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                “Drop yo ass and run!”

                                Sinbad

                For a moment, it’s calm. It’s silent. Nothing moves. Nothing makes a sound.

                But that moment gets killed when the whole army of monsters, in unison, roars and rushes at me. I turn around to see the monsters rushing at me from the doors. I whirl around to see a lot more monsters rushing at me from the fields. And so I do the only thing I can.

                I vault from the steps down to the grass. And those monsters are all around me. There’s more of them out here, littering the place. I see them, ranging from almost living and breathing, to shambling masses. But I run from each and every one of them just the same.

                I burst into a small beginning forest, where small five-foot trees are set up in symmetrical rows, tied with guy wires and wrapped with white paper around the trunks. I remember planting some of those once with my grandfather. Of course that’s not important right now because I’m running for dear life trying to get away from a bunch of monsters.

                I hear them darting through the trees. And I hear them catching up with me. I dart to my left, cutting across through the trees. But as I run in the dark night, I see them slashing across near me. So I turn back and keep running in the same direction, just in a new row.

                Sprinting parallel to the giant building to my right, I see up ahead a loading dock. I burst forward towards it with all I’ve got left and race towards the warm embrace of pavement.

                I still hear them behind me. They’re getting so close, I can feel them.

                Each step, they get closer. Each breath, they get closer.

                The trees stop. Pavement begins.

                A van.

                It’s like any touring van. Large, plainly white with the logo ‘Ever-after’ written across it callously. But the large van sits quietly, its silent engine beckoning to me.

                I feel a finger graze the back of my neck.

                I use everything I’ve got left to burst forward, but the hand grabs my collar. No matter how fast I run, these things are faster.

                I slam up against the side of the van, the monster slamming into it with me. That disorientates the monster long enough for me to whirl around, swinging my arm in a wide arc to catch his arm. With a fast shove, I pull my arm in, the act yanking the monster’s arm around, flipping him unconsciously.

                Already more of the monsters pour out of the forest, rushing at me. I’ve got one hope.

                I reach up to the door of the van and yank back on the handle. I throw the door open, slamming it right into the face of a monster. The blow knocks him back and I throw myself inside the van. A monster leaps in after me, but as I land on the floorboard, I draw back on my feet and kick out. The blow catches the monster in the face and chest and shoves him out the door. I grab the door and yank it closed, slamming the metal shut. I hit the lock on the door, then dive over to the passenger’s side door, hitting the auto-lock button through the small gap between the seat and the door frame.

                I hear banging.

                I hear hissing and growl.

                I hear anger.

                I hear hunger.

                I hear violence.

                But I don’t hear them getting inside.

                When I draw back from the door, I see their faces and fists, slamming against the glass of the door. I glance down as I gasp for my breath, seeing the emblem of security glass on the far corner.

                But I also feel the vehicle rocking. I feel their hands pushing against the sides. I feel my balance shifting as the vehicle sways with their anger and their fury. I start to look around, trying to ignore their screaming and fury.

                I see a skylight in the top of the van.

                I look around, watching as they push and shove at the van’s frame. They haven’t tried to climb up the sides. I look at the beasts, watching them. I see their faces, their ashen skin and taut flesh. I see the differences. Some of them look almost alive, almost normal. Others look like their zombies, about to fall apart with a strong wind.

                I look around the doors as the rocking gets worse. I hear the banging starting to take its toll on the vehicle. I hear scratching underneath the metal body of the beast.

                They’re doing everything they can to get inside.

                I look around the van desperately. All I see is various medical equipment; bulky and too heavy to be of use. I look past at the steering wheel, seeing the empty ignition. I think about searching the front, but the thought of being that close to the monsters terrifies me too much. I look up at the skylight once more.

                I pop the top of the skylight with all my strength, trying to keep quiet. I hear them pounding and banging, rocking the van more and more. I struggle to keep my grip as I pull myself up through the vehicle roof. I keep myself down low to the top of the roof, barley looking over the side.

                They don’t seem to have noticed yet.

                I look towards the front of the roof. I see the overhang of the loading dock. Almost fifteen feet off the ground, if I were to stand up, it would come up to my chest. The space around it is all concrete and cement. There are no handholds for them to climb up to it. The jump’s the only part.

                I lower myself back down into the van. I search the equipment for anything chemical.

                ‘Do not open.’

                I kneel closer, reading the label.

                ‘Flammable if exposed to oxygen.’

                I grin.

                I rub my hands together to drive away the sweat and check the entrance to the roof. I take a deep breath, then look to the windows on the side of the van. I see them roaring at me, banging on the doors. I can tell they’re denting them in. The floor is already starting to crack against the pressure. They’re getting inside.

                I take hold of the lid and take a deep breath. I try to slow my heart as I grab the lid.

                “Three.” I whisper.

                I check the small door at the top of the van.

                “Two.”

                I take another breath.

                “One.”

                I hold my breath.

                I pull the lid.

                I leap up to the van’s exit as I hear the unmistakable sound of an inferno. I grab onto the edges and yank myself up so hard I throw myself onto the roof of the van. Absolute terror drives me as I feel an intense heat greater than anything I’ve ever known in my life. I see the monsters pull themselves away from the van as the windows explode out. The roof of the van superheats in an instant as I take the first step across the top. I see flame erupting from the windows out of the corner of my eyes. I take the second step and push off with all my strength.

                I throw myself against the concrete overhang and dig my fingers into the lip of metal. Heat like the sun with a fever hits from me from behind as I’m nearly thrown off the overhang by the explosion. I hear the metal twisting and the fire reaching up to the sky like a demonic fury at a black mass.

                But I drive my fingers into the lip until they bleed, refusing to let go. I pull up with my sore muscles, yanking myself over the edge of the overhang and collapse onto the roof of the instillation.

                For a moment, I just breathe. The air seems arctic compared to the intense heat the slammed against me. I can feel the skin on the back of my neck blistering from the heat, but I try to ignore it. I just huddle there on myself, panting, the exhaustion and the fear taking their toll on me. I don’t know if I’m shaking from the cold, the pain, or the fear.

                It takes me several moments to move.

                I start by unwrapping my hands from around my arms, then I prop myself up, looking around on the overhang. A tall hop up leads to the roof itself, while the lip of the overhang mocks me with my own blood stained on its metal edge.

                I look past the overhang, seeing the remains of the van, charred almost beyond recognition. The fire’s out already, with only metal left of the machine. I smell before I see the scorched bodies that line the area around the van. I see the torched grass and the flame-stained pavement in all directions. But I don’t see any more of the monsters alive. They’ve either rushed off for fear, or to find more food.

                Or to find another way to get up here after me.

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