Damn I'm on fire! And I'm not even finished writing today! I wanna get the next chapter up pretty soon. So long as the ideas keep coming, I'll keep writing :-)

Thank you for the reviews, they really do mean the world to me! I've replied to them all, just to gush at you wonderful people. But I would still love to know what you're all thinking! My intentions with 'Now' and 'Then' is kind of like two stories I guess.

'Now' is following the story as it's happening, and Alice as she is after everything she's been through. 'Then' is to show you how and why she got that way. Please tell me if you think it's going well! I really need to know what you think! But be aware, things do start to get gruesome and pretty dire, as you could imagine in an apocalypse. But yes, enjoy this chapter! More on the way shortly ^^


Then

"This way, hold his arms up!"

I felt my feet tangle around each other, and I had to lean on my dad to keep them going. The man around his other side was pushing us forward, and the second I took to look around had me stumbling all over again. I could feel blood on my hands but I pushed it away, holding the soaked t-shirt tighter around my dad's arm.

He was an eerie shade of grey, and I had never seen his face so slack from shock.

I followed the staff member through hallways I didn't recognise, into buildings until we finally stopped in some kind of medical bay. It looked like a normal doctor's practice except for the pictures of Minnie and Daisy in nurse's outfits on the wall.

"I'll go and get the nurse, just wait here. Have a seat."

The young staff member nodded at me even though he looked terrified out of his wits. I pushed my dad down gently onto the bed, sitting next to him and trying not to look at the t-shirt.

"Dad?" My voice was tiny in the empty room, but even so, it didn't rouse him.

I worried the inside of my mouth, biting down to keep my mind focused.

The woman had bit him. I saw it. She just… I think it had been my scream that drew the attention, but I couldn't be sure because I could hardly remember anything but seeing someone else's teeth sinking into my dad's arm. And the blood.

I sucked in a sharp breath as I felt the tightening of my chest, the sudden erratic pace of my heart dance in my chest. My body was trembling, my breathing laboured as I fought to control myself.

Somehow, it seemed to bring my dad out of whatever shock he was in, because I suddenly felt a strong hand on the top of my back and heard my name whispered gently. I glanced up, seeing my dad's brown eyes focused on me, and it did nothing to stop the panic but it was like opening a floodgate. The sob broke free and as I battled to keep myself from screaming again, my dad wound his arm around me and brought me to his chest.

He smelled just like my dad had always smelled. Like cologne, shaving cream and warmth. It brought back memories of falling asleep curled next to him when I'd forced him to watch a kid's film. Or running into his arms when he'd come home from business trips, sitting on his lap as he showed me all the presents he'd picked up from where he went. The way he'd hugged me when my first boyfriend dumped me. I felt my breathing slowly start to calm down, even though my face and his t-shirt were damp with tears.

"It's OK, it's alright," he cooed in my ear, even though I didn't quite believe him.

I pulled away and looked into his face, seeing the mess his arm was. Blood all over him, staining the t-shirt red, sticking to his hands. I knew it was on my hands as well, but I couldn't think about that yet.

"Oh my god, Michael!"

We both turned quickly to see my mother bursting through the door, her face set as she swooped onto my dad and pulled him into her arms. The hug was brief because she had noticed his arm and all the blood. Without a word, my mum pulled back the t-shirt and gasped at the mess of flesh underneath.

"What the hell happened? There was an announcement, we heard your name and someone showed us where the medical bay was," she said quickly, looking right into my dad's face. My dad opened his mouth to reply, but I somehow cut in.

"She bit him."

My mum suddenly seemed to notice me there, her face breaking from strong nurse to concerned mother and she reached out to grab me.

"Oh honey," she said softly as a fresh wave of tears came over me. I took deep breaths to calm myself down just as I saw Matthew coming through the doorway, Louise hovering by the door. She looked terrified, and I didn't blame her. There was just so much blood.

"It's alright honey, he's fine. Come on, it's okay. Here, Matt, take your sister to the bathroom and help her get cleaned up."

I could hear the tremor in my mum's voice, but she had put back on her mask of professionalism, gently cupping my cheek before turning back to my dad. I looked up, my eyes feeling puffy from the tears already just as Matt held out his hand to me.

I felt six years old again, taking his hand and letting him pull me off the bed and lead me out of the room. Louise gasped as I came closer, but her face evened out as I walked past.

Matt didn't say a word, his face set in stone as we wondered down the hallway, opening random doors until we came to a bathroom. Matt led me inside, my sobs now little sniffles. I let him move me around until we stood at the sink. He turned on the water and I made the mistake of glancing up, coming face to face with my reflection in the big mirror.

I gasped and fought for breath as that tightness gripped my throat again. The panic was like a physical fist wrapping around my lungs and squeezing so hard I felt dizzy.

There was blood smeared on my face where I must have brushed hair from my forehead whilst holding my dad's arm.

"Alice, hey," said Matt quickly, grabbing my shoulders and turning my back to the mirror.

He grabbed my face in both hands, looking right into my eyes. My breath was hard won, sucking it in as if my body couldn't get enough. He forced me to look into my eyes, counting one, two, three and breathing in and out with each count. I let his face fill my vision as I copied him, breathing in and out.

It took a few moments, but I felt my lungs relax, my airways start to clear. As he saw me slowly calming down, he took one of my hands and I felt lukewarm water rushing over my skin. He kept saying my name, keeping my eyes on his as he washed the first hand, then the second.

Then his hand came up to my face, and water sloshed over my cheek quickly followed by his palm as he washed away the blood.

By the time he was finished, I could breathe normally. Matt lowered his head and looked into my eyes.

"You okay?"

I sniffed and nodded, wiping my nose on my forearm as I let out a long breath.

"Yeah I'm okay now. Thanks."

I tried a small smile and he lifted his lips in return. I knew he wanted to ask what happened, but he seemed just as shocked as I was.

"Come on, let's see how dad is."

I nodded, stepping away from the sink and following him out of the bathroom. Matt hadn't seen one of my panic attacks in years, I had it under control now. He'd been the first to see one when I was thirteen. My friend had fallen off our swing and he had been looking after me. She broke her arm and as she was crying, I was sat there staring at her arm bending at an unnatural angle. I think his reaction to me, forcing me to focus, was mostly because he didn't want to get into trouble. He'd called my mum but he'd calmed me down by the time she got there and Katie had been taken to hospital.

Now it was surreal, having him calm me down like that. Sure, it's fine when you're kids but I was an adult now. Panic attacks were so rare. Strange that the first one I'd had all year had been here, and it had been Matt to calm me down.

I walked close to Matt as we found the treatment room again.

When I looked up, there was still no stranger in the room. Instead dad was lying back on the bed, Louise holding his good hand while mum bent over his other side. She looked so focused on what she was doing, and I saw the little bowl on dad's stomach filled with bandages and sutures.

"Mum?" asked Matt slowly, walking right up to Louise and leaning over.

"I'm not waiting for some bloody nurse while my husband is bleeding. I'm fully qualified so if they've got something to say to me then they can eat my boot."

That got a chuckle from my dad before he winced, whatever mum was doing looked like it hurt.

"The skin needs to be stitched down," she said after a few minutes of prodding. I hovered by the doorway, still unable to see that gaping hole in his arm again.

"I'm not going to the hospital," said my dad suddenly, and my mum snapped up her head. Her blue eyes focused so intensely on my dad that he visibly shrunk back into the bed.

"Okay I'll go to the hospital."

Matt let out a snort and pulled Louise close. She looked just how I felt, stricken and pale, but she was still holding my dad's hand and for that I was thankful. The girl was dippy, but she had a good heart.

"Alice I need you to hold this for me."

I started, my eyes looking over to my mum. She was watching me steadily, holding a gauze over my dad's arm. I let out a long breath and nodded, walking quickly to her side. The bed was splattered with blood, and mum's fingers were red. But if she could carry on, I could too.

I took my dad's arm and held the gauze as my mum instructed while she unravelled a roll of bandage. I helped as best I could until my dad's arm was completely bound. Finally I looked up to see my dad with his eyes closed.

I felt a burst of panic and must have made some kind of noise because his eyes flew open and landed on me. I let out a short breath and he smiled, a sheen on sweat on his face before brushing my cheek with his hand.

"Mum, come look at this."

I turned to Matt who was stood at a window, frowning as he looked out. Louise turned to him too, craning her neck to see. My mum was putting back the things she'd got out and another call from my brother had her huffing and moving to follow.

"I'm not really interested in the rides- oh."

I frowned as my mum cut herself off, looking out of the window. Patting my dad's hand I moved around the bed just as Louise got to her feet. We both moved to the window, me stepping between my brother and mother to see out. And then I could see why Matt's eyes were wide.

We were high up enough to see a lot of the park spread before us. Rides and walkways, big platforms and gazebos.

There was a crowd gathered around one stage, the people moving and rushing around in some great panic. I could hear the shouts from up here, and something was definitely happening. It was hard to see anything concrete, until a piercing screech came from the middle of the crowd.

People started to push in earnest, shoving and trying to break away. I couldn't see what was happening in the middle, there were too many bodies around one thing.

I knew we were all watching the same thing, the centre of the crowd. People seemed to bend over something, frantically grabbing and pulling.

"What do you think-"

Louise was cut short as my eyes widened.

One of the people had turned around. And his face was covered in blood.

I saw Louise's hand fly to her mouth, heard my mother's gasp, heard Matt let out a strangled noise. I couldn't take my eyes away.

The man got to his feet, covered in blood as he jumped on another person and tackled her to the ground. I heard her throaty scream even as I turned away from the window and put my back to the wall. My chest tightened as I heard my mother's shocked words.

"Oh my God."

"What the fuck is going on?" raged Matt, turning to Louise and pulling her away from the window. She was making small, horrified sounds. I kept my eyes closed, the image of the man's face burned behind my eyes.

"What's happening?"

We all looked at my dad, who was pushing himself into a sitting position. My mum didn't speak, instead rushing over to her rucksack and pulling it onto her shoulders. We were all dumbstruck even as mum put her hands on my dad's body, pulling his legs off the bed.

"We have to go, now, back to the car."

"What's going on, Jan?" he demanded, but mum just kept moving him to stand. Matt jumped forward, going to my dad's other side and helping him stand.

"Jan?"

"Michael just shut up and get up," she snapped, and I watched his eyes go wide. I don't think I'd ever heard my mum tell anyone to shut up.

We all scrambled to follow, Louise standing by my side as mum and Matt helped my dad out of the medical centre. We moved blindly down the corridor and towards a lift. I reached around my mum and pushed the button, all five of us breathing heavily as we waited for the lift to arrive. There was a small ping before the doors slid open, and Louise screamed.

"Jesus!" yelped my dad, stepping back and knocking into me. I sucked in a harsh breath as the inside of the lift blazed in front of my eyes.

The entire box was painted red.

Smeared over the walls, over the floor. Spatters and pools of it, everywhere. It was like a scene from a horror film. I felt my legs turn to stone, even as my dad unhooked his arms from around Mum and Matt.

"Get to the stairs, now," said his firm voice, grabbing mum by the arm and shoving her forward. Matt's horrified face was still staring at the lift, and I somehow managed to grasp his arm and pull him along as dad started forcing us to move.

I couldn't even panic as mum shoved through the emergency stair exit. I couldn't even think as I took two steps at a time. Dad was behind us, moving us forward.

We burst from the building into the piercing sunlight, but it didn't seem beautiful anymore. I couldn't glance around, because dad continued to bark at us, keeping us moving. I had no idea where we were going, I just followed my family as we moved as one.

"This way," said my dad, taking mum's hand and pulling her along. There was only the need to flee in my veins, I couldn't even look back to make sure Matt and Louise were still following.

The further we went, the more people we saw heading in the same direction. It became a mass of us heading towards the exits, some people panicked but most of them just confused. There were voices humming over speakers, incredibly cheery for what we'd just witnessed.

"Please stay calm, this is an emergency broadcast. Please make your way calmly to the exits."

"Alice, Matt, Louise – come here."

Dad grabbed my shoulder and pulled me close, reaching around me to grab Matt and yank him behind me. We formed a small circle of bodies as we got closer to the exits.

Only when we were nearly out did I see the figures standing at the gates.

Tall, intimidating men wearing all black, holding weapons I had only ever seen on TV. There were vans and cars and trucks outside, ambulances flashing next to riot vans. The men and women were lined all along the entrance, stopping people as they tried to get out. There was a man with a megaphone, his voice deep as he echoed the same words as the broadcast.

"Please stay calm and approach the turnstiles one at a time. We will assist you. Please stay calm and approach the turnstiles one at a time."

I swallowed thickly, looking up at my dad. His jaw was set even though I could see sweat dripping from his forehead.

We moved together to the closest turnstile. There were the same SWAT kind of people on the inside, all holding guns and ushering people quickly through the turnstiles one at a time. Mum held on to dad but he nodded at her, urging her forward as she was waved to the turnstile.

Mum looked back at us but went through, stopping at the other end and raising her hand to another police person.

He gave her a nod and she moved off, but by that time Matt had been moved forward. I pushed Louise to go next because she looked like she was about to faint. I moved to urge dad forward but he shook his head.

"Go on, bubs."

My lower lip trembled at the old endearment, but he just smiled weakly and nodded me forward. I stepped past the man and noticed his eyes watching me warily from under his mask. I frowned but pushed through the turnstile and stopped at the other end. The woman who was there stepped right into my personal space.

"Please raise your arms," she said, her voice clipped.

I opened my arms to ask why but she was already raising my arms for me. She didn't pat me down, instead just seemed to look me over. When she nodded at me and gestured towards my family, I ran into my mum's arms. We stood there watching as my dad walked slowly through the turnstile.

He got to the woman at the other end, but I noticed the shift as soon as he raised his arms.

She called out a name and other people came running forward. They were talking quickly to my dad, who's face was turning red as he demanded to know what was going on.

"Sir, if you could come this way," tried another one of the men.

"I want to know why!" shouted my dad, just as I felt mum take a step forward.

"Dad!" cried Matt, pushing past me.

I stood with wide eyes as the men jumped on my dad and wrestled him to the floor. Mum cried out and I moved forward, only to run smack into more armoured, faceless people. We were all being held back. I sucked in a breath as my family called out, fighting against the hold of these people.

"Dad!" I screamed, watching as they hauled my dad to his feet. He barely managed to throw us a glance as four men held his arms behind his back and dragged him away.