Whatever It Takes: Mutations

Chapter Eighteen

Only A Matter of Time 

October 3rd, 4:12 pm

Current Location: Memphis, TN

------------------------------------------------------------

"AAH!" 

Bryan shot up from the couch that he fell asleep in, accidentally throwing Amelia off of it as well. She yelped and looked at him with a frantic expression. He first patted himself down to make sure that he was actually alive. Then he turned to Amelia and stared at her. 

"W-What...?" he mumbled. 

"Bryan...? What happened?" 

 The nightmare swarmed his head again. The fire, the blood, the Raiders that killed them, the bodies.  

The Raiders that killed them. 

Bryan slowly fell to his knees in front of Amelia, who continued to give him a concerned expression. He cupped her face and said, "I'm never going to lose you again." 

"W-What do you mean? You n-never lost me," she said quietly. 

Bryan then suddenly leaned in and kissed her lips. Amelia placed her hands on his chest as if she was about to push him away, but she never did. Instead, the girl kissed him back just as passionately as he did. They continued to kiss until Bryan let her go. Both of their faces were flushed red. 

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't-" Bryan stammered, but Amelia cut him off by placing a finger over his lips. 

"Shh, it's okay. Just tell me what happened." 

Bryan took a shaky breath and nodded. He began to tell her the entire story starting from the fire. She stared at him the entire time, listening intently. When he got to the Raiders, her expression changed from curiosity to horror. As Bryan described their deaths from the nightmare, Amelia started to stare at him in disbelief. 

It was silent between the two again. Eventually, Amelia stood up and sat back down on the couch, motioning Bryan to do the same. She patted her lap. "Your turn." 

Bryan smirked and rested his head in her lap. "Thanks..." 

She stroked his hair. "Don't mention it." 

After a few seconds, he rolled onto his back to look at her. Amelia blushed lightly. "Are you okay?" 

He looked away. "I don't know. It's just, I've never had a nightmare to that extreme before. Do you think it means anything?" 

Amelia resumed to stroke his hair. "It's got to. I just hope that if or when it does happen, we can prevent the ending..." 

"I agree," said Bryan. "I can't lose anyone else that's important to me. Especially you and Evelyn. God knows Evelyn can't go through that again." 

She smiled, which made Bryan furrow his eyebrows. "What? Did I say something funny?" 

"No, no. I just think that was sweet of you to say that," she said. 

"Oh, okay. Where is Evelyn, anyway?" he asked. 

"She's meeting with the camp's therapist, I think," Amelia informed. "She should be done by now. Want me to text her?"

 "Yeah, you can. Thankfully the phone lines are operable here." 

Amelia grabbed her phone from the table and sent a quick text to Evelyn, then set it to the side and resumed play with his hair. "You like this, don't you? If not, I won't mind stopping."