Chapter 74: Inside out

Namie had expected a lot, but a bite mark on Izaya's wrist was not part of that list. "When-" she started, but the question got stuck in her throat anyway.

Because the answer was clear. Even before Izaya's response.

"Yesterday afternoon."

Of course.

With that horde of zombies at their throats and half their team down it had been close to a miracle that no one had gotten bitten. Karisawa had already sacrificed herself in her favor, now Vorona had done the same- finding out that even Izaya had risked his life was awfully humbling.

Swallowing hard, the woman tried to get rid of the forming lump in her throat. She wasn't the type to owe anyone anything- yet here she was reliant on every last person.

"I thought it was untypical for you to remain so quiet," she whispered, "So you figured you would die."

It wasn't like Namie had no conscience. After finding out that Izaya had killed her brother she simply thought the bullet wound was something he deserved. As payback. She knew she hadn't killed him when she regained her senses, but she had failed to feel any empathy or listen to Kadota's scolding.

Who was he to scold her?

But now, knowing that Izaya had risked his life for the sake of attaining the apheresis machine, or in other words, to save more than just his own ass, she couldn't get around the ugly feeling of guilt sitting on her shoulders.

Meanwhile Izaya simply shrugged and the sleeve was pulled back down.

"Kind of."

The facts laid bare, and yet it was only at that moment that Namie realized that she had missed the point. Izaya hadn't shown them his bitemark because he wanted them to feel pity or wish him goodbye.

He was alive.

Despite the bite.

"But you didn't-" Kadota beat Namie to her question as nothing but stupor grazed his face.

Throwing his arms into the air Izaya mimicked what was probably supposed to be an announcement of the main act of the hour.

"Now would you look at that, a miracle!" he announced with a beaming smile- but as quick as the smile had cast upon his face it was replaced by an expression of seriosity. "You know what this means." He was addressing Namie, with no hint of mischief, no sign of jokes or hidden meanings.

And Namie understood quicker than Kadota could follow.

"The incubation time lasts for only a couple hours. Ten in the sturdiest subjects maximum," she repeated what she had learned in the early phases of their virus analysis. Yagiri pharmaceuticals had been the first to try and keep the virus at bay. If there was anything that they had learned then it was the virus' specific traits.

Viewed in more human subjects than she liked they had discovered a variety of factors for injection as well as transformation.

"It's been almost an entire 24h," Kadota whispered softly now, slowly starting to understand what the scientist and information broker were going on about.

Namie blinked.

Then slowly, as if hesitant to even dare speak the truth out aloud she whispered.

"You are immune."

A glance was cast to the side, but funnily enough Shizuo seemed not affected by the revelation at all. Izaya must have told him before. In general Namie suddenly realized just how much time these two sworn enemies were spending together.

Keeping the topic of immunity to himself and standing up for Izaya despite everything he had done it was like Namie only now realized just what kind of hell these two had to have gone through to arrive at the bond of trust their teamwork showed.

A winning grin spread across Izaya's lips as he crossed his arms in front of his body.

"That's what I concluded as well," he announced with the softest wince on his brows as the injury on his left arm was still quite present.

Only Kadota remained confused.

"Wait, what does that mean?" he tried, looking back and forth between the woman and Izaya.

It was funny.

Namie had been despaired. On multiple levels.

Ever since joining Shinra's group there had been close to nothing she could do.

She had been searching for her brother, only to find out that Izaya killed him.

She had no viable strength to show, no skills necessary in this environment. Her uselessness boiled down to Karisawa having to sacrifice herself and Vorona throwing herself into a line of fire.

Useless.

That's what she had been.

Drifting around with no goal to follow.

But suddenly it was there.

Right in front of her.

And for hell's sake, it was Izaya.

Body straightening into tension Namie's mind dipped into the knowledge she had sucked in for years. She was a scientist. This- was a topic only she could work on.

"Izaya's blood contains the antibodies needed to fight against the virus," she quickly answered Kadota's question and her eyes scanned their small library for anything viable to use for research.

"I have yet to tell you the best part," Izaya suddenly announced, dimply pausing her urge to move and progress on what would undoubtedly free them from this hell. Tapping onto the layer of cloth that covered the bite wound Izaya continued, "The blood I used to create this antidote-" A meaningful pause was added to the dramatic act that Izaya presented, before he smiled. "Against my better knowledge we used flatworm blood."

The library had always been a quiet place. Before Izaya and Shizuo arrived, and even now with everyone present it had never really become a space full of chatter.

But the silence oppressing the scenery now was something else.

Surprise of a magnitude Izaya had never seen Namie show, displayed on her face as he had shell shocked her into a stun.

She was speechless.

That was certainly an achievement he had never obtained before.

"... can someone tell me what that means?" Kadota asked after a few seconds of uncomfortable pause, and this time Shizuo nudged Izaya from the side as well.

"Yeah, why is that relevant?"

Having found her voice again the scientist finally spoke.

"That means he didn't just find the antidote to the fungi based virus," Namie whispered, her voice as low as possible and probably only Izaya realized why. "The fungi are taken over by the flatworms. They are overpowered. It's a fundamentally stronger parasite that befalls the host," she quickly explained, her voice rushing across the lines as quick as her brain was drawing the connections. "If Izaya used flatworm blood to create an antidote and it didn't in fact straight out turn him into a flatworm himself then-" Breaking off halfway she arrived at the only possible conclusion her narrative left.

It was the sheer surprise and hope displayed in front of her that kept her from adding the finale to her words.

But she had explained well enough and Kadota mimicked her surprise as he met Izaya's gaze.

"... You are immune to both."

For a non scientist Kadota was really smart after all, and upon hearing his conclusion Shizuo's head turned as well.

"Is that true?" Surprise swayed in his voice and Izaya met his eyes with a quick grin. "I wasn't kidding when I said I'm humanities salvation."

Shizuo had already been relieved to find Izaya breathing and non-zombified the second he woke up. To find out he was immune to the fungi had already been amazing, but hearing now that no virus or flatworm was capable of endangering Izaya ever again really took the cherry on the cake.

Relief of a magnitude Shizuo didn't know was possible overwhelmed his mind and forced a smile onto his lips.

Izaya was safe.

And there was no danger left that Shizuo wouldn't be able to deal with in order to keep him that way.

"That changes a lot," Namie suddenly announced, her own arms crossed and her palm was brought to her face as she bit the tip of her nail. Dissatisfaction was written all across her face and Izaya nodded.

"I'm glad you agree."

Eyes glazing towards the rising sun she looked towards the window.

"We need to get Shinra back."

Izaya laughed, "Now you are scaring me, that's what I wanted to say."

Catching up to their current situation Kadota had an idea why the timing of Izaya having become immune was really the shittiest of all.

"We can't tell them about you being the living walking antidote, right?" Kadota announced and sadly hit the nail right on the head.

"No. If we do... who knows how they will use it." Namie surmised quickly and Izaya showed a grotesque smile. "Or use me."

He had already pictured himself hung upside down in some kind of laboratory being abused by the priest's personal scientists. At the very best Izaya's group and the priest's would be fighting over the antidote to attain immunity themselves. At worst they were going to go to far ends to make sure that Izaya was killed in order to let the virus continue its roam.

Neither option was anything Izaya fancied.

"Or kill you." Namie arrived at the same conclusion, "After all, they want this kind of environment."

Shizuo's blood boiled at the thought of having Izaya killed for his immunity or abused as a fucking blood conserve alike. It caused his body to tense and his attention to spike as he circled over to the window.

Jo's hoes were gone. They had walked away with Shinra, anticipating their voluntary arrival. But seeing how delicate the topic they were discussing right now was Shizuo wanted to make sure that not a single soul heard of them.

"I'm glad we are on the same page," Izaya agreed, keeping his voice low for the very same reason and Namie's eyes narrowed.

"Then what do you suggest?"

Izaya snorted, "Are you actually asking me for advice?"

A sarcastic smile spread across Namie's lips, but was quickly replaced with dedication. "Don't get used to it." This wasn't about interpersonal relationships, this was work.

And working together had been something Izaya and Namie used to excel at.

"We need to get Shinra back," Izaya repeated their earlier conclusion, "In order to do so we need to follow their orders." A fiery glance, unwilling to say the least, was shot towards Izaya by Shizuo and the raven quickly showed a calming smile. "At least initially," Reverting his attention to Kadota he continued, "I suspect they will order us to complete small missions for them."

"Missions?" Kadota frowned. He didn't like the sound of that one bit nor could he really follow why Izaya thought that way.

"They obviously already gathered who they deemed worthy to survive, right?" Izaya asked, and Kadota nodded. "Then why add numbers to their rows?"

Certainly.

If they were just trying to survive on their own they were obviously doing well enough if they had time to spare to try and kill others. Adding people to their cause also didn't really make much sense considering they wanted to support their god's plague.

They were aiming for as many deaths and infections as possible.

The more Kadota thought about it the less sense it made for them to ask for Izaya and Shizuo to join them.

"Is it an, my enemy's enemy is my friend, situation?" Kadota asked, thinking about how there might be more groups of survivors out there.

They hadn't really met anyone apart from themselves yet. But Jo's hoes had also existed next to them for the longest time without them knowing.

Who knew who else was still out there?

But Izaya shook his head.

"A good guess, but no. If you ask me, they don't want to endanger themselves. But they need someone to run errands. To gather food, to gather medicine, you name it."

In short, small missions.

Nodding to himself, Kadota found himself agreeing. "I see what you are getting at."

Eyes trailing to the side, Izaya met Shizuo's gaze. He was still standing at the window. Slight confusion was still written across his forehead and Izaya snorted.

"It's comparable to a king getting himself some knights to fight for him so he doesn't have to get his own family involved." He simplified his earlier conclusion and it seemed to lift the frown plastered onto Shizuo's face.

"Makes sense," he agreed- and Izaya moved.

Circling to the desk that was holding not only the radio Namie had been trying to repair, but also a few maps of the area, Izaya unfolded one of them, showing their closest surroundings.

"So that's what we are going to do," Izaya started, but faded out a bit as he looked at the map. Namie could almost see the gears turning in Izaya's head as he cooked up his scheme.

It was funny, right now, with the priest at their necks and social interaction being the main factor of their future decisions, Jo's hoes had executed their probably worst move by leaving Izaya behind and taking Shinra instead.

Because if there was anyone capable of turning this into their favor without their enemy noticing, then it was him.

"Become the king?" Namie asked, quite lost as to what kind of strategy Izaya was trying to form, but she received nothing but a snort in return.

"Do you know one of the most common deaths among kings?" Izaya asked, and Namie felt slightly offended by her historical knowledge.

"Assasination," She answered with a tongue quicker than her mind.

Because it was right then and there that Izaya's plans slowly started to take shape in her mind.

A mischievous, plotting smile spread across Izaya's lips. It was the kind he usually showed before fucking someone's entire existence over. A sight that evoked repulsion in Namie back in their old days, but right now it was the best bet they had.

"Instead of fighting them head on we will get them from the inside out."

to be continued~

At last Izaya gets to execute his best skill even in an apocalypse xDDD I hope you like how this is progressing hahahaha