Undead Requiem

The days are getting longer now, and that’s a relief. They don’t venture out too much in the heat of the day. They are becoming more like animals, hunting instead of simply wandering across victims.
I’m not talking about animals though, or a gang of roving psychos. I’m talking about zombies- real, undead zombies.
Lea’s dad was one of the first victims, and the first zombie I had to kill. It hurt, but I knew it wasn’t really him. Lea didn’t understand. She’s 11, how can she understand her daddy isn’t really her daddy, and only wants to eat her? Then she’d be one, and I’d have to kill the most precious thing in my life.
I can’t imagine her walking around out there…as I look out the window, I can see one now, lumbering around, searching for life to extinguish. I wish I knew what forces of hell had unleashed these demons. Lea is at my side now, watching the staggering monster. It senses us or something and turns.
“Oh, crap,” Lea gasps. Half of the thing’s head is missing. Someone tried to take it out and failed, or it died a very gruesome death, originally. “I think that’s Mr. Gorge.” Mr. Gorge was a neighbor from up the street. That was a long time ago, though. Last month seems like a hundred years .
It is such an incredible day outside. The hot Florida sun is shining, the sky is as blue as you could ever want it to be, and it’s the perfect temperature. The kind of day that Lea should be outside playing, or at the beach, or in the pool. There’s a dead zombie in the pool now. It fell in and I shot it. I don’t let her even go close to the patio doors.