We stared at each other as the moon slowly gave way to a dim sunrise. I did at least; he vacantly pointed glossy eyes in my direction while groping the air. Obviously a bad time to be thus, I was transfixed.

Something inside me wanted to say I knew the man. Reason, or perhaps the contortions of whatever this state was, said otherwise. You might suppose I merely saw myself in him, or my potential self in a day, a week, a month. Somewhere in the back of my head the question swirled how long I could realistically hold out.

Part of me questioned if I even wanted to survive; goodness knows I wasn’t proving very good at it.

Meanwhile the lumbering creature immediately to my left sought to answer all such questions in an expedited manner. The damn thing had snuck up during my ponderings and was lurching forward, slimy mouth disturbingly open. In a macabre dance of desperation I twirled away swatting with the rifle to keep it at bay. The one in the car seemed to cheer his fellow on with inarticulate groans.