mother of the undead

Fifty-eight hits to zombie skulls. 

That's the number of hits the fancy frying pan my brother had bought could take before its base cracked. He'd bought it from the supermarket as an exchange for the pretty sales girl's phone number. To think he'd been that desperate, maybe he was better off as a twice dead zombie. 

One more hit and the pan would be in pieces leaving me with the gun and a single bullet. It wasn't like I was expecting to be chased by a horde of undead or I'd be better equipped than I was. 

Wearing pajama shorts and a tank top because I'd been meaning to go to bed, I'd been taken by surprise in the middle of watching cat videos when four idiotic undead girls had stormed through my door. Three of them had gone down after I had thrown my table at them. 

The dorm was filled with the vile creatures and my only escape was a window that refused to budge. 

"If you do not open right now, I swear to God I'm going to smash you through with a zombie." I threatened, furious as it refused to cooperate in the middle of a life and death situation. 

I peeked from behind the set of drawers to check on the barricade I'd made. The door was about to give in, a large crack ran the length of it and one of the creatures had managed to stick their hand through the slit trying to unlock the door from the inside. 

I screamed in frustration and banged at the window with all my strength. Mercifully the wood cracked and the window gave in, letting me through right before the door exploded with the force of the undead. 

I rolled out of the bushes I'd landed in and made for the lone car standing in the parking area, prepared to break into it and make my escape when a couple of zombies burst through the doors, running in my general direction guided by their keen sense of smell. 

The epidemic had started in a neighboring state. A small viral outbreak that had rendered humans dead and reanimated as bipedal sharks with a taste for human flesh. The last time I'd watched the news it was being reported that the military had been brought down to contain the situation but that apparently hadn't helped. They'd obviously just eaten their way through their 'containers'. 

I made a run for the car leaving all pretense of a covert escape and the horde followed, with much gurgling excitement. 

I grabbed the door handle, ready to throw it open when the window rolled down making me scream with surprise as I stepped back, forgetting my carnivorous pursuers for a solid moment. 

Inside was the undead corpse of my mother grinning at me from behind the coolest sunglasses I'd ever laid my eyes upon. 

"What are you doing here?" I asked flabbergasted, debating whether I could push her out of the car without having to kill her again. 

"I'm here to rescue you, honey. What else could I possibly be doing?" She smiled, showing off her pearly whites that contrasted against the green, rotting flesh. 

"Wearing sunglasses in the night with barely any driving lessons under your belt. Why would I even trust you?" I scoffed but made my way around the passenger's side, prepared to get in.

The horde had inched closer to us and the gurgling dominated the noisy car engine. 

"Because otherwise you die, silly." She laughed, rolling the window back up and stepping down hard on the gas pedal. We revved into motion, plowing through a few of my undead classmates who'd been trying to eat their way in through the doors. 

I tucked the gun away, preparing myself mentally knowing that I'd probably need it soon. 

"I don't understand. How are you driving? You're dead, gross and have no license." I observed, taking in the smooth driving skills my undead mother suddenly possessed. 

She looked worse for wear with her pinky dangling precariously from the joint that was supposed to hold it up and a huge gash across the side of her neck that reeked of rot. But her choice in clothes seemed to be a huge improvement. 

"Don't be so mean, honey. I'm here saving you. The least you could do is offer me a hand, you know? I'm rather hungry myself."

I shuddered at the thought and backed away from her, shrinking into the seat. 

"Ah. If you're done helping me out, can you drop me here? I'll find my way out by myself." I suggested pointing to the department store we were approaching at the speed of 60 miles per hour. 

Before she could reply a body crashed onto our windshield, gargling threats and banging at the glass to be let in. 

Without batting an eye, my mother turned on the wiper, swatting the zombie off like a pesky fly. 

"We can't stop now can we." She reasoned, shooting me an apologetic smile. The department store regurgitated a couple more staggering carnivores, as if to prove her point. "Besides, my maternal instincts will not allow your destruction."

"You're just saving me for dinner, aren't you?"

She feigned hurt, clutching her heart with a free hand as she ran over more of her kind, a smile bright over her decaying face. 

"Maybe I am." 

I strapped on my seatbelt and tucked myself in tight, pulling out the gun and prepared myself for impact as my mother kept driving with nonchalance. 

We rode off into the sunset, my rotting corpse of a mother and I, the plotting of each other's doom weighing heavy on our minds. It was 7 PM already.

We only had an hour left for dinnertime.

A/N: Another story I wrote for a Wattpad contest four years ago. I miss being a college student with an overactive imagination.