Chapter 55: Honk

Warmth radiated through the narrow gaps of the bookshelf blocking the window. Having slept not a wink that night Izaya glanced towards Kadota who was trying to withhold a heartily yawn.

He had offered to take the watch a couple times, but seeing as Namie wouldn't approve Kadota had gratefully declined it.

The rest of the group was still asleep.

Peacefully.

Like a group of chicks waiting for the waking call of the mother hen.

Even Namie looked somewhat relaxed as she snored in the corner along with her newfound follower. Shinra was pretty knocked out too. Holding onto Karisawa in his sleep the two formed an adorable semblance of two kittens snuggling in a pillow.

Feeling a bit wary, Izaya forced himself to look towards Shizuo.

Watching the blond all night long the probability of him actually having died the next time he looked rose by the second.

Relieved, he perceived the same steady rising and falling of Shizuo's chest as it had all night long. His state remained unchanged.

… but hey.

At least he was alive.

"Good morning, I guess," Kadota yawned heartly, while keeping his injured arm close.

"Is it good?" Izaya snorted as the man flinched in his movement, obviously having tugged at his wound and the bandage around it.

Izaya could imagine too well what he felt like.

Having run around with his own set of injuries he had had the joy of feeling pain on a daily basis for quite a while now.

Standing up straight he bent backwards, cracking a few joints from their stiffness.

He felt good.

Sure there was that quiet voice in the back of his mind telling him to not overdo it after Shinra had gone through the trouble of fixing Shizuo's mess, but apart from that?

Nothing but a dull throbbing was to be felt and he couldn't help it when a pleased smile spread across his lips.

The soft thud of a book hitting the ground snapped his attention back to Kadota, who was looking very guilty.

Having used some of the books to create a better sitting ground, one of them had moved too far from the others as he had risen from the ground.

A soft yawn was what followed next as Karisawa stirred in her sleep.

Groggily glancing around the woman rubbed her eyes. "Is it morning already?"

"Sorry." Kadota apologized in a quick whisper, to both apologize and assure the woman that there was no danger nearby.

Another glance was cast at Kadota, at Izaya and then back at Shinra who was still snuggling up to his new pillow.

A short blink followed- then a smile.

And suddenly she laid back down again in her initial position returning the hug as she dozed back off to sleep.

Izaya snorted quietly. "She really is an airhead."

"Interesting way to say cute," Kadota chuckled.

Cute, huh?

Looking at the two snuggled up like a perfectly matched donut Izaya couldn't really see a flaw in the description. "He will be sad when he realizes he isn't holding onto Celty though."

A shrug followed as Kadota picked the book he had dropped from the ground. "I think he knows."

Sceptical Izaya looked at his lifelong friend. "Since when did those two get along so well?"

"A lot has happened. You should understand best."

…touche.

He wasn't one to judge others by their actions considering even he had more than called it a truce with Shizuo.

Watching his friend as probed the area around his bandaid, Izaya quirked an eyebrow. "How is your wound holding up?"

The arm was raised in a circular motion and Kadota's face twitched in discomfort.

"Fine. Just a bit stiff and hot." A frown crossed Izaya's expression as he rose from the ground. "Stiffness is not exactly fine." Stinging pain was one thing, or a dull throbbing. But stiffness of the skin paired with unnatural heat?

Izaya was no doctor but even he knew what the first signs of an inflammation looked like.

Moving over his knee met the ground as he crouched before Kadota. Hands moving quickly he undid a layer of band aids.

"Worried?" Kadota asked, letting the man do as he pleased. Izaya's eyes met Kadota's shortly before resuming his work. "You aren't?" Layer after layer dropped. Kadota sighed softly as he turned his head to avoid looking at the wound. He wasn't really a fan of seeing blood and torn flesh. Especially not when Izaya looked like he was fearing something was wrong with it. "I should get it patched up again. Maybe have Shinra look at it, you are right. But…" he hesitated.

Izaya paused in his fumbling.

"But what?"

Kadota sighed. "We don't exactly have infinite supplies. What if something worse than my graze happens?"

Izaya's expression grew serious.

He had known Kadota for a long time- long enough to know he would go so far as to sacrifice himself in favor of others.

The last layer of the bandaid became undone and his expression only darkened further.

Without another word he rose from the ground. Quick yet elegant like a dancer in the midst of poisonous flowers he made his way to the cuddling pair on the ground.

"Shinra, wake up." A soft shake was given to the doctor's shoulder as he pulled the man from his sweet dreams.

Glasses put aside Shinra blinked as he gazed at blurriness.

"Oi, what are you-" Kadota started but Shinra was quicker to interrupt. Fishing for his glasses he quickly shoved them into his face.

"Izaya? Whyyy?" he whined, suppressing a yawn.

"Don't why me, you have a patient to treat." Almost instantly Shinra's attitude switched. All former sleepiness was forgotten as he sharpened his senses.

Having both men look at Kadota as though he had just been spotted by a group of sharks he couldn't help but feel quite uncomfortable. "Leave it, it's not that bad."

Izaya was not taking the excuse. "So it's better to wait until it is?"

"Did it get worse?" Quiet and unexpected Karisawa's voice rang in the midst of quiet whispers. Izaya had tried his best not to wake her but it seemed Shinra had been less successful.

"No, I'm fine." Kadota quickly assured.

Izaya snorted. "He is not."

"Izaya-"

No more excuses were taken as Izaya took a few steps towards the girl. "Karisawa, would you join me in a short raid? I hid a few supplies in a shop nearby." Surprise reflected in her expression as she used her hand to point at herself in a quizzical motion.

"I would ask someone else, but seeing how Kadota is out of order, Shinra our only doctor, and neither Namie nor Vorona interested in my well-being, I'm opting for you if you don't mind." Quickly picking herself from the ground she rubbed her cheeks to wake up. "Sure!"

Red marks were aligned across the left side of her face and she quickly put the shoes she had discarded earlier that night back on.

"Is there any way to stop you two?" Kadota sighed as Shinra started treating his arms.

Karosawa smiled reassuringly as she checked one last time for anything she could need on their trip. "We won't take long, I promise." she hesitated for a second and her gaze trailed to Izaya. "...we won't, right?"

Shaking his head, Izaya gladly confirmed her worries. "Trust me I'm equally fond of staying near zombies as you."

Relief reflected in her expression as she quickly headed for the door. Snoring loudly neither Vorona nor Namie had noticed any of their plans.

Izaya wasn't too keen on having them interrupt in the first place anyway and so he followed.

Worry defined Kadota's expression as he watched the two leave.

"Alright. Then let's get this checked up properly," Shinra announced while starting to clean the wound anew.

A soft sigh left Kadota's lips as he glanced towards the closing door.

"Stay safe."

.

.

.

Stairs were passed, corridors and after just a few minutes the two of them emerged from the entrance of the school.

The sun was shining brighter than Izaya had anticipated and for a brief second he closed his eyes in comforting bliss.

It was warm.

Soothing.

With all the negatives the apocalypse had brought there were but two plus points to be made. The air, and the noise.

First was fresh and clear like it probably hadn't been in a century and the later, nonexistent, as there was little to nothing around that would willingly create any sound.

Eyes snapping back open quickly, Izaya refrained from relaxing in their environment for much longer as he scanned the area. He hadn't spotted any zombies upon emerging from the school, but that didn't mean there were none to be wary of.

Karisawa seemed to think similarly as she had tensed considerably compared to her usually carefree attitude.

A rod, god knows where she had found that, was pressed closely to her chest as she turned a few times to make sure nothing was going to surprise them from the side.

She didn't seem like she had been outside a lot. Or maybe she was always this cautious- No matter which option it was Izaya found himself interestingly unable to judge the girl's personality.

"Soooo-" she started, voice kept low of course so nothing except Izaya would catch her words. "Where are we heading?"

Turning down the road the raven merely shrugged. "You will see when we get there." It wasn't like he was particularly trying to keep any secrets from Karisawa, but somehow, after meeting those religious bastards he felt the need to keep his cards close.

What if someone was closer enough to eavesdrop? What if they rushed quicker to their destination than Karisawa and Izaya could and surprised them?

He could really pass on stepping into another trap.

Mind trailing back to Shizuo and how he was just laying there without moving a muscle the raven's mood turned a bit bitter.

"I see…" Karisawa mumbled, attributing the mood as distrust towards her.

Uncomfortable silence filled the next few minutes in which Izaya didn't feel the need to clear the misunderstanding and Karisawa refrained from talking in general.

The road was cleared, a few turns taken- and before long they arrived at the main road of the street.

Shop windows had been burst left and right and most of them had already been raided.

Izaya couldn't help but feel a soft smile spread across his lips as he glanced towards the store Shizuo and Izaya had visited to get some new clothes.

He had slipped on the mannequins podium and Shizuo ended up carrying home.

… it was a wonderful evening. Not only because of their brilliant game of billiards, but-

Swallowing shortly, Izaya chased away the memory as heavy lead filled his stomach.

Ignore it.

Noone would profit from him daydreaming about better days when they had another mission at hand.

Trailing sideways he quickly bypassed a crashed car. It seemed to have taken the light pole head on as the main board was wrapped around it like a ribbon on a present.

Shards cracked underneath Izaya's shoes and he paused shortly as his eyes scanned the inside of the shop.

The sunshine was nice and everything, but kinda useless when it came to spotting things in the dark. Creating a shadow above his brows with the aid of his hand he looked for any danger.

Shelves had been thrown over and raided. The shop used to be a grocery store and everything possibly edible had already been taken.

Good thing he hadn't come in search of food.

Quickly slipping inside the store he waved for Karisawa to follow. She did- exceptionally quiet even as she even avoided stepping on any shards.

Izaya could see how she managed to survive for so long. She was careful in every action taken.

Head snapping back and forth she kept watch without Izaya needing to tell her to as he made his way to one particular shelf.

Reaching underneath one of the many spades, Izaya let his fingers brush across the underside of the wood until he found what he had been looking for.

Duck tape.

A long time ago, even before he met Shizuo, he had used a car to drive around the city. Pharmacies had been his first destiny and seeing as he could only carry a certain amount of medics at once he decided to hide the most useful ones in this fashion. He had chosen around five more pharmacies and three grocery stores and prepared them in the same fashion.

Scratching at the far corner of the material he quickly got ahold of the sticky substance as he tore it from the shelf.

Bandaids, medical alcohol, antibiotics, needles and a variety of prescribed medicine dropped to the ground with soft thudding sounds.

Startled by the comparably odd noise Karisawa lifted the iron rod and pointed it in Izaya's direction.

Stifling a soft laugh the raven quickly shook his head as he pointed towards the dropped medics.

An expression showing understanding reflected on her face as her stance relaxed again.

Satisfied by finding his secret stash untouched Izaya quickly gathered the various boxes and utensils. He hadn't exactly taken a bag or anything with him, so instead he shoved everything in his pants pockets, shirt and tucked it back into his belt. The way back wasn't too long and the action might have seemed silly considering what it looked like. But Izaya preferred looking like an idiot and having his hands free just in case, than to stuff them with what they needed and lose everything if things went south.

Looking towards the girl he quickly raised his hand in a short sign for her that they were done.

All that was left was to walk back and stack those supplies up, to enjoy the sunlight, get Kadota patched up and wait for Shizuo to finally wake from his seemingly endless slumber.

It was an easy trip. Just as it was supposed to be.

Until it was not- as the siren of the car in front of the store went off.

to be continued~

YOOO

sorry for taking so god damn long to update xD I was sick for the past three weeks and before that I struggled to get all updates done and somehow sotd ended always up being the one chapter that I didn't get to finish xD

BUT i will make sure to update again this saturday haha so stay tuned when hell breaks loose 3 C;