Mom, just hold on! I thought as I ran after her. My heart pounding as my feet continued to hit the ground. Got to catch up, got to keep going! So far, I haven't been able to catch up to mom. Despite running as fast as I could, I couldn't keep the pace. Man, mom's running too fast! Goodness, I know she's being chased, but can she at least slow down enough for me to catch up to her? Man, I'll be out of breath before I even find her.

Up ahead, I see a cracked door. Mom must have gone through there! Which means I have to go there too! I run up to the door and push it out of the way. When I do, I quickly look around for any cracked doors or footprints. I know it's going to be tough with how dark it is. But I at least need to try to find her. Let's see, my eyes scan through the environment. Cautiously, I look around for a cracked door. Come on, come on! I need to find one. Suddenly, my ears pick up another scream. My head turns in the direction I hear it. My eyes lock onto the door to my left. That's where the scream came from. I can bet money that scream came from mom. Let's go!

My feet begin to run again. Determination seeps into my body. It's energy slowly revitalizing my pace. With my quick pace, I reach the door. With the strength of an elephant, I push the door open and begin to run down the muddy steps before me. Normally, I would have walked down with caution. But I don't have time for caution. Soon, I make my way through the steps and the proceeding tunnel.

When I do, a large metal door confronts me. Its height stopping my pace. This door is huge. Will I even be able to get through? Hmm, well maybe I can. But maybe not in the conventional way. Doors usually have a knob on them. But this door doesn't. So I guess I can't ring a doorbell or turn the handle. Hmm. My eyes look carefully at its imposing stature. So, no handles or knobs, and no doorbell. There must be a way to get in here. Well, all I see is a gap at the bottom of the door. I wonder if I can lift it up. Probably, let me see. My feet bring me over to door. My hands eagerly grasp the gap and begin to pull up. Slowly, the door begins to go up. Okay, so I can pull it up. All right then, let's get inside! Using all the strength I have left, I pull the door up. Then, with an urgent pace, I shuffle inside just as the door collapses back to the ground. A breath of relief surges from my burning lungs. Man, this is getting harder and harder every minute. But at least I'm one step closer to finding mom. I hope she's okay. Slowly, I pick myself up from my bent position and head forward.

All was calm and quiet as I proceeded forward. My mind raced with potential situations. I did my best to ignore them. But some of them began to feed into a slumbering emotion. An emotion I tried my best to suppress. As I continued my walk, I felt a small anxiety nibble at my composure. Its small teeth began to create holes in my determination. What if mom is hurt? What if she's... no, no, no. I can't get anxious now. Not when I'm so close. I'm sure mom is fine. I'm sure she's doing well. If mom can make it through a monster attack, I'm sure she'll be fine. But then again, that reminds me. Mom was chased here by a monster. And I'm sure that monster is still on the prowl somewhere. What will I do about it? I don't have a gun and I certainly can't use my bare hands. I'll basically become a monster snack. Maybe there's something around here that I can use. My eyes look around and find a door right beside me.

Quietly, I push the door open and find myself inside a storage room. Maybe there's a gun I can use. My eyes scan through the boxes but I find nothing that suggests a weapon could be inside. Man, this must just be a supply room. Dang it, oh well, I should just move on. My body begins to move away from the room and down the hall. Quietly, I go through a door and emerge into a room of stairs. Each stairs went further and further down the room until eventually I couldn't see them anymore. Boy, I hope mom didn't go all the way down there. Well, it's time to look. Cautiously, I descend down the stairs. My senses on high alert for any sign of danger. As I began to descend, I heard a small voice call out for help. Is someone there? My descent begins to quicken. Maybe that's mom! Maybe she's hurt! I've got to get to her! I descend until I finally see where the voice is coming from. Quickly, I run into a nearby hall and find mom.

"Mom!" I said as I rushed to her. Mom sat by a metal door in front of me. Her skin pale and expression dull as her eyes looked up at me.

"Kit... what are you...?" Mom asked softly.

"I'm here because I followed you here. I need to get you out of here. But still you're not exactly looking the best; I'll go and find medicine. Just stay here mom. I'll be right back." Quickly, I get up and turn around. When I do, mom's quiet voice suddenly sounds.

"Honey... please. Please don't exhaust yourself. Honey I... I know I won't be able to... make it. You just need to go. Leave me! And save... yourself." Immediately, I shake my head.

"Mom, don't talk like that! I'll get you out of here! I promise!" My body springs into action. As quick as the wind, my body bolts up the stairs and back into the hallway. Then, with a swift turn, I head back into the supply room. Okay, there's got to be some medicine in here. Let's see. My arms begin to pull down boxes. Eagerly, my hands open the boxes. Dang it, this one has riot gear. Quickly, my arms throw aside the box and go to work on another. This went on for several minutes. So far all I've found was some riot gear and gun. Man, why would this place need so much riot gear? I know you have to prepare, but this is just excessive. Oh well, at least the gun will come in handy. After opening another box, I finally find some medicine inside. Quickly, my hands grasp the bandages and wound healing gel. Then, with all the speed I had, I ran back to mom. When I got to her, I began trying to apply bandages to her, but mom kept moving away.

"Mom, please stop moving. I need to apply these bandages to you."

"Honey... don't..." Mom replied back. Mom's voice began to grow weaker and weaker. I did my best to try to care for mom. However, despite my attempts at healing, I knew mom wasn't going to make it. I, unfortunately, got there too late. I tried vehemently to save mom. I didn't want her to die. I thought I lost her once at the road. I didn't want to lose her for real now. But no matter how hard I tried, I ended failing. Mom laid before me, her final moments now drawing to a close. Tears began to fall from my eyes. Mom! Please no! Not again! Please don't die! Mom looked up at me. Her hazel eyes beginning to droop.

"Honey... you... you shouldn't have tried to heal me... you should have ran... gave up on me... You shouldn't have... done that..." With her final breath, mom finally passed. Waves of shock and horror began to crash against my shores. I... I couldn't believe this. Mom is... dead. Why couldn't I have come sooner? Why couldn't I have run faster? It's all my fault! If I had been there for her, mom would have never got in this situation! We could have left town together! We could have been free of this mess! But instead... mom, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I promise you... I promise you I'll make it. I promise I will escape! I promise!

After I made my promise, my body started to pick itself back up again. My mind began to clear itself of the waves of sadness and shock. Those waves were instead replaced by determination. I have to get going, for mom. Slowly, I wiped my tears away and turned my back. It's time to go. I take a few steps forward. But, when I do, my ears pick up a slight growl. What the... I turn around and find mom's body standing up and looking at me. What on... oh no... No, this isn't happening. No way she's a... no... no, no, no. This... oh no. Mom's body began to charge toward me. It's brilliant green eyes dead set on me. Immediately, I point my gun up toward her. My fingers curl around the trigger. Yet, they won't fire. I can't shoot at her. She's my mother. But yet if she were my mother, she wouldn't be charging towards me. I have to shoot! I have to! There's no if an's or buts about it. If I don't shoot, she'll kill me.

Immediately, my eyes close and look away. My fingers press the trigger and shoot. From what I heard, mom's body fell to the floor. When it did, my eyes open and take in what I'd done. Mom... but why... but how? It's impossible. No way is this possible. Mom can't just get up again! She's dead! She died right before my eyes! I saw it! This is crazy. No one gets up after they die! This isn't some zombie movie. Is it possible I'm imagining things? Could it be possible? No, this is definitely real. But yet... Suddenly, I hear a voice behind me. Immediately, I turn around and raise my gun. When I do, an even stranger sight greets my eyes. Standing right in front of me is... mom. What the... how's that possible?! Immediately, I turn around and find mom's corpse on the ground. If I shot mom, then how is it she's standing right in front of me. This is crazy; I'm obviously going crazy! There's no way this is really happening. I must have something going on. This is crazy! Suddenly, mom speaks.

"Tsk tsk, what a shame Kit. You really shouldn't have tried to help. You should have run away like the little girl you are. Hmp, but then again, you're much stronger then I anticipated" Mom said as she began to pace.

"What's going on here?" I asked, my gun trained on her. This must be some kind of trick. No way would my mother appear before me after she died. Mom chuckles. As she does, I notice her eyes. They're no longer hazel; instead they're a brilliant green. The same green mom's corpse had.

"Oh well. It's unfortunate that you're much stronger then I thought. After all, I was supposed to win this tug-of-war. But no matter. There will be plenty of time to get under your skin. Next time, you won't see me coming!" With that, mom suddenly began to rush at me. I tried to fire my gun, but it had no effect on her. When she came near me, her body became dust. My feet suddenly gave way. I fell to the ground hard. Quickly, I tried to get up, but I couldn't. Instead, my vision began to darken. No... not again! No... mom! My vision faded to black.