Extraction

When the zombie apocalypse began and the virus broke out, we were left on our own, defended ourselves and stood the best chance of staying alive; the big land masses could have been a mess with the virus mutating as it ran through such large populations but it never really was left out for too long. We were locked up, together, quarantined with such deranging humans that had no ability to reason other than the thoughts of us being food for their starving belly and added nutrients to their malnourished, withering skin which consisted mostly of wobbly bones and virus.

The navy patrolled the school building from outside, big guns and weapons, with the fighter jets in the skies. No-one got in or out once it began - it was either a "total shut-out" or everyone would get infected.

It was supposed to be the most important year of my life, the year I turned sixteen, had fun, made new friends and have a boyfriend that was my dream dude - but nothing of such happened. It was infact the worst of my years of being alive. When we were crampled inside with the infected, dangling down the hope that we weren't also with the virus. We needed survive on our own instincts, strength and ability. The fragile ones never lasted too long, giving up faster than they ought to. And sometimes, even your instincts did no good. Because instincts is that tingling gut feeling that could turn out very wrong. But we knew one thing - it was either get killed or kill. It was that particular wish to survive that we dangled onto with our lives and the gut feeling of never giving up. . .though not all got it, so they gave up. The zombie had no awareness that its prey was living, only that it wanted to consume.

And that was why we became mad humans, madder than the walking deads themselves, feeding off and refueling ourselves with passion to survive and killing before we got to eaten.

Zombie detector 101 - they don't care about the destruction of the planet. Show them a pod of whales being murdered and not a tear is shed. Tell them that the oceans are being killed for money, that creation depends on us protecting the oceans, and they won't refuse to eat fish. Tell them that it is full of plastics and pollutants and they will add more hot sauce. Tell them that over half of the plastic garbage is related to commercial fishing, that it is highly dangerous to marine life, and they just stare. These are the zombies and the plague of emotional indifference is the virus. Tell them that slavery is used to make fish cheaper, people who are tortured for years and often murdered at sea, that the fishing observers get murdered too and the zombies just ask for more mayo. The best we humans can do is make the right choices easier than the wrong ones and pray they begin to recover their heart beat and heal their putrified and nasty brains.

It is challenging to think of a state more lonely than that of the zombies, for they have decayed into a state that may only detect hunger and seek to sate it. The zombies were cold, so cold, and with almost no beating heart.

When the zombie virus broke out I think we could have won, but the financiers got to bickering and simple steps to save lives were missed and we couldn't defend ourselves as easy as Hollywood made the zombie apocalypse look.

"We going to - partey!"

It was almost six o'clock on a Friday evening, the early September summer sky a lazy shade of periwinkle. The weather was still aggravatingly warm, a dry kind of warm that made me feel certainly restless about when my friends were going to come pick me up so we'd spend the evening in our other rich friend's pool party - if she didn't have a last minute change of plan. I spent the afternoon lingering close to the door, the windows, munching on snacks and listening to music while I anxiously awaited them.

But when Shelly Courtney pulled up in front of my house, looking adorable and extremely hot in her black Infiniti that she had gotten on her sixteenth birthday just before the holiday, the rain had began drizzling a bit and it was way past the time she'd promised. Shelly's pale blonde hair was smoothed back in a tight pony tail that bounced off her shoulder-rich and silky. Her thin, pale lips were stretched into a smile and I could tell as she rolled down the car window a little further that she had on that purple twin tank top both she and I had gotten few weeks before we turned sixteen together. I bit in my lower lip to tune down my smile a bit but I knew it wasn't going to help. I missed Shelly and the others too much during the summer holidays that I'd spent across the country at California, at the mansion my grand parents once lived before they both passed away.

"Shelly!" I gave a guttural squeal, not doing too well in hiding my excitement at seeing my childhood or - going to see my childhood friends.

The screen door of my house slammed shut behind me and as I stepped off the front porch and out the portico, I heard mom shout a muffled, "Have fun with the girls!"

Oh. I was planning to have fun. Not too much fun but a little more than I'd done my entire life. I gave a little excited giggle. "Thanks mom," because I was feeling drowned with the energy and excitement that filled me.

You see. It was going to be a new school year that September, when I finally was sixteen and was going to be a junior in school. I then had a lot of dreams, hopes and expectations of what I wanted to do that school year and running for / becoming the junior class president was just one least hope of the extremely long bucket lists I had stuck in the deepest part of my head.

You know, I had been boring all my life as a teenager. All I ever did was study all the time and have less fun like all my friends were doing. I was odd, just as my friends and every other person viewed me. That school year, I wanted to have fun. Make new friends. Have part - ey after part - eys. Have a boyfriend. Becomes as cool as my best friends. More daring and to top it all get it down with some boy who was willing to ask me out first and love me. I was the only one between my friends who hadn't even gotten my first kiss. Shelly had gone farther than most of us, actually, but really, I needed to step up my game and stop being the little girl I used to be.

"Hurry. Hurr -y ," Shelly drummed her fingers anxiously on the steering wheel, still managing to habor a slight grimace and a beam and still coming off looking good. Her small, button-like nose wrinkled delicately and the sun rays peeking out behind my house roof, made her aquamarine eyes appear more blue. Like blue - blue. It was glittering like diamond and almost compelled me to continue to gaze into it. Tiny beads of the drizzling rain drops that settled on her tanned skin - from the car window - made her appear like a healthy golden goddess.

I shuddered uncontrollably as I reeled faster to meet her, while trying to control that gut wrenching thump going on in my chest. My backpack containing the things I needed for the party that my parents wouldn't naturally allow was cladded tightly to my shoulders and throbbing slightly. One look at Shelly always reminded me that I could never be as pretty as she was. Nice. Social and bold, too. She was perfect all the way, at everything and I was nowhere near that. She was everything wrapped in a roll.

"You're late!" I announced as I gently stepped into the car's cool air and turned to check if anyone, people that could have been Shelly's cool friends and not mine were seated back there since she was used to giving friends ride. At the absence of none, I beamed furiously and just remained myself. That excited part of me.

"Sorry, Lisa. At least I'm here now. . .and guess what? I missed you girl," Shelly squealed, and held her arms out. "Bring it in!"

A broad smile took over her thin lips as we leaned into each other and engulfed ourselves in bone crushing hugs, squealing into our necks. Barely any space between ourselves, except for my backpack. Shelly smelled sweet, just like the atmosphere of the car. Her fragrance of expensive perfume and body deodorants, light and sweet, made my toes tingle in my flat shoes. I loved and missed inhaling her scent, and could identify her body smell from anywhere in the world. I and Shelly had been best friends for as long and as far as my kid brain could recollect. Right from that moment I enjoyed watching that cute girl with colorful dresses, bows and clean shoes in kindergarten class that everyone enjoyed flocking around to become friends with. She was bold, smart, inquisitive, caring and very nice and she just happened to choose me as her best friend out of the other cooler kids that'd do anything to be her friend.

Shelly leaned into her seat, the smile traces still lingering on her perfect face, but her lips parting, "Wow! You look stunning, Lisa!"

"Thank you!" I blushed feverishly, feeling blood rush up my cheeks.

I did look stunning and I knew it. Perhaps it was spending the summer holidays over at California that had caused me to blossom or made me realize my beauty. Boys over at California, Beverly hills had always whistled called each and every time I went out for my morning jog to shed a little bit of pound and keep fit. I wasn't very used to getting all that attention. I knew I had blossomed, just as my mom said. Yet, I knew I wasn't as pretty as Shelly. Before I left for the summer holiday, I always had to use my glasses but that was before I got lenses which revealed my huge eyes and long lashes. Unlike Shelly who had thin, slim lips, mine were love shaped and plump. I had a left side cheek dimple which appeared with each and every movement of my mouth while Shelly had two side dimples. My hair was chestnut brown and wavy from having air-dried during my preparation for the party. Every single strand of my hair was my most priced possession.

My hair texture and super resistance to any form of humidity was something all of my friends envied, including Shelly and that always made me feel good when someone having a bad hair day turns to take another look at my hair and say something like: "Why does her hair have to be that perfect?"

"This semester," Shelly was saying, in arrogant assurance. "I'm definitely going to get you a boyfriend. Perhaps, that new dude that transferred to our school last section. I heard he's single."

I grimaced in embarrassment. "How are you sure he doesn't have a girlfriend?"

As I buckled myself to the comfy seat, Shelly gave me a slightly wicked smirk, eyeing me skeptically. "I have my ways you know. I always do."

"Oh, yeah," I scoffed. "You're an idiot."

Shelly pouted, "Harsh."

With a sigh, I leaned into the seat and eased my head onto it. I felt giddy on the inside, and nervous too. Andrew Penna was a senior that transferred to our school the previous section, and was in the same class with my brother, Dane. Though he was hot, playful and was a jock, with that kind of look that makes your head turn at angle 90 to get another view of him, I still didn't feel right about him. There had to be a reason he transferred to our school in his Junior year. Sometimes, he always had dark brooding look and moody atmosphere evolving around him. Most days than not. I couldn't tell if I wanted Shelly to pair me up with him.

"Just wait till the others see you," Shelly muttered to herself, smiling amusingly.

"Can't wait to see them either," I confirmed.

"So?" Shelly started, wanting to fall into a conversation. "How was your trip to California?"

"Good," I cackled. "I almost forgot how fun it was, since you know. . .my grandparents died. Now that I'm sixteen, we finally were able to read my grandparent's will which mostly was our main purpose of going there."

"What are you getting?"

As Shelly ignited the car and hip hop blared from the radio, she turned the car in a semi-circle back in the direction she'd come. And I looked through the back windshield at my house once more. The house was kind of amazing. Through the car's window, I caught the image of Dane's tall figure now standing on front porch, right hand akimbo and eyes trailing after the car much to my best friend's ignorance. Suddenly I felt bad for my brother, having to stay grounded at home while I'm out having all the fun. Behind him, our huge house stood. It was four rooms with each bathrooms, and two living rooms. We lived on the rich side of the town even though we didn't really appear rich. People in town always described us as too humble.

"You know," I stated, with a curt shrug. "A lot of responsibilities. Including my grandparents house in Canada which I don't have access to till after college."

"Great," Shelly laughed hoarsely, "Just cool."

The car glided smoothly down the silent street with such serenity that I suddenly began to feel light headed, dizzy and very giddy. The rain drizzling had stopped over the minutes I'd joined Shelly in the car, and the cloud had now darkened as the sun began to set, hiding behind huge puffs of light pink clouds. I dug my nails into the seat's comfy leather and fluttered my eyes shut, smiling peacefully because I felt good. Never felt better. For some reason I felt like it was going to be one of the best semesters ever and no one in the world could stop me from having fun.

Shelly bellowed ferociously. "Let's go parte-ying!"

"Woot!" I called out, laughing, joining in her crazy act and throwing my hands in the air.

With hip hop music blasting loudly and adrenaline surging through our veins as the car glided smoothly out of my street, the pink-yellow clouds hovering over us and zooming past as the sun slowly began to set - we couldn't ever forsee any evil ever befalling we happy, giggly girls in the next few minutes. That evening the sky was golden, beautiful and the street was silent just as it always was and it felt like good lucks and fortune was in the air for the two of us based on our emotions at that moment, but guess we were just wrong. At the edges of the dark pink clouds there were brilliant white patch, like a turning page catching the sun. The rest was dove grey with a subtle hint of purple and pink, just enough to announce the coming sunset.

Seconds before that moment, I turned Shelly's profile and asked. "So what about you? How was your holiday?"

"Uh!" Shelly groaned and threw her head back. "Not much partying in the city this time. They really cracked down on my fake ID's."

"Oh."

"But," Shelly drawled, "I at least had enough fun with my college boyfriend, I guess. Smoking up. Going to the gym. I saw a lot of broadway shows and believe me. . .Rosie had no idea I did all these stuffs, which just makes it cooler."

Saying nothing, I shrunk in my seat and fiddled with the thin edges of the seatbelt that straddled me carefully to the seat, willing and expecting Shelly to speak on. And she did speak on. Filling me on all about she and her boyfriend's little adventure at the college of Harvard, which she made sure to put down to the least details. Shelly Courtney had recently just turned sixteen less than two months earlier and she was way wilder than most nineteen years old I knew of. She had lots of Instagram followers than I could ever manage and was one of the most pampered teenage girl in our small town with the richest parent - which was her father and her very young step mom that were never around. So she was free to travel anywhere she wanted in the world. Just at sixteen, she already had hot Instagram influencers hitting up on her. Just like her current college boyfriend at that time - Jack Gilbert who studied at Harvard. To be honest, I thought Jack really was a flirt and pervert and that he didn't deserve her. Not that I had a say in their relationship, but I knew Jack wasn't worth all the love she gave him.

The both times I met him could prove my valid point.

"How is he though?" I decided to ask her, "Jack?"

"Uh!" Shelly squealed, seeming hesitant. "He's cool."

I nodded and leaned back into my seat, feeling slightly repulsive. Then we just listened to the music playing in the car. We had barely made it out of my street at that moment. We were at a point where our side of town was separated from other the side by numerous trees that formed a small forest. And at that time Shelly was nowhere close to maintaining the speed limits because according to her, that part of our town - with the town's cemetery close by was always spooky and no one wanted to stay there for too long, especially not teens or kids.

Shelly increased her speed, or at least that was what I thought. It felt as if we were surrounded by more than hundred trees because I suddenly began to feel claustrophobic and my heartbeats choking. I clutched hard at the seatbelt and furrowed my brows tightly, my breaths suddenly raspy as I gazed out the window. The dark trees sped past us, and the spaces between them looked like the dark eyes of BEKs, startling me.

"Do you feel that?" Shelly sounded desperate enough for it to leak from her voice.

"Yeah," I confirmed, "Like something's about to-"

I was cut off before I could even complete my sentence. An eerily big black blur sped in front of the car and Shelly - in panic - ran it over. Looking back now, it felt as if it was that night the whole calamity began. One moment the road was there, wide open and safe, the next there was a loud bang against the bonnet, a probability that we hit and most likely had killed something with a life. A deer? Probably not. Shelly almost loosed her grip on the steering wheel and the car almost skidded off the roadpath, the tyres screeching like terror-filled weasels as the car came to a sudden halt and my heart pounding erratically.

"What is that?!" Shelly sounded terrified.

I gasped, exhaling heavily through my slightly parted lips. "I have no idea."

Eyes wide and hair whipping about, I gazed around and back into the trees and could swear I saw two gleaming red eyes shining in between the dark woods and glaring at us but when I blinked and looked again, it was gone as if it hadn't been there in the first place.

And then. . .bang!

My heart almost leaped out of my mouth when the shrieking black blur came against my window again, this time - very violent, with gleaming red eyes and outstretched paws that scraped noisily against the window.

"What the-?"

I jerked back and clasped my hands over my mouth to obstruct a terrifying shriek from escaping my lips. Behind me, I heard a gasp escape Shelly's lip and then finally, a screech. My back was leaned against her, probably already crushing her against her own door in an attempt to stay far away from my own window as possible.

"What is that? What the fuck is that?" Shelly was panicking - her voice was in a way husky, yet squeakish - if that combination was normal.

The thud against the window wasn't something too strong enough to even cause a dent, but it sure was alarming, especially when the black blur that I later made out to be a average sized fat mother cat stopped dead and slid down the window to remain immobile and unmoving, leaving in its wake a single trail of blood on the window. Shelly had probably been going too fast that we both didn't notice the fat cat about to cross. We were surrounded by more than hundred trees. It seemed like time itself had stopped. The car had shifted slightly off the road and was facing the trees in a way that the other half of the car was still on the road. For whatever reason, the streetlights weren't on, and the trees behind, before and around us seemed like black walls. The only light within miles of us was the car's headlights. I instantly began to wonder how fast it got so dark.

For a while, both I and Shelly remained silent, trying to steady our breathing and shake off the fear that had somehow gotten to us. We exchanged a knowing look, Shelly's expression of terror mirroring mine. We both knew we had either hit someone's cat or just some homeless stray cat. But either way, we knew we had to check to be sure the cat was okay.

"We should see," I informed Shelly, who nodded obediently despite the reluctancy on her face.

I hated to admit it, but my hands quivered as I unbuckled my seatbelt and shifted my backpack off my thighs to get out of the car. At that time, perhaps by coincidence Thriller by Micheal Jackson was playing on the car's radio and no matter how much I wanted to avoid visualizing the video it came popping back in my head despite the fact that we were spooked already and were practically in the middle of the woods, close to a cemetery.

"I should see first," Shelly offered, swatting stray strands of hair away from her line of vision.

She left the car engine on and got out before me, smoothing her hair back in nervousness. Arms hugging her shoulders, she walked around the car, and stared from a distance at the floor the cat had fallen and then into the woods. The bright headlights flashing against her made her look as a pale as a vampire under the moonlight. Terror and horror was scribbled over her face and her eyes were popping as wide as two apples in a fruit bowl as she continued staring into the woods.

"What do you see?" I called out.

Saying nothing and without even gazing in my direction, Shelly signaled I came out of the car. Taking the look on her face as a cue to be worried, I fished my phone out from my pocket and cautiously got out of the car, making sure to look before I stepped on the corpse of a cat that was supposed to be right there - but was stunned to see nothing on the ground, except a puddle of thick black blood.

"Where did it go?" I asked, glancing around everywhere and slowly walking to meet Shelly. "Do you think it crawled into the woods?"

Shelly gave no response. She remained standing in front of the car's headlight, staring up ahead. My stomach gave a sudden lurch in disgust and fear. Disgust because a rancid, putrid scent hung in the air, consisting of rustic blood, rotting something and other stuffs I couldn't even make out and fear - because I was really freaking out on the inside and because that road was never that deserted at that time of the day. It was when people usually came back from work and when some night workers headed to their work places. But then, there wasn't any cars zooming past. No other headlights flashing at us. No soul walking their dogs. Nobody but us. I suddenly began to feel mad at myself for ever looking forward for the stupid party when I could be home, glancing through my homeworks for the umpteenth time.

"Yes, it crawled into the woods," Shelly explained, briefly glancing at me. "But I don't think it would be safe for us to check it out. It seems wild."

She was right. The thick trail of blood, started from the puddle settled at the floor next to the car door and led - in a straight line - into the woods opposite us, that both I and Shelly seemed very reluctant to go into, considering the fact that it was very dark in there and the animal seemed like a wild, untamed cat. Loud screech, shrieks and pained meows coming from the woods confirmed that the cat was there and still alive. Clutching hard my phone, I turned around - nose wrinkling - and stared in the direction the cat had come from. The car's headlight flashed into the woods and gave off nothing but much trees that formed a forest. My eyes roamed about it questioningly, brows puckered, until my gaze settled on a gleaming object that laid just inches away from the car.

"Look, Shelly," I pointed behind her. "There's something there."

Swiftly my legs carried me - I felt Shelly follow - and even before I could reason with myself, I had approached the woods and bent down to examine the object that turned out to be a broken silver choker with the name Bella boldly inscriped into it. I felt my saliva thickening at a rancid speed, and my gut wrenching and twisting in a really uncomfortable manner that made me feel hot. And because of the hotness, I broke into cold sweat and began to perspire.

"That cat belonged to someone?" Shelly said, sounding terrified. "We just hit someone's lost cat. Jeez. What do we do? Let's just go."

"No, we can't," I protested.

I hopped onto my feet and audibly gulped. I had a cat too, that I loved very much and the thought of some people running her over and leaving someday just terrified and chilled me to the bones. I squeezed the choker tightly in my left hand and exhaled sharply, swiping my phone open with my other hand and typing in the passcode. "I've got to call mom. She can handle this."

Suddenly, the sounds of slow footsteps walking on dried leaves grabbed our attention from the other side of the woods. It wasn't too loud, but was loud enough that it grabbed both I and Shelly's attention simultaneously. Someone was walking in the darkened opposite woods and it just wasn't any cat. It couldn't have been. My heart raced, my feet felt cold and my fingers limp that I couldn't proceed in dailing my phone for help. Goose pimples immediately began to sprout underneath the light cotton of my shirt. Shelly's hand instinctively jolted up and grabbed my forearm into a secure, moist hold, her eyes wide. I could tell she was just seconds away from bolting off into the car at a dangerous limit and zooming off.

"Who's there?" I summed up all the courage in me and asked.

Shelly whimpered, leaned into me and whispered in my ear, breath cold. "I think we should really go now."

I stood my ground and gave no response to her, just as whoever it was also did. In between the darkened woods, a dim bulb flickered on and then off and it appeared as if someone was holding it up. Both I and Shelly became even more alarm. "Hello?" She called out, voice quivering.

The footsteps approached and the cat's painful howling began to fade away. Someone cursed and seemed to slap the source of the light against flesh and the light flickered on and off once again. My fingers kicked into action, once I was sure it was human like I and Shelly and I quickly turned on my phone's flash light, my hands quivering. I raised the light up in the direction of the opposite woods and glared to make out any moving objects. A tall dark figure in dark hoodie approached the direction of the howling cat, walking almost cautiously, flickering, unstable light in his hold.

"What are you girls doing on this deserted road alone?" A male voice called out, dripping with English accent. "It's not safe."

Both I and Shelly exhaled deeply and hunched over, my fisted hands that were holding onto both my phone and the cute cat choker were pressed against my chest. From a distance, we spotted a pick up truck coming in our direction. The bright headlight worked as a source of light and illuminated the road, shining brightly upon us. I took that as an opportunity to study the man in the woods opposite us. He was most likely few inches over 6ft and his figure was hooded - sweatpant and grey hoodie. He looked nothing like the cementary's security guard like I'd expected him to be. Before the pick up truck, zoomed past us - not even slowing down to investigate what was going on - I caught a quick glimpse of the tall man's facial feature. He had dark, brooding look and long bangs toppling over his face. In his hands was a faulty silver flash light that glinted in the dark.

"We hit a cat," Shelly said, almost stuttering. "We're not sure if it's dead or just injured but we think it belonged to someone because-"

The cat shrieked loudly, and I saw the dark lump forming its body jerk up and agressively. Shelly stopped talking. The man stepped back, seeming alarmed but not too scared. The cat continued to screech violently, purring wildly, as if it was in for another attack but this time, not on the car's window but the man towering it. It violently lifted itself off the floor and twisted with agony.

"You kids should get the hell out of here," the man voice sounded strained and panicked. "I can handle this."

Shelly breathe a sigh of relief, her hand found my forearm once again and she gripped tightly into it. "Thank you. We should be on our way then."

But then something felt odd. Very out of place. I then began to wonder what that man was doing there at that hour, wandering in the woods like it was something normal when it certainly wasn't normal. The cat shrieking got louder and with each volume it picked, my heartbeat also increased its pace. I dragged my arm out of Shelly's hold and stepped forward, my flash light focusing on the man's unsteady, tensed movement.

"What is wrong with it?" I inquired, honestly concerned. The closer I got to the cat, the more that pungent smell stung my nose and threatened to make me spill all the content in my gut and I had to wrinkle my nose.

The man hissed and slapped the torch light against his palm once again, this time desperate for it to come on. Miraculously, the bright light came on and the man flashed it directly onto my face, momentarily blinding me. I instinctively took a step back, understanding the hint that I wasn't needed at a close range. "Do not come closer," he cautioned. "The cat's just fine. I can handle it."

"Are you sure it's okay?" Shelly demanded from behind me. "It sounds. . .you know very injured?"

"It's just fine-" The man let out an amused chortle. "But you ladies might want to leave right now. I know this baby. . .and she can be very violent."

His English accent rang on in my head. I heard Shelly mutter a low "What?" next to me, her voice laced with disbelief. The cat shrieked loudly, simultaneously with my phone ring piercing through the air and starting me. I jerked up and glared down at the phone screen. Quinn was written boldly as the caller's ID. The cat was the man's we realized at that moment. But when we heard the click of a gun's trigger, we had to think otherwise. That man had a fucking shotgun with him.

"Are you-?"

"Get out of here kiddos!" The man's voice startled both I and Shelly and we simultaneously jerked up. The ringing of my phone persisted, even though I wasn't ready to answer at that moment. I was confused and desperate for an answer. My teeth gnawed on my cheeks on the inside and my fingers wrapped tightly around the choker, nails digging into my palms. If it was his cat, why did he have a gun to kill it? Shelly's hand clasped against my left wrist once again and she dragged me in one jerk, muttering incoherent words to my ears.

"We should go," she advised.

"That-that. . .he is going to kill that cat," I stuttered, fighting the urge to exhale in exasperation.

"It not our business," Shelly urged on. "It's just a cat. . .his cat."

I nodded and decided to follow her advice in minding our businesses. Shelly prodded me in the direction of the door, nibbling on her lower lip in confusion. Looking over my shoulders at the figure of the man looking down at the struggling cat in anguish, I opened the car door and stepped inside - my phone held tightly in my hand. For a while, my door stubbornly hung open. The cat continued to screech loudly but not for long, not after two gunshots rang through the air and practically reverberated through my chest, momentarily strangling me.

I slammed the door shut. The situation just felt helpless. Helplessly wrong and we were partaking in that wrong decision. I felt it. Maybe I was being a bit too dramatic or a crybaby, but I felt hot tears prickle my eyes and blurring my vision. The figure of the man wandered off and got farther and farther away as Shelly drove off, this time, at a maintained and safe speed limit until I couldn't make out the figure of the man from the dark trees forming a forest except for his twinkling flashlight that glinted and glittered against my blurred vision.