Hybrid Theory: A [Linkin Park] Spinoff.

Rust And Rot.

"Sedative is wearing off. Patient has extremely high fever."
A familiar voice. Calm against the frantic beeps of my heart monitor," Dr. Shinoda. Miss Wakefield has been put under my care for the duration of her stay."
I open my eyes,"Jor-jordana??"
She walks over to me,"Hey kiddo."
I look at her,"But... you died..."
She smiles,"Eren. You have a dangerously high fever."
I slowly breathe in,"I... but...."
Of course!!! This was before the bombing!!!
"You hit the pavement pretty hard last night. You got lucky."
I look at her,"How's Chester?"
She smiles and pulls back the curtain between the two beds,"Look for yourself."
I look over to my left to find Chester sitting upright, a thick bandage pad over his right eye, my voice catches in my throat,"Chester?"
He looks at me,"Eren. How are you feeling?"
My stomach swims as I see the exact amount of damage he suffered,"I'm okay. What happened to you?"
"They used me to try and control you."
I swallow a new surge of rage,"What did they do?"
He swings his legs over the edge of his bed,"Things no one should have to go through."
I slowly sit up, my heart aching to heal his pain.
Jordana smiles,"I stopped them in time. It takes an idiot to be so blind as to not be able to see the love you two share."
I smile weakly,"Yeah. Of course you'd have to be."
Chester walks over to me,"Don't worry. They didn't break me."
I look up at him, my heart dropping violently as I see the deep cuts on his face,"Why did they do this to you? Don't they understand that in an alternate universe that we're all best friends?"
"Eren. This is the alternate universe. No one else from the main timeline knows of this. No one but us. We are forced to carry this flag by ourselves."
I fight back tears,"Still. Why does this have to be this way?"
Chester takes me in his arms,"I don't understand it myself. But I do understand one thing."
I look at him,"What's that?"
"Without you, I don't think I could have made it through this memory again."
I smile,""That's so deep."
He chuckles,"Not too deep for Eren 'Lord of The Strings' Wakefield."
I smile and bite my lower lip, Why does he have to be so hot?
Jordana smiles and moves towards the door,"I'll let you two have a moment." She walks out.
Chester kisses me, his hands effortlessly finding my hair, which the front of is still caked to my scalp.
I wrap my arms around him, my fingers tangling within the fabric of his shirt, a soft cry escapes my throat,"Chester. Please. I'm still in too much pain."
He lets go, but not of me entirely,"I'm going to see if we can get someone to change your bandages. They look uncomfortable."
I shrug,"It just itches like crazy."
Jordana walks back in,"So. Let me get this straight. She was riding with you, when the crash happened?"
Chester breaks away from me, turning to face Jordana,"Yeah. I was driving her home."
"Where was she at?"
"My house."
"Why was she there?"
"Movie night."
"Movie night? Yeah. I'll bet my last paycheck on it that you two had other things on your mind beside what movie to watch."
I stammer,"I...uh...."
Chester smiles,"Jordana. You know as well as I do that that didn't happen."
"What movie was it?"
"Uh....Backdraft."
"HAH!! That is not a movie that a guy and a girl watch, just for the guy to take the girl home as soon as the movie ends!!"
I stammer, my face bright red, a warm tension in the pit of my stomach.
Chester smiles,"Okay. Maybe we did have a little bit of fun."
Jordana laughs,"If your definition of fun means passing the straw back and forth, then you didn't do too much."
"What can I say? I'm the life of the party."
Jordana pulls a small black, rectangular object from her pocket,"I figure I should warn you ahead of time. In a matter of forty-eight hours, society has crumbled. All because of a type of music." She throws the object down on the foot of my bed.
I scramble to pick it up,"That was the cassette tape from my dad's truck. How did you get it?"
Jordana flashes me a sly smile,"I have a friend who can get things. And I'm calling in another favor tonight."
I look at her,"What do you mean?"
She pulls a blue iPhone from her pocket, and dials a number before putting it to her ear,"Andre. it's Jordana. How many energy amplification gloves do you have left?"
A voice.
"Two. Why?"
"We're starting a rebellion."