Rise Of The Undead Part Two: An Arm for a Leg

CHAPTER ONE- WHEN THE WORLD BECOME REAL

I slowly backed up and watched Emily lay there motionless. I didn't look back at the group, but I knew they were all staring at me. Suddenly, this world had become real. I had seen my own daughter as one of the risers. I heard Charlotte scream out, "No!". I turned around and looked at the group. Charlotte had fallen onto her knees crying. Hailey was standing behind her trying to help her up. Luke was tearing up a little and looking at the ground. I nodded and put my new gun away. John was half way turned around and also looking at the ground. Becky looked straight at me. I could tell by her facial expression that she was a little emotionally disturbed by what I just did. But as soon as I shot Emily, I felt a change inside me. I like I was doing what had to be done.

I slowly walked back to the group and bent down low next to Charlotte. I held out my hand to help her up, but she didn't even look at me and got up on her own. I went over to Luke and put my hand on his shoulder. "Luke, I'm sorry..." I said to him. Luke shrugged my hand off of his shoulder and turned around so he didn't face me. I could tell he was crying, he didn't want me to see him cry. Everyone just stood there listening to Charlotte cry. "Come on, we should get going..." Becky said breaking the silence.

Everyone started walking ahead of me. They all got in the car and I got in last. The whole ride back to the FBI department was awkward and silent. All I could hear was Charlotte crying. We all got out of the car when we were back at the FBI department. By this time it was already dark outside. The group followed Becky through the doors. I decided to stay outside. I needed some time to myself, to think. I started tearing up once I thought everyone was gone. But then I heard some footsteps coming up behind me. "Aaron..." I heard John's voice say. I turned around with tears in my eyes. "I can't do this." I told John. "I'm a terrible husband and a terrible father." I said to John. "Shh.... come on Aaron, you know that's not true..." John said trying to reassure me.

"No, it is! You don't get it. You don't get get what's it like to see your dead daughter and then realize that you barely knew anything about her." I said with a few tears falling down my cheeks. "Aaron, I don't think you get it... For most of us, this is just hell. It's like we are living in hell. But for you, this is a blessing." John said. What the heck was he talking about? I stayed silent. "You see, this is your second chance. Your second chance at being a good father and a good husband." John said. "And not everyone could do what you had to do today. I knew that if I ever had a kid, I would never have the guts to shoot them like that... You did what needed to be done Aaron, even if it was painful or hard." John said to me. "I can't do this, I don't want to be here anymore." I told John. "If you had enough courage to shoot your daughter in the head, you have enough courage to make it through this life, I know you can, and you will." said John.

I sat there in silence. I was shocked, what was John trying to tell me? "Thanks, but..." I started. "You could lead us, Aaron." John said looking straight at me in the eyes. "Are you kidding me?" I said in a shocked tone. "Aaron, did you see... No one else had the guts to shoot her... You did." John said sounding serious. "I didn't shoot her because I was 'brave'... I shot her because she was my daughter, and I didn't want her to walk around and be one of those flesh eaters..." I explained to John. "John, I'm not a leader, if anything, you're the leader." I told him. "No, man." John said with a laugh. "You are. Think about it Aaron, think about it." John said before he walked away.

John didn't see me as a leader. This must have been joke. The truth is, I saw John as the leader. He had always been a great manager, he was kind and got the job done. John always seemed to do the right thing, so he was the true leader here. Although, I was surprised that he said if he ever had a child, he could never shoot them in the face. I feel this deep guilt, like I did something wrong. I never thought that I would ever shoot a gun. I never thought that I would kill anything. I thought about it to myself, did I kill a person today? Did my dead daughter count?

I wiped my eyes and walked back inside. Charlotte was still crying on the floor when I walked into the room. Luke was looking at Emily's bear. Jackson was sitting in the on bed. Julia was sitting next to Becky's desk trying to cover her purple arm. "You know, you really gotta get rid of that thing someday." Jackson blurted out. "What's with you and trying to get rid of her arm?" Becky asked. "Nothing..." Jackson said. The way Jackson looked at Julia was always creepy. He always looked like he had some kind of evil plan just for her. "Jackson, shut up, they are not gonna let you cut my arm off." Julia said.

"Ok, ok." Jackson said with a laugh. I walked over to Charlotte and tried to sit down next to her, but she just got up and left when I sat down next to her. Was Charlotte mad at me? I couldn't understand why. Emily was just a riser, she wasn't human. Mackenzie walked over to Julia. "Let's take a look at your arm." Mackenzie told her. "Ok..." Julia said with hesitation in her voice. Julia rolled up her sleeve and handed her arm to Mackenzie. Mackenzie looked at several different areas on her arm in particular. I looked at Julia's arm from a distance and I could see the purple-ish blue color that looked almost painted onto her elbow. "Does this hurt?" Mackenzie asked as she pressed on Julia's arm. "No..." Julia said.Mackenzie looked up at Julia. "You sure?" Mackenzie said to Julia. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Julia said. By the way Julia talked, you could tell she was lying. Her arm looked terrible, it even looked like it was spreading to her shoulder a little.