The Dead and the Restless (Completed with undergoing editing)

Chapter Thirty-Two

Liam.

That was my first thought as I awakened, my heavy eyelids pleading me to keep them closed. Goosebumps traveled up my arms as I forced myself awake, and I realized that I wasn't laying against Liam's door anymore. Forcing my mind to awaken and be fully alert, I turned to my side and saw none other than Craig laying down next to me reading a book. He was hogging the blanket that was supposed to cover both of us, and I had a fleeting flashback of the times we'd spent in the apartment, and how he was the worst to sleep with because he was such a restless sleeper.

"Good morning," he said, putting the book down and sitting up. "Thought you'd never wake up."

You and me both, I thought solemnly. What I'd done last night had already begun to haunt me, as the nightmare I'd had recollected in my mind vividly. I was alone, wandering aimlessly throughout the hospital. The halls weren't destroyed like they were now, and it was almost as if things were like they used to be. I felt a pull, though, and my heart was thudding in my chest. My feet led me down every twist and turn, but I couldn't tell why I was panicking or in such a hurry. Well, that was until I had reached my destination.

I was facing the hall of the cafeteria before I knew it, and my feet led me down to it. The door was already opened, and once I went in there silence filled my ears. Everyone was gone, disappeared. The only sound was a constant thud.

I listened to the thudding noise, letting it lead me. My heart skipped a beat as I realized that the place the thud was coming from was the supply closet. But what really got me was how I was still sitting there, sleeping in front of the door. I stepped over me, opening the door slightly. The room was pitch black and it seemed like an endless cave. An eerie feeling crept all over my skin, devouring me to my very core.

It only took me one step to realize why I'd gotten violent chills and all my instincts were blaring alarms.

A pair of bloodshot eyes shone in the dark, and seconds after they met with mine, they charged. I stumbled back, a lightning bolt of fear coursing through my body. However, the thing wasn't going for me, and the 'thing' wasn't a 'thing': it was Liam. This Liam wasn't normal, though, he was a snapper, and he leaped right onto my body that laid against his door, clutching the locket he'd given me.

It didn't take long for the bloodshed, as he had caught my body under surprise. Plus, I had no weapons on me for the first time in forever, so I was defenseless. His teeth bared down on my shoulder, ripping the muscles and veins as he pulled his head back. Blood erupted from the wound in globs, but that didn't stop him. His fingers tore at my skin, scratching me as he bit and tore my skin again and again, relentlessly. I wanted to move and stop him from killing me, but I couldn't. My own screams paralyzed me.

Once I was dead, Liam tore into my torso, his greedy fingers shoving intestines in his mouth. The dream lasted until there was nearly nothing left; the only thing that remained in my body was the heart, which I noticed was barely beating. I blinked my eyes, looking at it closer to make sure, and that's when the scene changed.

Instead of Liam being the snapper that was eating my dead body, the roles reversed. I fell to my knees in front of him, looking at his glossy, glazed over eyes and open mouth that was stuck in a frozen scream. The sudden change had me horror stricken, and I could feel something bubbling up inside of me. At first I thought it was grief, anger, or guilt, but after I blinked a second time, I realized that the feeling was hunger, because I wasn't just the bystander anymore.

I was the one holding his barely beating heart.

"Earth to Lease," Craig said, snapping his finger in front of my eyes. I shook my head, trying to erase the gruesome images from my mind.