Times A Ticking

6

I turn around just to be face to face with one of those dead people. I yell and start to run before the thing falls and grabs my ankle making me fall onto the ground.

"Shit!" I yell as I try to kick it off but fail. More rustling can be heard and more of those things begin to come out of different areas of the woods. "Andre help!"

"I- I don't know what to do!" He yells as he runs to me grabbing my hands and finally yanking me away from the dead man. We press our backs to each other and look at our surroundings. I close my eyes and felt tears coming. This couldn't be the end already.

A loud shot goes off making me jolt my eyes open and grip Andre's hand. "Go to the doors now!" The man yells, I didn't even pay attention to who it was before I took off with Andre.

My Dad stood in the door way holding the door open with his hands as he waits for us to make it. "Shit hurry!" He says as he grips a gun in his hand. As I arrive with Andre, Dad tells us to hold the door open. Andre holds one side as I hold the other.

Dad walks out and begins to fire shots at them, hitting them directly in the head. They fall down completely dead, I look around for the other guy who had save me but didn't see him.

"Lee!" My Dad yells as he runs behind the vehicle before he fires two more shots. "Shit. You okay man?" Dad grabs him up and Andre runs over to him before smiling.

"Dad!" He yells. He disappears behind the cars which encourages me to get up and run to check on them. I smile once I notice Andre hugging his Dad close to him and smiling. 

"My boy." He whispers as he pulls away and looks at my Dad. "Will, what the hell is going on?" He asks as Andre stands between the two of them.

"It's like an apocalypse. The brain rotters are everywhere." He says as he walks over to me and pats my back. "I'm glad you two are okay, don't ever do something stupid like that again."

"Sorry." I whisper out, Dad pulls me tight to side and kisses the top of my head before releasing me. "Lee, you're a crazy son of a bitch. Firing those shots like some cowboy." He laughs as he walks over to give him a hug and pat his back.

"I probably attracted more of the rotters didn't I?" Lee asks and Dad shrugs his shoulders after he pulls away from the hug.

"I don't know, and I don't want to find out. Come on kiddos back inside." He says as we sped walk from the cars back to the door. Dad enters the code and we allow Lee and Andre to go in front of us.

Dad walks me inside and puts in the code again to shut the door. He walks past me before I grab his arm and pull him towards me.

"What is it Pumpkin?" He says and he leans down some to my level. He stares me in the eyes as I chew on the inside of my cheek.

"The password.. It's today's date, I just find it weird." He leans up and thinks about it before laughing softly.

"You know what you're right. I didn't even notice. It's been the password since Dr. Hasburg took over." He says as he looks towards where Lee and Andre were still walking.

"When did he take over?" I ask before I begin to walk making him follow along side of me. "Like years and years ago? Before you got here?"

"No, no, no. Maybe like thirteen years ago, I'm assuming. When he came here to this little lab he went ahead and transferred me to the one in the city. Said it was better for big brains like mine." Dad smiles proudly as he continues to walk at least one step ahead of me.

"Sounds to me like he felt threatened by you. So he sent you off." I say as I look up at him, he looks at me and I quickly look back down at my feet.

"Don't be ridiculous Gabby. He's a smart man, he could do anything he wanted." He said as he pats my back making me stumble a bit forward.

"Lee!" I hear, I immediately knew it was Andre's Mom. "Oh my precious Lee!" She yells just as Dad and I enter the lobby to watch the family of three hug.

"My sweet Dianne." He says with joy over flooding his voice as he kisses her and Andre on the top of their heads. "Thank you Will, for keeping them safe for me. I owe you."

"Don't mention it. I know you'd do the same." He smiles as he walks down the few steps to reach the rest of the group.

"Dad." Adam says as he stands up and straightens out his shirt. "What are we doing here exactly? We've been here for at least an hour or more and you haven't told us barely anything."

"Lee." Dad calls out as he motions for Lee to come stand behind him. "The rest of you please take a seat. This is going to be complicated to explain." Dad exhales deeply and gives Lee a knowing look.

"So these rotters that are outside, they are dangerous. This isn't like the video games, or the movies you guys watch and play. I'm afraid this is far more advanced." Lee says as he clasps his hands together and looks over at my Dad.

"Well, as he was saying this isn't like a game or movie. This is real. There must've been something that went wrong at one of the laboratories to cause this. I'm not sure which one. I'm not sure how or why this happened." Dad says as he looks over at Mom who had an expression of fear.

"Wait, you don't know what caused this? How the hell are you gonna fix it then?" Hannah stands up and places her hands on her hips as she stares him down.

"Hannah sweetie, you have to trust me." Dad says with a large sigh following behind. "Lee and I are very well trained in our field of study." Dad looks over and locks eyes with me, he knew that I knew he couldn't fix this. Well maybe there's a slight chance he could.

Hannah shakes her head and begins to walk past us, "I need some fresh air." I widen my eyes and grab her arm yanking her back. "Ow you twerp!" She says as she slings her arm away.

"Don't go out there. The rotters are out there, Andre and I made the mistake of walking outside. We could've died if it wasn't for Lee and Dad." Mom widens her eyes and stands up as she walks towards me.

"You're telling me you went outside with my permission?" She scolds as she stares into my eyes. "Do you know how serious this is Gabby! This isn't a game young lady."

"Jenn, please go easy on her. She didn't know." Dad says as he places a loving hand on her shoulder. I watch as her eyes soften at his touch and she adverts her attention to him giving a small smile.

"Yeah you're right honey." She says before looking back at me. "Just... Next time please tell me." She kisses the top of my head and hugs me close before pulling away. "William can I talk to you? Privately?"

He nods his head and walks off with her, I look over an Andre before I look back towards where my parents had walked off to. I begin walking towards them before Adam steps in front of me.

"Gabby." He says crossing his arms over his chest. I groan and stop my foot slightly and cross my arms over my chest as well.

"I swear you always stop me from eavesdropping on their conversation. Buzz kill." I mumble and he shakes his head before grabbing my upper arm and pulling me away from everyone else.

He takes a deep breath before letting me go, he looks around then points at the hallway discreetly. I raise an eyebrow in suspicion and uncross my arms.

"You saw it too."