I'm Not Dead

[ C H . 7 ]

This chapter is dedicated to  @L4ghtning for being my first reader on this story! A writer never forgets the first person to comment and vote on their story and I really really appreciate you! <3

Trigger warning: Violence and fighting

I had watched multiple people die in three hours.

I had felt the sickening sensation of blood on my hands and my muscles ache from putting down someone I cared about.

I had seen dead people come back and I had no idea how to explain it.

Despite all these traumas though, the steady flow of traffic was the scariest thing of all.

Here were these drivers—business folk, college kids, families, teenagers getting off from work, and they had no idea how bad my night was going. They were all blissfully unaware that something unspeakable was unfolding in the city and that I had been given a privileged warning to lock my doors, while they reveled on in their bubbles of false security. I wanted to roll down my windows, I wanted to stop the car, I wanted to warn them of what was to come, but driving was the only thing I had the strength to do.

I think the only reason I wasn't pulled over for reckless driving, was because I was hauling ass in a cop car. Or every cop in the city was responding to the mayhem back at the police station. I didn't have time to think about that though, to think about Gabe. I needed to get home to the rest of my family. I had to lock the front door. Then, I would tell my mom what was going on and hopefully our home would be safe enough to bunker down in until the reason for these attacks was unveiled.

For the life of me, I couldn't understand what was happening. I wanted to believe the drug story, it made sense, but Luna wasn't on drugs. Luna was one of the soberest people I'd ever met. It was something different, a factor they weren't considering. Whatever happened to her, whatever brought her back, it wasn't something natural. What unsettled more was that Gabe said the attack in the bar wasn't the only one. This wasn't an isolated incident; this was an outbreak of something. 

Maybe the violent form of human rabies had finally surfaced? Or perhaps a hazardous waste plant leaked something into the air? All I could say for sure was the drugs had nothing to do with it and dying didn't stop this madman syndrome from taking effect. In the end, it didn't matter what it was, my gut still clenched restlessly, and my knuckles remained white against the steering wheel.

"Rocco you need to slow down, you're going sixty in a thirty zone!"

"We don't have time to worry about breaking the law Eleanor!" I shot back, then pulling the car up on the sidewalk so I could bypass the slow driver in front of me. We had just entered the suburban area and I wasn't about to let some little old guy coming home from bingo get in my way.

"Rocco, stop! You're going to get us killed!" Lorenzo gasped, gripping the 'oh shit' bar as he and Eleanor slid around in the back.

Looking back at them in the rearview mirror, I hit the ceiling of the car. "Shut up and let me drive! I know what I'm doing!" I yelled, swerving to the left to avoid a mailbox. Fortunately, I only clipped it before turning out onto the road that led into the cul de sac our family home was in. As I neared the house, I slowed down a little, before hitting the breaks with a squeal as I pulled into our driveway.

Turning off the car, I felt my hands shake as I threw my door open.

Unbuckling fast, Eleanor tumbled out of the car behind me, practically slipping on the gravel from how hard she stomped her way across over to me. "Rocco!" She grabbed for my arm but I shook her off so I could ring the doorbell repeatedly. "Rocco, Rocco, you need to take a minute and calm down! Mateo and Alice shouldn't see you like this, you're upset, you're scared, your friend just died, you need to take a second to breathe!" She insisted harshly, smacking my hand away from the doorbell.