Beacon

7

"Father!"

"Elisabeth."

"Father please we need to get out of here there's there's.."

"There's zombies. I know. You and Oliver go up to the lighthouse it might be the only safe place."

"What about you you need to come with us!"

    My throat burns from yelling and my eyes burn with the threat of tears. I haven't yelled at him like that since I was a kid.

"You can't take me. It's not safe."

    Before I could protest he held out his arm, there was a huge bite mark. Blood pooled around it and purple spread within and around it. He held up his hand when I was about to speak.

"I'm going to fall asleep soon, and when I wake up I'm going to be one of them."

He beckoned towards the back door. I went towards him wanting to hug him and he backed away.

"Getting their blood into yours is how the infection spreads. It might still be on me I can't touch you. The body shuts down once it's in the bloodstream, but the infection stimulates the brain again and it controls it. Making the person wake up unaware, and hungry for flesh."

"How do you know th-"

"The agency has known a disease like this could happen we never thought it actually would. Now go Elisabeth."

"We can find a way come on. Oliver needs you he needs you to be alive. Dad please."

He looked up at me calling him Dad,and I thought I saw pain in his eyes but it was gone in a second.

"What he needs is to get to safety now go. I'll take care of myself."

I walked towards the door, and then remembering Oliver in the car I broke into a run, and slammed the lab door behind me. As I ran up the steps towards the door I heard a loud bang, a gun. He must have, he must be gone,he just.

Can't think of that now, need to get back to Oliver. My body and mind are completely exhausted from today, my brain not comprehending all this loss. Bursting through the front door I see Oliver staring through the windsheild with wide eyes, and when he sees me he motions to the back of the van. I look behind and see zombies moving in on the van, maybe 20 feet away. Sprinting towards the van I swing the door open and it falls off it's hinges.

"Run!"

"Where? Where's Daddy!" He's crying hard now, his face contorting.

"Just run! Towards the lighthouse, now!"

"I'm not going anywhere without Daddy! I don't wanna run anymore! I'm tired and I'm hungry I don't wanna run."

    The zombies are only 15 feet away now, and moving faster because of the noise. Frustration bubbles up inside me.

"God damn it Oliver run to the lighthouse, now!"

    His eyes widen and more tears come down because of me cursing. But it works because he finally starts running and I grab the supplies, rifling through the gun bag for a pistol. I guess Kathy's lessons will come in handy. I can't carry the big bag of food and the gun bag so I dump what I can into the backpack and sling it over my shoulder, pistol in hand. The bag slows me down but I catch up with him quickly, his legs to small to get anywhere too fast.

    We're about halfway to the lighthouse when I start slowing down because of a stitch in my side. The zombies are moving in fast now,faster than I remember them being earlier today. I turn off the safety and point it towards the group. There's probably around fifteen of them. Oliver stops and looks at me, fear in his eyes but no more tears.

"Keep running." I say, my voice more severe than it's ever been.

    He turns and runs again, holding onto his side as he does. I keep the pistol held in front of me. I get into the stance that Kathy made me practice over and over. Pain zips through my chest at the thought of her.

"Not now" I whisper to myself.

    I hold out the gun and aim at the zombies in the lead, I squeeze the trigger and my ears ring. I look and see I got it in the leg, not too bad. I keep backing up and shoot at the rest of them, getting one in the chest but mostly just grazing them or missing completely. Either from my hands shaking terribly or because I've never tried to hit a moving target before. The ones that aren't wounded move quicker towards the noise, there black unblinking eyes tearing into me.

    I sprint to Oliver and throw him over my shoulder in one swift motion, adrenaline clearing my mind. We get to the lighthouse and I grab the hidden key and we run inside. Locking the door behind me I fly up the stairs, Oliver still on my shoulder. Once we get to the small room at the top I close the second door and slide Oliver off my shoulder. For once, he doesn't say a word.

    We stare out the window together and I watch the ocean. It feels good to see the waves washing over the shore. No matter what's going on up here the ocean will just keep crashing in. That won't change even though everything else is. I can't help but think of the waves washing over me washing me away, being anywhere but here. Being anyone but me, being anything but a make-up mother. But  as soon as that thought comes I push it away, guilty, and rifle through the backpack handing each of us a cookie.

    Oliver gives me a small smile as a thank you. I think he's still stunned from the events of the day but I think mostly my yelling and cursing, which he's almost never heard before. We eat in silence and look out the window again until the sun goes down, it's early spring so the sun still sets early, shaking off winter like the rest of us. I set up a bed on the floor from old spare blankets and my head feels the heaviest it's ever been, and as soon as my head reaches the lumpy make-shift pillow, I slip into a dreamless sleep.