Zombie Invasion

  * * *

  Hanya Mutton slowly woke to the quiet around her. Her hearing could decipher a slight hum but nothing more. She opened her brown eyes to have a look. As the room came into view, she saw Doctor Blake standing over her. She returned his warm smile.

  “Are we safe?”

  “As long as you stay here.” He grinned.

  “The zombies?”

  “They are outside the walls and can’t get in. This is your home now. All that stay within these walls is safe. How are you feeling?” he asked.

  With his assistance, she was able to rise and view several who had gathered for her awakening. “I’m okay.” Looking about, she saw no family around her. Was she the first to be awakened? Her father had described the procedure on their drive to the diner. So far, it went according to plan. “My parents?”

  Blake motioned with his head. Those in attendance filtered out of the room. Though his eyes gave nothing away, Hanya felt tendrils of fear uncoiling in the pit of her stomach. Why were they leaving?

  “Your father told you of the quarantine procedure?”

  “Yes,” she said. Then added, to make sure he knew that she knew. “We’re the future.”

  “I’m sorry. I won’t lie to you. Your father and your mother didn’t make it.”

  Hanya was strong. She stared at him intensely. It would not last long. Eventually, under the weight of his stare, she cracked. The dam burst and tears fell. Doctor Blake hugged her tightly and let her cry. “It’s all right, child, let it out.” That made her cry all the more.

  She was grateful for the privacy. After a time, she wiped her eyes. How could she, the future, behave so? She was stronger than that. She had proved it by killing countless zombies, including the boy from her school who used to tease her because she was mixed. No more tears for her, she was strong, the future. She wiped her eyes again and faced him. “How many of us will there be?”

  “Don’t worry about that right now.”

  “No! Daddy told me what to do and I am ready. I am not going to let them down. They died to get me here and I am going to save the world. I’m ready. Did he give you the papers?”

  “Yes.”

  Her small face held a fierceness she hadn’t known before. “My brother, Jamar, was to be the first. I will take his place. I’m ready to start. They laughed at me and called me Indian Princess. They said I was nothing. Daddy said I can save the world and not to listen to them. He said that I was special and the world needed me. I’m ready.”

  Blake smiled. “Then you are indeed an Indian Princess and I am glad to meet you. Welcome to Camp Vix, Princess.”

  “Thank you,” she said with smugness. Right then, she knew she had a mission. For that new mission, she would start life anew with a new name. She looked at him sternly. “My name is Hannah, Hannah Mutton.”

  “Well, whatever you want to call yourself.” He was a longtime friend and new her real name. “God save the Queen!”

  They chuckled.

  Chapter Thirty: Homefront