Given a Chance

"Mommy, mommy!"

Alison Monroe looked on as her little six year old daughter, Sally, as she played with her dolls. "Mommy! This dolly looks just like you!" Alison smiled.

"Yes, dear, it certainly does look a lot like mommy," she said, watching her daughter giggle with glee. Alison ran her hand through her red hair, waiting on her husband to call from work like he normally does. It had been two hours since the normal time he would call, and Alison was beginning to get worried. She decided to go outside, since it was such a beautiful day. "Come on, Sally! We're going to go outside to play, okay?" she called.

Sally picked up her dolls and followed her mom outside onto the patio, going straight for the play set her father had bought two months earlier for her sixth birthday. Alison had her phone clutched tightly in her hand, hoping that John would just call already. She heard Sally giggling by the play set and smiled to herself. Despite her worry, her daughter always brought a smile to her face.

Her phone began to vibrate, and she instantly looked at the screen. It definitely was John calling. She pressed the answer button. "Hello?"

"Alison? Where are you at right now?" John sounded worried, but why?

"I'm outside on the patio. What's wrong-"

"Get inside, right now. You need to get inside and make sure Sally doesn't get out." He strained the last part. Alison was beginning to freak out now.

"John, what is going on?"

"Get inside, now! Turn on cartoons, watch movies, do something! Don't turn on the news and let Sally see what is going on!" There was an explosion on the other end of the phone. "John? What was that-"

"GET INSIDE! I'll be home soon, just get-" The phone cut off right there. Alison stared at the phone in disbelief. Call disconnected.

"Mommy?" Sally's voice snapped Alison out of her trance state. "Why were you yelling at your phone?" Alison wiped at her eyes, making sure there were no tears, and then she turned to her daughter, putting on her best feigned smile. "It's nothing, sweetie. Let's go inside and watch some cartoons, yeah?" Sally grinned and ran past Alison. "Race you inside!" she yelled cheerfully.

Alison followed after her daughter and closed the door securely, placing the phone on the marble counter and walking into the living room where Sally was bouncing up and down on the couch. She turned the TV onto the cartoon channel and watched as Sally's eyes fixated onto the TV. Alison went into her bedroom and turned on her TV to the news, despite what her husband had said. Sally isn't in here, so it shouldn't hurt, right? What she had seen terrified her.

"This is an unusual sight, Dean, the dead are coming back to life!" the voice of the bubbly blond woman exclaimed. "Nobody really knows what is going on or why they are coming back to life. All we know is that this is a threat to our community. Everyone is advised to stay indoors and-" There was an explosion behind the reporter, and the camera cut to black before going back to the anchorman.

"Well, that was, um... I don't really know what to say about that, folks, but it appears that-" The screen cut to black once more before a white screen came up, showing a symbol of an eyeball. A deep, ominous voice sounded after.

"My children, do not let these news hacks fool your minds. We have nothing but truth to offer. The Eyes of Truth are here to guide your lost, wondering souls. We are the Children of the Seeker. We are the Truth." Alison turned the TV off and threw the remote onto the floor. None of this was making sense to her. What the hell is going on?

"Mommy?" Alison turned her head to the doorway to see Sally standing there, looking at her with curiosity. "What did that weird man mean by 'We are the Truth'?" Alison's heart dropped. She heard the door open and slam back shut. "John?" she called out.

"Alison, where are you?" he called back up. Alison grabbed Sally and ran down the stairs to see John. "Alison, what's wrong?"

"Sally, go watch cartoons. Mommy and Daddy need to talk right now, okay?" Sally didn't question it. She bounced back to the living room. Alison turned to John. "Okay, what the hell is happening, John? I go upstairs to turn on the news and-"

"It's some sort of terrorist attack, people are claiming. Explosions, people attacking one another, that damned cult Eyes of Truth or whatever the fuck they're called." John began pacing back and forth, obviously uneasy about the whole ordeal. "The mayor has called for a citywide evacuation. We need to get out of here, Alison, it's too dangerous for us here!"

"John," Alison said, terror in her voice. "The reporter said something about the dead coming back to life. What the hell does that mean-"

"She probably just said that to cover up the terrorist thing. What we need to do is leave this place, and never look back. Get only the things that are important," John stated as he went into the living room. "Sally? Come upstairs with Daddy and let's get some things that are really important." Sally grabbed John's hand and they went upstairs. Alison followed after them and went to her and John's room, grabbing a suitcase and packing some clothes together. She decided to turn on the TV once more, hoping to see a change in news.

Sadly, there was no change. It was all still the same. Bodies coming back to life, explosions happening all over the city, more nonsense about the "Eyes of Truth." She went back to packing her clothes and other important things such as photo albums and some health care products. John came into the room and began to gather his things. "Did Sally say anything?" Alison asked, worry heavy in her voice.

John shook his head. "I just told her we were going to stay at your sister's place for a while." Alison smiled sadly at her husband.

"Will we survive this, honey?" she asked, tears streaming down her face. John sighed and looked at his wife, his blue eyes shining.

"Well I'll be damned if we die today, that's for sure." Alison smiled a little but was still worried. She didn't care if she died. All she cared about was the well being of her little girl.

"Mommy?" Alison and John looked to see Sally standing in the doorway. "There's a man in the backyard. He looks sick. Can we help him?" she asked. John didn't hesitate as he stormed out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Alison pulled her daughter towards her and hugged her tightly, trying her hardest to fight the tears that threaten to leave her eyes.

She felt her daughter tense as they both heard a gunshot. Then another, and another. What could have been so bad that it took three gunshots to kill it? Alison pulled away enough to look her daughter in the eyes. "You stay up here, okay sweetie?" Sally nodded and sat on the bed, clutching her doll close to her chest.

Alison walked out of the bedroom and down the stairs to see her husband clutching his shotgun in his hands. "John? What happened? Why did you shoot-" She couldn't speak as she saw the horror on their back patio. A full grown man was lying on the ground, surrounded by his own blood. There were two bullet holes in his chest, but where was the other one?

"I had to do it, Alison," John said, getting Alison's attention. "D... Do what?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"He was, fuck I don't know what he was. He wasn't fucking human, that's for sure!" John snapped, pacing back and forth. Alison looked from her husband to the man lying on the patio. John turned back to her, turning her so that they were looking at each other.

"You and Sally go on ahead. I'll catch up later, okay?" Alison nodded her head as she ran up the stairs to get her daughter, who was still sitting on the bed and playing with her doll. She knelt in front of her daughter and looked at her, trying her hardest not to cry.

"Sally, get your bags and come with me. Daddy will catch up with us later. He wants us to get a head start." She tried to sound as convincing as possible; she had a feeling that John wouldn't catch up at all. Sally went to her room and got her things together, meeting her mother out in the hallway. They both went downstairs, Alison keeping her daughter from seeing her father with his gun in his hands. He looked back and met Alison's eyes, mouthing the words, "I love you," to her.

Alison felt the tears roll down her cheeks as she mouthed back, "I love you too," and hurried Sally and herself out the door. Alison got Sally into the car and buckled her in before hopping into the driver's seat. She opened the glove compartment, knowing that John would have left the keys in there if they had to go somewhere after he got off work.

After about ten seconds, she felt her fingers come in contact with the key ring. Her hand closing around the keys, she pulled them out and searched for the key to start the car. Finding the key, she stuck it into the ignition and started the car.

"Mommy, can we get something to eat?" Sally asked. Alison wanted to say no, but she knew that Sally would start crying if they didn't get something to eat for her. "Uh... Sure, sweetie," Alison replied, her voice still shaky from earlier. "When we get into town, we'll stop by a restaurant and get something to eat okay?"

"Okay!" Sally exclaimed, humming Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star as her mother kept on driving. Alison had hoped that her husband would catch up with them like he promised. She still had the feeling that he wouldn't though.

Alison had crossed half-way through the four-way intersection, not noticing the pick-up truck coming her way until it had already crashed into the car. Alison blacked out on impact, but she came to a few minutes later to a couple hovering over her.

"Shit, I'm sorry!" the man exclaimed, his voice scratchy as if he had just finished crying. Alison looked around her and noticed that she was on the road. She started to raise herself up on her elbows to look for her daughter.

"W-where's Sally? Where's my daughter?!" she began asking, panic settling in. The woman, her ebony hair framing her face, looked down at her feet, tears welling up in her eyes. Alison didn't like the sight of that. She instantly got up onto her feet and started looking around for her daughter. "Sally!" she screamed. "SALLY!"

"Mom... mommy?" she heard a voice reply back. Alison looked over to the car, now totaled, and saw her daughter lying beside it in a pool of blood. Her blood. Alison ran over to her daughter's side and examined her.

Sally's head was split open and her side had a shard of glass sticking out, which might have been where all of the blood came from. The woman that was in the truck pulled out her phone and called the hospital, requesting an ambulance. "Sally!" Alison cried. "Sally, stay with me. We're going to get you to a hospital and get you taken care of, okay? Please, Sally, stay with me!" Alison felt tears streaming down her face and watched them fall onto her daughter's own face. Sally smiled weakly.

"Mommy... Where's my dolly?" she asked. Alison looked around and saw the doll, still intact minus the tattered clothes. She reached over and grabbed it, quickly handing it to her daughter. Sally's hands closed around the doll as she clutched it to her chest. She looked up at her mother, who was still crying. "Mommy, please don't forget about me, okay?" she asked, sounding tired.

Alison's eyes widened with fear. "Sally, th-there's no need to say that! You're going to make it!" Sally rose up enough to kiss her mother's cheek.

"I love you, mommy." Sally fell back into her mother's arms, her breathing slowing down. Alison started sobbing as the couple of the truck rushed over to her. At that moment, the ambulance pulled over to them with two paramedics rushing out. They tried to get Alison to let go of Sally but to no avail. Alison didn't want anyone to touch her or her daughter. One of the paramedics knelt down by Alison and pressed two fingers to Sally's neck, checking for a pulse. He looked up at Alison and shook his head, confirming Alison's worst nightmare that moment.

She hugged Sally's body closer to her and sobbed uncontrollably. Her daughter was dead. She was dead, and there was nothing she could do. She felt a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly. She turned and saw that it was her husband, John. He knelt beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, tears in his eyes. He then hugged both his wife and his deceased daughter, holding them close.

"I'm sorry I didn't get her sooner," he cried. "I'm so fucking sorry." Alison took one of her arms and wrapped it around her husband's waist, holding him closer to her. At that moment, something had bitten John's hand hard. Cursing, John pulled his hand back and looked at it, thinking maybe a bug or something bit him. Looking closely, he saw that it wasn't a bug bite, but a child's bite. He looked from his hand to his daughter, his eyes wide.

Alison looked at her daughter and saw that she was alive. A huge grin formed on her face. Her daughter was still alive. But something seemed wrong. There was no life in Sally's eyes, but she was moving. Alison let go of Sally, only to have her head slammed into the pavement by her six year old girl. Alison could hear her husband scream her name in a panic.

The last thing that Alison Monroe saw was Sally's doll on the ground beside her. The doll that looked exactly like her. That was her last memory before her head was crushed by her undead daughter.