I was in a nightmare. I would wake up on the couch again, right?

  I…I had just drifted off while writing my stupid paper.

  Because this wasn't real.

  No.

  It was impossible.

  I wanted to scream.

  I wanted to run like all the others.

  But I just stood, meeting eyes with…with the Thing.

  There was nothing else you could call it. It was horrifying and abnormal.

  It was not like a zombie. It was not like an alien. I couldn't even tell you what it was like.

  I squeezed my eyes shut, shivers running through me.

  Come on. Wake up.

  The couch, the computer, the stupid essay.

  Anywhere else.

  When I opened my eyes again, time seemed to slow.

  Something dropped near the beast, and it made bile gather in the back of my throat. My head suddenly felt heavy, and my stomach felt sick.

  Lying on the street was a stuffed animal. The shape of a wolf.

  It had been brown, but now, it was grey and dull, and spotted with the same black ooze. The same dark goo that now made up a terrifying creature.

  I met its eyes.

  They were white, and abnormally glowed on the Things body, contrasting to its black shape. They couldn't have reflected anything in this darkness. Not even the pinkish glare of the car tail lights reflected on the Thing.

  I took in a choked breath. Its head was tilted.

  It was like the Thing was studying me. Like it was almost human.

  I took a step back and sprinted, like every other living thing, away.

  This wasn't another one of those horror games you play online.

  This was very real. And that Thing was alive.

  When I made it to my car, I tried the doors, but they were locked.

  I shoved my hand in my pocket searching for my keys, and my face paled as I realized I had left them on the kitchen counter.

  Forget about the car! A voice screamed in my head. Run!

  And I listened. My tired, sleep deprived body tripped and stumbled as I ran as fast as I could. I dreaded not listening to my coach.

  He had told us at the beginning of the year that we were the only ones responsible for our laziness, and that if we ran one mile everyday, nothing could stop us.

  As I struggled on my worn, unlaced sneakers, a sharp, metallic scent hit me, like blood mixed with rust. It clung to the air, and polluted the quick breaths I struggled to inhale. My stomach twisted, warning me of the life I had seen the Thing drain.

  I stumbled over the cracked pavement, my hoodie catching on a jagged curb. Behind me, the mist rolled forward in black-and-white waves, curling around the abandoned cars like it was alive. I pushed myself back to my feet, and now I was on the road, swerving around abandoned cars and vehicles. The traffic hadn't moved fast enough, so now, the road was crowded with desperate bodies, each trying to stay alive.

  I spared a frightened glance behind me, and that was surely a mistake.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Because the Thing wasn’t just watching now, it was moving, and every inch of the street it touched turned gray, lifeless, and cold.

  I gasped, and my lungs burned. My legs felt worse, like they could give in at any second, but I couldn’t stop. Every instinct screamed to run faster, to escape the smell, the sight, the horror. I smashed into sweaty bodies in the crowd, but we were all fighting to get out of this hellish place, and there were too many of us.

  A scream, high, fractured, and human cut through the air. It didn't belong to me, but it was close.

  Far too close.

  Run away! The voice in my head yelled. Screaming equals death!

  I knew this was true.

  That was someone who just couldn't go fast enough.

  Someone, who was now no longer human. I felt a sudden dread.

  I felt something else that was sudden too.

  Someone's elbow had sunken deep into my ribs, and my body was thrown into the side of a parked silver car. My hip hit it first, then my shoulder and elbow. Thankfully, they all hit the metal skeleton of the car.

  Unfortunately, my head was not as lucky, and it targeted the window.

  It was too quick, and my brain was too occupied with the screams surrounding me, that it failed to warn me, when the window exploded.

  I didn't even have time to close my eyes.

  The air vanished from my lungs instantly, and so did my feet from under me. My body was sent spiraling towards grey asphalt.

  The last thought that entered my mind was how silly it would be when I met my Mom in heaven, and had to explain that this was how I died during the End of The World.

  ***

  Tuesday the 15th of January, was when the world decided to end. And I had been at the grocery store.

  My Mom owned the small town store, so she often had me help out, and I usually didn't whine about it. But tonight I had.

  Because tonight was Monday, the 14th of January, A.K.A the Winter Formal at my small town high school. “Mom please!” I had begged, dragging the broom in my hand lazily on the tile floor. “Pleeeaaase.”

  Yes. I had resolved to the only possible solution. Begging.

  “Last year I couldn’t go because you said I wasn't old enough, so why can’t I go now?” I tugged on the sleeves of my brown sweater. I had been wearing my favorite outfit today, because I had been planning on wearing it to my day date.

  My day date that my Mom had decided last second to deny me the privilege of, so I could come help her out at the store.

  “You promised I could go!” I had been on the bridge of tears as I spat that sentence, but to no avail she had simply replied the worst thing a mother could say.

  “I changed my mind.” Why did mothers decide to randomly change their minds? IDK. But I was certainly not going to give up.

  “That's not fair. You promised that-” She cut me off.

  “Valorie An Hangbee, I don't want to hear one more word about that dance, or you will stay here till four in the morning!” And that's when I had snapped.

  “You always break your promises!” I had screamed the words with tears dripping from my chin. My face had been hot, and my chest heaved. “You always just have to mess up my life, don't you? First it was Dad, then it was my college fund, and now it's this!”

  I had relished the way my words had twisted her face, and made her go speechless. I had liked how sad she had felt. My jaw was set, and my own face was scowling. “I wish I’d never been your daughter.”

  The minute the words had left my mouth, I had regretted saying them, and now on Tuesday at 3:30 in the morning, I regretted them still.

  I sat against one of the grocery shelves and hugged my legs. My crying had stopped a long time ago, but the hole in my stomach didn't go away. I know I did something horrible.

  While sitting there, and pondering my life's choices, sirens passed by. The glare of a red light was so bright, it even shone through the store's glass doors. But I only hugged my arms around myself tighter, and shoved my head between my legs.

  It’s not your fault. You were innocent. My voice reminded me. You were wronged. But I didn't totally believe it.

  I had been a S***** daughter.

  Apologize. Now. This voice was louder, more prominent. But what use was an apology? The damage was already done.

  As I pushed myself up from the shelf of food, my legs shook beneath me. I was supposed to have worn my gorgeous purple dress, and my white lace shoes. I was supposed to have danced with Kaden Neilson, under the dim lights in the gym.

  But none of it had happened, and I didn't even know why. I couldn't even get in touch with my best friend Nikki, because my phone had been confiscated as well.

  I let out a long sigh. What was meant to be the greatest night of my life had turned out to be a nightmare. It couldn’t possibly get any worse.

  As if on cue, I heard something rattle one of the doors. I had finished cleaning up, so the lights were still off, and the fully-see-through door was partially blocked from my view. We didn't have a big store, just a tiny pharmacy, so there wasn't much to steal. I stayed where I was regardless.

  This is why I hated the night shifts.

  I took a deep breath, willing my heart to slow down. It was probably just the wind. Just the wind.

  And that's when I heard the glass door shatter into a million pieces. I froze completely.

  I knew with great certainty, that we were being robed.