Capsule Outbreak

19 Breakfast

Celestia's POV

I wake up in my bed, looking at the ceiling while lying down, hearing someone frying something in our kitchen. I feel hungry and get up from my bed. I see my mother Bridget sipping a hot cup of coffee as I walk to the breakfast table. Our breakfast includes fluffy pancakes drenched in syrup and crispy bacon strips. The smell of bacon frying in the morning always brings me back to the old times before the zombie outbreak.

"Wait... Am I dreaming?"

I slap my face, and my mom laughs at me, saying, "Sweetie, don't hurt yourself, you're not dreaming. We're here in Louisiana with my partner."

My mom told me before that she's been separated from my father. She never explains what happened or who my father is. I'm so confused about my life, thinking I'm an orphan. But now, we've come back here to Louisiana because of her partner. While we're eating breakfast, I remember what we went through last night.

Flashback...

Suddenly, my mother wakes me up. I see Maggie and Charlie still sleeping while Louis, Duke, and Allie are outside talking. We walk behind the shelter tent. I don't know where we're going. We're just walking away and approach a strange woman.

"Show us the other way where we can escape with my daughter. The securities will not permit us to leave tonight. Help us!" my mother asked the stranger woman for help.

"You can escape behind this camp. I'll lead you the way," the stranger woman responded.

Unexpectedly, as we walk, I hear a loud explosion in the camp. I feel sleepy at that time, my mom holding my right hand tightly. I feel scared, and we run but see several soldiers who have turned into zombies.

"Oh my God, I thought soldiers were all tough, but not all!" the stranger woman said.

"Are you ready to fight?" my mother asked her.

My mother and the stranger woman immediately grab metal rods nearby. While holding me, my mother fights the approaching zombies and strikes one in the head, killing it. The stranger woman fights too, almost getting bitten, but luckily, my mother strikes the zombie in the chest right away. There are still zombies left, but some soldiers come to help us. We continue to walk until we reach the escape way behind the camp.

My mother finds a parked car to drive us to Louisiana. She sees an open door of a car and a zombie old man who looks like he got bitten and returned to his car. She strikes the zombie old man in the head, killing him. Blood splatters, and she removes him from inside. Fortunately, the car keys are there, so we drive out of the place.

"Celestia, why are you suddenly stunned? Is there something wrong?" my mother asked, shaking her hand in front of my eyes.

"I just can't forget what happened to us yesterday," I said softly and continue eating my pancakes.

"Really, don't worry about it. We're safe now," my mother said.

"Mom, I'm just wondering why we left them that night," I said softly.

"We left that group of friends of yours because soon they will bring peril to us if we keep going with them," my mother said.

"Not really, they're good people, they helped me, right?" I argued.

"You're right, but we can't do anything. You're not going back to them," my mother said.

"Please, no, Mom. I have to be with them. I miss them, especially Charlie. He's my friend!" I said to her, in tears, going back to my bedroom. Unexpectedly, someone knocks on the door, and my mother opens it, seeing her partner.

"Love, you're back!" my mother said, smiling at him.

"Where is she? Celestia?" her boyfriend asked, looking for me, and I show up.

"I'm here," I said, seriously.

"Oh, Celestia, why do you sound mad? Did your mom do something?" he asked, confused.

"She doesn't want me to be with my friends," I said softly.

"Well, you can be with your friends now, right, Love, Bridget?" her partner said, looking at my mom.

"Okay, you can see your friends out there," my mom said.

After some time, zombies approach our house. My mom strikes one with a knife in the head, killing it, while her boyfriend uses his gun to shoot them. Blood splatters everywhere. The smell is disgusting.

I immediately return to my bedroom, lay down, and cover myself with a blanket. I feel so scared and miss my friends. Then, my mother's partner comes into my bedroom and talks to me.

"Hey, little girl, don't be scared now. We killed them all," he said, and I remove the blanket covering me.

"What's your name?" I asked him softly.

"I'm Asher," he said.

"Asher, thank you for being kind. Maybe that's why you met my mother. Wait, I want to know how you met my mother. I mean, she already has me," I asked him.

"Well, long before the zombie outbreak, Bridget and I were classmates in college. She was so beautiful that every student on our campus wanted to court her, but I was the luckiest and the only one she wanted to deal with. I courted her every day, giving her roses and chocolates. After a few months, we became lovers. When we were working, we rarely met each other until we got separated for a while. I just heard back then that she already had a daughter, and we met again before the new year. Even though she already has you, I will always love her just like before and you, little girl," Asher explained.

I don't know why my mother doesn't want to talk about my father. Maybe she's scared of something, or I shouldn't know who he is. Maybe he's a criminal or something, but whoever he is, I hope he's still alive.

The next day, I wake up in my bed, see my face in the mirror, and start to comb my hair. After that, I walk to the kitchen, seeing my mother frying something. I see her partner at the kitchen table, sitting and sipping chocolate coffee.

"Good day, sweetheart!" he greeted, and I smile at him. I finally sit and wait for our breakfast. Minutes later, we hear a zombie growling outside. It looks like they smelled the aroma of the sausages my mother is frying, but we don't mind them because we're having breakfast, and there are just a few of them. I eat the soft and fluffy waffle on the kitchen table.

"Breakfast is ready!" my mother said, putting the sausages on the table.

While we're having breakfast, we think the zombie growling earlier is just from a few of them, but as we hear the window shatter, we see plenty of zombies waiting for us. Luckily, our door is closed, but little by little, zombies start coming through the window. My mother's partner shoots some zombies in the head, and blood splatters in our house and on the waffle I'm holding. I throw it to the zombies. I thought they were just hungry, but they want us, not the waffle.

Unfortunately, her partner gets bitten in the foot as he stumbles, and the zombies eat him. His last words are, "I love you two!" We can't do anything at that time. My mother is in tears and can't believe her partner turned into a zombie. We decide to go to my bedroom to hide because many zombies are still coming in. Before I return to my bedroom, I quickly grab the sausages.

After some time, zombies come into our house. We can't leave my bedroom as we hear them growling and snarling throughout our house. Then, I realize we can escape through the small window in my bedroom because there are no zombies down there.