I tried my best to drive straight and as normally as possible, but I simply couldn't. Tears were welling up in my eyes and I could see a long line of cars forming behind me, all with bags and coolers and cases tied to the top. I drove down the street where I used to live with my parents and saw neighbours packing their cars and empty houses, doors wide open. I had no idea what was happening but I didn't want to stick around to find out, so I sped up and drove down the road as fast as I could, trying to figure out what to do. Where would I go? Who would I see? The only people I could think of finding were my friends, and they all had families of their own they'd be taking care of. My dad had passed away a few years ago and my mum was on a cruise with her new husband, so they were out of the question. My husband Michael had died while fighting in the army a few years ago, and seeing as neither of us had any siblings or children of our own, it left me well and truly alone. I pulled over to the side of the road and sat in silence for a while, realising how lonely I really was. Things had been like this for a while, but I didn't think about it much during my daily routine because I busied myself with other things so as to avoid the thought of it. But now, I had nothing else to think about other than what I was going to do with myself.

I drove for a few more hours until it got dark. I didn't want to waste my fuel stuck in traffic so I tried my best to stay off of main roads that were sure to be blocked, and pulled over in what seemed like the middle of nowhere to sleep. After spending countless nights alone in the dark before, I wasn't too scared, though the new atmosphere of sleeping in a cramped car was different. I had the radio to listen to in case the silence got too much, and I'd remembered to pack a few books and my photo albums to keep my company, so I thought I'd be fine. I turned the engine off my car, climbed to the back and tried to get comfy despite the seatbelt digging into my hip, and after about half an hour of using a flashlight to read I finally got to sleep.

I tossed and turned throughout the night and slept badly, waking up every so often and having to lie awake for hours at a time trying to get back to sleep. At about five in the morning I woke up when I heard something against the door. I couldn't see lights outside and I was pretty sure no one could see I was inside the car because of how dark it was, so I tried to be as quite as possible. I looked through the window and saw someone's dirty hand scrabbling against it, and I held my breath as I saw the trail of blood it left behind on my window. Whoever it was made a strange noise, as if they couldn't quite breathe right, and they seemed to be speaking to themself. I didn't quite know what to do then, I was terrified but worried at the same time. Who was this person, and what was wrong with them? Should I help them, or would they be dangerous? I needed to take a better look at them, but there was no way I was getting out of the car and I didn't want them to see me either although I was fairly sure they knew I was in there somehow anyway. Grabbing my flashlight, I crawled across to the front seat sticking as close to the floor as possible, and sat down as low as I could. I tried to peer through the mirrors but it didn't help, and I decided my only option was to drive down the road and turn around again to see them. I took a deep breath and turned on the engine, and saw the person stand upright and throw themself onto the car, practically roaring at me like an animal. I screamed and drove off as fast as I could, determined to keep going and not turn around to get another look at that bloodstained freak.