Nothing Left to Say

I kept singing along to the songs, but occasionally looked at Tony so I could wake him up if necessary.

I looked down at my arms. I held back tears as I moved to the darkest corner. I heard my bedroom door slam open. I waited, holding my breath and making myself as small as possible while hiding in a pile of jeans.

He was having nightmares again... I stopped singing and shook him awake again.

Before anything could happen, I felt myself being shaken awake. I snapped my eyes open. My heart was thudding and my breathing deeper than usual. Nope, that wasn't a dream, it did happen a long time ago.

I noticed his arms for the first time and tensed up a tiny bit, "You ok?"

"Yeah, fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Your arms, who did that?"

"What to you mean?" She's a scientist, you idiot, she's not gonna buy the whole "acting dumb" thing.

"I'm not blind. I can tell they aren't self-harm which means someone did it."

I sighed. "My fake dad."

"I'm sorry... Did you ever call the police?"

I nodded.

"What happened?"

"I had to say it was an accident. He threatened to put me in a detention center or whatever for 'juvenile punks.' I couldn't do it again. He never let me near a phone after that."

"Child abuse is against the law he would've gone to jail."

"You think I don't know that? There was nothing I can do!"

"Calm down, I'm not accusing you of anything, I just rant when I'm mad."

"Alright." I took a deep breath. "It doesn't matter. It's all in the past and I never have to go back to that jerk ever again. I have... I had an actual father."

"What happened?" I asked then hurriedly added, "You don't have to tell me."

"No, you have a right."

"I do?"

I looked out the window. "I have no idea how many years it's been. But, before I was affected by the zombie takeover, I ran away. I only knew my true parents names and where they lived. I changed my last name of course.
"Anyways, I found them. They were a young couple, when they gave me up, they knew they weren't ready for parenthood and wanted to give me my best chance."

"Oh."

"Yeah. It was nice. I live with them, I was finally happy. For about four months."

"And then the apocalypse started?"