Death at Sunset

13 Days After First Infection

Zoey sat up with wide eyes, wildly swinging her knife around at the air. Each swing carried enough force to behead any common infected, easily. This went on until she came to her senses. Her breathing was heavy, a mixture of shame and disappointment. She paused, glancing down at her weapon before sighing and putting it back under her backpack, which doubled as a makeshift pillow. She hoped the others hadn't noticed her little outburst, thankfully they were all fast asleep. The young woman cursed to herself, because she'd had the nightmare again.

Zoey pursed her lips and sat criss cross on her sleeping bag, looking up at the night sky. If there was one good thing to come of the zombie apocalypse, it was the clear beautiful skies, uninhibited by artificial light. When she couldn't sleep, Zoey liked to stay up, counting the stars. She'd wait for her body to collapse from exhaustion, which would always inevitably happen. Lately she'd been having a recurring nightmare, a nightmare that wasn't fantasy. The last few months had been a living hell, the memories of that time had been enough of a horror to dwarf any conventional nightmare in terms of terror. Zoey would relive those moments every night. Unfortunately no one could escape their past, so Zoey could do nothing as the memories came back to her. Each and every damn night.

"71, 72… Quit moving… Damn stars…" Zoey thought as she counted. But the stars weren't moving, she hadn't realized her body was rocking back and forth, eventually she collapsed, and Zoey was blessed with another nightmare, a nightmare of that day.

—-

"It's raining…" Zoey murmured to herself, staring out the window as cars slowly passed by outside. She couldn't help but get distracted by the light patter of raindrops on the glass. What she wouldn't give to be sitting on the couch in a snug blanket watching some good slasher movies right now. Her mind slowly drifted further and further away from the task at hand. Zoey was supposed to be studying for her midterms right now, and she'd finally been able to force herself to sit at her desk for an hour and actually get some work done. It was too bad she would rather be doing anything but this right now.

She glanced miserably at her laptop, the screen illuminating her dark dorm room. She had the room to herself for tonight, her roommate was out, probably having the time of her life at some college party. Zoey wasn't really envious though, a college party sounded like a lot of fun right now, but today she was in the mood for a more mellow evening.

Zoey snorted and gave a half-hearted smirk, 'Not this mellow though,' she thought to herself. Zoey let out a frustrated groan and stretched her arms over her head. 'You know what, I've earned a break.' Zoey closed all other tabs swiftly and began to browse the internet.

Zoey had been taking a break from her usual horror media obsession, mostly because the rabbit hole she'd gone down for the last few days has been much more intriguing. It all started when she'd seen a video posted on YouTube two days ago. Mind you, Zoey had seen all sorts of conspiracy type videos about 'real life horrors caught on tape' in the past. It had always been amusing to think about whether they were legitimate or not, but she'd always had that bit of common sense in the back of her head that could tell it was all just in good fun. This one particular video had been different though.

The video couldn't have been more than two minutes long, but Zoey remembered it clearly. It was recorded on someone's cell phone, and it featured what seemed like some crazy homeless guy who was walking around babbling nonsense and lashing out at anyone that got too close. When the video started the cops could already be seen following the homeless man from a safe distance, something interesting must have happened before the camera started rolling if the cops were already there. Zoey had a good guess as to what happened beforehand though. The camera panned behind the cops that were trailing the crazed man for a few seconds, it focused on another group of cops and a few paramedics who were checking on what looked like a young woman laying on the ground. The video was uncensored which allowed the viewers to clearly see the huge chunk of scalp missing from the poor woman's head. She was unconscious, and a few of the paramedics looked to be covering up the wound as two more were coming by with a stretcher.

The video panned back to the alleged culprit of this attack as he limped away, clutching his head. The video was being filmed from across the street so Zoey could hardly make out what the man was saying, but it sounded like gibberish, almost like a rabid dog trying to speak english. Eventually one of the officers had decided enough was enough and walked real close to the man, telling him to get on the ground as he pulled out his pistol. The homeless man looked up in a haze, his eyes were a little too wide, and he had an expression that almost looked like shock. The man lunged at the officer as the cop fired a round into his midsection, causing the attacker to stumble for a bit, but like some kind of wild animal he didn't let up on his attack for a moment. He got on all fours and bit the cop's shooting arm, causing the officer to cry out in pain and scream to get him off. After another officer put one more round into the homeless man's side he went down.

The officer who landed the fatal shot breathed a sigh of relief as the body went limp and it let go of his partner. He grabbed the fellow officer's shoulder and made some kind of comment, probably asking him if he was doing alright. Zoey wished she could hear exactly what they were saying, but she could only fill in the blanks as the officer spoke.

In what couldn't have been more than ten seconds, the calm was interrupted by the officer throwing his partner to the ground and beating on him savagely. It was such an unexpected turn that the other officers aimed their guns at the two instinctively out of fear. The crowd was so caught off guard that the camera man and the rest of the onlookers started to flee. Zoey heard what sounded like several gunshots before the video had cut off.

There was something about the video that was so eerie. Zoey had seen videos of alleged zombies in real life before, but the crowd's and the officer's reactions both looked too genuine, so much so that it made her uncomfortable. It didn't help that the video had been taken down on the same day it was uploaded. This frustrated her because hardly anyone had managed to see the video. As far as she knew the video only had around 300 views when she had watched it. This meant hardly anyone was talking about it, and any research into the situation always led to dead end after dead end.

This wasn't the only thing that had gotten her so fixated on the video though. She knew the street it had been filmed on. It was hard to make out at first but when she figured it out she was certain it was filmed on fifth avenue by the hospital in Pittsburgh. She knew the street well since she grew up in the city and went through that street often on the commute home from high school. Zoey had asked her dad about the incident on one of their phone calls when he checked up on her, hoping he'd have some inside knowledge. He seemed to be in the dark on the whole situation. Zoey's dad worked for the Pittsburgh police department, but he was part of a different precinct than the one that frequented that area of the city. He told her it had been fairly quiet in the city for the last few days, nothing really noteworthy happening.

—-

Her dad chuckled as she kept asking him questions, "You know, since you're so hell bent on wasting your chances at graduation on stupid conspiracies and horror movies maybe you should come work at the precinct. You've got a resilient mind, and you're a hell of a shot Zoey."

Zoey just scoffed at the idea, "Dad I'm serious, there's something weird going on here! The video had real cops with real guns in our city, you'd think if it was staged it'd get at least a little attention from the media! Then the video gets wiped off the face of the planet? Now all this stuff starts coming out about a new disease running rampant in the east coast-"

"Alright baby girl stop it." Her father cut in, interrupting her tangent, "The governments' already made it clear that it's just a flu. I've already got your mother in my ear telling me to pull you out of college because of it, I don't need you of all people getting rattled by the news and blowing things out of proportion!"

"But Dad-"

"No but's!" Her father insisted, "You're strong Zoey, stronger than me even, I truly believe that. I need to know that you'll focus on what's most important for your future, you need to be proactive! Promise me baby girl."

Zoey forced a weak smile, this always happened when she talked to her dad for too long. They'd be having a normal conversation but it'd always devolve into some kind of life lesson about her future and how she's being a lazy disappointment. "Yeah dad, I promise. I've gotta go, love you."

Zoey could hear her dad sigh, she could tell her father had been going through a lot of stress lately. Whether it was the news, work, or mom's paranoia about work and the news, Zoey couldn't tell. It was most likely a combination of all three. The least Zoey could do was put her father a little more at ease by telling him what he wanted to hear, that she'd been doing better at school, which she had in all honestly been putting a lot more effort into. "Take care sweetie, call me back tomorrow, okay?"

—-

They'd had that conversation yesterday, and now she was more sure than ever that this new freak virus was somehow related to the video. She scrolled through recent articles showing pictures of cows with the skin on their faces missing, and accounts of people who allegedly witnessed other events similar to the one she saw on the video. Although the scenarios weren't all exactly the same, they all had the common theme of 'crazy person attacking a bystander who then also goes crazy.' There was no other video evidence to prove these separate accounts though, she couldn't help but wonder if there were other videos being taken down in a similar fashion to the one she'd seen…

'When did I become such a conspiracy theorist?' Zoey thought to herself as she sat back in her chair. After some reflection Zoey decided that she needed some air. It was raining outside and it was getting late, but she needed to focus on anything else but this right now. Zoey grabbed a pink jacket and an umbrella before she headed out to her car.

Once Zoey had gotten into her car, and before she could even begin to wonder where she should go to unwind, a loud noise startled her. She realized it had come from her phone going crazy in her pocket. She picked it up and saw an alert.

She couldn't believe what she was reading at first.

This is a nationwide emergency message. This is not a drill. Follow these instructions for your own safety.

Secure all entrances to your home

Turn off all the lights

Do not let anyone enter until given the 'all clear' by authorized personnel

Do not make any noise

Do not look out your windows

Gather food and supplies

Avoid interacting with anyone outside

Avoid unidentified figures inside or outside your home.

Remain calm

Stay close to your loved ones

This broadcast will not be repeated. God help us all.

Zoey didn't know if this was some kind of sick prank, but she immediately started the car and called her father. Straight to voicemail. 'This is not happening, this is not happening…' She repeated to herself in her head. She tried calling her mother this time and got a different, more chilling response. 'The number you are trying to reach is not available.'

Now Zoey was in full panic mode. She pulled out of the parking lot and headed straight for the highway. It would be a long drive from Penn State to Pittsburgh, but if her fears had been confirmed then she needed to get home now.

Zoey kept trying to call her parents the whole drive through, but now both of their phones were giving the same message she'd gotten when she originally tried calling her mom. 'The number you are trying to reach is not available.'

The highway was barren. Zoey didn't think she saw even a single car for the whole two and a half hour drive from State College to Pittsburgh. 'Maybe people are just listening to the warnings' The young woman thought hopefully, 'I mean who in their right mind would go out after reading that message?' Eventually Zoey could see the city after miles of countryside. Pittsburgh looked relatively normal, there was something off about the city though, something Zoey couldn't quite place.

Driving through the city she recognized many familiar landmarks. She hadn't been to the city in months, ever since she left for college at Penn State. When Zoey made it to her parents house she looked around confused. The street looked normal, so why was she so uncomfortable? She only realized why once she got out of her car.

It was the silence.

She had never been in a city that was this quiet before, there was no way everyone was actually listening to that alert. She expected at least some people to be out on the streets rioting or panicking. She didn't pass a single person or car on the way here though, and as far as she could tell all the neighbors' cars were still parked in their driveways. What was going on here?

Zoey walked up the driveway to her house. Everything looked normal so far, but Zoey had alarm bells ringing in her head with every step. Until she could confirm that her parents were safe she wouldn't get too hopeful. She finally got to the front door and could see that the living room light was still on through the door's window, strange… The alert had warned people to keep their light's off, and her father always threw a fit whenever they wasted electricity. Not wasting any time Zoey unlocked the door with her house key and rushed inside.

Zoey could almost immediately tell that something was off as soon as she walked through the door. The inside of the house was surprisingly cold, and the walls had… were those claw marks? There was also a rancid smell she couldn't identify. Zoey investigated the hallway, to her horror the sliding glass door leading to the backyard had been torn off its hinges. She approached the door cautiously, triggering the automatic lights which caused Zoey to jump. As soon as the lights came on they revealed more claw marks on the wooden fence in the backyard. They led to the very back of the property, ending at a destroyed section of fence. She looked at the broken sliding glass door again, the damage made it clear someone had broken in from the outside. But the fence… pieces of broken fence were scattered outside of the property line for some reason. Something got into the house by force, then retreated, breaking out through the sturdy fence with surprising strength. Zoey didn't know what to make of this, but she went back into the house to find her parents.

Zoey had been too afraid to say a word after seeing the claw marks, but she managed a faint, "mom?... dad?... it's me, zoey… it's just me here don't worry, so please say something." There were a few moments of tension, then a quiet cough broke that silence, startling Zoey. It was coming from the upstairs bedroom from the sound of it.

The young woman followed the source of the cough upstairs, she didn't waste any time trying to be careful this time, she had to know what happened here. Zoey noticed claw marks on the walls of the staircase too, they were mixed with specks of dried blood. Zoey burst into her parents bedroom and to her surprise she found a completely ravaged room. It looked like a tornado passed through. All of the furniture was either ripped up or knocked over, but Zoey's focus was on her dad. He was sitting with his back against the wall, one hand clutching his pistol and the other covering a nasty looking gash on his shoulder. His blood stained the wall he was leaning on, and he had several smaller scratches throughout his body which were the least of his concern. He looked like he had just survived a mountain lion attack.

Zoey's dad coughed, jolting his daughter back to reality. She rushed to his side, not knowing what she could possibly do in this situation. She could hear him breathing, although it was faint. "Dad… God… What happened? Where's Mom?"

Her father's eyes widened at the last question. He used his free arm to grab the sleeve of Zoey's jacket, "zoey. you need to go. get out of the city before…" He glanced to his left as if he just remembered something. Zoey followed his gaze, finally finding the source of the smell. To her right layed a mound of…was that meat? Zoey gagged, trying not to look at the bloody mess. When her father finished speaking his eyes started drooping closed, his breathing getting shallower.

"Dad… keep talking to me… s-stay with me… please." Zoey choked, "I need to know, is m-mom okay?" The more Zoey talked the more the adrenaline made her head spin, the emotions of this situation hitting her like a bat to the head. She wasn't a particularly emotional person, but at this moment she could feel her desperation getting the better of her. Clutching her father's hand as he kept a tight grip on her sleeve. She hoped to God that pile of flesh had nothing to do with what she was thinking.

Her father's eyes flew open, they were bloodshot. "Listen to me Zoey… your mother…" He looked at the flesh mound painfully, using every last ounce of his remaining strength to speak more clearly, "Your mother… we saw that emergency message…" The injured officer winced, like he was reliving the moment. "But after that message, she was… we were…" A tear rolled down his face, "Damnit, she was going through so much stress. I put myself first, I told her… She was being too dramatic, that she was stressing me out… Then we saw something… someone…"

"Dad…" Zoey couldn't find the right words, this was already too much for her.

He looked down at his wounds miserably, then his eyes started to shut again, clearly he had used up the last of his strength just remaining conscious. "baby girl… she's… don't let me…"

Zoey watched her dad as he stared off into space, not moving. Zoey sobbed and pressed a hand on his chest. To her relief he was still breathing, he was only unconscious. The brunette slumped against the clawed up bed frame as she sat on the floor across from her father, who was breathing steadily. He'd lost a lot of blood, but maybe she could still save him somehow. She had a hard time processing what she had just heard though. It didn't make sense, but in her gut she felt like she knew what he was saying, 'she's… don't let me.'

Zoey shut her eyes and rubbed her temples. She didn't have time to dwell on his words. She knew the more she sat there the more likely her father wasn't going to make it. Zoey took her father's gun, and the go-bag her parents kept under the bed. It held ammo, another gun, and other supplies in case of an emergency. Zoey took out a container of antibiotic ointment, applying it to the nastiest cuts and the huge open wound. She then covered up as many of the scratches as she could with wrapping cloth. Hopefully this would be enough for now, but she knew she was no doctor. They'd have to find a hospital, and fast.

Zoey struggled to pick up her father, but he was completely limp. She eventually found enough strength to take him down the stairs, she looked back at the hallway leading to the backyard one more time, before walking her dad out the front door and towards her car. She had tried calling 911 as she treated her father but eerily enough no one answered. Her only hope now was to drive him to the hospital herself and hope it wasn't too crowded. As she drove she reflected on how the worst had somehow come to pass, was all of this because of the green flu? The video and the flu appearing around the same time couldn't be a coincidence. Dad said he saw something too, was it somehow related? Those claw marks definitely weren't human, not even a lion would have made marks that long and deep. Zoey's father mumbled something unintelligible from the backseat. This eased Zoey a bit, at least he was making noise again. "Just a bit further dad, we're pulling up to the hospital now."

They were deep in the city now, even this far in there was nothing but silence. However the streets were starting to show evidence that something was amiss. Broken pieces of glass littered the street, and when Zoey looked up she noticed several windows from the surrounding buildings had been smashed from the inside. Even some of the doors looked like they had been knocked off their hinges. All the vehicles in the street were also missing their windows. Strangely enough not a single car blocked the street on the way to the hospital, some vehicles were turned at a weird angle though, almost like something had pushed them all off the street.

Zoey turned another corner and Mercy Hospital came into view. The 30 story hospital loomed eerily in the middle of the city. The lights of the tall building were a stark contrast to the rest of the city which looked to have most of its artificial lights shut off, aside from a few street and traffic lights. Zoey parked in front of the emergency room entrance, pulling her dad out of the backseat and walking into the hospital.

She was going to save him, she absolutely refused to give up on her father. As long as he was still breathing she would hold onto hope, it was her turn to protect him now.

—-

"That's it Zoey! You're a natural!" Wade looked on with pride as his daughter landed another shot on the target.

The twelve year old girl squealed with delight, "I did what you said and it helped dad!"

Wade had been bringing his daughter to the shooting range despite the protests from his wife Carol. He only did it because he knew how difficult the move had been for Zoey, leaving all of her friends behind at such a young age couldn't have been easy, no matter how much the faculty told them she was doing fine. Wade couldn't think of another way to get her to open up though. She wasn't interested in sports and she would rather watch R-Rated movies than participate in any of the school activities.

This all changed when Wade came back from work one day. His daughter ran up to him, asking him what it was like to shoot a gun. He wasn't sure why she was asking but he decided to give her a friendly lecture on firearms and how safety is priority one when handling a gun. She started to show some serious interest in firearms, and Wade decided he'd nurture this interest, while keeping a close eye on her every step of the way.

After some serious convincing, Carol eventually caved and allowed him to take Zoey to check out the range on the condition that he didn't let their little girl fire a gun. Yeah, he was mince-meat if she ever found out…

This was their fifth visit to the range,and Zoey had started remembering the name's of the other regulars at the range. The last thing Wade expected was for him to take his daughter out to fire 9mm's as she waved hello to Mike and Gabe, the portly hunter's in the next booth over.

Whenever his daughter fired her pistol she got into a strange state of complete focus, this concentration was good for shooting but it was still weird seeing his daughter like this. "What do you say we head out and grab some burgers for us and your mom on the way home sweetheart?"

Zoey didn't waver as she aimed her gun at the target. "If I learn to shoot good, will the mean girls at school leave me alone?..."

Wade's eyes widened with horror. "W-what did you just say?" He got Zoey to put the gun down and knelt beside her so he was eye level with his daughter. Zoey turned to her father and sniffled, she looked like she was holding back tears.

"Zoey, what's been happening at school?" Wade spoke with a firm tone, but he tried not to sound hostile or angry. This is what he wanted after all, for his daughter finally let her true feelings out for a moment.

Zoey's eyes welled up with tears. "The girls at school… pull my hair… and call me names." She looked down at the ground miserably, like the last thing she wanted to do was say these things out loud. "I didn't want to worry you dad, I'm sorry…"

Wade was afraid of saying the wrong thing, but he knew her words could only mean she trusted her father, and he didn't want to betray that trust by saying the wrong thing. "Zoey, it's okay to ask for help, you didn't do anything wrong by telling me."

He closed his eyes in frustration, wishing there was more he could say, more he could do to keep his daughter safe. Without thinking Wade brought his daughter in for an embrace. He could feel his shirt getting soggy because of his daughter's tears. The fact that she could cry this quietly at a young age broke his heart.

"I-I can't help it… Whenever I shoot, it makes me feel stronger… Like I can protect myself." His daughter stammered between sobs.

Wade held her at arms length and wiped her tears with the back of his hand. It was all he could do to avoid choking up himself, but this wasn't the time for that, he had to be strong for her. "Baby girl, listen to me." Zoey had been avoiding looking her father in the eye, but she managed to make eye contact for a moment.

"None of this is your fault, there is nothing wrong with you, okay? There will always be people who tell you things about yourself, or fools who try to hurt you… But you're so, so strong already, you just don't realize it! I knew it the moment we moved to Pittsburgh, and you put on a brave face for our sake." Zoey sniffled one more time, but she had the faintest gleam of pride in her eyes. "You think you need to be the one that's protecting us, when it should be the other way around. As long as I'm around I'll never let anyone hurt you, and I'll do my damndest to make sure you're ready to protect yourself whenever you have to go out into the world as a grown woman." Wade nodded to the pistol. "But for now, promise you'll be strong for me, okay?"

Zoey nodded, and the father and daughter hugged one more time. Wade kept bringing his daughter to the range every week after that day. As she grew older they would eventually use that time to chat and vent about their problems. They even brought her mother to the range once she eventually found out her daughter had been shooting guns this whole time without her knowledge. She wasn't happy, but begrudgingly accepted it when Wade explained how good it's been for her. Still, it hadn't been enough to save him from a few nights on the couch, regardless of his explanation.

—-

If there was one word Zoey could use to describe the inside of the hospital, Zoey would probably choose the word shithole. There was blood all over the walls, glass scattered on the floor, and chairs strewn about everywhere. As Zoey had dreaded the place looked to be abandoned, the city had been too quiet on her way here. She pressed on regardless, taking her father into one of the only patient rooms that didn't look completely destroyed. She placed him on the hospital bed, then sat on a chair next to it, burying her head in her hands miserably, Zoey felt even more helpless than before. How has there been no one besides her up until now? Her dad was somehow the only other living being in this city, but where had everybody else gone? Trying to piece things together made her head throb. She'd have thought there would be bodies at the very least, but all signs of human life were just… gone.

Zoey checked on her father one more time, he wasn't looking any worse, but that could change in a heartbeat if she didn't find help. She decided the best course of action was to start making a plan. She didn't have enough information about what was going on in the city to know what she should be preparing for though.

Zoey opened her backpack, the go bag thankfully had some useful stuff in it. Aside from the gun and ammo she had a first aid kit and enough food to last her and her dad a week if they were smart with it. She also had a flashlight, a lighter, a knife, and a whistle. Things that could be useful if they had to hold out here on their own for a while. Zoey put the backpack back on and turned to her dad, he should be fine as long as she kept him within earshot. She decided the best decision right now would be to keep looking for someone who could help, her father couldn't be the only one who was still alive in this city.

Zoey explored as many of the first floor rooms that she could, but unfortunately there was no one around, not even a sign that someone had been here recently. She didn't want to risk going up to the second floor in case something happened to her dad while she was too far away to hear him. She gave up and walked outside of the hospital, sitting on the curb in front of the emergency room door. Zoey had finally resigned herself to the nightmare she was living in when the silence had been broken by a sound in the distance.

'Were those gunshots?' Zoey thought to herself, shocked to hear any noise at all in this lifeless city. The sounds seemed like they were coming from somewhere far east… People! Zoey stood up and jogged to the center of the street, trying to get a clear view of the source of the sounds, but they must have been too far away for her to see past the skyscrapers.

The noises stopped, then she heard a distant explosion, this time coming from the west, likely on the opposite side of the city… Zoey turned around, seeing smoke in the distance. Another explosion went off, the light from the blast making it almost look like the sun was setting a second time. The darkness set in again almost immediately, Then it became quiet.

The silence was so deafening Zoey could hear the blood flowing to her head. Then, the most terrifying sound. The sound of a million voices, crying out in a mixture of what sounded like terror and rage. The combination of emotions made her think of a wounded predator, fighting for its life on the edge of death. The cry activated some kind of fight or flight instinct in Zoey's body. She sprinted out of the street as the sounds got closer and closer, diving into her car and locking the door. She peered through the window as she listened to the tidal wave of sound approaching. Her eyes widening as she looked behind her at the hospital doors. She cursed to herself as she remembered she had left her dad inside. Before Zoey could open the car door a mob of people rounded the corner and made a mad dash in the direction of the explosion. Zoey gasped and lowered herself in the backseat, laying on her stomach as she watched the wave of bodies rushing past the hospital. Thankfully she was parked in the hospital path and not out in the public street, because if she had been out there her and her car would have likely been swept up by the relentless mob.

Calling it a mob was understating it, the amount of people running by seemed almost endless. Zoey held her breath for what felt like minutes as the numbers didn't dwindle even a little bit. What terrified her the most though was how they looked and acted. The way they ran was inhuman, their arms swinging wildly as if independent from their bodies. Many of them didn't even look like they should be moving as fast as they were, some had huge chunks of flesh missing from their arms, legs, and head. One of them didn't even have any arms! But they kept up with the horde all the same. She witnessed one of them trip and faceplant on the road, without missing a beat half a dozen of the runners swarmed the unlucky one and beat on it until it disappeared, becoming part of the pavement. They then returned to the horde as if nothing had happened.

Zombies? Zoey couldn't believe it, the assault was so short it couldn't have taken more than a few seconds. If they attacked their own like that Zoey didn't want to imagine what they would do to a regular person like her.

She kept holding her breath until the last of the creatures disappeared down the street, even then Zoey waited a few more minutes before getting out of her car. She clutched her father's pistol close to her chest, shaking uncontrollably. She had to get out of the city with her father, she had no other option.

She took a deep breath and entered the room her father was in, he was breathing a little more steadily. She knew he needed more time to rest, but she didn't want them to spend another second in the city, they wouldn't be safe in such a densely populated area. Zoey grabbed her father's hand, wondering if there was a gentler way to move him without interrupting his recovery. She jumped when his eyes flew open. Zoey stood there in bewilderment for a bit before throwing her arms around him, being careful not to hurt him with her embrace. He looked sickly, his skin an unnatural color. He was sweating bullets, but he was awake, at least that had to be a good sign. Right?

Her father chuckled weakly and returned the hug, patting his daughter on the back. "You're safe, thank god." Zoey pulled away and saw her dad's face, he was starting to tear up, the look of relief on his face turning into despair as he started to remember why he was here. "Your mother Zoey… I couldn't…"

Zoey shook her head, "I saw what the house looked like dad… whatever happened there-"

He buried his head in his hands. "No baby girl, you don't understand… I-"

"It's not your fault." Zoey insisted, taking his hand and squeezing it tight. She had never seen her father cry before. Witnessing this for the first time made the situation seem even more bleak than before, if that was possible…

Her father raised his voice in a harsher tone, "You don't get it Zoey, what happened in that room wasn't what you think! It was…"

"What? Did it have something to do with those claw marks? What did happen in that room?…"

Her father took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure. "We were arguing in the living room… Before…" Her father started to recall the series of events before Zoey's arrival.

—-

"Dammit Wade! I told you we should have left the city as soon as the flu started making national headlines!" Carolyn had been hearing stories from some of her friends in the city, stories about the flu changing more than just people's physical health. Some chilling accounts tell of people showing changes to their behavior and mental state as well. These people allegedly never left the hospital when admitted, disappearing without a trace or explanation. As far-fetched as these accounts sounded, they still terrified Carolyn, and she had been trying to convince her husband Wade that the city was getting less safe by the day.

"And where are we supposed to go Carol? We agreed that we'd take the financial hit to pay for Zoey's college, but that came with sacrifices and we agreed we were fine with them! We can't afford to just pack up and leave the city because of these rumors your friends are spreading!"

"We've got family in California! Please, we can take Zoey and-"

"Absolutely not! "Wade interrupted her. "Our girl is actually putting in an effort this time around, her grades are improving! And you just want to pull her out of there?"

"No! I just… I don't know… I'm scared Wade…"

Her husband sighed, his expression softening. He walked up to Carol and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Honey, if you want we can stay somewhere close to City College for a bit. Call it a vacation of sorts, we can stay close to our little girl and make sure she's safe while we take a week away from the city to see if this flu situation blows over."

Carol buried her face in Wade's chest, sobbing as the hopeless thoughts were boiling in her head. She didn't want to feel this way but she couldn't help it, something just felt wrong with her emotionally. It was this flu, something about it just told her she should stay away from the city at all costs. The trip did sound like a good compromise to her though. She looked up, teary eyed, and nodded to Wade. "I do think I'll feel better about this if we're closer to Zoey I guess…"

"It'll be for the best, we're stressing each other out too much. We just need a couple days to… reset is all."

Both of their phones started vibrating loudly at the same time. They had both just gotten the emergency message warning people to stay indoors. At the same time Wade had started getting messages from the precinct telling him that all off duty officers were required to assist with some kind of mass riot going on in the city.

"What is this…" Wade mumbled.

Carol had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, before she could put it into words they heard a crashing sound coming from outside. It sounded like someone was in the backyard…

"Wade…" Carol whispered.

"Get upstairs." Wade ordered, pushing Carol up into the bedroom with him and closing the door behind them.

Carol stood against the far wall of the room as Wade rummaged through his work bag, pulling out his pistol. He heard a crash from downstairs, whoever was in the backyard had just broken in through the sliding door. Carol cried out in fear, Wade gave her a look, putting a finger over his lips, gesturing to keep her quiet. It didn't matter though, immediately they could hear footsteps sprinting up the stairs. Before they could react the intruder bursted through the door, instantly lunging at Wade. The intruder was a crazed looking woman with sickly looking skin and torn up clothing. The noises she was making were definitely not normal. She made high pitched sounding shrieks, spitting in Wade's face as she wrestled with him.

Wade struggled to gain control of his weapon, he desperately tried aiming his gun up at the stranger but the attackers fingers were digging into his arm, making him wince. They struggled for a bit before Carol came up from behind, holding the baseball bat they kept under their bed. She held the bat so tightly her knuckles turned white. The crazy woman leaned forward, biting into the man's left bicep, causing him to drop his gun while making him cry out in pain. In response Carol swung with all her strength, striking the attacker on the back of her head.

She had succeeded in getting the intruder off her husband, but the psycho turned her attention to Carol. Before she knew it Carol was on the floor with the woman on top of her. She had inhuman strength, effortlessly holding her down and biting into her neck. Carol screamed in pain and terror. Wade rushed for his gun swiftly, he ignored the pain and aimed at the intruder, desperate to get the attacker off of his wife as quickly as possible.

While Carol was on the floor her mind went blank, she started seeing black spots as everything faded away. She forgot her name, her family, her friends… None of that mattered to her in that moment, she lost herself and felt that strange pit in her stomach from earlier.

A few seconds after the bite to her neck Carolyn forced the woman off of her, throwing her and leaving a nasty crack on the wall when the attacker slammed against it. Wade lowered his gun with a shocked look on his face. His wife started to get up, standing in an unusual way. Her eyes had turned a bright sanguine red and she had a deep scowl on her face, an expression that was very unlike her. She charged at the downed attacker before it could get up, stomping on her head while wailing in anger, not even stopping when the body had ceased all movement. This kept going for a few more seconds, until the crazed attacker was reduced to a pile of mulch.

Wade rushed over to his wife, grabbing her shoulder trying to calm her down. "Carol? Stop, what are you-" Immediately his wife swiped upward at him with one of her hands. Wade looked down slowly, stunned. He felt his shoulder getting warm as blood started to pour out to his horror. "Carol…"

Carolyn, or whatever she was now, turned to face her husband. Wade noticed her hands, the nails on her fingers had changed shape. They looked sharper and maybe a bit longer now, the nails of her left hand were caked in Wade's blood. She started swiping at her husband, cutting him up until he collapsed on the floor from the pain. The cuts weren't as deep as the one from the initial slash, but Wade was still losing consciousness due to the blood loss and shock.

Before Wade passed out he could see his wife writhing in pain. He didn't know if he was seeing things correctly, but he thought her eyes momentarily looked like they were flashing back to normal again, showing despair and remorse for what she had done. She covered her face in her hands, her nails looked noticeably longer now, growing a couple centimeters in the span of a minute. She ran out of the room, Wade could hear her crying out in despair as she fled before finally, he lost consciousness.

—-

As Wade finished telling Zoey his story he started to break down in tears. "Useless… That monster should never have gotten close to her in the first place…"

"You couldn't have known dad," Zoey stated miserably, looking at the floor. "No one could have known…" Zoey trailed off. She realized she had known, and she had warned her father about it days ago, if he had just believed her…

No.

It wasn't anyone's fault, she couldn't expect a straightforward person like her father to just believe those absurd claims. Especially if they were supposedly going on in his city and he didn't notice anything strange, this had all happened so fast no one could have prepared for this in time. There was no time to grieve, no time to say I told you so, and no time to be afraid.

"Dad, we have to get going. I think the zombies are attracted to noise, if we could just-"

"Zoey. You really don't grasp the situation do you? You of all people should have put the pieces together…" Her father looked at her, he had turned even paler than before, Zoey noticed his hand trembling as she held it. "Your mother got bit, and she became one of those things…"

"Wait, no!" Zoey realized what he was trying to say. She let go of his hand and took a couple steps back, not even letting him finish the thought. "You told me yourself that she turned almost immediately! You were bit hours ago!"

"We don't know anything Zoey, I'm not gonna last much longer without a doctor anyway, it's not worth the risk…" Zoey looked at his hands again, they were still shaking. She felt a pit form in her stomach. It wasn't just fear, he was shaking because he was broken. He truly felt in his mind this had to be done… and he blamed himself for everything… Zoey and Carolyn had warned him, but he wouldn't listen, now they were all doomed while he sat there wounded and near death, unable to protect his daughter or put his wife out of her misery. He would rather be a corpse than a burden to his daughter, he didn't have the will to live anymore.

"D-dad no!... We can find another way, if we can leave the city with my car there should be at least one hospital… in the country that's still…" She drifted off, the severity of the situation dawning on her. The whole country could be going to shit, who knows if there were even hospitals anywhere near here that were still functioning… The speed at which the infection spread throughout the city had to mean it'd already spread far past the city at this point. There was no way they could outrun the spread of the virus.

"I'd be a burden without proper medical attention, and I'm not gonna get you killed trying to protect me… Listen to me… You're strong Zoey, I taught you how to shoot a gun, and you're smarter than you think, stronger than you think! I know you'll do a better job protecting yourself than I did."

"Dad…" Zoey didn't like the sound of this.

"Take care baby girl." Her father pulled the pistol out of the emergency bag Zoey had left sitting on the chair next to him.

Zoey's heart sank, she lunged for the gun in his hands. "NO!"

"I love you." He shoved the pillow of the hospital bed against the side of his head, then the pistol.

Then he fired.