Chapter Text
Clark had called the farm as soon as news broke about a new disease that was sweeping through the population of Smallville. Ma had answered on the second ring, halting Clark’s anxious leg bouncing. She’d assured him that her and Pa were perfectly fine and staying out of town to avoid the contagion.
The news the second day was even more dire. The hospital in Smallville was overrun with patients that seemed to be in some kind of stupor. After the initial catatonic state, the person would turn violent, attacking anyone in the vicinity. The Inquisitor had dubbed it the “Zombie Plague”. Clark called his parents again, pacing between the desks of the Daily Planet while Lois watched him with worried eyes. Ma answered again and told him they were fine and to stop worrying so much.
The third day Ma didn’t answer.
Clark took off out of the office, leaving Lois to tell Perry where he was going. He didn’t even bother changing into his costume but launched himself from the roof of the Daily Planet still in his slacks and button down shirt—coat having been forgotten draped over his desk chair.
Smallville wasn’t a long flight from the city but Clark worried the whole way. Were Ma and Pa okay? He berated himself for not flying out sooner. What if it was too late and he couldn’t save them? He already nearly lost Pa to a heart attack when he was a teenager. He couldn’t bear losing them both to a mystery illness. It wasn’t long before Clark began descending when he suddenly hit a greenish, thick fog that coated the landscape. Clark gagged, the fog invading his lungs, causing him to cough. He tried to slow down but the fog was stealing the breath from his lungs and sapping the energy from his limbs.
Kryptonite. Clark thought before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he crashed into the trees below.
—
Clark awoke slowly, his throat burned and his body felt sore. He blinked his eyes open to see a figure wearing a gasmask peering at him from only a few inches above his face.
“Holy heck!” Clark gasped. He jerked away from the masked person, sitting up.
The other person continued to study him as Clark took the masked man in. He was wearing a black turtle neck with black pants and hiking boots. His face was obscured by the gasmask but Clark could see that he didn’t have any hair.
“Lex? Is that you?” The last time Clark had seen Lex was back in Metropolis during one of Lex’s monthly murder Superman schemes.
“How are you feeling, Clark?” Lex’s voice was muffled through the mask.
“Fine.” Clark shrugged. The sun was starting to peek through the clouds and was making him feel much better.
“No feelings of aggression? Lethargy?” Lex said.
“Huh? No.” Clark stood, brushing himself off. “What was that fog?”
“That fog is turning this town into what one might colloquially call ‘zombies’.” Lex put air quotes around the word zombies.
“You’re joking.” The Inquisitor had been right? Zombies just seemed so out of the realm of possibility and Clark was an alien!
“I am not. I was on vacation at the mansion when a green fog started descending over parts of Smallville. It makes anyone who breathes it in violent anytime a non-infected person comes close to them. When not around non-infected people, they remain in a lethargic, almost catatonic state.” Lex explained.
“How do you know all of this?” Clark asked.
“I’ve been watching, studying the infected.” Lex turned away. “Come on, I’ll show you at the mansion.”
Clark hesitated for a moment. It had been years since he had been around Lex as just Clark. They’d gone from being best friends to no longer on speaking terms after a falling out. Now, with Superman, Lex was his biggest enemy. It hurt sometimes. He missed Lex. The days they used to spend playing pool in the mansion or watching old movies. Clark followed after Lex, choosing to trust his old friend.
—
The first thing Clark saw when he stepped through the doors of the mansion was a decontamination chamber. Lex stepped in, letting the chemical spray hit him as if this was part of his daily routine. After, he finally took off his gas mask and set it in a large box off to the side. He hit a few buttons and the box began buzzing.
Lex glanced up and saw that Clark was still standing in the doorway. “Come on. You need to be decontaminated before you can come in.”
“How do you have all this stuff set up already?” Clark gestured to the chamber and the sanitizer that the gasmask now sat in. Had Lex known what was going to happen? Was he behind this?
“I built it using pieces I scavenged from the fertilizer plant when the first people got infected. I imagine that the news of what happened here only hit Metropolis a few days ago but the first patients were infected nearly three weeks ago.” Lex said. “Best to hold you breath when you go in.” He added.
Clark nodded. He stepped through the chamber. The spray of chemicals was uncomfortable but tolerable. He coughed a little as he stepped out.
Clark followed Lex through the mansion into the familiar office that Lex used to keep. But it was much different than the last time Clark had been there. The pool table was gone and in its place was a large table full of lab equipment. A mattress was shoved against the corner of the room. A huge map of Smallville covered half a wall with red highlighting most of the area.
Clark stepped closer, studying the map. He automatically looked for the farm, finding it shrouded in red. His breath stuttered in his chest.
“Does this mean…?” He didn’t want to say it out loud.
Lex moved to stand behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry Clark. They’ve been infected.”
Clark traced the property line of the farm, he knew it by heart.
“What are we going to do?” Clark asked softly.
Lex squeezed his shoulder. “We’re going to find a cure.”