Chapter 21
"Lab?" I question. "What does that mean?"
Cameron shrugs and wipes the sweat away from his forehead.
"Are they testing on them?" I gulped.
"I hope not. We'll get them out safe, Summer." He puts his hand on my shoulder to try and console me.
I touch his hand back and nod my head.
"Should we go in there?" He asks.
"I don't know. There could be a lot of soldiers down there."
"Well, we don't really have a choice." He says while flattening out his lips.
We walk into the dully-lit hallway. I make sure to close the door behind us. Cameron puts his face up to the glass on one of the single doors lining the hallway. He squints his eyes and wraps his hands around his face so he can see inside better. "I don't see anything."
"Why are you looking in there?" I ask.
"Maybe there's something in there we could use."
My mind fades away from Cameron's response. I can hear something in the distance faintly. My head turns slightly to the right and I quiet Cameron so I can listen. I hear thumping. It's getting louder. "What is that?"
I hear a door swing open. The thumping is footsteps. I hear talking coming from down the hallway and around the corner. It looks like there's another hallway by the Lab door. I didn't see it before.
Cameron quickly opens the door he was looking into and pulls me inside by the wrist. He slowly closes it, making it latch without a sound.
The room is dark. The only light is coming in from the small window on the door. I click on my flashlight and shine it around the room. I see a medical bed and a counter with a bunch of tools and cotton balls in jars. It looks like a doctor's office.
Cameron stands by the door and peeks out of the window. I kneel next to him but I let him be the lookout.
"I see two guys. One has on a lab coat and the other has on the soldier uniform." He whispers, "Shit, we need a keycard to get into the lab."
"How do you know?"
"The guy in the lab coat just used one to open the door." Cameron sighs.
"What are we going to do?"
Cameron sinks into a kneel so his face is level with mine. His eyebrows arch in thought and as soon as an idea hits his mind his eyes light up.
"How about I go out there and wait for someone to come down the hallway. I'll knock him out and take his card."
"Cameron we can't just keep knocking people out." I roll my eyes.
"It's better than killing them." He mocks.
"What am I supposed to do? Sit here and wait? What if something goes wrong?"
"Summer, I'll be fine." He looks at me with pity in his eyes.
"I can't believe that Cameron," I rub my forehead with my hand, "Something could go wrong."
"I know. I'm scared, Summer."
Why is he scared? He's Cameron. The strongest person I know. It's impossible for him to be scared. I don't think he's ever been before. What's different?
"Why?" I ask.
He sighs and runs his fingers through his curls. "I don't want to lose you. I'm scared I will."
On the way here he didn't want anything to do with me. I don't understand why he wouldn't want to lose me all of a sudden.
"How would you lose me?"
"I don't know, but we've made it this far without being seen, without being hurt. We're so far in, so many things could go wrong. I don't want to die Summer and leave you alone."
My heart breaks at the sorrow in his voice. I put my hand up to his cheek and lift his face so his eyes connect with mine. I give him a sympathetic look and I rest my head on his.
"Cameron, I know my father just died and my sister's been taken but I'll be alright. I have you. Nothing will go wrong. I promise."
A small smile spreads across his face and he gives me a small nod. He then, with a swift movement, ascends to his feet and then holds out his hand to help me up.
Comforting Cameron is hard with everything going on. I'm more worried about my sister and I know Cameron second-guessing himself will just slow us down. In the back of my mind, I find joy in comforting him. But on the other hand, I need to save my sister. That's all that matters right now. He did say back at the van he would do this for me. I hope he doesn't think this is a waste of time. He knows how important my sister is to me. As of right now, she's the last person in my family alive. I need her. I need him to help me.
After he pulls me up, I notice that he hasn't let go of my hand. I open my mouth to ask what he's doing but I'm silenced by him pulling me into his body. He lifts my chin with his hand, so I can look into his familiar green eyes.
"Summer, I know you might not have feelings for me but I have feelings for you."
I can feel my cheeks flush and my body begins to tremble. I try to hide my blush but I can tell it's not working. I try to look away from his eyes but his firm hand won't let me. Before I could open my mouth to answer, he pulls my face towards his and gently pushes his lips against mine.
The caress of his lips was softer than I could ever imagine. They were warm and tasted sweet, almost like honey. I put more pressure onto his lips, signaling that I wanted more. Although, he had another idea. He backed away from my face and looked me tenderly in the eyes. I could tell he longed for another kiss or to know what I thought about the moment but his eyes descended away from mine and a look of sadness came across him.
He backs away from me but he's still holding onto my hand. With one last glance, he peaks out into the hallway. He opens the door and slowly slides his hand out of mine. He closes the door between us leaving me alone in the room.
It took me a second to comprehend what's happened. I move to the door and peer out. I see him walking down the hallway with his gun drawn. He quickly turns around to look at me. I smile at him and he smiles back.
Well shit. I can't believe he just did that. Why right now? This is the worst place to do it. I don't understand why he would kiss me after ignoring me for so long. What am I supposed to do? He knows I like Layke, why would he kiss me if he knew I didn't like him. Do I like him like that? I know I love him. He's my best friend. But could there be something more? That kiss honestly made my heart skip and I felt pure joy when it was happening. But what about Layke? I just told him I wanted to be with him. Why is this so confusing.
Before he could turn around, four soldiers appear from the hallway. Cameron jumps and fumbles to put up his gun. The soldiers grab his arms quickly and take the gun out of his hands. He tries to pull away, his body jerking at every chance he has. He manages to look back at me and shakes his head.
He wants me to keep put and stay hidden. It took everything in me to stop myself from busting down the door and emptying a clip into their chests. But I refrain and watch as they drag him up to the Lab doors, unlock it, and carry him inside.
I slam my fist into the metal door. It makes a loud sound but I don't care. I turn around and sink on the floor. My eyes swell up with tears and I bury my face into my knees.
I feel so alone. I don't know what to do or how to get anyone I love back. I couldn't do this without Cameron. I'm Summer. I'm not a superhuman, a kick-ass infected killer, or have any idea on how to deal with a situation like this. I'm just a eighteen year only girl that's still fantasizing about crushes and stupid things teenagers worry about. I'm not strong. I'm helpless without Cameron.
I bury my head into my hands to try and block out my surroundings. The room is so quiet that my ears can't comprehend it and all I can hear is muffled fuzz. My mind races trying to figure out what to do.
I can't do this alone. There's no point. I wouldn't be able to do anything right. I'd probably fall and hurt myself as I did back at the restaurant. Then I would be stuck helpless. I wonder what they would do to me if they caught me. Would they kill me? Take me like they took Cameron?
Maybe being taken is a good idea. It would probably take me right to my sister. But I can't. The thought of being taken against my will makes my stomach turn. If I'm taken, then what? I would be stuck too. I probably wouldn't get out of here alive.
Why am I being so optimistic? My sister's probably dead. In fact, she has to be. There's no way in hell she could be alive. We left her for so many hours here. I knew we should have come in guns-a-blazing and shot the shit out of every single soldier. We shouldn't have waited.
Now Cameron's dead. Of course, right after he gets the courage to tell me how he feels. Just my luck. Layke, Robbie, Linda, and Scooter are probably caught. I'm the only one left. And there's no way in hell I can get out of here alone.
Should I just give up and turn myself in? I just want everything to be back the way it was. I want my father back, my sister, Cameron, and my mother. Why does this always happen to me?
I stand up in anger, tears still running down my face. I storm out into the hallway. I pushed the door so hard that it slams against the wall. The sound echoes throughout the space. I look down the hallway towards the door we came in. There's no one there.
My head begins to spin, giving me a splitting headache. I can no longer tell which way is up or down. Left or right.
The hallway walls seem to be getting closer to me. The wallpaper turns a rusted brown color and starts to peel off the concrete. The lights that hang from the ceiling get dimmer, almost turning completely off. I look back to the Lab doors. My eyes widen to see that the hallway is growing longer. It seems a mile away now. I start to run towards it, screaming Brianna's name over and over.
The walls begin to bleed. The crimson liquid seeps onto the floor and eventually makes the hallway impossible to run down. The sticky goop comes in gallons, filling up the small space. It slowly creeps up my legs and up to my waist. I start to float, and I realize that I'm going to have to swim.
The blood is hot and thick. I can barely swim through it. Seeing it stick to my skin makes me freak out and I try to wipe it away. But, it just keeps drying on my skin. It eventually starts to pull the life out of it. I can see my skin start to turn gray and dull. I'm dying.
The door keeps getting farther and farther away. It seems impossible to reach. Suddenly, the sound of moans fills the room. I kick my feet trying to swim away, but I can't tell which way they're coming from. Now the room is half full and the blood keeps coming. If I don't find a way out, I'll drown.
As I push my palms to my ears to lessen the moans, I feel my ankle being grabbed. It pulls me under and I can't help but scream. The force of my scream pushes air out of my mouth, which makes bubbles climb up to the top of the blood. My mouth becomes full of the warm sap, the taste of iron and rust making me gag.
More hands grab my body and pull me down. One wraps it's long sticky fingers around my neck, making the air that was left in my lungs disappear.
The moans get louder. Too loud. My ears are going to burst. I squeeze them with my hands so much that it feels like they're being pushed into my skull.
"Summer!"
My eyes snap open. I see Robbie, Layke, and Scooter running towards me still in the uniforms. I look around to see I'm laying on the hallway floor in the fetal position. Everything's back to the way it was. My eyes are soaking wet and it feels like I can't breathe.
"Are you okay? What happened!" Layke says as he comes running up to me. I hide my head in embarrassment.
What the hell just happened? Was that another dream?
He helps me off the floor slowly. My legs can't seem to hold up my body weight. I feel like I'm going to fall. I hold on to Layke to balance myself. My legs are still shaking and the intense pain in my head isn't making my body stop.
"Cameron, they—" I can barely speak, "Took him."
"Where?" Robbie asks with an annoyed tone. I guess he doesn't care about knowing what happened to me. He just wants to find Phoebe and get out of here.
I point to the Lab doors, my arm still unsteady.
"How do we get in there?" Scooter asks with a more compassionate tone than Robbie.
I breathe deeply, sending my body full of oxygen. My heartbeat is slowing down and I feel like I can finally stand on my own. I let go of Layke's arm. "Keycard. You need a keycard." I say quietly, but my voice still breaks at the end.
The boys look through all their pockets and come up empty-handed. Robbie tells Layke and me to go hide in one of the rooms, so I lead him to the one I was in before with Cameron. Once we're in, he helps me sit down against the door and he watches his brothers through the window.
"What happened?" Layke says still staring out of the window.
"I told you—" I get cut off before I can finish my sentence.
"No, to you. You looked like you saw a ghost. We heard you screaming. We were already searching the building, but I'm surprised no one came and found you."
Should I tell him about my dream? Vision? Maybe it was a hallucination? I have no clue what happened. I don't even know how I would explain it to him.
"I was just really upset about them taking Cameron." I lie.
He takes his eyes off of the window for a second. His face looks unbelieving, he knows I'm lying. Since he knows I don't want to tell him, he just accepts my answer. He looks back out to the hallway to tell me what's going on.
"They're standing by the Lab doors pretending to be guards." He ducks his face out of the window, but not enough so that he couldn't see. "There's a guy with a lab coat. He's talking to them."
I decide to look for myself. I carefully stand and look out the small window.
A guy in a lab coat stands next to Scooter and Robbie. It looks like he's questioning them for a brief second but the guy doesn't think anything of it and unlocks the door with his card. The guy strides in and Robbie stops the door from latching with his foot.
Layke and I quickly open the door and catch up with them.
I still feel a bit shaky but I don't think that's from my dream. I'm scared of what we're about to get into.