Just One Bite

by: LunarEclipse360

Disclaimer: I don't own

A/N: okay so my beta is busy getting settled into university life so I will be without a beta for a while and I apologize for any mistakes made. I wrote this when I should have been doing my homework and now I kind of regret it cause I have to do it all before tomorrow.

Chapter 8

She didn't understand it; didn't understand him. An hour ago, he was at her side. An hour ago, he cared. What changed between then and now? Kelly. That's what changed. He went to save her and now…now he didn't give Gabriella a second thought. Kelly had put a rift between her and Troy. She took up all his attention, leaving none for his best friend who was still shaken up about everything that had happened between the day before and half an hour ago.

Walking feet behind the group, Gabriella held herself, her own safety net if she felt the need to break down. She didn't want to cry, she really didn't, but the fact that her best friend was ignoring her broke her heart. Biting her lip, she closed her eyes and fought back her urge to cry.

"Gabriella?" She opened her eyes and looked at her other best friend. "You alright?"

She nodded. "Yeah," she lied.

Taylor knew she was lying. It was hard not to when her anguish was written all over her face. Wanting to comfort her, Taylor wrapped her arms around the brunette and held her tightly.

"It's okay, Gabriella," she whispered. "He's an asshole anyway."

She laughed bitterly. "You and I both know that's not true."

"It is true. You needed him and he totally blew you off."

"That's because he has Kelly to worry about."

"That's bullshit. Kelly looks perfectly fine to me. You…you just shot someone and he doesn't even give a damn that you're in shock."

"I'm not anymore."

"Yeah, but you're still hurting."

"How do we know Kelly's not hurting? How do we know she's better at hiding it than I am? We don't know what those guys did to her. She probably has a better reason to hold his attention than me."

"Gabriella, they've been dating for four days. You've been best friends with him for two years. I think you should come first before her."

"Taylor!" She was done with the conversation. "Just stop. Okay? I don't deserve his attention, so it doesn't matter."

"But…"

"Just drop it…please."

Nodding, Taylor stopped talking about it. She wanted Gabriella to see that she needed Troy's attention more than the blonde, but her best friend refused to believe that.

Arriving at the staircase, Troy turned to the group. "Okay, we have no idea what's waiting for us up there, so stick close and keep your guard up."

Everyone nodded before climbing the stairs to the second floor. Gabriella still lagged behind the others, not really wanting to be a part of the group. She just wanted to disappear.

"Chad, what are we gonna do about Gabriella?" Taylor asked.

He shrugged. "Only Troy knows what to do."

"But he doesn't give a damn about her."

"That's not true. He does care about her."

"So why hasn't he once given her the time of day since he got Kelly back?"

"I don't know. I'm not a mind reader. I don't know what's going through his head."

Taylor glanced behind her. "I'm worried about her."

"We all are."

"Then why can't we do something about it?"

"There's nothing we can do. We just have to let her get through this alone."

"You don't understand, Chad, her Mother was ripped apart by people who became infected…and she witnessed it all. Troy saved her from the same fate. He's the only one who can help her heal."

"So you mean her mood goes deeper than just shooting someone?" Taylor nodded. "Shit. Why did he have to turn into such a jackass?"

"He's your best friend. You should know."

Chad shook his head before looking behind them. His eyes widened and he stopped walking. "Where…?"

"What's wrong?" She turned around and noticed what Chad had noticed. "Oh no."

"Troy, we got a problem."

The three walking ahead of them stopped and turned around.

"What kind of problem?"

Chad turned to his best friend. "Gabriella's gone."

-

-

She knew it was wrong of her to stray from the rest, but she couldn't take it anymore. She needed to be alone. She decided to go find Kelsi on her own, that way they could get out of the building faster. Of course, she hadn't fully been thinking when she made the decision since she forgot that she had nothing to defend herself. She had been so focused on getting away from her heartache, that she ignored her reason.

Making her way to the music room, Gabriella looked out for any signs of guards walking around. She hoped that none would appear. Her lack of self-defense made her vulnerable to anything and anyone.

Peering into the music room, she looked for signs of hostages or guards. Seeing neither, she opened the door and walked in. She gasped and nearly threw up when she saw the bodies scattered around the room. How had she not seen this?

"Gabriella?"

Her head swiveled and she watched as Kelsi moved from her safe spot in the corner.

"Kels? Kels, what happened?"

"I-I don't know. One minute the guards were protecting us, the next…everyone was dead. I hid in the corner to avoid being food."

"Food for what?"

"One of those creatures." She nodded over towards a body and Gabriella noticed that it was different from the others. It looked like it had already been decaying when it died.

Her heart clenched and memories of the day before flooded her mind. "We have to get out of here."

"What exactly is going on?"

"These guards aren't here to protect anyone. They're here to make sure that their test subjects don't escape."

"Test subjects?"

Gabriella nodded. "They're injecting the virus into people."

"Maybe that's what happened to Carson," Kelsi whispered.

"Do you mean…?"

She nodded. "That was Carson Edwards. One minute he was fine and then he just started screaming like he was in pain. The guards came over to see what was wrong and he attacked them. Everyone was scared. They didn't know what to do. I hid in the corner behind the gong and I watched as he killed each and every one of them." She let out a strangled sob.

"Who…who killed him?"

"Another guard came in and shot him before he could attack him. He didn't see me, so he left moments later."

"Why didn't you leave?"

"I was scared."

Gabriella walked over to her friend and wrapped her arms around her. They were in the same boat. They had both seen these creatures in action; feeding on the flesh of the living.

"We should get out of here." Kelsi nodded and followed Gabriella out the door.

"Are you here by yourself?"

"No. The others are looking for Zeke and Ryan."

"So you…you came to find me by yourself?" Gabriella nodded. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I thought I'd be more useful if I went to find you, that way we could get out of this place faster."

"Oh."

As they walked into the hallway, the sound of a radio caught their attention. Quietly, they walked back towards the room and stayed in the shadows.

"Are you sure she came this way?"

"Where else would she have gone?"

Hearing the familiar voices, they stepped out of the shadows and made their presence known.

"Gabi," Taylor squealed before enveloping her best friend in a bone crushing hug. "I'm so glad you're alright."

"I'm not going to be if you don't let go."

"Sorry." She released her. "Why did you go off like that?"

"I wanted to find Kelsi."

"Gabriella, we know that's not the real reason," Chad said.

She looked down. "I didn't want to be around them anymore."

"Them?" Kelsi asked.

"Troy and Kelly," Taylor answered.

"Oh." She looked at the brunette beside her and frowned. Everyone except Troy knew Gabriella's feelings for him.

"We should get back to the others."

For the first time, Gabriella realized that it was only Taylor and Chad standing in front of her.

"He didn't…"

Taylor shook her head, sadly, and Gabriella could feel her heart breaking even more. He didn't care enough to come look for her himself. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and pushed back her tears. Fine. If he didn't care about her, then she wouldn't care about him.

"Let's go before someone finds us."

"You gonna be okay?" Chad asked.

Gabriella nodded and they started down the hallway back towards the staircase.