Brie woke up to the familiar smell of bacon and eggs. This was most definitely Adam's cooking... It was fresh, the scent drifting into her senses slowly, making her mouth water. She had missed this smell greatly. He popped his head out from the hallway while she was waking herself up and gave her a grin.
"Awake, I see. Fancy some food?" He called out, making her nod desperately. Brie was beyond hungry.
"There's a kitchen here as well?" She raised an eyebrow, standing up and rubbing her eyes as she made her way over to where Adam had appeared. She glanced in to see a small swirl of steam coming from a pan sat on the stove. The room was crystal white and lit up decently. She glanced at the stove to see bacon and eggs cooking with a large pot of beans heating up.
As she studied the kitchen, she admired the amount of resources. There were a stack of clean dishes and cutlery balanced neatly on the table. Pots and pans hung from hooks, ready to be used.
"Looks tasty." She smiled as Adam passed her a plate of food, followed by a fork. "Thanks." She stepped back and walked away, sitting at the large table in the meeting room to eat. The sofa she had slept on was now neat.
John appeared, smiling at her as she scooped her food up. "Good morning," He began. "I'm sorry if I scared you last night. I was pretty tired." He scratched the back of his head and turned to speak to Adam without waiting for her to reply. She paused her eating, thinking back to last night. It was a scary dream, possibly one of her biggest fears. On top of that, she woke up to a weird guy watching her sleep.
Melissa came bouncing into the room with a plate of her own food. "Look how tasty it is, Brie!" She grinned from ear to ear, grabbing her fork and digging in before she even sat down.
"Take your time, you might get sick!" She chuckled as Melissa nodded with a mouthful of food. She leaned back, finishing her food and feeling relaxed. It was almost as if it wasn't the end of the world.
She closed her eyes for a moment, envisioning the peace, but her breath hitched as a loud thud came from behind her. She opened her eyes to see Melissa staring in shock, her mouth frozen mid-chew.
"Daddy?" She stood slowly, eyes locked behind Brie. As Brie slowly turned, she saw a man looming at the window, his jaw dislocated and hanging. His bald head seemed to be chewed off, a gash on his temple bubbled and oozed with blood.
Melissa ran forward, gaping. "Daddy!" She screamed in horror, slamming her fist against the glass and staring into the eyes of the man who had raised her. He was bit, and she knew it.
Brie froze in shock, watching sadly as Mel broke down into sobs. The man before them was infected, bleeding helplessly. They'd have to kill him if he stayed around, but the sight of Melissa in such distress clung to Brie's heart with torment. Adam rushed in and as he did, Melissa's father snapped his head to look at him. His head wobbled as if he was trying to speak, but his jaw couldn't move. Then, he thrust his fist onto the window. And again. Blood splattered and Melissa flinched backwards, screaming with denial.
Thus, his tantrum began. The man fell to his knees, letting out a groan of pain and clawing into the window with desperation. The group watched him with disbelief until John turned and ran out with his gun pulled.
"No! Don't kill him!" Melissa screamed, slamming herself into the window once again. She held her hand against the glass, tears streaming down her face. Her dad simply looked back with a knowing sadness shadowing his mutated face. He knew it was the end, and so did she. His hand reached to meet hers, and they connected through the fragile window.
"He's too far into the virus. There's a tiny bit of him left, but in an hour it'll be gone." Brie sighed, thinking back to the man they met in the shop. He had a conscious, but it disappeared a day later.
She thought hard. The virus must be a slow process, taking over the brain slowly and painfully. She felt tears prick her own eyes, her gut wrenching for the reunited father and daughter.
John appeared on the other side of the window, his face moulded into a numb, pained expression. Melissa was understandably hysterical, so Brie leaned forward to try to calm her.
"He's going to be in more pain if we don't do this now." She whispered softly, rubbing Mel's arm comfortingly, looking up with uncertainty at the distorted man knelt before them.
He lowered his head, revealing the bites and claws that had decided his fate. Once he looked up, his eyes had rolled and his body shook. A seizure?
"Don't look." Brie covered her eyes, watching as the worst part finally came.
BANG.
The piercing sound made all of them jump, but Brie knew it was the right thing to do. She was relieved that Mel's father lived long enough to see his daughter before he passed.
Adam stood up abruptly, leaving the room. Brie cradled Melissa carefully, feeling distraught as Melissa shrieked into her shoulder. Blood had covered the window to the point where they couldn't even see the body.
Brie picked Mel up and carried her away into her room, which John had assigned her since she was young and deserved a comfortable bed more than any of them. She cleaned the toys off the floor and placed her on the bed, still cradling the poor child. She hated that such cruel encounters had to take place.
While John and Adam cleaned the scene outside, Brie handed her the small doll she was playing with earlier.
"Cuddle?" She kept her voice from wobbling, feeling her throat close with every breath.
That man just died in front of them.
Mel gladly took it, tears still streaking down her face. They lay for a long time, the silence surrounding the room. Nobody moved, nobody disturbed. After a while, Mel spoke.
"He's dead, isn't he?"
Brie looked away but choked out a response. "He was already dying. We had 2 choices. Leave him and let him turn evil and kill us, or take him out of his misery."
She paused. That was too harsh.
"He would've lived as a walker, in pain and suffering. His body can rest now. He's up in heaven, where he can watch us and look after us while we fight the evil away from the world." She finished. It seemed those words were right to say because Melissa nodded and wiped her tears.