This is Chapter 3 of a post-apocalyptic zombie novel. Please see here for Chapter 1 (should probably read that first!). View my profile for all the chapters.
Santana
I don’t know how long It’s been, must be weeks now. Frank has barely spoken since then. I don’t blame him. We’d been holed up in the apartment for days. I try to forget, but that first day plays itself over and over again in my head like some hellish torture that makes me too scared to die, yet too hurt to stay alive.
That day was the day it started. It was 7:00 am. The radio was on and Frank was already in the shower. I got out of bed and pulled open the blinds. It was a sunny day and the city was already awake.
Having an apartment downtown meant one thing or another was going on outside your window. A police car with its sirens blaring zoomed passed, followed by an ambulance. I was used to seeing people hurry off to work on the sidewalk below, but that day they were running. They were frantic.
I went to Lily’s room and slowly opened the door. At seven years-old with just a few weeks left of summer break, Lily normally slept in until nine. That day, her blanket was crumpled up at the foot of her bed and there was no sign of her.
Lily! I looked around her room in a frenzy and then I heard the door slam shut behind me. I turned around and a shadowy figure jumped up at me. I fell back onto the bed and screamed.
Gotcha! Lily laughed. Frank burst through the door with his tie in his hand and his shirt unbuttoned. When he saw that we were fine he sighed.
Jesus. Don’t do this to me so early in the morning, he said, as he sauntered back to the bedroom. I laughed as I got up and held her tight. If I’d known then what was soon to happen, I’d have never let her go.
Very funny, little lady, I said. I pulled her up and nudged her out of the room. Go brush your teeth.
I always found it weird that there was nothing about it on the news. That day, when I turned on the television, I saw nothing but the regular meaningless white noise that once made up our lives: rumours of an imminent recession, some celeb caught skinny dipping in Hawaii, the next presidential candidate that everyone hated. It’s almost funny, or sad, to think that such small things seemed so big back then.
I got breakfast ready while the TV droned on in the background and Frank and Lily made their way to the kitchen. Hey sweetie, get the paper please, Frank said, as he sat down and checked his phone for messages. Lily skipped over to the door. She opened it and bent down to grab the paper. Then, out of the corner of my eye I saw her look up into the hallway.
Hell—hello? Lily called out cautiously. She got up slowly with the paper light in her hand.
Lily? I said, as I looked up from the stove. Frank turned to look at her with his phone in his hands. Then, in an instant, she was pulled violently into the hallway.
Mommy! She screamed. Frank burst up from his chair and out the door. I dropped the frying pan, as I hurried after him. The oil popped and covered the tile floor. When we got to the doorway, we both froze. A man in his late fifties stood in a bloodied grey suit. His eyes were bloodshot and the corners of his mouth were curled up into an angry, menacing grin. He had Lily with his arms around her waist, and as he raised her up as high as he could, she stretched her arm out toward us, calling for us.
Stop! Frank yelled and lunged toward them. He was too late. The man brought her down with incredible force and slammed her head against the floor with a crack and a thud. Lily’s eyes rolled to the back of her head, and her arm went limp. Frank tackled him to the ground and began hitting him over and over again.
I ran over to her and my hands shook harder than they ever had before. My knees became lead, as I collapsed over my baby. I picked her up and held her. It’s OK, I said, but even then, I knew. Blood was coming out of her ears. Things happened very quickly then. Neighbors began entering the hallway, but all I remember was hearing the crunch of Frank’s fists against the man’s face and holding Lily’s warm body in my arms. But soon, she became cold. So cold.
