It was a peaceful day in Corongo Village. The adult villagers were finishing up their work for the day, and the children that were playing parted ways and returned home to their families.

“See you tomorrow,” Luke said to his friends. “See ya,” They responded.

He headed home, in a better mood than he had been in in a long time. And he couldn’t wait to tell his parents why.

He soon reached his house. He took a moment to smile. In actuality, it was a rather small house. But to him, it was a mansion. At least compared to some of the others.

His mother was a fletcher, and his father was a weapon smith. Both occupations brought a lot of business, so they were pretty well-off. Luke had watched his father craft a sword once, and after seeing the finished product, there was no question why his business thrived. He had never watched his mother work, but he saw many of her finished products. Seeing these also left no question in his mind why she had so many customers.

He was suddenly jerked out of his thoughts when somebody shoved him. He fell to the ground, and he immediately knew who had done it. He got up and dusted himself off. “What’s the matter? Get your bathrobe dirty?” Luke slowly lifted his head to face the threat. It was Brock, the school bully. “It’s not a bathrobe,” Luke replied. Brock always made fun of his dark green tunic. His mother had crafted it with her own hands. It was the envy of all the children.

He didn’t want to anger Brock for fear of getting pounded, so he stopped himself from saying any more. Brock grinned. When Brock grinned, it meant he was getting ready to do something rotten. He bent down and scooped up a ball of mud. Luke knew what was coming, but didn’t know what to do.            Brock hurled the mud-ball at him. It landed on his tunic, staining the front with the sticky substance. He was furious. He stormed up to the house, Brock snickering behind him. “Get a stain on your favorite shirt? How sad!” Luke ignored him.

He slammed the door behind him as he walked inside. His dad, sitting at the dining table, put the book he was reading down and stared at him. Luke sighed. “Sorry.” He picked up his book again, not saying a word. Somehow his dad hadn’t noticed the stain. Or he didn’t ask where it came from. Either way, he was relieved.

It was a one room house, as almost all of the village’s. The main difference was the size. Though his family was wealthy, they still didn’t have the nicest house in town. But it was still better than most. The dining table sat on the right side of the single large room. Three beds sat at the back, one for each family member. Other than that, there wasn’t much else. But in a village, houses were judged better or worse depending on their room size, and they had a reasonable amount of room.

Luke took his muddy tunic off and tossed it in the laundry basket next to the door. He hoped his mom wouldn’t ask why it was muddy.  Where was she anyway?

“Where’s mom?” His dad closed the book and sat it on the table, then stood. It was then that Luke noticed his father was still wearing his work clothes. “She had to do some extra work today. It seems like everybody in the village wants a new bow. The rumors of zombies around here probably scared them.” “There’s zombies around here?” Luke had heard stories of entire villages being destroyed by these rotten creatures. “Just a few sightings. Don’t worry. Even if they do try to attack, our defenses will stop them.”

This was true. They were currently constructing a cobblestone wall that surrounded the village, though it wasn’t anywhere near completion. Zombies were a major threat, but he would like to see them try to climb over a wall. He chuckled as he imagined watching a horde of them attempt to climb over one another to get over the barricade.

He walked over to the table and sat down. His dad, who was known as Theo, headed toward the door.

        “It’s getting dark. I’m going to check on mother. I should be back in fifteen minutes. If not, you know what to do.”

        Luke nodded his head. He had always been taught that if a person wasn’t back when they said they would be, he was to walk to the town sheriff’s house and inform him of the disappearance. Monsters were everywhere, and you could never be too careful.

As soon as he was out the door, Luke was alone. He suddenly realized that he had forgotten to tell his dad what had gotten him in a such good mood. At least until Brock showed up. He would just have to wait until he and mom returned.

He decided to see what dad had been reading. It was called 10 Tips On How To Become A Master Swordsmanship. This alarmed him. What if his dad wasn’t telling the whole story? What if the zombies might attack at any moment? He decided not to stress about it too much. Perhaps his father was just interested in the topic. After all, he was a weapon smith.

Luke decided to have a snack. He got up from his seat and headed over to the refrigerator, which was a glass container with an ice block underneath to regulate generally cold temperatures. The ice had to be replaced regularly, but he didn’t mind the upkeep.

Several yummy appetizers caught his eye. The last slice of a pumpkin pie. Two cookies leftover from yesterday, probably frozen stiff by now. Lastly, and most tempting of all, was the freshly baked birthday cake for his mother’s birthday tomorrow. But he couldn’t eat it yet… Could he?            After he ate a slice, he looked at the clock. It was dark outside now. He quickly put the rest of the cake in the fridge, then wiped the evidence on his mouth off with a napkin.

       It was a good thing he did too, because just then his parents walked through the door.

As soon as they sat down at the table again, Luke told them what he had been waiting to.

        “The other kids asked if I could go fishing with them tomorrow after school. They also said they had a surprise for me! May I go?”

        Theo picked at the untouched steak on his plate with his fork. Mom, who’s name was Amelia, took a massive bite of hers. By the time she finally swallowed it, Luke couldn’t stand the suspense.               “That would be up to your father.”

        If it was up to him, it usually meant no. But this time he surprised him.

        “S’pose you can, Just as long as you finish the chores when you get home.”

Luke grinned.

“I sure will!”

Since they had eaten dinner late, they went to bed directly afterward. They said “Goodnight” To each-other, then drifted off to sleep.

Well, his parents did anyway.

Luke could hardly sleep. His father had always said he was to young to go out with his friends by himself. Now he could hardly wait to tell them he could go. After a while, though, he was fast asleep, dreaming of the next day.

Little did any of them know that a zombie scout watched the village as they slept, examining the unfinished defenses and pinpointing weak spots. None of the peaceful villagers knew about the destruction that was headed their way, either.