Eve

Chapter 9

"He was bitten to death?"

"There's a video on Youtube, here, let me –"

I put my hand over Damian's phone, pushing it down. "I'm good, thanks."

The news was all around anyway. It was all anyone was talking about, at least online. On my way from school, wandering what the hell was Damian doing in my house, I checked my phone.

Zombie Apocalypse.

Philly Flu Patient Goes Wild and Kills Janitor at Presbyterian Hospital.

5 Measures you can take right now to protect yourself against the zombies.

"And that nurse that was bitten, on that first video, he's sick now, too," Damian continued.

"I still don't see what this has to do with you, Damian."

Damian and my mom exchanged looks across the kitchen table.

"Eve, a family should stick together in a time like this," my mom ventured, in a low voice. "Especially considering the job Damian's

father has been assigned, you have to agree that –"

"Wait, you're not thinking about going to Philadelphia with your dad, right?"

Damian's eyes went down. He didn't answer.

"That's insane! What help are you going to be there? People are biting each other to death, I –"

"Dad doesn't want to split the family. And I think he's right."

"So tell him not to go! How's this any of his business, anyway?"

"I'll text you. Every day."

"Yeah, until someone bites your hands off."

"We'll Skype. And my father said we'd be back as soon as things got better."

The kettle whistled on the stove behind us. Mom served us the tea. I pushed mine away.

"Skyping won't be much of a comfort when I know everything just out of frame is trying to murder you."

"It's not the end of the world, Eve," Damian said, reaching for my hand across the table. I pulled back, unlocked my phone and raised the screen his way.

The article onscreen read 'IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD.'

"Come on, it's clickbait, you know that. You agreed that it was just a bunch of people blowing everything out of proportion."

"Yeah, before people started dying." I put the phone away again. "Damian, I read the news. There's more than ten thousand confirmed cases already. People are panicking in Philadelphia, that's why they want your father. To keep the press at ease. To keep people from going nuts. Did you know there's people looting stores, already, there? Did you know –"
"Stop googling 'zombie apocalypse'," Damian replied. "I'm telling you, we'll be fine. Dad will probably just do a couple of interviews, spend a few days at the hospital, and then, when things cool off, we'll be back."

I scoffed. "Don't forget to pack a shotgun."

"My dad's bringing his gun, actually."

Silence took over. I made a point of avoiding Damian's stare, looking from the tea to the clock on the wall.

Mom threw a dish towel over her shoulder. "Well, I'll let you two talk in –"

"It's ok, Mrs. Huttner, I have to go anyway." Damian got up. "I'll come by tomorrow to say goodbye, ok?"

He leaned in for a kiss. I leaned back.

Yeah, I know it was a low move. Screw you, I was angry.

"All right," Damian said, in a sad tone. "Bye. See you, Mrs. Huttner."

The door clicked shut. I felt mom's gaze on me.

"What?" I grunted, eyes straight ahead. "You're going to tell me I was rude and –"

"Hang on." Mom's phone was ringing.

"It's from your school."

I looked up at her. She answered.

"Mr. Rosenfield, hi."

Shit.