YANK.

'Cranes..'

'New teacher..'



The redhead staggered back.

'..What a load of bullshit.'



KICK.

The girl lunged away from the teacher, reaching for a dask as she threw it at one of the guards.

WHAM.

She grabbed Taylors wrist, and started pulling the girl with herself, trying to get out. But Taylors knees gave out under her, as she fell to the floor, pulling Ashlyn with herself. "AGH!"

"Don't go after them. No need to scare them more, they'll be unconscious soon." The green eyed girl tried pulling Taylor up, but it was no use. The twin could feel her eyes slowly closing. "TAYLOR, GET UP!"

"...Can't..." She dragged the girl, putting her behind herself as she tried shielding her from these idiots.

THUMP

THUMP

THUMP

THUMP

THUMP

THUMP

'Calm down! Think, think!!'

THUMP.



'Can I make it to the door? Or the window?'

Mr. Thomas wore a frown on his face as he kneeled down infront of the scared girl. "We aren't trying to hurt you kids, we're just trying to help."

"You're sick."

"Yeah, no... I'm pretty sure.. You're the sick... one."

'No no no, don't you dare close your eyes-'



BLURRY.

'-You have too..'

'...Stay awake...'



"Let the facility know we have them."

"How is he so good at this already, isn't the game new?!"

"I think it'll be better for your mental health if you just accept that Logan is better at video games than you, Aiden."

"Stop focusing on him and fix the door, idiot!"

The group was sitting down on a couch, playing a new game that just came out. Ashlyn was sitting on the floor, behind her Ben who was braiding her hair. Behing Ben sat Taylor on the couch, next to him Aiden, Logan and then Tyler. And lastly, Rylee was sprawled out in their lap, with her head on Tylers lap, watching him play, and her leg resting on Aiden. Laughing once in a while when they messed up in the game, but other than that the girl didnt speak. didnt feel like speaking. "TAYLOR, LEFT!!"YOUR LEFT!!

"LOGAN, HELP; LOGAN, HELP!!"

"I TOLD YOU TO FIX THE DOOR!"

"Go to the basement and move the box, there's a hidden crawlspace."

"How did you figure that out, we've only been playing for five minutes!"

Rylee gave a look to her sister, and they both rolled their eyes with a chuckle, before focusing back on the screen. "---- --- -------- ---."

"---- ----.."

"---."

'...Why is it so quiet?'

The brunette sat up from her laying position on the bed, to find, actually no one there. Everyone was gone, and it was silent. Too silent. The sky outside was dark. Did she fall asleep? Where did the others go?

"..Guys? Ashlyn?.."

CLANK.

Whipping her head around where the sound came from, she made her way into a dark room to see what was there. And well.. she found the group but..

"..Why are you guys sitting in the dark like that?-"

"..Rylee.."

"That's not us."

Her eyes widened as she looked back to the "group", that now had their faces turned to look at her. Half of their faces were like the phantoms, their wide smiles and big white teeth, on the other side their faces were normal, beside the creepy smile and black eyes.

PAIN.

GASP.

'..What was that..' The brunette clutched her stomach in pain. The injury from the phantom world was now hurting.. more than it should. God, she needs to ask the doctors for something to numb the pain with-

'Wait..'

'Where am I?'

"Where are my friends? And my sister?!"

"They're all in rooms similar to yours."

Alex showed Ashlyn, as the redhead looked at the screen. Taylor was inspecting the place, the same with Logan. Tyler was looking straight at the camera, scratching the back of his neck. Aiden was.. Playing spiderman??? as he stood on a drawer with his foot opening it. Ben.. well, he trashed the whole place.. And Rylee. Rylee didnt move since she had woken up. She was curled up into a ball on her bed, clutching her stomach.. The red heads eyes widened as she leaned just a little closer to see the screen better, watching her sister.

'Rylee and Aiden were also grabbed..'

"Why are we here? Where even is here?!"

"I can't tell you the exact location,"

"However, we are a contamination facility."

"You're here becausee of a fungus we're currently trying to get a handle on."

"A fungus?.."

"The fungus is parasitic, causing intense hallucinations until taking over the brain. Once it doess.. Well for lack of a better term,"

"-It causes zombie-like symptoms."

'You're sick.'

Haha..

"...You're trying to say we have a parasitic zombie fungus? That sounds ridiculous." Ashlyn put a hand in her hair as she glared at her 'care-taker', who just simply responded. "It had shown up on your sisters, Rylee's, hospital report. When we did a little bit more digging, we found that you kids went to Savannah at the beginning of the school year. Specifically, the Sorrel Weed house where some of the fungus has been found growing in the basement."

"But we never touched any fungus!"

"We've found that infection occurs by breathing it in, not physical touch."

'...There's no way.. That everything we've been through has just been a hallucination...'

'But how are Aiden and Rylee alive?'

'And.. Why are we starting to change?'

'A zombie fungus sounds stupid... But us going to another dimension every night does as well.'



"Once we figured out what was happening, we immediately went to safely secure you all. I know it was a bit jolting the way we did it, 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 enviroment." Now Ashlyn had her knees pulled up to her chest as she hid her face in them. It was all too much for her.. "If something like this existed, why hasn't it been on the news?"

"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 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 a bit more appealing than hospital food, and run some tests every now and then. You even have TVs. And we'll give you a communication device that can contact me if you wish for any specific items. Like books or snacks." Finally, they stopped talking..

'...This is crazy. What am I supposed to believe here? A fungus sounds more believable honestly.. But everything has felt so real... Were we just asleep the whole time? It's hard to think with this headache.. I feel sick.'



STAND.

"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 cooperation, please."

"..Can I see one of the people infected with this stuff?"

"I do have some pictures and photos on here I can show-"

"-No, I mean in person. So that I know nothing is photo-edited."

"...I'll need to ask the high-ups first. Give me a moment."

SHUT.

OPEN.

"I can show you. However, you need to have these on. I do want to warn you though, it's a gruesome sight. I feel like we should wait until you've rested a bit, but it's your choice if you want to continue."

"Yeah. I want to see what you guys are trying to convince us we have."

"Alright then, come on-"

"But I want my sister to come with me."

". . ."

KNOCK KNOCK.

OPEN.

The brunette jumped up from her bed as the sudden noise startled her. She had just dozed off a little, but it was cut short as the door opened. She backed away into a corner, still clutching her stomach as she was hunched over, another hand on the wall to support herself. She was high on alert as she watched the door slowly open, before someone peeked inside. They haid a mask on, glasses, and their hair up. The brown eyed girl tried to back away into the corner as much as she could, but the person just opened the door wider and wider, revealing..

"Ash?!" Rylee pushed herself off of the wall as she walked towards the door, the hand always remaining on her stomach. The person stepped away from the door, letting Ashlyn in. The red head immediately captured her younger sister in a hug, putting her hand on the back of her head, and on her back. Rylee just wrapped her arms around her, as her body trembled slightly. Ashlyn just hugged her tighter, making the brunette burry her face into her shoulder. But sadly their reunion was cut short..

"I'm sorry to break.. this.. but I do have work outside of being with you two. So, if you realy want to come, you'll have to put these on." At this, the young girl furrowed her eyebrows, letting her arms fall back to her sides.

"...Come where?"

STEP.

The two sisters walked next to each other as they followed Alex. Rylee still didnt know where they were going, but being with her sister at the moment was enough for her. The cuffs around her wrists were a little too tight, making it pretty uncomfortable to wear. She didnt know what Ashlyn thought about it, but she just wanted to rip them off... And yeah, Ashlyn was thinking the same. "How many others like us are there?" The sudden voice of her sister snapped her out of her daze, making her raise her head to look at Alex, who they were waiting for the answer from. "...There've been many cases of people infected with the fungus..But you kids are different from what we've found so far."

'..Infected people? Fungus?.. Just what happened while she was out?'

"Usually, once infected, the host goes into a coma while hallucinating. Then only wakes from the coma once the fungus takes over the brain."

"Like them. That's one of the wards of come patients we have right now. Obviously you're still experiencing hallucinations, so youaren't completely immune, but you're the best we have right now. Which is why, even without your consent, we need to keep you here." Rylee was now walking a little bit closer to her sister, their arms touching when walking.The girl was still really confused.. She looked up, eyes meeting Alexs back of the head as she opened her mouth. "....And what about our parents?"

"They've been informed about the situation. They aren't happy about it, obviously, however it's just how it is at the moment. Not much any of us can do at the moment." As the two walked, they passed a well dressed man. Rylee took a glance at him, as their eyes met. But hers only widened as she looked away, and the mans face stayed emotionless.

PRESS.

OPEN.

"Since the hallucinations are happening to keep patients asleep and comatose, you can't really tell how much is going on. However, once the fungus matures.."

"...This is what the result is."

The two girls stood in the door way with wide eyes, their bodies frozen down. Infront of them, were phantoms- No, not phantoms. Infected people.. They were.. Skinny. Their bones were visible, and they all had that disturbing smile and mouth the phantoms had, not to mention their eyes.. The brunettes breath hitched in her throath as she took a step back, but was pushed back forward by the guard behind them.

Walking more and more into the room, those big, wild eyes bore into the two girls. The infected people had walked up to the glass as they watched the newcomers. It was silent after that. The two girls just standing in one place as they watched the.. monster. Alex had caught up onto what the patients were doing.. more like, looking at, as they whipped their head around.

". . ."

'Are they...'

'...All looking at them?'



Alex watched the two girls and sweatdropped. Ashlyn was looking straight at one of the infected people, wearing the same wide smile, and those big eyes. Eyes switching to the younger girl, Alex could only see her smile. Her head hung low as her hair covered her eyes.

"...Kids?"

"...This is the fungus?"



The strange sight vanished.

SWEAT.

WHAM.

The sick woman kept hitting the glass, and keeping her eye on the two girls who backed away. Ashlyn stood infront of her sister, as Rylee peeked out from over her shoulder.

'...This is what's supposed to happen to us...?'

". . ."

"This is weird.. Alright, I think that's enough for today. You really should get some rest and let things settle in."

OPEN.

"Bye Ash.." Rylee hugged her sister in the doorway of her room, and Ashlyn wrapped her in a tight hug. With her mouth near her ear, she whispered. "..I'll come get you.." Nodding, the brunette let her go, and waved as she saw the redhead dissapear, and the door closed.

SHUT.