Times A Ticking

5

There it was again. That empty feeling in my stomach, as all my hope is drained from me. No cure? There's no way, my Dad is one of the smartest men on Earth he has to figure this out.

I was frozen in my spot and the door opens and Dad widens his eyes and wipes his face completely clear from tears as he grabs my shoulders.

"What did you hear?" He says making me look up at him. I shake my head, but I knew better than to lie to him. He knew me like the back of his hand.

"You can't save us?" I asks and he sighs lowering his hands from me before looking down the hall towards where Mom and the rest were waiting. "It's okay. We will figure something out."

"Just don't mention any of this to any of them okay? I'm trusting you Gabby." He pats my head and straightens his clothes back out as he heads back towards the lobby.

I catch my breath and follow behind him. I catch up and walk into the lobby beside of him, Mom immediately stands up and looks at him full of hope.

"Everything is fine Jenn." He says as he walks over to her and kisses the top of her head. "Everything is fine." He whispers again as he wraps his arms around her as if it was the last time he could do it.

As Mom pulls away from the hug she kisses Dads cheek and goes back to where the twins were playing. She rubs her hands over both of their heads gently and smiles.

"We're going to be okay." She whispers with a small, Dad gulps and gives me a glance. I frown slightly but go along with the act and sit beside of Mom.

"Of course we are going to be okay." I say as I hug her close to me making her laugh softly. "I'm going to go outside and see if Mr. Mason is here." I say standing back up and looking over at Andre.

"I'll come with. I really want to see my Dad." He says as he kisses the top of his Mom's head and follows me to the hallway. I felt my stomach drop and my heart begin to race as we get closer to the door with the dead man in it.

I stop making Andre run into me and stumble back. "Gabs? What are you doing?" He says as I turn around to face him. I take a deep breath and place my hands on his shoulders making him give me an odd look.

"You can't tell another soul.. well living soul what I'm about to show you. Especially not my Dad." Andre gulps slightly but nods his head in agreement.

"Is it bad?" He asks as I turn back around and head for the door. I grip the icy cold handle and shrug my shoulders.

"It depends on how well you handle gore." I start to twist the knob, but Andre grabs my hand yanking it away from it.

"Gabby, I don't feel comfortable doing this." He says and backs away from me slowly after releasing my hand. "It doesn't feel right, this is Mr. Hart's lab."

"Yeah. My Dad, Andre. Come on it's fine. He already showed it to me. I just.. I need someone to tell and I only trust you." I extend my hand and he huffs before grabbing it. I give him a tender smile before twisting the knob and opening the door letting the cold air flow out.

I shiver as goosebumps emerge on my skin and my hair on my arms begin to point up to the ceiling. Andre squeezes my hand and shutters before I tug him up to my side.

I look over at him and watch his eyes slightly widen. "Your Dad has a dead person in his lab room?" I shrug my shoulders and let go of his hand.

"Yeah he's dead but like he was moving, while he was dead." I explain as I walk over and examine where Dad had slashed its skin off its forehead. "You remember those video games we played, like with zombies and stuff?"

"Yeah, why? How does this have anything to do with it?" I shake my head and give him a look but he just stares at me. "What?" He asks.

"Dead people walking around, sights of them eating others." I say as I look down at the man on the table. "It's a zombie apocalypse just like the games."

"Stop fucking with me." Andre says as he turns around and heads back to the door. "I'm going to see if Dad is outside." He says opening the door.

"Oh all by yourself?" I ask turning around and crossing my arms. "Just for one of those things to get you? For them to sink their teeth into you. This ain't a game Andre. Get your head out of your ass."

He looks at me over his shoulder before he lets go of the door handle and lets the door shut by itself. He slowly turns to face me a small frown appearing on his face.

"I don't want what you're saying to be true Gabby. Don't blame me for holding on for hope. This whole thing just sounds impossible. But, if it's true I can't help but to think we left our classmates and teachers at the school to die." He says as he looks down holding his hands palm up to his face and watches them tremble.

"I locked the door when we were leaving." I say as I step up to him but he shakes his head and looks up to me.

"No. Gabby you didn't. I watched, you just closed it. We've just got them all killed." I look down at my hands the same way he hand before and saw blood on them for a split second before it went away.

I shake my head and rub my eyes trying to get the vision out of my head. "Maybe I'm wrong, people sleep walk all the time." I say as I pat his shoulder, "Let's just go see if your Dad is outside yet."

I allow Andre to walk out first as I shut the door behind us gently. He walks ahead of me and stays quiet, I jog to catch up to him. As he arrives at the door he looks up at the keypad then back at me.

"050913." I say and he presses in the numbers allowing the door to open. He stops and turns back to me and squints his eyes in confusion.

"That's today's date." He says before continuing, "May 9th, 2013. That's odd." I shake my head and laugh as I shove him outside the door.

"You're overthinking this too much." I say as we look around the outside. "Do you see his car?" I ask and he shakes his head as he sighs heavily and slumps his shoulders.

The doors suddenly shut behind us making us jump. I felt my heart quicken its beat but finally my nerves calm down and I look to Andre.

"It must be on a timer." I say as I walk over to Mom's car. "I guess we could wait out here for him if you want." Andre nods and stands next to me propping himself against the car door.

A few minutes go by and a rustling sound emerges from the woods beside of us. "Probably another bunny." Andre says as he notices me tensing up. I nod my head and turn away before the rustling starts again.

"I'll check it out." He says as he leans up and walks over to a nearby bush. He kicks it with his foot and looks around, an arm sticks out and grabs him making me immediately rush over as he begins to scream.

I grip the persons hand and yank it off Andre as he stumbles back and lands on his ass. "What the fuck!" I yell at the person as I help Andre up. "You okay?" Andre widens his eyes and points behind me.

"W-watch out!"