Mom Zombie

"Just get your shoes on," I shouted frantically, one hand fumbling for my car keys in the bowl by the front door, while my other hand was full of bags and letters that need to be handed in on the first day of the school year. September, that time of year when the long hot days of summer start to dwindle and the leaves are already turning brown on the ground—oh and the school run begins once again after weeks hearing of "I'm bored" over and over.

School is a win win situation for working moms. We no longer have to pay for childcare over the holidays or beg grandparents for favors and the commute to work seems so much easier when the kids have been bundled into their classrooms without a backwards glance from the parents.

And I only have one kid!! I shudder a little as I try to imagine getting three snot nosed children ready, fed, and into the car before 8:30 AM. Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter, but once again, she is nowhere to be seen and we have to leave the house right now! Her lonely shoes and school bag sit sadly at the foot of the stairs.

"Where are you? Get down here and get your shoes on!"

Finally, sitting in the car, Amelia buckled in safely and munching on a biscuit (to keep her quiet), I take a deep breath at the small victory I, a single mom, have achieved this morning. I feel as though I should treat myself as I smile into the rear view mirror and gaze lovingly at my little angel, her blond hair and blue eyes adding to the angelic persona.

My eyes glance down to the clock on the dashboard... "Shit" I exclaim as I break from my reverie and notice the time. It reads 8:50 which means I have 5 minutes to get my darling child to school!! How on earth it takes 20 minutes to get some shoes on, I will never fathom!

Speed ticket, speed ticket, keeps circling in my mind as I drive at near breakneck speed along the residential areas, trying to avoid potholes and small children in equal measure. It doesn't help that Radio One decided to play Prodigy's Firestarter on the radio this morning, or that Amelia keeps shouting: "Another biscuit! Another biscuit mommy!" from the backseat. I pull up to the school gates, nabbing a prime space close to the entrance, pulling a "dodgy maneuver" as my ex used to call it and doing my best Army Sergeant impression as I screech, "Ok, time to go, go go!"

Out of the car, walk around, unbuckle Amelia, slam car door, start walking...

"Mom, where's my School bag?" Amelia stops just as we reach the haven of the school door. I stop in my tracks... Fuck my life!!

Amelia goes into school as I rush back to get her backpack. I open the car door and my freshly prepared lunch falls out of the car and creates a mess in the middle of the road... Just as Janice who I used to go to school with is coming out of the school gates with her perfect curly hair and snooty face.

"Oh hi Karen!" She smirks as she spies the Van Gogh currently displayed in the middle of the road. "That's why we walk to school!" she says as she disappears around the corner. "Fuck you Janice," I think, trying to hide the mess underneath my car while fishing Amelia's bag from the backseat.

Bag safely stashed away at Sshool and having quickly checked that we didn't forget anything else on this mad dash school run, I take another deep breath and think back to the small victory I gave myself this morning... "Oh well, I think this deserves a trip to KFC for lunch after all I have been through," I think as I put my foot down and avoid the haggard looking parents making their way back to their equally haggard looking houses, now minus the children. The happy smiles on their faces are priceless. Is it Christmas yet?

My morning at the office flies by and I do actually take the trip to KFC like I promised myself I would, then feel especially guilty as I am supposed to be on a diet after all. I see a group of people that appear to be fighting on the corner as I slide into my car, belly full of fried chicken and rice. My phone rings and I push my key into the ignition just as I answer it.

"Hello, is this Amelia's mommy?" comes the sugary sweet voice on the other end of the phone. "What's happened?" I think, annoyed and anxious in equal measure. "Hi, there. There has been a slight incident at School and it appears that another child has bitten Amelia on the arm. It looks a bit sore so would you be able to come and collect her as the nurse thinks she may need a trip to A&E." Her words came out in a syrupy blur.

Bitten?? On the arm?? How does this even happen? And how does a 5-year-old bite hard enough to warrant a trip to A&E?? Shit, fuck. I tell the teacher I will be right there, start the car, and call work to tell them what has transpired. My boss seemed quite anxious when I spoke to him as there were four people who hadn't even turned up for work today, but as it was an emergency (I mentioned the possible trip to A&E) he had to relent.

My mind was a whirlwind as I sped once again to the school gates to rescue my daughter from the cannibal 5-year-old who had taken a chunk out of her arm. I imagined tourniquets and the doctor saying, "I'm sorry but we need to amputate." Shit, shit, shit!

Whoah!! I slammed on the breaks as some idiot fell onto my windscreen, wait fell, backwards? I wound the window down and shouted "Prick!" as he looked at me in horror, then ran off in the opposite direction. I watched him take off at breakneck speed and wondered what the hell he had been in such a hurry for.

I was pretty sure I would hear police sirens soon as the image of the idiot man's face stayed with me for the rest of the ride to school. Maybe he had been trying to break into someone's house and got caught. It's not unheard of around here.

Queen's B"ohemian Rhapsody" had just reached the dramatic climax as I pulled up outside the school gates and I saw the unsettling scene taking place in the car ahead of me. It's not unusual to see a screaming kid not wanting to be buckled into their car seat, but this kid was literally throwing a fit and screaming like a banshee! I shook my head in pity and felt glad that Amelia had never uttered such an unholy screech in her life.

I hurried up the walkway to school and knocked on the year one door. It took moments for Amelia's teacher to open up and I noticed that she looked a few shades grayer than this morning.

"Where is she?" I practically shoved the teacher out of the way and stepped inside of the building.

"She is just over in the reading corner. We bandaged her arm as best we could and she seems fine, really," the teacher tried to assure me as I ran over to my child and hugged her in a fierce embrace. I looked down at her arm and I could see a heavy bandage that was already filling with blood. My heart skipped a beat and I turned to the teacher in fury.

"Who did this?" I literally screamed at the teacher, her pale face dropping and her hands starting to tremble. A few of the other children looked over at me horrified, but I really didn't care at this point.

"It was another child, as I said earlier. His mom just came to collect him and he will be suspended because of this incident. We have been advised by the nurse that Amelia requires a trip to A&E..." She stopped. "And possibly a rabies shot." The teacher smiled sheepishly and I lost it.

"A rabies shot!!! What the hell is going on here? You think another child had rabies?" I could not control my anger at all. What was the idiot teacher trying to say?

"... I mean, Ben was acting out of control earlier and had to be restrained. I have only seen that kind of behavior in rabid animals..."sShe said in a hushed voice and took a step closer to me. "She will be fine as long as she gets a shot within 48 hours..." She trailed off as she saw my face switch from stormy to "I'm about to smash shit up."

"That's it, we are out of here!" I shout and pick Amelia up who is now sobbing and saying, "Am I gonna die Mommy?" For god's sake, what is going on in this shit show of a school? I march out, trying to comfort my daughter and collect my thoughts. Someone is going to pay for this!

As I gently strap my poor, innocent little girl into her car seat, some asshole slams into me bodily and I finally lose my shit. I grab him viciously by his coat and give him an elbow to the jaw. "Jesus! I have never hit anyone in anger before!" I think as he stumbles backwards into the railings.

"Fucking twat!!" I shout as I wait for a reaction from my assailant. He looks up at me and my heart stops beating. His eyes are blood red and his face is blue tinged, the veins in his head have turned a deep navy blue, and blood drips down the front of his jacket.

I feel dizzy for a moment, then in slow motion realise he is lunging towards me once more. I duck out of the way, slam the door and run around the car to my boot. "I have some tools in the back," I think as I open it and frantically try and find the crowbar I had stashed in there from decorating a few weeks back.

"What the fuck?" I think as I find what I am looking for amidst the debris and think, "Is that actually a Zombie?" I slam the boot and glance up to see the inhuman thing coming towards me once again. Someone shouts from across the street "Hey! Is that man bothering you?" As he lurches, hands forward in classic zombie style, I bounce backwards and try to get a closer look.

"Hey!" I hear again as I take in the blood stains, extremely unhealthy looking skin and bright red eyes. The man looks to be foaming from the mouth... "Definitely a zombie," I think as I take a swing at his head with the crowbar.

"Fuck!" The man who was shouting has now sprinted across the road and pushed me out of the way. It all happened so fast I didn't have time to warn him! The "Zombie" had not even flinched from my blow but had lurched back face first in a biting motion. My knight in shining armor had stepped into the space where I was previously and had taken the bite that was originally meant for me.

"What the fuck man!" he shouted and punched the guy full in the face. Zombie dude went down heavy, I saw that my "savior" was a tall black guy with shining white teeth and was quite handsome actually, although his face looked angry as fuck. He started punching the guy on the ground ferociously, and I started to feel sick.

"He's a fucking zombie!" I shouted and then felt silly, because Zombies are only real in movies!

"What?" The black guy stopped and stepped back, the anger replaced by incredulity now.

"Look!" I pointed down at the grey skinned man on the floor who was trying to stand. He looked back down at the guy, back at me and said:

"Give me that!" He took the crowbar from my visibly shaking hands and laid into him, splattering blood and gore up the school railings muttering "Fuck this shit." The ring of metal hitting the floor was soon replaced by my daughter's screams and everything suddenly seemed to speed up.

I backed away, my mind not able to comprehend what I had just witnessed. I walked to the front seat and sat down in my car. I heard the crowbar hit the floor outside and glanced over to see my knight running off down the street. "Well, that's great," I thought as I started the car, my mind empty and blank.

I didn't really remember the car journey home, but I remember my daughter crying hysterically. She was so scared I let her get out of her car seat and sit up front with me. I got to the house, still not able to think and said:

"Come on sweetie, we are going inside." This time there was no hesitation from Amelia, my sweet, sweet Amelia, and I carried her into the house and locked the door. I collapsed in the hallway, hugging my daughter and crying. We were both crying.

"Mommy, am I going to die like that man?" she asked me, bringing her bright blue, innocent eyes up to mine, red and tear stained and my heart shattered into a million pieces.

"No baby!" I wailed as I hugged her tight to me.

And there we stayed, huddled in the hallway for indeterminable minutes, hours, I really wasn't sure.

After what seemed like a lifetime, Amelia was quiet and I looked down to see her asleep. This, this I could deal with. I took my baby upstairs and lay her down on the bed to rest. Maybe now I could try and collect my thoughts a bit...

As I walked out of Amelia's room, I heard a noise from inside.

"Baby? Are you awake?" I walked into her pink, unicorn decorated bedroom to see movement under the covers, her blond hair spilling out, looking ruffled. Then she jumped at me.

My last thought was "How did my baby get so strong?" as Amelia tore into my shoulder with her tiny little 5-year-old teeth. Tears sprang to my eyes from the pain and the memories of me giving birth to her all those years ago, and I hugged her tight to me as we fell over in the middle of her bedroom.

I looked down to see her eyes blood red, that blond head of hair bobbing in front of my vision. I held her to me as she ate my flesh and I cried, until there was nothing left but darkness...