Looking back on the days before all hell broke loose, I'm sort of glad that I never wasted my time hitting the books. My parents would always tell me that I needed to prepare myself for the challenges the world had in store for me in the near future, but nothing could prepare me for the cruel turn the world would take on that day.
The gentle patter of raindrops was a peaceful distraction from the looming dread setting in my mind. Sometimes the best way to deal with a bad situation is to face it head on and put your best foot forward, but that isn't how I operate, my answer to most problems is to deal with them when I absolutely have to. This isn't something I can afford to ignore however, and as I stare at the exam schedule in my hand right now the only thing I can think about is how I'm already failing, so I might as well enjoy my time on this earth before mom and dad murder me.
My internal monologue was interrupted by an all too familiar knock on the door to my dorm room, I stood up and stretched my aching muscles before answering the door. As I expected my best friend Chloe was standing on the other side of the door soaking from the downpour outside, she was holding some snacks for the movie night we were having to celebrate my imminent demise.
I sighed as she came in, she headed straight to the bathroom while trying not to get too much of the floor wet. "How many times have I told you that your secret knock is a stupid idea." I jokingly said, I could hear her snicker as she dried herself off with my towels, "It's not like we're doing anything illegal in here, unless you've been hiding drugs in my room." I continued as Chloe walked out of the bathroom, still drying her hair.
She put a hand on her hip and looked at me with a sly grin on her face "You're talking about stupid ideas when you were the one who suggested we watch horror movies instead of, I don't know, actually studying for once?" She then motioned towards my lonely little desk on the opposite side of the bed, "That poor guy has only been used to hold dirty laundry for the whole semester! Desks are supposed to be places where creativity and learning thrive Zoey!"
I knew Chloe had a point, but either way I knew I would fail regardless of what I did, so I pushed the thought to the back of my head and changed the subject. "Well tonight we're letting George Romero's creativity thrive, I've been in the mood for a good zombie movie lately."
She sat down on the floor where I had set down some pillows to watch the film tonight, "You're the movie nerd, it's not like I'm picky about what we watch anyway." Chloe said as she pulled out her phone and started reading something that seemed to have caught her interest.
I sometimes wondered how I became friends with Chloe in particular, she had the attention span of a goldfish, and usually I liked to keep to myself while using all of my free time to watch cheesy horror films and anything else that didn't require social interaction. We first met when we were partnered together in ethics class, and the first thing Chloe had said to me was a silly joke about how our names rhymed. Chloe and Zoey, just thinking about that day made me groan at her stupid sense of humor. After that interaction I knew she would be a thorn in my side, and she is in a sense, but I wouldn't trade her friendship for anything.
I looked through the movies on my shelf and picked out an old favorite, "We haven't watched this in a while." I showed Chloe the box for a classic zombie movie with an iconic red cover.
She giggled when she looked up and saw what movie I was holding, "Last time we watched that movie all you could do was gush about how much you loved the music and kept asking whether a person could marry a film." I blushed as I remembered how much I used to talk during our movie nights, back then I was just excited that I could share my passion with someone else for once which would usually lead to me getting carried away. But Chloe would always humor me despite all of that, sometimes I wondered what I did to deserve such an endearing dork for a best friend.
Chloe then had a distant look as she gazed out of the window at the sunset through the raindrops, "You're so lucky you get this amazing view of the sunset every night." She let out a sigh as she laid back against my bed frame, "Sometimes it's nice to just appreciate peaceful moments like these."
I shook my head and looked out the window too, whenever Chloe said something deep like that I would usually retort with something sarcastic to remind her that she wasn't some wise philosopher, but today I was feeling a little nostalgic after reminiscing on old times, so I'll let her off easy just this once. She wasn't wrong anyway, looking at the colors of the sunset over Marsh Meadow always put me in a trance. As the sun finally went down I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket, I paused for a second to admire the view some more before checking my phone screen. The name 'Pops' was highlighted on the screen, my dad usually called to check in on me once a week like the overprotective parent he was, I was just hoping he wouldn't ask how I was doing academically.
"Hey Chloe, I'll be right back. I've got to take this." I said as I pointed at my phone.
She turned to me with a big smile on her face, "Okay, miss you already."
I turned while rolling my eyes at her cheeky response, I walked towards the bathroom while I answered the call. My fathers face appeared on the screen and I smiled as my mothers head popped into frame from the side of the screen like a curious meerkat. "There she is!" My father always looked relieved when I answered his calls, like he half-expected to catch me out partying.
"Yeah I'm still alive dad." I find it amusing that I have to reassure him when he's the one who nurtured my love of doing nothing but watching old films every night.
"We're just checking in on our lil girl! You know how worried your mother gets!" My dad said with a smirk on his face. I could hear Chloe laugh when he said 'lil girl' a little too loudly, I made a face at her and closed the bathroom door for privacy.
My mother rolled her eyes as she vanished off the screen, "Oh yeah, I'm the only one who worries."
My dad chuckled as he watched my mother walk towards the kitchen, "The only thing I need to worry about is her cooking." He said in a hushed voice once she was out of earshot.
"Careful dad, if mom hears that she might try to poison you." I said with a smile, "But anyway, how are things back in Pittsburgh?"
It's been difficult getting used to living at Penn State, if I hadn't met Chloe I'm sure it would have been even harder considering how isolated I had felt the first few weeks here. I'm sure it was just as hard on my parents, whenever I answer their calls I can see a weight lift off my fathers shoulders. Since he's a police officer I suppose it makes sense he'd be weary of his only daughter living so far away, I'm sure my mother constantly reassures him whenever he gets too worried, if she didn't then I'd probably be getting calls like this more often.
"Things have been pretty quiet here, I just got back from work actually." He said that as he panned the camera showing he was still wearing his uniform. "We actually heard what sounded like an explosion coming from the city, thankfully I finished my shift before that so it's someone else's problem now." My father glanced out the window next to him like he spotted something outside. "Other than that it's been pretty calm back here."
"An explosion doesn't sound calm dad, are you sure there's nothing to worry about?" I said while he looked back at the camera.
"Now look at who worries too much, we're doing fine you just focus on- '' My fathers sentence was cut short by the sound of glass shattering and my mom screaming from the kitchen. My dad's head darted to the side as he looked towards the kitchen in shock before he dropped the tablet and rushed to whatever had broken into the house.
"Dad! What's going on!" I desperately tried calling for him but after a couple of moments with no response I rushed out of the bathroom, running into a shocked looking Chloe who was about to open the bathroom door to check on me.
"Zoey are you okay? I heard you yelling, what happened?"
"There's something wrong back home, I think my parents could be in trouble"
The feeling of helplessness made me feel dizzy, I wanted to go right away but the drive to Pittsburgh was so far I doubt I'd get there in time before the police arrived on the scene, and I didn't want to think about what I would do if the worst were to happen and I wasn't there for them. No. I needed to keep my composure, dad is a cop, there's no way he'd let anything happen to mom. I need to have faith in him to fend off whoever or whatever had caused such a commotion… still… I can't deny that the scream from my mother had shaken me a bit, I'd never heard her sound like that before, remembering the terror in her voice helped me make up my mind.
"Where are you going?! Are you seriously considering driving to Pittsburgh in this weather?!"
"I have no choice Chloe, I can't just sit here knowing they could be hurt." I said as I pushed past her and reached for my car keys.
Chloe put her hand over the keys before I could snatch them, "Listen to me, I was just reading about something strange going on in the city, something that sounded... terrifying and bizarre."
"I have to do this."
That was all I said before taking the keys and heading out the door. Chloe had a worried look on her face, but based on her expression she knew she couldn't stop me at this point. She then looked to the side of the door where she had hung her jacket. "Hold on a second, Zoey you can't just head out in the rain like that." She gestured to my body, I was wearing nothing but a white T-shirt and jeans, not the most ideal outfit for stormy weather.
"I don't have time for this-"
"Just take my jacket, and call me when the situation is sorted." Chloe looked on the verge of tears, whatever she had been reading had really shaken her up quite a bit, still I didn't have time to hesitate, I took her bright red jacket and turned to her one last time before heading out.
"I promise I'll bring this back to you, thanks Chloe."
I rushed to the car covering my head from the downpour, the jacket Chloe gave me didn't have a hood but it was better than being out here with just a shirt. I wasn't surprised that she'd wear this in such heavy rainfall, Chloe's jacket was a big part of her identity even from the day I met her. I doubt she even owns another jacket, I remember asking her about this and she claimed she was like a cartoon character, wearing the same outfit every day.
Recalling this memory relaxed me a bit, no matter how stressed I would get Chloe could always pull me out of that dark place. But this time the wave of calm washed away as quickly as it came. I knew that whatever had happened at home couldn't have been good, the video from my dad cut off moments after he went to confront whatever had appeared in the kitchen. I attempted to call him back several times once I had gotten on the road but I got no response, after that I made several calls to the police, the dispatcher in my area claimed there was something going on in Pittsburgh that made the police there unavailable. Whatever Chloe had read could have something to do with that but the dispatcher wouldn't give me a clear answer on what was going on, from what they could put together it seemed like some kind of riot or terrorist attack. Either way this was going to be a very long drive.
From what I could see of the city it hadn't changed much to my relief, after what Chloe and the dispatcher had said I half expected the town to be engulfed in flames and in complete disarray. It was only a little further to get to my parents house near Westwood, after such a long drive I just wanted to know what happened so I could finally get this feeling of worry off my chest, however something definitely seemed off to me the more I paid attention to the people.
I was driving through the suburbs and although there weren't many people from what I could see I expected this due to the storm, the people that I could see were exhibiting strange behavior. I could see someone leaning over a fence gate clutching their stomach and shaking slightly, another was lying on the ground clawing at his head like the rain was burning his skin on contact. I needed to get home now.
Finally I made the last turn and could see my parents house, the second to last one on the street surrounded by trees and foliage. Thankfully at this point the storm had died down enough for me to have a clearer view of the street. As I rushed up the steps I could see glass on the floor of the front porch, I called out to my parents and it was only at this moment that I noticed how quiet it was. We weren't exactly in the city but it was so quiet I could hardly hear the wildlife or even any cars. I pushed this thought aside for now and opened the front door.
"Dad?" Hearing no response left me feeling unnerved to say the least. I didn't see anybody but there were clear signs of a struggle in the kitchen and living room, there was blood in the kitchen and a trail of it leading to the couch in the living room.
"Mom? Dad? Anybody?!" I started shouting, at this point the silence was pissing me off, not knowing what happened was so much worse than the alternative now.
I heard a weak cough from the hallway bathroom. Finally with something to act on I opened the door and immediately regretted my thoughts from earlier.
"...Dad?"
I couldn't believe it, my father was sitting with his back against the bathtub covered in blood and scratched up to hell. But that wasn't the worst of it, I could see his arm... Just one. His arm.. He'd lost an arm.. Oh my god…
"W-what happened? W-who, why-"
"Youor mutheor..." I heard him struggling to speak for a brief moment before his head slumped down and he stopped moving. I hoped to god he was just unconscious.
I knew I needed to take action, but before I could try moving him I had to make sure my mother was okay. My father was still breathing, so that was a good sign at the very least, I looked all over but there was no sign of my mom anywhere. If her body wasn't here she just had to be alive then... right?
I checked my phone and noticed a few texts from Chloe, before I responded I tried calling 911 but got no answer from a dispatcher this time. "No way." I muttered, "I didn't hear sirens or anything on the way here... how could they be unavailable?"
I decided the priority for now was making sure my father was taken care of, I still needed to find my mother but if I searched now I'd risk losing him to his injuries. I did my best to cover him up and carried him to the car, he seemed lighter than he should, which couldn't have been a good sign.
The closest hospital I could remember was Mercy Hospital near the river. I tried talking to my dad but it was clear he was struggling to even stay conscious. He looked like he wanted to tell me something, but it was clearly going to have to wait till we were at the hospital. In the meantime I noticed that the few people I had seen before had completely vanished, not a person in sight. My first thought was they were all inside due to the possible attacks, but many of the houses looked like they were broken into as well, why were there no people outside if there was mass looting going on throughout the city?
The city looked no different than the suburbs, only now there were a lot more cars on the road with broken glass all over the main boulevard. As we pulled up to the hospital I was relieved but also confused to see an ambulance still parked in front of the emergency department. Thankful because that had to mean there was someone here who could treat my father, but confused because if there is an ambulance why was it just sitting here when there was clearly some major shit going down in the city? There was no point in dwelling though, my father leaned on me as I guided him into the hospital's emergency room.
The main lobby of the emergency room was shockingly barren of people, it looked like a tornado had passed through flipping over chairs and equipment. For a second the hospital had seemed to be cleared of people before I heard muffled speech behind the door to the examination rooms.
"Hello?" I called out, "My dad is hurt badly please can someone help?"
After a brief pause I saw the door slowly open before someone softly hissed, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"What am I supposed to just lock them out?" Another voice responded, "Those things don't politely ask for help, I'm sure they won't attack us."
"I'm not a looter!" I wasn't sure what was going on in the city but clearly these people had been shaken by something out there. "I don't think my dad is going to last longer without help! If you could just take a look at him you'll see we don't mean any harm!"
I was unsure if I had said something wrong, but from behind the door I could hear confused sounding voices going back and forth, after that they went silent and the door opened. After seeing that it was indeed just the two of us in the lobby, two men in scrubs walked out with masks on and helped me bring my father inside.
As one of them set my dad on a medical bed I made a quick scan of the emergency hall, there was a fair amount of people huddled around entrances to rooms, which I guessed held more patients, but there was a disturbing lack of hospital staff here, about four from what I could see at a glance.
Most of the people also seemed uninjured, although they had clearly been through quite a bit of trauma. As one of the men who let me in started treating my father the other told me to make myself comfortable as he went into another room. There were more than a dozen people here, but they were disturbingly silent, some clutching their heads in fear or whispering to themselves. The most composed looking of these people was an old man in an olive green military jacket who was sitting at the end of the hall, he was lighting a cigarette away from most of the group. I decided that if I was going to get answers about what was happening in this city, it would be from him, I didn't want to trouble the hospital staff who seemed to barely be keeping things together themselves, and the other people probably wouldn't appreciate me questioning them when they were clearly shaken up.
"Umm hello?" I said as I approached the man, "Do you know what happened here?" Kind of a broad question, but I had so many that I decided to cover all my bases.
The man didn't look up from his cigarette, he took a long drag before muttering, "What, was your head up your ass for the last three hours?"
It was a cold response, but I definitely felt like the only one who was out of the loop at the moment. I should have asked Chloe if there was more news about the situation but I was a bit preoccupied with my father's well being, so this was the first opportunity I had to get some answers.
I took a seat next to him, "I drove in from out of the city because my parents were in trouble. The only thing I've noticed so far is how this city has turned into a ghost town."
The man rubbed his temples with one hand as he seemed to recall some unsavory events. "If you had seen the chaos beforehand you would have turned around despite your parents."
"I don't understand! Can you quit acting like such a vague jackass and just tell me what the hell happened here?!" The people across the hall jumped slightly at my outburst, I don't know why I'd lost my composure at that moment. Maybe I was just so tired of being out of the loop that I would say anything to get an answer at this point.
The old man looked amused, I guess he appreciated the direct nature of my response. He chuckled before turning to look at me for the first time.
"Zombies happened." That's all the old man said to me before starting to take another drag of his cigarette, "Goddamn zombies."
The look on my face was a mixture of confusion and annoyance, upon seeing this the man let out another chuckle. He turned his head to the side, "So you don't believe me huh kid?"
"My name is Zoey, and thanks for wasting my goddamn time." I stood up and was about to check on my father before I heard gunshots in the distance. It had been so quiet outside that I was shocked by the sudden burst of noise. It sounded far enough away that I didn't have to worry about it being directed at the hospital, but the noise still rang throughout the city like a beacon of sound.
The old man's eyes widened, "Holy shit." He muttered
Before I could ask him why he looked like he was going to shit himself a rush of noise erupted from the opposite side of the city. It sounded like the collective cry of over a thousand people, all of them wailing in what sounded like excruciating pain. I looked through the glass of one of the doors to the main lobby, holding my breath as the sounds got closer and closer at an alarming speed. The old man and a small group of people joined me, one of them was holding a metal pole and looked like he was ready for the fight of his life.
Before I could even think about finding something to defend myself with a mob of people started rushing in the direction of the gunfire, ignoring the hospital and bolting to the source of the noise. When I say a mob of people, that's understating it, it was a seemingly endless stream of what looked like thousands of people sprinting in the same direction. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, I watched for five minutes as there seemed to be no end to the horde. Even the old man was losing his cool as it seemed the mere numbers alone were a shock to him as well.
I resisted the urge to run and hide, but my body insisted I start running as fast as I could in the other direction. If my father hadn't been in the room next to me I probably would have, the way these people ran was far from human. Their arms were swinging wildly like their arms were independent from their bodies, and many of them looked too injured to even be running as fast as they were, one of them was even missing both of his arms but seemed just as ravenous as the others. At one point I saw a member of the mob trip and faceplant into the sidewalk, some of the others saw this and rushed in like piranhas, clawing and stomping on the one that fell. They attacked it until it stopped moving, then as quickly as they had left they rejoined the horde, this whole exchange took less than ten seconds. What was left of it was still on the curb, nothing left but a bloody pile of mulch. I resisted the urge to gag, these things were worse than anything I had seen before. In nature at least I knew that predators were just in it for survival, but what I was witnessing was pure rage induced insanity, something that could only be conceived in a horror movie, only this nightmare was playing out before my very eyes.
At last the mob trickled down until there wasn't a single living person to be seen out there. I sat there for another minute before turning my head to the room my dad was in. We had to get out of this city, there were no other options at this point.
I walked down the hall to the room he was placed in, the staff and most of the others had rushed deeper into the hospital as the mob was moving past us. I didn't blame them for being afraid, but I'll be damned if I was going to abandon my father. I couldn't find the man who treated my dad, he probably left to hide with the rest, but the most important thing for me was that my father was stable enough for us to find my mother and get the hell out of dodge. I opened the door to his room and found him lying on the bed, his breathing seemed to be steady much to my relief. I stood by him, unsure of whether it would be a good idea to wake him right now. Thankfully I didn't need to think too long as he seemed to be aware I was there.
"Zoey?..." He said weakly as he struggled to sit up.
"No dad, don't strain yourself, we're safe… for now at least."
My father grunted and seemed to recall something unpleasant. He put his hand where his arm used to be and had a look of realization on his face. "Zoey." he muttered once again, "Your mother, where is she?"
"She wasn't at the house, I need you to tell me what happened to her so we could maybe find her and leave together!" As I said this though it became clear to me what must have happened to her, this whole time I had been pushing it to the back of my mind, but after putting everything together I knew that all the evidence pointed to the worst result. I decided to bite the bullet and voice my fears, though I knew the answer wouldn't be good. "She's… is she?"
I couldn't find it in myself to finish my sentence, but my father covered his eyes with his sleeve and started choking up. "That person… no that thing broke in and attacked her. I fought it off and managed to put it down… your mother just had a couple cuts and bruises."
"Then how do you explain your injuries? Did more of them come?"
"It was your mother… Something made her go mad and she attacked me." He then lifted his shirt weakly to reveal a bite mark on his side, "There is no other explanation, something infected her… Turning her into one of those things!" He grunted in pain and shifted into a more comfortable situation.
I couldn't say that I didn't see it coming, but even after being told all this and seeing that mob run by I still couldn't believe this was actually happening. Was I in some kind of fucked up nightmare? Or did my mother really turn into a zombie and try to kill my dad?
"The same thing is going to happen to me Zoey, everyone in town has come down with this sickness. It's only a matter of time before I go insane too... and try to kill you."
"NO! You can't say that!" Tears were streaming down my face now. There was no way in hell I was going to lose both of my parents today, I refused to believe that. "How do you know that what happened to mom will happen to you too?!"
"I don't want to take the chance Zoey, if you had seen her… she turned after just being scratched up… I can't stand the thought that I might try to kill you too… my own daughter."
He looked at me like he was pleading for me to see things from his point of view, but I refused to accept it, "If you're implying that I should leave you here... "
"You have to make sure I don't turn into one of them. I need you to put me down." He then revealed that he had been carrying his gun on his waist, of course he was, he never left the house without it. "I couldn't shoot your mother, and now she's out there without a shred of humanity left…"
I stared at the gun as he held it out to me, pleading with me to do the unthinkable, I was speechless. I stormed out of the room unsure of what I could do in this situation, but I needed to come up with some way to help my father, maybe a doctor would know what to do? That's when I noticed someone from the corner of my eye, the old man from before was standing by the door out in the hallway, I was surprised anyone was still standing near the entrance to the hospital after seeing the horde run by. Was he checking in on me? I didn't know why he decided to stick around but I didn't want to waste any time thinking about anything other than how to save my father.
"You know kid, I've seen things that would destroy anyone's sanity even before all this zombie horseshit, but even I wouldn't know what to do in your situation." The old man then offered me a cigarette, which was probably his way of expressing his sympathy.
"Clearly none of those things taught you that it's rude to eavesdrop, old man." I remarked as I rejected the cigarette.
"It's Bill... and he's right you know." He stated, ignoring my retort, "Less than 4 hours ago these monsters appeared out of nowhere and started ravaging anyone they could find." He paused to take a long drag, he sighed then continued, "The few who survived the initial wave turned into those things not soon after. The time varies but one thing is certain, if you're bit, scratched, or even spat on you'll lose every ounce of your humanity, then proceed to tear apart everyone you love without hesitation."
"And how do you know that for certain?!" I shouted, "He's been like this for at least an hour and hasn't turned yet! How could we know how any of this works in such a short time!" Tears were dangerously close to coming out again but I held them back, breaking down now wouldn't help anyone's situation, especially my dad's.
"You need to consider both outcomes, kid. What if you don't shoot him and he turns? Are you prepared to see him in that state when you could have prevented it?" He rambled on, "And even if he does make it how long do you think he'll last when he's down an arm and barely able to stand? Those things could be back any minute and he'll be helpless against their overwhelming numbers." I looked down, he had a point, but if there was a possibility to get him out of the city then I won't give up hope. I was about to explain this to Bill when I heard a loud thud coming from the room my dad was in.
I rushed into the room thinking my father was under attack, but when I entered I saw that he was the only one in the room. Bill quickly entered after me, "What in the hell?" He questioned.
"There's no one else here…" I muttered before I heard another thud, this time though I realized it was coming from my father, heaving on the bed.
I approached him slowly before Bill grabbed my shoulder, "Hold on a second kid." He whispered cautiously.
We stood there in silence for a few seconds, suddenly my father started shaking uncontrollably. He fell off the bed and started foaming from his mouth, I looked on in horror not knowing what to do. Was he having a seizure? Or is this a sign that he's going to turn? I didn't know what to do and there wasn't a doctor or nurse in sight, everyone was either hiding or miles from the city at this point, it was just me and the old man.
"He's changing!" My father's gun was on the floor inches from my foot, the old man quickly picked it up and pointed it at my dad who was not showing any signs of stabilizing. My mind was racing at a mile a minute, I couldn't think clearly under such a stressful situation. In a panic I grabbed Bill's arm and tried to take the gun from him.
"Stop it!" I cried out. "He's all I have left!"
This seemed to elicit a reaction from Bill, he was distracted enough for me to take the gun from him. Once the gun was in my hands my head became clearer than before, maybe it was because I was recalling some good memories of me and my father at the shooting range, or maybe I was so scared that my emotions had come full circle into calmness. Either way I knew what had to be done, but it had to be me who put him out of his misery.
Time seemed to slow down as I aimed the gun at my father, I wasn't going to leave him here, but the idea of him becoming a zombie or being eaten by one was unthinkable. No. This was for the best. As time was slowed down I made eye contact with my father for less than a second, what I saw was a mixture of desperation and acceptance. He was ready for this, I knew that after what he'd just been through it'd be cruel to force him to stay in this hell, I also made a silent vow to him that if I found my mother... I would make sure she followed right behind him.
"I love you." I looked him in the eyes, and without losing eye contact...
I pulled the trigger.