☾THE MECHANIC☽

20. Where?

"Come in!" You hear on the other side of the door. You open the door, popping your head in, "Hey Ty! Mind if I hang in here with you?". Tyler smiles and pats beside him, "Come". You smile, closing the door behind you, "So both our parents decided to bail on us this morning?". "I guess so" Tyler chuckles, "So who do I owe the pleasure of seeing you this early?". You shrug as you sit down beside him, "I just felt like seeing you... Gives me closure".

Tyler blinks, "I give you closure?". You give him a soft smile, "Of course you do". You place a hand on his and smile to yourself as you look at it. Tyler feels his heart skip a beat, 'God, she's so pretty'. Suddenly, the door opens and you remove your hand from Tyler's. "How did I know you'd be here?" Nurse Lucy questions. "Sorry, Mrs. Lucy," You chuckle. "You know what, how about I put your bed in here?" Nurse Lucy suggests. "You'd do that?" Your eyes widen. "If that's okay with you two of course".

"It is" Tyler replies. Your attention goes back to your nurse, "That would be wonderful, thank you,". Nurse Lucy gives you a nod and leaves the room. "They must think you're crazy for being here so much" Tyler snickers. 'Crazy for you, yes. Lovesick even' You chuckle. "So be it now scoot over" You nudge him. Tyler scoots over and you sit beside him. "What do you want to watch?" Tyler questions. "Whatever you want, Ty," You reply.

You and Tyler watch whatever he puts on for a while until you start to feel tired. "Damn, maybe it was too early" You yawn. "Are you tired?" Tyler raises an eyebrow. You nod in response and Tyler bites the inside of his cheek, thinking of what he should do. He's brought out of his thoughts when you stand up, making him grab your hand in panic. You look at him with a raised eyebrow. "U-uhm, just stay here..." Tyler mumbles. You cup the side of his face with your right hand and rub your thumb against his cheek, "I wouldn't want to take up your space for longer than I have".

Your eyes widen as you fall into Tyler's chest. "I don't mind..." He mutters, wrapping his arms around you. You smile to yourself as your face turns into a red hue. "Okay," You chuckle as you move into a better position, "I'll stay". Wars are going on in your and Tyler's head. 'You're making me insane, Tyler,' You bury your face into Tyler's side.

Beep...Beep...Beep..Beep..Beep.Beep

Tyler eyes his heart monitor, 'Shut up! Shut up! Okay, Tyler, you need to relax. It's just [Y/N]... That's the problem, you idiot'. Tyler feels your breaths even out, resembling you falling asleep. "Geez, you really were tired" Tyler whispers.

His eyes snap over to his door that's creaking open. "Tyler is [Y/— She's in here, Corey," His mom says. Tyler tenses up at your father's name. His face turns red as he internally panics. Don't get any ideas, kiddo. You're currently cuddling his side and your dad is about to see, which was Tyler's idea for you to sleep in his bed but he didn't think of the consequences with your father. "Hey, son" Corey smiles at him before noticing his daughter. You can see the fatherly instincts kick in but they quickly disappear. "How long has she been asleep for?" Mariana questions. "She just fell asleep a few minutes ago" Tyler replies.

"Well, I guess we had nothing to worry about" Mariana smiles. "Guess not" Corey snickers, taking a picture of your sleeping form. Tyler chuckles at your dad's childish antics as he glances down at you. Corey takes this as a perfect opportunity to take a picture of the both of you. "Alright, see you later. Take care of yourself and my daughter until we get back" Corey walks over to the door. "You guys are leaving already?" Tyler raises an eyebrow. "We're going to get some food for everyone" Mariana answers. Tyler rests his head on the back of his bed as the door to his room closes. "Tired myself..." Tyler yawns.

☾☾☽☽

Your eyes flutter open and you jolt up, noticing you're not in Tyler's hospital bed or the hospital. You're sitting in an all-white room. You feel the panic begin to rise throughout your body. "Where am I? Where is everyone?" You step out of bed. You notice a small room next to you which is a bathroom and that there are no windows. Your eyes continue to scan the room and you pause when you see a camera. Fear rises in your body when there's a knock on the door before watching it open. "Hello- Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I brought you some food" A nurse lifts the bag in their hands. "Who are you?" You take a step back.

"My name's Alex. I'll be in charge of your care from now on" Alex walks forward, causing you to back into the wall. Alex pauses, "I know you're confused and scared right now so I'll do my best to explain the situation". You watch as Alex places the bag on the edge of your bed, "If you want to come to sit and eat while we talk, I promise the food isn't drugged". You stare at Alex, making no sign of movement. "Fair enough" Alex sighs, "I'll set it here. There's a sandwich and bottled water".

"I'll let you go ahead and ask what you want first. If it's something I can answer, I will" Alex sits on the table in front of your bed. "Where are my friends?" Is the first question you ask. "They're in rooms similar to yours" Alex shows you the cameras on the tablet. You sigh of relief seeing all your friends in perfect condition, or what seems to be. "Where are we? Why are we here? Where are our parents?!" You furrow your eyebrows thinking of your father. "I can't tell you the exact location, however, we are in a contamination facility" Alex replies, "You're here because of a fungus we're currently trying to get a handle on".

"A fungus?" You raise an eyebrow. "The fungus is parasitic, causing intense hallucinations until taking over the brain. Once it does... Well for a lack of a better term, it causes zombie-like symptoms" Alex looks away. "You're saying we have a parasitic zombie fungus? You know how ridiculous that sounds?" You let out a laugh of disbelief. "It showed up on yours and your friend, Tyler's, hospital report" You feel your heart sink at Alex's words, "When we did a little more digging, we found that you kids went to Savannah at the beginning of the school year. Specifically, the Sorrel Weed House where some fungus has been found growing in the basement".

"We never touched any fungus!" You defend. "We've found that infection occurs by breathing it in, not physical touch" Alex explains. You huff as you slide down the wall, curling up into a ball. 'There's no way that all of this is because of a fungus... Hallucinations?! This doesn't explain mine and Tyler's death. How are we still alive? Why are we starting to change? This sounds stupid but so does us going into another dimension every night'

"Once we figured out what was happening, we immediately went to safely secure you all. I know it was a bit jolting the way it happened, I apologize. We didn't know how heavy your hallucinations were at that point and thought it'd be safer to explain later in a more secure environment" Alex explains further. "Why hasn't this been on the news if this 'fungus' existed?" You question. "We're trying to avoid mass hysteria. If word were to get around about this, you can only imagine the riots and robberies while trying to stock up on the items for a possible 'apocalypse'. Until we find a cure for this, it's best to keep it under wraps. For now, we'll keep you guys as comfortable as possible. We'll try to make the food better than the hospitals and we'll run tests now and then. You have TVs and we'll give you a communication device that can contact me for any specific items, like books or snacks".

'This is crazy. What am I supposed to believe here? There's no way we were asleep the whole time, everything felt so real' You're brought out of your thoughts when Alex stands. "I'm sorry you and your friends ended up in this situation. We'll do our best to get you out of it as quickly as we can. So I ask for your consideration, please" You notice Alex's eyebrows furrow. "I want to see the people infected with this stuff" Your voice is stern. "I can only show you pictures. Your friend, Ashlyn, was able to see them in person and I was told not to do it again" Alex says, "If anything changes then I'll show you but for now here's the TV remote. There's also a call button on there to contact me whenever you need something". You take the remote from Alex. "Press the button whenever you need me," Alex says, before shutting the door.

'I'm glad Ash got to see them... I just hope everyone is okay'

HEY, I decided to publish today to keep my mind of the math exam I took this morning :D

So, YAY.