"Don't get any funny ideas, asshole."
Wait. That voice.
The person turns on the light switch on the wall near you both.
You can see now, that the person you're pointing a gun to and getting a gun pointed at is none other than your father. The person that looks almost like an older version of yourself, with bits of grey hairs in his hair and facial hair.
"Son?" He says confusedly as you both lower your weapons, "What are you doing here? I almost shot your damn head off!"
"Same here!" You reply, "I thought you were at home!"
He almost replies to you, until he spots Jasmine, "Who's this young lady?"
"She's Jasmine, a... friend I ran into." You say, not feeling like explaining the situation of how you both actually met.
He looks at her, "Didn't know you had friends in the police force..." He mumbles, seeing her outfit. Before you explain more, he starts again, "Well come on in and close that door. We don't want those walkers to come out and find us."
Jasmine nods and closes the door behind her.
"Walkers?" You repeat.
"Yeah, that's what they called them on the news. Those zombie looking things..." He mumbles the last sentence as he looks out the window, "Come, lets go in the back and talk in there. Keeping this light on will attract them."
The lights to the store are soon turned off, and you, your father, and Jasmine migrate to the back of the store, where the inventory and manager's office is located.
You enter your dad's office, and you sit at the chair by his desk, Jasmine sits on a nearby couch, and your father remains standing.
"Okay, so why exactly did you lock yourself in the shop, dad? At night? In the dark? Alone?" You question.
"Because, I wasn't going to risk going out there. Literally ten minutes after you left, people came here, trying to rob the store for guns. People were panicking, threatening other people, turning into those things... I just chose to stay here until the sun rises, that way I can at least see better."
"Why didn't you just call me?" You ask him.
"Phone's dead, and I have no way to charge it."
You groan, "Ugh, well at least you're alright. You're not hurt or anything, right?"
He nods, "Yeah, I'm alright. One of those damn walkers bit me, but I'm fine."
...You pause.
You look at him with wide eyes, then at Jasmine, who's just as wide-eyed as you.
"Isn't that how the infection spreads...?" Jasmine asks.
"Naw, don't you get it from their blood getting in your system?"
Your heart is starting to accelerate. You know that's not the only way the infection spreads.
"D-Dad... You get infected if you get bitten by one of them, too. You start to develop a fever from the bite, which slowly gets worse and worse until you die... And that's when you come back as one of those... walkers..." You explain to him, unable to stop your voice from shaking. You know, that your dad may die today. "That's what they explained on the news one day..."
Your father stares at you for a moment, then rolls up his sleeve, where the bite is located; on his shoulder.
The bite doesn't seem like any normal human bite mark. It looks a bit puffy and grotesque.
"Well it does burn something fierce." He mumbles.
For someone that just learned that he could die in a matter of hours, he's taking this pretty damn lightly.
"Dad... Do you understand that... you could--"
"I could die within the hour. I realize that, ." He says calmly, as if it were nothing.
"How can you take this so lightly?!" You exclaim.
He chuckles a bit, something that pisses you off a bit more, ", panicking about it isn't going to make things better. I was unfortunate enough to get bit, and now I might leave this place for good. I don't fear death." He tells you, "And if I die, I trust you'll take everything I've taught you since you were a baby and be strong as you find a way out of this infected area."
You try not to tear up.
He chuckles again, "If you cry in front of me and this pretty young lady right now, I will call you a pussy for the rest of your life." He jokes. His smile then disappears, "But seriously son, everything will be fine. And the minute you see me becoming really sick, shoot me in the head with this gun right here." He says, holding his shiny, .45 Caliber revolver. "I'll be damned if I become one of those fuckin' walkers."
"No, no, no, no..." You mumble rapidly, "Don't talk like that. We can get you help. We'll bring you to a hospital, and--"
"Son, all hospitals within a fifty mile radius of us have been overrun by walkers because they kept infected people, thinking that they can treat or cure them. That I heard from someone that actually bought a gun from here after you left." He tells you.
You sigh and hang your head, "Dad... You're asking a lot for me to just accept how you could just die right now..."
"I know, son. But I'm old, I was probably going to die soon anyway."
That, you know is a bold faced lie. Your dad is in excellent shape, especially for someone his age. He rarely gets sick, stays fit, and he looks so young for his age, people have mistaken him as your older brother frequently.
"Well... Maybe he's not infected." Jasmine says. "I mean, yeah, he got bit, but it doesn't look like the bite broke a lot of skin... Who knows, maybe he didn't get bit hard enough for the infection to enter his bloodstream."
She makes a lot of valid points, but you're still skeptical, "But he said that it was starting to burn... That can't be good at all."
Jasmine shrugs her shoulders.
"Well I don't feel a fever coming on. I feel like a million bucks, honestly. And I got bitten almost an hour or two ago, so wouldn't I be feeling worse by now?"
"I guess you're right." You say, "Just... let us know if you start feeling weird."
He nods, then looks at Jasmine, "So, Jasmine, was it? How long have you known my boy? He ain't giving you trouble, is he?"
She chuckles, "I've known him maybe around three hours or so. And unless you call a broken taillight trouble, then no, he's alright."
You decide to answer the questions written on your dad's face, "We met today. She pulled me over as I was driving home from here earlier. Then those... Walkers started to come out and we ended up saving each other's lives a few times before we decided to come here." You explain.
"...Huh." He mumbles. "Some way to start a friendship."
"Tell me about it." You sigh. Jasmine chuckles a bit.
"Anyway, we need to get out of here. This place... The city, everything close by is probably overrun with infected people." You state, "We can't stay here."
"And why not?" Your dad asks, "If you ask me, this place is pretty secure. Walkers can't get in as long as we have that gate and lock, and we have plenty of guns and ammunition here. That's the main reason why I locked myself here in the first place."
You sigh, "So you were just gonna spend the rest of your life living here? With no food or water, or anything of the sort?"
"No, I plan on just camping out here until the military comes and sorts this thing out. And as long as I got my guns, going out to get food shouldn't be a problem." He counters.
"How do you even know that the military is coming?" You question, "For all we know, they could be overrun, too. Just ask Jasmine, the precinct back in the city was completely swamped with those walkers. We almost died there."
", there's a big difference between the police force and the military force. The military has ten times as many guns than we have in this store, and the soldiers are better with weapons than the three of us combined. They can fight off these mindless walkers without a problem."
You hate to argue with your father, but you know there's a reason why you're so skeptical, "I don't know, dad. All I'm saying is, you shouldn't be so sure because none of us hardly know anything. And no one even knows if the military plans on coming here."
"Well if you don't think staying here is a good idea, what do you plan on doing?" He asks.
You look at Jasmine and she looks at you. You both never really thought that far ahead yet, "Well... Maybe just leave this place. Search for a place that isn't infected, if there is any, and stay there."
"And you call my idea dumb?" He scoffs, "Do you know how much more of a risk it is to go out there, just senselessly trying to find a town or place that isn't infected? How do you know the whole country isn't like this? Or even the whole world?"
"Which proves my point that the military might not be able to help us." You counter. Your father sneers at the fact that you caught onto his own hypocrisy. "I don't know, dad, but I damn sure don't wanna just stay here waiting on help that may not even exist. It's like trying to catch a fish in a swimming pool. I'd rather just go out and search and help myself."
"Well, I vote we stay here. I have my mind set on this, ."
"...So what do we do?" You sigh, not particularly enjoying this conflict.
Your dad thinks for a minute, until he looks at Jasmine, who was quiet the whole time you and him were debating.
"Why don't we let Jasmine be the deciding vote?" He offers.
You look at her. You have no clue which side she'll be on, so it's technically a fair vote. But you know that you're right, and wouldn't want her to side with your dad.
"Huh? You want me to decide?" She asks, caught off guard from getting tossed in the situation so suddenly.
"Why not." Says your dad, "Majority rules. We have two opposing sides, and we just need one more person to decide on what we should do." He looks at you. "Deal?"
You hesitate, "...Deal. So what's it gonna be, Jasmine?" You ask her, giving her a look to tell her that she should side with you.
"Er..." |