The Day the World Ended

3 • Blaire

Blaire

When Layla screamed "run" the day the world (almost) ended, I wasted no time pushing open the doors to the pool and running outside. When we did get out front, we stopped in our tracks. There was a massive group of zombies, all of them scattered throughout the road individually. Layla muttered a word that I know our teacher would not approve of. I ignored it, though.

"What do we do now?" I asked her, because I couldn't think of anything at the moment.

"Why are you asking me?" She acted like she had no idea what to do, but I watched her eyes skip across each of the zombies. "We have to run." My heart sank. 

Nooo, I thought. I'm still out of breath! 

"My house isn't that far. It's a walking distance. I promise, we can outrun them." Okay, so she did have a plan. I'd been to Layla's house a gazillion times. She was right, it was very close to the school. We could make it. I glanced at Carson, remembering his stumble in the pool. I lost faith in the idea.

"You know what, Layla? They haven't noticed us yet. Let's just creep around the school and—"

"They'll notice us eventually! We have to get to someone's house and call for help. My mom's a surgeon, she'll know what to do!" I really didn't like the idea of risking our lives (and my poor stamina) trying to outrun zombies. 

"What's wrong with your phone? Let's just get somewhere safe and you can—" Layla was already sprinting down the street. My first thought was when's the funeral?, but she's my best friend. Of course I ran after her. 

I am very proud of how far I made it before I started to wheeze. I actually made it past the group of zombies before they even noticed us. I stayed behind Layla so she could lead the way. I heard the zombies' confused moans behind me. My curiosity got the better of me. I turned my head to look behind me. There was a zombie right there. It took that moment to yank the back of my ponytail. I let out a yelp and tried to swat it away. Layla came to my aid—she ran up and pushed the zombie with enough force to knock it over. We both turned to continue running, but Layla lost her footing and stumbled over her own feet. I may or may not have shouted a vulgar word.

I didn't really see what happened next, but I'm going to try and describe it how I imagined it.

A zombie tried to grab Layla's ankle, but she rolled over to her back and kicked it right in the face. The next moment, she got up and started running like nothing happened. The minor setback let Carson sprint ahead of us. I don't think he had a clue where he was going, so me and Layla had to use all our stamina to catch up.

When we did catch up, Carson stopped running and got distracted by something on the side of the empty road. He let out a whistle. "Look at that. Isn't it gorgeous?" It was a car. A bright red sports car that probably had a very loud engine and was not suitable for an apocalypse. "Wow, and look at those tires! She's calling my name, I can hear it. Ooh, here are the keys!"

"Carson..." Layla warned. She was eyeing the zombies that hadn't given up on chasing us yet. Carson ignored her. He was now peering inside the car through the slightly tinted window.

"My, oh, my, and look at the steering wheel! I bet that's comfortable for the hands. Ooh, and that radio—"

"Carson," Layla said again, this time more serious than just a subtle warning. Again, she was ignored.

"That engine. I just want to take a little spin. Give it a whirl. Wow, she is stunning."

"Carson!"

"Let's try it out!" Carson grabbed the keys and got in the driver's seat without hesitation. Me and Layla scrambled into the back seat. I reached forward and locked the doors just in time for the zombies to reach us and start pounding on the windows. Relief washed over me. I looked around the backseat. There was a bag at my feet that looked suspiciously close to a body bag. I averted my eyes. "She's so much prettier up close!" Carson exclaimed, still ogling over the radio.

"Drive, Carson!" I snapped, looking around at the zombies and panicking.

"Just a minute! I need to find the perfect song." He was flicking through radio channels, which surprisingly were still working. I guess the radio towers weren't knocked out quite yet. I heard a sound. My gaze shot to the not-bodybag at my feet. At the moment, I could have sworn I saw it move.

"Um..." was all I could get out. I scooted closer to Layla, away from the not-bodybag. It rustled again.

"Oh, God," she said, gagging and turning her head away. We were squeezed up close, and I was definitely crushing her against the door of the car. She was desperately trying to keep her head away from the window in case the zombies broke through it. Sorry, Layla!

Carson was still trying to find the perfect song for our tragic deaths.

The body bag was rustling more before it came to a stop. Me and Layla stared. The moment was very suspenseful. Then everything happened in a flash. 

The not-body bag burst open and a zombie jumped out of it. I screamed and grabbed Layla's hand, which made me drop the baseball bat I had been holding this whole time. So much for self defense. Layla screamed and grabbed my hand. Carson screamed and grabbed the steering wheel. The zombie squealed and flailed its arms. Layla stopped screaming. After a few seconds, she elbowed me in the ribs. Hard. "WHAAAAT?" I shrieked, then I saw the zombie was not a zombie at all. It was a human! A sweet, sweet, sweet human being! Then I saw who it was.

Asher Hughes—my arch nemesis since fifth grade, when he beat me at class trivia. No one beats me at trivia. I know he cheated, because he's not very bright and never has been, so it was out of the blue for him to win a math trivia game.

Maybe not a sweet human being.

"Asher?" Layla beamed.

"Layla? Carson? Blaire?" Asher said, surprised to see us.

"I'll take death by zombie," I remarked and went for the door handle. Layla yanked my arm back.

"Nuh-uh, we aren't doing this here! Erm, Carson?" It was then that I realized he was still screaming. So I pinched him.

"Ouch! Oh my Asher! You're alive!"

Asher frowned. "Don't sound so surprised."

"No, please do, it's very entertaining." I chuckled at my own joke. I'm too much. I did earn a glare from Layla, however. I sighed and pouted a bit before remembering our major setback. "Oh, yeah, Carson?"

"Yes, Blaire?"

"DRIVE."

"Oh, right." He turned the key and the engine revved, which was as loud but not as magnificent as he made it seem.

"You may want to hang on," Asher told me and Layla. I scoffed. How ridiculous.

"I'm not going to 'hang o—'" the car sped forward and forced me against the back of the seat.