Striving to Survive [DISCONTINUED]

2 []Infected[]

"We're dead."

The words seemed to slap me awake. Slap me into what was really happening. The ocean of dark realization had lured me into it's waters. I heard the creak of the gym door sliding open. There was my mother holding the door open and my little brother staring intensely at his phone. Before I even realized it I was sprinting off the benches towards them.

"Mom!" I yelled, my weak voice somehow managing to contain high volume. Tears sprung down my face, and even I couldn't tell if they were of joy or sadness. I wrapped my arms around her as I cried and laughed a bit into her shoulder. "Done yet drama queen?" My brother asked sarcastically, slightly peering up from his device. "Hun, are you alright?" My mom asked a little worriedly as she pet my hair softly. "I'm perfectly fine." I said, chuckling with tear stained eyes.

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The quiet, pattering rain and awkward confinement of the car seemed to entice a conversation. Of course the only person willing to start it was my mom. I desperately wanted to ask about the infection but I couldn't find the correct way to put it into words, so I remained silent and let my mom speak as I kept my curiosity to myself. "So... How was your day?" She questioned. My brother, Echo closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, so I took it upon myself to answer.

Pushing aside my questions about the hospital I responded, pretending everything was alright. "Pretty good, I got an A on my Math test." I said with a smile. "Only A?" Most parents would have said this jokingly, but my mom is not like most parents. "Yeah.." I replied putting the test on the dashboard. We pulled to a stop and she picked up the test. "Oh you knucklehead." I smirked as she noticed the giant A+ on the test. She playfully smacked me over the head with it and pulled into the driveway.

I figured perhaps nothing bad had happened at the hospital considering mom was acting so playful. But I was wrong. The moment we entered the house mom wandered the halls,  locked all of the windows and doors and asked the both of us to join her in the living room to tell us some important information.

"Okay, so before I say this, don't freak out alright?" We nodded our heads in recognition and she continued. "Today, at the hospital there were multiple patients who became infected with this unknown virus. Unfortunately, the disease is 100% lethal, no antidote has been found. It causes the host to become some sort of zombie that's sole purpose is to attack and spread the disease. There was a handful of infected patients that managed to escape the hospital facility." My eyes widened with realization. "Escape?!" My mother stared at me with a grim expression. "Yes."

I jumped off the couch and instantly examined her. I checked every inch of her arms before she could protest. "Esade-!" She was cut off. I could feel the metallic, sticky substance. Blood. I moved back the bracelet my mother had strategically placed over the bite wound. Knowing what it meant I looked straight into her gleaming eyes searching for something... anything, for hope, or some sign, something to wake me up from this terrible, terrible nightmare.

But there was nothing.

It was real.

Terribly, terribly real.