1 Chapter 1

"Hello, my name is Gillian McGillon, and I...*deep breath* I survived a zombie apocalypse. It... it was like a nightmare" said Gillian as she looked down at her feet while twiddling her thumbs. "It all happened 5 years ago, my dad, he was working with a group of scientists on a treatment." Gillian began explaining as she placed her hands on the table, intertwining one another, occasionally lifting her left hand to move her ginger-coloured hair from her forehead, her left eye and cheek. "I... I remember him coming home one night, being happy and proud that he came up with this, if I can say, unique idea, it did sound a bit out of the ordinary. We had our money down that this will actually work, since my father made some even crazier inventions, such as a 'food tablet', he made this right before beginning the work on this new treatment" Gillian explained as she gestured her hands to aid her explanation, "and what this tablet would do is that, when you consume it, it would make you feel no hunger and nurture your body for about 4 days. He also made a 'water tablet', it works very similarly to the 'food tablet' except, this tablet makes you feel hydrated and it would also increase the production of saliva to stop your mouth from drying for about 2 days." Gillian explained as she licked her dry lips to moisten them. "So, now you would know that my dad is pretty much a crazy scientist, who would make things that sound and seem so surreal, but they would actually work! As far as I can remember, dad said that the treatment came in like a cream form, out of like a tube and in the form of an injection, he said that the injections would be more effective." Gillian explained as she crossed her left leg over her right leg, placing her two hands on the knee of the left leg, she first places the palm of her left hand on her left knee cap, followed by her right hand, gripping her left hand. "He would have explained my mother, my brother and me what the treatment would do, and how it would help people. I remember being amazed when I first heard about the idea of the treatment, and basically what it would do is that it would repair the broken cells in the body, although, a small piece of me had a feeling that something is going to happen, something bad, I brushed it off since it was a big project and I just thought that I was nervous. Turns out... that quiet voice in me was correct, something went wrong... terribly wrong," said Gillian as she began to feel uneasy.

"That night, was when all hell broke loose, but I was unaware of it, everything seemed normal to me, the window in my room was open... I can hear those small children playing outside, the sunlight managed to peak through the tiny gaps in the clouds. I also remember that my mother came into my room, sat beside me and hugged me. My mother would always give me hugs, and each hug felt heartwarming, but this time, I felt some kind of melancholy, and as we separated I felt negative energy soaring through my body, I could straight away tell that my mother was hiding something when I looked at her face. I saw her pull out something behind her back but I didn't have enough time to see clearly what it was as a clap of thunder and a flash of lightning caught my attention. Suddenly I felt a pinch in my arm, but I didn't react as I was mesmerized by the lightning and thunder outside. Moments later I felt another pinch in my arm and then a warm hug, with my mother's words "you are safe now", but I can't tell you if that's how I felt at that moment. I began to think that something was not right, and the word 'dad' kept coming to my head." Gillian said as she rose her both arms toward her chest and folded them, "I also then had that feeling that my mother has done some harm to me, or that she did something bad to me, I did not know in what context she meant "you are safe now". I thought as in, she was going to kill me, but turns out that she saved me. If she did not inject me with that cure, then I most likely would not be here." said Gillian as she had a sad and a thankful look in her eyes. "Multiple minutes pass, I go down to my mother, and I see her waiting for someone, impatiently, by the window, and that was when I knew for sure that something's was not right here. Then about 10 more minutes pass when I heard a car pull up and dad rushed towards the front door, ringing the doorbell impatiently, and after mom unlocked the door, he told us to go into the car. At first, I thought we were going somewhere, somewhere important, but that didn't seem right, my parents would always be prepared for a special event. Then I thought that we might be going to someone's house, but my dads working hours caused us to be late. Then I saw my parents carrying out three pieces of baggage and my dad placing then in the trunk, I remember so clearly, my brother sitting next to me and asked me "where are we going?", but all I could have done was gave him a worried look and a shrug. There was also so much thunder, I could feel the car shake from how strong the thunder was, and then very soon, my parents sat in the car and we went off. I gave up guessing where we were heading to, but not even in the back if my mind did I think that we were heading towards Dublin Airport. We reached the airport, and my dad headed toward the entrance to terminal 1, where he helped us to take out the baggage, and where he hugged me, my brother and my mom" Gillian explained as she clenched her fists and began biting her lower lip as her eyes began to water. "I... I would have never, in a million years, guessed that, that hug and kiss from my dad would be the last hug and kiss I would have ever got from him. It was the last time that I would ever see him" Gillian said, barely able to speak, as tears rolled down her cheeks, messing up her eyeliner on her both eyes.