John was walking casually down the old forest road. Step by step upon the hard asphalt below him. All around him was an unsettling blanket of grey death. It consumed the trees all around him, destroying visibility. It is a plague upon this world but alas, it will not leave. The world before has been long gone now. All that is left is the forsaken ruins of civilization. Any memories of this world will die with the survivors. The human race will cease to extinct. This eerie train of thought is only a fraction of what circles his mind in his waking days. Similar thoughts would traverse his brain every day but it doesn’t seem to faze him. In a metaphorical way, he always saw the world as a lifeless ghost town where the spirits refuse to move on. The only difference now is that this metaphor is now literal.

The road carried on and on, showing the same road and the same trees at every mile. John kept walking in spite of this. He doesn’t why he’s going to Chicago, heck, he doesn’t even know why he’s still living. Death has been an old friend of his for many years now. His fear of it is absent and empty. Sometimes he thinks that Lady Luck is playing a cruel trick on him, or his survival instincts could still be raging on. He once thought that it’s just him being scared of becoming a coward. He thinks about this all the time and none of it. If his feet take him to Chicago, then his feet he will follow. 

In the distance, the fog started showing a silhouette of something. It looked like some sort of building; it had no second floor but has a very wide structure. Could be some sort of shop, considering the fact he’s in the middle of nowhere. As he got closer to the building, it started to appear from the fog more bigger and visible. A sign then popped out of the fog. It was covered in dirt and blood and only a few key words were still distinguishable. It read “24 hour convenience store”. It thought it was about bloody time that something would appear out of this fucking fog. He then proceeded towards the store in the search of a ride and maybe some supplies. 

John was about to walk into the store but he stopped suddenly in his tracks. He slowly looks behind him to see the trees on the other side of the road. He looked towards them with a cautious look in his eye. He felt like something was watching him from that fog, something ghostly and lifeless. He felt like he was staring into the cold abyss of lost souls as he looked towards those trees. He sometimes feels as dead as the ones who watch him. He just went back towards the store and walked right in. he knew it was empty because if he there was something in there, then he would have been dead already. If the creatures of the fog wanted you dead, then you’d be dead already. He started scavenging through the shelves and counters for anything valuable but it was all full of worthless, rusty shit from the old world. He cursed in anger of his misfortune and proceeded to the back room. It was as quiet and ruined as the main shopping floor. Everything looked like it had been raided. He probably wasn’t the first desperate soul to come through here. He was walking around the room slowly, just taking in the desolation, when he feels a small metallic prod from the bottom of his feet. He moved his foot away slowly and looked down in curiosity. It was a set of old and rusty keys. He picked them up to inspect their specific purpose. They looked like they belong to a vehicle. There was an old Volkswagen logo on one of the keys. At lease he knows what it belongs to now. He places the keys in one of his pockets and went out the side door of the building. 

As he leaves the side door, he is greeted by the worn out whiteness of an old Volkswagen van right in front of him. On the side of the vehicle was the logo of the convenience store on it. It must have been a delivery van for the store. The van had patches of rust and stained old blood around it. He’s not even sure if it is still driveable. He walked to the front of it and opened up the hood. He started fiddling around with the innards of the vehicle, just checking to make sure if it is fine. Surprisingly it was an alright shape considering the environment it is in. He then closes the hood and steps inside the vehicle. The seats and the counters were lined with a thick layer of dust that danced in the air as John made himself adjusted in the vehicle. He stuck old key into the ignition with hopes that the vehicle still works. He turned it once: Nothing but a stutters and coughs. He turns it again: The same thing but more rougher. He then closed his eyes and slowly turned the ignition. The engine then spluttered back to life with a great big roar. The car started to shake with life and noise was vibrating with rebirth. He then starts setting his backpack onto the passenger seat but was eventually met with a great horror.

Out of nowhere, with sheer force on the windscreen, a blood drenched creature jumped onto the windscreen right in front of him. Fear jumped started his instincts into fight or flight. The creature in front of him was drenched in blood with a disgustingly mangled body. Its jaw was by part of its mouth and there were boils scattered over the body with pink, fleshy rips tattered on its body. It’s damaged clothes represented the chilling fact of its former humanity. It was one of the most disgusting and horrifying things known to the remnants of man, and they now rule this world. It gave a massive ear-trembling scream, as if it was a war call. John’s instincts voted for flight and he quickly switched to gear one and ramped down the accelerator. The sheer speed of it moving caused the creature to lose its balance and tumble over the roof of the vehicle. In his side-door mirror, he could see the creature lying on the ground, temporarily dazed. He then switched to reverse gear to ram the creature over with the back of the van. All that was heard was a mass thud and a dying groan. He moved the gear stick and continued pulling out onto the road, driving towards Chicago. 

He didn’t know whether or not he was right to kill the creature or if he should have just left it be. Quite frankly, he didn’t care. He was a man who liked to get even. It wasn’t a personal thing, more of a natural thing. Men have been known to naturally seek revenge and he was in this small race of men. He’s just glad really, to have found some sort of transport. He looks at the fuel gauge and notices that it has a near full tank. This van must have really been abandoned to have a full tank. He knew that it was more than enough to get him to Chicago. What he’ll find there, he doesn’t know but with the shithole that the world is in, he’ll just have to wait and fucking see.