AN: I didn't really expect to get reviews for this story so quickly! Since people seem to like it, I decided to get the next chapter up as quick as possible! Oh and thank you everyone for the reviews! I know I'm not suppose to worry about them but they really are the reason I keep writing my fics. They inspire me to continue on with my stories! Oh and Rockubyebaby, I did get Sol's line in the last chapter, the one about that guy climbing in people's window and snatching them up, from that guy on You Tube. I can't remember his name… Oh well, here is the next chapter!

Chapter II: Vassalation

Mother lunged over my forearm with a desperate fever, seeking to end my life with a crushing bite to the jugular. How could this have happened? Why did it happen? What happened to my mother? What the hell is wrong with my mom!

I kept screaming along with Courtney as I scrambled to push her off of me, but she lunged forward again. Her fingers were now ripping into the shirt underneath my jacket, her pungent odor threatening to overtake my senses. I was kind of joking before, but I was right…

She smelled like a decomposing corpse. She smelled like death. She had the look of a pale, freshly made corpse. These thoughts shot through my brain in a mere microsecond, it's clarity heighten by adrenaline and fear. Fear is a primal feeling, it drives us to act out on our most primal of instincts.

And that's what I did, I let my instincts take control. I stopped trying to push mother away, stopped trying to get away from jaws I couldn't escape, and went on the offensive. I stopped my screaming abruptly and let my mind go blank, I forced myself to feel nothing. I couldn't let myself feel, I couldn't afford it. I swung my left hand around in a palm shot that turned my mother's head so hard, that I heard her neck bones grind. The blow would have stopped damn near anyone dead, but I could see that she was recovering quickly. Just as she snapped her head back towards me, I had hooked my right leg around her own. I pushed her with all my might while simultaneously tripping her leg from underneath her.

She tumbled to the ground in a heap while I shot off towards my cowering little sister, scooping her up in my arms, and dashing towards the stairs. I had made damn sure that I slammed the door behind me.

"Mommy, mommy, mommy…" I could hear Courtney whisper, tears still streaming down her face. Even under the sound of my sneakers pounding against the wooden steps, I could hear my mother banging on Courtney's door with her small fists.

And the door was actually effing giving way.

I quickly laid Courtney on the couch and dove a hand in my pocket, searching for my cell.

Bang, Bang, Bang!

The door wasn't going to hold for long, and at that thought I found myself wondering how my mom got so strong. Last time I checked, sick people were suppose to be sluggish and weak, not as fast as a track star and as strong as a freaken body builder!

I fished out my cell and quickly dialed 911, putting the phone to my ear and praying for some kind of official to pick up. The phone rang, and rang, and rang.

Bang, Bang, BANG!

She had to have punched a hole through the door with that last one, I prayed to God that someone would pick up.

Ring, Ring, Ring.

Bang, Bang, BANG!

There goes another piece of the door. The echoes of the phone ringing in one ear and the sound of my mother bashing the door to pieces in the other was bound to make me go crazy. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, someone picked up.

"This is the Lioness City Police Department."

"Thank God!" I cried out. "Please, bring cops and an ambulance! There's something wrong with my-"

"We are sorry but there are no officials available to take your call at this time, please remain calm and we will be with you shortly."

I couldn't believe it. It was an effing voice mailbox. What kind of effing Police Department doesn't have someone on standby at all times! A freaking voice mailbox? Seriously?

"You can't be effing serious! DAMN IT!" In my rage I threw the cell across the room. The piece of plastic skimmed over wooden floors and smacked against the wall. My eyes were narrowed into chestnut slits and my black stained lips were pulled back into a snarl. What the hell was I gonna-

"SOLANA!" Courtney cried out in a horrifying scream. I wrenched my head in her direction just in time to catch a fist to the face. My head snapped back with the force of the blow, and I was sent sprawling to the ground. The horrific creature that was once my mother stood over me, her lips curled into a permanent scowl and her eyes a dead, empty white. She threw herself on top of me, her jaws once again snapping to get a hold of my jugular. I once again shoved my forearm under her chin, preventing her from ripping out my throat. I placed my right foot on her chest and kicked off with every ounce of strength I had. As she went flying backwards, I scrambled to my feet, pulling myself up with the help of the arm chair.

By the time I was standing she was already up and running straight at me. She shot out a fist which I side stepped while simultaneously blocking at the wrist. I placed my left palm over my right fist and brought my right elbow into a smashing arch, snapping her head back. I grabbed her head with both my hands and forcefully jerked it downward while I brought my right knee upwards, smashing her face in yet again. She fell to the ground while I dashed towards Courtney, but she dug her fingers into my left leg while I was passing over her, stopping my dash abruptly. I toppled to the ground, but I scrambled to get a hold of some kind of weapon, anything to beat her back. I looked to the living room walls and spotted one of my most prized possessions.

My katana.

It was a gift from my Tang-Soo-Do Instructor when I had completed the art of the sword. I have learned a few moves from my Kung-Fu Instructor as well, but I haven't mastered the Kung-Fu sword arts yet. Mother was once again trying to scramble on top of me, her face a bloody mess and her lips curled into an animalistic snarl.

Didn't she feel that? I had to have broken her effing noise, yet she ignores the pain and continues to try to kill me. I once again kicked mother off of me and hastily pushed myself up on my feet. I yanked the katana off it's rack and unsheathed it in one fluid motion. My mother sprinted towards me in an animalistic rage, her dead eyes boring into my own that were now overflowing with tears. I forced myself to look her straight in the eye, clutching my tiger engraved katana with both hands.

"Mom," I whispered. "I'm so sorry."

In one fell swing, I decapitated her. Her head…, her effing head went flying from her mother effing shoulders. It rolled on the ground slightly, it's expression frozen in a look of undying rage. Blood spurted from her neck, covering half my face.

Courtney screamed a horrifying scream of terror as the body fell limp to the floor, and I just stood there, eyes wide in shock and horror. My hands shook spastically along with the rest of my body. I slackened the grip on my now blood stained weapon, allowing it to clatter to the ground uselessly.

I just murdered my own mother.

"Oh God."

I dropped to my hands and knees, and vomited my guts out on the effing blood stained floors. I just murdered my effing mother…

I'm no better than my father.

No, I'm worse than my father. My father had an excuse, he was infected with a pathogen that turned it's victims homicidal. I wasn't, I had a choice, I had an effing choice. I let the tears fall freely from my eyes, let my body succumb to the wracking of unbearable sobs.

'I killed her. I killed her. I killed her. I killed her. I killed her. I'm a monster, a murderer.'

I was on my hands and knees, crying my eyes out for the longest time. I just couldn't believe it, I had just murdered my mother. Solana Light…murdered of Catherine Light, her mother.

I think I was about to be sick all over again.

Ring, Ring, Ring!

I wiped the tears from my eyes and focused on the vibrating, ringing piece of plastic across the room. It took me a second to realize that, that might be the Police Department returning my call. I scrambled over to the phone, pressed accept, and pushed it to my ear.

"Hello, hello! Is anyone there?"

I could still hear Courtney sobbing in my other ear. God, she was gonna be scarred for life. Not only did she lose her father and her brother, but her mother as well. It made it worse that all the murderers were members of her family. Dear God, I hoped she'd forgive me.

"This is a national emergency." The recording began. "Victims of the Green Flu virus have turned unnaturally aggressive. They behave like a person infected with an advanced form of rabies, and will try to bite non-infected individuals in an attempt to spread the virus." So that's why she was trying to bite me. "Citizens are urged to report all unusual behavior, barricade your homes, and avoid contact with all infected individuals. Wait for official instructions listed by CEDA, then proceed to the nearest safe zone."

I clicked the phone off right then and there, and shoved it into my pocket.

"Wait my ass."

I collected my katana off the ground shakily, cleaning it with my shirt and sheathing it. I tied it to my waist with the sheath's strap and made may way towards Courtney. I expected her to scream out at me in outrage. I expected her to curse my name. I expected her to hate me with every fiber of her being for killing the only other parent she had left.

But she didn't do that. She didn't curse or scream or damn my name. She embraced me in a crushing hug, her small arms wrapped tightly around my waist.

"Sol, Sol, Sol, I…I'm so sorry."

I gave Courtney a bewildered look.

"Court, what are you sorry for? I'm the one that…"

I'm the one that killed our mother.

"Sol…I-I think this is my fault."

I stared at her with wide hazel eyes. "Courtney, what in the world are you talking about?"

Courtney looked up at me with sad, navy blue eyes. "I… Today, at school…one of the girls in my class was sick. She said it was just a cold though. She accidentally coughed on me but I didn't think anything of it. Sol…I think she had the Green Flu. Mommy got sick because of me, it's all my fault!"

I hugged Courtney close and hushed her. I rubbed the side of her face gently and showered her with kisses. That always seemed to calm her down. But there was one thing that was bothering me. If Courtney was coughed on by a girl who was infected with the Green Flu, how come Courtney didn't turn homicidally insane? Maybe there are people who are immune to the virus, like by how some miracle I'm immune to the common flu. Whenever my sister was sick in bed with the flu, no matter how many times she coughed on me I never contracted the virus. Even when I kissed her on the cheek good night, I never got so much as a raised temperature.

"Courtney," I whispered into her ear. "I want you to hurry upstairs and get dressed, we can't stay here. Something is happening. I want you to pack light, take only the essentials."

Courtney sniffled but nodded shakily. As she scurried up the stairs, I made my way into the kitchen and began to stack cans of food and bottles of water on the counter. I stacked enough food and water to last us about a week. Hopefully that would hold us out until we found somewhere safe and stocked up again. Ignoring my mother's headless corpse, I retreated to my own bedroom.

Which happened to be the basement. I had collected an assortment posters of bands that I like. Three Days Grace, Midnight Riders, and Egypt Central are three of my favorite bands. I grabbed my backpack and spilled it's contents over my bed.

I don't think I'll be going back to school anytime soon.

I changed out of my ripped, blood stained shirt and put on a black T-shirt with a depiction of angel wings and a skull on the front. I switched my skinny navy blue jeans for a pair of ripped ones, put on my black leather jacket and slipped into my black sneakers. I grabbed my I Pod on my way out of the door and shoved it into my pocket. When I reached the kitchen, Courtney was already there, packed and ready. She was wearing a pink shirt with a depiction of a cat on the front, navy blue jeans and white sneakers. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail and she had her backpack, which was probably loaded with clothes and such, slung over her shoulder.

I quickly loaded my bag with the food stuffs and grabbed Courtney's hand gently.

We left that house. A house that will forever be a symbol of our pain and misery. We left our mother's corpse there to rot. There was no time to give her a proper burial.

Besides, our survival would be more important to her than a burial of a body that was no longer hers anymore. Whatever that thing back there was, zombie, vampire, whatever it was, it wasn't my mother. My mom was a caring, heartfelt person. She was annoying and whiny but she was loving and generous. That thing wasn't my mother, it was the effing virus taking hold of her mind and hijacking her body. It was the virus using her body as a means to an end, using her to spread it's corruption.

That virus killed my mother and took hold of her body. Nothing more, and nothing less.

Just as we walked out the front door, the whirling blades of a helicopter met our ears. I'd never thought I'd be so happy to see a police vehicle. The helicopter shined it's light all around the area, the pilot bellowing from the speaker:

"Proceed to the Golden Lioness Park for evacuation! I repeat, proceed to the Golden Lioness Park for evacuation!"

Courtney latched herself to my leg and whimpered. "Sis, t-that's w-where the m-monster lives…"

I sighed tiredly and put an arm around her. "Don't worry, Court, I won't let the monster get you, I promise. Now, get in the car, we're driving ourselves out of here." I dug into my pocket and produced a set of car keys, grinning from ear to ear as I did so.

Courtney gave me a bewildered look. "You know how to drive?" She asked softly.

"Of course I do!" I said proudly.

Courtney just gave me a blank stare. I sighed dejectedly.

"Well…I got my driver's permit… That's close enough! We're in a crisis!"

Courtney nodded. "Agreed."

Courtney jumped in the backseat and buckled her seatbelt while I jumped in the drivers seat, throwing my katana in the passenger side. I buckled myself in, and started the car. I backed out of the driveway and took off towards the Golden Lioness Park.

I glanced at Courtney through the mirror. "There might be a traffic jam when we get close to the Park Courtney, so be ready incase we have to start hoofing it."

Courtney nodded her head, and I continued to drive in silence. I was really on edge. There were no people around, the streets were dead silent. I was expecting a bunch of effing people trying to escape the city….

This was weird.

My eyes locked onto the sight of a crowd of people just a couple of blocks up. I could hear their yells and screams and howls. They seemed to be…surrounding…someone? Suddenly, a figure broke away from the group. It was a man, struggling to push off…some little thing that had latched itself onto his back. It was pulling at his arms, forcing him to go in which ever direction it pleased. The crowd was beating at the man as the little thing…rode him.

I blinked once, blinked twice, blinked trice.

"What the effing shit is-"

My voice died in my throat when the wicked little thing forced the man right in front of my car, jumping to safety as I splattered the man all over the pavement. Blood splashed against the window, causing Courtney to scream. My eyes were wide as I continued to drive on, the wicked little thing's maniacal laughter forever burning itself into my brain.

"What the effing shit was that…"

AN: Another infected encountered! Well…it was more of a cameo appearance. The next chapter takes us to the Golden Lioness Park, where Solana will encounter Bachelor Number 1!