Death From Below

Chapter 21

Josh took over driving while I lay down in the back to get some sleep after driving for the whole day. I roll over, snuggling up into the blanket. I hear Josh and Dante whispering to each other. I go to sit up when Josh yells out and slams on his breaks, I fly forward, and just as I am about to hit the windshield, Dante grabs me around the waist and jerks me into his chest. All of us are breathing heavily from outside the van screams could be heard. I hear Dante's heart beating erratically; as he holds me tightly to his chest.

I look up into Dante's eyes to see him looking down at me in fear and relief. His head is bleeding from above his eyebrow. Dante smears the blood as it drips past his eye down onto his cheek. I reach up to his face when I hear a loud growl, and the door is jerked open. Someone grabs me around the waist and rips me from Dante's embrace. I get dragged backward. Josh and Dante both get out of the vehicle and run towards me. Josh's steps falter as whoever is pulling me stops and looks back. It lets out a growl as I scream out in fear and reach for them.

"Harper!" Dante yells as he continues to chase after us. "Dante, help me! Please!" I beg as it growls out again and lifts me on its shoulder, and takes off at such an incredible speed that Dante isn't able to keep up. I began to feel dizzy, and the food I had eaten threatened to come back up. The dizzy feeling blurs my vision to the point that I faint. I don't know how long I was asleep, for when I woke up, I was in a medical-looking room. I slowly sit up to notice that I am lying on an old hospital bed. The air smells of mold and is super muggy. I look around the room to see that it has a creepy atmosphere.

It was eerie with the dim glow from hundreds of candles that decorate the room mold, and rust has taken over everything, along with some weeds growing up through the floor. "Hello?" I call out and only receive my voice echoing back to me throughout the room. There is a desk off to the side and a door behind it, which seems to be the only means of exit. I stand up slowly, and the room begins to spin, causing me to fall back down onto the bed. It creaks loudly under my weight, and I fear it might give out due to the rust eating away the metal that is trying to hold it upright.

I hear a shuffle outside the room, and the door slowly opens. It appears to be a person who enters the room and closes the door. The person walks over to me, and my vision begins to clear from vertigo. I gasp loudly. When I see his face, my eyes fill with tears, and it feels like my heart stopped beating. "Garret? How are you still alive? I saw you on that day. You were dead!" I cry out to him as the tears fall down my face. His face looks completely normal, and he has a bite on his arm that is showing from under his shirt sleeve.

"I am technically dead, Harper. I was bitten that day at school when I was trying to get to your class," he tells me as he takes a seat in a foldable chair across from me. "I was in my class when a girl fell out of her chair onto the floor. She ended up turning and biting into the neck of the guy that sat next to her. All he did was try to check on her. I bolted out of the room as the dean's voice came over the intercom, racing to your room Emily and Alainah came running down the hall and shoved me to the floor. I tried to get up when they shoved one of those things down on top of me, causing it to bite into my arm. Feeling myself die and come back to life was terrifying." he explains as he places his head in his hands.

"I can remember hearing you calling out to me, yet I wasn't able to say anything in fear of scaring the crap out of you. I have been following you since you left the school and trying to keep you safe. I don't understand how I can still think and act like a human, yet when I get mad, I become one of them." he explains in a quiet voice. I sit quietly and listen while he explains to me the events that have happened to him over the past couple of weeks. I couldn't help the sob that escaped my mouth from hearing what happened to him and the pain that showed in his eyes. I began to feel anger, and the cold feeling filled my veins as my body began to shake with hatred towards the two girls still with the others.

Garret shot up out of his seat and rushed over to me as I let out that ear-piercing scream. My vision turned black, judging by the look on his face. I walked over to the door and began to sniff the air, trying to catch the scent of the way we had come. "Harper? I need you to calm down for me please, how did you end up like this?" he asks with fear lacing through his voice. I tried to control my breathing, but it wasn't working due to the anger I am feeling towards them. Letting out another scream, I slapped at the desk, sending it flying into the wall across the room and shattering into little pieces.

"I was bitten by Annie. At the mall, someone let them inside while we were asleep, and they killed her and a little boy," I tell him as I try to take deep breaths and calm myself down. "Anytime we have gone for shelter someone, in our group has let them into the place to kill us. We have lost so many innocent people due to them, and now I know who is doing it." I say with so much venom in my voice; it could poison you. "Why did you take me? Dante and Josh are probably going nuts right now, thinking I am dead or worse." I ask him as I turn to face him to see him watching me closely.