The world my mind placed me in was full of pain and destruction—partially ‘cause of me—so I expected to be somewhere a little better. A town overrun by zombies was definitely not the image I wanted to see. Strangely, these seemed different, more aggressive, as though their one mission was to tear apart anything and anyone in their path.

  It looked like I was on that list now as a group of them ran at me, growling like rabid beasts. Using the car near me as a weapon, I hurled it across the street. The zombies were crushed underneath the vehicle’s weight, zombie goop painting the concrete.

  Another batch was eviscerated by my bullets, but just when I was about to fight another pack, my ears caught a cry for help in the store nearby. I blitzed to the source of the sound, breaking through the brick wall in the process. The woman was in there, though someone else inside caught my attention.

  It was my daughter, along with the Horse Head swordsman—standing in front of the visibly afraid woman.

  Sunshine’s face lit up when she saw me, and she immediately jumped into my arms. “Jerome! There you are!”

  Catching her, I gave the kid the biggest hug my body could muster. “Sunshine, I’m glad to see you’re ok. You had me worried back in that cave. Do you have any idea what happened to you?”

  Before answering my question, she rubbed her nose on my neck and sniffed. “Aaah, I missed that smell. Maybe I should become a Radion so I can just smell myself.”

  “No… you really don’t wanna turn into one of us,” I chuckled awkwardly. “Anyways, what’s this metal thing in your back pocket?”

  “Nothing!”

  Jesus clapped his hands, grabbing our attention. “Cute reunion, but we have bigger fish to fry. Like that zombie behind you.”

  I turned, prepared to punch the freak’s head off. To my surprise, Sunshine was faster, and that metal object in her pocket was actually a knife. The zombie’s skull was already riddled with holes by the time I decided to pull her away from the danger.

  “Girl, you can’t be doing all that!” I exclaimed, holding my hand out. “Now give me that knife before you hurt yourself.”

  “Huh? No way! It’s mine,” she shouted back. “Besides, I totally destroyed that thing. Without your help!”

  Sure, I’d already admitted that not properly training my child for this world was one of my failures as a parent, but this wasn’t the time for that. Not in the middle of all this chaos.

  “You could’ve gotten bit or killed or worse. Heck, do you even know how to use a knife?”

  “You literally just saw me use it. Plus, I’ve have never cut myself with knives before, and I was three when I first started using them.”

  “Ok, that’s enough, you two,” Horse Head cut in, picking up the confused woman. “I get it, hombre muerto. World’s dangerous, kid might die, blah blah blah. If you keep treating her like a weakling, she’ll stay a weakling. Then, she’ll actually die. You don’t want that, right?”

  “Of course I don’t, but…” I looked down at Sunshine, noticing how tightly she was gripping that knife. “Hmm. Fine. I didn’t forget that power you displayed in the cave… even though it knocked you out for a few hours.”

  “Jerome, I’ll have that under control sooo. I just need to use it some more. Do you trust me?”

  Sunshine asked that like she knew I’d say no. Easing her little heart sounded better. “Yes, I trust you. But prioritize helping anyone who’s still stuck here. Speaking of which, where-”

  “Behind you again!” Jesus warned me.

  I rotated, firing a large blast at the zombies attempting to get inside. Most of them were handled, though that only attracted more to our location.

  “Let’s continue this convo on the roof,” I said, picking my daughter up by her hood. “Horse Head, you can jump high, right?”

  “If you’re going to fly, why can’t I hold on to you?”

  “I don’t want a grown man in his underwear clinging on to me.”

  My rocket feet flew me out the broken windows as I shot at the monsters beneath me. By the time I reached the roof, Jesus was already there—the woman still in his grasp.

  Disregarding the man’s insane speed, I asked, “What happened with all the other townspeople outside the gate? They’re not dead, are they?”

  “Your kid and I got them all to that small shack safe and sound. We told your doctor friend to watch over them, but she was pretty adamant on coming to help here.”

  So Angela’s around here somewhere? Hope she’s ok.

  “The amount of Radions here are crazy,” Sunshine added in. “I knew Type Twos attracted them, but this is on a whole other level! I don’t think that invisible guy is gonna like this.”

  I looked at the zombies below us. “He’s dead. Or at least think he is.”

  “Cool, cool, boss fight is over,” said Jesus, twirling his katana. “Can we deal with the minions now? I was thinking about nuking the whole place.”

  Sunshine smiled. “That sounds awesome!”

  “No, not awesome! We’re not nuking anything here! You’ve done enough of that.”

  “You have a better idea, hombre muerto?”

  “I was told there were three water towers in Boomsbarrow. If there’s enough water in them, maybe we could drop ‘em on all these pricks.” I looked at the woman. “Hey, miss, any idea where all of them are?”

  She made a perplexed face. “Um, the water towers? I think there’s two north from us, and another one at the king’s church.”

  The church? Shit! I destroyed that!

  I rubbed the space between my eyebrows, groaning. “Alright, we should still be fine with two. Sunshine and I will handle one, and Jesus will handle the other. Sounds good?“

  Jesus gave a thumbs up. “Sure, but I am curious about one thing. How did you ‘kill’ the other Type Two?”

  “It’s complicated,” I replied. “Why do you ask?”

  “Because I doubt it’s actually dead. The number of zombies doesn’t-”

  The roof trembled beneath our feet.

  Everyone froze. For a second, I thought Jesus had spawned another explosion faster than I could notice. But then a low rumble rolled through the store beneath us, like something massive was shifting.

  The building shook again, even harder than before. I staggered, arms out for balance. Jesus looked practically unfazed, and Sunshine was just as confused as me.

  I held my daughter tight. “What the hell is going on, Horse Head?”

  Then came the slamming. Dull, heavy thuds from below, followed by a long, metallic creak. Something was hammering the walls—lots of somethings.

  “They’re trying to bring the store down through force!” Sunshine exclaimed.

  And here I thought those things were just walking sacks of rotten flesh. “Is that even physically possible for them?”

  “If there’s enough of them, and they all do it in a very coordinated way, then probably. No, not probably. They’re doing it right now!”

  I stepped forward, just in time to feel the entire rooftop lurch to one side. The store groaned like it was being torn from the earth itself. The woman screamed as though she was the one being ripped apart, and while Jesus tried to calm her down, it was to no avail.

  Sunshine was right. A whole damn army of those freaks were piling onto the storefront—clawing, biting, and smashing.

  Who or what could possibly get them to work together like this?

  “Yes, my brothers! Bring it all down, and kill those human bastards!”

  Riding on one of the bigger zombies was the source of the familiar voice—Kevon. I assumed destroying him in that other reality would've killed him here too, and yet there he was. If the crown and golden cape returning wasn’t already proof of his crazy confidence, then his power to command these mindless beasts sure as hell was.

  Sunshine climbed up my back and stared down at the Type Two. “He looks very alive to me, Jerome. Which is ironic considering he’s a Radion.”

  “I’m aware.” Energy burst from my feet, and I began to ascend. “Horse Head, you handle the water towers. I’ll try and lighten the load down here.”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Whatever you say, hombre muerto,” said Jesus, vanishing seconds after.

  ********

  Mary “Beefcake” Robbins.

  That was the name of the girl in Woodshaven who would relentlessly torment Sunshine every day for a month. All the kids added the “beefcake” to Mary’s name since, despite her girly looks, her hands were beefy and thick like a pig’s back. Pretty useful when it would mostly be used on Sunshine’s face.

  She knew the proper term for it was bullying, but it made her feel weak like some helpless victim. As for the reasoning, it was something about “you love zombies too much, weirdo” and “zombies ate my mother”—stuff that Sunshine had no intention to fix or care about. She could only keep her bruises hidden for so long before Jerome caught wind of them.

  Sunshine had never met anyone who would punch a kid harder than her dad did that day.

  It made her blood boil.

  Not ‘cause he protected her, but ‘cause she had to be grateful for it. The girl didn’t mind being saved by the big bad bully. She just wanted it to come after trying her hardest to solve the problem herself. And yet, Sunshine didn’t. Cowardice had taken control of her mind, and it made Jerome coddle her even more than before. Her disease already made her weak.

  Now she can’t even defend herself?

  That wouldn’t happen today as she rode on the flying Type Two, green aura bursting from her body.

  This time, she’d do so well, even Jerome would fear her.

  The Horse Man told Sunshine earlier that her affinity for aura was unnaturally amazing—almost as if something in her DNA was causing that. Looking into it could come later. She had a zombie to impress.

  In order to achieve that goal, Sunshine jumped off the Type Two in the middle of their flight, landing on a small truck. Then, she took a handgun hidden under her pink hoodie and screamed, “Come fight me, you dumb, but beautiful monsters! Face your death with honor!”

  Jerome stopped. “Sun, get back on me n-” A group of Radions interrupted the man, bringing him down to their level.

  The daughter didn’t pay it any kind. Instead, she focused on keeping her fingers on the trigger, her hands shaking in excitement. Bullets fired. Many of them missed, giving the Radions the chance to climb up the vehicle at a rapid pace. When Sunshine ran out of ammo, she resorted to basic hits. Thanks to her newly acquired power though, the strength of those attacks were on another level.

  That didn’t solve the main problem. The girl was being outnumbered on all sides, and a knife wasn’t gonna solve that.

  Just then, a beacon of light zoomed towards the sky, redirecting everyone’s focus to that beam. Accompanying that beacon was her father’s roar, which caused all the Radions rush over there like mosquitos with a lightbulb.

  “Tear him limb from limb! I want that traitor to live the rest of his existence as a head so I can wear him as a necklace!”

  Jerome! I have to save him!

  Although, it was too late for that. Sunshine’s father erupted from the pile, and zoomed towards her. His anger wasn’t directed towards the flesh eaters—it was towards her.

  And she knew it. Before the kid could take a single step, Jerome grabbed her, dragging Sunshine into the air.

  “Jerome, that was a new move, right!? That was super co-”

  “Are you insane or just stupid!?” Jerome cut off, glaring at his daughter. “Why can’t you do anything I tell you? All you gotta do is stay on my back and handle any stragglers.”

  “Do I look like a sidekick or benchwarmer to you?”

  “Jesus, Sunshine, this isn’t a damn comic book or a game of basketball,” her dad spat back, flying in between more buildings. “This is life or death, especially for a kid like you. Screaming like a manic isn’t what we call self-restraint!”

  Sunshine scoffed, folding her arms. “Ironic coming from someone who almost ate me.”

  “Alright, you’re done!” Jerome kicked through the cracked window of a small apartment, and threw the girl to the corner of the small bedroom. “You’re gonna stay here until Jesus and I can fix the problem down there!”

  Sunshine jumped to her feet, gritting her teeth. “You said you trusted me!”

  “Not anymore. I’ve been far too lenient with you for as long as I can remember, and that changes now. Keep your mouth shut and don’t move.”

  Her fists began to shake as her cheeks reddened. Jerome didn't notice, turning around to face the dangers below. There was no way she could stay here, or else it’d be just like last time. Jerome doing all the saving while she stayed on the sidelines.

  It’s not fair. This isn’t fair.

  At that moment, Sunshine’s words became venomous. “F-Fuck you!”

  The room went quiet. Jerome turned around and just stared at her. His skeletal face erased the ability to show any visible emotion, and yet it felt like the gravity was pressing down on Sunshine even more than before.

  The girl’s throat tightened. The heat from earlier seemed to vanish, replaced by something colder. He wasn’t supposed to react like that. She’d expected yelling—maybe even a slam of his fist, like when he was mad at the world, not her. But this… this silence gnawed at her.

  Jerome approached her—slowly. She didn’t have the heart to keep standing, and her body collapsed to the ground. This wasn’t the same kind of fear she had when her dad’s teeth were inches away from her skin. No, this was different.

  “What did you just say?” the Type Two asked, standing in front of her.

  “I-I-”

  Before she could try to explain, Jerome raised his hand. In that terrifying instant, Sunshine remembered that this man wasn’t just a cool fighting Radion or even a friend.

  He was her father, and she had just cursed at him.

  His big hands shadowed her face, causing her to shut her eyes tightly. If she was gonna be hit, then she had to stay put.

  Her dad placed his hand on her head. The pain never came. In fact, it was a soft feeling she’d been embraced with for so long.

  Why aren’t I being punished? Isn’t this supposed to hurt? I was a bad kid, so I should be treated like one, right? What the heck is going on?

  “Sunshine, are you ok?”

  Her mind froze. That eerie calm in his voice was gone—replaced by another kind of calm. Like the kind she’d hear after dropping a plate of food, or tripping ‘cause she ran too fast.

  Sunshine had truly believed she had been a bad daughter this entire time, and that all it took was a “fuck you” to shatter that relationship to pieces. And yet, Jerome only saw that as a mild inconvenience.

  Impossible…

  “I’m…. I’m…”

  Her lips quivered, and it felt as if she’d pass out at any moment. Was this the work of her disease, or something else entirely? She did not know. Maybe lying could help.

  No. The tears escaping from her eyes told the full truth, and that she did know.

  “I’m… so weak,” she cried softly, fiddling with her fingers. “I can’t do anything that you do, Jerome. You’re strong, and brave, and when you say you’re gonna do something, you do it. I’ll never be like you. I know I’ve always been a burden to you, and everyone else around me. You’ve gotten hurt so many times ‘cause of me. Everyone wants me dead ‘cause my disease is hurting people. I thought maybe if I got stronger and helped people, they wouldn’t hate me anymore. Maybe you would actually… like being around me.”

  “I love being around you.”

  “But I killed Mom! I pulled the trigger, and I took away someone you loved. I’ve been nothing but a burden since the day I was born. I don’t even know why you named me Sunshine. Everything feels… dark inside of me.”

  Despite the zombie’s rampaging outside, none of them were louder than the cries of a little girl whose dam finally burst.

  Why am I saying this!? Stop! Stop, you stupid mouth!

  Jerome pressed his finger against her chest. “Do you feel anything?”

  Sunshine raised an eyebrow, sniffling. “Your finger. My head kinda hurts now too.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Um… No.” Her eyes widened. “Wait, I don’t feel any pain. The pain’s gone!”

  Her dad chuckled, wiping the tears from her face. “I know how much the Sunvirus has been troubling you, so I had an old friend help you out. You saw Angela when you woke up, right?”

  “Oh, yeah! So that’s what she meant by healing me. But I’m still not cured yet, am I?”

  “Don’t focus on that. Focus on the fact that there was someone out there that wanted to help you ‘cause they cared about you, and that reasoning goes for me too. Sure, there’s gonna be people you hate your guts, but that doesn’t mean everyone does. We love you, Sun.”

  The spark began to return to her eyes. “Really?

  “Of course! Besides, do you really want these people to chant a lame name like ‘Mary’ after we save their town? Sunshine sounds so much cooler.”

  Her smile came back next. “We? You mean you wanna work together again?”

  “Yeah, but keep the fighting to a minimum like I said. And if there’s an opening to attack, take it!” He extended his hand. “We got a deal?”

  Sunshine nodded, and shook Jerome’s hand. “Yeah, we do! After all, you need me to take that invisible guy down.”

  “This is the most disgusting thing I’ve seen in my life.”

  The voice immediately made them turn their heads, and were shocked to see the invisible zombie king had somehow climbed three stories without them noticing. Both were ready to battle, but Sunshine restrained herself from moving. If her father didn’t move, then wouldn’t either.

  “Hello, Sunshine,” said Kevon, sounding strangely polite. “It’s been awhile since we’ve seen each other. Now, do you mind dying?”

  “You’re not gonna kill anyone here, you invisible prick,” said Jerome, raising his fists.

  Kevon giggled. “Thank zombie God you lead with that line. Now I can easily prove you wrong.”

  Out of thin air, a woman appeared beside the Type Two—its hand already clamped around her neck. A knife materialized moments later, with Kevon aiming it at her throat.

  Jerome gasped. “Shit! Maria!”

  “Oh wow, you actually remember her name?” He let out another big laugh. “Creatures like us have a hard time remembering names.”

  Jerome tried to move, but a sharp cry from Maria stopped him. Blood dripped from the side of her neck, and the king’s blade was the reason for that.

  “Move again, and I’ll slit this peasant’s throat. Oh, but the game can’t start until your hellspawn is involved, so let’s fix that.”

  An object pressed against the back of Sunshine’s head, and she already knew not to turn around.

  “Jesus, you have your zombie slaves wielding guns now!?” asked Jerome, clearly disturbed by the sight.

  “Jerry isn’t a slave!” Kevon replied angrily. “He’s a trusted member of my new family. Isn’t that right, fellas?”

  A crowd of thumbs up spawns from the shattered and cracked windows, all of them looking to be zombified.

  So he climbed up the zombies to get here, huh?

  “Choose who lives and dies, Jerome. It’s either this childless baldie suffocating on her own blood, or that little girl getting what she so rightfully deserves. The choice is yours.”

  “Screw that! I’m not choosing anyone!”

  “You have to! Not every human will die, but I’m going to kill a whole bunch during my reign—starting with one of these two.”

  “Bullshit!” Jerome growled. “If you wanna kill my daughter anyway, then why waste time on this ‘game’? What kinda trick are you pulling, asshole?”

  “You think your experiences and relationships make you so much better than me, but I’m here to prove you wrong! Every one of us zombies have something evil in us, and I know you have it too. Making you choose who either lives or dies is the perfect way to prove that.”

  Sunshine looked at her father and whispered, “What are you gonna do?”

  “I can save you both. I have to,” he whispered back.

  “How are you gonna do that when you’re out of energy?”

  “How’d you know that?”

  “I don’t know. I can just sense it—literally.” Sunshine glanced back at Kevon. “I don’t see a way that she survives this.”

  “Chop chop, Jerome! Don’t tell me you want them both to die?”

  Her dad’s fist shook in frustration. It killed Sunshine knowing Jerome—her hero—was unable to find a way out of this.

  Maybe she could run away? No, the girl wasn’t faster than a bullet.

  But what can I do to help him!? What can I-

  “It’s ok, Jerome…” Maria’s weak voice caught both of their attentions, though the woman’s smile was a stark contrast to her sad tone. “Do what I couldn’t and protect your child. Besides, I’ll finally be able to see my boy again.”

  Jerome paused for a moment, gritting his teeth. Sunshine remembered Saveer had told her that you could never have unlimited options, that some things were bound to happen if you chose to do something else.

  But that couldn’t have been true, right? There had to be another way out of this!

  Unfortunately, there wasn’t. Jerome chose his daughter’s life, knocking the Radion’s arm away that was holding the gun. The knife sliced from left to right, and blood spilled from Maria’s throat. Choking, the woman clawed at the air, as though it would see her pain and nullify it somehow.

  It didn’t.

  Maria met the floor, and Kevon cackled over her body.

  “No!” Jerome roared, firing energy blasts at the invisible king’s direction. Each shot phased through his body, making the wall behind him their only targets. This must’ve alerted the other Radions as they quickly began to swarm into the room.

  Jerome grabbed Sunshine and jumped. His feet slammed against the dirty carpet, crashing through the floor and landing in a kitchen on the second floor.

  “The hole’s small, so they shouldn’t be able to come in all at once,” said Jerome, cupping his hands. “If that faucet sprayer still works, then start spraying.”

  Looks like he absorbed that zombie upstairs.

  “So I can buy time? Alright!” Sunshine yanked the sprayer and aimed it at the monsters coming down the hole. She pressed the button, blasting water at the Radions. They shrieked in pain, falling miserably while their bodies melted.

  An orb of energy formed between Jerome’s palms, and it was expanding by the second. “Sun, get behind me now! I’m about to blow this whole-”

  A deafening crack stole his words.

  The wall near the sink burst inward, rotted wood and moldy pipes exploding as a fresh horde of Radions poured through, groaning and clawing their way into the kitchen. Water gushed from the busted pipe, mixing with the sizzling sludge of the melting zombies.

  Sunshine and her dad jumped out of the way, their bodies shifting to the hallway leading to another door. That path became compromised as well, and now, Radions were flooding in from all sides. A barrage of bullets from Jerome tried to decrease their numbers, though the girl could tell he didn't have enough energy stored to keep that up.

  How the heck do I tap back into that power from the cave!? I only remember a lot of fighting, and blood, and passing out. What do I do?

  She couldn't find the answer. Thankfully, someone did it for her as Angela came through the ceiling, accompanied by a giant spider.

  A giant spider with the head of a baby!

  “Is that Spider Baby!?” Jerome shouted, energy fizzling from his fingertips as he backed off instinctively.

  “Angela!” Sunshine screamed with joy, hopping like a fangirl at a concert.

  “BABABABABABABABA!”

  That wasn’t the greatest battle cry for the situation, but the spider made up for it by throwing its stubby fists into the Radions’ faces. What impressed Sunshine the most was that Angela had her butt glued to its back, riding the animal like a horse.

  Angela smiled, readjusting her glasses “Jerome! Sunny! You guys ok!?”

  “Heck yeah, we’re ok!” Sunshine answered. “Since when did you tame him?”

  “Bibby and I have been going steady since we met! Somehow, your dad didn’t notice him outside my little humble abode.”

  Jerome grabbed two Radions that were on the verge of biting him, and began to absorb. “Angie, did you see Horse Head anywhere? I told him to check out the water towers more than ten minutes ago, and I ain’t seeing any water flooding yet?”

  Angela’s expression dimmed. “About that… I spotted those towers, but I didn’t see anyone there.”

  “What!?” exclaimed Jerome, dropping the drained zombies from his hands. “Damn. We have no choice. Let’s do it ourselves, Sunshine.”

  She climbed on, wrapping her arms tight around his neck. Jerome started to rise into the air.

  “Angie, lead us there.”

  Angela clicked her tongue and pointed forward. “Bibby! Let’s go!”

  “BABABABABABABA!” The Spider Baby leapt through the broken walls, Jerome and Sunshine flying close behind.

  A few minutes passed, and the result of their findings filled the father/daughter duo with dread. Both water towers were too small, meaning there wouldn’t be enough water to soak the town, let alone end this chaos.

  Jerome sat down on the floor. They were all currently on the roof of a charter school trying to determine what comes next. “Why have water towers here if they don’t even provide for the whole damn place?”

  Sunshine and Angela both crouched down and checked the tower’s legs.

  “They’re probably just old backups,” Angela noted, narrowing her eyes. “Buildings sometimes use ’em when the town or city flow isn’t strong enough. You know, Jerome, NYC doesn’t even use traditional water towers in the first place. Didn’t you learn this in school?”

  “Getting a GED really doesn’t count as school.”

  I guess if there’s electricity in the Underground City, then they probably have something to do with New York’s water system. Sunshine’s eyes widened slightly. “Hey, I don’t think these are even installed correctly. And there’s a wire from the bottom going through the roof. Jerome, could you lift this up real quick?”

  “Sure,” he agreed, getting back up. Jerome lifted it up fairly easily, which shouldn’t have happened. “Now what?”

  “Now we know that the towers were added recently,” said Angela, placing a hand on her chin. “But that brings up a new question. What are they here for?”

  Jerome pointed at the Radions below with his thumb. “We have bigger fish to fry.”

  The doctor sighed. “Friend, I’ve done studies on events like today, and no territory has ever survived a full on zombie invasion. That’s the curse of being a Type Two, Jerome. Best way to minimize the damage is to leave. Maybe you’ll take half of them-”

  “No! We’re not leaving.” The air around them changed as the zombie made his intentions known. “That monster still needs to pay for what he’s done. I’m not going anywhere until I get rid of him.”

  Angela looked at Sunshine, and the kid scratched her neck.

  “I don't disagree. He does have to go,” Sunshine admitted. The image of Maria’s limp body was still fresh on her mind, and she'd do anything to get rid of it.

  “That’s cool and all, but you don’t have any new plans, we’re outnumbered, and the dude can stay invisible for as long as he wants. We have nothing against him.” She turned back to Jerome. “Unless you have any ideas?”

  Sunshine’s dad didn't answer.

  Just then, a lightbulb turned on in her head. “We’re only outnumbered ‘cause Kevon has control over those Radions. Well, let's flip the script.” She pointed at her father and smirked. “Jerome, it's time for you to take control.”