Breathing the Dead ~ H.S

Chapter Fourteen

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: CHOICE

Harry

"Shit. I was afraid of this," Drake sighed, "he's drugged her already,"

"Drugged her?!" My jaw dropped as I held Laura in my arms, "What do you mean he drugged her?!"

"How else do you think he – and everyone else in this damn place – get it on with unwilling girls so fast? They drug them, every time. It's why every girl in this place is so listless because everyone's sedated them way too many times,"

"W...With what?" I demanded, "What drug do you use around here?!"

Drake sighed and shook his head. "No idea. He never told us the name of the stuff," he looked down at Dane's dead body with a light frown.

"Oh God...Laura..." I sighed shakily and gently touched my forehead to hers, "...I'm so sorry..."

"Look, she's going to be OK," Drake said assuringly, "this is the first time Dane's called her...this would've been her only dose – unless she already uses?"

"What?! No!" I hissed, "Laura hates drugs!"

"OK! Geez – defensive much?" Drake cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Shut up," I snapped at him before returning my attentions to Laura; biting my lip anxiously as I took in how motionless she was, "so...she'll be alright, then?"

"Yeah, but we have to get her out of here," said Drake, "I'm presuming you have a doctor in this little camp of yours?"

"Yeah. Well...sort of," I nodded slowly, "he used to be a doctor, but er...he became more interested in researching things,"

"Oh. Well, either way, he should be able to tell what drug Laura's ingested, and how much of it is in her system. So – let's go. I can steal one of our vans for you,"

I nodded again. "Yeah. OK."

I rose to my feet and gently wrapped one of my arms around Laura's shoulders and placed my hand underneath her knees. I picked her up from the bed as carefully as I could; holding her close to me as I turned back to Drake.

"OK, Toulson. Let's go."

***

"Just park behind these trees," I told Drake as we approached the warehouse, "I don't want your van flattening all the brambles,"

"Don't you have a vehicle, bro?" Drake asked me as he began to move towards the trees.

"We do," I nodded; making sure Laura was still resting comfortably enough on my lap before continuing, "we actually have our own van parked in the garage, but we've decided to keep it for an emergency evacuation only,"

"Smart move," Drake nodded back thoughtfully, "your idea?'

"It was more like a group decision," I replied with a shrug.

Drake nodded again before slowing the car to a halt behind the trees.

"Here we are. Care to go first so your team doesn't shoot me?" he asked.

"My team doesn't just shoot people willy-nilly," I rolled my eyes, "just go on ahead to the gate. I need to get Laura out of this van safely. Niall should be guarding as usual – please be nice,"

"You got it, boss," Drake climbed out of the van and shut the door behind him. As soon as I was certain he was out of earshot, I looked down at Laura still sleeping on my lap.

"It's OK, Laura. We're home," I gently brushed a few wisps of her hair out of her face and broke out a faint smile towards her sleeping form, "you're home. You're safe now,"