The Explosion

Chapter 12

Sam slumped down to the floor with a whimper. From here she could see that her leg was definitely not okay; it was very seriously broke. It seemed to twist inwards at a horrific angle. How the hell did I walk? She pondered as a feeling of sickness arose from inside her. Her head suddenly felt light and fuzzy and a small ache presented itself from her forehead. She suddenly felt the desperate need for a glass of water but the sink was at the other side of the room. She stared over to the left where the sink was but when she mover her head, all up the back of it screamed at her, forcing her to squeeze her eyes shut, but even the force of that was painful. What was happening? She had been able to hobble up the street with Gary and now she couldn't even move! Her eyelids shut as she attempted to relax her body and she took deep breaths in and out. In and out. "Gary?" She said weakly, feeling a rush of faintness fly at her. She could see that he was breathing but no reply came. She looked over to the sink again, her mouth felt dry. She knew that she had to get some water. Lifting both her arms up onto the counter she was against, she painstakingly hauled herself up, her cries of pain swept away into the silence. One step at a time. She thought as she lifted up her left, injured leg and placed it down, clenching her teeth and clutching tightly to the counter. She very quickly repeated the step with her right leg so that the pressure would be on there again.

"Ahh!" She screamed as the pressure on her left leg was too much to take. The lights started flickering, causing her to feel even sicker and the fuzziness in her head was overwhelming. Somehow, she managed to stay up but with a click, the lights in the room turned off so that she was cast in an eerie darkness. "No." Sam whispered as she looked at the door. The corridor light was still on. She had to get there. Had to get there. "Gary. Run!" She croaked as she took a step forwards with her injured leg. A high pitch sob erupted from her mouth as she saw what she had feared would come and find her rise from the shadows. Red eyes flicked open all around her and they floated closer and closer. "Stop!" She screeched. "Get back!" All of them stopped in their tracks and she snatched up a tool from the small table of objects Mia had used, then pointed it at one of the shadows. It was then that she realised she had picked up a small mirror. She raised it higher so that she was looking at herself. Her short hair was ragged and she was still wearing Gary's black, oversized hoodie. She was covered with blood and her hair was matted with it at the back. Suddenly, a shadow arose from behind her, reflected in the mirror and Sam screamed as loudly as she could before the mirror clattered to the floor and she involuntarily followed after it. She reached her arms out to the door as the room swirled around her. A rush of shadows shot at her with intense speed and she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for them to suffocate her just as they did Daniel. But she didn't hit the floor. She twisted, opening her eyes to see black. Just black. Is this what it's like to be dead? She wondered before she looked up more to see a red pair of eyes staring right back at her. Her ability to speak or breathe disappeared. She could only stare as she rotated to see the dozen or so pairs of red eyes looming over her, only just giving her sight of the ceiling. "Put me down." She whispered, the sentence coming automatically out of her mouth.

The strange sensation of movement made her feel dizzy again but when she felt the hard floor press against her back, an even stronger sense of confusion overwhelmed her. "Why did you do that?" She asked, "Why did you put me down? What are you?" The room was suddenly occupied by the sound of a sort of hissing as the shadows retreated back from her and into the corners, down into the shadows.

Sam was left speechless, lying on her back in the middle of the room. "Sam!" A voice said, a boy with brown hair and blue eyes ran into her vision.

"Gary? But you are injured. You can't move, you... did you see them?"

Gary didn't reply to any of her questions, he just looked at her with concern. "I'm not crazy," She murmured, "The shadows... they... they got Daniel..."

"Calm down." Gary instructed. "Just relax."

"It's dark. They turned the lights off, Gary, It's dark."

"It's okay. You just need to calm down, okay?"

"I want it to be light again."

"It will be in a sec, Sam. Just-"

"I want it to be light!" Sam screeched, cutting Gary off.

With a click, the lights tuned back on again and Sam let out a sigh of relief.

"See?" Gary said calmly. Sam stared up at him, unimpressed and leant forward, trying to get up. "Ah-ah-ah." Gary said quickly, putting his hand on her chest to push her down again. Sam took a sharp intake of breath and pressed herself tightly against the floor again. Gary immediately pulled his hand away, realising that he was scaring her. "Hey. You're injured, you shouldn't be walking."

"Please can I have some water?" Sam asked quietly. Gary nodded and walked over to the tap, bringing back a plastic cup of water. Sam forced herself up and help out a hand for the plastic cup. Gary passed it to her and she took a few sips before finishing the rest of it in big gulps. If Gary disapproved of this action then he certainly didn't show it.

"We really need to get you somewhere that isn't the floor." He said blatantly.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked, "We've made quite an acquaintance."

Gary laughed at this before saying, "Can I?" Sam realised what he was asking and she nodded. "Brace yourself." He said so Sam clenched her fists.

"Ow, ow. Ow!" She yelled at him as he leant down and carefully lifted her up off the hard floor and into his arms. From up here Sam could see that her hoodie was getting almost too high and she said, "I may need to acquire some different clothes."

Gary looked to find that he could see around 99% of her legs and in reply said, "Yes, I think you do." They shared a trying-not-to-laugh smile at each other before Gary walked over to the bed that he had been on.

"Not this room." Sam said abruptly, tightening her arms around his neck. Gary then turned around and took her out into the room next door which had the same set out.

"Is this okay?" He asked hesitantly. Sam nodded so he leant over the bed and lay her down slowly. She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists tightly. When she was down, she unclenched them and stretched them out. "Oh, Sam." He said sadly when he saw deep red nail marks in her palms. She looked down at them and then back up at him. In the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw a shadow rush past the door so she reached out and grabbed onto Gary's arm as tight as she could.

"What are you?" She whispered.