Short Story: My Birthday Wish

My Birthday Wish

By Kittyana Mitchell

Monday, December 5, 2011. It was my birthday, and I was turning 16.  It was also the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. I remember it as if it were yesterday. . . .

It was extremely humid for a day in December and our air conditioning was broken. “Happy birthday, dear Monett! Happy birthday to you! WOOOHOOO!!!!!” My boyfriend, John, and a few other friends sang loudly. My parents had decided to throw a birthday party for me on Sunday since my birthday fell on a Monday. The party was a success for my sweet sixteen and eventually everyone left except for John. We sat outside and talked for what seemed like hours. As it grew late, I knew he would eventually have to go home too and I would have to hit the hay. I had to get up early enough to have time to walk to school. Even though my mom made it a habit to have the day off for her birthday, I however still had to go to school on mine.

“Goodnight, Monett. Happy early birthday sweetie,” I heard say my mom say from the doorway to my room. I didn’t look up at her. I didn’t want to go through our nightly routine. I didn’t know why. I just felt a little worried for some reason, a reason that I would soon figure out. Eventually, I gave in. I knew she hated the thought of me turning yet another year older.

“Goodnight, Mom.” We hugged briefly.

“What did you wish for?” She asked playfully.

“You know, you aren’t supposed to tell your wishes otherwise they won’t come true but if you must know, I wished to go on an adventure this year.” I replied still hugging her.

She giggled, “Ok my little Lara Croft. We’ll see,” she said squeezing me tightly. I loved to her my mom laugh. She released me from her arms and I kissed her on the cheek and went to bed. Little did I know that this would be our last normal moment together.

Sometime during the night I woke up to what sounded like screaming. I rolled over to look at my alarm clock, 3:00A.M. I groaned maybe I had been dreaming. But then I heard it again and it sounded close. I went to my window, pulled the curtain aside and waited for my eyes to adjust to the dim street lights. There was a black figure kneeling over something in the middle of the street. It kept clawing at it and putting its hands to its mouth. It continued pulling more things up from what laid on the ground and shoving them into its mouth. It was an odd sight and by now the screaming had stopped.

I noticed something moving out of the corner of my eye and turned to look in that direction. I saw about ten or eleven more figures come bounding up the street towards the spot where the first creature was. They seemed to be trying to get a piece of what it was eating. The porch light of the house across from the creatures turned on. I watched in horror as they moved very fast, breaking through the windows and smashing down the door. There was much more screaming. In fact, it wasn’t even screaming. It was like something or someone was shrieking at the highest pitch imaginable combined with really, REALLY sharp nails clawing deeply at a chalkboard.

It wasn’t until I noticed what the creature was feasting on that I realized I was holding my breath while I watched from my window. I let out a little shriek of my own and put my hand over my mouth to stifle it when I noticed it was the girl from across the street. It seemed as if the creature heard me as it turned its head towards my house. I dropped to my knees, my heart pounding in my ears. “Please wake up, please wake up!” I kept repeating to myself. I pinched myself thinking it was a dream. “Ouch!” I bit my lip as I felt the pain in my arm where I pinched myself. It was then I realized this wasn’t a dream and I was very much awake.

By now my parents had woken up thinking that I was the one screaming and ran to check to see if I was okay. I met them in the hallway as I was rushing on my knees as fast as I could out of my room. I did not want risk that thing outside to seeing me!

“Dad, there is someone or something outside!” I said hysterically as I stood up. He tried to clam me down. “There were these creatures and they were eating…” He didn’t let me finish.

“Calm down sweetie, you were probably having a nightmare.” He said trying to be comforting.

“Dad! You have to listen to me, there was these creatures eating Yvette! I know this is going to sound crazy, but they looked like zombies!”

“Seriously honey, you need to lay off the video games before you go to bed,” he said as he turned to walk away. I grabbed his arm, “Dad!” He shook me loose as he yawned.

I looked over at my mom, she had to believe me. “Mom, I’ve seen these things in all of John’s video games!” She looked at me like I needed some serious help. “Maybe your dad is right, sweetie. No more video games before bed,” she said as she rubbed my arm.

I wanted to scream! How was I going to get them to listen to me? I needed to make them listen and believe in what I saw. As they turned to walk back to their room, I ducked around them and cut them off blocking their way.

“Just hear me out for a second. What if what I am saying is true? I know I may play too many video games but I know what I saw. I saw zombies, infected, whatever you want to call them, eating Yvette! You know the hypothetical theories about zombies. They are these things that eat humans and spread a virus around that’ll soon infect the entire world.” I paused briefly before continuing, “You heard the screams just like I did. Aren’t you at all curious as to where they came from?” I stared at them waiting for an answer.

They looked at each other before my dad sighed. “Alright, if it is all that important to you, I will check on the family across the street. Just to make sure everything is ok,” he replied as he made his way downstairs. Mom and I followed after him. Mom went for her cell phone and I continued following my dad as he made his way to the front door.

“Wait, you are going out there?” I asked in horror.

“Isn’t that what you wanted me to do?” he asked as he reached for the porch light switch. Remembering what I saw and how fast the zombies reacted to the porch light being turned on across the street. I yelled, “Dad, don’t turn on the light!” I slapped his hand away from the light switch.

“Monett!” He said sharply.

“Dad, please! Don’t turn on the light, they are drawn to it.” I pleaded.

Just then my mom came into the room, “That’s odd, they aren’t answering any of their phones.” She looked at my dad with a worried look on her face. As we stood there we heard another scream break the silence. My dad looked through the window on the door. I watched as his face grew white.

“Holy mother of God. . .” was all he said. I looked out the other window to see what he saw. One of the other neighbors hearing the commotion at Yvette’s house had turned on their porch and house lights. What my dad saw was exactly what I had described a few minutes ago. Someone tried running out of the house that had just turned its lights on and they were chased down by zombies who moved faster then we could have imagined. Screams and shrieks continued to come from that house. I know I will never forget the sound of those people screaming.

“Monett, get away from the window!” He whispered firmly as he closed the curtain on the door. He looked around frantically. “Here help me move the couch in front of the door. We have got to block this entry way.” He didn’t have to ask me twice. We continued to move furniture around to block the doors and windows.

“You two get upstairs and get dressed. Get back down here as fast as you can. And stay away from the windows, no lights,” he warned.

I went to my room and changed out of my pajamas as quick as I could. I put on the jeans and tee-shirt I had laid out for school. It was to be my birthday outfit. I reached for my sneakers instead of the boots I had planned on wearing with it. I never understood why they made horror movies with girls running around in heeled boots or heels for that matter. I didn’t have time to dwell on the concept for too long. I quickly tied my shoes, grabbed a hooded sweatshirt, my cell phone and crawled out of my room.

When I reached my mom and dad downstairs they were both on their cell phones trying to call out. My mom was on the phone with her captain and from the sound of it I don’t think he believed her too. My dad was trying the neighbors to make sure they were ok. They both ended their phone calls at the same time and looked at each other. I looked form one to the other, I felt helpless.

I pulled my hair into a ponytail and stated, “Okay. What we need to do is take any thing we have and make it into a weapon. It has to be one that’ll give us some distance between us and the zombies.” My parents gave me that “Thank you Captain Obvious” look. I shrugged, “Just trying to help,” I mumbled.

My dad disappeared upstairs briefly. When he returned he had a rifle in his hand, an AK-47, to be exact as well as a few boxes of extra ammo. “I’m ready,” He stated. I looked over at my mom and she was clipping her gun holster to her belt. She checked her police pistol to make sure it was loaded as well as the one strapped to her ankle. This was one of the rare times I was glad she was a police officer. As my dad looked around for anything else to use as a weapon, she called me over to her.

“I know you have never used a gun before, sweetie. However I want you to take this,” She handed me a mini pistol. “Use this only if you have to. And don’t let your father know you have it. Point and shoot,” she said as she showed me how to turn on and off the safety. She slid it back into its holster and clipped it onto my belt as well as a few extra clips of ammo. She paused briefly before kissing my forehead.

My dad came back into the room. “There are more of those things outside. We need to get out of here and somewhere safe,” he said looking at both of us.

“How are we going to get outside without getting caught?” I asked trying to sound as brave as we were acting to be.

“Well, there is the car which has a full tank of gas. We can try and make it out of here and to the police station,” my mom replied as she looked outside. There seemed to be more zombies and still more screaming as they rushed another family trying to escape.

”Mom! We have to try and save whoever we can!”

“Monett, I know but we need help. We need to know what is going on and how to kill these bastards.”

“You have to aim for the head. You can blow it off, cut it off, whatever. Just make sure that you hit the head!” I was trying not to be afraid but the more I thought about what was outside the harder it was to stay calm.

“Steve, we need to do something.” She looked over at my dad, “Before it is too late.”

While they tried to decided what to do, I decided to call John to see if he was okay. Mom and dad looked quite anxious to see if he was alive as well. ”It’s still ringing,” I said as they kept glancing at me waiting for an answer.

“Hello. John? Are you there?”

“Hello. Monett?” “He answered! “Yes, I’m here. Thank God you’re alive!” Somehow, I was unknowingly crying, relieved to hear his voice. “Can you make it over to my house?”

“Um, we’re kinda stuck inside at the moment. There are zombies trying to get into our house. They are banging on the doors and the wood we nailed onto the windows.” He paused briefly and I could hear faint noises coming across the receiver. “Aim for the head! You kill them by hitting the head! It seems to always work in the video games!” I could hear John yelling to his dad.

“John, please be careful! I’ll have my phone with me. I will call you when we get out. We will come to you.”

“O—ll—-rr—–our—–ssss.”

“Hello? You’re breaking up! I can’t understand you!” The phone line went dead. I stood there staring at my phone. My parents looked over at me as I stopped talking. “The line went dead.” I said as another tear slid down my cheek.

“We will try and go by there sweetie. Right now we need to get out of here. The screams are getting louder and closer, “My dad said uneasily.

“Steve, I am getting something on my radio,” my mom called him over to her.

“—-Reports—-infected—zombies—impossible—–nearest—-military base—–Red River——”

They looked at each other. “That is where we are going, Red River Army depot,” My dad said. Mom ran upstairs real quick and came back down stairs carrying three backpacks as well as three first aid kits. I followed her lead as she put a few bottles of water in each pack as well as the first aid kits, what ever snacks we had as well as fruit in zip lock bags and some canned goods. “You never know, we might need it,” she said as she handed each of us a back pack.

Dad had found some nose and mouth masks as well as extra goggles.” Here, put these on.”

I looked at him, “Seriously Dad? We know that someone becomes a zombie if they become infected. They die from the virus that infects them and they turn into a zombie. These,” I pointed to the goggles and mask, “are not going to help.”

“Monett just put them on, please. We don’t know if that is definitely the only way.” I reluctantly put them on.

Mom, dad, and I opened the curtain we had covering the window that was on the door. “Mom, there are a lot of zombies out there.” Mom was worried and I could tell even though she tried not to show it. I didn’t want to look anymore and just watched my mom’s face as she watched the zombies intently. She watched as another family tried to leave their home and was attacked just as quickly.

“How do they know where people are so quickly,” she wondered out loud to herself. She continued watching the zombies outside. I decided to sit down on the floor next to her while we waited. It was then that I heard a soft bell jingle. I jumped up and looked out the window trying hard to locate that soft jingle.

“Mynx!” I whispered loudly. I tired to open the window to call my cat over to me but my mom stopped me. She turned my head and held me to her chest so I couldn’t look out the window. My mom watched as one of the zombies stopped when it heard Mynx’s bell. Mynx only meowed once and it was all it took. The zombie ran over to her, picked her up and took a bite out of her stomach.

“You don’t want to see this sweetie,” she said sympathetically. But I already knew what had happened. I pulled away from my mom and sat on the floor with my back against the wall facing the window. I pulled my knees to my chest and waited for my parents to tell me what to do. I was angry, sad, and very afraid. I couldn’t get through to John and now a zombie just killed my cat. It sounded very much like I was still dreaming, stuck in an awful nightmare. That was until my mom’s voice broke through my thoughts.

“Steve, they seem to be attracted to noises and smells,” she said as she moved away from the window. “If we stay quiet and move quickly we might be able to make it to the car without being noticed.” She looked out the window again. The zombies seemed to be all over the yards and in the houses of the neighborhood. “I hate to say this, but the next family that tries to run is our cue to move,” she said looking back at both of us.

We quickly grabbed our backpacks and shoved the couch away from the door. My Dad very quietly opened the door slightly so he can look outside, ready to run with the car keys in hand. Mom stood behind me with a flare gun in her hand. Dad looked at her questioningly.

“What? We may be able to signal for help since my radio and our cells phones aren’t working,” she whispered, answering his silent question. We didn’t have to wait long as the next series of screams began to fill the early morning air.

“Go!” Mom hissed.

We hurriedly opened the front door and made a run for the car. In the rush, my dad accidently pushed the button to unlock the doors. It was all it took. The zombies closest to us turned and looked in our direction. They looked as if they were sniffing the air and then fixed their gaze on us. We had to move fast.

“Monett, get in the car!” I heard my dad yell at me. I stood there frozen as I saw the zombies running toward us over my mom’s shoulder.

“Monett!” My mom grabbed me and hugged me quickly before reaching around me to open the car door. “Monett, I am proud of you. Listen to your dad. I love you sweetie,” she said before she shoved me into the car and slammed the door shut. She hit the window and yelled at my dad, “Get her out of here!”

I looked at my dad, “No! Dad you can’t!” I looked back at my mom and then back at my dad. He nodded to my mom and I saw a tear slide down his cheek as he started the car, put it in reverse and stepped on the gas pedal. I was screaming as I watched out the window, “Momma! Nooooo!”

I watched as my mom shot a flare into the nearest zombie but that did not stop it from moving towards her. I don’t think she anticipated them moving as fast as they did.  She was reloading another flare when they closed the gap between her and them. I watched as they quickly surrounded her and she tried to fight them off. The last thing I saw was a flare shoot across the yard and hit the neighbor’s dog. This caused the zombies to rush it and it unfortunately met the same fate as Mynx. I looked one last time and saw my mom lying on the ground. She wasn’t moving.

“Dad, we have to go back!” I cried.

“We can’t, we need to keep moving.”

I slouched in the car seat and just cried. We drove in silence as we passed houses being attacked. There seemed to be zombies everywhere. As we drove through down we can see cars just stopped in random places, fires burning and zombies either attacking people or wandering about. We couldn’t stop and help anyone without the risk of being attacked. I am not sure how long we had driven when I heard the fuel light come on.

“We need to stop for fuel,” my dad said. It was the first thing he had said since we left my mom.

I sat up in my seat and looked around to see where we were. I had no idea, nothing looked familiar. “Over there, Dad. There’s a gas station. It still has lights on inside.”

Dad pulled the car over and into the gas station cautiously. “Be careful and stay close to me,” he warned as we got out of the car. We didn’t see anyone around and the mini mart looked empty.

“Hello?” Dad yelled, “Anyone here?” He looked around for a clerk. “From the looks of it, we aren’t the only ones that have come through here,” he said looking at the half empty shelves. “Here, fill this basket with whatever you can find and make sure to grab some water and Kleenex.” I looked at him funny and wondered why he thought of Kleenex at a time like this but that was my dad.

I quickly grabbed what I could when I heard a noise from the other side of the shelf. I quickly fell to my knees and waited. I strained to hear who or what it was but all I could here was my heart pounding in my ears.

“Hello?” I heard a shaky female voice call out. I tried to catch my breath to calm my nerves and eased back up and peered over the shelf. I saw a women lying on the floor covered in blood, a dead man’s corpse lying in her lap.

“Dad!” I screamed. He came running over with a fire axe in hand. I stepped aside so he can see why I screamed. He knelt down next to the woman.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

“Yes, I was just. . .” She didn’t finish as she broke into sobs, hugging the dead body close to her. I looked at my dad and then back at the woman before kneeling down next to her. I nervously put my arm around her as my mom would do to me when I needed a good cry. Well what my mom used to do. I pushed that thought aside as I let this woman cry. Dad worked to move the body away from her. When she was done, dad and I helped her stand up.

It was then we realized she was pregnant. She told us her name was Isabella and that her and her husband was on vacation. They had stopped at a rest stop a few miles up the road when they were attacked.

“He couldn’t sleep in the car. He has insomnia. So he got out to walk around the rest area. He was leaning on the hood of the car staring at the stars when these things just came out of the darkness and attacked him,” she paused briefly.

She continued to tell us how they had gotten away. It wasn’t until they reached the gas station that she noticed something was wrong. Her husband had acted strange when she got out of the car to use the restroom. She was going to return the restroom key back to the clerk when she saw her husband biting and eating the clerk. She had tried not to scream but it was already too late, he had smelled her living flesh.

“There was someone else here,” Isabella said. “He told me to lock myself in the bathroom until he came back.”

“We haven’t seen anyone else since we have been here,” my dad said looking around worriedly. He looked back at Isabella, “You are welcome to come with us. We are trying to get to Red River Army depot.”

“Please come with us,” I said. “We can’t leave you here.” I pretty much pleaded with her.

Dad found an extra shirt in the employee’s locker and brought it over to me. “Take her into the restroom and help her get cleaned up.” I nodded and turned to walk away. He stopped me, “Monett, make sure she hasn’t been bit and help her wash all that blood off her.” He looked at both of us and said louder, “Make it quick it is getting dark and we need to get to that military base.”

Dad finished putting fuel in the car and Isabella and I rounded up what ever else we could find in way of water and food. Isabella found a few blankets tucked away in the back of the store as well as a shot gun. Dad didn’t say anything as we finished loading the car. We got Isabella situated in the back seat and dad and I were getting into the front seats when I got a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“Dad,” I looked over at him across the roof of the car.

“I hear them too! Get in!” He yelled at me. He didn’t have to tell me twice. We both got in the car quickly and shut the doors. He started the car and didn’t bother looking back. Isabella was screaming hysterically as she looked out the back window. I looked too. I probably shouldn’t have.

“Dad, go, go, go!” I yelled hitting him as if that would make him drive any faster. He swerved this way and that way to avoid the cars that had stopped on the road. The zombies chased us either running around the cars and sometimes even into them. They caught up to the car as dad was almost pinned between two other cars. He hit both of them and wedged his way through. I don’t know who screamed more, me or Isabella as we watched as the zombies tried to get into the car. Dad finally made it past the two cars and hit a clear stretch of road. He put his foot down hard on the gas pedal and put some distance between us and the zombies, but not before taking a couple with him by driving over them.

I think the only thing that could be heard in the car was the sound of our hearts beating fast. Dad didn’t slow down until he knew for sure we were safe, if that was actually possible at this point. I glanced back at Isabella and she nodded she was ok as she sat back cradling the baby in her stomach.

I slouched back in my seat and looked over at my dad. He was intently staring at the road as the sun began to set. I squeezed his hand gently. I couldn’t imagine what was going through his thoughts at this moment. He glanced over at me and gave me a weak smile.

We drove in silence for several hours before Isabella said something. “Monett, your mom, is she ok? I noticed she isn’t with you two.” I really didn’t want to answer her.

“We had to leave her.” My dad looked at Isabella through the rearview mirror. “It was her choice.” He said before looking back at the road. The car fell silent again.

“Dad,” I said getting his attention as I pointed to a police car on the side of the road. “That plate number….” He slowed down. We both looked at each other. The last time we had seen that particular patrol car it was parked in front of our house. Dad pulled the car over on the opposite side of the road.

“Monett, stay here with Isabella. If something happens to me you get out of here as quick as possible,” he said as he put on his mask and goggles.

“But dad, what if. . .”

“No buts Monett. Jjust do what I told you. Ok?” I nodded. I looked back over at my mom’s patrol car and bit my lower lip. Something didn’t feel right.

As my dad got out of the car, he noticed someone standing at the front of the patrol car, “Leila?” he asked as he slowly approached the person in front of the patrol car. He stopped in the middle of the road as the person turned around slowly.

I watched from my seat in the car and gasped when I saw that it was indeed my mom. I quickly got out of the car, “Mom!” I yelled, relieved to see her.

“Monett, I said to stay in the car!” My dad scolded. “Just stay where you are.”

“But dad. . .” I know if he could look at me he would be giving me one of his stern looks so I stopped where I stood.

“Leila, are you alright?” he asked as he took a small step backwards. My mom didn’t say anything. Her head was hanging slightly to the right and her clothes were covered with blood. I looked at her closely again.

“Dad, I think we need to get back into the car.”

“Don’t move too fast Monett. She will notice and run for you.”

I stood there staring at my mom and dad. As I did, I remembered something my mom had said when this whole mess started. “Use this only if you have to… Point and shoot.” I felt hot tears sting the corner of my eyes. I knew what I had to do. I slowly unclasped the small pistol my mom had given me earlier from my belt. My dad was taking another step backwards as she took another step towards him.

I felt the tears begin to flow down my cheeks. I raised my arm slowly like my mom had showed me, “Mom, I’m so sorry. I love you.” I whispered. I raised the gun higher, I knew I only had one chance and I had to make sure to hit her in the head. I willed myself to pull the trigger.

The sound of the gunshot pierced the night air. I watched as my mother fell into a lifeless heap on the ground. My dad rushed over to me as I fell to my knees crying uncontrollably. I don’t know what hurt worse losing my mom the first time or losing her the second time. He removed the small pistol from my hand and held me close, kissing my forehead, apologizing. My dad was apologizing for this mess but I knew it wasn’t his fault. By now Isabella had gotten out of the car and rushed over to us. She took the place of dad holding me as he removed mom’s body from the street. There weren’t any other zombies around and dad quickly moved mom’s body off the road and over by her patrol car. He covered her best he could and left her badge as a marker incase someone else found her. It was sad we couldn’t bury her but it was the least he could do.

He got back in the car and handed me something. I opened it to find my mom’s locket. I opened it and saw the picture she carried of the three of us. I felt another rush of tears threaten to escape. I curled up in a ball in my seat as dad drove away. I didn’t want to see anymore. I didn’t want to remember my mom that way.

We drove for what seemed like forever but were actually only a few hours. Dad had slowed down as he was turning onto another road. I sat up slightly in my seat as I saw a high barbed wire fence and military vehicles come into view.

“Dad, is that it?” I asked.

“Yes, That’s it. We’re here.”

We drove through the gates and didn’t see anyone about. We parked our car close to the biggest building on the base, put our masks and goggles on and cautiously got out. We looked around and saw tanks were destroyed and small fires scattered about. There were bodies, some in uniforms and others in regular clothes strewn all around. I looked in horror as I noticed many of the bodies where either shot in the head or didn’t have one at all.

I looked at my dad and I wanted to scream. We came all this way and this is what we found. I wanted to yell and curse god for allowing this to happen. I lost my friends, possibly my boyfriend, and my mom to zombies.

We looked at each other devastated “No. This isn’t happening. This can’t be real!” Isabella yelled.

Dad put his arm around her and me as we stood there. What were we to do now? We stood there in silence when we heard someone holler out. “Hey! Over here!” We turned around to see a women in uniform trotting toward us, rifle in hand followed by a few other people who I could only guess were survivors as well.

“Come with us quick!” she yelled. As we followed them she introduced herself as Sergeant Lisa McKenzie of the 109^th Zombie Division. Once we were inside the building and the doors locked behind us, I let out a sigh of relief. Dad walked over with Sergeant McKenzie and Isabella was being helped by a few medics. I looked around and thought this is our one chance of surviving. I fiddled with my mom’s locket around my neck and thought, this crazy adventure, the beginning of the zombie apocalypse, that almost seemed unreal was definitely not my birthday wish. . .