Realization

"What's happening?" Tony asked in fright while hugging his mother. Rose was just as scared, taking comfort in her son's arms. She was shaking life a leaf and it just intensified as they heard more gun shots and screams outside the house.

"We need to be quiet," Diana told them. She was the most calm in the place even though she was a little scared of what was happening outside. The two nodded as Rose started crying. They heard a bang on the basement's door causing Rose to scream in fright. This caused the banging to continue followed by snarling and grunting. Tony quickly covered his mother's mouth, hugging her tighter to comfort her as Diana started looking for something to use as a weapon.

'If the person banging on the door is like the other one, then I need something hard and not easily breakable. Something that can shatter bones and cripple a person with one hit or they might still continue coming after us,' she thought as she rummaged through the stuff down there. The finally spotted a wooden baseball bat which she took immediately. She checked if there were any chips or cracks before nodding to herself and swung it twice to see if it was any good.

Satisfied, she turn to the door and prepared herself. The banging continued for a few more minutes before it stopped. She heard footsteps slowly moving away from the door but not outside but further inside the house. She followed them till they stopped in the living room. She heard sniffing, growling and shuffling of feet making her realize whatever that person was doing was actually hunting and they were the prey! She turned to her family and walked towards them.

"We can't let whatever that thing is stay in the house any longer. If we decide to leave or dad comes home then it might attack," she whispered to them. Rose immediately knew what she was insinuating. She got hold of her hand with a death grip.

"No! No! I can't let you go out there by yourself! I won't allow it!" she hissed at her.

"Mom, we cannot let that thing stay up there. As long as it remains then we continue being in danger. We don't know how they behave, it being up there might attract more of its kind into the house. Mom, I have to do this," she explained. Rose and Tony shook their heads desperately. "Look, one of us have to and I am the only one who can make sure it stays down!" The two did not let go of her so she continued persuading them till they finally agreed. She led Tony to the door as their mother started praying.

"Okay, I'm gonna open the door slowly, slip out and you will close and lock it immediately. If I do not personally tell you to open it, don't, even if somebody comes and beg you. Do you understand?" Tony nodded shakily. Diana smiled softly at her before kissing him on the forehead. "I'm leaving mom in your hands, protect her."

"I will," Tony answered.

Diana opened the door carefully, making sure she was as silent as she could. She was barefooted so she knew she could be as quiet as a mouse, slipped out of the basement and signalled for Tony to close the door which he did just as careful, giving her one last look. Diana took a deep breath as she prepared herself.

She crept to the living room, bat ready to do some smashing. At the door, she took cover, leaning on the wall before peeking out to see where that creature was. She saw a woman standing next to the window, snarling silently as she looked outside. Her hair was burnt as a part of her neck was missing!

'Zombie!' she recognized immediately as it all came to her realization. She had not paid much attention to it but the word zombie did not exist in this world! Even in medias like games or movies, the undead have not come up even once! 'That's why. The world was just waiting till the last moment and introduce this shit to all. Like a California gender reveal party, shit!'

Knowing what she was dealing with was just the first part of the journey. She had to know how to defeat them. Most people would say go for the head, which would most probably work, but some zombies have higher physical prowess than others and it might not work. So, you go for the next best option, cripple it first.

She crept up behind the undead, breathing slowly as she controlled her heartbeat to be as slow as it could. Then, she sprang into action, the bat already going for its left ankle. A crack was heard as soon as the bat hit home, shattering its ankle and making it go down on its left side. It tried to roar but she dropped the bat on its throat, destroying its windpipe and soundbox. she then hit its shoulders, quickly and savagely, disabling its hands so all it could do was gurgle and try to move.

With the zombie disabled, Diana quickly went to work. She picked the entire couch and carried it to the door, blocking it halfway. She ran back and took the other couch and carried it to the first, playing it on the first couch. With that, the front entrance was blocked and now only the back entrance remained. She ran back there, jumping over the helpless zombie and went to the door. Looking out, she saw everything was alright so she picked the cupboard and blocked the door. She sighed in relief and turned to the zombie.

"You motherfucker," she growled at it as she thought of what to do to it. No matter how hard she wanted to tear it apart and know how it worked, she knew she would be putting her brother and mother in danger. She gripped the bat then swung with an overhead swing. The wooden bat burst open its head, spraying its organs everywhere. She sighed before looking at her bare feet so she ran to her room and quickly wore a pair of mountain boats. Due to their hard soles, they were perfect especially now that there would be a shortage of shoes and clothes.

That done, she got Tony and her mother two pairs of clothes, their cellphones then head to the kitchen where she filled two bags with carbohydrates, proteins and bottles of water. Thinking about it, she took the entire bottle from the dispenser.

"This should keep us going for the night and a day," she measured then went to the basement door and knocked on it. "Tony, it's me. Open up."

"D? Are you alright?" Tony asked excitedly.

"I'm fine. Open the door before more see me," she told him. The door was unlocked, showing Tony armed with a lamp stand. Diana got in as Tony quickly shut the door. "I've got some food, water, change of clothes and our cellphones."

"Cellphones? Quickly, call your father," Rose quickly said. Tony snatched his phone and scrolled his contacts. When he found their father's number, she called it.

"It's going to voicemail!" he announced. Rose became even more depressed.

"Mom, Dad's fine. He's not an idiot to be caught up with whatever is going on out there," Diana comforted her. Rose nodded, convincing herself that she was right.

"What was that up there?" Tony asked. Diana looked at her brother, wondering how to answer that. She sighed, showing him to sit down.

"I think it was a dead woman," she answered. This confused the two. "She had chunk missing on her neck and her head was burnt up, I don't think anyone can survive that and still walk. Yet she was there!" This stunned the two of them into silence.

"What's making them into these...things?" Rose asked.

"I'm just guessing but I think it's a virus. It might be spreading, killing people and later manifesting in their brains, taking over. It sees us normal humans as its food, probably to keep going, multiply and infect more people," she answered. "We need to get out of the populated places before we become overrun by these things."

"We need to find dad first," Tony said, sternly, making Diana look at him in surprise.

"Sure. We'll stay in here till morning. If he comes home, he'll expect us to be in here. If he doesn't come home, we'll go to the hospital and look for him," she agreed.