Bite {Niall Centric}

Day 151

They kept on driving through the night, the sun rising over the horizon at about six in the morning. Shades of orange, yellow, and a hint of purple illuminated the desolate sky, grayish-green pastures on both sides of the abandoned roads. The engine purred softly in the background, a slight bump in the road every now and then that jostled Niall from his light sleep. After the eighth bump, Niall just kept his eyes open and focused on the road that led them. . . somewhere. The truck passed by a billboard that read: Welcome to Little Heights! Small farms and ranches dotted the landscape, fading into wooden, decrepit houses before sturdy brick buildings replaced the suburban areas.

Eventually, they stopped at an old, tall blue-bricked building, the sign reading: Billy's Groceries. However, Niall was more intrigued with the all cement building across the street. An orthodontist's office stood in the shadow of the grocery store, the place seeming eerie and gloomy, but Niall didn't mind the bad feeling. Within that gloominess, hope blossomed inside of Niall's chest. This was the closest he had gotten to a dentist since Day 1.

Even if the place had no dentist, no people but the dead, Niall could figure some way to remove his God-awful braces with the dentistry tools.  With his swollen ankle and baseball bat, he waddled to the office unnoticed by his four companions. They -including Niall - were probably too tired to even notice a horde of noisy zombies down the street.

And guess what, a horde of noisy zombies were ambling down the street, heading towards the group of oblivious, tired boys.

A little bell jingled above the entrance, startling Niall slightly as he jumped in fright. His metal bat clanked against the hard surface of the linoleum tiles that gleamed from the sunlight when it was brought back down as Niall landed, ankle throbbing from the rough contact. He cursed lowly, not wanting to alarm anything that could be in here with him.

Faintly, he heard his name being called from outside, but by then he was already out of the lobby and into the work area. Niall's fingers traced along the edge of the counter where diagrams of the human mouth were plastered and the model of a jaw was placed. He heard a low humming before a door was opened and shut, scaring him as he jumped around with a drill in his outstretched hand.

"Oh," A young-looking female nurse gasped, blue eyes wide and red hair frizzled. "Hello there, my name's Kathy."

"Uh. . . I'm Niall," He responded, tone uneasy as he kept a defensive stance. "Are you a licensed professional?"

"Nope," Kathy shook her head before pointing to a decaying body with gray, matted hair. "But he was."

Niall gulped. Something about this nurse didn't feel right. His stomach fluttered with butterflies in apprehension, making him feel queasy as he slowly backed away from Kathy, heading for the door outside. "Okay, well then I should get going. . ."

Kathy's eyes twitched, confirming his suspicion. She was infected. He backed away quicker, stumbling over his feet as he went. Kathy's neck turned a sickly gray, veins flushing black and purple. Niall had made it to the entrance and turned around, only to step back. The horde of zombies were surrounding their truck, some hanging around the grocery store's door. Fuck, he can't go out there. . . but he can't stay in here either.

He had two options: fend off Kathy or fend off a bunch of zombies. His decision was already decided for him. Swiftly, Niall turned around, baseball bat sweeping across the floor to trip Kathy. She fell to the ground, her head bleeding profusely yet she kept actively moving. Niall pushed a button on the drill, the metal whirring and spinning to life before he slammed it into her temple, spewing blood across the floor, the desk, a few chairs, and all over Niall.

Dark blood coated his hands, the putrid smell making him gag. Be numb, Niall reminded himself. Don't feel. He stood up, throwing the bloodied drill across the room where it broke into pieces against the wall. He shuffled into the work area, ignoring the stench as he rummaged through file cabinets.

He was looking for information on the whereabouts of any dentist within England - no, the fucking world! Niall was a desperate teen. He just wanted liberation from the chains in his mouth. He opened the last manilla folder within the bottom cabinet.

Dr. Schmidt

It was written across the front page. A pink sheet was next; a letter of resignation. Niall skimmed through the words until a location popped up . . . these are the reasons I will start my own practice in London, England.

Well damn. Niall hoped the guy was still alive and running his practice. This Dr. Schmidt was his last hope. "Niall," A relieved voice sighed. Niall turned around to see Zayn. "Thank goodness you're okay! Why did you wander off like that? We thought you had been eaten. . . or worse! Don't ever do that again!"

Niall never liked being scolded, his head hanging in shame, and his good foot kicking at the tile. Suddenly, he was engulfed in a big, warm hug, multiple bodies pressed against his. "You little idiot," Harry breathed into Niall's ear, a ticklish feeling bubbling in the blonde's chest. "What were you doing in here?"

"N-Nothing really. . ." Niall trailed off, clutching the folder tightly in his fist. "Just some stuff that looked interesting."

The folder was snatched from Niall's hand quickly, Louis shuffling through various notes and documents, his eyes squinting in curiosity. "What is all this for?"

All eyes were on him; it was something he never enjoyed. "I-I wanted to find s-someone to take m-my braces off," Niall stuttered out, shuffling from left foot to right awkwardly, inwardly cringing at the spark of pain shooting up his calf.

"Well, why didn't you say something before? All this time we've been wandering the country with nothing to do, when we could have been on a mission to help you!" Liam exclaimed, looking at Niall with exasperation in his eyes.

Niall had nothing to say to that.

"Well. . ." Louis sighed, slapping the manilla folder to Harry's chest as he walked out. "London here we come!"

"Let's get going boys," Harry muttered, following after Louis. Liam and Zayn helped Niall get to the truck, the blonde protesting the whole way that he didn't need help. Niall noticed all the zombies laying dead on the ground, some decapitated, some burnt, and others bleeding black blood.

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And the fun begins. . .