Go around

Weighing the options, it was probably best to walk around the mass of stopped cars. A few Zombies milled around the vehicles, their movement purposeless. There wasn’t that many of them, it probably wouldn’t be too hard to work around them, use the cars as cover and move silently through. The zombies were But that was just the ones Kathryn could see. There could be more hidden inside or between the cars, waiting for two unsuspecting girls to wander by. No it was best to just go around. Sure the open road didn’t have anywhere to hide, but there nothing but room if they needed to run.

“Are you coming?” Kathryn asked as she stood up, brushing stray twigs and dirt from her clothes. Paige looked pained, grimacing as she took in the scene around her. “Alright,” she finally said, “Let’s do this I guess.” Kathryn nodded and led the way out of the brush.

The moon shown brighter outside the trees, illuminating the path as the two walked towards the highway, The ground leveled off, and Kathryn prepared to make a sprint through the road. Just as she was about to take off, Paige grabbed the collar of her shirt. “Hold on,” Paige said, “From what I’ve seen, the zombies aren’t very observant. They really only react to big noises and sudden movements. It might be better to move slow because they might not notice us, especially not in the dark. If we need to run we can always start.” Paige’s suggestion was the opposite of how Kathryn planed to approach the situation, but maybe it would work. After all the zombies didn’t seem to have noticed them thus far, despite only being 50 meters away from the closest one.

“Alright,” Kathryn said, “Slow and steady I guess.” Kathryn took a deep breath, and pushed her fear down, as the girls slowly walked up to the road. They gave the zombies a wide berth, moving slowly across the highway right in front of the crash. Kathryn watched the zombies wandering around the abandoned cars, while Paige watched the zombies milling around in the open road. Paige’s theory seemed to have some weight however, as the zombies seemed oblivious to their presence. Maybe this would work out after all.

The two girls were nearly through the median when Paige stopped suddenly. “What are you doing?” Kathryn hissed. “It’s looking at me,” Paige whispered back, pointing at a zombie standing in the middle of the open road. Sure enough, the zombie, a middle aged woman with brown hair, was staring directly at them. “What if it’s like the thing with bears?” whispered Paige. “What?” asked Kathryn, completely confused. “Like if you make eye contact with a bear it freezes, but the second it looks away it comes and mauls you,” Paige said. “Is that a thing?” Kathryn asked. The two girls stood paralyzed, staring at the zombie. “Try to move, very slowly,” whispered Paige.

The two girls continued creeping forward. The zombie followed them, it’s face blank. As they crossed into the opposite lane, both girls let out a sigh of relief. Neither was prepared for the female zombie to let out a scream, a high pitched wail that carried through the quiet highway. Almost instantly, every zombie turned their heads towards the sound, faces suddenly alert. “Run.”