"What happened to my daddy" Penny looks up at me with glassed over eyes.
I wipe Brian's blood from my face with the inside of the neck if my t-shirt and kneel down to her level with a soft but confused look on my face.
"What do you mean, honey, I'm right here…"
Her eyes narrow at my words and her tiny fragile brow furrows.
"You're uncle Brian… where's my daddy?"
"Oh, Penny…" I take her small face into my hands. "Uncle Brian was bit, I had to do what was right." I watch as her tear filled eyes shift back and forth between mine. "You must be so scared. Sometimes fear makes your mind play tricks on you" I take her in my arms, holding her tight for a moment before putting her at arms length and speaking softly but stern in manner.
"Its not safe here anymore. We have to go. I need you to stay close and quiet. I promise I will find you someplace safe."
She gives a small nod, confusion still littering her face and she grabs ahold of my hand as I stand back up.
The field looks clear enough for the moment so we start making our way across.

Days later, Penny has finally stopped questioning me, but I can see the fatigue, the blazing Georgia summer and the lack of proper nutrition starting to wear on her small frame. I have to find someplace safe to let her rest while I find supplies. In her weakened state, she would just prove a hindrance to what I need to accomplish.
With Penny hoisted on my back I trudge forward, pushing through my own fatigue and dehydration. When I finally see it, I actually laughed, thinking my mind was playing tricks on me. A small neighborhood with an iron gate and a sign etched professionally on the iron plate.
"WOODBURY" The sign read and I as well read aloud.
I scan the inside area, no movement. The gate howls as I crack it open and creep inside, setting Penny down, motioning to her silently with a single finger over my lips.
Silently, I creep through the neighborhood, Penny following closely. I stop and crouch down to eye level with Penny, pointing at a structure in one of the backyards. It looks like some kind of tree house and my suspicions are proven true as we get closer. I hoist her into the tree house, telling her in a whisper to stay put until I get back.
As I enter the house attached to the yard with the tree house, the stench of death turning my empty stomach and stinging my eyes. I ready my bat, knowing one of those creatures had to be lurking somewhere dormant within those walls.
Despite the stench, the house is surprisingly in tact. The windows fully functioning and the doors as well. Why this place reaked of death is completely beyond my comprehension. Room by room I sweep the house finding nothing but a perfectly tidy house. When I open one of the back bedroom doors, the smell engulfs me. I turn my head, heaving, but have nothing to throw up. Taking my shirt by the neck, I cover my mouth and nose and walk toward a motionless lump under the blanket. I can see the blood staining the pillow that is poking out of the top and a tuft of black hair extending out passed the bloodstain, and onto what was left of the white pillowcase.
My heart jumps into my throat as I pull back the blanket, revealing the sweet innocent face of a little girl, no older than seven. A bullet hole piercing her forehead. I don't know why, but suddenly, I find myself checking the childs body for bites.
"Mother fucker!" I yell as I throw the unbitten body on the floor and proceed to storm out of the room, tapping my bat against my shoulder, determined to find who did this unspeakable act. Well, their body anyway.
Into the master bedroom I storm, resisting the urge to smash the fish tank sitting across from the bed. My head jerks toward the bathroom at the sound of growling. Readying the bat again, I step to the door, pushing it open, making sure to stand back, just in case. The growling gets louder and more violent, but nothing is coming out of the room.
Cautiously, I look around the door frame only to see the lively remains of a man, hanging from the rafters, jerking and clawing toward me. I rear my bat, taking the first of many rage filled swings at the body, all the while making my point to the unintelligible bucket of flesh that was snapping its jaws at me.
"HOW COULD YOU? YOU LOUSY EXCUSE FOR A FATHER! AFTER EVERYRHING I'VE BEEN THROUGH TO KEEP PENNY ALIVE, YOU DON'T EVEN GIVE YOUR OWN DAUGHTER THAT CHANCE!"
I don't even remember what else came out of my mouth, but soon I find myself raging through the house, into the garage where I find an axe. Tapping the handle of the axe as I head back to the bathroom, I knew I had to finish the job for him.
"Alright, mother fucker" I say to the still twitching corpse as I nring the axe up to my shoulder taking one hard swing.
His body hit the floor in a heap, his head falling shortly after, rolling to my feet. I lean down, picking up the mans head by his hair.
"I hope you're proud of yourself" I laugh in his face as I exit the bathroom and dump the head into the fish tank as I exit into the kitchen, thinking out loud…
"This will make a fine home"