Often confusing

Silence

The rain spattered against the windshield as we made our way to the mall, the gray sky pregnant.

"How many bullets do you think itll take?"

I glance at her, and continue driving, her words ringing in my head. The silence rolls back like a fog.

Its uncomfortable, dense, constricting, that silence choking you. "By the time I have to use the gun your skull will be brittle enough to smash with my fist." I return, as we continue to drive.

"Is that why the gun is empty?"

Silence.

************************************

We reach the mall, a towering monolith of crumbling grey cement and glass. The rain thundered the glass roof of the car, as if yearning to drench us, to set us free from the dirt that caked us.

I look at her.

Shes asleep.

No. Shes dead. A grey pallor tinged her. But she would wake soon.

Zombification didnt mean they lost their humanity. Most didn't. They lived short lives till they starved of human flesh.

It just meant they needed humans to feed on.

The gun on the dash board glints. It catches my eye. It wasnt empty.

There was one bullet left.

She stirs, and opens her eyes. The melanin had bleached out, leaving the irises a pale grey.

She stared, and I waited for the lunge. They usually went for the head.

She just stares.

The bacterium destroys their vocal chords and so when she opens her mouth nothing but an odd hiss emits, and the smell of rotting flesh emits from her, and I struggle not to gag.

She sat up, and continues staring. The silence was now a weight, pressing me into my seat. I should just leave but I cant.

I have to do it.

I pick up the gun and raise it to her forehead. Those eyes seem to melt, as if the human behind them was crying. The graying muscles held me, that dilated pupil begging.

Sometimes, you reach a point at which you just have to stop.

Sometimes, you cant kill anymore.

I pull the gun back, and pull the trigger.

The pain lasted only a second, before into silence I descended