Meet Me at Midnight | Tyler x Reader | School Bus Graveyard

| Ep 15 |

Without hesitation, Aiden pulls the trigger and releases a mist of disinfectant particles. The creature squirms, reaching up to its face and clawing at itself. I gasp as it leans its head up in agony and Aiden takes a step back, watching it curiously.

He laughs quietly, "Why isn't it screaming?"

I tilt my head, still in Ben's hold, "Huh...Do you think it's mute-"

"Aiden, come on!!" Ashlyn shouts with her hands cupped over her ears. I give her a puzzle look, wondering why she's reacting like that. Am I deaf or something?

When Aiden turns back around to face the creature, Ben's hands drop from my sides, now worried for his cousin. Aiden chuckles, the adrenaline really getting to him now,

"I think we can take 'em! There are more bottles-" He starts before being pulled back by Ashlyn.

"No!"

We all make a run for it, Ben and Aiden lingering behind to let us get a head start. I spot Tyler and Logan lingering under the doorway of the boys' room. The brunette's eyes widen at the sight of me, taking a step out to reach a hand to me. I dash for the door, stumbling into Tyler's arms unexpectedly.

He pulls me aside to let the others through and Ashlyn quickly shuts and locks the door behind us, bending down to catch her breath. I pant is short and shaky breaths, running my hands through my hair. Tyler spins me around in his hold, his arms wrapped around my forearms. I watch his eyes flicker over me before landing on my face,

"Holy shit, Y/N." He breathes out shakily. I don't give him any sort of reaction and instead push his hands off. I wasn't in the mood for more of his criticism and whining right now.

"Don't want to hear it." I walk over to the other side of the room next to Aiden. Tyler's face falls as I put distance in between us before returning back to his nonchalant expression. I then jump up at the sounds of banging coming from outside the door.

"We should...put the couch up against the door." Ashlyn suggests breathlessly. I nod and pull Aiden by the sleeve of his shirt. The both of us stand at each end of the couch and lift it together, bringing it over to the door. We shove it up as close as possible and I give him a quick fist bump.

We both take a seat on the floor, just like everyone else had done. I contemplated on joining Tay and Ty, but was afraid me being near him would stir up another outburst. I plop down beside Logan, who gives me a half-assed smile before bringing his knees up to his chest.

Aiden walks over to Ben and sits right beside him. We all fall silent, the only sounds being heard were our heavy breathing. I copy Logan's movements and bring my knees up to my chest, lowering my head down.

"Hehe..." I hear Aiden chuckle from across the room. I don't bother to lift my head up though, already used to his inability to read a room.

"Why are you laughing this time?" I hear Tyler's voice a little away from me.

"It's like we're in a zombie movie." Aiden laughs at his own comparison. I can't help but crack a smile at his unseriousness, happy my face was buried and no one could see. It was a lot like that, huh? If that's the case, I hope this one has a happy ending.

"And that's supposed to be funny?" Tyler's voice grows tense. I can already picture the exact expression he was likely making right now.

I lift my head up to say, "Yeah." Aiden responding with the same word too.

Tyler glares at me in disbelief, "I understand when it comes out of that maniac's mouth...but you, Y/N? Seriously?"

I look at him with heavy-lidded eyes, my arms still draped over my knees, "Yeah, seriously. It's a little funny, don't you think?"

I'm not laughing, though.

Tyler leans forward, his eyes never leaving mine, "What the hell is wrong with you! Of all people, I thought you'd be the most reasonable."

I scoff and lower my knees into a crisscross applesauce position, "This is as reasonable as I'm going to get, okay? This is me being realistic."

"Realistic?! For fuck's sake, Y/N- Laughing at a life-or-death situation is not realistic, it's psychotic! You and that airhead are both insane!"

"Ty!" Taylor scolds, but by the way she glanced at me, she wasn't entirely opposed to what her brother was saying. The way they were perceiving me right now made my chest hurt a bit.

I click my tongue and roll my eyes, looking away to stare at a wall instead, "I guess I am."

The room falls silent, everyone too awkward to comment on our little fight. Aiden then hums, eying Ashlyn curiously, "Your arm is scratched up? I thought I got you out of the way in time."

He was referring to the incident with the cleaning supply cart out in the hall. Aiden did pull her out in time, so obviously that wasn't how she got it.

I glance down at her arm, watching the blood drip down the side of it. Taylor and I had already pointed out earlier tonight, but this might have been the first time everyone else noticed.

Ashlyn raises it up to inspect it and responds, "...You did. I think this happened at the Sorrel Weed House."

I quirk my eyebrows in confusion, "Huh? Since then? No, that doesn't make sense, Ashlyn. We would have noticed it-"

"You mean you knew it was real and didn't think to mention it to any of us?!" Tyler cuts me off, abruptly standing up from the floor. I've already had it with this boy.

Ashlyn's face is full of frustration, making me think that Tyler might be onto something. But, she wouldn't lie about something like this, right?

"I didn't tell anyone because I didn't think it was real. And right now isn't exactly a good time to talk about it. We should be coming up with a plan or-"

"And why should we listen to anything you say?" He butts in once again, "This is all probably your fault in the first place."

I stand up too, not believing the words coming out of my best friend's mouth, "Come on! This isn't her fault-"

"Alright, fine." Ashlyn calmly says, standing up as well, "I get where you're coming from. Maybe I should have said something. And if blaming me helps you deal with the situation better, so be it."

My eyes widen when she grabs a fistful of his shirt, yanking him forward. Tyler shouts in protest but she continues, ignoring him,

"But if you aren't going to make yourself useful...Make yourself scarce. Playing the blame game and figuring out what's going on can come after we are safe enough to talk it out. The facts are those creatures can kill us at any moment."

I watch as her eyes never leave his, letting every single work sink into his arrogant head.

"Instead of arguing, our time is better spent coming up with a plan. So unless you are going to help me do that," She lets go of his arm, making him stumble back a bit, "Keep your trap shut and don't cause trouble."

My mouth falls open slightly once she wraps up her miniature lecture. Tyler stares at her dumbfounded and at a loss for words. If things weren't so tense between him and I, I would've made a snarky comment about him getting in trouble. But I keep my trap shut as well, not wanting Ashlyn to yell at me too.

Aiden lets out a low whistle, astonished by the scene that unfolded in the middle of the room, "Well that was unexpected."

Ashlyn spins around and stares down at the boy on the floor, "And you need to stop taking this so lightly!"

He raises his hands in defense, not meaning to push any of her buttons, "Aye, aye!"

She lets out a deep breath before turning to the rest of us, who were still in awe of her confrontation,

"We need weapons and materials. So let's gather up everything in the motel room and sort through what we can use."

I nod and everyone stands up, beginning to search the rooms for anything we could use.

Damn, this really was starting to feel like azombie movie. Hehe...I hope that Buzzfeed quiz I took last week wasn't accurate. Icannot be the first to die in a zombie apocalypse movie. How embarrassing...