First Winter
The official day of winter was still a month away but the frigid air has been stinging his face all day. The sun had set for the day and the Private Hawking was looking forward to the end of his shift and going back to base for some hot food and warm blanket, well some warmth anyway. His partner signalled Hawking and entered a house. They only had about five houses to check in the street before it was cleared of zombies. Hawking still couldn’t believe that he was dealing with zombies. That word was only in comic books and movies. But for the better part of last three years, he was assigned to Operation: Door Knock, going from house to house in the greater Dante City clearing them of any infestation.
“Clear” Hawking’s partner whispered
As he readied his rifle to enter the house, he noticed the light in the bedroom upstairs turn on. In all his time since the outbreak, he’s never seen lights in houses turn on. “Proceed with caution” Hawking said into his radio. Hawking put on his night vision goggles and entered. It was a mess. The living room smelled like rotting flesh and the furniture were all destroyed and decaying. Like with every other house, something bad happened here. “Clear” his partner’s voice came through the radio.
“State your location?” Hawking asked.
“Clear”
Hawking didn’t take much of the odd reply and made his way upstairs. He entered the room with the lights on. He took off his goggles and looked around. The room was nicely preserved, with no signs of struggle. It was warm inside. “Clancy, come in, where are you?” There was no answer. Hawking looked around, it was a little girl’s room, with pink walls, dolls and the whole thing and it was left untouched. On the writing desk was a pink, what appeared to be a diary. He picked it up and opened it:
Dear Diary,
It’s been more than a week since I saw my parents. I’m scared. I can hear the monsters outside every night. I haven’t seen Timmy in a long while as well. I hope my family is ok and I miss them dearly. I can see soldiers coming in their big trucks
That was the last entry. Hawking prayed to God that the little girl was rescued. “Clancy, come in, we need to go!” Hawking hissed into the radio. There was no response from Clancy. Hawking picked up his weapon and turned around to exit the room. In front of him was a little girl around ten years old. She must be the owner of the diary, Hawking gathered. She obviously didn’t make it out. Her night gown was covered in dried black blood, one of eye her sockets was empty with pus oozing out of it. She appeared to be badly mauled. She was more like an animal devoid of any humanity. Hawking let out a sad sigh before drawing his rifle to open fire. As he got ready to shoot, a zombie crashed out of the mirrored closet and took a deep cold bite of his neck. Immediately, hawking could feel his consciousness leaving his body as he violently spasmed. The little girl let out a smile as she turned the light off.