First Steps | A Zombie Apocalypse Story (Completed)

Day 5

Charlie

"Hey, Bobby. Mom called and wanted you to unload the dishwasher," I say with a loud sigh, picking at the chipping parts of my bright pink nail polish. I don't understand why she is making us do all these extra chores, and not to mention extra school work that the teachers didn't assign. School is already closed until further notice with the sick thing going around. I think they were planning on reviewing whether to open schools again after two weeks.

I sigh. My mom always cleans whenever she is nervous, and when she can't, she makes us clean and has us send her photos.

"Bobby, did you hear me?" I question with some edge in my voice. Mom is on a business trip and was supposed to be back a few days ago, so I am ticked nonetheless. Who just cancels a flight for a little cold that's going around the country?

"Bobby!" I yell, my ears feeling hot. He flinches and swallows as he enters the room, and I can't help but feel bad for yelling. I'm not supposed to yell at him. Yelling at him isn't the same as yelling at your average person because of how his brain works. His emotions are more extreme than others.

I hate having to act like the big sister although I'm fifteen, and he is twenty-two. I feel like I have to work so much harder for what I do, and for the same attention from Mom that Bobby gets with the snap of his fingers. Most of the time, his behavior is pretty normal, but at times, he just annoys the ever-living crap out of me. And he gets away with misbehaving so much more! It just isn't right.

"Sorry." I apply pressure to my temples. "Sorry. What are you even looking at?" I ask hopelessly, looking over his shoulder. I strain my eyes, focusing on the Twitter feed.

"Oh my God!" I cover my mouth in shock. Police cars surround a man, regular people in the background, eager to get closer to the scene. The video quality is blurry between the shaking and the dark sky transforming to daytime.

"What is happening?" I drop my irritation from his complete block out of my voice as I take a moment to watch the video. I watch as two police officers try to restrain a man that has blood dribbling out of his mouth. The hostile man gets loose from the officer's grip and bites into his shoulder, tearing the shirt and flesh alike. A tear rolls down my face, a quiet gasp escaping my lips as I try to keep my composure to prevent him from melting down... And preventing me from breaking down myself. The video leaves me scarred, the gruesome event replaying in my head like a TikTok.

"I don't know, I-I-I was just scrolling through Twitter and this was trending on the page." He looks at me with an indefinable look, but I know he is worried, anyway. He brushes his hands through his hair forcefully, a few tears making their way down his face. The feeling of worry is mutual.

"Is this even real?" I open up a new tab and search "man attacks police officer," and the nightmare fuel I just saw pops up from various news outlets. "We've gotta call mom." He nods in agreement. I pull out my cell phone and select her number. The phone rings a few times before she picks up.

"Charlie, are you alright? Bobby?" I can hear the panic in her tone.

"Yeah, yeah. We're fine. Are you? Did you see the news?" I clasp onto the phone tightly, my eyebrows scrunching up. Bobby snatches my phone and puts it on speaker.

"Yes, but the CDC has indicated that it is nothing to be fearful of and that we should go on with our everyday tasks with precaution," she says in a mellow voice, almost like she was reassuring herself. Did she see any videos like the one I just saw? I sigh and walk over to the teal couch. I collapse onto it dramatically which results in an eye roll from my brother. He sits beside me.

"I just wanna know when you'll be home."

"Linda is going to be coming by in a couple of days to make sure you two haven't killed each other and to bring some groceries. There's no way to tell when I'll be back. So far no information has been put out on new flights." I can hear the stress in her tone as she sighs. "All I can say is to not kill your brother while I'm gone? And wash your hands when possible? Flu season isn't over yet, and I don't want my babies getting sick while I'm gone," she adds in a baby voice.