Chapter 3: Dead
Looking at the gruesome scene in front of them, Astrid can't help but puke her guts out. People are biting and eating each other, blood and flesh are scattered in the road, walking corpses with incomplete body parts are scavenging the abandoned cars, looking for their next victim.
"M-mom, why did we suddenly stop?"
Without knowing what happened, Trace asked her puking mother by the side. She's still feeling a little dizzy over the accident and didn't have the time to observe the scene on the road.
Trying to be courageous for her daughter, Astrid tried to stop her daughter from looking outside the window, but she's too late. Trace happened to look outside to observe what happened only to see the same scene. Flesh, blood, decapitated body parts, walking corpses, those are what Trace saw. Blinking fast because of fear, she turned to her mother to ask if this is a prank.
"Tracey-boo, stay strong."
That's the only thing Astrid can say. She's also clueless for what happened and fear is creeping to her heart.
"Tatay Frank, c-can you drive back to the mansion?"
Astrid carefully asked the driver, fearing that the creatures outside might hear them. A few breathes later, Tatay Frank still did not answer. Feeling a little infuriated because the latter is not answering her, Trace poked her mother three times before Astrid gave her a glance. Being at the back of the driver's seat, Astrid can't see what is happening to Tatay Frank. Trace that can see the side of the driver's face looked pale, as somewhat she saw a ghost.
"M-mom, I think he's dead."
Trace bravely pointed out. Astrid tried to see if the driver really is dead, only to see white bubbles coming out of Tatay Frank's mouth, his eyes are white, and there are no signs of life in it.
Sweat can already be seen in Astrid's face, and she can't help but hold Trace's hand tightly, afraid that she might lose her beloved daughter if she don't hold on tightly.
"Let's go, Tracey-boo. We have to get back to the mansion. Help me move Tatay Frank to the shotgun seat. I'll drive."
With a resolution to bring her daughter back to safety, she ordered her pale daughter to help her move the dead driver who died of heart attack.
The mother and daughter duo first locked the doors of the car, then carefully moved the driver to the shotgun seat. Astrid then moved to the driver's seat and carefully drove out of the sticky situation. Fortunately, they were just entering the capital, and there were only a few abandoned cars on the road. The walking corpses were trying to catch up with them when the sound of the car engine were heard. But due to the slow movements of the corpses, they were all left behind.
They need to went through another two districts to reach their hometown but because of the traffic and the walking corpses, the 30-minute drive became an hour. They tried to avoid numerous intersections where the population were high and used the circumferential roads instead to avoid trouble.
"Mom, what's going to happen to us?"
While Astrid is focusing on driving, Trace suddenly asked with a hint of fear in her voice. This surely will be a traumatic event for her poor daughter. She can't help but glance at her daughter with pity. She also felt guilty for the death of Tatay Frank. They can't even help him.
"Everything is going to be fine, Tracey-boo. It's just a kilometer away from the mansion. We'll be safe in no..."
Astrid paused her sentence when she observed a very weird phenomenon. Tatay Frank seemed to move! Fear creep to Astrid's heart. What if, what if Tatay Frank turned?! Astrid instantly shook her head. They were all in the car all along. Tatay Frank was never bitten by those creatures.
But suddenly, his dead body twitched, scaring the hell out of Astrid that she instantly stopped her car, got her emergency metal pole under the seats and gave it to her daughter. When she's about to get off the car, Tatay Frank suddenly truned his head and directly bit her right arm.
A howl of pain can be heard from the car. Trace, seeing the same scene in the front seats from what happened back at the capital, turned pale. Her Tatay Frank just turned back to the living and bit her mother all of a sudden!
Trying to shake the driver's bite off her arm and suppressing the pain she's feeling, Astrid turned to her daughter.
"Hit him!"
Two words but it is enough for Trace to understand her mother's order. She hit Tatay Frank's head very hard, making his skull break and brain matter to spurt out. Only then did he stop biting the bloody arm of his former boss.
Getting the dead body off the car, Astrid also got off and locked herself outside. Seeing what her mother just did and with the worry of the bite wound her mother got from the bite, Trace frantically tried to unlock the car door to let her mother in. Walking corpses heard Astrid's howl of pain a few seconds ago and are now heading towards the car.
"Mom! What are you doing?!"
Seeming to not understand why her mother got off the car, Trace wept. They're safe now. Tatay Frank's body is out of the car. No one will bite her mother anymore.
Crying together with the rain, Astrid shook her head at Trace.
"You know what will happen when one gets bitten, Tracey-boo. Head to the mansion, be safe. Remember, mommy will always be with you. I love you, my Tracey-boo."
After saying her parting words, Astrid run away holding her bitten arm. Trace was left in the car, crying and helpless about the situation.
After weeping for some time, the walking corpses walked towards her car, seemingly trying to sense if there is still someone alive in the car. After crying, Trace realized that her mother just left her. 'She won't turn,' Trace tried to persuade herself, but she knew that it's hopeless.
At that moment, the rain stopped, and with determination in her eyes, Trace drove the car away towards their mansion. She needs to live. She needs to stay safe. That's what her mother wanted. And she'll promise to keep herself away from trouble for her mother.
"I'll stay safe, Mom. One day, when everything is fine, I'll look for you."
Trace then drove the car away from that road. Meanwhile, a lady was twitching from a forest nearby. Her eyes turned black, her heartbeat stopped. And a trace of a loving that can be seen in her face before her eyesight blurred.
'I love you, my Tracey-boo. Stay safe for Mommy.'
And the lady became a flesh eating creature.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone