South Park: Zombie Apocalypse Special

Chap. 1

Six weeks later, Kyle is raising two kids in one of the worst settings possible. Not a day goes by that Kyle doesn't think of Julie. Sometimes he thinks he sees her in the corner of his eye. He knows it isn't real, but it's comforting to think she's watching over them.
As the kids watch, he struggles to get a shelter built in the woods of Southern Colorado. He's trying to build a lean-to like he's seen on survival shows, but he's failing. The kids are by the small fire he made a few minutes prior, trying to entertain themselves. Jacob is mostly on alert watching for zombies while Anna draws something in the dirt.
"Damn it!" Kyle mutters under his breath after a log rolls off the tree. He sighs and picks it up and puts it back. He's failing his kids and he knows it. He has to stop himself from bashing his head against the logs by bracing himself with his hand. The ring on his left-hand shimmers from the light the fire is giving off. It makes him feel sick. It makes him remember the plans he and Julie had. He was going to show her the world one day—now he can't even show her a bunch of dirt. A tear escapes his eye, but he quickly wipes it away.
"Dad?"
Kyle looks down next to him, Anna watches him with a certain uneasiness about her.
"Are you okay..?" She asks.
Kyle takes a deep breath and nods. "Yeah, I'm alright." He prays that she didn't see the loose tear that ran down his face a second ago.
At this point, Jake has taken notice of the conversation. He walks over and asks Kyle, "Are you sure? You look...sad or worried."
"I'm just..." Kyle sighs. Why did Jake have to be so damn smart for his age? Kyle tries to quickly make up a lie. "Uh, just worried about you guys."
"Oh, I'm not worried!" Anna exclaims with a grin.
Jake rolls his eyes and scoffs, "Yeah, go outside if you're so brave."
Kyle puts his hand up. "We have other matters to worry about. Can you guys just behave for a while?"
"I don't want to behave!" Anna stomps her foot. "I wanna go explore!"
"But you won't because you're too scared," Jake teases with a smug smirk.
Kyle puts his head in his hands and sits down, realizing he probably won't get the kids to stop arguing. "Guys..."
Anna turns her attention to Kyle, yelling, "Why can't I explore?!"
"It's not safe—"
Anna thinks about this for a moment before wanting to pull at his heartstrings with some begging. "Please, Dad? I can't stay in here forever—I'll go crazy!"
"We move every other day, I'm not sure why you're complaining like this."
"But I want to go explore now!"
Kyle inhales deeply, trying to calm himself down again. "Listen, I'm going to be honest. If you go explore without me, you're gonna be killed. It is not safe."
Anna sighs in defeat, realizing her father is right. "Okay..."
Kyle stands up, going back to trying (and failing) at making the lean-to.
Jake's smirk grows when he gets another idea. "What's wrong, Anna? Chicken?"
Unlucky for him, Kyle hears him. "Jacob Joseph Broflovski." Kyle says sternly, not looking over his shoulder.
Jake is having too much fun to stop now, so he grins and answers, "What?"
Kyle turns his head to look at Jake. If looks could kill, Jake would be dead and buried six feet under. "I don't want to hear you teasing your sister again."
"Or what?" Jacob retorts with a grin. "You'll ground me?"
"No, I'm gonna make you go into the forest and walk ten steps and wait sixty seconds and see how scared you get."
Jake rolls his eyes. "Yeah, sure you will."
Kyle turns to face Jake completely. "Oh, I absolutely will. You watch me."
Jake crosses his arms and looks away. "Fine."
"So you're going to stop teasing your sister. Wise decision, young Broflovski."
Jake stays quiet, a slight blush across his face from being embarrassed. Anna giggles at this and starts to tease him back. "You're scared..."
Kyle glares down at Anna. "Hey, you aren't free from the offer. I'll make you go do it if you start to tease him about this as well. Every time you two start teasing each other and get on my nerves, you'll be threatened with the forest treatment. Understand?"
The kids are reluctant to agree. They usually love making fun of and fighting with each other, but neither of them wants to stand in the forest alone.
"Yes..." They both mumble.
Kyle nods, satisfied with himself for squashing the argument. "Okay, good. Jake, back on watch. Anna...go help him."
"What?! Why do I have to help him?!"
"Because two pairs of eyes are better than one."
Anna groans and follows Jake back to his "outpost" while Kyle continues trying to make this goddamn lean-to.
"I don't know how I'm managing to raise these kids," He mumbles under his breath, shoving a log back against the tree. "Especially on my own. God, I must be some kind of superhuman or something."
Meanwhile, Jake and Anna are sitting against a tree watching the tree line for zombies. It's mostly silent with the occasional swear from Kyle and the crackling of the campfire a few yards away. Anna decides to break this silence.
"Jake?"
"What?"
"We should prank Dad."
Jake raises an eyebrow. He knows it's not the best idea, but he's curious. "What prank?"
Anna grins and grabs him by the sleeve. She pulls him deeper into the woods and behind a bush despite his protests.
She turns back to him with a devious grin. She whispers, "We're gonna hide here and wait for Dad to notice. He's gonna be so mad."
Jake is not the type to play a prank. Especially one like this in a dark forest. Before he can put his two cents in, they hear Kyle call for them. Anna ducks and brings Jake down with her.
"Guys?! Where are you?!" Kyle calls.
After getting no answer, Kyle starts to get anxious.
"Guys? Jake? Anna? Hello?"
Silence. Kyle's getting desperate.
"Come on, guys. This isn't a funny prank!"
Anna covers her mouth to stop herself from giggling, but Jake looks nervous. He opens his mouth to whisper to Anna, but she covers his mouth instead.
Kyle walks to the tree he had last seen the two, searching around it while calling for the kids. He starts to search around the shitty set-up, praying that they'll pop out of a bush. When Kyle has his back turned, Anna drags Hake further into the woods and behind another tree.
Kyle has no idea what to do. As far as he knows, his kids were taken by raiders or wild animals, or zombies. He grabs his gun and runs off into the woods. This momentarily catches Anna and Jake off guard, but Anna stalks across the forest floor, dragging Jake behind her. They stay no more than ten feet away from Kyle as he sprints through the trees.
Kyle runs through the forest, calling for Jake and Anna as loudly as he can. His throat is getting raw from all the yelling and his energy is decreasing steadily. He pants as he continues running, functioning only thanks to the adrenaline he feels from the fear that his kids are being hurt.
Jake is starting to get more worried as his father continues running. He's never seen him run like this. Jake pulls his sleeve away from Anna.
"We should tell him we're here. Look at how worried he is!" Jake whispers and points at their father.
Anna rolls her eyes with a grin. "Yeah, that's why it's fun!"
Kyle is starting to slow down, his old bones and out-of-shape body about to give out.
Kyle pants, "Guys, come on! This isn't funny!"
Jake is just about to speak up when Anna elbows his stomach. It momentarily knocks the wind out of him, shutting him up.
Kyle's calls are starting to turn into pleas now, his voice becoming softer and softer with each one. He's getting more desperate and more worried with each call not answered.
Jake is also getting more worried about his dad. He taps Anna, who shakes her head in response. She's having way too much fun with this and doesn't understand what it's doing to her poor father.
"Guys...come on...stop playing.." He calls as loudly as he manages. His voice breaks a little toward the end, tears threatening to spill over his eyes.
As far as he knows, his kids are dead or being killed. He's none the wiser. First his wife, now his kids? Maybe God doesn't exist.
Anna is starting to have doubts. Neither she nor Jake have seen Kyle like this...ever. She wants to pop out, but she knows how angry Kyle will be with her when he finds out this was just a prank.
After another thirty seconds of calling out and running, Kyle can't do it anymore. He stops running and he finds a tree and sits against it, trying to catch his breath and calm himself down. He's almost completely giving up on finding them. He has no idea where his kids are and doesn't expect to ever see them again.
He's in denial. He doesn't want to believe that his kids are gone.
He wants to believe this is a prank and that they'll pop out anytime soon.
"Come on, man..." He whimpers to himself, wiping away his tears the best he can.
Jake can't take it anymore. He stands up and runs over to his dad.
"Dad!"
Kyle's head snaps up. You could imagine how surprised he was to see his son running towards him. He springs forward and launches himself at Jake. Kyle kneels in front of him.
"Are you okay? Where were you? Where's Anna?"
Anna comes out of the bush looking guilty. "I'm here..."
"Jesus, you scared me half to death! Where were you?"
"Well...we were kind of...playing a prank on you." Anna looks away from her dad, afraid of his reaction.
Kyle's eyes grow wide. He is silent, staring at the ground in front of him and contemplating how he should respond.
"Why...did you think that would be funny?"
Anna looks down at the ground, not wanting to make eye contact with Kyle. "Uh...we didn't think you'd get so scared..."
"Anna, it is a zombie apocalypse and you're expecting me to not get worried about you guys when I can't find you? In the woods no less? You guys really need to start thinking about your actions, especially now. What would you have done if Jake would've gotten hurt?"
Anna doesn't answer.
"You don't know, do you?" Kyle says before his voice gets quieter and softer, almost like he's pleading with them. "You guys have to think things through. The world isn't safe anymore—well, it really wasn't in the first place, but it's even worse now. I'm not trying to scare you, but there's so much danger and you guys are young and small and mostly defenseless, so you need to stay near me."
His spiel is met with awkward silence.
Kyle sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "I could've lost you. I just need you to understand that you guys could've gotten seriously hurt. If I'm not there to protect you..." He just shakes his head, not wanting to think about the possibilities. "I just need you guys to stay close to me."
Anna is the first to speak. She looks guilty and, frankly, terrified. "Sorry, Dad..."
"Yeah, sorry..." Jake adds, looking almost as guilty.
Kyle sighs again. "You guys don't have to worry about anything as long as I'm here, okay? I'm gonna keep you safe from everything and make sure you stay alive with me. I promise." He opens his arms for a hug, which Anna and Jake gratefully accept.
Neither of the siblings want to let go of their father, terrified of what could happen to them without him. He stands up, still with them in his arms and starts walking back to their camp.