A single car moved quickly down the abandoned road, passing cars, fallen lamp posts, and shattered glass from broken windows.

  The car had a silver exterior, covered with scratches, yet it still reflected the hot sunlight of that afternoon. Its left side mirror was missing, and the other was broken. Its engine roared; it was the only sound that could be heard aside from the occasional caws of ravens.

  “Left,” a female voice commanded. The woman was tall and young, wearing black pants and a blue shirt whose print was almost completely faded, barely visible.

  She had long black hair and blue eyes and was sitting next to the driver.

  The car steered left. Its driver was a male, younger and a little shorter than the woman, with black hair and black eyes.

  He wore a plain white shirt, black pants, and a black jacket, unfazed by the afternoon heat.

  The driver observed their surroundings: ruined houses, crashed cars, everything abandoned. They hadn’t been out for a while; he realized that it had been almost nine years since it happened—turning everyone into creatures of varying appearance.

  Everyone, aside from a few, of course.

  “Right,” the woman said.

  The man could still clearly remember how everything happened—

  “ADAM!” the woman shouted.

  Surprised, Adam quickly tried to steer the car, but he couldn’t do it fast enough.

  He slammed on the brakes, but they still collided with one of the parked cars.

  There was a loud crash. Startled birds flew away from the scene. The woman gave Adam an annoyed look and crossed her arms.

  “Really?” she said.

  “It isn’t completely my fault,” Adam reasoned.

  “What are you even thi—” Before the woman could finish her sentence, the two of them heard growls coming from the houses around them.

  The woman stared urgently at the driver. Adam didn’t need to be urged; he immediately shifted to reverse and let the car roll backward.

  The woman, on the other hand, twisted around to reach for a black assault rifle behind the seats. The word K-A-T-E was painted on it in bright yellow. Adam stared at the gun and chuckled.

  “What type of person puts her name on a gun?” he mused.

  “I don’t know, what type of 19-year-old drives a car?” the woman, named Kate, replied as she checked if the gun was loaded.

  “You’re a year older than me and you have an assault rifle,” Adam said in a matter-of-fact tone.

  He finally pulled the car forward and headed right at the intersection.

  In the broken side mirror, he saw several figures—grey-crusted skin, spikes jutting from their bodies, and eyes glowing fiercely green.

  Each one had sharp teeth and claws. They moved with the agility of wolves, only with a slightly bulkier upper body.

  The harsh sunlight made them clearer, more frightening than they should have been. Suddenly there was a sharp sound of breaking glass.

  Adam flinched, thinking that someone—or something—had caught up to them. But when he looked at his side, he realized it was Kate, who had broken the glass using the stock of her gun.

  “Couldn’t you just pull the window down?” Adam said, incredulous.

  “Couldn’t you just drive faster?” Kate replied with a smirk as she leaned through the broken window and aimed her gun.

  Adam sneered. He heard gunshots from Kate’s rifle as they navigated the road. Then Adam saw another intersection.

  “Where should I go?!” Adam shouted so Kate could hear him amidst the shooting.

  “Straight,” Kate answered without looking back.

  Adam pressed the gas. He looked at the houses they had been passing; green eyes seemed to be watching from the shadows.

  “Stop shooting, you’re drawing more of them!” he shouted.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Kate seemed to realize what Adam meant and stopped firing. Hesitantly, she returned to her seat.

  “Then drive faster,” Kate said.

  “Tell that to this trash.”

  As they moved through the road, another intersection appeared.

  “Righ—” Before Kate could finish speaking, they both saw a group of creatures like the ones chasing them pour out from that side of the road. Instead of following Kate’s direction, Adam pressed the gas and went straight.

  “Where do we go now?” Adam said, sounding a little more worried than he wanted to show.

  It took Kate a moment of pondering before she finally spoke. “Let’s take a different route. Make a hard left at the next intersection.”

  Adam nodded.

  “Let’s just hope the bridge is still there,” Kate said in a low whisper that Adam was sure he wasn’t supposed to hear.

  Moving as quickly as their car could, they slowly outran their pursuers, allowing Adam to relax and slow down a little.

  “Left,” Kate instructed.

  Adam realized it was the intersection Kate had mentioned. Before he could hit another abandoned car, he immediately steered left. When he did, he smiled—the bridge was still there.

  But Kate was strangely quiet. Adam squinted as they moved closer. Then he realized what had kept her silent; his mouth was slightly agape.

  The bridge was wide, made of iron, and had once been painted green. Or at least, it seemed so before. Adam couldn’t really tell with all the rust and dust around it. It looked extremely old—but that wasn’t the reason for Kate’s silence. Everything out here was old.

  It was what was on the bridge. Broken, abandoned cars covered it completely.

  Passing through seemed impossible, and the only way forward was on foot. Adam stopped the car just before the bridge.

  Kate got out first, slamming the door shut as she did.

  “Hey, easy on the door,” Adam said as he got out as well, removing his jacket and leaving it in the car.

  Kate sneered but didn’t say anything.

  Instead, she observed their surroundings, looking for a way to cross. Adam, on the other hand, noticed an antique shop in strangely better condition than the rest of the buildings.

  Which didn’t mean much—almost everything out here was in ruins from years without maintenance.

  “Linda’s Antique: London’s Newest Antique Shop,” Kate read from the sign in front of the shop, despite missing letters.

  “Not a good slogan for an antique shop,” said Adam.

  Before Kate could rebuke the joke, they heard several footsteps approaching.

  Kate immediately opened the door and entered, with Adam following.

  The door creaked as it closed. Made of wood and broken glass, its frame rattled. Adam and Kate hid behind the counter.

  “What should we do?” Adam whispered.

  Kate didn’t reply. She held a finger to her mouth, telling Adam to be quiet.

  A few minutes passed.

  Silence.

  Kate slowly stood, raising her hand telling Adam to wait. She moved toward the door and carefully unlocked it.

  While watching Kate, Adam heard a weak thumping noise.

  He looked around but couldn’t find the source. Slowly, he stood as well, walking to the opposite side of where Kate had gone.

  He followed the sound.

  Adam found a narrow corridor that led to a comfort room. The banging grew louder as he approached. He reached for the knob and slowly turned it, making a clicking sound.

  The door creaked as he swung it open. Suddenly, a massive shadow fell in front of him. Adam barely avoided being crushed.

  He fell on his back, hands supporting him. Before he could recover, the figure moved.

  It used two long arms to pin Adam by his shoulders. Adam realized the figure was like the creatures that were chasing them, only taller and thinner, stretched out.

  It also had two extra limbs growing from its back, like spider legs but sharp as swords.

  But the strangest thing was its face. Two fierce green eyes—and nothing else. No nose, no mouth.

  It made a weak, muffled growl that Adam found more terrifying than a scream. The monster thrust one of its limbs down, but Adam dodged, and the blade-like limb pierced the wooden floor with a crunch.

  Before he could retaliate, another strike came at his face. Adam couldn’t dodge, so he caught the limb with his hand. Blood trickled down his arm and face as he struggled to stop it from piercing him.

  The monster tried to pull its other limb free, but it was stuck fast. Adam seized the opportunity, pulling out a short military knife and stabbing it into the creature’s right eye.

  The creature let out a muffled scream and released him. Adam kicked it in the chest, buying space to stand, one hand against the wall.

  He tried to catch his breath. Looking at his bloodied hand, he smeared the leftover blood on his pants. When he opened his palm, the wound had already closed.

  Kate hurried to his side, gripping his shoulder. She stared at the creature with her mouth slightly open. The monster clutched its ruined eye with two hands while still tugging at the limb stuck in the floor.

  “What was that?” Kate asked.

  “Linda,” Adam said simply.

  Kate crossed her arms and stared at him, her rifle slung on her back. Feeling her gaze, Adam changed the subject.

  “How was it outside?” he asked.

  “Empty and quiet,” Kate replied.

  “We should leave as soon as possible. We need to get back before the tide.”

  Kate nodded.

  The two headed out of the shop. Kate was right—it was quiet and empty.

  But Adam felt something was off. He headed toward the car and unlocked the door.

  He was about to take his jacket when he heard the weak scrape of metal. Before he could react, a gunshot rang out.

  Startled, Adam turned. Kate had fired. Luckily, not at him.

  On the hood of the car lay a grey creature, twitching despite the hole in its head.

  “That’s 389,” Kate said proudly.

  “You’re sure you weren’t aiming at me, right?” Adam asked, grabbing his jacket.

  “I was tempted, not gonna lie,” Kate replied.

  Adam’s eyes suddenly widened as he saw another grey creature perched on the antique shop’s roof. It had long horns like a goat, its body human-like, its mouth gaping with two upper fangs and two lower fangs.

  Adam yanked Kate to his side as it leapt.

  The creature landed hard on the cement, breaking an arm on impact. But it snapped it back into place and hunched toward them.

  Adam pulled a pistol from his jacket. The monster dashed, but Adam fired two shots to the head. It collapsed instantly.

  “That has to be the 400th,” Adam said.

  “385,” Kate corrected.

  “No way,” Adam argued.

  “Why? Do you doubt my memory?” asked Kate, slinging her rifle to her back again.

  Adam didn’t. If anything, he knew Kate’s memory was so excellent that she could memorize a city’s map with a single look.

  “Having a great memory doesn’t mean you can’t cheat,” he replied in a whisper.

  “What?”

  “I said we should leave,” said Adam as he wore his jacket and unlocked the car’s door.

  “Wait,” Kate said in a weak whisper, just enough for Adam to hear.

  Adam was about to enter the car when he heard Kate’s call.

  He stood and looked at where Kate was staring, leaving the door open.

  His mouth gaped at the scene.

  Various grey creatures with different shapes and sizes seemed to be wandering aimlessly in the road from where they came, searching for something.

  Searching for them.

  Luckily, they hadn’t found them yet.

  “We can’t stay longer,” Adam said, moving toward the back side of the car and opening its door.

  “We should walk, we can’t stay any longer. I’ll carry the panels,” he said as he reached into the back of their car, appearing to search for something.

  However, he was cut short when he heard glass shatter.

  He immediately got out of the car to see the cause of the sound.

  When he did, he saw the tall creature from the antique shop standing almost seven feet tall despite its back being hunched.

  It stared right into Adam’s eyes; he could have sworn the monster was smiling, which was strange considering it did not have a mouth.

  He then realized Kate was beside the creature, one of its limbs struck clean through her abdomen, blood dripping all over the cemented road.

  Adam was almost frozen in fear.

  The monster made another muffled scream as it lifted Kate slightly through its limb and tossed her away.