The creature was reptilian-looking, with blackish translucent skin. Where the mouth should have been was instead a weird sucker-like appendage filled with sharp teeth. Jack squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the image. It proved to be difficult.
A cacophony of sounds echoed through his head. Shouts and screams. Engines starting. The swoosh of blood pumped through his ears. Frantic cries of terrified children. Children!
Snapping out of it, he looked back toward Flatcap’s car. Flatcap’s children were screaming.
Throwing his car into reverse, Jack screamed, “C’mon!” and floored the accelerator.
The crashing sound of glass breaking made Jack stop. Terrified screams pierced the night.
To his horror, three more of the creatures had appeared out of the smoke and chaos, and were swarming all over Flatcap’s car. One of them reached in through the shattered windshield — that must have been the breaking glass he’d heard — and dragged the woman out by her hair. Before he could consider the consequences, he put his car into drive and barreled toward the creature.
Jack sideswiped it, flinging it backward several meters. It smashed into another vehicle. The creature shook its head groggily, glared at him, and let out a horrific shriek.
“Get in!” Jack yelled at the woman, all the time keeping his eyes on the monster.
She whimpered, but hauled herself up with steely determination and jumped into Jack’s car.
“Go! Go!” Jack shouted out the window at Flatcap. Two of the creatures were still on top of his car.
Flatcap managed to get his car moving, and expertly spun the wheels in the loose gravel on the shoulder of the road. Wrenching the car side to side, he came out of the melee, throwing the two monsters off and into the ditch in the process.
Flooring the accelerator again, Jack squealed back down the road.
I’ll find you, Dee. Just stay put. I’m coming, promise.
“Holy shit, what the hell was THAT?” Jack said, more to himself than to his passenger. A cold sweat enveloped him. Images of what he’d just witnessed flashed through his mind. Jack tried to calm himself.
Deep breaths, in, out, in, out, in out. Deep breaths…
Though Jack could see Flatcap’s car up ahead, he was struggling to keep up with Flatcap’s panicked driving. Both cars tore through the night. He focused on the red tail lights, following his driving lines.
“What the hell was that?”
He barely heard the quiet response. “Dante’s bloody inferno.”
Jack nodded his head in agreement. “Bloody nightmare on legs. Did you see its mouth?”
“Hideous!”
He looked over at his passenger. She had her hands in her lap, clenched tightly. He could see by the way she leant away from him, curled against the back of her seat, that she wanted to be left alone with her thoughts. Staring out the windscreen, Jack had time to think.
He just couldn’t make sense of it. What the hell were those things he’d just seen? Were they what people became if they caught this virus? That just didn’t make any kind of sense. Outside of science fiction, that is. Surely no man had managed to create a virus that turned people into monsters? Surely? Jack shook his head. He had so many questions, and no answers. He banged the steering wheel in anger.
Sheesh! I’ve got to get home to Dee, and Mum! My family…
Jack looked down at his shaky, sweaty hands. He wiped them on his pants in turn, trying to get the sweat off. He clenched them into fists to try and stop the shaking, gripping and regripping the steering wheel as he did so. His mind just kept replaying the horrifying creature tearing out the poor woman's throat and lapping up her blood.
The car shuddered and swerved as it went over onto the gravel shoulder, threatening to skid out. Jack cringed, cursing at himself as he watched a road sign go under the front of the car. He took his foot off the accelerator, then pulled the steering wheel hard down to the right. To his relief, he regained control of the car. The car bumped slightly as he returned to the tarmac. He shivered as a cold frisson enveloped him. “Bloody hell! Sorry.”
Flatcap’s wife stared ahead into the darkness, oblivious. Jack looked back up the road toward the disappearing tail lights. Get it together, boy! He forced himself to take some deep, calming breaths. You have to get home first, then survive with Dee.
He had to survive. Jack had spent so many years alone, wishing for someone to share his life with. He didn't want to lose it now. Thinking of surviving reminded him of the stories his Nana had told him about living through World War Two. About how everyone had carried on as normal. How they looked after each other, helped one another when needed. How they’d sung songs down in the bomb shelters, frightened, scared, listening as the Luftwaffe rained down terror and misery. She would be telling Jack to “Keep calm and carry on.”
Thinking about how his grandparents had survived the Blitz helped Jack to calm down. He reached out and turned on his stereo. Humming along to John Williams, he drove on.
After thirty minutes, they had travelled about 20 km. The two cars came up to an intersection. Flatcap pulled over, allowing Jack to pull alongside. Jack’s passenger jumped out before the car had stopped, and ran over to her car. Jack wound the window down in time to hear her cry, “Babies! Are you okay?” The kids clambered out of the car to hug her.
Jack waved to Flatcap. “You all right?”
“Yeah, I think so. Hell, that was crazy! What the hell are those things?”
“I don’t know, man. I really don’t know.” Jack shook his head. So many thoughts were buzzing around in his head, he was having trouble concentrating. He just wanted to get home to Dee. A few hours ago he had been happily enjoying the solitude of the wilderness, back before he read Dee’s message. He’d believed her, but seeing the creatures first hand had frightened the hell out of him.
He looked back at Flatcap and his family. “We better keep moving.”
Flatcap nodded in agreement. “Definitely. Which way from here?”
“Right for a few kilometers, then left for a bit. Just follow me. Lots of turns.”
“Sure. Let’s go. I really don’t want to see any more of those things.”
“Shit yeah.”
They travelled onward through the night. Jack plotted the course in his head, thankful that his adventurous spirit had pushed him to explore all these back roads. The fact that he hated being stuck in traffic had added fuel to his passion for exploration. Everywhere he looked, the glow of fires in the direction of built up areas lit up the night. Knowing what caused them made him hurry.
Coming over the brow of a hill, Jack saw the school where he had to turn left. Realising he was going too fast, he pushed down on his brakes. Flatcap’s car nudged into the back of his, causing him to spin slightly, like in a police PIT maneuver. He wrenched the steering wheel hard left, trying to correct it, but Flatcap’s car slammed into him again, causing both cars to slide out, tyres screeching. Both of them ended up in the ditch on the side of the road.
Shaken, but unhurt, he clambered out of his car. His back wheels were stuck fast, deep down in the culvert. A short distance away, the other car’s front end was also in the culvert.