School Bus Graveyard x Male OC

Episode 23

"I think the entire body reacted to Aiden's flashlight, which is not a reflex." Carlos explained further, standing between Aiden and Tyler.

They all huddled around the body, inspecting it with extreme caution. Things weren't adding up. There was no reason for it just to react the way it did if it was still alive.

"Disgusting is more like it." Tyler added, which Taylor nodded to.

A groan is followed by Logan's voice from the back of the bus, "What...?"

Carlos shot his head up at him and pushed past Aiden to get to him. "Are you feeling any better?" Tayler asked.

Carlos crouched down beside him and placed his hands on his shoulders, "You gave us a scare back there, Logan."

He didn't return the smile Carlos gave him, instead shamefully looking down, "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be," Carlos said, "There's no reason for you to be sorry. We're just glad you're awake, man."

He gave him a gentle hug, not wanting to accidentally press against his rib. Logan tensed under Carlos's hold and he pulled away to see his face. He was looking over at the body by the window.

"What happened to it?!"

Aiden decided to explain for the group, "Turns out if these things are exposed to light for too long, they start to wig out and turn to goop. Like, their body starts to twist, and bubble, and spaz-" He goes on and Carlos watched the color on Logan's face drain away slowly.

"Okay, stop," Tyler butted in, too noticing Logan's terrified face, "I think he gets the picture. Now quit before you make him sick. And since he's awake now, let's talk about Savannah."

Carlos rubbed his eyes, knowing exactly how the conversation was going to end up. They've already tried to discuss the topic several times before, and each time ended with the same conclusion, those two idiots.

"We can't keep hoping that things will go back to normal on their own." Tyler argued, and he was making a good point.

"And we can't risk getting stuck here permanently." Ashlyn also made a good point.

They both glare at each other, face-to-face, ready to pounce at any given moment. Everyone else sat in a circle silently, spectating. 

Taylor stuttered a bit, hesitant to intervene in whatever was going on with Ashlyn and Tyler.

"Um... going back doesn't mean we have to go back to the house again or interact with phantom, right?"

"Well, how else are we supposed to go back?" Aiden asked.

"Maybe we can just search around for someone who might know something? The locals are bound to know something," she propped up onto her knees and continued, "We've been reading different myths, lore, and watched who-knows-how-many investigations about Savannah for the past two weeks, and still haven't useful..."

"That's right," Carlos added, "while the rest of you were doing whatever, Taylor and I were working our asses off on trying to pull some clues. We just needed any sort of lead that would assure we weren't going crazy."

With his arms crossed over his chest, Tyler said, "I'll agree to avoiding that place and only searching for local information. That way we don't have to risk anything."

"Exactly, we don't want any more surprised going back to that house. So this is our safest bet." Carlos added, which Logan hummed and nodded to.

With majority of the group on the same page, Ashlyn turned to Ben, "Ben, what about you?"

Ben took out his phone before typing something on it.

"I'll go with whatever Aiden decides."

"Hm?" Aiden glanced up from his cousin's phone, "I don't care either way. Both options seem fun."

"I don't think it was an accident," Ashlyn spoke softly, as if still forming a theory in her head, "There's the possibility that lady did this on purpose so we could run into her again. There might even be others like her."

Carlos thinks back to the tour lady and did find her suspicious, so she was probably tied up in this. Tyler tensed up from beside him, clenching his fist, "So you're still against going?!"

"No," she responded, "I'll go. But only if we wait a year."

"A year?! You want to be stuck here for a year?!" Tyler raised his voice in disbelief.

"Calm down. There's no guarantee that even if we go back, we'll find a way out of here," Ashlyn assured him, which didn't help calm him down, "Plus, none of us have a car or a license."

"Carlos has his license," Taylor chirped up, pointing at him. Carlos shook his head frantically, left and right.

"W-Well... yeah, but I only have a motorcycle, and the car I drive is my mom's car. I doubt she's just gonna let me take my friends on an eight-hour trip."

Everyone sighed in disappointment and Ashlyn continued, "And aside from finding a way down there, I think a year would give us time to prepare for the worst outcome."

"... Worst outcome?" Logan repeated.

Carlos nodded his at him, "It's best that we prepare ourselves for whatever comes our way, don't you think?"

"Even with all of our safety precautions, there's a high chance that we still somehow get stuck her permanently or encounter that lady for a second time. So for the next year, we're gonna train, research, and make the most of this place, we can turn this into a reliable stronghold for now. Any objections?"

They all shook their heads, not a single person in disagreement with him.

"It's about time we start taking this shit seriously."

---

Everyone bunched up together, staring cluelessly at a whiteboard Carlos dug out of a junk pile. Ashlyn and him stood before the others, spinning a dray erase marker in her hand.

"Did we really need this?" Tyler asked, sounding unimpressed with an unamused look.

Ashlyn walked up to the board Carlos stood near, "Alright, so... This should be our first goal."

She jotted down onto the whiteboard and they all share the same dumfounded expression. Tyler's the first to voice his thoughts, as usual.

"How are we going to do that?"