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Through the Eyes of the Governor

Chapter 8: Pick up The Phone

Eight Months Later...
Philip was eating lunch with Penny.
"Things have not been the same without Mommy," Penny said. "Well...we have done fine so far. We just need to press on," Philip tells her as he raises his fist in the air. Penny looks at him, a little depressed. "I don't see why we have to."
Philip stares at his daughter's sad little face.
"For her," Philip answers, "For Mommy."
Six Months Later...
Philip decided to go out for breakfast with Nick. "So where are we eating?" Philip asked.
"You'll find out." There was a diner across the street from a church and Philip was ready to eat.
Instead of pulling into the diner parking lot, however, he pulled into the Church's.
He stopped the car and put it in park. "Here we are." Philip looked at the church.
"Oh, hell no," he said.
"Hell YES. You need this."
"Turn the car around."
"No."
"NICK--"
"YOU NEED THIS," Nick insisted, "I--Look. I never told you this, but after Sarah died...I questioned if whether religion was a waste of time OR something worth looking into. I started--reading the Bible and going to Church, JUST LOOKING FOR..."
"For what?" Philip questioned.
"...For an answer to why it happened. For why Sarah died. I just...I kept looking. I kept looking for any reason why God could do such a thing. I never truly found the answer. In fact, I think he doesn't like to explain why he does his dirty work in ANY way. But...then one day...I went to church and saw this family in there a bit earlier than everyone else. They were praying for their sick mother.
"She was dying and they did not know why. Then, the next week, they were fortunate enough to meet a doctor on the street kind enough to examine her for a very low price. They were a rather poor family. They soon found out her heart was failing and she needed a heart transplant. The family couldn't afford the operation themselves, but with a donation from the church and some people in the community, they soon could.
"On the Sunday before the operation, they went into church and they prayed and prayed. They prayed like there was no tomorrow for her to be alright. And when the operation was over, and the family went in to see her a few days later, she sat up in her bed and asked for a glass of water. They laughed and hugged her with so much joy. I helped with the donations and went there to see her healthy as a horse again.
"It was a wonderful feeling to see them so happy. That happiness renewed my faith in God, you see. And now that they've been healed by God, I think it's time you are too."
Philip was still a bit unsure. Nick opened the door. He nudged his head towards the Church entrance. "Come on. And don't worry about breakfast, they have free coffee and breakfast pastries. And I'll let you have mine if you want."
"No, that's okay. I'm fine."
"You need to eat sometime."
Philip looked at his reflection in the rear view mirror. He saw someone worn and tethered; someone who has been in a lot of pain for a very long time. He looked back Nick.
Not wanting to disappoint Nick, he reluctantly got out of the car. They both soon went inside.
After eating some pastries and drinking some coffee, Philip was ready to sit down. Instead of following him to their seats, Nick was getting ready to go in the opposite direction.
"Don't you want to sit down?" Philip asked.
"I would love to, but I have to go get my robe on."
"Your robe?"
"I'm the new preacher. The old one retired about two months ago, so I took his place."
Philip stared at him in disbelief.
"You do this AND a mechanic job?"
"Yep. How do you like that? I'm clean and pure part of the time and dirty and greasy the rest of the time. Now that's the life right there, my friend."
Philip smirked. "For you, maybe."
"For me? Yes. For you? Possibly. Once you get out of that office, I'll teach you a thing or two on living."
"We'll see."
Nick looked at the clock. "It's almost time, you better find a seat."
Philip looked at all the people heading in. "Fine. Alright..." He hesitated to enter the room, but did.
Philip soon sat down and waited for Nick to get up there and start preaching.
I sure hope I can get through this...I really do.
Two Months Later...
Philip was standing in the middle of a prairie. He saw something in the distance and walked towards it. He soon found out it was his wife, Sarah. She stared at him and he stared back into her beautiful eyes.
With tears in his eyes, he said, "I've missed you."
Tears started to sting her eyes too. "I've missed you too." They quickly embraced. He held her for the longest time. Suddenly, he started hearing something.
"AHHHHHH!!!!" He opened his eyes. Sarah was gone and pitch darkness began to form around him.
"DADDY! AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"
"PENNY!" He shouted. He looked around and saw only darkness, as he heard the screams of his wife and daughter.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
He heard gunshots mixing in with their screams. Suddenly, he started spinning around, trying to find out where they were at, but the darkness prevented him from doing so.
"AHHHHH!!! DADDY!!!!"
"PHILIP!!!"
He started getting a massive headache and clutched his head as he was spun around faster and faster. AND FASTER!
He opened his mouth and, after a moment, began to scream.
"NnnnnnnnNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"
He woke up. Sweat had covered his face. He wiped the sweat off his face and held his head in his hands. He started sobbing. After a few minutes, he stopped and wiped his eyes. He thought about Sarah and then he thought about Penny's well-being. He smacked his forehead a few times to get the bad thoughts out of his head.
"Everything's going to be alright," he tried to reassure himself, "Everything will be okay."
The next day, Philip payed Nick a visit.
After sitting down for some coffee, they started to talk.
"I never thanked you, you know..." Philip said. "...for...helping me when you did."
Nick shrugged. "You still haven't." Philip rolled his eyes.
"Thank you, sir smartass. Thank you."
Nick laughed. "Don't mention it. You know...you actually have been acting a lot better lately. You're not as moody anymore, you're becoming overall nicer...you're starting to become your old self again." Philip smiled.
"Well not because of...church or the bible...it's because you have been helping me through it. You and Will. You two idiots are my best friends and I...I don't know if I could ever do anything good enough to repay you guys for what you have done for me. So, again, thank you."
Nick nodded in response. "You're welcome." He finished his coffee. He never really liked coffee, but always had some with his guests. He got up to wash his cup in the sink, while Philip remained seated.
"So, uh...you ready for tonight?" Nick asked.
"Yep. I got the balloons and everything."
"What about presents?"
"Already taken cared of."
"Whiskey?"
"Whoa! Maybe...after Penny goes to bed."
"Yeah, you're right. We tend to say stupid shit when we're drunk, anyway."
He looked at the clock and saw it was eight o'clock.
"Well, duty calls. I'll get back from the shop at three, and head over there by four."
"Sounds good. Okay, I'll let you get ready for work now." Philip got up to leave and opened the door. "Later, grease monkey." Philip said.
"Same to you. Have fun in that hellhole with fluorescent lighting you call an office." Nick called out.
"I WILL." Philip called back as he went out to his car, excited about tonight.
Later That Day...
Philip brought the cake in.
"Happy Birthday to you," he started.
"Happy Birthday to you," the three of them began to sing.
"Happy Birthday to you, Penny. Happy Birthday to you."
There was a ten on the cake written in purple frosting with candles all around the one and zero.
Penny was really excited.
Will examined the cake.
"Hmmm...nice job, Philip. The cake looks pretty good. It only took you one try this year?"
"Yeah," he laughed, "I may not be the best baker, but--"
"You're the best Daddy," Penny finished.
"That's right, sweetie." He bent down and kissed her cheek.
"And don't you forget it."
"I won't," she smiled.
"Okay."
The TV in the living room was on. There was something about a small illness breaking out along the West Coast, but that did not matter to Philip, so he turned it off.
This is my daughter's day. And the tenth anniversary of the best day of my life. I'm not gonna let some upsetting news ruin tonight.
Philip turned around and walked back into the kitchen. "Hey, you ready to blow out the candles and make a wish?"
"Yes. I've been ready for a whole year now."
"Well okay," Philip laughed.
"On the count of three, ready? One...two...THREE!"
She quickly blew out all the candles. They all cheered and then Philip removed the candles and they sat there, ate some cake, and Penny soon opened her birthday presents.
"Wow!" She opened one that had small figurines of animals, like lions and tigers.
"These will go great with my collection! Thanks Uncle Will and Nick."
She hugged both of them. "Hey, anytime kid. You don't have cousins yet, so I get to focus all my attention on YOU."
She giggled.
"Good."
They all laughed as the night went on. And as soon as Penny had to go to bed for school the next day, the guys broke out the whiskey. Philip raised his glass. "To ten years of Penny. May she never get older." They chuckled and raised their glasses as well.
"May these days never end," Philip said.
One Week Later...
Philip began to hear strange things going around town about the sickness on the West Coast. There were rumors of people becoming infected and attacking other people and how the infection would soon spread to the East Coast. He did not believe any of it. He also saw people trying to get into stores and buy as many necessities as they could.
Even if this is true, I'm sure the CDC will do something about it soon.
Philip had just picked Penny up from school and drove home when he got a call from Nick to turn on the news. He turned it on and there was a special report.
"What were once reports of a small illness have become something far worse. Reports now indicate that people who are infected are starting to become mad and biting other people. These bitten people then become infected and begin the cycle over again. Witnesses have said that they have seen their throats ripped out even, yet they are STILL moving around. Medical teams thought at one point the victims were deceased, but had manage to get rise up again and infect other people. Symptoms of the infection, known so far, are a fever, fainting, then yellow eyes and some reports even indicate the skin to decay at a rapid rate. If you see an infected, DO NOT APPROACH IT! Contact your local hospital or law enforcement agency for any incidents you may see. Stay indoors and ONLY go outside if you have to. If you are infected, contact the nearest hospital straight away! Guard your loved ones and keep them safe! And whatever you do, DO NOT let anyone in your home if they show symptoms of whatever has caused the infection. I'm Todd Chesney, CBN News."
Philip looked in horror at the pictures and videos they showed.
I cannot believe this.
"Daddy?" Penny had heard the news report from behind the wall leading to the living room.
Philip looked at her before quickly turning off the television. He went over to her. "What's going on? This that really happening or is it some kind of...sick joke?"
Philip shook his head. "I don't know...I don't know. I'm gonna call Nick and Will, so they can come over here. I think I'll call Grandma and Grandpa to stay over here too."
"But they live so far away! Do you think they'll be safe?"
Philip narrowed his eyes in realization. "We'll figure something out." He hugged her.
"Don't worry about it," Philip told her.
Philip soon got Nick on the phone. "Hello?"
"I just saw the news report. Is it true or some seriously messed up shit?"
Philip heard Nick sigh. "It's true; sad as it is. One of my friends in California said his sister was infected the other day. Shit's starting to hit the fan, man!"
"I know. I know NOW anyway. Where are you?"
"I'm in my house right now."
"Well load up your car with whatever you want to bring and get over here quick! You can stay with us until this all blows over."
"Okay. I went to the grocery store yesterday and spent nearly my whole paycheck in food, should the infection begin to spread over here."
"Alright, just get over here as fast as you can! I'm going to try and call Will over here to and I'll ask my parents too and see if they can make the trip."
"That's sounds good. I'll be over in about ten minutes."
"Great. Bye."
"Bye."
Philip dialed Will's number. After about nine rings, no one answered. He tried again. Again, no one answered. "God dammit, Will! Answer the phone!"
Philip tried to call him one more time...hoping he would answer.

Notes

Comments

I'm gonna read this evenually. I've already gave a good vote cause I know it will be good. So, far I like the dog the best. Sparkles is cute!

What terrible things did you do?

Anonymous Anonymous
7/20/17

So, apparently, I think there is a LIMIT on the amount of characters I can put in the character listings. I'm not sure why that is, but I will try and see if I can get the administrators to fix that.

Old Snake Old Snake
3/27/16

On a less annoying and jerk troll note, I am thankful for all the views this story has recieved :)
We are less than 1,500 views away from 10,000. I'm so excited!!! :)

Old Snake Old Snake
1/19/16

@Punished Snake
SOMETIMES WE HAVE TO DO THINGS WE DON'T WANT TO. F**K CENSORY

Lolly Lolly
1/19/16