Alright, alright, I'm back. This chapter is pretty short, sorry about that, but it functions for its' purpose.

(:

Anyways, hope you guys enjoy this. Sorry about the wait for this one, guys.

Aaaaaand that's all I got.

Enjoy!

Wide Awake

Chapter Seven

January 16, 2013

"I've honestly never seen him that pissed before." Valerie growled, swinging violently at a low-hanging branch as she stomped back toward the house. Danny did not respond, choosing to keep his eyes on the ground and his thoughts on Sam. "I mean, seriously, I thought he was gonna try to hit me for a minute."

"Hm." Danny grunted. She put a lot of emphasis on Seth.

"I don't have a drinking problem." Valerie tossed over her shoulder off-handedly. Danny glanced up at her, chewing the inside of his cheek. "I mean I drink every now and then, but...I don't have a problem." She said it more to herself than to him.

Again, he chose to remain silent. Did she recognize me? It kind of seemed like she recognized me...

But then why wouldn't she say anything?

"I'm sorry...about all of that..." Valerie murmured. She had slowed considerably, her head down. Danny slowed as well, eyeing Valerie's back curiously. "I thought they could handle it if...y'know...if I just told them who you are they would be able to handle it. I didn't think they were gonna respond that badly...I didn't even consider them not believing it. I'm sorry if I overstepped, I just did the first thing I thought of...I'm not even sure where the name Seth came from -"

"It's okay, Val," Danny said soothingly. Her relief was obvious in her face. "It's fine. I would have done the same thing. I even kind of like the name Seth. It's fine. But, um...do you think they'll ever come around to the idea that I'm me?"

"Um..." She paused at the edge of the forest, pursing her lips and gazing up at the branches. "Maybe. I don't really know, honestly."

He nodded, trying to swallow the sudden swell of disappointment washing through his heart. "But probably," Valerie said, her eyes shining in pity. "They'll...they'll come around eventually..."

"You don't have to lie to make me feel better," Danny muttered, staring at his feet.

Her face creased in a frown, but she dropped it. "Let's head back to the house, I can answer more of your questions there. Sound good?"

He nodded, still chewing the inside of his cheek. Valerie turned and continued leading him through the woods.

She held her bedroom doors open for him when they were back in the house, closing and locking them once they were both inside. Danny perched on the edge of her bed, watching her pull the tape out of her VCR and tucking it carefully into its sleeve. She tucked it into the drawer below the television before straightening. "Okay. Any question. Go."

He was quiet for a moment, desperately trying to decide which question to ask first. "Who was that guy in the city? Lance or whatev-"

"Lars." Valerie corrected.

"Fine. Lars. Who was he?"

"He used to run with us. He worked at the mechanics shop my dad used back in Amity. He was always a little creepy, but my dad always said that I was just overreacting to it. That he was just being polite, or whatever.

"Well, back when the outbreak was first starting, Lars started talking about running away with me. Like, seriously talking about it. He said that he could just steal an SUV one night and we could run away, drive all the way to Mexico, where he thought the disease hadn't reached. He tried one night, but he got caught. It was ridiculous. But the day of the outbreak, that afternoon, he said he was gonna find me. And that night, he did. After we...um...after we found your house, he showed up. Literally right after. We hadn't even started to head back to the bunker we were hiding in. Sam was...um...anyways-"

"Sam was what?" Danny breathed.

Valerie gave him an expressionless glance. "She was still on the ground. She collapsed when she realized...and Tucker was still trying to get her to stand when Lars came over. It was like I was invisible, the moment he saw Sam he was all over her."

Jealousy exploded in his chest. "Normally, she would have punched him in the groin and walked away. But she was devastated by the news. So she just...she let him pick her up and carry her back to the bunker. On my hover board. It was weird.

"Tucker started getting really pissed off with him, because he wouldn't leave Sam alone. At first, it just seemed like he was trying to comfort her, which we were fine with, but then even Sam was getting irritated with him. By then, we were already here on the ranch. Lars kept acting really inappropriately toward her, and it kept escalating, until finally one night it just blew up in all of our faces.

"Lars snuck into Tucker and Sam's room in the middle of the night and tried to have sex with Sam. And by have sex with I mean rape. Tucker woke up and started beating the shit out of Lars, which woke Sam up. As soon as she realized what was happening she started beating the shit out of Lars, too. I had to go in and break it up. We had a hearing, the entire group was there, and it was a unanimous vote to kick him out. We thought for sure he would be killed in less than a day. But, as you saw out there, that didn't exactly work." She brought her hand up to her face and pinched the bridge of her nose. "We have no idea how he's still alive. I mean, he should be dead by now. It just...it doesn't make sense."

"I could go kill him right now." Danny growled, feeling the familiar swell of aggravated ghostly energy expanding in his chest, spurring him into action. "I could beat his sorry ass and leave him for the damn zombies."

"That would accomplish nothing at this point. He's off our land. He's not our problem anymore." Valerie said firmly. "Besides, do you really want to waste time beating the hell out of him when you could be asking more questions?"

"Who was he talking about when he said 'tell midnight I'm waiting for her?'"

"Who do you think?"

"Well you called me midnight back in the city, I didn't -"

"It's because of your hair. It's our nickname for people with dark hair. I don't remember everyone's names, so I have general nicknames for people. Midnight is dark hair. You and Sam have black hair."

"Where did that name even come from?"

"I don't know! Where do words in general come from? They just happen. Next question."

Danny sighed, trying to ignore her aggravated glare. "Did...is there...I mean, um...is Sam...like...is she involved with...anyone?"

"Um...no. Not that I know of."

"Has she been since that night?"

"No."

A small sense of relief nearly drowned in the suffocating anger and jealousy he felt toward Lars. He stared down at his knees and nodded, breathing deeply in a vain attempt to calm himself down. "Good," He murmured.

"Did you have any other questions?" Valerie asked gently.

"Where do I sleep tonight?"

"I'll set up a cot outside with the rest of the group. Is that okay?"

After a split second hesitation, he nodded.

The cots were set up in rows just a few feet to the left of the house. His cot was at the very end of the last row, closest to the house. His neighbor to his right seemed to be completely absorbed in the girl on the cot on his other side, so Danny was left to stare up at the stars and to try and ignore the quiet murmurs.

After several hours of insomnia, Danny officially gave up on sleeping. He swung his legs over the side of the cot and stretched his back, before yawning and standing. He glanced over his shoulder at the rows of sleeping figures. He sighed and trudged away. The ground was uneven beneath his feet, causing him to trip and stumble several times in the darkness. Finally he flashed to Phantom and just floated.

He drifted to the other side of the house, nibbling on his lower lip and gazing up at the single tree planted near the house. He squinted up at the branches.

It was an apple tree.

Without thinking much about it, he floated up to the upper branches and plucked an apple from the branch. He drifted away from the tree, about three feet off the ground, and bit into the apple. Exhaustion was starting to set in, his muscles loosening and stretching and rippling beneath his skin. His eyelids felt heavy, and a yawn made his jaw muscles itch and tingle.

But just as he was about to drop the apple and drift back toward the cots, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. The unmistakable feeling of being watched suddenly wiped all else from his mind. He glanced to his right, peering cautiously around, trying to pinpoint the eyes watching him from the shadows. His breathing slowly evened out as the feeling suddenly vanished.

He took one last bite of the apple, dropped it to the ground, and drifted back toward the cots.

Thanks for reading!

- Tori