Apocalypse

The apocalypse began at dawn. Every phone, television, and computer woke up before anyone else and blared a government warning to stay indoors, lock up, and do not panic. My mother comforted my younger brother David and our two dogs Sasha and Bud as I took inventory of our food supplies (abysmal) and the situation (also abysmal). Zombies? In 2017? I figured someone hacked a universal alert system to scare the masses. It'd be all over before the day ends.

David was the first to die. He begged my mom to let him go outside to play in the afternoon sunshine with the other kids at the playground. From where we live, it did look like all the neighborhood children were congregating at the park, albeit with a bit worn out and sluggish gait to their play. Since our internet and cable wiped out a few hours ago, we were getting restless staying indoors all day. And since there were no definitive proof of zombies, only a few gruesome tweets and articles before the internet shut off, my mother decided it was all a silly prank and allowed David to go outside.

He only made it a few steps before they descended on him.

He banged on the door and cried for us to let him back inside.

We left him for dead to save ourselves.

My mom quickly descended into insanity after David's death. We could hear him outside clawing at our doors and windows, begging for us to let him in. His zombie self looked hellish and tormented, and my mom would try to open the door for him every few hours. I locked her in a windowless room when I couldn't watch over her.

Our dogs scratched and whined at the door for days on end, until I trained both of them to relieve themselves in the bathroom. Day four, and my mom renamed Sasha David.

I forgot to lock her bedroom door on day five. She let the dog out so she can "get some sunshine", and let her back in before I realized what happened. We now own a zombie dog.

I can't kill Sasha/David without potentially drawing my mother to the point of no return, so I created a playpen in the living room to separate her from us. Now Bud whimpers in the corner of my room all day.

My mom feeds Sasha/David pieces from her meal, even though I warned her about splitting her already meager rations. She grew thinner as Sasha/David grew fatter and meaner.

I tried to convince my mother to shoot the abomination after I caught the dog trying to gnaw its way out of the playpen. My pleas fell on deaf ears, until I slapped her.

Her eyes widen, and she scrambled around for the rifle gun we keep in the cabinet. I finally awoken her from her insanity...

She aimed for Sasha/David.

She shot Bud, then kicked me out of the house.

At least I have David to keep me company, while we wait for our mother.