Terror Bound

• Emily Di Meco, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2016

Its bones made a sickening crunch as the SUV sped over them. Isla started to sob. Dan sighed. "It was already dead." He muttered. Tears spilt over Isla’s cheeks as she looked up into the rear-view mirror.

She instantly wished she hadn’t.

There, the reality of the nightmare that had engulfed Isla and Dan in the worst week of their lives was undeniable. The zombie that had once had a name, a job, and a family just mere days ago, was now a crumpled heap of splintered bones, rotting flesh and a few blood-splattered strands of once long, beautiful hair.

It was too much for Isla. The sudden and painful deaths of her colleagues and friends were still fresh in her mind. She couldn’t forget the way they had doubled over, gasping for air as blood tinted spittle drooled out of their cracked, swollen lips. Each and every one of them falling to the blood covered floor. But that was just the beginning. Hours later bodies had begun to rot but the others, they
had begun twitching and writhing until eventually, they had dragged themselves to their decaying feet and started stumbling around blindly.

The pair had slowly realised that the hideous creatures were attracted to moving objects, noise and heat. Or so they had thought. It took her hours, but slowly Isla pieced together the truth. The zombies weren’t attracted to noise or heat, no, they were attracted to living flesh. They had a purpose. An urge to eliminate all living things. The tables had turned, Dan and Isla knew it.

They were at the bottom of the food chain. They had become the targets.

Isla tore her eyes from the mirror and sobbed something inaudible. The truth was she didn’t blame Dan for what had happened. She knew it wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t anyone’s…

Isla shifted her gaze to the window and that was when she saw them. Not just one or two of them- but hundreds, thousands maybe. Isla looked around and realised what was happening. In every direction, more and more distorted souls were getting closer and closer to their defenceless prey. Caging them in like cattle until they wouldn’t have any choice but to stay and fight. The pair wouldn’t stand a chance, in a matter of seconds they would be torn limb from bloody limb until they were no longer anything more than a mound of lacerated, mangled bodies. Dan and Isla were as good as dead.

The end of humanity had come and gone. This was a different world. A world ruled by the living dead.