I’m thrown against the door and slam my head against the glass. Pain rockets across my skull and down my neck, adding to the headache I’m already sporting. Lauren groans, apparently having done the same, although there’s a smear of blood on her window.
“Shit. Lauren, baby, you okay?” my brother asks as he flicks his eyes from his wife to the road ahead.
“Yeah,” Lauren answers after a moment with a wince. “Just warn us next time.”
“I’m fine, too. Thanks for asking,” I deadpan.
Tobias at least looks a little guilty as he glances at me in the mirror. “Sorry, Liv,” he says sheepishly. His eyes flick back to the front and immediately widen as he curses again. “No, no! There has to be…fuck!” He slams the brakes.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, peering around the seat.
“This way is blocked, too. And there’s no side street off this main road. I don’t know…” He trails off just before the first person bangs their fist against the back window.
I yelp and whirl around to see several gory people behind the car with their feral eyes, yellow teeth and black gums. They hammer their fists and hands on the rear window, groaning and moaning as they look straight at me. More hands bang on the front and side windows, more terrifying eyes and open mouths until all I can see and hear isthem.
And then, because whoever is running this shit show hates me, the car’s engine dies.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Tobias shouts as he tries and fails to start the car. “Shit, we’re surrounded. We’ll need to wait them out before we can get out of the car.”
My breathing gets erratic as our situation presses heavily against my shoulders. We’re surrounded by people who want to harm us, trapped in this metal and glass box. Memories of screeching metal and bloodcurdling screams fill my ears as panic tightens around my chest like a vise. My vision flickers and darkness encroaches around the edges of my eyesight.
Distantly, I hear someone curse and hands fall on my shoulders, shaking me. “Liv! Look at me!”
I blink and my eyes focus on the concerned face of my brother.
“There you go. Lauren and me are right here, you’re fine. Just hang on for a few hours. It’ll be alright.” Tobias keeps a steady stream of words, his voice low, and soothing, but it only barely keeps the panic at bay.
The next few hours are agony as the moaning wedding guests continue to bang and claw at the car. None of them seem to lose interest and as the sun dips beneath the horizon, it only gets worse. The thick darkness and their glowing eyes only add to my panic until I’m panting and sweating.
Lauren and Tobias try their best to calm me, but eventually the panic wins and I pass out.
The next time Iopen my eyes, it’s daytime, and the zombies are gone. The windows are smeared with blood and gore, causing the weak winter sunlight to take a sickly red hue. I’m curled up in a ball, my body shivering as my breath comes out in puffs of white steam.
“Toby? Lauren?” I croak, my throat sore and my mouth dry.
There’s a heavy sigh of relief before my brother’s face peers from between the front seats. “You’re awake,” he says with a small smile.
“Yeah. What happened?”
“The zombies finally got bored and moved on,” Lauren says as she reaches through the gap between the seats and squeezes my hand. “Not sure where they’ve gone, but anywhere’s better than here.”
Tobias nods. “It’s been about an hour since I’ve seen movement outside, so we should be good to get out and walk to your cottage.”
I frown. “My cottage? Why? Your house is bigger.”
“Our house is also fifty miles away, in the middle of a populated town, and you have animals at home.”
Shit. In the midst of this nightmare that’s become our reality, I completely forgot about my three ponies; Bean, Apple and Cinnamon. Fuck, I hope they’re okay and haven’t become zombies, if horses can even become zombies…
Tobias nudges me. “Come on. We should get moving before we’re noticed again.” He steps out of the car and Lauren follows without saying a word.
I’m torn between wanting to race out of this metal death trap and terrified of what I’m going to see if I open that door. The choice gets taken away from me as Tobias wrenches my door open and hauls me out of the car.
The air outside is icy cold and I’m instantly chilled to the bone, since all I’m wearing is my ruined wedding dress. Outside looks just as horrific as it did yesterday; only this time the bloody puddles are frozen and there’s a layer of frost over the half-eaten bodies. I’m still blinking at the ruined corpse of a man, wondering if it’s Gale, when Tobias drags me along with him.
“Hurry up, sis,” he orders before towing me behind him.
I stumble after him, still only wearing one shoe, as I barely keep up with his giant strides. Lauren also appears to struggle with his speed, but neither of us complains. There’s a thick blanket of silence in the once vibrant village, with only the sounds of flames crackling in the distance from nearby burning buildings. The sirens, moans and screams from the previous day are gone, and it feels like we’re the only people alive.
