The Risen

Chapter 9: Back to My House

        Mom is the second one to wake up, after me. It seems she was having a nightmare of her own.

        I go over and sit on the couch beside her. Mom hugs me and strokes my hair. I look at her face. She is frowning slightly. Her green eyes stare at nothing.

        "Mom, I couldn't save her. I tried. But they're too evil, too quick, too strong," I confess. I do not need to be specific with my mom. She knows who I'm talking about. 

        "I know, sweetie," Mom whispers. She sniffs, and I know she's crying.

         I put myself in her shoes. I imagine losing her when my husband is worse than dead. And I'm running from my husband and his evil minions. I think I am probably the only one who understands what she is going through.

        We sit there for a while until Mrs. Doble starts making breakfast in the kitchen. Mom gets up to help her.

        Then a thought occurs to me. I killed the boy, but I did not destroy his body. Grandma is dead, but her body is still whole. This means my father can still use their bodies and bring them back to life to be used in the zombie population.

                                                                                         ^^^^^

        Soon pancakes are on the hot griddle and the smell of bacon is in the air. 

        The smell is probably what woke Keira up, because no sound could ever make her stir. She comes down the staircase, her dark blond hair (which she got from her mom) a mess, rubbing her blue eyes. Those eyes open wide when she sees me.

        "Holli! What are you doing here?" she asks happily. 

        "It's kind of a long story," I reply. "I think we should eat breakfast before I tell you."

        We go to the kitchen and help ourselves to heaping plates of chocolate chip pancakes and crispy bacon.

        We make polite talk, asking how we have been, what we've been up to. Finally Mrs. Doble asks me how my arm is doing. 

        I shrug. "I haven't checked it yet."

        We unwrap the bandages. The ointments did not help at all. The puss that is still oozing from the bite marks appear to have repelled the ointment. As for the bite marks themselves, they are now bruised and are still a bit yellow. 

        "Well...It's a little better than yesterday..." Mrs. Doble trails off. 

        She may be right, but you can't see that big of a difference.

        Mrs. Doble cleans the bite again and re-wraps it.  

        "So Beth, you had something important you wanted to tell me last night?" Mrs. Doble says, her eyebrows raised. 

        "Uh, yes, I-I did..." Mom stammers. 

        She looks at me. Her eyes dart to Keira, and I understand what she's asking. Should Keira be here while I tell the story?

        I nod. Keira has a right to know.

        Mom tells the story for the rest of breakfast. I have to fill in some parts for her, namely the part where Grandma died, seeing as Mom wasn't there, and she got all choked up so she couldn't speak.  

        When Mom finishes, I look at the Dobles and say, "Please don't think we're crazy!"

        Keira and Mrs. Doble just sit there. 

        Finally Keira breaks the silence, telling me, "I think you're telling the truth. It seems crazy, but . . . your family is the craziest one I know. Anything can happen with you guys."

        I smile, and relief floods through me. At least my best friend doesn't think I'm a complete lunatic. 

        A thought floats through my brain. I grasp it.

        "What if the zombies are no longer at our house, Mom?" I say suddenly. 

        "Zombies, what are you talking about?" Mrs. Doble cries. 

        "I am oficially calling the mutant people who tried to kill me zombies," I answer. "Ok, here is my thought process. Every night, the zombies go out and kill people. They then turn those dead humans into zombies. The more zombies there are, the more people they can kill to make into more zombies. By now, they could have over thirty zombies, meaning they couldn't stay in our house. What if they moved somewhere else?"

        "Well, I think it's a good idea to check," Mom replies. 

        "We might want to bring some weapons, then," I say.

                                                                                        ^^^^^

        Thirty minutes later we are in the car. Ollie is in control. Mom and Mrs. Doble sit in the front seats, while Keira and I take the back seats. 

        Mrs. Doble gave Mom a pistol. The gun came from Mr. Doble's study. Mrs. Doble has not touched a thing in that office (other than to clean) since Mr. Doble died in a car accident five years ago, while he was trying out a new car that was run by a computer, like Ollie, for his work company. The system crashed, and so did the car. Mr. Doble was killed in a head-on collision.

        We park the car less than a block away from my house, in case we have to run, but we also do not want to be seen if the zombies are actually still living in my house.

        As we creep up to the house, we peer through the windows. There are no signs of life. Mom cautiously opens the back door, gun at the ready. Nothing.

        "I think it's clear," she breathes.    

        We are still quiet as we search the house. We find no one, but the place is trashed. Broken plates and dishes litter the kitchen floor, and glass crunches underfoot from smashed windows. The furniture in the living room all has three or less legs. 

        I pack a bunch of clothes in a suitcase, along with a bag of toiletries. Mom does the same, grabbing her M-Card, which is basically like carrying your whole bank around with you. You can view your money online and deposit money into your bank, which then shows up on your M-Card. This is really useful because you don't have to go to the bank to take money out of your account. The money just shows up on your M-Card, and you have your money right there. Also, it has a picture of you and how old you are in it, so if someone stole your M-Card, they wouldn't be able to use it. 

        Mrs. Doble, Keira and I stand by the back door, waiting for Mom to come out of her room. We are just starting to get impatient, when she stumbles and trips through the doorway of her room. She lays sprawled out on the floor for a few moments, then rolls over and stands up. She peers at something on the floor...no, something in the doorway, hovering about six inches off the ground.

        A look of terror comes over her. "Trip wire, go, go, go!" she screams. 

        We sprint out the door and run for the car. I accidentally drop my suitcase, my bitten arm suddenly twitching and stinging. Keira helps me carry it. 

        "Come on, Holli!" she urges. 

        We are halfway to the car before we see the first zombie. I automatically know it is not a human, because it is running unnaturally fast. 

        And it is quickly gaining on us.