“Don’t worry, baby. Dad’s not gonna hurt you. I just gotta get a hold over myself.” I intended for my voice to sound reassuring, but it came out in this ghoulish, savage tone that only suggested I was on the verge of something horrible. “Just don’t move maybe.”

  Sunshine’s face haunted me more than what my body just did. After all, it was the expression of someone staring at the most frightening thing they could imagine.

  “Please don't make that face, Sunshine,” I begged, ooze spilling onto her face. ”Remember that promise I made to Dr. Angela? I’ll never… hurt you. Or kill you.”

  Despite my words, my mouth had other plans, lowering more and more to her face. Adrenaline surged through my body, strength coursed through my bones, and willpower motivated my mind. However, those elements weren’t here to stop me from devouring my daughter.

  They were there… to help me do it.

  Just then, Sunshine coughed up blood, and my hunger was beginning to grow to astronomical heights.

  That red liquid was the perfect sauce for the meat that was her soft, supple flesh…

  “No!” I blurted out. “Don’t think things like that.”

  I bet her bones…. I bet her bones are crunchy and taste salty… just like chips.

  “Shut up! Get out of my head!”

  I’m so hungry. Just eat her already. I’m sure I’ll feel better in the end.

  “Stop talki-”

  Sunshine’s hand on my cheek stopped the war of desires festering within me. It wasn’t even bigger than my cheekbone. How could I ever think of doing such a horrible thing?

  “Jerome, I trust you,” she said, her face relaxing. “I trust that you won’t eat me, ok?”

  Those words should've been enough to assure me, but I still wasn't satisfied. “Why do you trust me?”

  “I’ve been with you for nearly my whole life, and I’ve only ever seen one version of you. And that’s the Jerome who’d do anything to protect me, so I trust the Jerome who’d do that for me more than the one who wants to eat me.”

  “Sunshine, I’m…”

  I wanted to apologize, but it felt like doing so would be admitting defeat in some way. It wasn’t like I actually bit her here, so what did I have to say “I’m sorry” for? If I did apologize, wouldn’t that just be me agreeing with the idea that I could’ve hurt or killed her? What if Sunshine realized that, and began to tread lightly in my presence?

  I would never hurt my d-

  I already have, haven’t I?

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Huh!?

  The only reason her lifespan was reduced by so many decades was ‘cause I kept giving her all those drugs. I’ve been hurting that girl for as long as I can remember. But I guess that’s just part of being a zombie, of being me.

  There’s no use in apologizing.

  I didn’t respond back to those words in my head.

  A sound other than our own voices alerted my kid and I, and we both turned our attention to the door. Someone knocked on the door, and then followed it with “Hello? Is that zombie guy in here?”

  The place the invisible man allowed us to rest in was a standard house, and since there was no key, the door was unlocked. Quickly, I crawled out of the bed and gestured for my daughter to stay where she was. My footsteps did a shitty job at being silent since the floor was so creaky, and the guy behind the door noticed it.

  He knocked again. “If you’re suspicious of me, I’m the brother of the boy you saved tonight. Actually, he’s right next to me.”

  My body relaxed once I looked through the peephole and saw the two teens. They really didn’t look threatening at all. I assumed the one who spoke before was the one standing uncomfortably close to the door—curly, brown hair. That meant the brother who almost died was the one standing behind him. He had a buzz cut and scar on his nose. Both of them were wearing blue high school jersey jackets.

  After some moments of thought, I opened the door. The two boys jumped in shock. Pretty annoying considering they came to see me, the talking zombie, in the first place.

  “What are you boys still doing here?” I asked, folding my arms. “This place isn’t safe for you two.” I looked at the buzz cut boy. “You nearly died.”

  The curly headed boy laughed softly. “Yeah, we know. But it felt wrong if we just ran away like pussies without thanking the dude who saved us. So, uh, thank you for saving my brother.”

  The buzz cut boy stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets. “Thank you. I’ve never seen a zombie actually save anyone before, so that was a cool experience. You got a hero name or something?”

  “I’m not a hero,” I replied. “I’m just a guy who didn’t want to see a kid die. And since we’re on that topic, what were you two stealing from here anyway?”

  “At first, it was just basic resources like food and water, but then we found this.” The curly head pulled a torn piece of white clothing with a star on it from his pocket. “This could be a reach, but it looks like it was from the same shirt a girl in our group wore before she disappeared. My brother, Hendry, and I had a bad feeling, so we started searching everywhere until… he got caught.”

  “You see, that's where y'all messed up,” I said. “If you're gonna move around in area for some time while looking suspicious, you should spread out the amount of time you stay there. Like come in, search for twenty minutes, then leave for even longer than that. Then come back and do the same thing all over again.”

  The curly head smiled at that advice. “It would've been nice to have an adult like you early on. Our parents died during the beginning of this whole shit, so we never had someone to take care of us long enough before they died. That girl there is lucky to have you.”

  That last sentence made me pause for a bit. “Trying to find that girl here nearly got your brother killed–your family. Why would you want to risk so much just to save some girl?”

  “It’s because she's our friend,” said Hendry. “That makes her important to us, even if she isn't family.”

  “No. That fact that she's our friend is what makes her family,” the curly head added on. “If we abandoned someone we were capable of saving, then we don't deserve to have survived this long.”

  I once told my daughter that this New World the apocalypse created would spawn the most selfish humans imaginable. My statement had been wavering between right and wrong every time I met someone new, but talking to survivors like these teens made me realize something.

  The survival of these types and their ideals was too important to ignore. Those looks of determination on their faces were things I wanted to protect, to keep alive.

  I couldn't stop myself from saying my next words, no matter how stupid it sounded. “I'll help you two find her.”

  Their eyes widened. “Really?” they asked at the same time.

  “Yes. I want to, so don't argue with me about it. And make sure y'all get back to your group safely. I'll make sure to bring her back to y'all wherever you guys are.”

  “But… we're strangers,” said the curly head.

  “Remember what you said before? I know I'm capable of saving you two, and my best way of doing that is telling y'all to leave so I can do it for you. If your friend's here, I'll find her.”

  They stared at me as their eyes began to water. It was my first time in a while seeing someone cry in front of me without the cause of it being ‘cause of pain or loss of a loved one. It might've been weird to feel this way, but it felt nice to see.

  They thanked me and told me everything I needed to know about the girl, along with details on where their group is located.

  And with that, they left, leaving their mission to me. Those two came just in time before I did something stupid to Sunshine, though I couldn't thank them for that for obvious reasons.

  “Well then, it's been a long night,” I muttered to myself, heading back inside. “Time to go back to-”

  My daughter was standing in front of me with the biggest smile on her face. “I didn't think it was possible, but you're even cooler than you were before. Becoming a zombie has totally changed you.”

  I picked her up by her hoodie after closing the door, and then walked to the bed. “The heck are you going on about?”

  “You seem pretty happy that you're gonna help those two,” she said with a smirk. “You got a soft spot for those types, don't you?”

  “Just go to sleep,” I groaned, dropping her on the bed. “Do you need me to sing Mom’s poem to you again?”

  “Please do.”

  I didn't know if I'd lose control of my hunger again, and whether that time was coming sooner rather than later.

  The only thing I could control in that small moment of peace was how well I sang Victoria’s song.