Forgotten Memories

Chapter 2

Loud banging echos throughout the house. I jump out of my deam and sit up in my bed.  I slide out of my bed and walk towards my door into the hallway. Pictures cover the walls, I just walk down the hall and glance into my little brothers room; he's not there. 'Probably in mom's room' I think. Heading down towards my mom's room I hear a muffled crying. "Mom?" I say quietly, "Are you okay?" The crying seems to stop abruptly. I hear a deep hushed voice mumbling. Closer to the door now I try to understand the voice but all I hear is mumbled whispers. I look to my left and see that the front door is open; I walk over, close it back and lock it. "Mom?" I whisper out. I grab the home phone and walk closer to my mothers room. I hear a loud thud and my mother cries out. I get to her door, peer through the crack and see the most horrific sight--

I gasp awake, tears on my face. I try to wipe my eyes but my hands are roped together. "Hello?" I say timidly "Why are my hands roped? What is going on here? " Pain ripples through my head and I groan out. Someone rushes into the dark room."Hello?" I say weakly to the dark figure. "Could you kindly untie me and explain what is going on?" The figure pulls out a knife, bends down and slices the rope on my hands swiftly. I rub my wrists and squint at the dark figure, trying to make out a face. The figure stands back up and turns out of the room. I stare for a minute when I hear footsteps again. A lanturn shines in the doorway. I look up and see a man, about 30 years old roughly. He has a ragged bear and dark hair. I notice a scar on his cheek and a cross necklace dangling from his neck. He interupts my thoughts. "You can call me L." He says "Now, what is a girl like you doing out on your lonesome? You don't seem to be bitten...Do you have a family or a group that you're with?" He asks. My eyes widen "What are you talking about?" I say in a hoarse voice "I'm not sure what is going on, you see, I just woke up earlier..." He stares at me with deep brown eyes. "You mean you have no idea what happened?" I shake my head. "This is going to sound completely crazy to you then...A disease broke out almost two months ago, the military tried to keep it under control...but it was too much. Too many people got infected. Soon we were overrun by the dead. See this disease, it basically makes you go insane. The nervous system starts to break down, hallucinations fill your brain, and then your brain stops receiving oxygen. Soon you die but you're not 'dead' for long. This disease spreads through bite, it takes over; once bitten you cannot stop it unless you shoot yourself right in the brain." He says with a pained look on his face. "So...like zombies?" I ask. "I suppose you can say that...but not exactly. That is probably an easier way to explain it, though. Except I call them biters and others call them walkers or the infected even..." L says glancing at me. "Oh. I guess that does kinda make sense. Except it's kinda hard to believe..." I say with heavy eyes. "Look, I can see you need your rest. So you sleep now and when you wake up you can tell me your name and what happened to you okay?" I nod with what is left of my energy and fall back into the deep abyss of sleep.

Through the small crack of the door I see my mother in the corner of her room, bound by her hands and feet, tears stain her pale almost ghost-like face. A few feet from my mother lay my little brother, blood covering his head, stiff on the ground. I place a hand over my mouth to prevent myself from crying out. Now I see him, a large man, wearing a dark hoodie and holding a gun. He was mumbling something to my mother. I grip thr phone in my hand and quietly dial 9-1-1. I let it ring and the operator answers "911 what is your emergency?" I breathe into the phone, not wanting to talk but still signal I was there. "Hello? Are you in danger? Hello? I have your address, I will send a police car and an ambulance right away." She says quickly into the phone. I breathe out a sigh of relief and peer back into the room. I see my brother stir from where he lay and let out a cry of pain.Tears  fall from my eyes. My mother also starts crying again. The man looks at him and kicks him and then my brother stops moving again. He mumbles to my mother again. She looks up and catches a glance of me in the door. A look of panic flashes in her eyes. She shakes her head at the man, he points the gun at her head, she stares at me and mouths 'I love you'. Tears pour out of my eyes and adrenaline surges through my bloodstream. "No!" I shout and run towards the man, he turns on his heel and hits me on the head with the gun. I land on the foot board of the bed, hearing a loud snapping sound. Crying out in pain I try to get up again, only to get the rough bottom of hunting boots smashed on the side of my head. I fall to the ground and stare at my mother."I love you too. The p-police are coming. I'm so sorry mom!" I start to sob, making the pain in my chest worse. The man stomps on my chest, adding to the pain, and I hear another snap. I cry out and look at my little brother. The man saw and stomped on him as well. "Now you can all die, as one big happy family." He says in a gruffy voice. He hits me harder with the gun and my eyes get heavy, darkness starts to surround me, that's when I hear the sirens.' They came, thank God...' I think. Only the man doesn't stop, "I'm going to finish this no matter what." he says and proceeds to point the gun at my mother. The last thing I hear is a gun shot and our front door crash down. My eyelids fall and I let the darkness take me in.