Daybreak

Jaiden

The summer evening sun shone down at me, pretty as could be. I watched it go down, dusk approaching slowly but surely. Being rich doesn't mean I can't enjoy the simpler things in life; just means I have a better view of them.

As it grew dimmer across the yard, I subconsciously stroked my necklace. It was a pentacle, used for protection in Wicca. Daddy bought it for me so it could protect me when he wasn't here to. Makes sense. If my wife had died, I wouldn't want my only daughter dying too. She shouldn't have worked in the department that she had.

    I jumped, a familiar "creeeeek" of the door from my balcony door appearing out of the silence. 

    "Oh, I'm sorry, lovebug. Didn't mean to make you jump." The voice of my father chuckled.

I giggled slightly. "Don't worry. I was focusing on the sunset and got lost in my head," I replied, looking over my shoulder to see him standing behind me.

"Why of course, Rapunzel."

I rolled my eyes and playfully pushed him, laughing. Soon we got cut off, a police siren tainting the calm atmosphere.

"I wonder what that's all about?" My father had a puzzled frown.

Must be a serious fire, sounding so long. Like clockwork, a frantic ambulance cried past our house. By instinct, I stood up and scurried to my room and then out to the stairs, bouncing down the stairway. Entering the kitchen led me to a scene out of something like Bird Box. People were running the streets like maniacs. Crazed people chasing each other like mad-men. What the hell is wrong with everybody?

"Jaiden? Why'd you run away?" my father's voice called halfway downstairs.

I stared out the window in shock. "D-Daddy... look outside." My voice shook, but I didn't cry.

"Oh, no sweetie. It's okay. Nothing to worry about." He didn't even sound completely sure. "You know how often people tend to riot their job... or the government."

I furrowed my brow as a passerby ran from a ravenous maniac. "You call that rioting?"

I looked closer at the chasers.

Thud.

I jumped back like I was being jumpscared from a horror movie. A civilian ran into our window in a panic, only to be taken down by another.

Wait, something looks off about that crazy guy, I thought. I pressed my face to the glass, my father hugging me from behind, preparing for someone to jump through the kitchen and break the glass. The window was long. Looking down I noticed the victim was still being attacked, despite not fighting back. I observed longer until the attacker slowly lifted his head up. I watched, frozen with curiosity. His mouth dripped with fresh blood.

Holy shit... Cannibals? From where?

    I saw the man's face, but was he really human? He looked rotted. Like a walking corpse. It growled at us, pure white eyes fixated on me and Dad. It started scraping at the window. Dad pulled me back. "That's not right... that's not human..." he mumbled under his breath. He thought I couldn't hear him, didn't he?

    "Jade, we need to get away from the windows," he said firmly, ushering me towards the living room.

    I looked back at the mess outside, dumbfounded. I nodded as Dad pulled me away from sight of the creature. We scurried away to the living room and crouched behind a sectional, avoiding the windows across the room.

    Daddy looked around alertly. "This can't be real..."

    "Daddy? Do you know what that... that thing was?"

    He sighed. "Well... you know what zombies are, right?" A silly question, but he was completely serious.

    "Uhm... I do. Everyone does."

    "Everyone thought they could never exist..." My father's head hung.

    I stared at him. He was crazy. Isn't that just nerd's fiction? Dumb video game and movie plot arcs.

    "Listen, Jade. I'm going to get a knife or something that'll give us a survival chance. Stay here and lay low, please," he instructed quietly.

    I nodded. Guess this all is truly real, huh? I watched as Dad crept back into the kitchen. We owned no guns. No baseball bat, no survival or combat knives. We live life in lavish. Why own guns like barbarians of the countryside? Maybe they'd be helpful now but I don't want to kill those creatures. What if they're still conscious beings?  Lost experiments, maybe? Who knows what our government is up to.

Suddenly I heard stumbling coming towards my hiding spot. Crap, did those demons get in the house already? I  crept to the side, hoping I'd get out of sight before it can come into the room. I scurried quickly to the other L shape part of the sofa and peeked around the corner, preparing for a monstrosity to stumble its way to me. Instead, I see my father, knife in one hand with the other on a bloody patch on his shirt.

I scrambled to stand up. "D-Daddy? Are you okay?" I ushered him to the floor, back where we were hiding. I looked him up and down. His left side seems to be the only place wounded. I lifted his hand off the bloodstain.

I gasped. A bite. "You were attacked? Shouldn't we go to a hospital? I'll call 911. D-don't I'll get help." I looked around like a scared wild cat. I left my phone in my bedroom upstairs, didn't I?

"Jaiden... You have to go to safety before it's too late."

"I thought you were only going to the kitchen... Why did you go outside?" I asked, tears pricking my eyes.

"I couldn't find a sharp enough knife... I thought there could've been lingering weapons outside. There were only zombies; too many. And they got me..." He coughed and winced in pain. He didn't even face me.

"Daddy, I can't just... leave you to rot. You have to come with me-"

"No. Jade... it won't be long before I end up turning. Either run away or kill me before it's too late..." This time he turned his head to look me in the eyes. I saw a small smirk creep upon his lips. "I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you too, Daddy." I smiled slightly.

"You need to go, Jade. Soon enough I'll be a monster."

"Wait- I'm not letting you turn into those things! I'm... I don't want to kill you."

    Dad didn't answer. He started a coughing fit. His skin turned to grey slowly, his skin seeming to rot. It spread to his face; taking the form of the creatures outside. The zombies.

    But then he stopped. Stopped moving. "D-Daddy?" I reached towards his face to see if he was alive. He jerked his head toward me. I jumped back in shock as my father tried attacking me. Tears fell as I slid my feet against the wooden floor, scrambling away. I reached and grabbed the knife he was holding before he turned. "S-stay back! Y-you're still in there Daddy, I-I know it..."

    But the beast that was once Dad lunged at me. I rolled out of its grip. Before it could get up again, a bullet pierced its skull with a loud gunshot. My dad. He's gone.