I'm Not Dead

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This chapter is dedicated too @WriterAnimated  for the amazing cover she made for me! She's a wonderful graphic designer and ya'll should definitely check her out. :) 

After discreetly telling Eleanor and Lorenzo about Evie getting hurt, I allowed them a moment to process it and get her comfortable as I climbed into the driver's seat. I would've told the others, but I didn't want to freak them out more than necessary. Fortunately, this was something Evie understood despite her distress. 

Once everyone was back in their seats and buckled in, I peeled out of the driveway before leaving behind the wealthy neighborhood in the dust of my tires. We had to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. Not just because my mom told us to, but because I was scared as hell over the bite getting infected. 

Human bites that broke the skin were known to transfer hepatitis, syphilis, tetanus, and other dreadful things. I couldn't imagine what the bite of a dead person could do to you. Hopefully, my makeshift gauze would protect her wound long enough to get to my mom.

By the time we reached the city, it was well past two in the morning. Between the lingering effects of liquor circulating my system and the lack of sleep, my eyes were heavy in the glow of traffic, traffic I hadn't been expecting. A couple of hours ago, when we tore our way out of the city, the traffic was normal for that hour. 

Now, the city streets were polluted with cars going in and out. There were so many headlights beaming all at once, it was hard to see. By the time I considered taking a different route, we were already trapped in bumper to bumper traffic. People were likely trying to get out of the city and into it to obtain loved ones. Perhaps this is what my mother feared?

Trying to stay awake, I flipped aimlessly through the radio channels, hoping to find something to listen to. After browsing multiple airwaves, I settled on some pop station. I wish they would put something better on the radio at this hour, or that I had asked El to bring her mixtape collection. I guess some music was better than no music.

In the right middle seat, Evie nibbled on a snack she must've grabbed from the party, while Lorenzo picked at his nails in the seat next to her. Behind them, El sat between Mateo and Alice as she looked down at her dirt-stained shoes aimlessly. I doubt anything pleasant was going through her mind. To her right, Mateo was squinting as he read a magazine he found in the backseat. About thirty minutes ago he'd given up on asking for his phone back. Then, to El's left, Alice was sound asleep in her seat. In the front passenger seat, I watched Sophia's eyes continuously grow as she scrolled through media outlets. I should've taken away her phone to.

"This is taking forever. Isn't there a faster way to get to the hospital? I don't know if I can sit in this car much longer." Lorenzo groaned, fidgeting anxiously with his seatbelt as he kept shifting positions.

Turning to him, Eleanor rubbed his arm. "It's okay. We're almost there." She reassured, even though she looked uneasy herself.

At this point, everyone had been in the car for nearly two hours and with how slow things were moving, it could very well be another hour. Traffic was severely backed up, I've never seen anything like this before and that's saying a lot because this is New York. I should've attempted to squeeze everyone in Gabe's police car, so we could bypass traffic.

"Here Lorenzo, eat this, you're probably hungry." I then watched in the rearview mirror as Evie passed him a piece of whatever she'd been nibbling on.

Not giving it much thought, Lorenzo popped it in his mouth before chewing it rapidly. His face then scrunched up in disgust. "Is this a dark chocolate cookie or something?" He swallowed, before grabbing a water bottle out of the package we took from the kitchen. Quickly, he twisted it open and chugged half of it. "What was that Evie? The after taste is awful."