Doublestep's Entry: Apocalypse Now
Word count: 3,756
Rating: T
It started with a bang.
Followed by a strong overpowering lurch. Kakashi paused, recognizing the symptoms, and placed his hand on the nearest street railing to steady his body. The pain was welling up again. The streetlights above were bright. Blinding. His heart beat hard against his chest, and the pain, the pain in his head was ready to explode. His senses were always sharp, but now with the rowdy noises in the alley way and the sounds of shattering glass, the noises just made him want to slam his hand into the nearest throat. Squeeze tight and…
“Kakashi.” Sakura all but slapped him as she twisted his body around, and held his arms a rough grip. She wore her medic lab coat, and there was fear in her voice.
Ah. Blinding pain again. His heart beat hard and fast, fighting to drown out all other noises. He was sweating, and that bright, bright light…
“Kakashi,” Sakura pleaded. “Look at me.”
Fingers twisted into his arms with a painful intensity, and the sad waver in Sakura’s voice was enough to turn his thoughts… and just like that. The dizziness swept away again. As easily, and freely as if blasted away by a passing wind. Kakashi was aware of the dead leaves that scraped across the sidewalk in the cold.
He sighed and pressed a palm to his forehead. Hard, as if to will the sharp headache away. “I’m sorry, Sakura. It’s fine... Everything is fine. It’s just…”
Sakura quietly shushed him. “It’s okay. You don’t have to explain anything to me.”
She sounded confident, but her hands trembled. Kakashi could still sense her fear, which was justifiable in this situation, but still not an emotion from Sakura he was used to seeing.
Sakura let go then smoothed down her lab coat. She was tired. She was haggard. There were dark marks down her eyes, but Kakashi could also sense the steel of her character that would not rest until she accomplished everything she needed to do tonight. That strength would power her through even the most harrowing circumstances. Which was the only shred of comfort Kakashi took in these dark hours.
He was not so sure about his own mettle, however. As with every passing minute the sweet, comforting lull of darkness claimed his mind a little more, and his body followed after. Giving into the oblivious respite. Strong chills made his body shake-much like the dead leaves that scattered by-as he fought hard to maintain the same steel and strength as Sakura.
“We have to go now.” Her green eyes slid away, and shoulders were resolute as she faced ahead. “These vials won’t last long without being in the proper containment,” she patted down her front pocket.
There was a pause as she glanced up.
“I can see it now. The lab building is just a few blocks away.”
Another pause.
“Did you hear me, Kakashi?”
Kakashi did hear her. But he also heard a great deal more in the alleyways from behind them. The chaotic sound of breaking tables and chairs grew louder, punctuated by shrill screams. Hollow, unearthly cries.
He ushered Sakura forward, placing a hand on her back. “We have to get out of here,” he agreed. “And now.”
Sakura’s green eyes were bright. “Just a few more blocks…” she promised. Her voice a whisper.
Then they were off. Running fast with unrelenting speed. The wind was loud in their ears, the leaves crunched beneath every step, and the light and dark shadows alternated with the streetlamps.
Every now and then they paused and hid in shadowed spots. Breathless, backs pressed against the fences, trees, or walls. Then tear off again as if by some mutual, but unseen signal. With each hurried step, silver puffs of cloud left their mouths, as their lungs worked hard to take in the frigid air.
A metal trash bin crashed into the street with a loud clatter. Which forced them to stumble and stop. Tense and still, as they waited for whatever might appear. They were close now, the lab building was only a block away. From this close distance the light of the windows twinkled cheerfully in the dark. Faint howls and shrieks picked up in the air.
“Help me…” A man stumbled out into the street, stretching an arm forward. He was a chuunin, judging from the vest and bandana that covered his shaggy brown hair. He had a very pale face, and there was a strong stench that came off his clothes.
Kakashi stepped forward, throwing a protective hand in front of Sakura. With his other hand he already held a kunai ready. “Stay back,” he said to the man.
The chuunin fell forward, then slowly glanced up again. “Help… please help…”
From behind, Kakashi could sense Sakura wavering. Even as she stared down the man with determined eyes, her hands twisted and wrung at the edges of her lab coat. After all they had been through tonight, she still actually considered it.
Kakashi’s shoulder gave a twinge. The blood had caked dry now, but the fatal slash remained from the last time they trusted a helpless man too much. Already, Kakashi could see the encroaching signs taking over the chuunin. The paleness, the sickness, the shakes. The chuunin was a complete loss at this point.
“Please… I’m f-from. From the third unit…” The chuunin hissed out. He held them captive with his pleading eyes.
Sakura ripped forward, quicker than Kakashi could stop her. She crouched down before the man. Suddenly, her eyes were eager and bright with hope.
“You came from the third unit?” She demanded.
“…yes…” It came out as a quiet sigh. The chuunin coughed and gripped at his stomach.
Sakura reached out to steady the man, which made Kakashi’s heart stop cold. “Did you see a blond haired man, or a man with dark, spiky black hair? Do you know Naruto or Sasuke?”
“Sakura!” Kakashi was quick to pull Sakura away with a sharp jerk, and yank her back several steps. His hands trembled and his head felt light, but Kakashi held on strong in fear for her safety. There was no use asking. Everyone in the village knew the heroic Naruto and infamous Uchiha at this point. From the looks of chuunin, he just came from a very bad place. And if he really was from the third unit like Naruto and Sasuke, then the two were probably fighting tooth and nail to defend the area. They were more than capable of holding down the fort.
Sakura was inconsolable. She thrashed away in Kakashi’s hold now. Which she needed to stop doing immediately, Kakashi thought, because the way she moved reminded him of weak prey, and for some reason that thought made his stomach churn in the strangest way. “Naruto and Sasuke are back there. Kakashi, we need to go back!”
It took Kakashi a moment to gather his thoughts. In the meantime, he kept a stray eye on the chuunin not too far away. The man was groaning quietly to himself, and coughing up blood, clawing away at the ground.
“The medical lab is just down the street,” Kakashi reasoned.
“But Naruto and Sasuke…!”
“…Are more than able to handle themselves. Sakura, we have to remember our mission. You are the only medic here capable of fixing this situation.”
The steel inside Sakura was breaking. Her eyes were watering up. “The explosion at the first medical lab should never have happened. It’s my fault the virus spread.”
“No, Sakura. I told you to stop thinking like that. It wasn’t your fault. Now please, for the love of god, we have to get going.”
Even as Kakashi urged her forward once more, Sakura resisted.
“Naruto and Sasuke are back there. And quite possibly in trouble. Just look at us! Even by ourselves we weren’t able to fight off all danger…” her voice drifted away as her gaze lingered on the gash on his shoulder. Her emerald eyes nearly burned his skin. Nearly made him irrational.
Kakashi let out a low groan. The medic lab was just up the street, and they had been fighting off the dread results of the outbreak for over the past seventy-two hours. The shrill sirens rang off overhead and torches of red lights flashed over the quarantined blocks of the village. The streets that were once so lively were now desolate, and a distinct sense of fear bled out of every dark corner of the groaning town.
It had not been so bad the first twenty-four hours of the outbreak, but only because the symptoms had not been fully realized, and they had no idea of what horrible things awaited those afflicted during the forty-eighth hour of the sickness. It was around that time when the chills, stray coughs, and pale skin turned into something far more sinister than the symptoms of a cold, and into something far more dark and loathsome. As if all of the ill intentions of the bio-warfare researchers came to full fruition-except instead of destroying enemies. It destroyed the very village that created the disease.
Kakashi had no idea such dangerous designs lurked within the heart of Konoha, but he had discovered very recently that Sakura had known of these things all too well. Especially when she came running up to him two days ago, desperate and trembling with fear as the outbreak first begun.
“We can’t split up,” Kakashi said. That much was certain.
“Then we both need to go back and help Naruto and Sasuke right now. Weren’t you the one who said to never leave a teammate behind?”
“That… or you could use your keen mind to look underneath the underneath, and save the whole village by creating the vaccine.”
Sakura stared him down with disbelief. “Who knows how long that would take! Kakashi, that process could take anywhere between hours to days. Or even weeks. When helping those two would only a few minutes.”
“Sakura you’re not listening to me. I’m talking about your sharp mind here. Your brilliant mind… brain… brains of that caliber aren’t easy to find. We’re in a pretty dire situation right now.” Suddenly, Kakashi found it very difficult to breathe, as his heart-rate picked up once more.
“No. They’re the ones in the dire situation. We can help them, and then head to the medical lab.”
Whatever Kakashi was going to say back became lost, as he found the street lights overhead to be too bright. The shaking returned at full force as his body broke out into sweat. His stomach turned with a sharp pain, that was strange, and yet so familiar. The banging noise returned to his ears, and the brightness-
“Kakashi watch out!” Sakura whipped out a kunai, eyes widening with fear. Like a cat out of hell, she was ready to fight and leap forward when all at once…
Kakashi moved first-operating on pure instinct. With a decisive stroke, he cut the chuunin down behind him, and stopped the man’s lunge in mid-air. The shrieking groan died down to a rattle as the chuunin slumped forward, then fell away from Kakashi’s blade.
In the lamplight, they could see all too clearly the man’s discolored skin. His frame was rigid and the jaundiced look of sickness had taken over his now dull eyes. He had truly been in the final stages of the virus’ grip. That last moment when all reason left the mind, and only left a crazed, rabid monster in its wake.
“We need to find Naruto and Sasuke,” Sakura said. Her quiet voice was firm.
With trembling arms, all Kakashi could do was obey. Only the fates knew how much longer he had left before he deteriorated into a state like the man on the ground before them, and when that happened he did not want Sakura to be alone. The last comfort and only chance he could offer the village was to help Sakura find her lost teammates.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Low moans filled the streets and alleyways. What once were the quarantined sections had long ago been taken over by those infected with the disease. It was cruel, relentless, and worked fast-just as intended. If only it could have seen action on the battlefield, it truly would have been a morbid work of art. A true saving grace for the side that held possession and mastery over the virus.
But now…
It occurred to Kakashi that he hadn’t eaten anything over the past three days. He could usually go great lengths without food during intense missions, but now with everyone warding off food in fear of the disease, he could especially feel the hunger pangs now. The feeling created a stitch in his side, and thoughts merged together as he struggled to focus on the task ahead. Find Naruto and Sasuke… don’t hurt Sakura… find Naruto and Sasuke…
Sakura moved through the streets with determination. Following the signs of struggle all the way down the block until eventually the carnage culminated in front of a warehouse. Bodies lay strewn all around the outside of those who were unconscious and dead. Men and women of various stages of the virus laid out in groups. Some ninja, some civilian, all covered with scratches and splotches of blood, and laid out in convoluted, stiffened positions.
None of them moved.
A cold wind picked up, with a strong and howling insistence that sent chills up Kakashi’s spine. The lone light above the warehouse flickered in the dark, and dead leaves swirled about and thumped uselessly against the rusted metal walls of the warehouse. It was here were a majority of the village grains and emergency supplies were stored, and required the fiercest protection in midst of any attack or battle on the home-front.
From what Kakashi remembered from the initial reports-before the reports stopped arriving-units three and four were sent to protect this quarantined block of land.
He could only imagine the disastrous free-for-all that must have taken place as ninja of the highest caliber became infected with the rabid, mind-altering disease… and began to turn on each other.
“I can sense them. They’re in there,” Sakura whispered.
In the warehouse. Kakashi could sense them, too. For better or worse… somewhere deep inside, there were people still alive and moving about inside. His senses began to kick into overdrive. The painful, bright light flickering overhead. Sakura’s warm body nearby, and her quick heart that beat ever so fast.
He held on to that last bit of steel within. “Let’s go,” he said, voice like gravel, but filled with grim determination. And so they moved, careful and wary of the fallen bodies around the warehouse. He saw the arm of one of the fallen ninja twitch as they walked by. But the body never fully moved. A fallen cigarette was by the hand-still lit up with a dying spark of heat. The sign of just how all too recent the carnage had taken place.
They pulled open the warehouse doors with a horrible creak that echoed through the dark space. Then stopped cold as a loud shriek tore through the darkness. An awful scream that cut through skin and bone, and made the heart stop. There was rough clawing and banging, and Kakashi pinpointed the source of the noise from the back of the warehouse where the storage spaces were kept. The farthest door on the right rattled with intensity.
So much intensity that it was breaking off its hinges.
“My god…” Sakura said. She recognized the voice, and Kakashi did too. Even when broken in such a off-key sound, it still remained very familiar in their ears. The building reeked of alcohol fumes.
“They were planning to burn this building down, along with whoever was trapped inside-” Kakashi said quickly, thoughts moving fast. The piles of empty bottles and jars lined the darkened ground.
Whatever he was about to say next was cut off as the door broke through, and the very handsome face of their once friend and teammate flickered into the light. The jaundiced look to his eyes and stench were the sure signs of his fallen state. If he had not fallen already… then he was in the very last stages. His jet black head lulled forward before his looked up, his drowsed face turning up with a low groan.
Sakura screamed, and it was in that moment that Kakashi became torn between the two instincts of fight or flight. Whatever the choice, he needed to make it soon, as the Uchiha suddenly came charging towards them. But Kakashi’s knees buckled, and he found himself going dizzy and weak. That strong pain in his stomach was back and he could feel the shakes and sweats taking over.
A flash of orange tackled Sasuke down. All at once there were two contrasting colors of blue and orange struggling and fighting in the dark. Blazes of chakra lit up the dark corners and fizzled out again as they struggled for control. One voice shrieking, and the other shouting.
It was Naruto. Wonderful Naruto as his lively self struggling to hold the Uchiha down. He was covered in bite marks and scratches, but if Kakashi had to venture guess in his hazy state, the Nine-tails’ healing power overturned any effects of the disease. Naruto could probably take as many hits as necessary, and never feel the virus’ horrible sting.
Naruto was grappling Sasuke down and holding him in a head-lock. Then in the next moment they were crashing into walls and tumbling over. In one breathless moment the blonde managed to gain enough of a hold to look up at Kakashi and Sakura with burning eyes, “What are you waiting for? Get out of here!” he growled.
Then they were grappling and struggling. The warehouse building groaned and trembled under the rough force of the fight taking place inside. With bursts of chakra breaking forth, the building was buckling down, and suddenly in one powerful strike the blurs of orange and blue burst past the back wall were a loud splash! was heard afterwards. They had fallen into the surrounding lake.
The stunned silence that followed was short lived. Sakura was the first to move-because she was the only one capable of moving. Kakashi remained on the ground now, clutching his stomach as the world spun away. The sharp headaches had returned with a full intensity and he could feel himself spinning away into madness. Seeing the raw display of energy and power just now had triggered something deep inside of him. And surely, for the very last and final time, he could feel himself turning.
His body rigid, a weak cry left Kakashi’s mouth as pain and hunger took a hold of his stomach. That light. That damn flickering light was doing strange things to his mind and made him so goddamn angry, all he wanted to do was lash out at the nearest thing, and hold on and squeeze out all the life and scratch and bit until there was blood and tears, and latch on and rip apart until…
A sharp pain filled Kakashi’s chest followed by a quick blooming heat that flooded his system. All at once, the madness faded away, and he was aware of Sakura standing over him. Holding onto his shoulder tight with one hand, eyes wide and fearful, while in her other hand clutched a needle.
A needle that was now pierced into his heart.
Sanity returned like a slow thing, and thoughts fell in front of one another, like drops in a bucket. But in the chaos of his mind, only one thing held any substance.
“You had a vaccine all this time?” he asked in a wavering voice, mouth dry and hoarse. He clutched at his heart as Sakura gently pulled the needle away.
Sakura shook her head sharply in a No.
“I made this as a back up when developing the virus in the lab,” she whispered softly. “There’s no guarantee what it will do to your body. For all we know, it might only be a temporary solution. Whatever it is… it’s not the vaccine.”
But it was a start. That much Kakashi recognized. It would explain why Sakura was more eager to find her teammates then head to the lab, if she already had some form of cure with her at the time. The cure… which was now flowing through his veins. Was it the only one?
“We have to get out of here,” Sakura said. Which, Kakashi was all to inclined to agree. The warehouse trembled around them. Through the hole in the back wall, there were more splashes, but not the frantic sounds from before. Kakashi suspected that Naruto had either knocked out or incapacitated Sasuke somehow.
As they stood outside in the cold and watched Naruto drag their forlorn teammate to shore, a stray thought passed through Kakashi’s mind. Truly, it was becoming easier to think. The blooming heat lingered in his chest, but his bones remained rigid as his muscles slowly loosened back up.
“Do you suppose all these bodies are dead?” Sakura asked sadly. She had already come across the same thought as he had.
“Yes,” Kakashi affirmed. Taking a sweeping glance around the deserted front. He walked forward a few steps, and picked up the still burning end of the cigarette he saw earlier. The hand near it was perfectly still. The owner had already passed on.
With the alcohol fumes burning strong in their nostrils, the building would easily burst forth into a flaming heat, with orange tongues that would lick up the sky and send out a column of smoke that could be seen for miles around. All traces of the disease would at least be burned clean in this area. In the meantime the haggard team could stumble to the medical lab and examine the full effects of the semi-vaccine. With Naruto and Sasuke in tow-even if the Uchiha was in a far off state. If they could just keep him sedated they could also use him for further study, and eventually give him the cure.
Sakura and Kakashi stood side by side with grim, haggard looks. The steel within them still strong for at least this one more night. He stepped forward and flicked the cigarette end into the shifting light of the warehouse. Alcohol fumes still strong.
It ended with a cigarette.