Beyond The Dead

*1 year and 7 months into infection* I awoke startled by Serenity leaning over me and covering my mouth whispering, "I heard screams again, Rosi." Her long, silky, dirty blonde hair fell to the sides of my face as she stared at me with her deep blue eyes that darted over to our window. Gods, she looked so much like our dad, but of course as the beautiful female version. She has mom's caramel colored skin that brings out her eyes even more and mom's pouty lips too. She was getting better about not making me scream when she wakes me. That's how two infected were attracted to us once. My sister had made me scream when she scared me awake 9 months ago. Thankfully, they did not pose a threat to us inside our home I gently moved her back and pointed at her to signal for her to stay where she was. She nodded, showing she understood, as I carefully got down and turned off all of the already dim lights while making as little sound as possible. Serenity covered her mouth with both hands in case she got scared again. She is pretty easily spooked, so I put my hands over my ears to signal covering her ears, just in case. She copied me as I turned facing the boarded up window. My heart is pounding as I push the blackout curtain aside. I slowly pulled back the small piece of duct tape that covered my main spying hole in the wood boards and looked out to see even more darkness with just a little light from the moon above. It was a beautiful night, and I missed laying under the stars so much it hurt. I stared in awe at the night sky as the moon lit up parts of the forest and lake outside. The lake shimmered under the touch of the moon and made me wish I could bathe in the moon's glow. It's summer now, so everything is in bloom and so vibrant. I sent a quick prayer to the moon goddess for guidance, as I always did when I longed to bask in her beauty. Suddenly, a body slammed into the window with such force it shook the boards, and it took everything in both of us not to scream. I turned and watched as my sister's silhouette plunged into our blankets to hide herself. I tasted the blood in my mouth from my lip, realizing I bit it pretty hard to suppress a scream from escaping. I had jumped a little away from the window, so I slowly crept back over to see mom standing outside our window again. Her eyes were red and piercing through me as if she knew where I was. maybe she did, but it still made no sense. 'Damn it, she is going to attract a hoard one day,' I thought to myself as I carefully replaced the tape and closed the curtain. She was getting more brave in recent weeks, and I wondered if it had anything to do with my birthday coming soon. After checking all the locks one more time, I carefully climbed back up to the top of the wooden bunk bed next to my sister. She was still shaking, and I could hear her muffled sobs. "It's just mom again," I whispered to Serenity and put her behind me by the wall so I could protect her if anything did manage to get in somehow. "Why won't she just go away," she asked me in a broken voice that made my heart clench. She knew as well as I did that we needed her here or at least close by. I felt around for my hand gun and put it in front of me with the safety on still. Then I heard Serenity let out a small sob again, so I turned over and held her close, letting her burry her face in my arm to muffle the sobs. I couldn't cry anymore, I had to be strong for my baby sister and she needed me to be so she can learn as well. I hated that she never got to experience life with mom in a positive way like I did growing up. I want this child to know she is loved and that I hope I can fix all this soon. Nobody knew how long we would be stuck with these creatures roaming around, but I have so much hope still. I brushed her hair with my fingers and quietly sung the lullaby mom sang for her when she was a baby. "Warm winds calling out your name Strong earth holding you softly again Fire warming you gently from the soul Water fill you with Serenity and peace Let love guide you in dreams tonight As we lay down our heads to sleep" After singing this a few times, Serenity finally laid peacefully as I continued to hum the lullaby softly and play with her hair. Our mom was right outside the house, so close, but so far, and we couldn't let her in, ever. Every so often, she would screech into the night for no reason, which had us in fear for so long that she was calling others like her. However, we have only ever seen seven others, and mom killed them all immediately, which used to make me think she was protecting us. It made me believe she was screaming a warning for all others to stay away. I looked down at where my scar was, and even in the dark, I knew it was still there. A harsh reminder of the night I went out once thinking she might still be in her head, even a little, and just keeping us safe from others. I learned the hard way that what she really wanted was us to herself. I had slipped outside one night and made sure she could not get into the house first. As I came into view, she raised her arms with her head slightly tilted. My whole body was shaking with fear and adrenaline, but I put my arms up, taking slow steps towards her. As I got close enough, mom lunged at me and sliced open my arm from the top of my lower arm down to the wrist. It was actually Serenity who saved me that night. She was screaming so loud that our mother ran towards her voice by the window instead of paying attention to me. It gave me a chance to get back in and lock up everything before she came back. I was covered in my own blood, causing Serenity to have a panic attack, thinking I was going to turn into the same thing as mom. I locked myself in our kitchen so I could still make her food and slip it through the door since she was too young to fend for herself yet. My poor baby sister slept outside the kitchen, and I gave her an emergency plan in case I did turn, which involved how to contact my best friend. We always had a huge first aid kit in the kitchen that was borderline military grade, so I took care of the wound myself. After we realized I should have turned by day 3, I reunited with my scared sister, and she was ever so happy to have me back. She didn't let go of my hand for 4 days other than when I needed to use the restroom. It was not hard to see the trauma of everything inflicted on her during those times, and I couldn't help but blame myself for being stupid. I could have had make-shift armor on to protect myself, but I went out with nothing to even defend myself. It took weeks for Serenity to calm down and realize I was truly okay. My wound took months to fully heal. The scar was an odd blue colored line that was slightly puckered. Laying there with Serenity while recalling everything, I knew I could never do anything to scare her like that again. A familiar click sounded and one of the dim lights slowly hummed to life above us. I had many of the lights outfitted with a timer so I wouldn't have to get back up if I forgot to turn them on again. The main one above our head helped us sleep peacefully since it is a mild UV light that would deter those creatures if they got in. I have a way to enhance them easily too, just in case one did get in somehow. I put my arm back around my sister and closed my eyes, attempting to sleep while thinking of how our lives used to be and what it had become. Mother used to be one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen, and everyone she met thought the same. Her hair was a natural light auburn, and it brushed her shoulders as she walked with every ounce of grace. Her skin was a light caramel color that made her emerald green eyes shine. Her body was curvy, and yet her waist was still small. She was everything we could ask for as a mother as well. She could do and be anything she wanted effortlessly. She was the best cook, soccer coach, teacher, artist, and even the best Doctor the world had ever seen. She was almost shy of perfection and held a very high position in the world. A very daunting difference to her currently. Now, her skin is cracked and rotting while falling off in many places and her hair in dirty clumps all over, with an occasional bald spot. Her body has become almost skin and bone with some small still defined muscles on her calves and arms. She didn't talk anymore and mostly walked in circles outside the house at night watching us. Our dad died in a plane crash when mom was pregnant with Serenity, so my sister never knew him. To me, he was the most handsome man in the world with blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and a perfect light complexion. They were so in love, too. My dad wanted nothing more then to be there for mom, but he choose to leave on a trip one month before mom was due to have enough savings for him to take a year off after Serenity was born. She ended up in early labor after hearing the heartbreaking news a few days later when they discovered the crash. I miss dad like crazy, but mom did her best for us like always until she turned. We both missed our mom more than anything in the world, and I was hell-bent on protecting Serenity from the same fate. People called it the "zombie" virus, but the infected never ate the flesh, just bit or scratched to turn you into one of them. Not a single person knew how it started or, at least, was alive to tell us how it started. They are very nocturnal creatures and would die in the sun light so during the day, everything was actually almost normal. I spend most of my days teaching my sister and doing school work myself with others who were surviving through an online school we created a couple of months after the virus started. I taught my sister to help me tend to our indoor green house I built after watching a video online and even making improvements to help with being self sustained a bit. We still play video games for a bit, and I learned quickly how to cook for us so we could still have a balanced diet. I could go on trips to the local store for food and other necessities during the day, as long as I avoided pitch black areas. Everything was technically free since the shop owner got infected 2 months into the virus. I moved all the meat into the 2 massive deep freezers dad had bought for when he went hunting. Thankfully the stores generator lasted almost a year before giving out. We do miss things like milk, but I got chickens in the garage for eggs and the garden for veggies. I also hunt deer, turkey, and duck during different seasons. I tried once to obtain a cow, but my neighbor was turned when in their barn, and many others found their way in, making me lock it up. It may not sound like this virus is all that bad, but we've lost most of the world and even class mates to this virus already. They spread fast and could easily break through windows and doors if they were not fortified. There was no warning for half the world that had been attacked overnight. As it went on, we started having doubts that there is a patient zero out there. This was before we had realized they died in the sun. We had assumed they just slept during that time like Vampires, until we learned they never sleep and dark areas were extremely dangerous. At one point, we had to unfortunately start a new cam group for class because one was infected while still on cam, and now she can't turn it off. I asked them to just make a new group instead of kicking her from the original. She was never bitten, though. She had died of a kidney infection we were trying to help her with while the lockdown was still in effect. Her laptop was always plugged in as well, so it never turned off. I used to check on her and do sound tests to see what they reacted most to. Knowing we could die of natural causes and turn was absolutely frightening. I wanted to study them and find a cure, but at this point most humans had given up on trying to study them or died doing it. So I ran out of informants, supplies, and was too scared to catch mom to study her more. When the virus started I was 16 and my little sister was 4. It took a lot of hard work to teach her to be quite and calm after mom had been infected trying to grab our cat, Milly, one night. A wild dog came through the yard and mom didn't see the infected that had followed it. I can still hear her screams telling me to protect Serenity. Mom laid outside the back door for 2 days trying to heal her body and protect her brain, but the infection exhausted her and she gave up. Milly was an indoor only cat now and we know she hates it, but I refused to let her out with mom. Serenity's 6th birthday was in 3 months and she had to grow up so quickly already. I felt so much pressure raising her in this virus filled world, but am so grateful I had mom to teach me how a child should be raised while she was still a baby. I would be 18 in two days and I would finally know if I inherited my mother's abilities or had my own. Even before the virus we were not human, we were called Celestials by the humans. Highly looked upon by all and gifted by the gods with powers to help humans and the super natural. She had one of the rarest abilities as a healer and part of me hoped if I gained the powers, I could fix mom. Deep down, my heart knew it was probably going to fail since she couldn't save herself, but I had to try still. My brain wouldn't shut off as I heard Serenity start to lightly snore. I crawled out of bed and quietly grabbed a small light to go to the kitchen. As I made my way down the hall I heard a strange noise from the kitchen and my heart began to pound. I grabbed one of my emergency guns that I took from a nearby abandoned gun shop and slowly made my way around the corner. I damn near peed myself when Milly jumped out of her litter box and ran between my legs towards the bedroom. "Sorry Milly," I whispered as I put my gun on the table and walked over to the fridge to grab a soda. Even though most humans were dead and most houses were totally off the grid now, a few survivors like me had a generator to keep essentials, and a few extra things, running. Plumbing still worked for now, but that was mostly because mom designed this house to be completely in her control and lightly off the grid. Even the generator was already built in to the house for emergencies like huge winter storms. I did a massive gas run 6 months into the virus when we truly learned they couldn't survive in the sun at all. We had watched one die outside the house in a black flame and then it turned to ash. If you asked me, they were more like Vampires, but I knew Vampires and they were very different still. Our world has almost any supernatural creature you could think of, or at least it did. A lot of them died with the humans sadly. I can't even remember the last time I saw an elf or whisp in town. Two of my class mates are vampires, twelve are werewolves, three are human, and one is a 180 year old Faery named Jinx. Or at least that's what she goes by, she hates her birth given name and refuses to tell the rest of the class what it is. She is technically the same age as me if you count how slow Faerys grow. She is also my best friend and she even comes over during the day some times before returning to her husband. I opened my soda carefully and decided to see if she was up and sent her a text. She responded immediately and I chuckled knowing she most likely was playing video games. Me: You up still? Jinx: Girl, you know I never really sleep right? Me: Mom came back and slammed into our window tonight. Poor kid cried herself to sleep again. Jinx: It's almost your birthday, maybe your mom will be scared of your true form? I bet you'll be even more super kick ass! Me: HA! I can only hope my brain is transformed too so my dumbass will believe in myself more. I can't even muster up the courage to study these things closer. Jinx: Girl she tried to turn you!! AND YOU SURVIVED!! If that's not super badass, I don't know what is! She had a point, my scar is proof that I am immune and sometimes I wonder if that's why mom wants to kill me so badly. Part of me always wondered why mom turned and I didn't. Me: What do you want to do for my birthday? Alex is opening up the Zoo during the day again finally. Weird how these creatures don't care about animals. Jinx: Oh your sister would LOVE that, I am so in! You guys were working on that place for the last few months and just from the outside, it looks amazing. Plus maybe we'll find you a cute boy there! I could practically see her wiggling her eyebrows at me and had to smother a laugh from escaping my lips. Last thing I wanted to do was wake up Serenity or alert more of the creatures. Me: I told you, if it happens then it happens, but finding my mate, if he is still alive, is my main focus and you know that. Jinx: I know, I know. I just don't want you to be lonely while you wait for him! Finding your true mate was hard before and now it's kind of miniscule. I hope you do find whoever it is, but I also want you to be open minded. You can still love another. Your sister would probably be super happy too. I smiled knowing she was right, my sister never had a dad and I am basically her mom now. 'It would be like playing house, but in a virus apocalypse.' I rolled my eyes at that thought and yawned, signaling my body was ready to rest finally. I finished the last of my soda and went back to my room. After locking everything back up again I sent Jinx one last message for the night. Me: Well my body is kicking my ass now. See you tomorrow! Good Night Jinx. Jinx: Good night Rosi! I'll pray to the moon goddess for guidance on where to do the ritual. ❤ I smiled and set my phone on the charger and climbed carefully back into bed. As I fell asleep I started to dream of a girl with light silver/blue hair and Deep green eyes. She was smiling and calling me over to her, but I couldn't reach her. There was always an invisible wall between us that muffled her voice slightly. She looked at me with so much hope in her eyes when she first saw me. I have had this dream so many times that I sat down usually in them and waited for the wall to break, but it never did. She would sit with her back to mine when she realized I just couldn't get through. I knew I would meet her one day and I had a feeling she was my goddess soul that would guide me through my new powers. I always wished mom was here to tell me if she had these dreams. As I sat against the wall I started to hum and could faintly hear the girl humming with me. I keep telling myself, soon.