight and for a second Izaya flinched when he saw a body move.

But the body owned a face. A face and a very clear looking set of eyes that met Izaya's in what appeared to be absolute demise.

"Yo, we came to save you," Izaya announced, and the guy's expression only shifted to even worse expressions as his eyes narrowed and his voice turned bitter.

"Save me?" he asked, and Shizuo finally arrived on top of the ladder in time to see the next problem at hand. "What a joke," their mission spoke, and Shizuo's eyes narrowed at the sight presented.

The guy was young. Younger than Shizuo and Izaya at least. In his early twenties maybe. Tall, slim, wearing a scarf and jacket supposed to make up for the missing heat his body required. A set of green eyes glanced forth from spiky brown hair sat on top of his head and a few freckles decorated his cheeks.

But the freckles weren't the only thing adding color to his skin.

Blood.

Dark red, partly dried, partly fresh stuck to his hands, to his face and most importantly his guts and the piece of metal stuck inside them.

Skewered like a god damn barbecue meat he leant against the only stable side of the bridge's pillar. Shallow breath moved his chest more than he liked it to and Izaya's eyes narrowed.

Eyes narrowing, Izaya crouched down. A gun laid on the ground, but oddly enough he didn't try to use it against them.

"Don't worry, it's empty," the guy whispered strained and a defeated smile spread upon his lips, "I shot a pigeon in a stupid moment of panic thinking it was one of them."

Almost like a movie, Izaya pieced together the pages of the story that had unfolded here.

Those bastards.

There was no way this guy sustained an injury like that up here.

The flatworms had surprised the three of them.

He didn't know how, but he ended up with his injury during the fight.

They brought him back, in a moment of sanity, but upon arrival everything changed.

The empty gun-

They had wanted to kill him. So he used it to threaten them.

Threaten them to the point that they left this hideout and decided to leave him behind to die.

… but why?

And with a sudden realization Izaya realized that the priest had probably already known about that fact.

Izaya hadn't been there to hear the entirety of their conversation, but he heavily doubted the guys he had seen had had the guts to lie to the priest.

That meant the priest never intended for them to save this guy.

… but then, why did he send them here?

Eyes scanning the area he looked around for a hint, but there was nothing out of the norm left to draw any safe conclusions.

"What was your order?" he asked instead, hoping that this guy would be willing to fill them in at the end of his life.

A gruesome smile spread across his lips, "Get this," he answered with venom in his voice as he pointed to the very object stabbing his guts. "I'm guessing you are supposed to bring it back."

Eyes traveling down Izaya looked at the object drenched in blood. It was of an elongated shape, made of metal but he wasn't sure what kind. Numbers, lines and inscriptions were marked on the side and an opening allowed for fluids to be pouring into the object. It vaguely resembled a burette used to measure fluids, but couldn't be one as those were made of borosilicate glass and metal would defeat the purpose of seeing inside.

Izaya was no chemist, but he could recognize a tool used in a laboratory when he saw one.

What on earth was the priest trying to do?

"Feel free to take it," the guy strained against the pain he was feeling and Izaya knelt down. But instead of looking at the desired object, he inspected his wound instead.

Blood clotted around the area of perforation messing up most of his sight, but judging from the angle and the way it steered to the side Izaya held high hopes for the interior of this guy.

"How long have you been sitting here like this?" he asked, and the guy swallowed,

"A day and a half?" he replied bitterly. "It's high time you end my suffering."

Gutsy.

He was talking as though he had made peace with his destiny, but Izaya saw the truth for what it was when his gaze brushed his hand.

It was trembling.

Fear. That's what he felt.

This guy didn't want to die.

Despite his demise.

And Izaya pushed himself off the ground.

"Shizuo can you break that?"

An incredulous look flashed across the guy's face as the blond approached him with a nod.

"What are you doing?" he asked, and his expression churned when Shizuo's hand grasped the metal bar.

"Pulling the entire thing out of your guts will worsen the damage so we are cutting it short," Izaya explained, and the guy's face paled in confusion.

"What- But the priest-" but he didn't get to answer as Izaya smiled a smile broader than appropriate.

"Sorry but our direct order was to bring you back. I heard nothing of any device to fetch."

Confused, not sure whether to be delighted or scared, the guy looked back and forth between these two strangers that were acting so out of common sense.

"Here?" Shizuo asked, and Izaya nodded. "Don't move it too much."

"Wait-"

But of course no one waited. Easily, as though the object was made of butter Shizuo broke off the upper half, ending it at the guy's stomach surface.

Pain shot through the guy's system and his vision faded, but he refused to pass out yet.

"Why would you do that?" he groaned, and Izaya shrugged.

"As I said, I'm just following orders." A glance was brought to the side. "Shizuo."

And as if having received a quiet order, Shizuo crouched down as well and pulled at the guy's body.

Carefully, but fast the object was pulled from the back entry of his wounds and a groan of pain forced itself past his lips.

"You weren't bitten, were you?" Izaya asked, sounding way too stoic for their actions and the guy heaved as he swallowed his breath.

"Not that I know…" he whispered in a voice that faded halfway through as his body finally had mercy on him and allowed him the bliss of unconsciousness.

Clothes were torn, Izaya really had nothing better to work with as he constructed a makeshift bandage around the guy's hip with as much pressure as he could.

This was no place to treat this wound.

"Can you carry him?"

Shizuo snorted upon the unnecessary question.

"Easy."

To be continued~

Finally, here we goooo~ They found what they were looking for and more xDD

Also I just realized we have entered the last few chapters of this story xD I mean, not "few" as there are 10 Chapters left, but yo. Only 10 xDD Like holy hell, this thing will probably end exactly at chapter 100 hahaha xD

But don't worry, once this story does end I already have another in store to replace the sinister genre C:

Impostor is upliftingly fluffy.

Angel shot a mix of sexual tension and thrill, making it a good long lasting successor for SD since that one is also gonna end rather "soon" xD

Go to hell is my lil fantasy cocktail, or the joker in the row xD

So what we are missing after Sotd ends, is some psychological terror, fear, and of course some mind breaking, paired with love and a tiny pinch of supernatural occurrences, right? xDDDD

Well, I love to introduce you to my next story~

"Love knows no time" C:

I have been teasing it to some readers, but yeah, just to confirm, this will be a time manipulating story xD So no worries, the zombies might be gone "soon" but I will definitely keep providing you with thrilling material to read x'DDD

But I'm not gonna say anything more about this in order to not spoil xD

Well then with that being said, see you next Saturday C: