Chapter10 : First New Zombie

The world outside had turned into a living nightmare. David had a car, but the keys were gone. He assured the others that the tank was full, but the keys were nowhere to be found. He planned to stay behind to look after the children, while the other four would go to rescue Bob. With David's car, they would have just enough seats for everyone. Jack, who had grown up watching movie scenes where people hotwired cars, decided to put his knowledge to the test. To his surprise, it worked.

For Jack, this world still felt like a vivid dream, one with an unsettlingly strong sense of reality.The journey was nothing short of terrifying. The landscape was a macabre sight, littered with corpses. At times, zombies would burst out from nowhere, chasing after the car with bloodcurdling screams. The vehicle roared down the desolate roads, its engine a lifeline in this hellish world. May, sitting in the back seat, voiced the fear that was on everyone's mind. "What if the car stalls? We'd all be done for."Everyone turned to her, and in unison, they said, "Shut up."

In times like these, the last thing they needed was someone tempting fate. But as if the universe was mocking them, May's words came true. Just a kilometer away from Bob's location, the car sputtered and died.

Panic set in as they tried to figure out what had happened. The vehicle was new to them; Tom had learned to drive just days before, as in China, you had to be over eighteen to drive.

The silence around them was eerie. No zombies in sight, just an unsettling quiet."I've got a bad feeling about this," Lily muttered under her breath. May glanced at her, guilt written all over her face. Sometimes, it seemed like bad luck followed her words.

As the sun began to set, shadows started to form near a house to their left front. May stared, transfixed, as the silhouettes began to move, growing more restless as the light faded.

The sound of shuffling feet and low growls grew louder with the encroaching darkness.Tom grabbed May's hand and pulled her towards the nearest building. "Move, move!" he shouted.

Just as they reached the entrance, a pack of zombies, faster than any they had seen before, lunged at them. The group barely made it inside, slamming the door shut just in time. The zombies outside were unlike any they had encountered.

They moved with unnatural speed, and there were no human corpses around, just an unsettling absence."I saw a pile of bones behind that house," Tom said, his voice trembling. The others were too horrified to speak.

He continued, "Remember the radio message? These could be the mutated zombies. They avoid light but move faster. They tear the flesh off the dead and pile the bones, like some kind of ritual."Jack quickly jotted down notes on a piece of paper.

"White-faced zombies, rapid movement, night stalkers, flesh eaters, bone collectors," he muttered to himself.

He glanced at Lily and May, who had joked about becoming zombies earlier. "No one's laughing now," he said, a hint of bitterness in his voice."We'll rest here for the night and head out at first light," Jack decided.

The others nodded in agreement. The building was bare, but they managed to push tables and chairs together to make a makeshift bed. Outside, the zombies continued to bang on the metal door, their relentless pounding a grim reminder of the danger that lurked just beyond. The group huddled together, finding solace in each other's presence as they tried to sleep through the night.The night was far from peaceful.

The sound of zombies clawing at the metal door was relentless, a rhythmic pounding that seemed to echo through their very souls. Every now and then, a bloodcurdling scream would pierce the air, sending shivers down their spines. The darkness outside was absolute, broken only by the occasional flash of lightning that illuminated the grotesque figures outside. The group tried to sleep, but the sounds of their tormentors kept them on edge. The air was thick with tension, and the silence between the screams was almost worse than the noise itself.

The room was pitch black, and Tom held May close in his arms. He longed for this physical connection, as they truly cared for each other deeply. But for now, they had to stay as they were, treating the night as an impenetrable dream. In this dream, they could comfort each other without the burden of more expectations or disappointments. As for the relationship between Jack and Lily, it becomes even more unpredictable in front of May and Tom.