𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐃𝐃𝐒. ᵀᴴᴱ ᵂᴬᴸᴷᴵᴺᴳ ᴰᴱᴬᴰ

CHAPTER FOUR: NIGHTMARE.

Leya didn't know how much time had passed as they slowly made their way through the mess. Every second felt like an hour. She was getting cramped in the car, but she didn't dare move or get out. The city was officially in chaos. She wasn't sure what this was the beginning of, exactly, but she could assume it was only one thing - the apocalypse. It was the beginning of the end. 

She was still having trouble figuring out how it all started in the first place. There was no such thing as the end of the world - not really. This had to just be a pandemic of sorts, a crisis that could be solved. Maybe it really wasn't as bad as it actually was. Maybe it was just their area that had been impacted, the rest of the world was probably just fine. God, she sure hoped so. 

It was hard for Leya to wrap her mind around it all. One second they'd all been normal people living normal lives, and now they were fighting for survival. It didn't make any logical sense. She had never seen people get sick so fast before, and the woman's face from the hospital haunted her. She tried not to think about it too much as they sat in the car, stranded in the road. Traffic had been backed up significantly - they weren't the only ones trying to escape and reunite with loved ones. She hated that she was going to be stuck in the car with Shane for so long. Even though they were both fighting for their lives, she wasn't happy about the idea of being with him. Why couldn't it be anyone but him? 

Now was not the time to protest. She knew that if she said anything, it would just lead to more arguments and she didn't want to talk to him more than necessary. She didn't know what was worse, though. Fighting to fill the air or the tension in the silence. The silence was tense but they both seemed to agree on keeping it as they inched by through traffic. It moved slowly, until they weren't moving at all. She sighed, a sound that was loud in the silence. 

After a while, Shane looked like he was about to say something when a slam on the side of her window took her by surprise, making her yelp. It was a man, bagging on her side of the door. Her nearly heart raced out of her chest, realizing quickly that it wasn't just a man. It was one of those... things. It looked like he had already lost all sense of himself through the decaying skin and the snarling. 

Leya's heart pounded as she stared at the creature, its eyes wild and vacant, a grotesque parody of the person it used to be. It was crazy to think that this beast had once been a human guy with feelings and thoughts of his own, reduced to this. A whole life turned to nothingness in a matter of what seemed to be seconds, and that was the part that terrified her the most. The sound of its fists slamming against the glass echoed in her ears, each hit a jarring reminder of how close they were to danger.

"Shit!" Shane muttered under his breath, quickly reaching for his gun. "Stay calm, Leya. The glass should hold, but we need to get out of here."

She tried to steady her breath as she focused, but it was hard. She had never been so afraid of anything before, and she used to pride herself on generally being fearless. This was like an instinctive fear, knowing that her life could end instantly if she wasn't on guard. The fear clawing at her chest was almost paralyzing, but she knew they had to act fast. She didn't have much time to waste. The snarling outside was growing louder, more frantic. She could see the creature's face contorting in rage as it pounded harder against the window, cracks beginning to spiderweb across the glass.

"Shane," she whispered urgently, her voice trembling. "We need to move. Now."

He nodded, his face set with determination as he shifted the car into reverse, trying to maneuver around the stalled vehicles - but the traffic was too thick, too congested to allow for a quick escape. The car jerked as he struggled to find a clear path, but they were boxed in on all sides.