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Dad.

“Dad?” Harper’s voice called out from the other room.

He cleared his throat. “Yes, honey?”

“Are we going to die?” Harper asked.

He stood up, feeling his back muscles strain, and walked to what had been the dining room. Harper was sitting in the middle of the room with a book in hand and partially covered by a dirty blanket. The candlelight bounced on her face and long hair creating eerie shadows that made her look tired and older.

He walked over to her and sat down. Gently he brushed her hair out of her face.

“No,” he lied. “We are going to be okay.”

Harper’s green eyes stared into his, making him look away. He could feel her not believing him. Harper was only seven years old, but she had been forced to grow up much quicker since everything happened. She looked past him, lost in her own thoughts. He reached out and hugged her.

“I love you, daddy,” Harper said, hugging him back.

“I love you too, sweetheart,” he said.

“Daddy,” Harper paused, she reached into her shirt and pulled out the silver heart shaped locket, the one from her mother. She moved it around in her fingers without taking her eyes off him.

He instinctively held his breath. He knew what was coming and he readied himself as best he could.

“Y-yes sweetheart?” he said, clearing his throat.

“I miss mommy,” Harper said.

He felt his heart drop and a wave of sadness wash over him.

“I know. I miss her too. I miss her everyday. It’s okay to miss someone we love when they are in heaven,” he said. It was true, he did miss her every day, though he wasn’t sure how many days had passed.

“We will-“

A scratch at the front door made Harper stop and crawl into her dad’s arms.

“Shhh,” he whispered, holding her close. They waited for it to move on to the next house.

Another scratch pierced the silence.

He could feel Harper’s breathing moving faster.

“Hey,” he whispered to her. “We’re okay. Everything is boarded up and there’s no way they can get in.” Another lie. Every window and door did have boards covering them, but they always seemed to find a way in.

“Do you want to go upstairs?” he whispered.

Harper shook her head and quietly he stood up with her still in his arms, cradled like a baby. He made his way to the staircase when another scratch at the door sent a chill through his body. He paused and Harper looked up at him as he waited for the scratches to go away. He stared at the planks of wood and prayed that they held. The scratching stopped, but he didn’t move. A few moments went by with just the sounds of Harper’s heart beat. Slowly he looked down at Harper as if he could communicate with her through telepathy.

Just outside they heard something running and then it smashed into the door. Harper gasped and covered her mouth just as the door jerked, but didn’t open. Harper’s eyes filled with panic and she tried to get closer to her dad. She still held her mouth closed as if it was the only thing that would keep her scream from escaping.

There was a harder, louder hit on the door, slightly moving one of the nails in the plank out. He carried Harper up the stairs to the bedroom they shared together and placed her on the bed. He steadied her head so that she was looking into his eyes.

“Don’t move,” he said.

Harper shook her head yes. Her eyes were filling with tears and she still wouldn’t take her hand off her mouth. He turned to go down stairs when he heard her grunt. He turned and saw Harper making a heart shape with her hands. He did the same thing back to her.

“I’ll be right back,” he whispered.

Another loud crash came from the door, forcing him to stop. Running head first into doors was how they got in. Once he realized the door hadn’t been broken, he moved down the stairs to the dining room. He grabbed her book, her blanket, and blew out the candles. The room plunged into darkness right when another bang echoed through the house. The doors and windows being boarded up blocked out any moonlight from the outside creating a deep blackness. Across from the dining room sat what was left of the living room. He ran past the front door to the living room and blew out the candles.

“Don’t want you bastards to start a fire,” he said to the empty room. The white loveseat caught his eye before blowing out the last candle. He could push it in front of the door and help keep them out. Or he could end up getting himself killed by wasting precious moments. The door banged again as one of the creatures smashed head first into it. A second later he heard the clatter of a nail hitting the hardwood floor.

“Fuck,” he whispered. He blew out the last candle and ran to the staircase. He stumbled when his foot hit the bottom step. He moved up the stairs through the darkness and turned into the bedroom. Harper was sitting in the same spot he had left her.

“See? That was fast,” he whispered. He closed the door and dragged a nearby dresser in front of it. Even if they got in through the front door they wouldn’t be able to move the dresser. He sat down next to his daughter and wrapped his arm around her. Then they waited.

The banging ended a few moments later. He wasn’t sure how much longer it lasted since most clocks stopped a while ago. After the creatures gave up on the front door, Harper and her dad laid back in the bed. They said their prayers and fell asleep.

Harper’s dad sat up hours later; his heart was racing and sweat covered his body. He had the nightmare again. The one where he re-lived his wife’s death. It was always the same and ended with her hand reaching out to him while the creatures attacked her. She yells out for him to save Harper, to run. He always wakes up after that.

Rays of sunlight illuminated the bedroom. In a few hours the heat would make everything smell of decay and death. The creatures would be awake and roaming the streets, searching for food. The ones that were at the door last night would come back at some point.

He stared at the sunlight hitting the floor trying to feel some semblance of normal. Harper started to stir next to him and then her eyes were open.

“Good morning honey,” he said.

“Good morning,” Harper said. “Dad, do we have to leave again?”

“No, not yet at least,” he said.

“But they’ll be back,” Harper said.

“They will, but we should be okay,” he said.

Harper looked at him with unbelieving eyes. She knew he was lying, but she chose to believe in the lie.

“You hungry?” he said.

Moments later they were in the kitchen and eating a can of cold baked beans, a can of cold sliced tomatoes, and some canned pears. All the food left was either in cans or whatever you could hunt or grow yourself. Everything had gone bad so quickly when it started. In a matter of weeks the electricity and running water disappeared. Now only a handful of people were still alive. Everyday was devoted to finding food, water, and anything else to help them survive. Shortly after breakfast they would start searching.

“You ready?” he asked Harper, after she finished the last of her food.

“Yes,” she replied.

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you too,” she replied.

He looked into her eyes and felt sadness. Harper looked tired and broken, like a child who lost her childhood. Which was exactly what happened to her. The world went to shit and she lost her mom and her whole world.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m so sorry that the world is this way.”

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault, dad. And one day the word will come back. And all those stupid things will be dead,” she replied.

Harper was right. Eventually, all these things will die off. There will be no more people for them to eat and they’ll die off. They just had to outlive them.

“Alright, let’s do this,” he said.

Harper’s dad picked up the empty cans and tossed them into a bag.

A loud bang emitted from the front door. Harper gasped while her dad grabbed a handgun on the counter. Another smash happened followed quickly by another one.

“Dad? There back,” Harper whispered. “And there’s more.”

“I kn-“ one of the creatures smacked hard into the door, sending nails flying and creating a long crack in the wood. Seconds later another creature smashed into the door, knocking off a piece of board. They had to go and go now. In seconds he tried to decide if they should run out the back or go up the stairs.

A creature ran head first into the door sending bits of wood and blood flying into the house. It had created a hole large enough to see through. Harper saw the monster’s frantic bloodshot eye peer into the house and look at her. The monsters were dogs who had become infected and turned into violent creatures. They were not the loving cute animals from before. Now, dogs were mangled and bloody things that killed everything in their path.

Harper’s dad grabbed his daughter’s wrist and unlocked the back door. He prayed none of the creatures were waiting for them on the other side and pulled the door open.

“Come on!” he yelled.

Another loud smash hit the front door sending it into the wall. Harper screamed as one of the creatures tried to shake off the impact. It locked its eyes on Harper, on its next meal, and ran. Harper’s dad pulled her through the doorway. She tried to grab the door handle and pull in closed, but her fingertips only grazed the knob. Blood and slobber from the creature’s mouth landed all over the walls and floor. In an instant it was only a few feet from them. Behind the first creature, another one followed. They were in the backyard then seconds later the first monster was too.

In one swift move, Harper’s dad pulled her onto his shoulder, spun around, and aimed the handgun at the creature. He squeezed the trigger and in an instant the monster’s head exploded sending bits of gore and blood flying. It fell to the overgrown green and brown grass. He aimed at the other dog and fired. This one fell to the ground and started twitching. Harper’s ears were ringing from the gunshots. They both stared at the dead animals in silence. More would be coming soon, attracted to the sound, and they had to get out fast. Harper dropped from her dad’s shoulder, keeping her eyes on the creatures.

Through the fence they could see more creatures running to the house.

“Come on, we have to find somewhere else to live,” Harper’s dad said.

They went through the fence gate and moved on to the next home.