During Part 2

Wednesday

I got up late and went to the kitchen after making a trip to the bathroom. I was surprised to see that Dad wasn't up yet. I made a bowl of cereal and went to watch the news. The reports were terrifying. This illness was now being dubbed The Nightmare since it made you sleep more and more until you just didn't wake up. The Nightmare was being reported in every country in the world and every state in the US.

"It's impossible to determine the death toll or how many are infected at this time. Officials are now advising to stay home if possible. The hospitals are overrun as are all clinics and doctor offices. Stay home. Stay safe" the anchor said as my Dad finally walked in.

I quickly turned off the tv.

"How are you?" I asked with concern.

Dad grinned at me.

"I'm fine. I just stayed up too late" He replied and I nodded.

"Lets watch some movies" I suggest

"Sounds good" Dad answered.

We spent the whole morning and afternoon watching movies together. Even though we were both worried, it was wonderful to have that time with him.

"I'm going to go make dinner" Dad said

"Okay. I'm going to go check in with my friends and then I'll come help you" I replied.

I ran upstairs and saw that I already had a few messages. One from Sammy and a couple from Craig. I opened Sammy's first.

Sammy: Don't worry but I'm not going to be able to be in contact for a while. I'm safe and I love you. You're my best friend.

What the hell? I thought and quickly called her but it went straight to voicemail. I was in a panic but I didn't know what else I could do.

I checked the messages from Craig hoping that he had some insight.

Craig: Shit. You are not going to believe what my parents just tried to tell me!

Craig: This can't be true

Craig: Call me!!!

I called him but it went to voicemail. I left a message and paced my room for a few minutes. I tried calling April, Olive and Lance but none of them answered either. I didn't know what else to do so I put my phone in my pocket and went to help Dad with dinner. I told him all about what was going on while we ate.

"Should I go check on them?" I asked, worried.

"No. We need to stay put. It will be okay. We will all be okay" Dad said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself as well as me.

We both went to bed early not wanting to watch the news.

Thursday

Dad and I both got up early and made breakfast together.

"Since we are going to be here for a while, we should probably clean up a bit today" Dad suggested while we ate.

We spent the morning cleaning and getting caught up on laundry. After we ate lunch, Dad recommended that we pull out our emergency kits, "Just in case". We went and got them out of the closet.

"We have plenty of candles, food and water" I said.

"Let me show you how to work the emergency radio" Dad said.

He taught me how to crank it and then explained how to use the flares if I needed them.

We watched a movie and read for a while. Then we made a quick dinner and both went to bed. I checked my phone one last time but no one had called or texted me. I couldn't stop worrying so I just read in bed for a while and finally fell asleep.

Friday

Our morning was the same as the past few days. Dad and I made and ate breakfast together. We watched the news which was even bleaker than it had been. They were reporting that millions were dead. The rough guess was about 40% of the population was dead or dying. I looked at Dad after we heard that. That's when I saw it. The expression that will always haunt me. I knew then that nothing would ever be okay again. So did he.

We lost power that afternoon. Dad didn't seem surprised. Luckily, we have a wood burning stove out on the enclosed porch and it was late summer so we didn't get too cold and we could cook. We tried to use as much of the stuff out of the fridge as possible. We also had well water so we didn't have to worry about not having water, though we decided to boil all drinking water just to be safe. There wasn't much else that we could do. We read and talked and hugged and cried. We checked the radio for the news every few hours. We made dinner and then went to bed. I couldn't sleep and went to Dad's room.

"Can I sleep in here with you?" I asked and he nodded.

I crawled in his bed and he held me. I felt safe and finally fell asleep.

Saturday

Dad was still sound asleep when I woke. I got up and made breakfast. After eating, I checked the radio. It was almost all static. I was about to give up when I heard a voice.

"If any human can hear this, stay hidden. All the legends are real. Vampires, Werewolves, everything. They are capturing us in the streets. Stay hidden no matter what"

I waited to hear but that's all the voice said, over and over. I ran to Dad's room with the radio.

"Dad! You have to hear this" I said but then stopped in my tracks.

He was trying to wake up but he looked exhausted.

"NO! Dad!" I yelled as I ran to him, forgetting about the radio.

He coughed a dry cough and then I knew for sure. My Dad was going to die.

"It's okay, Kitty. I just didn't sleep well" Dad lied and I pretended to believe him

"Sure Dad, are you hungry?" I asked

"No thanks, I'm just going to sleep a bit longer" He replied.

I nodded and went back to the kitchen with tears in my eyes. I cleaned up and tried the radio. I made soup for lunch and took some up to Dad. He had gotten worse since this morning.

"Come on, Dad. You have to eat" I whined and finally got him to eat a bowlful and a cup of tea.

He fell asleep right after eating though. I went back to the kitchen and cleaned up. I took the radio and a book and sat in the big comfy chair in Dad's room so I could watch over him. As it go darker, I lit a few candles around the room. He barely stirred as he slept. I fell asleep in the chair and woke up the next morning to the sunlight streaming in the windows.

Sunday

When I opened my eyes on my Dad, I knew. He was dead.

"NO! DADDY!" I screamed and ran to him.

His lips were blue and his body was cold. He had died a while ago and there was nothing I could do.

I sat with him most of the day, in a stupor, sobbing over a father that would never hug me again. Would never help me with my homework again. Would never hold me while I cried over something trivial. Would never bake cookies with me again. Would never watch a movie with me again. Would never make me dinner again. Would never take pictures of me before prom. Would never watch me graduate. Would never help me get ready for college. All our hopes and dreams were gone. Nothing would ever be the same again. Nothing would ever be right again.

I mourned him for hours, alone, in our home. Finally I decided to do the last thing that I could ever do for my wonderful father. I wrapped him in his favorite quilt. I went out to the garage and pulled out the wheelbarrow. I wheeled it to my Dads room and hefted him into it. I rolled his body out to his favorite spot in the garden. I went back to the garage and got the shovel and brought it over. I dug for hours. I had blisters all over my hands but I didn't stop. When the blister broke open and bled, I still didn't stop. When the sun sank and the moon arose, I didn't stop. When exhaustion and dehydration made my vision blurry, I didn't stop. I finally stopped when I passed out on the cold ground next to my father's body.

Monday

I laid there all night. I had vague recollections of a dog coming to sniff me and then the sound of shoveling. When I awoke in the morning, the hole was much bigger and deeper than I remembered. I drug my sore body up and went into the house. I drank a glass of water and took a shower. I dressed in my black dress and brushed my hair. I didn't know what to do to say goodbye to my father. We were never religious and so I decided to read from his favorite book of poems. I took the book out and picked some late blooming wildflowers. I slowly walked to my Dad's grave site and put the book and flowers down. I gently tugged his body into the deep hole and began covering it. Luckily it was much easier to fill in than it was to dig. After I was done, I put the flowers on top of the mound and read him his favorite poems between my sobs. As the sun set, I finished.

"I love you, Daddy. Goodbye" I whispered and walked into the house.

As I shut the door, I heard a lone coyote or wolf baying. I went up to my room and took another shower. I fell into my bed and slept for a long time.

Tuesday

I awoke late in the morning and got up in a daze. Maybe I was finally sick. I wasn't that upset about it. My Dad was dead. All of friends were probably too, I reasoned. Why should I live? I thought. But still, I woke up. I was hungry so I went to the kitchen. Anything in the fridge or freezer was spoiled so I ate dry cereal and an apple. I didn't want to boil any water so I drank some of our bottled water... my bottled water. It was just me now. I kept having to remind myself of that. After I ate, I sat down in the living room and stared at the wall for the rest of the morning.

That afternoon, I finally shook myself out of my stupor. I heated up a can of soup and drank some more water.

I decided that I should go out to the garden and pick any late harvest vegetables that were ripe. I had no idea how long I was going to need to survive on the food left in the house so I needed to make sure not to waste any potential resources. I picked a couple of squashes that would feed me for the next few days. After that, I went foraging in the woods and found a bag of mushrooms and some late berries. Yum. When I got home, I made a dish with one of the squash and half of the mushrooms and decided to save the berries for breakfast.

I tried the radio and heard the familiar voice that was announcing the warning before but now it had some added information at the end.

"Vampires can killed with a stake to the heart or cutting off the head. They can be hurt and sometimes killed by fire. Beware, they are capturing humans to feed on. Stay out of any populated areas. If you see any, proceed with extreme caution. Werewolves are also catching humans. We don't know why. They can only be killed with silver. They are extremely strong and can change shape at will. At the time of this recording at least 70% of the human population is dead. There are other creatures out there working for the vampires but I don't have much information about them. There are witches that have spells and seem to be able to manipulate different elements but they can be killed or hurt like a human. There have also been reports of other kinds of fairy or elf type creatures. Iron seems to be the only thing that can harm them. Don't trust anyone. Even if they look human. Even if they were someone you knew before. No one is safe. Hide!"

I listened to the whole recording over and over. This couldn't be true. I tried other stations and found another voice.

"Any one still alive and uninfected please make your way to the nearest city. There are black vans driving around that will help you. They will take you to our safe houses where there is food and water. It is safe"

I cringed at the voice. I didn't know how but I knew that it was lying. I could hear it. I shook my head and put out my small fire in the stove. I definitely didn't want any smoke to attract attention to my house. I changed and got into bed. I laid there for a long time, thinking, coming up with a plan.