WIRED (dan howell au)

chapter fifteen ~ found

"Hazel?"

I open my eyes and get up, "Dan? Are you okay?"

He tries to shift around but winces. He lets out a sigh, "I'm fantastic."

The sarcasm is strong with this one.

"Do you need anything?"
"Not right now, no." He looks up at the ceiling and then looks around the room. "Where are we?"
"In some random house."
"Why?"
"It's not like I could pick you up and run faster than that zombie. I had to go somewhere safe. And this was the closest house."
"Okay. Is the zombie gone?"
"No, it has been circulating around the house for quite some time."
"How did you get in here though?"

I explain.

"How the hell?"
"How the hell what?"
"How did you pick me up so easily?"
"Oh, uh..." How do I explain this?
"What? What's going on?"
"Well," I scratch the back of my head. "I kind of got this thing going on and it might be hard to wrap your head around but I get stronger when I'm in danger."
"What the-"
"I know, it's strange. Weird. Unnatural."
"How exactly do you get stronger?" The look of confusing on his face makes this even harder to explain.
"My strength and stamina, certainly. And my senses grow more acute."
"Your senses?" Dan questions.
"Yes, my senses."
"Explain."
Well, if you insist.

I tell him.

I continue. "It has happened once before, but it was different. It was weaker. And it went away sooner. Right now, it's stronger and it's not going away like before."
"Is that a problem?"
"I don't know."
"Is there anyway you can find out if it's a problem?" So many questions I don't have an answer to.
"Not that I know of," I simply reply.

We both grow silent, but the sounds of rain and thunder makes it less awkward.

The vibrations of the footsteps from the zombie suddenly stop. I bring my head up and focus to see if there is a problem.

Than a sharp bang goes off.
The unmistakeable sound of a gunshot. And it pierces into the zombie.

"Oh no," Dan whispers. He doesn't know what is going on, but he certainly knows that guns are bad.

Whoever shot the zombie, they're certainly human. They have a steady heartbeat, not emotionally unbalanced at the least. Not even scared that the zombie is getting ready to kill them.

The zombie is ticked off. Its muscles tense up. But before it could start running at the man, he shoots a couple more times. The zombie falls to the ground, I can't tell if it's actually dead, but it seems to be for the moment.

"What's going on?" Dan says.
"There is a man who may have just killed the zombie."
"Can we leave then?"
"Not with that guy around, he has a gun. Guns are a big bag of nope."
"You literally took the words right out of my mouth."
"You're rubbing off on me."
"I must be."
We look at each other and smile, but it soon gets interrupted when the man steps into the house. He has invade my temporary property and I prepare myself for what is about to happen.
"Hello?" He calls.
I look over to Dan and mouth, "Don't answer."
"I know the two of you are here! I need to talk to you!"

I stand up and try to get a better reading on this guy. I tune into every physical attribute which will help me in the situation.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I just need to talk."

He isn't lying. His heartbeat isn't changing, nor is his breathing pattern.

I hear a a faint beep. And whirring?

Machinery. Inside of him.

This guy is one of my father's experiments, no doubt.

"Hazel? Are you listening?"

I freeze and react irrationally.

"What the hell do you want from us?" I yell at him.

"Hazel?" He opens the door and walks down the stairs to the basement.

I don't know what to expect. I should be scared, but I'm not. I'm angry. Is my father trying to find me? Again?
I straighten up and try my best to give off an intimidating vibe. I'm going to make myself the leader of this situation.

He makes it down the stairs and looks me in the eye.

"I have been sent here by your father. I just need to talk t-"
"Shut up about my father. I told him not to find me. I told him to leave me the fuck alone. Why is he not listeni-"
"He says it's an emergency."
"First of all, don't interrupt me again." Reluctantly, he nods. "Second, that still doesn't make me want to see him."
"He says it's about your grandfather."

My heart drops.

How is that possible?

I haven't seen him in years. Can he still be alive? With what my dad could've done to him, it's likely.

"How can you prove that?" I ask.

"I can't right now, but if you just follow me, you can see him if you want." From everything I can gather, he is telling the truth. But he is a robot or some shit.

"I can't trust you. I can't trust my father. I will not go, now leave us alone." I answer him.
"He has one more request though."
"What is it?"
"He needs to bring that boy back to his laboratory," his stretches out his arm and points his finger at Dan.
My mind begins to race, why does he need Dan? How does he know Dan even exists? And millions of more questions.
"Why does he need to do that?"
"He can't tell you, but if either of you refuse, I will have to take him by force," He flashes his gun for the extra effect.

From behind me, Dan speaks up. "I'm not going anywhere." He is sitting upright on the couch. Still in pain, but not as much as earlier. He doesn't look like he can walk yet.

"I will have to take you by force then." He begins to approach Dan, but I step in the way.

"Neither of us allow it, buddy. Have you ever heard of consent before?"
"It is my boss' order. I have to follow it."
"Well, it's my dad. He has to take my opinion into consideration."
"I must do this. Move out of the way please."

Despite the fact that he is at least and inch taller than me, I place my hand on his chest, look him dead in the eye and speak loud and clear. "No."

But it wasn't a normal, human chest made up of flesh. It was cold and hard. Metal.

I feel that it's thin enough for me to break through with the right amount of force.

Before he has a chance to reach up and grab my wrist, I bring my arm back and punch like I've never punched before.

And my hand goes straight through.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A/N:
Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying this so far, it's taking up a lot of my time to write... Apologies for the long chapter this time. Sorry I had to leave you with a really bad chapter last time (chapter 14). But, some big stuff is coming up, so it will eventually get better. And thank you for 300+ views!

As always, thank you so much for reading!
- Han