Chapter 103: All or nothing

Izaya knew it.

The second he saw Shinra. He had faced a lot of fungi ever since this apocalypse started. Their motions, their grunts, the most imperceptible sounds and details were engraved into his mind.

Shinra's act was almost perfect. From the way he purposely stepped onto his injured leg without showing any sign of pain, to the noises he made and reactions he gave when being distracted. Izaya needed only half a second to understand what was going on the moment he stepped into the room holding Shinra's cell.

The guard that had watched over him was Shinra's ticket to exit. He had long ago insinuated that he had ways to get out of his situation- Izaya just didn't think it would be an operation this risky.

Izaya guessed Shinra called the guard over. Probably with some kind of excuse about not getting enough air, or feeling sick. Maybe he just taunted him to the point he wanted to punch his lights out, everything worked and Izaya trusted Shinra to pull each of those options off.

And then he injected the guy with the virus. By a needle most likely.

Biting his own wrist in order to create the illusion that the guard had gotten him as well and shoving some contacts into his eyes had worked miracles.

"Where did you-?" Izaya started, but his words faded away quicker than Shinra's grin appeared on his lips. The needle. The virus, the contacts. He had to have carried them on his body for the entire time.

Where?

"I don't even want to know," Izaya concluded quicker than Shinra was at giving an answer and the doctor shrugged with nothing but mad delight on his face.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures."

Izaya snorted, "I will write that on your gravestone once you kick the bucket," and turned around.

A car.

They needed a car right now.

"How did you know?" Shinra asked as soon as Izaya started to walk towards one of the vehicles parked close by and shrugged. "I know you. That was more than enough intel for me to count two and two together," he announced as he slipped into the driver's seat of a red pick up. "Your glasses too," he pointed at them as Shinra carefully made his way into the passenger's seat.

His thigh was obviously still hurting and the performance he had just displayed was anything but beneficial to its healing progression. "A fungi moving around like that would have dropped them somewhere on the way out of the mall," Izaya added and Shinra adjusted his broken glasses accordingly.

"True," he mumbled and nodded to himself as if he were taking notes for his next act of pretending to have been bitten. A broad smile spread across his face nonetheless as the engine started and the doctor made himself comfortable inside his seat. "So, was my timing good?"

And Izaya snorted as the vehicle pulled onto the highway.

How much he would love to speed up the car and just leave this entire mess behind.

"Scaringly perfect," he whispered.

"And Shinra blinked, "How so?"

Izaya's stomach dropped just lightly as he recalled the last words he had heard Masaki speak of.

The priest. The second floor. And his conversation with Shijima.

There was no doubt.

"The priest is done," Izaya's eyes narrowed and a short glance was cast towards his old friend. Recognition of these words came a bit delayed as the smile Shinra was wearing slowly dropped. "Done with separating the virus. Multiplying it. And from the sound of it he found a method to spread it without any issue."

They were losing.

This was a race against time. A race they both had been participating in, but Izaya hadn't been aware that the priest had already overtaken the next round with a shortcut.

Joy and jokes left Shinra's expression and the doctor showed one of concern and seriosity instead. "If he is already done then why am I not trying to bite you yet?" he asked, obviously hoping that Izaya was wrong. But Izaya had an answer for that as well.

"He is celebrating his last day. Waiting for tomorrow to release the virus. Maybe even earlier-" Izaya faded out the hole in his guts that had opened upon learning this information only grew tenfold.

"Does Shizuo know?" Shinra asked, hitting right where it hurt and Izaya's eyes closed for a single second as the car slowed down and he shook his head.

No.

He didn't. There was no time to tell. There was no way to relay what it was that Izaya needed to do. Hell, Izaya didn't even have a way to tell them to leave the mall at the first chance they got.

"Man, I'm really glad he didn't follow me though," Shinra chuckled, talking about the impulsive blond. "Would have sucked to get killed by him."

And somehow Izaya couldn't help but snort at that.

"I think he understood," he sighed as he recalled the way Shizuo had stopped midway after Izaya yelled at him to not follow.

"That I am alive?" Shinra asked but Izaya shook his head.

"No, but that I meant to bring you out alone with me on purpose." Even though he probably thought Izaya just wanted to say goodbye to his old friend in peace.

But that was good.

Because it would ensure that Shizuo stayed with their group until Izaya returned.

Stopping the car at the plaza leading to the underground station and its hidden lab, Izaya quickly moved out of the vehicle.

Grunts and noises started to fill the alleys and Izaya glanced towards the sinking sun with narrowed eyes.

"Come-" he called for Shinra as the doctor glanced past the door with more than just a slight sense of self preservation and reluctance to move into a fungi infested area.

"Where are you bringing me?" he whispered, acting against all common sense as he followed Izaya.

Corpses of both humankind as well as infected ones were skipped on the road and Shinra eyed the corpse of a flatworm with the disgust that Izaya felt.

"To your new lab partner."

Shadows layered upon each other as Izaya descended into the underground station. The light that had reflected so nicely the previous time was now starting to diminish due to both the declining intensity of the sun as well as the angle it provided while sinking.

But Izaya knew better than to hesitate for even longer and with a few quick strides he was over at the door.

Quick flicks of his knuckles met the hard metal in an upbeat fashion. Morse code. Again, but this time not his name, but Kujiragi's.

Rattling noises were to be heard from the inside and before long Shinra's body had moved closer to Izaya's in a moment of insecurity.

But it was no zombie they were facing.

Tired, and most likely sleep deprived, the familiar face of Kujiragi emerged from the door and she groaned as soon as she laid eyes upon Izaya.

"Again?"

Izaya smiled, "You seem happy to see me," he announced with a quick wave of his hand and slipped past her body. The inside of the control room was much safer than the outside and Shinra seemed to understand that fact pretty well as he followed as quickly as he could.

Strain decorated his expression as his injured thigh screamed at him to take it slow and he quickly steered for the first opportunity to rest.

The ground.

Because the chair inside the room was occupied with something else.

"Kururi-" guts dropping on sight Izaya quickly moved over to the lifeless body of his sister.

She was bound to the chair by thick ropes and her body was as limp as that of a corpse. Horror reflected in Izaya's eyes, but a hand on his wrist abruptly stopped him from getting too close.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Kujiragi groaned, and as if having issued an order Kururi's body suddenly moved. Grunts and groans, albeit tuned down a lot, bubbled from her throat and her blind eyes whipped around as she tried to make out the source of the noise.

Releasing the breath Izaya didn't realize he had held he closed his eyes for a second of pure relief.

"I thought she was dead."

"Under my watch? Never." Kujiragi announced and turned towards the control board. It had been reused as a table and some of the buttons and switches attained a new form of purpose by holding up vials, papers and pencils. "She has just been moving around relentlessly for the past few hours. No matter how infected you are there is a limit to stamina even for them."

Looking around the room had changed a lot from the last time Izaya had visited. Various calculations had been hung onto the walls and apart from the chaos presented on top of the table and Kururi bound to the chair, there was one more thing entering the room.

Cages.

Right next to the apheresis machine they were stapled and filled with … rats?

"What's that-" he questioned quietly and somewhat unsettled. One of the rodents looked at him with glassy eyes and he could only guess what it was that she had done to them.

Reaching for a vial on the table Kujiragi shrugged while presenting her latest results.

"So far it's a two out of three chance to reverse the infection and gain immunity," she suddenly stated and nodded towards the cages. "In rats that is."

Following her gaze Shinra was the next to notice the gruesome sounds from the cages and his expression churned to one of disgust.

"This is as far as the rats are taking me," Kujiragi suddenly announced while reaching for a syringe to pull up the vial's contents. A knowing gaze spread across Shinra's face and his expression darkened as he looked at Izaya. "But it just so happens that you brought me the perfect subject."

Quicker than Izaya was to understand her words, Shinra had reached out for Izaya's wrist and Kujiragi moved over.

Izaya's eyes widened.

Kururi.

"Wait-" but it was too late. Moving his body into his sister's direction was quickly inhibited by Shinra's intervention and so he was left to look at that thin piece of metal as it forced its way into Kururi's arm.

"Too late for objections," Kujiragi stated after quickly withdrawing the needle as Kururi started to thrash around. She was bound by her wrists, by her hip, by her neck, thighs and ankles. There was little room for her to move and no way to resist.

Letting go of Izaya's wrist, which had turned awfully limp, a tinge of guilt befell the doctor as he looked at his best friend.

"Izaya…" He understood the assignment the second Kujiragi moved. No emotion displayed on her face. She couldn't care less whether her first test subject died. But Izaya… It was necessary. Especially now.

Swallowing hard, Izaya turned towards Kujiragi with heavy lips. "How long until we know if it's working?"

Looking towards a new wristwatch dangling from the scientist's wrist the woman nodded to herself as if to confirm her calculations.

"Not longer than a night."

Taking a deep breath Izaya looked at his sister.

A step forward was taken and Kujiragi quickly complained. "Hey, don't get too close," she reminded, but the care only caused a bitter smile to spread across Izaya's lips.

"I'm immune, did you forget?"

Eyes narrowing, Shinra looked at Izaya as he moved over and Kujiragi's voice faded out. "Right."

It was hard to look at Izaya. This entire situation. From a scientist's perspective Kururi had the best chances to reverse the infection, especially considering their shared blood and genes as siblings.

… but to Izaya this action had just opened hell on earth, more than the zombies ever had.

Sitting down next to her he grasped her hand as if to provide comfort.

"Now why do you look like you were infected?" Kujiragi suddenly asked, snapping Shinra out of his depressing thoughts. "Are you an experiment of his own?"

Shinra snorted at that. His current attire, yes, thinking about it this woman had done well to not freak out when she first laid eyes upon him.

"I'm a doctor. I have been researching the virus as well. What I came up with was more of a temporary reversal instead of a cure," Shinra quickly explained, and pulled the lab coat off his body. He had been wearing it for the longest time, and now that he abused it for his performance it really had met its end.

Surprise along with something that might as well have been astonishment reflected in Kujiragi's eyes as she pulled another vial from the pile of chaos on their desk.

"So it was you who made this?" She asked and Shinra looked at the object and suddenly the calculations on the wall and why they seemed so familiar seemed to make a lot more sense.

"Ah, so you did use my research!" he concluded and his expression lit up. "I was wondering how you came up with this so fast. But that explains and with Izaya's blood, right-" nodding to himself Shinra continued his rant until Kujiragi interrupted him.

"The method of creating this inside an environment like ours- Where did you learn?" she asked and didn't bother to hide how she was truly impressed.

Shinra could only offer a smile at that. "My father taught me most, to be honest."

"Outstanding." Laughing Shibra adjusted his glasses at the unexpected fan. "Praise me more," But as happy as Shinra was, Izaya couldn't offer more but a weak smile.

This was good.

Shinra being here, Kujiragi working on an antidote. And Kururi-

Looking at his sister, Izaya's eyes narrowed slightly.

It almost seemed like she was just asleep.

Captured in a long, long nightmare.

Maybe that was what her current state made her feel like. Or maybe she didn't perceive any of this chaos at all.

Not her sickness. Not the way people around her died. How people ended up infected by her. Because at the end of the day she probably had bitten a ton of people ever since the apocalypse started.

It came close to a miracle that she was still alive at all. So if anything-

If anything…

Taking a deep breath Izaya closed his eyes for a second.

Mairu. He could have saved her.

If Kururi woke up, would she ever be able to forgive him for killing her sister?

If she woke up at all.

What if she didn't?

Shizuo.

Shizuo was still there. Waiting for him.

Hell, he had to be worried sick. Izaya was going to get an earful for staying away for an entire night.

Hopefully he will remain inside the mall for tonight at least.

At least-

Groaning softly, Izaya realized how dumb his decision had been.

Shizuo was most likely looking for him right now. Should he have taken him along?

No.

The priest wouldn't have allowed for that to happen. If anything he wanted to get rid of Izaya and having him execute Shinra outside and die in the process of what was staged to be a heartfelt goodbye was his best case scenario.

Time passed. Faster than Izaya liked.

Kujiragi and Shinra continued their professional discussion on improval of a distribution method of the antidote once it was finished and at some point their voices faded away.

By now the room was awfully quiet and Shinra had dozed off in the corner of the room after receiving some painkillers from Kujiragi along with some overdue check up.

Sighing softly his head thudded against the chair's armrests.

Kururi's hand was cold.

Almost like that day at the beach.

A bitter smile spread across Izaya's lips as he recalled the memory. He didn't know why his brain continued to torture him with the vibrant image of his sisters smiling, but it did.

Over and over again.

Eyes narrowing he looked at the ground.

"Please, wake up," he whispered into the silence of the room as even Kujiragi had succumbed to sleep.

Kururi's knees and legs, scratched and bloodied from walking around aimlessly for so long.

He just wanted her back.

At least her.

"Izaya."

Yeah. Just like that.

Sweet like the first strawberry of a garden's summer. Her words were so few but their impact even greater.

"Izaya."

Eyes blinking open drowsiness was the first sensation to cloud his mind.

Warmth and the comfortable fabric of a blanket having been put upon his shoulders quickly told him that he must have fallen asleep.

Turning his head he spotted Kujiragi on the ground next to Shinra. It seemed she had woken up from her slumber at the desk midway and moved over to the doctor.

The chaos atop the table was pleasantly cleared as well and for a second Izaya could do nothing but look at the control board.

A couple vials that hadn't been there the previous evening had appeared on top.

Kujiragi and Shinra must have cooked up some kind of idea.

That's probably why Kujiragi overworked herself to the point she fell asleep on the control board.

She and Shinra-

Wait.

And suddenly Izaya's body froze like it never had before.

He woke up. He was woken up by someone calling his name.

But if Kujiragi and Shinra were still asleep then-

"Izaya."

And suddenly it was there.

His name. Again. So sweetly soken, so soft and-

"Kururi-" looking up at the zombified girl Izaya prepared himself to face a shell of a human being. An infected corpse of what was once his sister only capable of whispering his name.

But what he faced was a smile.

Dirty perhaps and slightly tired, but a smile-

"Good morning," Kururi whispered with a tear in her glassy eyes and Izaya's hands flew to her bindings.

Rope after rope became undone in quick flicks of the blade he carried on his body and he pulled her into his arms-

"How are you feeling? Is anything hurting? Are you hot? Cold? Do you remember what happened?" Words over words gushed from his lips in an endless stream of fear and concern.

But all she offered was a smile and a quick shake of her head.

"No."

No to all of that.

Meaning the antidote worked and Izaya sighed the deepest breath of relief he ever had.

And suddenly they were there.

Tears.

Tears and warmth as they trickled down and he hugged Kururi tightly-

"Thank god-" his voice cracked. "Thank god you are okay-"

Hugging her brother back softly she nuzzled into his shoulder, until the most dreadful words left her lips.

"Mairu?"

And Izaya stilled.

Stills and the tears multiplied as he looked at her hopeful expression.

How was he supposed to tell her?

How was he supposed to say her sister died? That he killed her? That she could have been saved? That she could have been-

But suddenly she cupped his face and a smile, so devastatingly sad, but genuine and understanding spread across her lips. "It's okay," she whispered.

And somehow despite having said nothing at all, Izaya felt as though she understood every single word.

"Do you feel off in any way?" It was Shinra's voice suddenly approaching from the side that startled Izaya.

"Shinra-"

But Kururi shook her head.

"Now that's a good sign," Kujiragi announced, now equally awake after the soft commotion and quickly pulled herself from the makeshift bed.

A good sign? Yes- it was-

Only now that Kujiragi said it did Izaya realize just what Kururi's state meant.

"Just out of curiosity, what happened to the last third of the test subjects?" Shinra suddenly asked and Kujiragi shrugged without batting an eyelid.

"They died of course."

"I feared you were going to say that." Shinra sighed and Izaya swallowed hard.

"Are you trying to say this could have killed her?" he whispered and the scientist nodded in cold professionalism.

"We have no time for sentimentalities. Your priest is working against us and I hate to break it to you, but if he manages to infect us all it's looking really bad."

Right.

The priest.

Kururi was alive but that was not their only goal. Shizuo and the rest of their group-

"We can't save everyone?" Shinra repeated and Kujiragi only confirmed the bitter suspicion.

"All of the uninfected and two thirds of those who are. It's not much on a grand scale," she admitted with the coldness of a sociopath.

"Harsh." Izaya added, but she only shrugged.

"It's reality. At the end of the day it comes down to survival of the fittest. Compared to what we have now it's the best bet we have."

Reaching for one of the vials she nodded over to Kururi.

"This combines both Shinra's and my research and now it has proved effective," she announced. "If we spread this then-"

"We can reverse the apocalypse," Izaya concluded quicker than she was able to finish.

Shinra's reversal of their bodies and Izaya's blood- she had taken both components, analyzed them and arranged them in a time frame that shouldn't even be possible.

The dark circles under her eyes suddenly made a lot more sense as she spoke solemnly. "But we have a time limit from what I understood from your previous visit, no?"

Her fast results, imperfect as they were, were not just a coincidence but purposefully crafted.

The current vial held no promise of a perfect resurrection rate, but compared to not resurrecting anyone at all-

Izaya smiled, "I knew I asked the right person to research this.

Everything was falling into place. The priest could infect them any day now, but so could they.

"Are we doing it?" Kujiragi asked and Izaya knew exactly what she was referring to.

She would spread the substance by air in order to revive as many people as possible.

But that also meant a vast part of those people was going to die.

It was mass genocide, on a small scale.

But then again it was a whole two thirds that they were going to revive.

"Alright, where is the helicopter?"

to be continued~

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Alright, are you ready? C:

The final chapter- of my longest story so far- xD Next friday or the one after depending on how HUGE it will be xD

See you in the last update C; xD