Cold Hearted ⭒ Cobra Kai

3.0.0

Chapter Thirty-Four: Miss Independent

"Regrets collect like old friends here to relive your darkest moments. I can see no way, I can see no way. And all of the ghouls come out to play."

~Shake It Out by Florence + The Machine~

⭒⭒⭒

Revised: July 18, 2022

Warnings: abuse, anxiety, biphobia/homophobia, depression, domestic violence, language, panic attacks, sexual harassment/assault, violence, and other mature themes

⭒⭒⭒

Zion's POV

I'm driving down the highway half asleep after this disaster of a day. I can feel the weight still on my chest from earlier. All I know now is that I need to get out of here.

As I drive, I realize there are no other cars on the road. I'm going eighty miles per hour on this big, empty, and dark highway. It's only me and it gives me the most uneasy feeling.

Suddenly, I see a medium-sized dog out in front of me on the road. It's only a few feet ahead of my car and I try to slam on the breaks, but I'm going so fast that it does no good. My car hits the dog full-on and a huge thump comes with it as the car bounces, practically going over the probable corpse.

I curse and start apologizing as I stop the car, getting out and running as fast as I can to see if the animal is okay. But I rush up and down the highway and don't see anything. No dog, no corpse, no blood even. The weight on my chest becomes heavier as I try to figure out what happened. I know I just hit that dog.

I look back behind me and realize my car is gone. It's like it just disappeared.

Suddenly, I hear groans and moans of pain from behind me. The noise is zombie-like. I spin around in a panic, but nothing is there. The sound comes again from behind me, this time accompanied by a voice,

"You let this happen to me."

I spin in circles, looking for who's speaking.

"You could have saved me."

I try to control my breathing and stop my panic, but it doesn't work. I'm stuck on this dark, empty highway and I have no idea of what's going on.

"But you didn't."

⭒⭒⭒

"Zion!" a voice echoes. "Zion!" I'm shaking. Is there an earthquake? "Zion Ambrose!"

My eyes open and I try to move and soon after realize my body is covered in sweat and the blanket I have isn't helping anything.

"Are you okay?" I look over and see Jess and their moms staring at me in concern.

"What... What?" I look around and am reminded I'm sleeping in their sunroom. "Oh, I-I'm fine."

"You were having a pretty intense nightmare. We could hear the screaming all the way down the hall," Elizabeth, one of Jess' moms, explains. 

I look down in dismay, hating that I woke them up and am more of a burden than I already was, "I'm sorry." 

"Don't be sorry," Jess sits down on the couch's pullout bed and gives me a side hug. I immediately scoot away from her and out of the hug, hating the physical contact. "Oops."