The Undead Ruined Me

Chapter 5

We are nearly engulfed by darkness and in the distance I can see a very large group of monsters ahead of us, much like the one back home.

I strap Sarah in the back seat of Anne's car as I stay in my confused and vulnerable state. I get into the passenger side of the old white, half rusted Nissan, all in a blurred haze.

Anne turns the car on and a sudden anxiety rushes over my body, and step by step I remember the crash, both mentally and physically. I try to control myself by breathing in and out simultaneously keeping a rhythm with each heavy pant. Miss then stops the car in a rushed panic and places one hand on my shoulder.

"Erica? Breathe, and calm down. In and out..." She says to me. Not that it helps much, I'm still freaking out. "Erica, I need to drive. They're coming." Anne says with fear in her eyes. "Do you understand?"

"Yes." I say in a soft whisper staring at the blood covered freaks walking towards our Nissan. My eyes widen and my jaw drops as I see them limp towards us.

Miss starts to turn the car around and go back into the city but I'm not going to let my own mother die for nothing.

"NO! We are going that way!" I yell, pointing towards the hoard of monsters in front of us.

"Are you fucking crazy?! I'm sorry but that thing over there that you are pointing at, is a pit of death in its self! And anyway, my house is that way." She says pointing behind us.

"No I'm not crazy, my Mum literally died trying to get us out of the city. Either you drive us that way or I walk." I say placing my hand on the car door handle.
I can hear Sarah's soft whimpering from behind me, I know the safest way to get through all of this is to go back the way we came, I just feel so guilty about Mum. I could have done something, I should have tried harder. Now Sarah and I are orphans and I have no clue about anything that is happening in the world right now.

My life is an absolute mess.

"I'm not doing it Erica." She says.

I undo my seatbelt and open the car door daringly.

"OKAY! Okay. Close the door. Look, I understand that you're hurting, loosing someone is painful, but I can't risk it." Anne says to me with a compassionate and heartfelt tone.

"Well, I will. I'll risk anything for that woman, like she did for us" I say sternly, pointing in the direction of my Mothers' car, tears welling in my eyes "And, unless you drive us through, I am walking." I say back squinting my eyes, anger pulsing through my veins.

"Erica?" I hear Sarah's soft voice from behind me, I turn to look at her. "Do you remember what Mummy said?"

"Oh my god, you're right." I say in disbelief.

"What? What did she say?!" Miss asks confused.

"She... She said, 'Don't let the new world ruin you.' But I'm afraid it's already done." I say dropping my head in disappointment.

"Hey, don't you ever think that, you are an amazing kid, and one day-"

"Thank you, but we have to go!!" I yell out, pointing to the group of undead at least one metre away from our car.

"I'm so sorry Erica..." Miss says as she reverses and starts to turn the car around.

"NO!!" I grab the steering wheel, fighting off Anne's grip, tears start to stream down my face again, but she doesn't let go.

"She died for this!" I open the car door, jump out and slam the door as hard as I can, and then I realise what a stupid idea this was.

The undead have surrounded the entire front and back of the rust bucket and I have no way out but to go over the car. Thank god Miss Yez is distracted, yelling and screaming, trying to get me back in the car, so it's stationary, for now at least.

Before I start to freak out, a sudden rush of adrenaline runs over my body. Unfortunately the undead have swarmed the place, but fortunately, I'm feeling brave.

Luckily, the undead are still focused on the bright lights of the car and haven't noticed me very much. I place two hands on the roof of the car and attempt to lift myself up. I was never very strong, or good at this kind of thing in PE, but seeming that this is a life or death situation, jumping up on top of this car feels like stepping over a fallen twig.

I swing my feet up onto the car and stand up. I tower over everything and get a good look around for an escape route. And that's when I see it, what I was hoping wouldn't happen. My mother's side of our car is packed with undead and a stream of blood is oozing out of the side.

I scream out in a fit of overwhelming frustration and become unstoppable. I hear the driver side car door open. Anne grunts frustratingly and hisses through her teeth "Erica! Get back in this car right now!" I slightly tilt my head to the right to acknowledge that I heard her. I then leisurely turn my head back around. I see an opening in the horde, jump off the car and just run.

Anne honks her car horn at me. I look back, she is trying to drive through the drooling idiots, but there's too many.

By the time I stop running, it is pitch black and I can't see very much, only a few silhouettes of trees and what not but, all I know is there is no more moaning, there are also no more lights from the car either.

Sarah and Mrs Anne Yez, also known as 'my way out of this mess' could be dead right now...

What have I done?