Chapter 79: Biology class
"Come on, help." Unprecedented confidence brimmed in Izaya's voice, much louder than Namie liked.
The sun was setting and the shadows growing longer by the second didn't exactly enhance the woman's sense of security. Not to mention they might still be watched.
Sure, Izaya had concluded they weren't, but who was she to blindly believe him?
Soft grunts of exertion resounded from the van and a soft glare aimed at her as soon as Izaya noticed she had still not moved an inch.
"How can you be so sure we are not being watched?" A roll of eyes was all she was given and with a quick nod towards Shizuo the more immediate need of another pair of hands was addressed. The apheresis machine was heavy and had sadly not lost any of its weight during the timespan they had parted from it.
Enthusiastic like a cat taking a shower the woman finally joined and divided the strength needed to move the machine by three.
Namie hadn't quite given the action a lot of thought, but as soon as they put down the machine into the back of their new car she paused in a quick thought.
"Wait, why did we not just use the medic van?"
A roll of eyes was all she was given while Izaya slipped into the driver's seat once again.
"If you want to attract attention that's definitely the way to go."
Annoyance displayed on Namie's face as he slipped into the back of the car. The apheresis machine sat right next to her, spiking an unknown claustrophobia at the close proximity and narrowed space.
Pushing at the white surface she clicked her tongue before putting on a seatbelt that no one was going to check her wearing anyway.
As soon as Shizuo slipped into the passenger's seat the engine roared and Izaya rolled off the road.
Night was falling and even Jo's hoes weren't going to stand by in darkness to watch them, but other creatures would and that was just mildly unsettling.
"Think. What do you need for creating an antidote?" Izaya suddenly asked, startling Namie, who had just rolled down the window for some fresh air and brushed a few of her brown strands of hair out of her face.
"That depends. As you are aware, my knowledge in that department is lacking."
Driving onto the main road leading into the opposite direction of Jo's hoes' base, Izaya accelerated.
"Then give me the standard equipment needed in a laboratory."
A laboratory?
Question marks appeared in Namie's eyes, but she was wiser than to second guess Izaya's remarks by now.
"Electricity of some form. A cold space. A warm space. Light. It should be clean and free of bugs?" she answered, but sounded more like she was phrasing a question as she went through everything she was using on a daily basis off the top of her head.
It had been a while since she stood inside a sterile environment conducting research. Ever since the virus started spreading she had been taken off the research team as well for safety reasons.
That was the one decision she certainly did not regret making as her entire team ended up being infected and wiped out within a few weeks only.
"Why are you asking?"
An indecisive shrug was all that she received and Namie decided at that point that it was best to just stop asking the Izaya questions entirely.
He was obviously not going to relay what his great schemes were about and at the end of the day she didn't want to know.
"What about the underground trains?" Izaya suddenly said, causing the woman's brow to rise.
The thought pattern leading to Izaya's suggestion had been easy. Cold and warmth were the first aspects. Considering electricity was down that criteria was only going to be fulfilled underground.
Warmth was easily generated. As for electricity - with batteries still available and various devices abundant to be used at shops all around he doubted there would be much issue in creating the currents they might possibly need.
As for clean and free of bugs- cellars were always going to suffer from both of these along with high humidity but the large network of unmoving trains was sure to create strong currents of winds at all times.
"Are you nuts?" Namie seemed anything but delighted about his suggestion.
"Not fitting?" Izaya asked and she crossed her arms in mild question of Izaya's sanity.
"It is, but I hope you didn't forget just where the flatworms flock to in their search of darkness."
Right, that was a problem.
Izaya didn't need to look at Shizuo to know what kind of face he was making by now.
Going down the underground stations was as mich of a suicide mission as it was a key element of their survival.
"And if we clear them?"
"Izaya-" having remained quiet the whole time Shizuo finally raised his voice. Izaya was immune to the virus.
Both, the fungi as well as the flatworms actually.
But Shizuo remembered very vividly just how exactly one of those monsters had crushed Izaya ribs.
There was no bite needed to get killed by one of those and he really hoped Izaya was aware of that fact.
"What are you trying to do? Set them aflame? That will ruin your perfect laboratory, just saying." Namie added as well, supporting Shizuo in his doubt.
Street signs dashed by and Izaya steered the car into the direction of the nearest station.
Tensing in her seat Namie momentarily regretted ever joining up with this maniac.
"Hey, Izaya, you can't be serious-"
"Honking," Izaya suddenly said, not addressing the fear but the current problem that needed to be cleared.
"If we set up a car in one station just at the border of the shadow, repetitively honking, that would lure them over, right?" Horror flashed across Namie's expression for a moment and the will to answer that question shrunk by the second.
"It would. They react to noise and the shadow would hinder any advance," Namie confirmed slowly, "But so would the fungi and they have no problem circling you from behind."
The catch to that idea was too great to ignore, yet here they were.
Car stopping in front of exactly one of those underground train stations that Izaya had talked about, Namie frowned.
A grin flashed back towards the woman, "I knew it was smart to bring two people."
"You can't be serious-"
But apparently he was. Izaya's eyes were not joking, nor was this the place or the time to waste on words.
"Do you want to survive or do you want to win?" Izaya asked too seriously to brush aside, and Namie felt the palms of her hands clench.
"Survive if winning means I will be dead at the end of the day," she answered quickly, but with surprisingly little backbone to her words.
"Winning obviously includes both," Izaya argued and Namie's gaze traveled towards the station.
Izaya was serious. Not only with his idea, but with his conviction as well.
He wasn't planning to die, he wasn't planning to abandon Shinra either, and he wasn't just fucking shit up for fun.
It was weird, but in a really weird way Namie knew when to trust Izaya's intentions. And his intentions right now were exceedingly clear.
Pictures of the past few days resurfaced in Namie's mind as she thought about what they had accomplished as a group.
Celty had been there as their ultimate shield, but she disappeared without a trace. Shinra was their doctor, but at the end of the day even he got injured and now even caught.
Ever since meeting up as a group, Kadota, Vorona, Karisawa and her had done nothing but try to survive.
But Izaya?
Izaya made himself immune to the source of this disaster.
Simply by comparing their success it was awfully apparent just who had the better outlook on turning this situation into their favor.
Lifting her gaze shortly she sighed before shooting a glare towards Izaya.
"You are crazy," she announced briefly, before stepping out of the car. "I hate you."
Nothing but a grin was shown as Izaya nodded.
"I love you too."
A soft breeze brushed across the surface of the streets. There was not a single car in sight except the one they arrived with.
The train station was in front, and Namie's skin crawled just looking at it.
She didn't need to be a great scientist or psychic to know that there would be masses of flatworms inside the tunnels.
Just the idea caused her body to stiffen and her mind to go into fight and flight mode.
The sun was close to setting and provided a time limiter to what Izaya had in mind which was anything but calming.
"So what will we do?" Izaya asked, as soon as he got out of the car and Namie groaned.
"Give me a minute to come up with an idea, will you?"
Raising his hands in fake defense, Izaya smiled before retreating a few steps. He knew when he had convinced her and he seemed to have succeeded this time as well.
"Why do you even need a laboratory?" The whisper had come as unexpected as it was quiet.
Shizuo had slipped out of the car as well.
Standing right next to Izaya his vigilant eyes scanned every corner of the street for potential danger.
"Reasons?" Izaya tried, but Shizuo seemed anything but pleased by the response.
"You aren't telling me?" Izaya recognized offense when he had heard it, and in Shizuo's case it was even easier to spot as his face provided subtitles of his doubts.
"I'm telling no one Shizu-chan," Izaya emphasized but that didn't really seem to quelch Shizuo's concerns.
"I don't like it," he whispered, "Reminds me of when you said you were going to tell me your theory of an antidote in case you die."
Right.
There had been that point in time.
Izaya remembered the day that nightly creature had crushed his ribs and he vividly remembered the days following.
The fever. The fear of maybe dying to the virus after all. Kasuka. Kasane Kujiragi. Without her swords they might have died that very night.
The memory caused Izaya's guts to clench in an unpleasant way.
They had been close to dying more than a couple times. Sure, danger was something that usually evoked a thrill in Izaya, but at this point in time the thrill was starting to dull.
Namie was still pretty busy looking straight ahead at the underground train station, tipping her lips and biting her nails.
Signs that she was thinking really hard of a solution to their dilemma.
Edging closer, Izaya stepped up to Shizuo.
"No worries," he whispered and leaned up, just for a second to cast a chaste kiss onto Shizuo's lips. Their eyes met for a brief second and a quick smile tugged at the corner of Izaya's lips. "Contrary to back then I 100% do not plan on dying."
Doubt grazed Shizuo's eyes, but he seemed convinced nonetheless as the frown easened up considerably.
Glancing towards the station, towards Namie and back to Izaya he finally gave a short nod of approval.
Good.
"So," Namie suddenly started and turned around, "We all know fungi are as infectious as flatworms. The transfer of both infections occurs via fluid exchange. The most common form here is a bite," she summarized quickly and Izaya leant his back against the car while nodding. "Intercourse would also be an option but I hardly think anyone would consider fucking a zombie," Namie continued and Izaya snorted for second.
"Crude words, I didn't know you could be so direct," he joked and the woman shrugged, "We are going to kill a mountain of infected people, forgive me if it sours my mood a little."
Right.
Izaya kept forgetting at times that Shinra's group managed to survive in a really evasive manner. Killing fungi wasn't something they practiced or hoped to do.
They merely hid. Tried to avoid them. Which obviously had been one of the better options considering they survived until now and many other people did not.
But it still differentiated Izaya and Shizuo from them in a very vast way.
Conflict was something to be charged at, not avoided.
Coming up with a plan aiming to actually confront the fungi and flatworms probably did a whole 180 on Namie's mindset.
"Most basic facts about fungi include their elevated body temperature, blindness, improved hearing as a result of the loss of their sensory organ and slightly superior movement due to the loss or deactivation of pain receptors," the woman continued to summarize and Shizuo frowned.
"Wait, they can't feel pain?"
A sarcastic comment laid on Izaya's lips, but he bit it back last minute. Because Shizuo had definitely killed a lot of them by now, but considering the way he oneshot these infected people Izaya doubted there had ever been a chance for him to notice as much.
"Fungi can't. Flatworms however…", Namie faded out and glanced towards Izaya.
Right.
Izaya remembered. His trip with Karisawa.
Apart from being stuck in a shop's ceiling for hours they had had the delightful experience of having one of those nightly creatures at their heels.
Jumping from shadow to shadow in order to get closer had not only been horrifying but also proved a certain level of intelligence and perception of pain upon touching sunlight.
"Compared to the common fungi, the flatworms seem to keep the host … saner?" Izaya concluded, and Namie gave a weak nod.
"Or at least more intelligent," she added while crossing her arms. The sun was starting to lower behind the taller buildings and her hair stood on ends.
Standing around talking was not exactly what they should be doing right now, but this wasn't an operation they should start head over heels either.
The time limit of their return at Jo's hoes' base the next morning was their deadline, however, and Namie was unpleasantly aware of that.
"From what you saw the fungi ganged up to eliminate the flatworm, or in other words, the host that is rivaling their habitat," she quickly summarized and Izaya nodded.
"I feel like I'm listening to a biology class."
"We are talking about living organisms, so technically you are. If there was something good about you and Karisawa going out, then this was it," she announced and Shizuo frowned.
"The fact that fungi kill flatworms?"
Namie nodded, and paused.
She was opposed to the idea of going up against all these potential dangers. They were only three people.
Izaya had convinced her to act instead of run, but was it really the right decision?
She had seen the fungi, she knew how to deal with them and despite that Karisawa almost ended up dying when they faced a mere handful of them on the road.
She had yet to see the horror of these so-called flatworms and the idea was anything but exhilarating.
Izaya seemed to notice her hesitation and quickly urged her on.
"So? What is your conclusion?"
Taking a deep breath Namie closed her eyes and tried to calm her slowly accelerating pulse.
"I got an idea. And I really hope you don't like it."
to be continued~