One Stone

1

Chaos.

The only word that could describe the predicament im in now.

The way my father rushes around the apartment throwing together everything we need for survival.
The way the T.V. blares with a worldwide threat.
People outside honking. Screaming... Dying.

Everyone imagines it at some point. What would my life be like if I were in an apocalypse?
No one actually thinks its going to happen.
And when it does, no one expects it.
No one's prepared.
No one is ready for the end of the world.
And yet here we are.

"I swear to God, Girl. If you don't get a move on im leaving you. Pack your shit!" My dad yells at me.

I snap out of my funk and go to my room.

My room has always been my safe space. The place i escape to when dad is angry and drunk, which is most nights. A place I can whole up in and be at peace. This is the last time I'll ever see it.

I look around for a second and think of what i need to take, throwing into my purple and blue bag as i go. Shoes, clothes, phone and charger (just in case), hairbands, glasses, eyedrops, books, insulin, ibuprofen, pipe, bud.

Don't judge me. Its the end of the world. Its not like its illegal anymore.

"Whatever you have is all your getting lets go. We dont have the time for this." My dad says busting into my room. He grabbed my forearm and started to pull me out of my room.

"Wait!" I screamed. I struggled to pull my arm from his grasp but he eventually released me. I ran back to my nightstand and pulled open my drawer. I grabbed my butterfly knife and the photo that was worn and bent.

"Okay, now im ready." I say as i sprint out the door to my dads police cruiser.

"We gotta get Lori and Carl. But were gonna make a quick stop first." Dad says as he puts the car into gear and speeds off.

As were driving down the road its hard not to notice the horrors happening around us. The people running from the no-longer-people who are trying to eat them. The people who couldn't run fast enough. The red liquid covering the ground around the bodies and where the bodies used to be.

Every person, no matter the age, race, or social status, running for their lives.

Its funny how the world works.

Its like we spend our entire lives trying to build something for ourselves. A home. A good job. A family.
But in the end it really doesnt matter.
Because everything falls apart anyway.

Dad drifts into the parking lot of the hospital and makes me hit my head on the window.

"What the hell?! The dead are coming back to life and eating people! And the first thing you do is go to the number one place people go to die!? Are you fucking stupid?!" I yell at my dad.

"Watch your mouth girl. I have to check on Rick. Stay put." He says as he pulls his gun out of the glove department and checks the magazine.

He opens the door and makes a run for it, slamming the car door behind him.

I open my bag and take out my medicine. There's only 3 pens.

For those who aren't aware a diabetic will die without insulin. Knowing this, I argue with myself on whether or not to go in and get more.

I decide not to and instead wait a few days for all the dead to clear out. Maybe then I'll have a better chance of not dying.

I look back up to the hospital knowing hes in there. I couldn't help but hope. And i know its a horrible thing. To hope for something so gruesome, so cruel, to happen. I couldn't help but hope he wouldn't make it back out.

I dig the photo I grabbed out of my boot where I stored it.

The photo is of a beautiful ebony haired woman with piercing green eyes, just like mine. She's in a black dress thats blowing in the wind. She has a child in her hand. A little four year old me. Who's mother is kissing her on the cheek.

My mother died when I was six. The circumstances behind her death had been deemed by the police as questionable but not investigation worthy.

They say she killed herself.

I say, there's no way.

My dad had something to do with it. That much i know, but he would never admit to it.

"Start the car!" I hear from a distance. "Start the fucking car Ellie!" I look up to see my dad running to the car, a pack of rabid non-humans following close behind.

I jump over the middle console and start the car. I put it into drive and slam my foot onto the pedal. The car lurches forward and I drive straight for my dad and all the walkers. But when i get close I don't slow down.

I see my dad in front of me. Fear, for the second time in my life, is so plainly plastered across his face.

"Go to your room girl. There's nothing for you to see here" he growled at me.

Red.

It's everywhere.

Hes breathing unsteadly.

The kitchen knife on the floor mere meters from him.

His eyes shake and terrified, yet still glaring a whole through my soul.

It's the same look. The same fear filled glare of hatred.

I stare right back and keep my foot heavy on the pedal.

He sees whats happening now. I know this because he smirks and jumps out of the way just in time.

I run over the heard of dead people walking. I really gotta come up with a name for them. Then i slam the car into reverse and my dad climbs into shotgun the first chance he has.

"Go, go, go! Dont stop driving!" He yells as I throw it back into forward drive and floor it.

We get down a few streets and i find a clear alley to park in. I pull in, put the car in park, lean back against my seat, and exhale.

When I look over at my dad hes grinning. Like from ear to ear, which is astonishing to me because ive never seen him do that in my life.

"What?" I ask with a bite.

"I knew you were my daughter. You were gonna kill me back there weren't you?" He chuckles a very creepy, unnerving laugh.

I glare at him but dont say a word.

"If I didn't jump out of the way you woulda killed me. Wouldn't you?" He asks.

Silence and a death glare is all I give him in return.

He grabs my throat and slams me into the back of the seat.

"Answer me when im talking to ya!" He screamed, spit flying into my face.

"Yes! Okay? Yes I would have killed you!" I screamed with a tear streaming down my face.

He let go and chuckled that same laugh.
He reached over patted down my hair, and wiped the tear off my cheek.

"My daughter. I never thought I would be proud of you. I see it now though. Your just like me." He says darkly.

"I'll never be like you, you fucking psychopath." I gritted out to him through clenched teeth.

"We'll see about that." He said.
"Now get out of the drivers seat. Were getting Lori and Carl." He said with a push of my head to the door.

I switched seats with him and slammed my door shut.

I'm not a fucking psychopath.