No one slept. Everyone stayed awake in a daze. The panic was silent, unspoken, like everyone expected to wake up from the dream.
How long had they been driving? Thirty minutes? An hour? Two? It seemed like forever. The road just went on and on. October leaned her head against the glass window and kept a careful eye on the road.
A slight murmur arose on the bus. Mrs. Wilson got up and walked over to the bus driver's side. More whispers. October leaned over in her seat and looked towards the front. Something was going on. Harsh whispers now. Then silence. They both just watched the road.
Then the bus stuttered. It shook for a moment and then died. Students instantly rose from their seats, standing to see what happened, why they had stopped.
Mrs. Wilson turned to them, not wanting to deliver the terrifying news.
"We," she started, looked at the bus driver and then back at the students, "we ran out of gas."
"Are you fuckin' kidding me?" shouted Shawn from the seat in front of October.
"We might be close to the town. The sun will rise soon. Then we'll see where we are."
If she could have managed to say it without her voice quivering, it might have been believable. But they all knew the truth. Whatever had killed their two friends, it was out there and it would find them. But October knew something that they didn't.
They already had found them.
She sat watching them, not wanting to look around and have them disappear again. But they didn't move. They watched the bus for the longest time. Did they know they had run out of gas? Did they think they just stopped for the night. Though, it didn't matter last time. They seized the opportunity when it presented itself. No reason to believe that this time it would be any different.
October reached into her bag and took out her contact lens case. She took her contacts from her eyes and closed it. This was a desperate situation. If they were to attack again, as they surely would, she wanted to be prepared. She could see through the dark easily with her contacts lenses in, but without them, she could see perfectly. If it came time to run, she would be at a much better advantage.
She pushed the case into her bag and looked outside again. One was close to her window. She took in a sharp breath of air, startled. It stared in at her. She looked on it with fear. It's hat covered most of his face. It's teeth...god, it's teeth were red with blood. Sherry's blood.
Bile rose in her throat.
Amy's blood.
It looked at her with the coldest red eyes.
...Wait, red? It had red eyes? She leaned closer, her red eyes boring into his. He took a step closer, and then another. Suddenly, the glass window didn't seem so protective. She scooted back, wanting as much distance between them as possible. Still, she didn't, couldn't, look away. She couldn't even panic. What could she tell the bus? That the monsters were back? That they were right outside the window?
It's face was almost up against the window now. October felt very frightened. It took a few steps back and then waved to her. Not so much as a hello as a 'come out here'. October shook her head quickly. What was she, stupid? It motioned to her again. She ignored it.
Then it turned and ran. She tried to watch it but it was fast. Where had they gone? She looked out her window, through the trees, down the road. Nothing.
The bus lurched violently to one side, rocking, almost tilting over. Even October screamed this time. The bus rocked again.
"They're pushing us over!" Mrs. Wilson shrieked.
The bus tilted again. October gripped onto the seat for support. With one final shove, the bus rocked to it's left side, smashing to the ground.