<< nowhere >>

day 8: neighborhood

all sam could think about was getting away from her parents. she didn't want to end up like leslie.

she ran with no destination in mind. there were bloody corpses in yards and on front porches. wrecked cars littered the street. smoke billowed into the sky from burning houses.

her bare feet hurt from running on the pavement. she wished she had the car, but the keys were with her parents. up ahead she saw a neighbor loading his family and some luggage into his van.

"hey!" sam shouted, running towards him. "hey!"

the man looked up at her.

"stay back!" he yelled.

"please," sam said, slowing down. "please, i need to get out of here."

"i said stay back!"

the man walked into view, and sam saw that his hands were gripping a shotgun.

"please, i'm not sick," she pleaded. "please help me."

"i mean it," the man said, pointing his gun at her.

sam backed away and headed back for the street. the man quickly got his family into the van and sped down his driveway. a woman blinded by her own blood stumbled into the street, and sam watched as the van plowed right into her. the windshield was covered in red, and the van swerved violently and tipped over onto its side, skidding across the street in a roar of metal and pavement until it collided with a wrecked car. the explosion rocked the ground under sam's feet.

she simply turned and walked away, flames engulfing the pair of vehicles behind her.

-- >>