Zombie Falls (A Gravity Falls Fan Fic)

"Do you believe in miracles?"

My mom stared out into the window above the kitchen sink. She was drained from her lively skin tone. Though she looked exhausted, her eyes seemed as if they would pop out of her head. Her knuckles turned white as she held on tight to the edge of the sink. I saw her arm twitch, making me uneasy. "Mom," I said. "What's for dinner?"

She didn't answer. She just stood where she was, ignoring me. It's been about a week and my parents were acting stranger than usual. They would forget about things, no matter how big or small it was. My mom would forget to grab the car keys before getting in the car and during the ride, she would get a bit reckless. Mabel and I were always worried if she was going to hit something. Surprisingly, she never did.

I remember when my dad was cutting vegetables in the kitchen, probably to cover up the fact that something was wrong with him. He tried to play it off as an innocent act, as if everything and everyone was fine - or maybe it was to distract himself. I wasn't so sure. It was almost as if he was in a trance that no one could wake him from. He stared down at the carrots he chopped with fury.

"Dad?" I asked in a hushed voice, afraid he was in no mood to talk.

"What do you want?" He responded in a dark, almost aggressive tone.

"Well, it's just...Mom is acting a little weird lately and..."

"Oh," He began, cutting me off. I sensed humor in his angered voice. "Mom is acting weird?" He lifted up his face to look at me with an amused smile. As he did, he continued to chop, not paying attention to what exactly he was doing.

"Yes...that's what I just said." I told him. He let out a hysterical laugh and chopped more violently and with a quicker pace. As he got closer to cutting one of his fingers, I warned him. "Dad, stop!"

He looked down at the carrots as if they had something to do with the fact that he was tempered. He began to yell at me as he did. "Mom is acting weird! Mom is acting weird! Well, maybe you should mind your own business, kid! Maybe you should be more like your sister!"

"Dad!" I said, louder, trying to get him to put down the knife. Unfortunately, I couldn't stop him. He only stopped when he hit his thumb, letting out a yelp. My dad dropped his finger and let it bleed. He let it bleed onto the kitchen floor. Cursing under his breath, he didn't acknowledge my existence. "Are you okay? You're bleeding!"

"Get away from me!" He declared, his eyes were flaming with madness. Then, at the last second, they softened, seeing my startled and innocent face. I did as I was told and left to go to my bedroom. I saw a glimpse of Mabel with her door opened a crack. Her face was poking out and her eyes stared into mine for half a second. She had heard it all. I sighed and continued into my own room, shutting the door behind me.

Daydreaming back to it all is just a painful reminder of how we both got stuck in this mess. I realized I was about to let a tear drop while my sister was in the room and I tried my hardest to force myself not to cry. This wasn't the time or place to cry. I am not weak and I needed to prove that to Mabel. I sucked it up and swallowed back the tears that threatened to come.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Mabel get up on her side of the bed and close the curtains to the gigantic balcony windows. Just like I had planned, we stayed at the hotel for the night. Like usual, our walks were silent all the way up the stairs and in the hallways of the hotel. My sister then began to get settled, pulling out her blanket and putting it on the bed. She even took out the candles we carry to light up the nights. Finally being able to see a little better in the room, I realized that for the hotel bedroom, it was surprisingly clean and not ruined. The two king beds were made and everything was organized.

I lay back in the bed, looking up at the ceiling. Two different thoughts had come to mind as I lay there. First off, it had been only a couple of minutes ago that I was actually thinking about actually killing someone. I couldn't help but wonder where they are now and what happened to them. Secondly, the mattress. Before we came to the hotel, Mabel and I were always sleeping - or at least trying to - on the tough, unforgiving ground of the earth. The mattress was like laying on a cloud from heaven. It had been so long since I've slept on a luxurious bed. I felt like I was going to cry. I missed my old, spoiled life.

My thoughts were interrupted by a hand waving above me as I laid on my back. "Hey, Dip." Mabel's voice muttered, breaking the silence between us.

I sat up in the bed to make eye contact with her. Her face was relaxed, but also held sorrow. On her right cheek was the red line cut from earlier. She broke off a piece from the chocolate bar she had in her hand and handed it to me without saying a word. I accepted it, considering my stomach was growling so loud, I swear, I could hear it in my ears. "Thanks." I said in a soft and quiet tone.

As I gratefully ate the convenience store candy, Mabel spoke up once more. "You...you weren't actually going to shoot them, were you?"

I swallowed the sweet and melted chocolate. It became bitter at Mabel's question. "What?" I answered back, breathing a laugh. "Are you crazy, Mabel? Of course I wasn't actually going to..." I didn't need to say more.

She nodded her head quickly, giving me the hint that she knew. "Yeah...sorry I asked."

After our silent, chocolate dinner, my sister and I tucked ourselves in. We blew out the candles for safe keeping. We didn't want to waste them. I began to close my eyes, being pretty sure that this was going to be the best sleep I've gotten in months. Just as my mind was close to sleep, Mabel whispered to me. I felt her body move and shake the bed to flip herself to her other side. "Dipper?"

I looked out in front of me at the second, empty bed that we have neglected and answered. "Yeah...I'm still awake."

"I miss home."

"I know. Me, too."

In the darkness of the room, Mabel sucked in air and then sighed, letting it all out. "Do you believe in miracles?" She asked me.

It took me a while to answer. "I don't know...but, I think it's a miracle we made it this far."

I heard her in the back of my head as she let out a chortle. "Maybe there is a miracle out there, ya' know? I believe there is a way to stop this thing that's infecting people...a cure."

"Yeah..." was all I could say before I fell into my deep, restful sleep in the comfy sheets and mattress.