The Sunniest Blood-Filled Day

People have often wondered why I wake up so tired. How could bad dreams affect my life so much? Well... this is one of those 'bad dreams.' I dream in vivid colors. I remember details, terrifying details when I wake up. Sometimes, I cry. Today was one of them. So here you go. Enjoy my bad dreams, just one of them, that I have every night of my life.

The sun was brilliant. Laughter floating from the seats in front of me from my three young children. Two beautiful daughters ages 5 and 3, and a handsome 1-year-old little boy. The warm feeling of Chris's, my soulmate, fingers entwined with mine. My best friends and family members, sissy and bubba in the front seat, aggravating each other in that playful way that spouses do.

We were pulling into a grocery store from somewhere. We were heading home from somewhere fun, but as usual, I was lacking things for the dinner they wanted. It was easy to pull Lemony, (our soccer mom van) into a grocery store in the middle of Knoxville on the way home. We all decided to go in, it was a store we'd never been too before and we all wanted to see what they had. My little man wanted to be snuggled, and the girls wanted to be big girls and walk. We grabbed a basket and walked in together, and as we did, a homeless-looking man was walking out, being escorted by a couple of employees. His eyes looked glassed over, and there was blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"You need to stay here, do not go back inside. We're waiting for the ambulance for the person you bit, but stay out here!" I recognized the young man talking as a manager, from his more formal-looking uniform.

Did he bite someone? I wondered incredulously, feeling a little sorry for the dirty, older transient. He looked ill and like he needed some serious help. I had an uneasy feeling, but I generally get uncomfortable around people anyway. I put it off as anxiety, knowing drama went down right before we got here.

My family likes to mind its own business so we kept going in. And we began going down the aisles, one by one, with a squeaky wheeled buggy. We were putting various items in our carts, delighted at the prices. But shouting was coming from the front of the store.

There was a loud crash as if a shelf fell down. That pit in my stomach hardened again and I knew it was my instincts this time.

"Let's get out of here you guys. Let's just leave the cart, and go home." I said, hugging my son who had fallen asleep on my shoulder close to me. A scream rang out somewhere among the shelves. I remember looking over toward the sound, which is where my sister Jessie stood, her eyes wide in worry. And then suddenly she was on the ground, a man on top of her. Her scream was cut off by the sound of gurgling and snarling as the man bite into her throat, so deep that the blood began to pool immediately out.

Sky and Marlee screamed, and so did I. The men, Mike and Chris each grabbed a girl and shoved me down the aisle, running as suddenly more people came running down the end of the aisle. They were foaming at the mouth, some of them with blood already running down their chins. We ran, the girls screaming, my son waking up and crying in fear at the sudden sounds of chaos. The shelf to our right suddenly exploded toward us, and items from the shelves fell all around us. I was hit with something heavy and stumbled into the other side of the aisle, and one of the creatures grabbed me.

I heard my son scream as pain erupted from my chest as claws dug in, ripping my son out of my arms, and all I saw was teeth biting into my one-year-old's stomach, and blood splattering my face as I was grabbed roughly by my arm and dragged. I was screaming, fighting, trying to get back to Alexander, my mind no longer rational as I watched my son be ripped apart.

"BABY DON'T LOOK!" I heard Chris scream, but it was too late. I was sobbing, screaming. I realized he was dragging me, pulling me, while Mike ran ahead with my daughters who were screaming for their brother now, horrified eyes glued to us. I realized I had to protect them. My baby was gone, but I had daughters. I ran to them now, running ahead of Chris, still sobbing. Chris followed up behind but as we turned a corner we saw a mob of people, on top of a few lifeless corpses.

Unfortunately, they saw us, and half of them rose to give chase. They were so fast, so strong, knocking over shelves in their scramble to race each other. Mike tried to turn in time but he was jumped on by four of the snarling creatures. Chris immediately swung into action. He's a strong man, so he was able to grab a few and throw them off. I was fighting one, but got pinned under him, as it was a bigger man. I was trying to get him off, screaming angrily.

All I wanted was to get my daughters. Looking up I saw the man had long pointed teeth, his skin had gotten grey. His eyes were blood red, and he was spitting as he snarled at me.

"I'm...SO..... HUNGRY!" He roared as he lunged at me. A huge plastic container of laundry detergent smashed into the side of his head, and I saw Mike, panting, bleeding. Wheezing. His asthma was starting to act up and I looked around.

"Chris! Sky! Marlee!" I screamed and Mike grabbed my hand and began to run.

"Sissy just run!"

"NO! My kids!"

"JUST FUCKING RUN SISSY!" my brother roared at me. He looked at me desperately, tears streaming down his face and I realized... my family was gone. My kids. My love. My sissy. Gone.

I ran, sobbing. Somehow we got out. We got to the van, and inside we went. He'd used the key to open the door on the way and he practically threw me inside, clamoring in and shutting the door behind him. I looked up at him as he climbed to the drivers seat. He was sweating. But weirdly, his wheezing had stopped. Maybe the adrenaline had fought off the asthma attack.

He peeled out of the parking lot as police and ambulances were pulling in. The strange cannibals were pouring out of the store now, attacking people in the parking lot, and officers got out of their vehicles and began shooting. I watched as some of them fell, brains exploding as bullets began to fly through the air.

We raced home, to the countryside. A forty-minute drive of silence. I was on the floor of the van in the back, sobbing quietly, curled up in the van. When he got me home, he helped me out, and helped me into the house.

"Sissy. You need to tend to those cuts on your chest. I can't do it for you."

"Oh, are you hurt?" I asked numbly.

"Yeah... actually I am. I gotta go."

"What do you mean you gotta go?" I asked, terror filling me. "You can't go! You CANT GO! Everyone is gone. Please don't go!" I begged, turning to him suddenly. He was looking at me, and I noticed then that his eyes were bloodshot, and he was sweating hard.

"I have to go." He simply said, before showing me his arm, a deep bite mark was dripping blood onto the floor. It was purple around the edges and I gasped.

"Please no!"

He silently walked over to the kitchen cabinet and opened it, reaching up to the top shelf to pull out .38 special out.

"Bubba, please don't leave me" I begged usually, falling to my knees sobbing. "Please don't leave me alone."

But he didn't say anything. He just stopped and put his hand on my head for a few seconds. He was crying too when I looked up at him. He gave a small smile.

"I love you too much to stay. I'm sorry I couldn't save them." He said, before exiting the house. I ran up to the glass screen door and watched as he walked down to the garden, before he put the gun to his head. I watched as crimson mist filled the air around his head before his body fell and I screamed, crying out. Tears ran down my face as I walked into my daughter's room, and climbed into Sky's bed, pulling her blankets to my face and inhaling her scent as I sobbed.

I don't know how long I lay there and cried, but I eventually stopped. I was just lying there, numb, empty, and alone.

"You poor thing." I heard a female voice say. I looked over at the door of my daughter's room and saw a woman with red eyes and grey skin. "Don't worry. I can help. I can make the sad go away." She said softly, walking toward me.

"It was such a beautiful sunny day..." I whispered softly before it all ended.