Death From Below

Chapter 19

The fear I am feeling for Dante right now is unreal. My emotions from losing Garret now, possibly, Dante are too much for me. Josh was the only one brave enough to walk over to me while slowly reaching for my hand. He kept whispering that Dante was going to be alright and was knocked out; by the force of the throw, "Harper, if you calm down, we can let you sit in the van next to him." Josh explains as I feel this cold shiver flow through my body, I slump to the ground, feeling over exhausted. The others still looked scared but began to ease up as they climbed back into the truck while Angel told Sofia and Ethan to take the girls and get in the back while Josh got into the van. I ran over to the vehicle to climb into the back next to where Dante laid, still as a statue. I take his hand in mine as the tears pour down my face.

I stayed by his side, crying for hours until I finally succumbed to the darkness and fell asleep sitting up next to him as Josh drove in silence. I wake up when we hit a bump, I open my eyes to see that the sun was starting to set, so I pulled my phone out and got some pictures. I look down to see that he was still asleep and look up to the front to see Josh glancing back at us in the rearview mirror. "Is he awake yet?" Josh asks me as I wipe at my face,

"No, he is breathing thankfully," I tell him and look around at the scenery we are driving past.

"You must love him, huh?" Josh asks as the tears start to fall once again as I look down at his beautiful face

"Yeah, I do. I already lost Garret; I can't lose him too. He is all I have left. If he dies, there is no point for me to keep going. The way it looks, we are all going to die before they can find a cure anyway." I tell him with tears running down my face.

"It feels like my heart is slowly deteriorating at an excruciatingly slow pace," I tell him as I wipe at the tears on my cheeks. I squeeze his hand in both of mine while a silence falls on us. My sobs escape me and fill the air around us.

"Please don't die on me. I can't lose you. I love you too much." I say as I lean down and place a kiss on his cheek, then lay down next to him and stare at the sky from the window in front of us.

"How can you change like you've been doing?" Josh asks after about half an hour of silence.

"I'm not sure. It mostly happens when I get upset." I tell him thinking back to when it first happened. "It started after Annie bit me," I told him as I think back to that dreadful day.

"When I feel a sense of fear or feeling threatened, I begin to feel this shadow of coldness slowly spread through my veins as my blood has turned to ice. There is a slight tightness to the skin, then; the transformation is in effect, I don't feel a hunger for brains or anything." I explain to him as best as I could. "I can also stop it by calming myself down and making my mind go blank," I tell him as I begin to think about it. "Does it cause you any pain?" he asks as I slowly sit up and turn to face him. I shake my head no and look down when Dante lets out a slight moan, and his face shows pain as he rolls over.

"When do you think he will gain consciousness?" I ask Josh as I look down at Dante. I run my hand over his hair as his hand tightens on mine. Josh glances at me through the review mirror and shrugs,

"I'm not sure. It could be sometime tonight or maybe tomorrow," Josh says with a sad tone, and my eyes tear up once again. The ride is quiet while he focuses on driving, and I lay back down next to Dante as I begin to feel sleepy once again. I fall asleep to the motions of the ride and dream of Dante once again.

It is a very provocative one, and I awake with a start when I feel something on my cheek. I turn my face towards Dante when he leans over, and the car hits a bump causing his lips to connect with mine. His eyes go wide, and he pulls back while apologizing just as we hit another, and he ends up kissing me a second time. My face probably resembles a tomato at this point. Sitting up quickly, I call out to Josh that Dante is awake, and he slows down to a stop.

Josh gets out and comes to the back to open the door, and Dante looks at him then at me. "Hello, my name is Dante," he says to Josh and holds out his hand. Our smiles drop as we look at Dante, and he looks between us again. "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong? Where are we anyway, Harper?" he asks while taking my hand. I slowly get out of the back while the others all run over and crowd around him.

Josh walks over to me and shakes his head, "I have no idea how long his memory is going to take to come back. His memory remembers you, but not anyone else, try to find out exactly what all he knows." Josh says. I look up to see him walking over towards me with a smile and wraps his arms around me like we have been a couple for years. "The others are talking nonsense about people being dead and coming back to life. They all said that I have bumped my head and aren't thinking clearly. A guy named Ethan is saying I have amnesia." Dante tells me as he places a kiss on my neck, and I pull away from him.