Chapter 77: Choices

The interior of the camper was quite the luxurious sight. Colors of beige and gold mixed in a fairly pleasant pattern. Windows, tinted by dark blue, provided vision of the streets whilst blocking greedy eyes from the outside.

A small table was bolted into the left side of the wall and a few cupboards had been fit inside the tiny space just below the ceiling. Dozens of roségolden markings and details had been added to the shiny surface of the walls and ceiling. Izaya could even spot some mirrors placed in the most unique spots to make the inside of the camper appear even bigger. This was by no doubt a high quality camper. An expensive one. Cost more than the average house probably.

But the most important factor was the beds.

Izaya had hoped for one bed and one couch to let at least their most impaired members rest properly and for once he was actually rewarded with an even better outlook.

"Perfect," he mumbled quietly, whilst his fingers trailed across the silky sheets covering three perfectly fine beds. One was on the right side, one on the left and at the very back one stood right in the middle of the room.

Izaya had no idea how expensive this camper had been, but judging from the way it looked like a first grade apartment it had definitely been more than he made in a year.

Good thing they didn't have to pay for their new home.

Home.

The thought somehow caused the corners of Izaya's lips to rise. It was awkward somehow, but this new group of theirs had learned to function like a small family.

Sure, someone like Namie and Vorona were more on the unpleasant distant relatives side, but they still counted.

And their number one priority right now, was to get their missing member back.

"What about… the thing we got?" Shizuo suddenly asked quietly.

Izaya didn't need Shizuo to elaborate what he was talking about.

The apheresis machine.

Shizuo was listening to his earlier advice and kept its name out of the conversation in case someone was listening in.

Moving his fingers to his eyes, Izaya gave a quick hint before speaking.

"We will get it at a later point in time."

They were being watched. So any suspicious movements were going to be reported to that damned priest.

Understanding the hint, Shizuo quickly nodded.

"Got it."

Leaving the comfortable space of what was nothing more than a home on wheels the two slipped out of the back.

Izaya owned a license for cars, but a vehicle of this size? Not so much.

The legal part was no issue as all laws had been nullified in Izaya's eyes the second the apocalypse started, but the skill was an issue.

Looking at a control panel that looked more like those of buses than that of a car, Izaya took a few educated guesses before moving the monster.

It was a funny feeling, to sit this high, steering a machine weighing enough to completely wreck anything running in front.

"Now to the best part," Izaya announced after the short five minute drive was finished. Doors were locked, legs accelerated and after skipping some stairs the two re-entered the library with a quick flick of successive knocks to the door.

"We got it," Izaya announced cheerfully as Namie's shoulders sank in relief. The knocking had relayed that it were in fact humans that approached, but not what kind.

"That was awfully fast," she announced and Izaya shrugged.

"Any complaints?"

"Not really."

Moving around the library like a busy bee, Izaya immediately started moving everything they were going to take with them to the door.

A short glance was cast towards Karisawa and Namie frowned. She had woken up from her short coma, but that didn't mean her wound had simply disappeared.

"How do we move her?"

"I would suggest carefully," Izaya answered with hints of sarcasm and Namie rolled her eyes. "Ha ha, you know that was not my question."

Glass protested quietly as Izaya placed the test tubes he had used earlier onto the ground before lifting his gaze.

"I was serious. We don't have the luxury of owning a stretcher and finding one could potentially end up in creating more issues than it would help."

Just thinking about the many trips Izaya had made in this city and just how many of those turned out with more hassles than benefits he was a fan of cutting down any trip that was not absolutely necessary.

"Wait, you want her to get up?" Bewilderment reflected in Namie's eyes.

But what was Izaya supposed to do? Use magic to make her float?

Moving over Izaya looked at Karisawa. She was still conscious and her gaze awfully compliant with Izaya's idea.

A simple nod was given and Izaya lowered to his knees.

"Are you going to help or continue whining?" he asked, casting a glance over his shoulder and Namie clicked her tongue.

She could complain all she wanted, but at the end of the day they needed to get Karisawa out of this library if they weren't going to leave her behind to die.

Approaching with the vehemence of a cat needing to take a bath the woman joined Izaya, as well as Kadota and Shizuo.

"Slowly," Izaya reminded and Namie frowned.

"You don't need to tell me."

Cusses and displeased grunts followed from the woman as they slowly pushed Karisawa up.

A deep frown grazed her face and Namie's darkened with every sign of discomfort she showed.

It took a full minute until they had her sitting straight.

"Ready?" Izaya asked, referring to the pleasant task of moving her down the stairs and to the front of the school where the camper parked.

A weak nod was given and so they pulled her up. Izaya was at her left side, making sure her upper body and arms did not budge the slightest. Namie was to her right, doing the same but while also making sure her head stayed as still as possible.

Kadota and Shizuo shared her hips and legs equally.

It was probably a funny sight to look at from afar.

Izaya found himself thinking about elementary school and sports classes. Stupid tournaments having been held in summer included groups of five carrying one person from point A to point B faster than their competitors.

He had always viewed these tasks as absolutely useless and far from any practical need in the future.

Right now his teacher would probably laugh at him if she saw them executing just that, but with more precision.

Their teamwork succeeded Izaya's expectations by far as they made their way down in under fifteen minutes.

The back of the van was opened by Shizuo and much quicker than expected Karisawa was returned to her horizontal position in one of the beds.

"Are you okay? Does anything feel off?" Namie asked as soon as she did.

A reassuring smile spread across Karisawa's lips as she shook her head slightly. "Has been a while since I got to sleep in a real bed," she joked, trying to easen the mood.

She failed though.

After having lost her brother it seemed Namie was not easily assured.

"Just rest, we will take care of everything else," she whispered softly.

Peace returned to the small group and within a minute Vorona appeared in the school building's entrance.

She had tried to get up on her own despite her concussion and obvious dizziness. Kadota had been the one to talk her out of moving on her own and offered his good shoulder instead.

Looking at their new home on wheels, Kadota was the first to realize a lack of beds.

Two seats occupied the front, one for the driver and one for a passenger.

With three beds remaining there was one person left without one.

"We only have three beds. If you want you can-" Kadota turned to Vorona, but the woman was quick to shut him down.

"It's large enough for two. I don't mind."

Fatigue drained the vast majority of the group and Shizuo was no exception. Taking a short break by sitting down on a knocked down lantern he watched Izaya as he carried down the rest of their supplies.

He motioned to rise and help, but Izaya quickly shut him down with a shake of head and intense glare.

He was supposed to rest.

Putting the last box inside the high cupboards at the camper's back he clapped his hands.

"I will drive. Anyone got a problem with that?"

His endless optimism and unreasonable joy didn't find all too much agreement.

"Just get to the front already," Namie rolled her eyes.

And so he did.

Louder than intended the driver's door slammed shut as Izaya grasped the leather wheel of the camper.

So far so good. They got everyone down into the vehicle without any additional trouble. Step one was completed. And yet the dopamine rush of finishing a task to his utmost satisfaction somehow didn't come.

Too gray was the road ahead. Too suspicious were the shadows dancing in the shops.

Izaya didn't like it. The prospect of losing control. Because at the end of the day no matter how well he sold his idea to his new little family, he was giving away just that by joining Jo's hoes. The priest was charismatic and from the way he had acted he owned more than just a few lambs that followed his beliefs.

Getting Shinra out of there was the goal. And Izaya was confident he would come up with a befitting strategy.

But it had to be a strategy working before the priest's eyes.

Thumb drawing slow patterns on the steering wheel Izaya lost himself in thoughts a little.

Back then, when Shizuo and him had been alone, those had been the best times.

Sure, they ended up in dangerous situations nonetheless. Even deadly ones.

But at the end of the day it was just the two of them. Protecting just one person was much easier than having to watch over five. The odds of someone acting out were way higher than with only Shizuo and him.

Glancing towards the front, Izaya looked at the road. The blood donation van was still parked not too far from them but it appeared no one had bothered to search it.

Not like anyone was going to understand what the apheresis machine was going to be used for.

Slipping into the passenger seat it was Shizuo who snapped Izaya out of his thoughts. A quick nod was given and before long Izaya steered their new home on wheels away from school.

The window to Izaya's right was scrolled down and he inhaled the soothing breeze of dawn. Their surroundings were awfully peaceful considering their circumstances.

There were no zombies. No nightly creatures. Jo's hoes were probably around but hidden well enough for Izaya to not spot them.

"Are you okay?" The question came fairly surprising and Izaya blinked for a second before looking at the blond.

Shizuo was watching him. Judging from his posture he had been doing so for a while.

Redirecting his gaze to the road Izaya moved the vehicle up the highway they had been walking down earlier.

"Why are you asking?"

"I don't know."

Izaya snorted at the simplicity of Shizuo's brain. It was funny. As dense as he could be at times, he seemed to notice something was on Izaya's mind. He didn't even know what it was, but he knew him well enough by not to tell he was bothered.

Izaya didn't know whether to love or hate that accurate perception.

His grasp on the steering wheel tightened and Izaya's voice lowered.

"... say, Shizu-chan, wanna leave?" The second the request left Izaya's lips he realized how awfully honest it was.

Silence followed and Shizuo mirrored the surprise that Izaya felt at his own words.

"Are you serious?"

"No," Izaya laughed, but somehow the laugh didn't capture his eyes. Hesitation marked his posture and his eyes narrowed with a sigh. "... yes?"

The topic being discussed was awful, he was aware of that and having Shizuo question his intention only made him feel even more like scum.

"What happened to that confidence from earlier?" Shizuo asked and Izaya snorted bitterly.

"It's still there. That's not the issue."

"But?"

Hiroto Shijima.

The name appeared out of nowhere in Izaya's mind and his knuckles showed as he clutched the steering wheel.

"That bastard almost killed you," Izaya whispered, seething hatred seeping past his lips as his eyes narrowed. The visual of Shizuo laying on the ground barely moving and in obvious pain was going to be engraved into his mind and soul until his very last breath. "Almost killed me," Izaya spat further, this time remembering the incident on the bridge. Sure that had been a grand scale project. Shijima hadn't set it up on his own, but the end result was still the same.

Izaya had sustained a bite wound from that incident. And had he not by some miraculous means managed to create an antidote in the same manner that antibiotic drugs were discovered, then he would have died the most gruesome death of all.

No matter his confidence or his wits, he could have died easily. And Shizuo was no longer an exception to that threat.

"The zombies might try to eat us, but we can deal with that," he whispered. "Jo's hoes on the other hand…"

A soft frown appeared on Shizuo's expression. But contrary to Izaya's belief it didn't stem from his will to abandon Shizuo's old friends.

No.

That's not even it.

Because he realized that these words spoken by the raven were words only he was going to hear. These were his true thoughts. His true fears.

As soon as Namie would turn up or something Izaya would show nothing but unwavering confidence.

Because Izaya trusted Shizuo. It was only because of that that he shared his most honest thoughts.

Right now he didn't need a pep talk to keep fighting or pull through. Because Izaya was going to anyway.

No. That's not what he needed.

Driving on the main road there was no turn to be taken, nothing in sight to be watched as they drove only straight and so Shizuo leaned over.

Izaya's chin was tilted into Shizuo's direction with a quick but gentle motion and before Izaya knew it he found himself blessed with a soft kiss.

The action was appreciated, yet also confusing.

Eyes casting down to Shizuo's lips as he leant away, Izaya took a moment before refocusing on the road ahead.

"How do I deserve this?" Street lamps passed quicker and quicker as the camper sped up on the main road.

"We can." A bit confused, Izaya blinked, taking a second to connect the answer to his previously stated question. "Nothing changed. I would feel bad for Shinra and the others, but at the end of the day they can look after themselves," Shizuo continued and Izaya felt a hint of a perplexed smile graze his lips.

"You would abandon them?"

"Rather them than you."

Wow. Talk about confidence.

"Since when did you grow so attached to me?" Izaya laughed, and yet he couldn't deny the rush of relief quickly filling his head. He didn't know why, but he understood that Shizuo wasn't joking. They could leave. Any time.

"Since I realized that you are the one that makes my world spin," Shizuo sighed, "And not only mine. Karisawa, Kadota, Shinra-" hesitating shortly, Shizuo recalled their very first encounter with the small group. "Did you see their faces when we arrived?"

Their very first encounter?

He did. Celty had still been part of the group. Shinra was as cheerful as ever, but the rest…

"They looked beaten," Izaya concluded and Shizuo nodded.

"You said it when we first met. Some people facing this apocalypse are just waiting to die. Or kill themselves."

Izaya remembered that one. They had been driving inside the cabriole talking about how Shizuo killed his brother. The memory had still been fresh and Shizuo's mind was not in the safest place with no goal to strive for. It had taken Izaya quite a beating to filter that despair out of Shizuo's system.

"Are you trying to say I'm everyone's anchor of sanity?" Izaya snorted, "Namie would kill you if she heard that."

"She would still know it's true."

Reaching the end of the highway Izaya set the turn signal that he was leaving the road to the right- for who exactly he wasn't sure since they were the only people on the road.

"That's why if you say we leave then we leave, because without you there is no point in trying to struggle," Shizuo continued and Izaya hummed.

"Talk about pressure. You make me feel like some kind of superior being."

A glance was cast, featuring a smile. "Doesn't that fit your god complex?"

It did.

But in a way Izaya wasn't sure he liked.

The freedom of choice was awfully sweet and having to exert the self restraint needed to not just give in to the temptation was difficult.

"So?" Shizuo asked slowly after a minute. "Are we leaving?"

This was the last chance they had. Down the highway and a few streets further, that was the distance they had to travel to arrive at Jo's hoes.

They were almost there.

If they were going to leave then they had to do so right now.

But the brakes weren't hit and slowly but surely unknown faces filled the area around them. Faces that had not turned into zombies.

"No. Not yet." Izaya announced, watching the surrounding humans as they waved signals to each other. "I will look at this and see what I can do."

High walls made of rubbish and cracked concrete made up what appeared to be a grand entrance to Jo's hoes hideout.

The sun was setting slowly by now, casting shadows of blood across the landscape.

Cutting the engine, Izaya stopped right in front of what appeared to be a shopping mall. Windows and the entrance down below had been barricaded with cars and a few people stood at the very top of the building.

The priest was among them.

"Shizuo, you say nothing," Izaya announced quietly.

Shizuo snorted, "You don't trust me?" The tension was high, but somehow their minds were awfully calm.

A short brush across Shizuo's palm was enough for him to understand that Izaya was in control.

"I do trust you to charge at them head on if they threaten me," Izaya whispered, and he couldn't have been more right as Shizuo cautiously watched the bastards as he descended a ladder down the building.

"Damn right. I have your back no matter what."

to be continued~

Yo xD I almost didn't finish this update haha but then I got a splurge of motivation an hour ago and finished it xDDDDD

There is no SD and Gth update this week but I will make sure to make next Saturday worth the wait xDDD Especially in SD hahaha

Also, I will probably start the new story "Angel shot" on the coming Saturday~! C: C: C: C:

With that being said I hope you enjoyed this update and see you in the next update xD