If you think raising a kid is hard, try raising one in a post-apocalyptic world. Trust me, any father should be lucky to have a daughter but even they’d have to admit it’s pretty annoying having to deal with constant complaining and bad mouthing while running away from radioactive zombies and giant birds trying to eat them.

But I for one think I’m doing a wonderful job! The proper organization of food and other supplies so that we’re not just wasting them all in a few days is a skill I’m proud to have. And yet, I guess my skills as a father wouldn’t be appreciated unless I bought this girl some stupid doll.

“For the last time Sunshine, I’m not buying you that doll. I only have enough money for these things, you know.” I said, making my voice sound more serious and fatherly. “Now, if you keep bugging me about this, you won’t come with me on my next mission.”

Clearly, my daughter didn’t catch my bluff as she gave me this really exaggerated raised eyebrow, eerily similar to this picture of a wrestler I showed her a couple months ago. She rummaged through the basket full of snacks, frozen food, painkillers and various other drugs he was holding and made a “Hmm” sound.

Oh no. Here she goes again.

“Jerome, what are you lying to me for!? These only cost thirty dollars. I know you have an extra twenty on you!”

Damn it! I hate when she does that. Maybe next time I'll cover up the price tags…it's too bad that's “illegal”.

“How do you even know I had an extra twenty!? Don't tell me you took a peep at my status board without my permission?”

“No…yeah…but that's only because you left it out in the open while you were sleeping. Maybe next time don't be so tired.”

Now that I think about it…I guess I was hit with a flash of blue once I woke up today. But I could've sworn that was just the sky saying good morning to me. How could I be so careless? Especially with a clever girl like this living with me.

“Even if that was the case, that's still an invasion of privacy and you shouldn't-” There was no use trying to reprimand her. She was too busy staring at that boxed Barbie doll. Probably imagining all the ways she's gonna play with it. Well, that ain't gonna happen. Not ‘cause I don't wanna buy it. It's only ‘cause I'm very…very cheap!

“Listen, you know I'd buy anything you wanted…as long as it's within my budget. We can't exactly afford to buy useless things in a world like this. Only important thing like food, medicine for you and-”

“Women?”

The sheer bluntness of what my daughter just said hit me like a truck. How could she have known about my nightly escapades!? I thought I made sure to tuck her into bed but it looks like she’s a real night owl. Well, I know the best way to deal with a situation like this.

Lie a little!

“Sunshine…you know I got a lot of debt to pay off, right?” I chuckled nervously, my forehead glistening with sweat. “Those girls were just debt collectors. And I’ve been racking up a lot of debt these past few years.”

“Mhm. I’m sure you have,” she said, her voice filled with sarcasm. “If you’re gonna lie, you could at least make sure your face is a little more dry.” She placed the doll back onto the shelf and hopped over the giant boxes of cereal on the ground on her way to the cashier desk. She could barely hide the disappointment on her pale face.

I rubbed my face in shame as I watched her converse with the mutated cashier, coughing a few times while she talked. Here I was, spending our resources on frivolous shit while my kid couldn’t even have a little fun with some plastic doll. It looks like I have to make this up.

I rushed over to grab the doll, stuffed it deep into the basket, and approached the cashier, picking up all the cereal boxes from the ground and placing them back onto the shelves as I walked.

Once I reached the counter, I expected to be politely greeted by the cashier as I always have, but this time he was giving me the cold shoulder, staring at me with his glowing yellow eye. And I had a feeling why.

“Are you really going to take her side over mine? Weren’t you a father too before the whole…you know,” I asked cautiously, hoping not to step into any unwanted territory.

From what I could make out from his really hard to understand voice, his name was Savgir. Or maybe Savir. Every time I asked him to repeat it, I could never understand how to pronounce it. Those were the downsides of being in the same city that the nuke hit. Anyone who was in that vicinity at the time went through a lot of painful changes.

Physically and mentally. In Savir’s case, half of his body was turned into this green ooze that bubbled constantly and left him incapable of seeing or hearing on that side.

Funnily enough, he was actually one of the lucky ones. If he stayed on the surface for just a few days longer, he would’ve just been another one of those mindless zombies limping outside his convenience store. Obviously, I wasn’t gonna tell him that. I’m sure he’s suffered a handful already.

“He’s giving you the silent treatment,” said Sunshine, writing the words “you’re cheap” on the counter using Savir’s green ooze.

“Yeah, I can see that.” I set the basket onto the counter and began to take out all the items I planned to buy. “I heard you coughing when I was walking here. You’re gonna be ok, right?”

“Probably.”

Probably was never a good answer. Especially in her case.

“Probably, eh? Well, wanna know what’ll make you feel better?” I flashed the Barbie doll Sunshine wanted so much at the two and was delighted to see how much her face lit up.

“Jerome! You’re seriously getting this for me!? Wow. Thank you!” She quickly swiped it off me and gave the box a tight hug. “Ok, maybe you’re not as bad or cheap as I thought. I mean, you still are but like..less.”

Despite her backhanded gratitude, I always loved seeing her happy. Even if it was a hit to my cash. I didn’t really care too much about Savir’s anger towards me turning into respect but that was also nice to see I guess.

“Sorry for looking at your status board this morning,” she said, giving the doll to Savir. “And following you to the civilization. I won’t do it again. Probably. Promise!”

“Don’t think I didn’t hear that ‘probably’. I ain’t stupid.”

Instead of the laugh that looked like it was about to escape her mouth, she coughed again, this time sounding more painful. I quickly leveled down to her height and rubbed her back. To my surprise, she lifted her head up and flashed a bloody smile, numb to the pain she should’ve been feeling at that moment. Sheesh, was she really that happy over some plastic doll!? She didn’t even notice the blood she got all over the box.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Let’s get you cleaned up, ok?” I had trouble hiding the worry in my voice which I’m sure the kid noticed. I got up and prepared to pay some extra cash for a roll of paper towels. However, before I could walk away, Savir grabbed my arm and tossed me a roll.

“It's on the house,” is what I think he said, holding a thumbs up with his gooey hand.

“Oh, thanks man!” I excitedly said. I then turned to my daughter and said “Isn't this great, Sunshine! Now I can save more money for next time!”

“Geez Jerome, you really are cheap!”

Ignoring her remarks, I paid for all the items and dropped them all in the shopping bag I brought with us. “Here.” Sunshine took the bag from my hand. “Remember what I always tell you. Keep your body low and your breathing-”

“To a minimum. Yeah, yeah. I know. Don't worry about me. It's not like you won't be right behind me anyway.”

I softly laughed as I watched her leave the store and crouch near the window, watching the horde of zombies, unaware of her presence, walk past her. Not a care in the world for any of them. Simply trying to unbox that doll of hers.

I could say she was a little old for a doll but who knows what nine year old girls like these days.

“She doesn’t have long to live, does she?”

My eyes widened as I turned to Savir. For some reason I could fully understand what he just said. His tone was calm and melancholic as if he knew something I didn't. “She’s fine. We'll just up her medicine intake. That's all.”

“Um…that doesn't sound safe. You know using painkillers to ignore the pain of that disease of hers isn't gonna make it go away, right?”

“Listen man, you don't know what it's like to raise a kid in this hellhole we call Earth now. You got off easy having kids before all this happened. So you keep doing your cashier shit and I'll keep doing my shit. Cool?”

I stormed out of the store and expected to see Sunshine waiting for me but she wasn’t there. I frantically looked around but she was nowhere to be found, the only thing in my vision were those damn zombies. Where the hell could she have gone!? It’s not like she would just run off on her own. She always waited for me.

At that moment, I heard the familiar scream of a girl from behind the store. It was my daughter. I ran towards the back, forgetting to keep the noise levels down so the zombies wouldn’t get alerted. But who the hell cares right now!? My daughter was in trouble and who the hell knows what dastardly radioactive beast could’ve been trying to kill her.

However, instead of some zombie or monstrous animal terrorizing Sunshine, it was a group of humans, all of them wearing shiny black suits and wielding a variety of weapons like bats and katanas. They all had these intense looks on their face, like predators who just captured their prey. But the one who caught my attention the most was the man holding my daughter in the air by her pink hoodie.

I knew exactly who he was.

“Jerome!” cried out Sunshine, attempting to release herself. “I don’t know what’s going on! These guys just ganged up on me!”

“Don’t worry, kid! Everything’s going to be alright!” I shifted my attention back to the blue haired man holding her. “Hey, Dante! Let go of that girl or I’ll-”

My threat was cut off by the group laughing at me, a few of them inching closer to me.

“Or what?” asked Dante, trying to hold back his laughter. “You’ll run away from the fight and cry like you always do? Keep making jokes like that Jerome. You might actually kill me this time if I keep laughing like this.”

“Look if this is about the money I owe you guys, I promise I’ll pay you back. Just let her go and we can work out some kind of deal.”

“You’ve been saying that for months now and I always let you off the hook, begrudgingly, but not this time. You will pay me what you owe!” He took out a pistol from the belt around his waist and aimed it at Sunshine, her eyes were welling up. “If you don’t, I’ll kill this stupid bitch right in front of you.”

My blood began to boil the moment he shoved that gun into her face. There was no fucking way I was just gonna stand there while a bunch of assholes threatened to kill my daughter. I heard a crunch sound to my right and what I saw made my muscles twitch. This apocalypse took everything a girl could want away from her and here these guys were, crushing the Barbie Doll she asked so much for.

That was the last straw.

“Don-Don’t be stupid! Don’t you know Jerome’s a strong fighter. He tells me all about his adventures. Killing radions and radion beasts!”

“What!? Don’t be so damn gullible. Your father is a -”

Dante’s words were interrupted by a brutal punch to the face delivered by me. This is what I would’ve liked to say but the loan shark easily caught my attack with just one hand. I tried to land another punch with my other fist but I was quickly beaten down by baseball bats by two other men.

“Hey, Jerome! What are you messing around for!? Hurry up and beat up these guys so we can get out of here!”

“This weakling ain’t gonna beat down anyone, kid. I don’t know what lies he’s been feeding you but your daddy here isn’t some strong fighter. He’s a clown!”

“What?” said Sunshine, disbelief in her voice.

”He’s just a jester who we pay to make us laugh with his silly escapades. Ha! You should’ve seen this idiot the other day. The way he ran from that monster was priceless.”

On any normal day, sure, I'd be pretty pissed that he was telling my only child about all this. About how much of a weakling nobody I am. How I can only afford our resources ‘cause they pitied me for being a joke. The whole thing.

But what pissed me off more was the fact that he was inflicting so much fear on my daughter, while I could do nothing but curl up on the ground in pain as his men brutalized me, despite my rage. Just how pathetic would a father have to be to lack the strength to protect his own child.

That was me. Jerome Hunter–the weakest man in the apocalypse.

“Please…stop hurting my da-stop hurting Jerome!”

“This is hilarious! You're so pathetic, your own kid won't even call you ‘dad’? Just wait until my boss hears about this.”

Fortunately for my health, the guys finally stopped making an embarrassment out of me once Dante clapped his hands. “Alright, that's enough boys. We're out of here.”

“Wa..wait! What about my kid and the money I owe you? I thought you were gonna beat it out of me.”

“Are you deaf, old man?” he remarked, pointing his gun to something behind me. “Can't you hear all the radions coming this way?”

My ears twitched when I realized he was right. The sound of tired moaning and radioactive energy sizzling the grass. I slowly turned my head and a horde of zombies were coming this way, intent on devouring us.

“This is bad.” I kept my voice low as if that would change anything about our impending doom. “If we don't get out of here now, we're all screwed.”

To my dismay, the group couldn't give two shits about the zombies coming this way, instead laughing even more now.

“We? Who said we're gonna die? The only one dying here is you.”

“What!?”

Dante ripped open the white buttoned shirt he wore under his suit and revealed a light green circle that was at the center of his chest. It had a bright glow to it–brighter than the zombies behind me. Then, the entire group, including Sunshine, were engulfed in a green dome and proceeded to ascend into the sky.

“Wait! Dante! You can't do this to me! Give me my daughter back! Give me back Sunshine! Please!”

“Oh yeah, you can forget about having to pay off your debt to us since you're gonna die anyways. I don't have to worry though. There's plenty of weirdos out there that would pay thousands just to have your daughter as company.”

My heart pumped faster than it ever had before as I desperately attempted to crawl away from the incessant zombies. However, even a radion, as slow as they already are, would easily catch me in this situation and that's exactly what they did.

Just the mere touch from their hands grabbing at limbs burned profusely, their radioactive liquid seeping into my veins. Most of them took a deep bite out of me, like the flesh of every other person they got their hands on wasn't enough to satisfy their hunger. Their green ooze that could probably be compared to saliva dripped from their mouths and onto my skin. The zombies that couldn't get a taste of my head or torso opted to tear off my limbs and consume those instead.

It hurt. It hurt so damn much. It wasn't just the pain of dying. It was knowing I was about to die and the last memory I ingrained in her head was her dad’s beaten body now being torn apart by mindless zombies.

Despite all that, I did not die. You'd think with all the damage my body sustained I shouldn't even be conscious now, but there was no pain.

And the world around me turned green.