Survival Mode

Chapter Thirty - Four

And then, in the distance, you could see it. A man - his back bent forward in an awkward position and an empty alcohol bottle was in his right hand - was inching closer. A young boy let out a gasp and looked up at the woman standing on his left. She gripped his tiny hand in her own. The young boy then looked to the man standing on his right. He looked terrified.

The man who was coming closer, stopped. He set down the empty alcohol bottle and then pulled out a gun. The woman's eyes widened and she turned to the other man. "Shellington, run! Take Tunip with you!"

Tunip, the young boy, blinked and then the woman and the man with a gun vanished. He was now being carried in the arms of his eighteen year old brother, Shellington. Tears were falling from his blue eyes. "Shelly, what wrong?" questioned Tunip.

Shellington looked down at his four year old brother and set him on the floor. It was then that Tunip saw it. He let out another gasp. The woman from before was lying on the floor before them. She had multiple gun shot wounds on her body. Tunip shifted his glance to the man laying beside her. He too, was shot, and a gun was in his right hand. All Tunip could say was, "M - Mama? P - Papa?"

Tunip awoke with a scream and a jolt. Tears were streaming down his face. Tunip moved his eyes around the room - and recognized it to be as his bedroom in the mansion. He looked over at Shellington who was still asleep on the bed near Tunip's.

The dream was no nightmare - it was a memory. A memory of when Tunip's parents both died. There were never any drugs involved in their deaths - that was a lie to cover up what really went down. Tunip was only four when it happened - seven years ago.

Tunip, all of a sudden, heard a noise from outside. He gasped and hid under his blanket. The noise had to come from a zombie - who would be outside at this time of night with a bunch of zombies wandering about? But... Tunip could have sworn the noise sounded like someone singing...

"I'm waking up to ash and dust..."

Tunip let out a gasp.

"I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust..."

Tunip recognized the song as the lullaby his mother used to sing to him at night. Shellington told him that their mom sang it to him as well. But - no one knew the song besides him, Shellington, and - oh no.

"I'm breathing in the chemicals..."

Tominnow. Tominnow also knew the song. And the voice outside sounded awfully like hers. She was the son of Carter Mason - the man who started the zombie apocalypse.

"Breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus... This is it - the apocalypse."

Tunip pulled the blanket off of him and slowly walked to the window. He pulled the curtains back and sure enough, Tominnow stood outside of his bedroom window, singing his mother's old song.

"I'm waking up - I feel it in my bones... It's enough to make my systems blow... Welcome to the new age, to the new age... Welcome to the new age, to the new age... I'm radioactive, radioactive... I'm radioactive, radioactive..."

She had the most beautiful voice. Tunip could not help but smile. Even though he hated this girl more than anything, he could still smile at her beauty. Zombies surrounded the young girl but she appeared unharmed. That made her seem all the more... magical. All of a sudden, she waved up at Tunip and he gasped. She had seen him... What was he to do?

"Tunip!" he heard her call from outside, "Come on out! I'll make sure the zombies don't hurt you too!"

Tunip was very hesitant with the idea. What if she was lying? But then again - what if she wasn't? Tunip slightly opened the window and whispered, "I uh - I would prefer if you came inside... I'll let you in. I promise."