Apocalyptic ✔

Fourteen

Go To The Highway

Mr. Smith hesitates for another second, and makes the turn toward the highway. You all sit tense and silent in the suv, watching the horror that is your town go by outside the window.

You cringe when you see someone's dog racing around inside a back yard, trying to avoid three zombies that struggle to catch up with it.

You pass another zombie so close that you can make out the maggots crawling out of the festering wound on its shoulder.

In the distance, you can hear a siren. But instead of comforting you, it has the opposite effect. Because, all around you is chaos and death. There should be police cars and ambulances here, but there arent. Where are all of the police?

The suv turns up the on ramp and pulls into the stream of slowly moving traffic. There's a sea of cars, all trying to escape at the same time. Looking over at Sam, you see that he is watching out the window with a worried frown on his face.

Here and there, a zombie or two is weaving between the cars. They disrupt the flow of traffic as drivers try to get past them without running them over. The jammed traffic gets worse and slowly edges towards total gridlock. Mr. Smith, from up in the front seat, lets out a frustrated expletive as the hole he was aiming for closes ahead of him.

You creep to a stop, unable to move in any direction. Looking behind you you see cars diving into the grass beside the road, looking for a way through. Before long, even the grass is blocked by slowly moving cars.

Unfortunately for you, your suv is completely stuck. Panicked people start to abandon their cars, making matters worse. The van directly ahead of you, turns off, and five people bolt from inside it. Not sparing a look behing them, the group starts to jog in between the cars, away up the road.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith are now giving each other worried glances. Finally admitting that you are all stuck, Mr. Smith says, "Looks like we are walking from here."

He cautiously opens his door and climbs out. The last thing you want to do is follow him. Getting out of the semi protection of the suv sounds like a bad idea. But, the rest are already following him into the darkening night. Unless you go too, you will be all alone here in this gridlocked suv.

You open your door and swing your backpack over your shoulders. More and more people are now out of their cars. They fight the few zombies on the road with knives and bats. Anything they could find to use as a weapon in their own homes.

Your little group stays close together as you walk fast. You all know that getting away from the overpopulation in the city is the best move. You just didn't plan on having to walk.

Ahead, the reason for the gridlock comes into view. A massive jumble of vehicles blocks the entire highway. How this even happened, you don't know. The slow trickle of cars that are still moving becomes more choked here. And finally stops when a car blows both front tires on debris, effectively blocking the only hole large enough for a vehicle to get through.

The volume of the noise increases as frustrated drivers start blowing their horns at each other.

You, along with Sam's family, and a mass of strangers, hurry along the road. It's getting dark, and the zombies will be harder to avoid when you can't see them. Everyone seems to be sticking to the highway. Maybe, that's because it's the easiest path. Whatever the reason, the gathered herd of frightened people makes you nervous. This many people all moving together, tends to draw attention.

The darkness seems to fall too fast, and before you know it, it's night time. Staying close to Sam, so you don't get seperated, you all walk for what feels like hours.

You've fallen into a monotonous rhythm, one foot mindlessly in front of another, when a disturbance ahead catches your notice. You can't see what's going on up there, but a woman screams and the people jumble up. When those in front of you start pressing back, you know it can't be good.

There are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people on this road. When the mass turns and starts running, you have no choice but to go with them.

You are immediately separated from Sam. You look around you, trying to spot him in the crowd. Bad move. Tripping over some unknown debris on the road, you skid to a painful stop on the asphalt.

The panicked people running for their lives don't seem to notice or care that they are running you over. In their hast to get away, you are kicked and stomped. You feel a crack in your chest and know that you have a broken rib. A heavy boot kicks you in the face as the man wearing it bolts past.

Stars burst behind your closed eyelids and the sounds of the running people fade in and out. The blackness of unconsciousness creeps across your vision.