boxofmisfits | Biohazard

The wet plip, plip, of something dripping that hadn't been there before was Keith's first clue that it wasn't necessarily where they would expect. But before he could mention it, Shiro's flashlight was already tracking upwards, apparently having reached the same conclusion Keith had.

"Oh, hell no," Keith had muttered, snarling as Shiro dashed down the hallway. Even as Shiro moved, Keith had snapped his dagger into his left hand, sword in the right as he debated whether or not to throw it right into that awful thing's bulbous pulsating brain meat.

"What the hell is that thing!" Keith hissed, trying to keep his voice down. Didn't want to attract more as he chased at Shiro's heels out of the closet. Stopped in the doorway as Shiro raced to give distance, enough to give the creature some level of confusion in tracking its prey. Or at least, so Keith hoped.

"I'm not sure! I never saw anything like it on my mission!" Shiro should have known that the monsters at the mansion weren't the only thing Umbrella had up their sleeve.

The thing dropped down onto the floor, looking right at Shiro. Its long tongue failed around like a whip, striking at Shiro's feet. He didn't want to get caught by that thing.

"Get it from behind!" Shiro shot the monster in the head, hitting it in the right brain lobe. It let out an angry roar in response.

Keith was already well ahead of Shiro. As soon as it had dropped down and fixed its focus on the other Keith was snarling like an animal and lunging at it's back with his sword. The tongue enough of a threat aimed at Shiro that Keith wanted it dead, fast.

Leaping into the air Keith brought his sword down hard, drove it through the base of its spine with a horrendous screech as Shiro's bullet sent blood and viscera into the air. Keith kept his mouth, eyes shut. Not wanting any of the gore to get him infected too. The tip of his sword burst through the monster's hideous throat, and it bucked, trying to jerk free and throw Keith off. With a grunt he twisted the blade, before sawing it forward and back as the beast screamed and gurgled, before finally going limp and still.

"...Gross," Keith assessed, pulling the blade free with a look of disgust, stepping away from the corpse before looking to Shiro, "You okay?"

Shiro covered his face with his elbows when he saw Keith go in for the kill, not wanting any gore to splatter on his face. He peeked back out when he heard the monster die.

"Yeah. I'm okay." It made Shiro smile a little, realizing that Keith had just saved his life twice tonight. Shiro had always considered himself Keith's protector, and now the younger man was returning the favor.

He looked down at the monster, mentally dubbing it 'the licker'. Was the thing's grotesque nature accidental or intentional? Shiro looked back at Keith. "Come on, we should get to my office and get the hell out of here."

Taking the lead again, Shiro guided Keith further into the hallway. The walls and floor were stained with blood in a few places, and they even ran into a couple of corpses along the way. Thankfully, they were inert. Shiro was reminded of the mansion all over again, with all its death.

"No arguments here. I'm not too keen on waiting around with this thing," he nudged one of it's paws with his foot, shuddering in disgust, "It looks like they skinned it and it's still trying to run around. Yechk,"

Grabbing at a nearby curtain, Keith wiped his blade clean before they continued, his dagger going back to his thigh for now.

Keith had never had experience in the field, not really. Some practice missions in training and supervised in house simulations, but this was different. It wasn't like he had never killed anything though, he'd been providing for himself long before Shiro had pulled him out of the mud. He knew how to hunt, how to skin a deer, how to last long winters with no one's help but his own. But... killing people? These things that had former lives, former families- it sill turned his stomach. Made him pause at the first corpses they found, a dark expression on his features before he continued moving.

These were Shiro's coworkers, some of them maybe even his friends- and then, the mansion... Shiro's mission. If he had seen this, but worse?

Keith wished he had been there. Didn't know what he could have done- what he might have added, but at least... at least he was here. At least Shiro had made it. Selfishly, that was all that mattered to Keith.

Shiro recognized a few of the corpses. They were coworkers, and even casual friends. He'd had water cooler talk with some of them, and he remembered some of them congratulating him on making it into STARS. He'd lost friends at the mansion. Joseph, Richard... Adam...

If Keith had been there, would he have made it out with him? Shiro didn't want to consider it. Keith was holding his own pretty well so far.

Wordlessly, Shiro opened the door to his office and stepped inside. No walking corpses or monsters, thankfully. "If you see something that looks useful, I suggest grabbing it."

Shiro went over to his desk, rummaging around in the drawers. He pulled out a key and stuffed it into his pocket. It was a master key that would allow him to open any door in the city. He also grabbed a road map of Raccoon City, and a few photos, which he slipped into his jacket pocket.

"How you doing over there?"

Slinking into the room after the other Keith cast a look around, sweeping the room with his flashlight and pursing his lips.

"Feels weird to be in here now," he murmured, "Not because of the zombies, I just- feels like I don't belong," he shrugged, stepping deeper inside and pulling drawers right out of their sliders, dumping the contents to the floor before discarding it, checking the next. Making a bit of a mess, sure- but one never knew where you might find a hidden compartment.

(Keith thought maybe, just maybe, he read a few too many spy and espionage novels.)

But then he came to Wesker's desk and paused. The man had always given Keith the creeps, honestly. Maybe it was his aversion to people in leadership positions though. He'd always had a bit of a problem with authority.

"Looks like we weren't the first one's here," Keith thumbed towards the desk, ransacked worse than any of the ones Keith had been pilfering through. "You think they were looking for something specific?"

Shiro walked over to Keith, stopping just a few feet away. "I'm sorry things didn't work out here. I think you would have been a good part of STARS." Shiro could easily see Keith being his right hand man if they had gotten their own unit. Not that it really mattered anymore, since the surviving members had turned in their badges, or were planning on it.

He then noticed whose desk Keith was at. Wesker. In hindsight, he wished his instincts about that man had been as good as Keith's.

"Maybe information about the mansion incident, or Umbrella." He got in closer, looking over Keith's shoulder. "Wesker was working with them. He betrayed us during the mission."

He felt his fist clench with the reveal that Wesker had betrayed Shiro and his team, anger washing through him. The urge to punch the other's photo was there, but he resisted with a huff.

"Figures. I never liked that asshole. Always gave me a bad feeling, beyond the stick being shoved too far up his ass,"

Turning away, Keith ransacked the last few desks that remained. Taking his anger out there.

"Anything of use at his desk is probably already taken. If I ever see that guy again I'm going to knock his teeth in," Keith grumbled, not realizing how possessive he was coming across. All he could think about was how angry the idea of anyone betraying Shiro made him.

Edited 2018-09-23 04:24 (UTC)

Shiro just stood by and let Keith let out his anger. He knew that he just had to let the younger man get it out of his system. Keith had to have a clear head if they were going to go back out and escape.

"Assuming he escaped the mansion. I mean, it blew up, and we don't know if he escaped."

Approaching Keith, Shiro put his hand on the younger man's shoulder.

"Speaking of, we should leave, and get out of Raccoon City."

Edited 2018-09-24 03:30 (UTC)

"That slimy rat probably found a way just to piss me off," Keith retorted with a snort, before smacking his gloved hands together, brushing them off with a sigh. He hadn't come across anything that screamed worthwhile value, and while Keith still had some low simmering anger towards Wesker for his treachery, it wasn't enough to keep him from guarding the both of them, of getting out alive.

"Yeah. If they had a scorched earth policy for the mansion there's no saying they won't try to pull the same trick twice. Unless you blew up the mansion," Keith couldn't see it, but he rose an eyebrow in question, amused by the thought of the other conspiring to blow up anything to that degree. Secret pyromaniac maybe? Keith sincerely doubted it.

"Either way, I'm not too keen to stick around longer than we have to." briefly, his hand came up to touch the other's on his shoulders, fingers just brushing Shiro's, a soft, comforting gesture. Maybe a little too familiar, but Keith couldn't quite help himself. Stolen affection complete, he dropped his hand away and moved back towards the door, more than ready to go.

"Actually, I'm not sure who activated the self-destruct," Shiro informed him. It was possible one of his surviving teammates activated it, or it could have been set to go off by something they did without realizing it. There was also the possibility it had been remotely activated.

Shiro held Keith's gaze silently as their hands touched, resisting temptation to take that hand in his own and squeeze it. Keith really wasn't that teenage boy anymore. He was a man, and Shiro's equal. His hand slipped away from Keith's shoulder.

"Then let's hit the road." Shiro got his gun back out and lead Keith back into the hallway. A quick sweep with his flashlight showed no monsters, but even then, Shiro was careful with every step he took, not wanting anything to take them by surprise.

When they exited the building, there were no zombies in sight and Keith's bike was still there. "Guess our luck's changing."

No sooner had the words left Shiro's mouth when there was a loud crash nearby. Something burst through a brick wall. Something huge.

"Well, I wouldn't put it past him," Keith muttered, just wanting to think the worst of Wesker, especially since Shiro had been put in such danger because of the man.

The memory of Shiro's hand on his shoulder remained, skin still warm beneath the space where it had been. If only now had been the time- but it wasn't. Keith pushed his feelings deep, as he had so often since meeting Shiro. It was always the wrong time, it seemed. First there had been the age gap, then Shiro had had Adam, and now? Well, as far as Keith knew Shiro still had Adam. And more importantly, they were in the middle of an undead uprising.

"That was almost too eas-" Keith had started to agree, when the wall across the street burst outward, making him take a step back into Shiro. Bumping into him at least kept him from toppling over anything else in surprise.

"Holy shit what the hell is that?!" but Keith wasn't stunned long enough not to act, rushing for his bike, not even worrying about his helmet as he jammed the key in the ignition and kicked the engine into gear, "Shiro!" he shouted, throwing a glance over his shoulder and hoping the other was following his lead. They had to get the hell out of here!

Somehow, even though it looked different from the one at the mansion, Shiro could tell what the thing was. He stood there in stunned horror, gaping at the thing, which gazed back at him. His nightmares of the monster came rushing back to him.

The beast pointed a finger at him and growled, "STARS..."

Snapping out of it, Shiro ran right after Keith. The monster reacted then, picking up a large chunk of concrete. Shiro was just about to jump on the bike when he realized what the beast was going to do. He grabbed Keith and pulled him off the bike right as the Tyrant threw the concrete at them, hitting the bike but narrowly missing them.

The thing growled at them again, seemingly angered that it had missed.

"Keith, run! It's a Tyrant!"

Grabbing Keith's arm, Shiro pulled him back towards the police station, as the monster charged at them.

It was as though Keith didn't even exist to the thing. It didn't care at all about his presence, whole heartedly fixed upon Shiro- and Keith's head whipped around to the other, calling out the other's name urgently again. He had to get on the bike, they had to go-!

But of course, looking at Shiro like he was meant that he didn't see the Tyrant lifting the debris. Maybe if he had, he could have rescued his bike. Gunned it to put enough space between himself and where it was to fall to keep it in one piece- but all of his attention was fixed on Shiro, hand extending to reach for the other, expression almost pleading.

His hand fisted in the other's coat, though before he could begin pulling the other onto the bike, Shiro's strength was hauling him away, off, and Keith let out a yelp of surprise as they spilled onto the sidewalk, the slab of concrete smashing into his bike with a sickening crunch. Realizing what had happened, Keith let out a howl of agony, before being dragged onto his feet, towards the police station as Keith's feet kicked out, trying to get up onto his feet while mourning for his bike.

"You son of a bitch!" he yelled at the Tyrant, unable to quite help himself as he (pettily) picked up a nearby rock and with remarkable aim, sent it slamming right into the monster's ugly head. Satisfied with this, he finally turned to follow Shiro properly, rushing the steps two at a time after the other and back into the police station.

Keith kind of doubted that it was going to offer them much shelter though, if that thing could just- smash through walls like that.

Keith's rock throwing only seemed to piss it off even more. Shiro made a mental note to make it up to Keith later, regarding the bike. Assuming they both survived this ordeal. He pulled the younger man into the station, quickly looking around for an escape route. "There's an emergency exit near the back!"

Letting go of Keith, and trusting him to follow, Shiro ran off to the left, as fast as his legs could carry him. Right as they reached the hallway, the front doors burst off their hinges as the Tyrant charged into the building. Again, it growled, "STARS," at them.

Shiro heard the thing give chase, and his only thoughts were to get Keith to safety. Even if Keith wasn't its primary target, Shiro didn't doubt it would kill him if given the opportunity or motive.

When he saw the back door, Shiro led Keith through it and ran down the alley. The back of another building had its rear door slightly ajar. Perhaps they could hide in there until the thing passed by. "In there!"

The damned thing wasn't even going to give him a minute to mourn. That bike had been his baby, built from scrap and bits and pieces Keith had restored or machined by hand. He'd been working on it since his dad had still been alive. Later, the loss would ache. Keith didn't have the time for that now. For the moment he was consumed with the act of chasing at the other's heels, blowing through the back door of the precinct and out into the alley.

At least the Tyrant wasn't quite as fast as they were, but of course that didn't mean they had time to linger. He saw what Shiro did, and went racing towards the door, shutting it carefully behind him, not wanting the slam of it to give them away. Hoping against hope that it might give them enough time for the Tyrant to lose their trail, before spinning back on heel and following after Shiro.

"So what's a Tyrant? Other than a whole lot of bad news in a leather jacket," because if that was the only definition then well, Keith fell underneath that umbrella too. "We're going to have to find another ride out of the city. It's a hell of a long way to make it on foot from here, especially if that thing keeps chasing us,"

Shiro held his breath as he heard the thing's lumbering footsteps outside the building. Any second, he expected the Tyrant to reach through the wall and grab him, or smash through. Thankfully, it passed by them, and went further into the city in search of its target.

When the danger passed, Shiro released his breath and let himself relax, even as his heartbeat was still keeping its rapid pace. He looked over at Keith. "It's Umbrella's ultimate weapon. They made it with the T-Virus."

He looked around at where they were. It was a liquor store, but fat lot of good that did. No zombies, thankfully.

"Keith, that thing... it was after me. If you stay with me, it might try to kill you just because you happen to be with me." Or because Keith threw himself between Shiro and it.

"Us," Keith reiterated, expression darkening as he scowled at the other, "If you think for one second that I'm going to leave you just because that thing apparently has some beef with you then you're out of your mind. I'm not leaving without you, Shiro. We go together or I don't go at all,"

And by the expression on his face he meant it, too. Moving over, his hand came to grip the other's shoulder, tightening in the fabric of the other's shirt. For a moment, it seemed almost as though he would pull Shiro closer, but of course... he didn't. Held fast, gaze pinning Shiro's.

"I won't leave you, Shiro. Not now, not ever."

Maybe it was a bit much of him to say, but... Shiro had never given up on him. Not even now, when Keith felt like he deserved it most.

Realizing what he'd said, how close they were, Keith blushed. Hoped that it was hidden by the poor lighting in the warehouse of the liquor store. His hand dropped, and he turned away with a slow exhale.

"We need to keep moving," he murmured, waving the other to follow.

Shiro knew that arguing with Keith was pointless. No matter if he tried to tell Keith to save himself, he knew that the younger man would throw himself at any zombie or Tyrant if it meant they got out together.

Still, Shiro had to admit there was something touching about Keith's conviction and devotion. Shiro had never given up on him, and Keith was repaying him in kind. As he looked into Keith's eyes, he knew that the other man would never give up on him, never leave him behind, and never betray him.

They were so close, Shiro could practically feel Keith's breath on him. If they were to just close that distance...

Shiro snapped out of it at the same time Keith did, looking away from the other man. "Good idea. That thing's still out there." He followed Keith, pausing only to grab a nearby crowbar sitting on a crate. It would make a handy weapon, and save on ammo.

"Maybe we can rig a car, or try to get to the subway."

If there was something that Keith hoped the other never had reason to doubt in him, it was that he was devoted to Shiro. At first, it might have been just a little bit of hero worship, but it had blossomed into a longing for something Keith still refused to acknowledge. Thought it too dangerous to want, when Shiro had so much more going for him. When he had Adam, a career, so much more of a future than Keith would ever have. Especially now that he'd been thrown out of the STARS academy. Maybe if he hadn't been so defensive in regards to the other's character he would have had more of a chance to actually... have a future with Shiro. But he'd fucked that up. When this was all over, they would probably go their separate ways- Keith might never see the other again. Shiro had promise, after all. Some government agency or another would eagerly snap him up for his skills and experience. And Keith...?

Well, he'd still just be here. Forgotten about while Shiro went on to bigger and better things. And maybe that was for the best.

Now wasn't the time to linger on his regrets either, though. They still had more work to do, had to get out of the city in one piece now that they had some sort of giant super monster chasing them.

"I don't know how I feel about getting stuck underground if that thing keeps following us. Sure it might be a faster route out of the city, but there's a lot more chances of running into a dead end if anything has crashed, or if anything goes wrong. It's a big risk. One I'd take if we didn't have any other choice. Hell, a bicycle sounds like a better option to me," Keith wasn't fond of enclosed spaces, didn't like not being able to see some form of sky.

Shiro would have never even considered thinking of Keith in such a manner before. Keith had been too young for him, and their relationship had been so brotherly before. But he was seeing the other man with new eyes. Keith was a man now, and their dynamic was different now. Shiro put the thought aside for now. He could examine those thoughts and feelings later.

"We'll go to the subway as a last resort then. Worst case scenario, we have to take the tunnels out of the city. Best case, a helicopter miraculously comes to get us."

They came out the front of the store, which was thankfully free of zombies and monsters. Shiro noticed a small bottle of strong vodka on the shelf and grabbed it, slipping it into his jacket. Alcohol had a number of practical uses.

"Get your gun out, in case there's anything outside." Shiro went to the front door, counted to three, and opened it to the street outside.

If he'd had any inkling that the other might harbour feelings for him- well, Keith didn't really know what he might have done with the information. Probably thought the other was addled, somehow. Missing his usual sense of judgement. Hadn't Shiro figured out by now that Keith was nothing but bad news? That he would drag the other down, somehow.

But of course, his focus was on their situation. On getting the hell out of the city with the both of them in one piece. (Or at least mostly one piece.)

Catching the other slipping the vodka into his jacket, Keith couldn't help but snort. Sure, he knew the far more likely reason for the other taking something like that with him- but the opening to gently rib the other was too easy. And who was he to deny a gift so cleanly wrapped and presented with a bow?

"You know Shiro, I don't think now is really the time for a nip," he chuckled, wagging his eyebrows at the other with a faint grin, stepping out after the other, drawing his gun as the other suggested- though almost dismissed the order in favour of his sword. It was just so much quieter, after all.

"Think I'll keep dreaming of that amazing chance helicopter rescue personally," he murmured, checking down the street, hair on the back of his neck prickling. They may have lost the monster of a Tyrant for now, but he was still somewhere close by. And after Shiro's blood.

No matter what, Keith decided then and there- he wouldn't let the monster have it. No matter what it cost him.

Shiro was unable to help but give an amused little smirk at Keith's ribbing. This was a tense situation, a matter of life and death, and perhaps that was why a little ribbing was appreciated. Sometimes humor helped relieve a tense situation. Keith was the last person he would have expected it from, and Shiro knew that Keith only showed this side of himself to him.

The tyrant was nowhere to be seen, and the sound of its heavy footfalls couldn't be heard, so Shiro figured it wasn't close by. Emerging from the store, Shiro did a quick sweet of the area. They were back on main street. To their left were two lone zombies shuffling along, and Shiro knew that road led to the bus station. The right was clear, and a sign indicated that the hospital was that way.

"Think you can take those two out quietly?"

What better way was there to survive if not to make light of the severity they were facing? They'd figure it out; they had to. The alternative just wasn't a possibility Keith was going to accept. Following Shiro back out onto the street, Keith fell into the comfortable embrace of his former training. While Shiro took point, Keith covered him. Weapon pointed low while Shiro's was up to sweep. Keith's eyes clipped right, scanning for enemies there while Shiro covered the left. Nothing there. Half a second later and his gaze was on the two aimlessly shuffling zombies, and Keith's lips quirked again.

"No problem," Keith replied, tucking his gun away and drawing his sword into one hand, his dagger in the other. Two for one; quiet and quick. Like a shadow, Keith traced his targets, crouching down and using the stopped cars for cover as he made his way over to them. Only the creak of him climbing onto the hood of one announced his presence, and by the time the zombies had turned to face the noise, Keith had buried his sword through the base of the first's skull, and swung his dagger down full force through the top of the other's head. A crack, a quick squelch- and it was all over.

Hopping down onto the cement, Keith cleaned the blood off on the corpse of one of the zombies, before standing up, turning to give the other a thumbs up.

Biohazard

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