Zantanium

The beginning

Murphy and I finally reached home, the white picket fence kind of home you would find in a home and garden magazine. I always wanted to get away from home and discover the outside but the outside now made me wanna enter the white picket fence.

We walked through the door and found that the house was empty, the TV was on the news station where Kat Winslow was downtown reporting the suspicious cannibal outbreak.

"Mom, dad?" Murphys voice booms through the house. He begins to walk upstairs repeatedly calling for our parents. When he comes back down he looks at me with sad desperate eyes, like a child who got lost in Walmart. I would often refer the look to him being the youngest and this was him when he took a break from playing pretend mature Murphy.

"They're not here Steffi" he says with his voice barely above a whisper. I looked back at the TV where Kat Winslow was screaming as another bloody man attacked her on camera. Murphy and I watched in horror as she continued to kick and scream. What was happening?

I turned the TV off, not wanting to watch anymore. I went upstairs and sat in my room, whatever was going was scaring me and all I really needed right now was my mother.

About an hour later Murphy came in a knocked on the door, "Stephanie,  I need to talk to you" I got up and walked towards the door. When I opened it my brother stood there with a tear stained face and I could already tell what he was going to say "Mom and dad are dead" he says choking on his words, he pulls me into a hug and for a while we just stood in my doorway crying.

It was dark out when we managed to pull ourselves together, we went downstairs and turned back on the TV where Kat Winslow use to be screaming while being torn apart. Instead of a news reporter there was a alert message on the screen stating that the country was under attack, that a virus called Zambian had been accidentally released from a science lab in Frankfort Kentucky, it continued with symptoms such as foaming of the mouth, loss of speech and finally the attacking of uncontaminated tissue. "Zombies" Murphy said while looking at the screen "this is the Apocalypse" he says in an unsettling tone. "What are we gonna do?" I asked looking at my brother, hoping he would know exactly what to do. The look on his face failed to give me that reassurance.

The apocalypse? I thought that was something that only happened in movies. I remember how I would always joke with Murphy about it but I guess that the jokes are over.

It was midnight when the power cut off, I wasn't sure if it was because of the outbreak or the result of a failed power bill. "Stephanie" Murphy called while waving a flashlight. I covered my face as the bright beam shown brightly in my eyes. Murphy lowers the beam and comes towards me. "We gotta get out of here. It isn't safe these these things would sniff us out faster than a bloodhound" he says placing the flashlight on my dresser "pack a bag of important things and meet me downstairs" he says leaving my room. I got up confused and groggy, was he really serious?

I got up following my brothers orders and packed my things, I wasn't sure what was gonna happen but it scared me. I shut my door and began to pack as if I was just going away for a vacation a dark awful man eating vacation.

When I got downstairs my brother was standing with his bag in his hand and dad's gun on his shoulder. "What are you doing with that?" I say pointing to the black barrel "it's to keep us safe Steph" he says reaching for my bag.

"Where are we going?" I ask following him to the garage "there are safe camps on the west coast, we're gonna go there until this Zambian thing goes away" he replies throwing our bags in the back of the truck.

I continue to stare as he hops into the cab, cranking the engine.
"You coming Steph?" He asked concerned but annoyed, I nodded and climbed into the passenger side, throwing the leather seat belt across my shoulder.

I looked around at the garage from my window, it was hard to believe that just a day ago dad was sitting here with his tools and oil stains on his shirt, looking at me with those brown eyes full of love, the fatherly love I knew I would ache to feel again.

Murphy opens the garage door and pulls out onto the smoothly paved driveway. What was once a lively neighborhood had turned into a haunted mess, there was wrecked cars and people running. I looked over to Murphy who had tear filled eyes as he watched Mrs carter the woman who had taught Murphy how to play piano fall and get trampled to death by a large crowd. I patted his shoulder softly, he shook his head and continued to drive down the chaotic street.

"Do you think this will end soon?" I asked breaking the silence that filled the truck. "I don't know" my brother says looking over at me. I turn my head and look down to my shoes, I couldn't look out the window anymore.

"Stephanie look!" Murphy says pointing outside, I look up to see my dad. My heart began to pound as I jumped out of the truck towards my father.

"Daddy you're alive" I say with tears streaming down my face. My father looked at me with hopeful eyes as he embraced me tightly "Stephanie" he says clutching the back of my head.

I pull away and look around him, "Where's mom?" I say fearfully "I don't know, I thought she was with you and your brother, where's Murphy?" He says looking at the truck "in the truck, come on let's go look for mom" I say pulling on his arm.

I let go when he cried out in pain. "Daddy? What's wrong?" I asked resting my hand on his shoulder "Steph" Murphy calls from the truck, waving a hand towards my brother, I lifted my dads sleeve to reveal a nasty bite mark that was growing red. I gasped and looked back at my brother giving him a view of the mark.

Moments later my dad fell to the ground, his body began to violently shake "Stephanie get back in the truck" Murphy says now grabbing me. My father began to open his eyes that were once a chocolate brown but are now a dark ugly yellow. "Dad" I call out, he looks at me and let's out a piercing scream before charging towards me and my brother.

I frantically run towards the truck before tripping, I pick myself up quickly and grab the door handle and open it when I felt something grab my shoulder. I heard that loud scream followed by a gunshot.

My ears ringed as I felt myself being hoisted into the truck. I looked over to see my dads body laying on the ground.

Murphy speeds off, leaving me with ringing ears and the image of dad....dad that was now dead.

"You killed him" I managed to choke out, looking towards my brother who never thought about touching a gun.

"I had to" he says sadly

"That was our father, and you killed him Murphy!" I say crying

"He was already dead Steph!, whatever this disease is, it killed him before I did. I was just finishing the job"

We continued to sit in silence as the engine purred, I was tired from crying so I let myself drift to sleep. Thoughts of my dad filled my head, whatever this is wasn't over.

It's only the beginning