A month after my school was attacked, I killed my first infected. My family was lucky, we lived in a small town out of reach from the infected which swarmed the cities. But thing's were still bad. All the shops had been long deserted and raided, supply's were acquired mostly through trading, although stealing was at an all time high. The government wasn't doing much to help the situation; word on the street was they were hiding in some specially built to protect them and the 'important people' until the infection ended. But I didn't like to just go on rumors. Secretly I hoped it wasn't true. I wanted to believe that in fact the people that were supposed to be caring for our country were working day and night searching for a solution, searching for a way to save us from the hell that our home had become. The streets were deserted and power was minimal, water fluctuated and the rumors of the infection being water borne prevented many people from drinking it straight from a tap. I was walking to a trading zone, an old warehouse where people traded every saturday.
It was then my phone rang. Phone usage was limited so we'd decided phone calls were for emergencies only. It was my younger sister Harriet who was ringing me, I stared at the screen for a moment begging for the best, hoping that mum had changed her mind and didn't want the tinned beans. In the end I answered still hoping for the best.
"Harry?" I asked cautiously stopping in the middle of the road, there was silence for a moment before Harry's voice came through the speaker. She was drunk, I didn't know how she got the alcohol but some how she managed it and since the infection had ravaged our school she hadn't been sober.
"J-j-john, Its mum..." Harry sobbed down the other end of the phone, her words slurring though the alcohol and tears. My heart skipped a beat, jumping to my throat.
"Harry, what is it... Whats happened to mum?" I asked, fearing the worst but hoping for the best. I begged that she was alright, that she'd just cut her self and Harry was making a big deal about it. But I knew that deep down the chances of that happening were minimal
"She's gone John" Harry stammered "...s-s-she's turned"
"Where is she Harry? Stay away from her, alright? I'm coming back!" I almost shouted down the phone as I turned back towards my house and sprinted along the deserted road keeping the phone pressed up against my ear increasing the volume so I could hear Harry as I ran.
"She's..." Harry sobbed "S-s-she's out the front... she went out f-f-f-for... I've locked the doors but d-d-dad..."
"What's happened to dad Harry?" I said panting as I continued to run down the cracking tarmac, the sound of my feet drumming through my ears. Not my father as well, he was a bastard but I wouldn't have the infection put on anyone, even my worse enemy. I couldn't lose them, how could I look after my little sister on my own? All this time I'd wanted to grow up, begged for more responsibility. I'd pored over my studies, I'd wanted to become a doctor. I'd filled my room with medical books and journals learning as much as I could so I could protect my small world as best as I could. I'd trained, taken night classes at my old school. Learning how best to defend myself against the infected. But now the responsibility was being thrust on my I was terrified. Realizing the phone had gone silent I asked again
"Harry, whats happened to dad?"
"He, he wants to go out to get her" Harry mumbled, from the other end of the
"Don't let him Harry, we've got to stick together yeah?" I said, trying to remain calm. I hoped Harry was in contact with her rational mind enough to realize that, I looked down at my watch. 11.30, surly she couldn't have drunk too much this morning. But knowing Harry...
"He's getting angry John" Harry sound scared, genuinely scared. I ran faster, I was close 2 blocks away. I could hear my father shouting from the other end of the phone, I had to be there for Harry. I had to protect my little sister. Like I always did, I couldn't leaver her in the clutches of our Father 'Faster John, You've got to run faster' I screamed to myself, tears threatened to fall down my cheeks. I wouldn't let them, couldn't let them. I had to be strong for my sister.
"Its alright Harry, I'm coming"
"John..." She said quietly, the sound of shouting on the other end of the phone got louder. Harry whimpered from the other end of the phone as a loud slap burst through the speaker.
"Dad, Please" I heard Harry beg, "You've got to stay inside"
"Don't try and tell me what to do Harriet Watson!" My father bellowed at the end of the line, "She is my wife, she'll be fine"
"There isn't anything you can do now Dad" Harry screamed, the anger and sadness erupted from her mouth. Some how, through her drunken mind she managed to string the words together while our Mother was outside consumed by the infection, I don't know how she did it but some how she managed through all the tears and the alcohol "The hospitals can't do anything, the army can't do anything, no one can do anything!" she continued.
I heard the sound of a door slamming from the other side.
"Harry?" I shouted down the phone. I was so close, just down the road. 'Just a litter further John' I thought urging myself onwards. My legs ached, my heart screamed and my lungs burned, begging for air "Harry!" I shouted again
"He's... he's gone John. He's gone outside after her"
"Shut the door Harry, I'm coming"
"I can't John. Mum, Dad..."
"Shut the door!" I screamed, "There is nothing we can do" I wished I was closer, then I rounded the corner at my house came in to view, I could see the bright blue door sticking out against the others in the street. Harry and I had painted it a few years back as a joke, we wanted to be different. I smiled remembering a better time, but it was then I saw my parents. My mother crouched over a body, her eyes glazed over like the countless others that had been infected along with her. I realized then the body was that of my father, his arms still wrapped around my mother.
"Mum..." I croaked, stopping in the middle of the road "...Dad"
My dad shivered back in to life, no... back in to existence. All traces of live had been wiped from him, he was left a piece of infected meat. Nothing more, they were no longer my parents, all signs of the life they had lead was gone. They were merely hosts for the evil that made a home inside of them. My eyes stung with tears as a took a hand gun from my bag and aim at them my hands shook and my vision was blurred. Taking a deep breath in I pulled the trigger, missing the first time but shooting again and again until I heard the connection with their skull's. I blinked, wiping away the tears to see my parents on the floor, dead. All signs of life drained from them. There was nothing more I could do for them. I walked to my front door, knocking and calling my sisters name. The tears streamed down my face, she opened the door and we collapsed into each others arms. Falling softly on to the floor where we sat for a while crying before I said.
"We have to burn them"
"I c-c-can't" Harry stammered, the tears bubbled over her eyes.
"We have to... we can't risk the infection getting them again"
"It doesn't effect you if you're brain isn't functional"
"It might mutate"
"John..." Harry looked at me but I couldn't bring my self to look at her,
"It's alright Harry, got get me the petrol from under the sink" I said, finally forcing myself to look at my little sister "Then you don't have to be there if you don't want"
She nodded, getting up and stumbling back in to the house. I walked back towards my parents bodies, opening my rucksack pulling out a face mask and latex gloves. Putting them on before moving the body's closer together. I knew deep down that I had to do this, I couldn't risk two more infected adding to the list. Harry staggered out of the house, the bottle of petrol shaking in her hands. Her face was stained with tears which ran down her cheeks, her brown hair was a mess and she dragged her feet behind her as if they were tided together with chains. I took the bottle from her shaking hands emptying it over my parent's body before taking Harry's hand, stepping back. Taking the box of matches out of my pocket I lit one watching it burn for a second before flicking it on to the bodys and watching them catch alight with a soft woosh. The flames licked over the bodies, casting a orange glow in the darkening streets while the thick black smoke rose in to the air, curling in to the grey sky.