Daycare.

This plague - it's not only killing people and raising the dead - it's driving the living insane.

I went out to scout for food and any more information on what the government is doing at the facility. My searches are taking me further and further from Jan's place as supplies run lower. A couple of nights ago my search took me into a small neighborhood of conservative little houses. It was eerily quite on the street I was walking. There were almost no zombies to be found. All the houses seemed empty. Many of them had been cleaned out of food and supplies but not ransacked like I had seen in other places around the city. I continued on down this quiet street until I came to a brightly colored house at the dead end of the street near a park. With it's yellows and vibrant blues it seemed out of place in the muted earth tones of the other homes in the neighborhood. Then I saw why. It had a sign out front that read, "Rita's Daycare: Preparing Your Little Ones For the Adventures Ahead!" I stood staring at the sign stifling a chuckle when I heard movement coming from the back yard.

I readied my rifle and my mind for action. I walked around the side of the house with extreme caution. There was no way to prepare a mind for what awaited me. As I turned the corner a fence came into view. It was topped with razor ribbon. Inside the fence - inside - contained within there was playground equipment and - children. What used to be children. There must have been fifteen of them. They were all, every one of them, dead - zombies. I was in shock. I lowered my gun in disbelief. Everything started to get fuzzy. I realized tears were streaming from my eyes. I couldn't let this stand. I had to put them down. I had to.

I stepped right up to the edge of the fence in a stupor and raised my rifle. I heard the pop of a round go off. Then another. But they weren't my rounds. I turned toward the house as I heard her scream, "Get away from my children!" She fired again and this time I felt the tug and burn as a bullet tore the skin and clothing of my right leg. I rolled to the left and got to a knee as this woman ran towards me. I took careful aim as I shouted, "Stop lady! I don't want to hurt you! Stop!" She raised her rifle. My bullet struck and she fell.

The children - zombies - had gathered at the edge of the fence closest to me. They were moaning and scraping trying to get at me. It was an awful high pitched moan unlike any I had heard previously. I stood. My right leg was beginning to hurt but it was not what I was thinking about. I went to the fence once again, raised my rifle, and...

When it was done I went to the woman and retrieved her rifle. It was just a small semi-automatic .22LR. I was running severely low on ammunition myself so I thought it best to keep it. Walking into the house I figured out what had happened to the rest of the neighborhood. The kitchen was filled with all the food stuffs from the surrounding homes. There was far more than I could carry so I loaded my pack with what it could handle. I then went into the living room where I made another horrifying discovery.

There was a fireplace on the wall. It was filled with bones. Next to the hearth was a large chest freezer. I didn't want to open it because I was fairly certain of what I would find. I had to be sure though. As I raised the lid I had to fight back the vomit and tears induced by the smell. It was full of more bodies to be burned. I am sure they were the residents of the neighborhood and any other zombie - or person - who had threatened the "children" here at Rita's Daycare.

I completed the search of the house finding a couple thousand .22LR rounds and some much needed medical supplies to treat the wound on my leg. It wasn't bad but with the condition of my clothes I would have to keep a close eye on it to prevent infection. I limped wearily back to Jan's. I haven't slept the two nights since. I keep seeing the faces of those kids in my mind. It will pass - I hope.