Chapter 3 "Turned"

Day 3

It was a warm summer night. Clouds were heavily rolling in, making the dark night even darker. It was about 4:00 A.M., about an hour and a half before anyone usually woke up in the house. A loud thud was heard from LaRissa's room that woke up Annette. At first she thought it was Robert getting up for something, but then she remembered that he had went to bed with Lily and Lyrik. Annette slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She slipped on her favorite, mauve pink robe off of the coat hanger by her bed. She loved to collect robes and had a row of about thirty of them. Baby blue, yellow, black, white, pastel green, flannel, red just for Hershel, and her favorite one that her mother gave her for her birthday many years ago: mauve pink.

She made her way to LaRissa's room and put her ear against the door, thinking someone could have went in there to be with her, or to claim something of hers now that she has dead. After hearing only what sounded like soft moaning, she called out.

"Hello? Is anyone in there?" Her words were met by an even louder growl, and what sounded like footsteps towards the door. "LaRissa?" Annette questioned concernedly.

Another groan was made in reply. Annette smiled widely. LaRissa's awake! It's a miracle! she thought to herself. She opened the door quickly, arms wide open to hug LaRissa, but all too late Annette realized that LaRissa was very pale, and was baring her teeth at her. She screamed, and fell backwards. As she fell, LaRissa swiped at her, and grabbed onto her robe's sleeve, dragging the undead girl down, too. LaRissa fell onto Annette and she screamed again, trying hard to push against LaRissa's weight. Hershel opened the door to his bedroom to investigate the screams and saw the fresh walker on his wife. He went back to search his closet for his gun.

Though she put in her best effort, Annette was quite a frail, old woman, and she soon lost her ability to fight against LaRissa's weight. LaRissa bit right into Annette's face as she wailed in anguish, eating at the elder woman's flesh. A hole was left in place of where the old woman's left cheek once was. LaRissa continued eating, swallowing down the nose and going for more.

Hershel finally arrived with the shotgun. Most people in the house were now awake and standing in the hall, witnessing the horrific event. Patricia screamed in horror, burying her face into Otis's chest. Beth tried running to her mother, but Jimmy held her back. Hershel drew back tears and aimed his shotgun at LaRissa's chest. He shot, but she continued eating. He gasped, and took a step backwards in shock. Annette was now dead underneath this immortal monster. LaRissa looked up and growled at him.

The growl provoked Hershel and he glared at the undead teen. His eyes were filled with rage. This creature, no longer a person, attacked his wife — attacked his family. He stood up, holding back more tears and shot the walker again in the neck, and when that failed, he shot her between the eyes. She fell, and he now knew what he had to do. He pointed his gun down at Annette, unconscious. He shot her right in the head, doing his best to remain composed.

He looked up. Robert, Lyrik, Patricia, and Beth were in tears. Otis, Lily, Arnold, Maggie, Jimmy, and Shawn looked on in disbelief and pure shock. "Let's get this cleaned up," Hershel said in a shaky yet firm voice.

Maggie took LaRissa's sheets off of her bed and handed them both to Hershel. Shawn and Hershel lifted Annette's body up and wrapped it in the sheet. They then repeated this with LaRissa. The two lifted Annette up and carried her downstairs. As they were going down, Hershel instructed Arnold and Otis to grab LaRissa's body. They carried the two outside to the front steps and into a wheelbarrow they used for gardening. Shawn pushed them to a nice spot in the field, underneath two big trees. Otis and Shawn began digging graves as the sun rose toward the clouds in the distance.

Later that day, when the two were done, a funeral was held. Their bodies were lowered into the graves and buried. Hershel conducted the funeral.

"Today, we're here to mourn the loss of two kind individuals. Annette Greene, my dear wife, and LaRissa Masterson, a dear friend. Though the body is...withered," he stuttered as he thought of their maimed bodies, "the soul lives on. They are with God now, looking down on us," Hershel looked up, into the only clear spot of sky through the clouds. He could not help but shed a tear as he looked back down. "I'm sorry," he whispered. He composed himself, and looked up. "Does anyone have any words they'd like to share?"

Surprisingly, Beth stepped forward first. Her boyfriend, Jimmy, loosed his hold of her and allowed her to go forward. "A long time ago, I was told a poem by one of my friends in school. I wrote that poem down because I thought it was so beautiful. I want to share it with you all… I want to share it with you, mom."

Beth looked up and closed her eyes. She moved her head back towards the graves, eyes still closed. She reached into her pocket, and pulled out the piece of paper. She opened her eyes, her expression as though it were painful to open them. Painful to accept her mother's fate. She began to recite the poem.

"Every time that I smile,

Every time that I sigh,

I think of your face,

And a tear escapes my eye.

You were my world,

My inspiration and my heart,

But when you left me,

I thought I would fall apart.

You were my best friend,

My one true 'confidante',

And that's not all you were,

You were also my mom.

I didn't want to live without you,

But you would have wanted me to,

And if there's anyone I want to make happy,

That anyone is you.

I would have given anything to have you back,

But I know now that it was meant to be,

For you are still watching from up there,

And I know you're watching me.

I'll make you proud mom,

I'm going to fulfill your wish,

You're going to see me and smile,

That's a daughter's promise."

She folded the paper back up and clutched it in her fist. Nearly everyone was crying now. The Greenes were a mess, weeping into one another, Shawn and Maggie hugging each other tightly. Beth turned back to Jimmy, who went to give her a big hug, but she rejected him.

Hershel again was letting his emotions overcome him. Through his weeping he said, "Anyone else?"

Robert stepped forward, looking a bit nervous. "I don't have a beautiful poem, or anything memorized or planned to say. But I have my memories. The sentiments and love. I just wanted to speak on behalf of LaRissa, since not many of you here knew her very well. And sadly, now you never will get the chance to. LaRissa was a good person. Sometimes, her intent may have been to seem better than she thinks she is, trying to overcompensate for what she doesn't need to. Doubting herself every step of the way. But everything she did, she did with a good heart. She meant well at all times. Never did she attack or hurt a person that hadn't wronged her in some way. She didn't deserve to die. Not this early. She had so much to live for. Though she won't be able to continue on with us, she will always be on my mind. I will never forget her. And I hope none of you do, either. Thank you."

Robert stepped back and Lily wrapped her arm around him. Hershel, now much more composed, nodded to everyone, signalling for someone else to speak if they so wished. When no one did, he spoke up, "Anyone? Maggie?" The brunette shook her head at her father, and he looked to Shawn, who was crying, staring at the ground. Hershel nodded his head and brought the funeral to a close. Everyone went inside to get started on dinner and to move on.

Right after dinner, Hershel locked himself in his room and wasn't heard from again until the next morning. He would not answer his door and generally ignored everyone else in the house. This became a habit.

DISCLAIMER: the poem recited by Beth is not my own, and is titled "A Mother's Promise" by Allie B. Quaglieri. No copyright infringement is intended.