The One We Call Hope

~7~ Waking Up to Dreams and Nightmares

Sofia's father screamed out her name. "Sofia!" The world was pitch black, nothing surrounding Sofia. Sofia saw her father reaching out to her. His long slender fingers weren't able to reach her.

She shouted back. "Daddy! Reach!" She watched as zombies appeared and jumped on him, biting every part of him. His arm was still stretched out towards her, so Sofia started running towards him. No matter how fast she ran, she never moved an inch. "Daddy! No please! I need you! Mom needs you!!" She cried as she stretched her arm towards him. The distance from him never changed. The cruel pitch-black world.

"Sofia!" Sofia quickly gasped as she opened her eyes, getting out of that nightmare. She looked around. She was still in the car, but the car was not moving. The car was parked in the middle of the street in a rather small town filled with fog. She looked at the person who screamed her name to see Monica smiling lightly. "Get up. We need gas."

Sofia slowly sat up and noticed she was sweating like crazy. She quickly wiped the sweat from her forehead and fanned herself. "Where are we?" Monica shrugged and looked around. Sofia noticed no one else was in the car. "Where is everyone?" Monica turned towards her.

"They went looking for supplies. They told me to wake you up and keep an eye on the car." Sofia nodded and picked up the bat next to her.

Sofia looked down, still shaken from her dream. "Hey, Monica?" The friend looked at Sofia. "The people back at the school." Sofia looked at Monica. "Do you think anyone survived? It was filled with zombies when we left, and us escaping was by chance. If Desirae weren't there to figure out what attracts the zombies, we would've-"

"What matters now is that we escaped, right?" Monica smiled at Sofia, cutting her off. "We lucked out a lot, and here we are. Now we just keep it up, right?"

Sofia stared at her friend, hesitant. "Yeah, you're right." Sofia frowned. "I miss my brother though. And my dad."

Monica gently patted Sofia's head. "Talk to me. Why do you miss them?"

"What do you mean why?" Sofia was taken back until she realized. 'She didn't have a good family,' Sofia thought to herself. "Well," Sofia started. "My brother, Max, was in college. He was supposed to graduate next year actually." Sofia paused, trying to regain her composure. "Every weekend he would call the house and talk about all the things he did. With dad, he talked about the girls he met that week. With mom, he talked about some foods he ate and what he did at school. With me, he asked about my week and told me what he planned on doing next week." Sofia frowned, wiping her eyes. "And my dad. He was the best dad ever." Monica looked out the window. "He would always know when I was sad, or angry. He would make sure I ate and left me alone while studying. Even though he was always tired from work, he always made time for me."

Monica huffed in envy. "You know," she started, "listening to you talk about your family makes me envious."

Sofia quickly looked at Monica in shock. "Oh I'm sorry! I-"

"It's fine." Monica smiled at Sofia. "I found someone better." There was a short pause. "You, my best friend."

Sofia laughed lightly, changing the depressing mood for a moment. "Can I ask about your family, Monica?"

Monica kept a straight face as she looked out the window. "My family?" She scoffed. "Where do I begin?"

"From wherever. I'm here for you." Sofia smiled.

Monica rolled her eyes. "My mom wasn't with my father when she was pregnant with me. They were broken up but wanted a kid together. When I was born, my father left the state, and my mom was a single mother taking care of her only child. However, she wasn't there for me at all. She worked a lot, and when she was not working, she'd drink her stress away. She," Monica sighed, hesitating, "hit me, as another way to relieve stress." Sofia covered her mouth, shocked. "I ran away from home when I was 12. I called my father from a stranger's phone and asked for help. He gave me money for a small apartment I could rent every month and money for food." Monica looked at Sofia. "Somehow, she kept finding out where I lived, and my father always had to take legal actions." Sofia glanced at Monica's bandaged arm. "One day, I broke my arm and got it checked out. There it was; the tracking chip my mom installed on me as a kid. My father had it removed, and I haven't really seen her since. Father...He was there, but he also wasn't." There was a small pause, as if Monica were careful of what to say. "I kept to myself until that faithful day in high school."