Surviving The Walking Dead (BOOK ONE IN THE SURVIVING THE WALKING DEAD SERIES)

Officer Blake

     The sound of passing cars broke the silence as my father drove down the highway towards home. We had been gone all weekend two days, and I was glad to be finally going home. My father didn't yell at me the rest of the trip, but that one time was enough for me. Kill to survive. It repeated in my head like a catchy tune. I desperately wanted to break the silence between us, but the tension was thicker than the fog in the mountains we just left behind. I sat in silence anticipating the moment that I could exit the truck.

     We turned onto the road leading to our house when a sudden smell caught my attention, the undeniable smell of smoke and burning wood. I turned to my father, but he didn't seem to notice. "Someone's buildin' a fire pretty early, huh daddy?"

     "Smells like it." He sighed as he sniffed the air. His eyes suddenly widened as he began speeding down the road.

     "What is it daddy?" I asked gripping my seat for dear life. He didn't answer me, I turned to face forward and realized why. The sky was orange and full of dark smoke, it was obviously not someone burning wood.

     "Oh my God!" My father shouted. My jaw dropped in disbelief as we pulled up to our driveway, our house was engulfed in flames. The path was blocked off and riddled with emergency vehicles, ambulance, police, and the fire department. The fire department was still putting out the fire that consuming our home. "Stay in the truck!" He shouted as he jumped out of the truck and ran towards the house, but was stopped by the fire chief.

     I could hear my father screaming. "WHERE'S MY WIFE? WHERE'S BEV?" I couldn't make out what the fire chief said, but it obviously wasn't good news. My dad continued to scream as I slowly climbed out of the truck. "BEV! BEV!" I tugged on my dad's shirt and he quickly turned to me. Tears streamed from his eyes as he grabbed me by my wrist and dragged me back to the truck. "I told ya to stay in the fuckin' truck!"

     "Where's mommy?" I couldn't hold it back any longer, the words just came out like a vomit. He didn't say a word as he threw me back into the truck and returned to where he stood just moments ago. Time seemed to slow down as I awaited to hear news of my mom. I watched the firefighters put out the fire and by the grace of God, it started to rain just as the trucks began to run low on water.

     An hour passed since my dad and I arrived and the fire was finally put out, skeletal remains of what once was our home was all that stood. Firefighters began sifting through the soot and fallen debris looking for any sign of my mom, I silently prayed she was at work when the fire broke out. Minutes later, my dad fell to his knees letting out a heart wrenching scream as a firefighter walked onto the front yard carrying my mom. Her clothes were burned away and all that remained was her singed hair and severely burned corpse.

     "NO!" The firefighters gently placed her on the ground as paramedics rushed over to her body. My dad crawled towards her screaming her name. "BEV!" He shouted grabbing her face. "BEV! OH, GOD! PLEASE, NO! BEV!" I quietly got out of the truck and slowly made my way towards her.

     "Sir, ya need to step back." A paramedic kept trying to pull my dad away.

     "NO! GET OFF ME! MY WIFE IS DEAD! SHE'S FUCKIN' DEAD!" The paramedics knew there was nothing they could do for her, but they still had to pronounce her dead. The image of my deceased mom burned into my mind like a hot brand and no matter how many times I blinked, the image remained. As I walked closer I was suddenly picked up by a mysterious man, The Chief of Police.

     "C'mon," He said in a somber sigh. "Ya don't wanna see this." He carried me to the back of the ambulance and sat me down on the step. "Are ya hungry?" I slightly looked up at him and gently nodded. "Ya wanna come with me to get some breakfast? I know a place that serves the best pancakes in all of Atlanta." I looked over at my dad who was still hovering over my mom's dead body hoping my dad would turn and tell me to go. "Don't worry, he told me to get ya outta here." I slightly smiled as he helped me down and walked me to the back seat of his police cruiser.