The van smelled faintly of old fast food and… mystery liquids. Perfect. I opened the sliding door quietly, like a spy, and squeezed myself in. My backpack bumped against the seat. My water bottle rolled across the floor. At least I had my napkin. Because… well, you never know when a napkin could save your life. Maybe I could wave it at zombies? Or clean my tears? Survival 101.
I sat there, pressed against the seat, trying not to breathe too loudly, and… I started thinking. Why am I alone? Why didn't I run to the grandparents like Mom said? And why, oh why, do the neighbors have to be drunk right now?!
And then — just as I was starting to think maybe I was safe — I heard it. A low, guttural groan from somewhere behind the houses. Not a person groan. Not a "Oops, I stubbed my toe" groan. A "don't look at me or I'll eat your face" kind of groan.
Yep. Definitely not a normal Tuesday.
I hugged my backpack, whispered a little "please don't let me die today," and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Meanwhile, my brain kept screaming: Natasha, remember your napkin! You might need it!
Honestly… I might just end up using the duct tape to strap myself to the van roof and fly away. That could work, right?
Okay, so I'm still crouched in the HiJet van like a ninja who forgot how to ninja properly, and naturally, my first thought was: I need to check my phone. Because, priorities, right?
I unlocked it, half-expecting it to just show TikTok dance videos and my ex-classmate's disastrous attempts at baking. But no… the news notification popped up: "Three Chinese men behaving strangely at Bandaranaike International Airport — Authorities Investigating."
Seriously? Three men? My brain screamed: Natasha, this is not normal! Not even slightly. But then, because of course my brain has to be extra, it immediately followed up with: What if these are the same guys? Are they running around like the guy I just saw?
I tapped the news story, and the video auto-played. And ohhh boy… the footage was even weirder than the headline. The men were… moving like broken robots, arms flailing, shouting things that didn't make sense. People around them screamed, ran, or froze. Honestly, it looked like a mix between a bad TikTok challenge and a horror movie audition.
And of course, the captions were all dramatic: "Authorities baffled — Could this be a virus?"
I stared at the screen. I mean, a virus? Great. Just what I needed while I'm sitting in a van hiding from the one guy sprinting like he's late for the Olympics. My napkin and duct tape are definitely not going to help against a virus.
Then I scrolled a little more. More news clips, more panic, more screaming. My mom would lose it if she knew I was hiding instead of revising for my exams… but honestly, I'm not sure she'd believe me if I tried to explain that zombies are apparently real now.
I sighed, dropped the phone in my lap (it felt heavy, like it suddenly had the weight of the apocalypse), and whispered to myself:
"Okay, Natasha. You can do this. Just… survive first. Exams later. Maybe."
And then… as if on cue, the van shuddered. Something — or someone — banged against the side. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. I grabbed the duct tape like it was a magic sword. My napkin? Still useless. Water bottle? Well, at least it can distract them if I throw it.
I peeked carefully through the gap of the van door… and froze. Another figure. Not sprinting, not flailing… just walking slowly, dragging one leg, arms outstretched. Groaning. And looking directly at me.
Yep. Totally a zombie.
Okay, I'm officially losing it. Like, my brain went from "Hide in van and survive" to full-on zombie movie mode. You know the ones — where they only react to sound, bite anything that moves, and generally ruin everyone's life? Yeah. That's my life now.