Chapter Text
Summer Mitchell was fairly certain her parents had been lying when they said this camp would be fun.
She hadn't even wanted to go, there were dead people on the news and she had nightmares that only daddies cuddles could sooth, but her parents said she had to go.
She packed clothes, toiletries, and took Teddy with her to. She hadn't wanted to take her comics and stuff, but her mommy said she'd better in case she was bored. "I can read then when I get back, right?" Summer had asked.
Mom had smiled and said she may get tired before then. Then she gave Summer a bath, did her hair and her and her parents had a Chinese for dinner.
She was allowed to sleep in Mommy and Daddy's bed that night and when she woke up screaming Daddy cuddled her and Mommy stroked her hair and sang her a song.
The next day she had pancakes for breakfast (a rare treat) and Mommy gave her a gift to take with her. A new bear! "I love him!" Summer had cried. "I'm gonna call him Twinkle cos of its eyes!"
Most of the kids on Summers street were going to this camp and Summer waved to her parents as she was driven further and further away.
When they got to the camp it was way busier than she thought it would be. They had to double up on tents and there was never enough food, but there was plenty of other kids to play with. Even though a lot of them spent time crying and being quiet. There was one boy who just sat in front of a tree all day. All Day.
There weren't that many councillors either. Only about thirty, and for all the kids there that wasn't enough. So most of the time Summer was able to play with the others for a while without anyone caring about what they were doing.
Tonight she was playing with Amber, Marie and Kylie. They were in their pyjamas and having a teddy bear picnic with their dolls.
Amber held up a pink plastic tea cup and mouthed 'drink?' at Summer.
Summer smiled and gave a thumbs up. Johnny - one of the older councillors - had told them they needed to be quiet.
Then the screaming started.
The girls all stood up and saw that some of the younger kids had started screaming and crying because there was a…zombie? Something with rotting skin anyway heading right towards them!
"Oh no you don't!" Precious - another councillor - lunged in front of them and swung a tree branch at the zombie. It fell to the floor and Precious carried on hitting it. "Run!" She screamed. "Head to the gas station!"
The gas station was their meet-up area in case there was a fire.
Summer - still clutching Twinkle - ran so fast her legs hurt. In the background she heard screaming and shouting. She turned and saw a pair of zombies over at the tree where the boy had sat eating something. Tents were moving wildly. She watched as a zombie dragged a boy out by his feet. Another councillor appeared from the side and swung a baseball bat at the zombies head. He turned and made eye contact with her. His eyes went wide.
"Summer, watch-"
Her head turned, the smell of death hit her nose and a searing pain blossomed across her face.
The gas station…she had to get to the gas station. She picked up teddy from where he had fallen and carried on walking. Her limbs felt heavy, but the screaming had stopped, so that was good - right?
Hopefully they'd be someone who could help her at the gas station.