Five

Green eyes with reptilian pupils stared at me through the window.

I couldn’t breathe.  My heart thundered in my ears.  I was going to die.  I thought of my family and hoped they wouldn’t suffer the same fate.

The creature leaned toward the glass.  His gaze shifted from my head to my body then back up again.  Though I shook uncontrollably, I couldn’t look away from his eyes.  The black vertical slit of his pupils interrupted the otherwise solid bright green of the rest of his eyes.

Finally, he pulled back from the window to study the glass separating us.  Specifically, the one inch gap at the top.

Shit.  The leather squeaked under me as I shifted in my seat.

His gaze snapped to mine again.  His complete stillness motivated me.  He was the hunter.  I was the prey.  I needed to get my ass moving.  Sitting there waiting to die wasn’t an option.

I glanced over the front seat at the wires hanging below the dash.  A simple connection.  I could do it.  Start the truck and drive off before that thing figured out the flimsy piece of glass separating us posed no problem.

When I looked back at the window, the creature had vanished.  I didn’t hesitate.  I climbed over the seat and grabbed for the wires.  A shock zapped through me, and I yelped.  But I didn’t stop trying.  The engine turned over once then started.

Something thumped on the hood, making the truck bounce slightly. I flinched and looked up, expecting to see the creature. Instead, Kevin’s body slowly slid away from the windshield and over the edge.  For a horror-filled moment, I could only think about how I would need to drive over him to get away.

Movement next to my window made me jump, and I turned my head.  Yellow-green eyes met mine.  I froze, afraid to move.  My heart felt like it wanted to pound its way out of my chest.  He watched me as I watched him. His focus made me very aware that I needed to do something soon.  My shaking was only getting worse.  If I continued to hesitate, I’d end up dead like the rest.

My knees still pressed against the seat, my feet nowhere near the pedals.  I grabbed the wheel and started to swing my legs to the side.  He slammed his open hand against the window. The glass splintered and folded in toward me. He reached in, his hand wrapped around my left arm.

I yelped and pulled back, no longer caring about lunging for the pedals.  He reached in with his other hand, grabbed me under the right armpit, and dragged me forward.  The steering wheel slipped from my grasp.  I tried for it once more but missed as he yanked my upper body out the window.  I reared back, flailing.  His hold under my right arm slipped, and I struggled to pull myself back in.  He reached for me again, missed my arm, and grabbed my boob.

He jerked his hand back, and I froze, staring at him with wide-eyes as I hung out the window, pinned in place by his other hand.  He reached forward with his free hand, and I put my arm up, trying to protect my neck.

His palm covered my right boob, and he gave it another tentative squeeze.  I lowered my arm in shock and watched him pull back once more. His gaze zeroed in on my left side.

“Hell no,” I said, renewing my struggles.

As if his first attempt to remove me had just been a test, he plucked me out of the truck and set me on my feet in front of him.  He kept his right hand firmly anchored around my upper arm as he lifted his other hand.

My chest heaved with each panicked breath.  When his hand got close to my boob, I swatted it away.

He grunted, lowered his hand to his side, and studied me.  When his gaze dropped to my jeans, a new panic surged forth. I pulled hard, willing to yank off my own arm to get away from him.  He backed me against the truck, limiting my struggles, and proceeded to pat down the front of my jeans.

“No…no…just kill me already.”

He stopped patting and sniffed my hair, my ears, and my face.  Shock kept me still for most of it.

Abruptly, he let go and stepped back.  We stared at each other as my pulse thundered in my ears.  What the hell was going on?  Was he toying with me?

The truck still rumbled behind me, a possible means of escape if I could just get inside.  With the door handle digging into my back, I edged to the left.  He put his hand on the door, stopping my progress.  I bolted the other direction.  He moved incredibly fast, blocking me by the front tire.

With a growl, he turned toward the hood.  He raised his fisted hands and brought them down on the hood. I jumped at the sound of metal crunching on impact.  He hit the front of the truck again and again, crushing the metal in until the engine clunked several times then died.

I took an involuntary step back.  He’d just smashed a truck with his bare hands.  I swallowed hard, and it took a moment to realize he’d killed any means of escape.  I stared at him, out of ideas and out of hope.

He wasn’t even breathing heavily, just standing there watching me.  When he saw he had my attention, he reached up and pulled the cord holding his shirt together at his throat.  Within seconds, he had the loose-fitting dark shirt off.

I stared at his heavily muscled torso with increasing despair.

He tilted his head at me, then reached up and patted his chest.  First one side, then the other.  When he reached for me, I cringed back.  It didn’t deter him.  He followed me and patted first one boob then the other before tugging at my long-sleeved shirt.

My brain struggled to process what was happening.

“I don’t want to take off my clothes.”

He tilted his head again and waited for a moment.  When he reached for the cord at the waist of his pants, I squeaked.  My reaction didn’t stop him from shoving the dark material down far enough to show me his grey package with a penis longer than any human version I’d ever seen.  Not that I’d seen many in person.

He palmed himself as if saying “see, this is what I’m offering you” and watched me expectantly.

“No, thank you.”

He shook himself again and, in that moment, I understood he was attempting to communicate.

“I-I don’t want to play Tarzan and Jane.”

He tilted his head at me again, as if listening to my words.

“Let me go. Please, just let me go.”

He slowly pulled the material up around his hips and tied it.  When he picked up his shirt, I got ready.  Glass crunched under my shoe as I shifted my weight to my right foot.  He stopped putting on his shirt and tucked it into the waist of his pants, instead.

Scratching his ear lightly, he continued to watch me like I was some kind of puzzle.  I didn’t want to be figured out. I wanted to be let go.  Like right now.

He looked at my crotch, my boobs, and my hair once more then grabbed his shirt.  As soon as he had his head covered, I took off.  I only made it a step before he caught me from behind and lifted me off my feet.  With one arm wrapped around my waist, he groped me with the other.  This time between my legs.

I twisted and kicked, trying to get free.  He didn’t even seem to notice.

Suddenly, I stood on my own two feet again.  I spun around to face him, backing away a step. However, I no longer had his attention.  Cringing, I watched him lift his hand to his nose.  He sniffed.

A sound of disbelief escaped me, and he met my gaze.  If he would have licked his fingers, I would have known he saw me as a walking meat stick.  Instead, he slowly lowered his hand.

“What is going on?” I said in a half whisper, half whimper.  Did he plan to kill me or not?  My chest felt so tight I was pretty sure my stuttering heart would give out any minute.  Death by fear or death by…whatever he was.  The method didn’t change the end result.  Death.

Swallowing hard, I closed my eyes and resigned myself to that fact. If I was going to die, I would rather die trying to get away. I opened my eyes, turned, and started walking.  Nothing happened.  Well, not nothing. Gravel crunched behind me.  I glanced back to see him studying my walk as he followed me.  I didn’t try to guess what that might signify; I just kept going.

At the edge of the road, I hesitated.  Infected riddled the not too distant highway, making the easiest route, the most dangerous.  That meant hiking through the fields and trees.  I crossed the road and started through the field, angling slightly away from the highway.

The crunch of dry grass under my shoes made me cringe.  Behind me, a softer footfall echoed each of my own.

Although I felt beyond confused and scared, a sort of numbness had slowly crept in, blanketing me from my current reality.  A reality where black, dog-like creatures with red eyes were running around biting people and turning normal humans into things resembling zombies.  And, as if that hadn’t been a hard enough reality to grip, a man with grey skin, pointy ears, and slitted eyes had just killed the three guys with me.  I couldn’t even think about the groping that had also taken place.

What the hell was going on?  How had life gotten so messed up?  For a brief moment, I thought of Kristin and wondered if my fate would have been any better if I’d stayed with her at the stadium.  I should have been sleeping now, not trying to figure out how to get to Oklahoma City while avoiding zombie infested roadways.

Suddenly, the creature stood in front of me.  I barely stopped in time to avoid colliding with his chest.

“What do you want from me?” I asked, my voice shaking.  I was ready to crash hard, mentally and physically.  And, I desperately needed my version of reality back.

He opened his mouth and spoke, or at least made sounds, but I didn’t hear much.  My attention locked onto his very pointed canines.  It took me a moment to realize he’d stopped making sounds.

Barely breathing, I took a slow step back from him.  He shadowed me, stepping into my retreat.  I moved faster.  He stalked me.  I stopped.  He stopped.  We stared at each other.

Holding my gaze, he started to lean in.

“Go away,” I said softly.

He didn’t stop his approach.

“If you try grabbing me again, I’m aiming for your balls.”  I remembered Kevin’s broken neck and the way his body had draped the hood and regretted my words.

When the creature started to bend his knees, my stomach gave a sickening lurch.  I moved to step back, and he grabbed both my arms.  Instead of breaking my neck or throwing me, he held me in place as he buried his nose in my shirt-covered cleavage.  Since I had a decent amount, he had to wiggle a little to really get his face in there.  He inhaled deeply, then pulled back to look at me.

Scared shitless but pretending not to be, I glared at him.

“Get a good smell?”  Instead of indignant and angry, my voice shook pathetically.

He blinked at me again, and I wondered why I still lived.  Despite his groping and weird sniffing, he hadn’t been aroused when he’d pulled down his pants.  Thank God.  However, that left me completely clueless regarding the current staring contest.