Outside World

Morning came faster than Diana would have wanted but it's arrival was inevitable. It meant the three of them would go outside and try to look for her father. She could hear the entire neighborhood and she did not like the odds. They were outnumbered thirty to one! She had not slept a wink, mapping out the entire neighborhood trying to find the perfect route to use.

She had heard cars crashing, bodies been torn apart, children been eaten alive, parents crying in pain and a whole lot of snarling and growling.

"Honey, did you get any sleep?" Rose asked her and she answered by shaking her head. "You need to sleep."

"What I need is to make sure the two of you are safe. Once that is done, I can get some sleep," Diana told her. Rose couldn't help but shed a tear.

"I'm sorry you have to be the one making that sacrifice," she sobbed. Diana smiled at her reassuringly

"Don't worry about it, mom," she told her. Tony woke up next, yawning as he stretched.

"Everything alright?" he asked them.

"Eat up and drink some water, we're going to look for dad," Diana informed him as she unpacked the food. She threw him part of the unfinished chicken from last night, threw a can of kale for her mother and settled down for bottle of water an a can of canned beans. They ate in silence as they prepared themselves for the battle ahead. Once done, Rose quickly repacked the food and they were set.

Diana opened the door, checked outside and saw it was clear. She lead the way to the front door, taking her truck's keys hanging on the wall next to the door. She signalled Tony to help her with the couches. They pulled down the first couch, leaving the second to obstruct any of those things if they decide to make an appearance at the moment.

The first to jump over was Diana. Once she saw the coast was clear, she waved them forward. Rose jumped over next and Tony was last, keeping an eye on their mother. Diana got to her truck and released the alarm. She opened the backseat door and opened a hidden compartment inside it.

"Jesus!" Rose exclaimed in disbelief. Inside was a Desert eagle, two Ak 103 with modded in sawed off shotgun rifle. There were twenty seven magazines for the rifles and ten for the desert eagle. Quickly, she took the desert eagle, cocked it to see if it had any bullets before sliding it in her back. She then slang one of the AK 103 onto her shoulders, took three magazines out and returned the seat back.

"Why do you have guns in your car?" Rose asked her sternly.

"It's a long story, mom. Get in the back and put your safety belt on," Diana deflected as she got into the driver's seat. Rose did not even realize that she had just been commanded by her daughter till she had buckled up. By then , the truck was already on and Diana was off.

The three could see how the whole city had become grim in just one day. They sky was filled with smoke from burning buildings, the streets filled with all kinds of things from trash to eaten out corpses! There were wrecked vehicles on the side of the roads, some even had zombies still in them. Rose almost threw up when she saw a thirteen year old zombie with his lower jaw missing, lumbering around.

"What happened to this place?" she asked, horrified.

"The same thing that's happening to the rest of the world, humanity is becoming snacks!" Diana answered. They saw a cat eating on the flesh of a dog while it's bones were visible on its side. "Scratch that, it appears every living animal is in danger!"

As they came closer and closer to the hospital, the more they realize just how grim the situation was. The road was increasingly filled with wreck cars and lumbering zombies which made Diana apprehensive. She stopped the car, making the two frown.

"Is something wrong?" Tony asked.

"If we continue on, we'll find the roads have been blocked by other cars. Due to the noise, we'll have attracted those undead bastards front and back. The further in we go, the more in danger we'll be," she explained. "We need to make sure we are going a safe route before trying to head to the hospital."

"You don't think it's safe in there, do you?" Tony asked her.

"Nobody knew how this thing was happening so my theory is people were taking their sick friends or families to the hospital. There, the virus might have turned those people and the hospital became a petridish for the infection to spread. If we go there, we might come across a hoarde of them and I don't think we can overcome those odds," Diana answered. This made the two of them look at her like she was out of her mind.

"Are you saying we should leave him behind?" Rose asked, angrily. Diana sighed, knowing her next words might dispirit them.

"Yes. I cannot gamble on both of your safety and head into a heavily infested building to rescue dad who might have already turned into one of those things," Diana answered, looking at her mother. Rose couldn't help but slap her, hard.

"Your father is alive, do you hear me. We are not leaving without him!" she growled at her, shaking her in her fury. A zombie chose this moment to bang on her window, growling hungrily at her. Rose jumped and screamt in fear.

"Both of you do not have the courage to face these things and at the moment, we have no idea how this virus is spread. A simple mistake and we are all dead. I'm not taking that chance!" she said and locked their doors.

She tuned off their protests as she turned the gear to reverse and drove, mowing down some zombies that were coming towards them from behind. Once they were all dead, she drifted into a U-turn, turned the gear to drive and drove off.

After a few minutes of chewing her daughter off, Rose simmered down and looked outside her window with tears streaming down her face, Tony was glaring at her angrily. The ride was silent, uncomfortably silent.

"Did you even love dad?" Tony suddenly asked. Diana was not bothered by the question because she knew he was hurting. She was sure he would even be more hurt when she answered truthfully.

Diana kept on driving, using the opposite lane for she knew the lane heading out of the city would be crammed. She was proved right as she saw vehicles lined up in a long ass traffic jam. The drivers were honking, trying to make the ones in front hurry it up.

"This is what happens when you think normally. You have to adopt and think ahead," Diana told the two, watching as they drove past cars after cars. "You hear that noise, it will attract those undead like a dinner bell and soon, most of these people will be part of the hoarde!" They drove past a police post trying to govern the traffic and making sure it flows orderly. What they had no idea about was that they were the reason that many people in there would be dead in a couple of hours.

"Where are we going?" Tony asked her.

"There's a hunting cabin about twenty miles from here. My friend Anna and I used to go there in the weekends, practice our shooting. There's an arsenal of weapons and enough food to feeds us for six months. We stay there before we figure out what we will do."

"We figure out how to save dad!" Tony insisted making Diana sigh helplessly.

"Sure," she said with a sniffle.