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“Be careful out there you two! And thanks again!” The woman sporting a large grin waved bye to the familiar duo.
Both of the males waved back, and then headed off into the distance.
Cloud Strife and Zack Fair ran the city’s only delivery service, “ Merc’s Deliver! ” and they were always busy.
Cloud drove Fenrir steadily back into Sector 7 as the wind blew through his hair.
Since Cloud was the one with the motorcycle (and to stave off his motion sickness because God knows what Zack would do behind the wheel) he drove to all their customer’s homes. Zack sat behind Cloud, as he drove, holding onto their backpack full of packages to be delivered. Both of their swords sat contently inside of Fenrir’s inner compartment. Whether they were in Edge or further out near the Forgotten City, there was no delivery radius that was too far for them.
The ride was of course quiet for the most part, but Cloud wouldn’t complain. Being able to know Zack was alive and well was good enough. And not to mention that he could actually feel him holding onto his torso tightly...it was just reassurance that this wasn’t his imagination.
About half an hour later, Cloud slowed to a stop as they entered Sector 7. Zack didn’t live with them, but he didn’t live too far away. Cloud always dropped him off near his apartment, but today he was being dropped a little further away, closer to a business building.
Inwardly Cloud thought this was strange, especially knowing this company had ties with Shinra and was often headed by Tseng himself, so why would Zack need to go there when they both abandoned Shinra together?
Cloud however, kept his thoughts to himself as he moved his goggles on top of his hair and pressed his foot onto the ground.
The weight of the motorcycle shifted and Zack stepped off with a graciously loud yawn and back pop.
The former 1st class SOLDIER dusted off his jeans as his long black spikes breezed in the wind. His sunglasses were probably the only thing holding his untamed and messy hairdo together as he had grown his hair out completely after being rescued and located.
“Thanks Spiky! We got everything on the list for today so, if I get any more calls I’ll update the chart.”
Cloud nodded. “Yeah, sounds good. Are you sure this is close enough?”
“Yep I have some business to take care of so I’ll walk home afterward.” Zack hummed. “So what about you?”
“...” Cloud looked down, not having an answer for his friend.
“So you're still not going back to the bar?”
Zack could unfortunately, read Cloud like a book with ease. The blonde thought he had been acting perfectly normal and that he could continue to fly by under the radar but it seemed like that stealth mission had come to an end.
“N-No.” Cloud finally managed to mumble. "I can't go back home right now.”
“Tifa and the kids are going to worry, y'know.” Zack mused casually.
“I know,” Cloud sighed as he closed his eyes. "I just..."
He couldn't even explain it. No matter how hard it was, he couldn’t admit the truth. The truth that weighed on him since he had seen the dreaded black gunk oozing from his left arm.
By now however, Zack had leaned on the handlebars of Fenrir, propping his chin under his hands, staring intently at his companion. Cloud tried to resist looking him in the eyes as he turned away.
"Are you sick too?"
The question came as a complete surprise for Cloud and caused a chill through his spine. He knew what Zack meant…and knowing Zack, he had figured out what was wrong. Everyone claimed Zack was a boundless, unattentive puppy, but in actuality Zack paid the most attention. He just didn’t make it obvious.
The blonde headed male took a deep breath and forced himself to look his best friend straight in the face.
“Yes…I am. I have geostigma. I understand if you don't want to work with me anymore.” Of course geostigma was contagious so if Zack caught it….well Cloud didn’t want to think about that. Zack had suffered the worth of two lifetimes already.
There was a pause of silence and Cloud ignored the sound of his own heart drumming in his ears.
But much to his dismay, Zack simply chuckled.
Cloud awaited an answer but instead, the black haired male stood up and straightened his posture. Then he did something unexpected.
He slid two of his fingers underneath his front locks, where they were distinctly pointing to the left and moved them aside, revealing a faded black patch on his forehead.
Cloud's breathing came to a standstill. ‘No…No no no. This can’t be right, this can’t be true. Is this another trick?’
“Zack…”
“Hold on, not done yet Spiky.” Zack halfway rolled up the sleeve on his right arm to also show the oozing laceration located on his wrist. That one looked way worse than the one on his forehead and he could tell it had stained the inside of his shirt.
One of Cloud’s worst fears had come true; Zack had geostigma too.
Wait…did that mean…he had infected Zack???!
“Oh god Zack.”
Zack rolled his sleeve back up. “Don't worry, I know exactly what you're thinking. You didn’t infect me. I probably had it before you did without realizing it. I developed a cough back when I was in the lab.”
Cloud bit the inside of his cheek and rubbed his own infected arm that was hiding under a cloth. Even though he knew it was psychological at this point a string of pain shot through his arm.
The list of people with Geostigma continued to grow. Denzel, Cloud himself, and now Zack. The pain in Cloud’s heart forced him to have more determination to find a cure.
Reality however dawned on him, and the only thoughts present in his mind were the ones of watching the growing pool of blood on the cliffside as Zack’s breathing stilled and the wind rustling his hair, the sensation of screaming in agony being most prominent.
“I can’t lose you again.” Cloud whispered as his breathing increased rapidly, on the verge of hyperventaliting. “I have to do something I have to, I have to—”
“Easy Cloud.” Zack said softly as he pressed a hand to Cloud’s shoulder. “Stay with me. I’m not going anywhere okay? We’re in this together.”
Cloud shook his head furiously, panic taking full force. “I can’t mess up again–” However, the sudden spike in emotion caused a geostigma attack.
Zack barely managed to get his arm around Cloud in enough time to hold him steady as he coughed profusely and geostigma drenched the dirt below them. They stayed put until Cloud managed a strangled gasp as he swiped at the streak of geostigma on his face.
A panic attack into a geostigma attack was the worst combo he had discovered.
“Feeling better?” Zack offered after a couple of minutes.
“No.” Cloud croaked as Zack laughed. “But I’ll get there…I guess.”
“I promised you I wouldn’t leave you alone again and I’m going to keep our promise, so take a load off. We haven’t made our goal of expanding the delivery service into mercenary work yet! And until then we have to keep going!” Zack grinned. “We can look for a cure together. This isn’t just your fight.”
Cloud inhaled and nodded, forcing Zack’s smile to wash away the panic inside his chest. “I’ve…been looking for a cure. Maybe…tomorrow we can check near the edge of Midgar?”
“Yeah! Sounds good!” Zack nodded and quickly hid the cough in his sleeve. “Tomorrow at the same time?”
Cloud of course realized that the cough Zack had developed when they first met was not due to the dust from riding long distances, it was a geostigma cough.
“Yeah. I’ll be here at 7am. And if you need to stay in at all…just let me know I’ll rework the schedule.”
Now that Cloud knew Zack also had the stigma, he wanted to make sure he got the needed rest as well.
“Alright then see you in a bit! Get some rest!” Zack waved bye as he hoisted his backpack over his shoulder and took his sword out of Fenrir’s sword compartment.
The EX-SOLDIER watched him hurry off onto the sidewalk and head in the opposite direction towards the large corporate building.
Releasing a sigh, Cloud swung his body back onto Fenrir to start his drive back home.
However, instead of starting the engine and gripping the handle bars, he instead hunched over the bars and cried profusely, sobs wracking his body. He didn’t care who saw.
Having geostigma himself wasn’t all that bad, it was actually expected at this point, because everything in Cloud’s life went wrong from the day he left home to join Shinra.
But Zack having geostigma took the wind out of his sails.