Chapter 78: Teddybear
A lot of settings had outplayed in Izaya's mind regarding Jo's hoes base. Be it a heavily guarded hospital, another school or maybe a military base in itself, he had expected a building much less in size.
Viewing the sheer capacity of their base now, he realized he heavily miscalculated on the forces this guy had accumulated.
On an average day a typical mall could fit up to a thousand if not two thousand people easily.
If this location was what the priest had chosen, then he had to have a backup of a similar size.
Slowing down considerably, Izaya let the camper roll towards the front of the shopping mall. All windows had been barricaded by cars. Same for doors or any other means of entrance.
Plants were starting to overgrow them too and Izaya duly noted that this basement had probably been in use since day one of the apocalypse.
He remembered it bitterly, the way Shizuo said he had found Simon shot. Shot. Not beheaded, not transformed, but shot.
Back then Izaya had considered the possibility of groups gathering that strived for a different goal than simple survival.
Neglecting that idea and disregarding it with hope of him being wrong had apparently been the wrong choice.
At least a dozen men gathered at the very top of the building. Armed, of course.
Standing left and right they made room for one single individual dressed in fabrics of church.
"Good. You came." The priest announced with glee and opened his arms wide as if to greet the sinking sum.
Jumping out of the camper Izaya cast a quick glance towards Shizuo who followed right on his heels.
"You thought we were going to leave our friend behind?" Izaya called loudly, very much aware that he might be attracting zombies nearby.
A grin sneaked across the priest's face and two men stepped forth.
Izaya had wondered how they entered the building considering its locked character, but a quick ladder made of ropes thrown down the front
cleared that mystery.
Descending in under a minute Izaya found their camper surrounded by Jo's hoes.
"It would have been a noble sacrifice," the priest called from above and Izaya showed a bitter smile.
Check mate.
In their current position any word spoken might as well be their end.
Surrounded from top to bottom it would take Jo's hoes under a minute to perforate them all.
Izaya could tell Shizuo's body had stiffened considerably, but he stayed still.
"I have never been a fan of the bible's sacrifices," he announced loudly as if there were no threat nearby.
As if the show of manpower hadn't been enough a much more gruesome sound suddenly filled the air.
Barks.
Dog barks.
Approaching from the side a guy, covered in metal and iron like a knight in old times slipped forth from broken shadows. His hand was holding onto chains, keeping a horde of zombie dogs.
Seeing one of those monsters back when Shizuo had still been alone with Izaya had been enough of a horror trip, really. But considering they didn't meet any more of them he somehow forgot they existed-
Izaya could feel Shizuo's aversion all the way to his own body as he kept still.
"Infected dogs die quickly. They can't sustain the high body temperature for too long," the priest gallantly informed as the dogkeeper approached. "If you feed them ice, however, they retain their life and even some of their reason."
Feeling his own body temperature rise with hints of adrenaline Izaya swallowed hard.
The barks were as unsettling as the nightly creatures, but showing how much they affected him was no option.
Stepping forth a very familiar man of even more rotten tastes ascended the rows.
"Well done surviving the bullet," Shijima called with a smile fitting a bastard of his magnitude. He was addressing Vorona of course.
Glancing across his shoulder Izaya had noticed her slipping out of the back, followed by Namie who offered her arm as support.
Disgust mirrored in the blonde's expression, but she gladly kept her lips shut.
"I take it you have an order for us to complete?" Izaya asked, his voice brimming with confidence of a kind that obviously surprised the priest.
Attitude slipping for a second the guy hummed before showing a grin more unsettling than the zombie dogs tearing at their chains.
"I really like the way your mind works." A paper capturing a stone was tossed down from above.
Slight dust rose from the ground as the object landed right before Izaya's feet.
"An easy task. View it as an admission mission. I'm sure you will be able to accomplish it."
Taking the words as an allowance to pick the letter up, Izaya bent toward the ground.
The paper was torn at its sides and crumpled, but the letters were written nice and neat.
A sick smile grazed Izaya's expression as he read the content.
Get a teddy bear.
Having joined the two in the front Namie craned her neck in a way that enabled her to read the message as well and her expression churned into one of disgust.
"What the hell?" Snatching the paper from Izaya's hands, Vorona was next to read. A glare settled in her eyes as she looked at Shijima and the priest alike.
"Are you fucking-"
"Is there a time limit?"
Bewildered by the way Izaya had interrupted her, Vorona's rage met Izaya next. But Izaya was not in the mood to deal with her agitated state of mind, and neither was Shizuo.
Glowering at her all the same, the blonde quickly understood that complaining was no option.
Humming for a moment the priest seemed to contemplate Izaya's obedience with a reward.
"Not really. But now that you ask, if you have it by tomorrow morning I might just let you see your friend," he elaborated, a smile of pure generosity decorating his greedy face. "I'm not heartless after all. I know how dearly you hold him."
What a show.
But it was useful.
Just from the way the priest seemed to half heartedly act in his group's favor told Izaya more than he needed to know.
There had to be an underlying reason why they all listened to him.
And it was not a religious one. Because at the end of the day all of these people surrounding them owned weapons.
A single bullet to the priest's heart and he would be dead.
But no one moved. Noone seemed to contemplate the idea, which was at the very least a fascinating if not groundbreaking fact.
"Alright," Izaya answered obediently because nothing about what he learned changed the fact that they lacked a vast amount of manpower if they wanted to act against the maniac.
Vorona seemed to kill Izaya with her glare alone, and honestly, he understood.
That bastard was not only sending them out at night, but injured too. They had no idea where to go, no weapons at hand. All of that for a mission that came close to a joke.
But they were testing their worth and Izaya was not about to let himself be sold short.
"Such an easy mission doesn't require a large amount of people," he quickly added, "May I bring up one suggestion?"
The priest was obviously not delighted about Izaya's inquiry yet curious.
"Go ahead," he nodded and Izaya pointed towards the camper.
"Shizuo, Namie and me will be enough."
The message was simple, he wanted Karisawa, Vorona and Kadota to stay behind.
Namie met Izaya's gaze shortly, obviously surprised to be one of the chosen ones, but surprisingly didn't complain.
"Three alone? Are you sure?" the priest asked with hints of mockery, but Izaya wasn't going to get caught up in his amusement.
"Aren't you?"
After all, the priest was the one who wanted them for their group so badly. Sure, he had talked about Shizuo only, but if Izaya wanted the rest to survive as well he had to prove their worth.
Possibly in their best state and not injured and exhausted as they were now.
An amused grin spread across the priest's face, but to Izaya's relief, he nodded.
"As you wish. Tomorrow morning. Your people can stay inside that camper. Kind as I am, I will let you park in front of our home."
Home, huh?
That mall looked like anything but a home.
More like a prison, he was definitely fine not having to be stuffed inside that rigid structure.
Turning around he nodded towards Shizuo and Namie.
"Let's go." The next step was to secure a car as quickly as possible to get away from this location.
After all this yelling, the dog's barking and their conversation every zombie in a radius of one kilometer was going to know their position.
"I will join you." Vorona quickly hushed under her breath as Namie passed the woman, but the scientist quickly glared, "You won't." A quick glance was exchanged with Izaya and Namie's expression softened just a bit as she talked to the woman.
"Stay here. Protect Karisawa, okay?"
Kadota had slipped out of the camper as well. Having heard half of the conversation he understood not much except for the fact that Vorona had to stay behind despite her will and was quick to block her way with his body.
"Lock it from the inside," Izaya uttered while moving past him and quickly nodded.
More eyes than Izaya was willing to count were looking at them as they walked away from the mall.
The piece of paper was crumpled into a loose ball and tossed aside as soon as Jo's hoes were out of sight.
First things first.
They had a mission to accomplish and safety to ensure.
A new car, one that was small enough to maneuver their way even through small gaps in the streets was the next goal.
Then they needed to find a toy shop of some sorts. A gas station maybe? No specifics had been given, would a keychain suffice?
The priest didn't give any requirements.
"A fucking teddybear," Namie cursed under her breath as soon as she was sure that she was not being overheard.
"I expected more complaints from your part," Izaya added and the woman joined him upfront, her eyes seemingly searching for the same object Izaya's were.
"I just hope you know what you are doing," she announced curtly before approaching a small BMV.
The driver's door had been left open and apart from a set of half rotten guts there was also a key stuck in the front seat.
"Scared you just signed your death contract with the devil?" Izaya asked while quickly tossing a handful of dust across the mess.
"Just tell me already why you need me tagging along to fetch a plushie," Namie complained, taking the backseat voluntarily.
Mirrors were adjusted and Shizuo slipped into the front passenger's seat.
"Because you are the only reliable scientist next to Shinra," Izaya elaborated while adjusting the back mirror in a way that allowed him to see both the street as well as the scorn on Namie's face as she crossed her arms.
"If you expect me to create an antidote in under 24 hours then you are really-"
"Don't be ridiculous."
If he had wanted her to create an antidote there would have been no meaning in bringing her along at all.
Izaya could have easily left her behind, told the priest she died due to a bite she suffered or whatever other reason and give her time to proceed.
Namie seemed to realize as much, but her confusion didn't lift.
"... then why?"
Not bothering to set a blinker, Izaya moved the car away from their newest threat.
"There are certain precautions I have to take."
"For your plan?" A simple shrug was given along with a smile that only left to guess what Izaya had in mind.
It was pretty clear to Namie that Izaya was going to tell no one about his idea. Neither her nor anyone else.
Shizuo seemed awfully compliant with the excuse of an answer compared to her.
"You want to prepare everything," he deduced easily without taking offense. "Without them knowing."
"Exactly."
Namie snorted, "Since when did you two start to get along so well?"
She had already noticed Shizuo's odd behavior when it came to protecting Izaya from danger, but to be able to follow his ideas afforded an even more in debt attitude.
"Sometimes adrenaline and proximity changes people's characters for the better," Izaya shrugged and she snorted.
"So you experienced neither?"
Izaya had expected nothing but sarcasm from the woman.
He may have averted danger from their group by acting when she had been unable to at the library, but bringing her to her senses was not going to outweigh the fact that he had killed her brother.
She loved Seiji with her entire being, no matter how weird that was.
Taking that from her wasn't something she would forgive easily.
"I experienced both," he answered in a short moment of truth, "I know you might not believe it, but I'm as set to return our world to normal as you are."
Her tongue clicked and she glared out of the window. The very familiar landscape of their school's surroundings came back into vision.
"Only a maniac would trust a psycho."
Izaya shrugged, and the car came to a halt.
"Just what I expected from you." Quick and fluid without wasting any of the precious time they had, Izaya slipped out of the car.
Confused, Namie realized they had apparently arrived at their destination and followed.
Knuckles were bent, knees stretched and Izaya sighed before walking towards the nearby parked blood donation van.
"Alright, quick, I want this done before the sun sets."
to be continued~
Sorry for the delay xD I was visiting my hometown and completely overlooked that yesterday was Saturday xDDDD At least I have a 5 out of 5 winstreak this week hahaha