I Dream of Zombies

Last night, in my dreamland, I was thrust into a zombie apocalypse.

   Forced to flee from our house, after zombies broke in and killed our parents, me and my two little sisters ran to the only house on the street that seemed safe. It was this huge mansion that was 4 floors tall and belonged to an old lady named Helen and her beloved dog Coco. Coco was a little brown pinscher and we could hear him barking as we made our way up to the front door. Helen went up to her window and jumped in surprise when she saw us standing right outside. She picked up Coco and ran to open the door, "Thank goodness you're all okay, come in quickly." We walked in, my little sisters leading the way. They were both terribly afraid, holding on to their stuffed animals and blankets. Hoards of zombies were slowly making their way towards us as they moaned. Coco squirmed to be set free and nearly ran out the door right before Helen closed and locked it shut. "Coco, it's not safe out there." She scooped him up again. "I've been panicking all day," she led us down the hall towards the living room, "I had nightmares of this happening, but I never thought it would turn into reality.."
   "Yeah, I know what you mean," I responded.
   "So where are your parents, are they on their way?" Helen beckoned for us to sit down and join her on the white leather couch. She then saw the sadness in our eyes as my sisters grabbed on tighter to the only belongings they were able to salvage. "Oh dear, don't tell me.."
   "They're dead..." I spoke up softly. My sisters started sobbing and I hugged them close to me.
   "Oh no, you poor little things." She got up and tried to comfort them, "I'm so sorry..."
   "But Daisy, you said they might come back... You said daddy might come and look for us...." My sister Jasmine was now hiding behind her blanket and crying.
   "Yeah, but unfortunately, they won't be the same....." I wiped away the forming tears under my eyes.
   "What do you mean?" Jasmine said between hiccups and sobbing.
   "Well... They won't be themselves.... They'll be like the rest of the zombies out there...."
   "Okay, that should be enough for them right now.." Helen placed her hand on Jasmine's shoulder and looked down at Rose. "They're a tad too young to understand the situation... Come here, little ones, would you like some juice or cookies?" My little sister Rose shook her head and Jasmine continued to hide under her blanket. "I can bring them to you."
   "I'm not sure they have much of an appetite after this, but thank you..." I forced a smile as I held on to Rose's trembling hand.
   "Oh dear, I just can't believe the government actually went through with this... So the rumors were true, all the signs were there, we should've known what was coming.. We should've been prepared...." She couldn't seem to sit still as she paced around her living room. Coco was sitting next to the windowsill now, growling. "But no one payed much attention, no one cared... No one believed when they were warned of how evil the government truly is.... This whole world built around a power hungry society; the media, the masses, the government, all the higher authorities... And they were the only ones prepared for this; all their families are safe.... Selfish brutes... It sickens me..." She looked over at us and noticed the concern in our eyes, "Sorry for that rant, I'm just very upset with this all...."
   "I understand," I knew exactly what she meant and I had been trying to warn people of the same thing. "I've been researching and uncovering the government's, this world's, secrets for quite some time now... I just didn't expect this to happen now...."
   "This was planned, Daisy?" Rose looked up with a tear streamed face and it nearly killed me inside.
   "You just can't trust anyone," I told her, "But don't worry about that right now, just try to not think about any of this..."
   "If I fall asleep will everything be back to normal when I wake up?" Jasmine asked while muffled by her blanket.
   "Oh God, I wish..." I grabbed them both close and hugged them as we all sobbed.

-TO BE CONTINUED-

*We find guns and ammo in Helen's attic, with no experience with handguns, we attempt to shoot out at the zombie's from a window up on the third floor. "Shoot them in the head," I instruct my sisters.

*Coco escapes through the backyard and crawls under the fence. We see him on the side yard barking at hoards of zombies as they surround him. Helen practically has a heart attack and becomes hysterical, trying to jump out the window and lunge herself on to the zombies to save Coco. We hold her back and I start to shoot at the zombies and calling Coco over, but there's too many surrounding him. Being an animal lover, I decide to risk my life to try and save Coco and I go out through the backyard and order my sisters to open the gate for me on the count of three, as I stand in front of it with my gun ready to shoot. Little did I know, I had actually run out of bullets while I was shooting out the window inside. I was planning on sliding past all the hoards of zombies and quickly grabbing Coco and then shooting the zombies in our way before making a quick run for the gate. But that plan kind of backfired when Coco wasn't being very cooperative and too many zombies were surrounding us too quick. I slide past the first hoard, and run to grab Coco who manages to squirm away from me, I finally get ahold of him and turn around, still on the ground, pointing my gun at the zombies above us. Coco growls and barks before biting a zombie's hand who was creeping up behind us. He managed to run a hand through my hair before that though, leaving blood in it and a gross slimy feeling. I quickly kick my leg out and sweep the line of zombies in front of us, tripping them. I then get up and make a run for the gate, with Coco in one hand, and try to shoot at the zombies blocking it. But then realize I'm out of bullets. "Oh shit....."
"Jasmine, Rose!" I yell and they respond right away, "Throw me your gun, I'm out of bullets!"
Rose jumps up and throws her's and it lands by a zombie's foot near the gate. It distracts him momentarily as I slide towards it, picking it up and pointing it straight at his rotting face. I cringe with eyes closed halfway and then slide back and pull the trigger. Blood splatters, zombie bits are airborne, as I try to dodge the gory bloodbath. Still holding on to Coco, I continue to shoot at the zombies as Coco barks and bites the ones coming up behind us. Once the gateway is cleared, I yell "Girls, open it up, quick!" They unlatch the gate and it swings open as I run in, quickly closing it behind me. I put the lock back on it as zombies start to pound against it. "Quick, let's get inside!"
Once inside, I put Coco down and remember the blood in my hair, "I should wash this out," I grab the section of red-stained blonde hair and grimace at the sight and smell. "I don't think it's safe touching this with my bare hands though, I could get infected.." Helen gives me a pair of gloves and I wash it out with sink water, afterwards I disinfect the whole area with cleaning liquids and bleach. Suddenly I remember Coco had bit several zombies and could've possibly been infected. But I decide not to tell Helen, for the sake of another panic attack. "Just be careful..." I warn everyone.

*We end up having to board down the front door because of the amount and weight of zombies pushing up against it. We decide to take refuge up in the attic, the safest room. My sisters keep asking about our parents and I keep worrying about any last survivors. "I have to go out and look," I suddenly get up from my curled up position in a corner of the attic. "I don't feel comfortable just staying in here while there might still be people out there who need help. And all those poor cats and dogs, well at least the cats can climb trees and hide under things..." Helen refuses to let me go, my sisters beg me to stay. But I break free and go anyway, "I'm sorry, but I have to do this; I might be the only one able to save them...." I grab a backpack, pack it with ammo, and reload my gun. "Helen, do you happen to have a bike in your backyard?" She quietly responds, "In the tool shed..." I hug my sisters and thank Helen before making my way back down. "Wish me luck..."
"Please be okay, Daisy!" My sisters plead and then Jasmine says "Please look for mommy and daddy..." I sigh and nod my head before making my exit.

*(Add in at some point, when looking/shooting out window, about the car) We were shooting at the zombies and managed to kill quite a few. I then noticed Helen's old little volkswagon parked in the driveway next to the side yard, it had been broken into and torn up on the inside. There seemed to be something moving in the back seat, most likely a zombie. I would've suggested using her car to drive around looking for survivors, but the option seemed a little dangerous and the car was covered in zombie blood that we could risk getting infected by. And without being able to roll up the broken windows, we could get attacked by zombies while starting the car and trying to back up out of the driveway which seemed to be the most infested with hoards of them.

*I take out the bike and notice the backyard fence being pushed down, on the verge of collapsing, with the weight of all the flesh hungry zombies against it. I yell up towards the small attic window, "Keep an eye on the backyard, it may very well soon be infested with zombies!" I quickly hop on the bike and ride down towards the creek in the back that is interconnected with all the houses' and ride over the little wooden bridge that leads to the other side and up a hill. I then ride down the hill and end up on an adjacent street, biking through empty neighborhoods. All the houses seem to be vacant and I start to pedal faster past them in search of any survivors. I hear rustling from behind some hedges and stop to look back, "Hey, wait!" A man calls out and walks out into the open as I am filled with fear; something about him seems off. He's tall and his head is clean shaven.. And his face... His face looks sickly and pale... "Wait, it's okay, I'm not one of them!" I continue to pedal away, "My name is Billy and I'm looking for my girlfriend and our friends, we ended up getting separated when all this shit happened!" I stopped and looked back at him again, he seemed to be speaking and acting pretty normal. "Please, I need your help!" I sucked in my fear and hesitation and turned my bike around.
"Hi Billy, I'm Daisy and I'm scanning the area for survivors so I can probably help."
"Thank you so much, you don't even know how much I appreciate it!" He cried, "I'm so thankful we crossed paths! Look, I'm going to be straight up with you, I was bitten by a zombie earlier and I may or may not be infected... I'm sorry, I don't mean to frighten you, I just have to let you know...." Fear set in again; I knew something was wrong the second I saw him.
"I'm going to be very cautious of you now, Billy.." I eyed him suspiciously, his skin seemed to be getting a subtle blue tint, "Do you have a weapon on you?"
He coughed and his voice sounded hoarse, "Not on me." His eyes looked bloodshot and I could almost see a glint of madness in them.
"Uh, look, I don't think it's safe for me to stay close to you....." His body was shaking and twitching now and I started pedaling away from him.
"No, wait, please don't leave me alone!" He cried out and then broke into another coughing fit.
"I'm sorry.." I pedaled away faster. Sadly, it seemed to be too late for him and I wasn't going to risk my life again. My sisters were counting on me to make it back safe.
"Daisy, wait!" He called out after me, his voice now raspy. He tried keeping up behind me, but would stop every minute or so as he knelt down and coughed out blood.
"I'm so sorry, Billy!" I called out, "I have to go!"
I then heard the running sound of high heels on hard cement; a grungy looking woman with stringy blonde hair ran up behind Billy and nearly knocked him over as she threw herself on top of him.
"Lauren!" He shouted and hugged her, but she quickly pushed him away agressively. She seemed to eye him as if he was a delicious meal and she licked her lips. She then noticed me and her face looked more sickly than his. She looked like a predator that had spotted her dinner. With her eyes firmly set on me, she slowly started moving towards me. "Oh no, Lauren, please don't tell me you got infected too..." Billy tried to grab ahold of her face, but she kept pulling away.
"Fuck this," I sped down the street and a cat darted across, causing me to swerve and hit a tree. "Damn it.." I rubbed my head in pain and picked the bike up, "Go hide kitty!" I yelled behind it as it climbed over a fence into someone's backyard. Suddenly, the sound of running and moaning caught my attention. "What the hell......" I could see two figures in the distance, running towards me from down the street. "Oh no......" I quickly realized who they were and jumped back on my bike. The tires were starting to feel low on air, "Damn it, this must be an old bike.. I should've checked it before I left...." Billy and Lauren were approaching me at a pretty rapid pace. The most dangerous kind of zombies; when they're turning and still have human abilities like being able to run. Now Billy was just calling out my name in an eerie fashion.
"Daisyyy.... Daisyyyy!" I tried to pedal as fast as I could, but the nearly flat tires were holding me back. I abandoned the bike and made a run for it, I had no other choice.

*Coco starts acting quite strange; instead of growling at the zombies, he starts growling at us. I stand there and stare down at him a bit confused as he continues to growl at me. He then starts to bark and Helen notices. "Oh, my dear Coco, what's wrong?" She runs over to him and tries picking him up and he nips her, "Coco! That was a bad doggy!" She looked just as surprised and confused as I was, "Coco never bites me, I don't know why he's acting this way..."
I sigh as I remember what happened earlier "I think I might know..." I speak up. Helen looks over at me with concern in her eyes.

*After I've been bitten/infected and Coco has turned into a zombie dog, I struggle to locate the rumored antidote. "I have to find the antidote, maybe then we can bring mom and dad back to normal..." I walked around the attic as my sisters layed passed out together in a corner. Helen seemed to have completely lost it as she petted the cage with a zombified Coco inside and hummed a little tune. "The clock is ticking, I don't have much time," I reminded myself as I typed away on an old computer we had found in the attic. "This thing runs slow, but it's our only connection to the internet right now and medium of information that can possibly save our lives," I said out loud and Helen went silent for a minute.