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Billie is furious with him. ‘If people are out there and you keep driving this fast, we won’t spot them. You’ll zoom right past them.’

The Ape’s eyes find Billie’s in the rear-view. ‘And if I slow down, vampires will catch us.’

‘There’s no such thing.’

‘There’s no such thing as an empty world either,’ the Ape argues and takes the third exit on the roundabout. Billie lives in a village five miles away and I’m surprised
the Ape knows which road to take without being told. It’s like how he knew my phone number. How did he come by this knowledge? I make a mental note to ask him if he’s been stalking us.
Then I think better of it. I’m not sure I want to know the answer.

‘I’ve been thinking,’ Johnson says, his voice calm. ‘Given that the four of us are still here and that we were all in the same detention, then isn’t it possible
that the others who were in detention with us, survived as well?’

‘No,’ says the Ape emphatically.

‘No?’ Johnson says.

‘No.’

‘Why not?’ asks Billie.

‘I don’t know, just wanted to say no.’ He laughs, but no one else joins in.

‘Maybe we should try and find the others who were with us in that classroom,’ says Johnson.

‘I dunno, I like this double-date thing we’ve got going on.’ The Ape glances in the rear-view at Billie again. She sees this and all but retches.

‘No. No way did he just say that,’ she spits.

‘Jonno can have Rev and I’ll have Billie.’

Billie is flat out appalled by the Ape. But I find myself quite enjoying the thought that he coupled me with Johnson. For a few seconds anyway, before I remember that I’ve got a
boyfriend.

‘We need to turn back.’ Johnson has made up his mind.

The Ape glances at him and I’m not sure if I’m imagining it or not but there might be a tiny flicker of respect from the Ape for Johnson, and he eases off the accelerator.

‘Back into town?’

‘That is where we just came from,’ Billie hisses at the Ape.

‘We need to at least look,’ Johnson explains to the Ape. There’s a moment between them while Johnson waits for the Ape to fully grasp what he’s saying.

‘If we don’t find them then we’ll go back to Billie’s plan.’

It takes the Ape longer than it should to process the thought and the little Fiat keeps motoring into the dark countryside.

‘Let’s think about who was in detention with us,’ I say.

‘The walking stick,’ the Ape says.

‘Carrie,’ I correct.

‘The homo.’

‘GG,’ Johnson corrects.

‘And Lucas,’ adds Billie.

The Ape racks his brains. ‘Swear there was someone else.’

‘There wasn’t,’ I say, thinking about who else could have been in the classroom with us.

‘Swear there was.’

‘Does anyone know where any of them live?’ asks Johnson.

No one does.

‘What about phone numbers?’

‘We only really spoke to GG at school,’ says Billie. ‘And Carrie is not someone you want to talk to, like ever.’

‘Lucas would never give his number to anyone,’ I add.

‘Hawkings!’ the Ape suddenly shouts. ‘He was there!’

The Moth. I had forgotten he was in detention and I feel awful about it. Lucas is about his only real friend and even then he never comes out much. But now I’m wondering if that’s
because he was never invited.

‘Timothy,’ I say, finally remembering. ‘His name’s Timothy.’

‘So who’s Hawkings?’ The Ape’s brow furrows.

‘Anyone know where he lives?’ asks Johnson.

Again none of us do.

‘All we need to do is find one of them, and maybe they’ll know about the others,’ says Johnson.

‘GG is a good bet. I know roughly where he lives,’ I add, trying my best to help.

‘But how roughly is roughly?’ Billie sighs and looks into the gathering darkness. And suddenly screams, ‘ZOMBIE!!’

The Ape’s foot jams down on the brakes and the car starts going into a skid. Johnson and I are trying to look to where Billie is now pointing, but it’s too dark outside for us to see
properly.

‘A zombie? Are you sure?’ I can’t believe this is happening. What is going on?

‘Told you!’ The Ape sounds more excited than scared. ‘Give me my weapon.’ He tries to reach in the back, but his hand lands on one of my boobs and I slap it off.

‘Perv!’ I shout and shove the stupid broom/knife concoction at him.

‘You sure that’s what you saw, Billie?’ Johnson asks.

The car slews to a halt and everything falls silent apart from the quiet ticking of the engine as the Ape plants the car in park mode.

We’re halfway along a country road that has open fields on one side and a small wood running along the other. There are no street lamps and our only real light is provided by the last
remains of the day.

‘I knew there was monsters,’ the Ape says, so proud of himself.

‘It’s not going to be that,’ says Johnson, sure of it.

‘But I definitely saw something,’ says Billie, but nothing is moving outside.

‘Why did you think it was a zombie?’ I ask her.

‘Cos it was pale and thin and angry-looking.’

‘I can’t see nothing.’ The Ape is peering into the gloom.

Johnson sticks his head through the passenger window, the one the Ape smashed. When I see him do this it’s all I can do not to drag him back inside. If there is a zombie then that is not
the best thing to do.

‘Maybe you shouldn’t do that,’ says Billie and it’s another indication that she definitely likes Johnson.

‘There’s nothing out there.’ He withdraws his head, which makes Billie sigh quietly with relief.

‘Yeah. False alarm,’ I say, regaining my composure, when a face suddenly looms up at my window. It’s pale, the eyes are grey and mascara runs down its white colour-drained
cheeks. ‘ZOMBIE!!’ I scream.

‘Drive!’ Billie yells at the Ape, who slams his foot on the accelerator. But the little Fiat doesn’t move.

The zombie is banging on the window and I cower, unable to bring myself to look at it.

‘Hurry!’ I scream.

‘Put it in drive!’ Johnson screams at the Ape.

The zombie is banging so hard I’m sure the window is about to cave in. The Ape slams the car into drive and it lurches forward, the wheels spinning and taking an age to find traction.

‘OhmyGod. OhmyGod!’ Billie is hunched over, head in her hands, not wanting to see anything. ‘Is it gone?’

The car careers forward, but almost immediately hits a patch of oil and we start going into a skid. The car lurches towards the deep muddy ditch that runs between the road and the wood.

The Ape pumps the brake over and over but to no effect. ‘Hold tight!’ he booms.

The car is starting to tip over. We’re going to roll straight down into the ditch.

‘OhmyGod. OhmyGod!’ Billie is still crying out.

The Ape yanks the steering wheel and himself towards Johnson and the tiny car bows to the weight of his massive bulk and slams back down on all four wheels. Johnson is half crushed under the
sweaty behemoth and he’s probably become even skinnier as the car comes to a spinning twisting halt. Billie’s forehead bashes hard against her window and I can see that a lump is
already forming above her brow. The Ape turns the engine over, but it groans, ticks and then dies. Its dry whine echoes into the darkness.

‘Go, go, go!’ Billie screams as I check around, knowing the zombie will come at us again.

‘The head! Take the head off and we’ll be fine,’ the Ape says with the authority of someone who has watched one too many horror films.

‘I’m not doing that,’ yells Billie.

‘Well someone’s going to have to cos it’s coming.’ The Ape angles the rear-view mirror so we can see the zombie sprinting towards us. ‘I’ve got this,’
he says, opening his door, ready for battle. But because Johnson moved the seat forward to make space for me, he can open his door but he can’t seem to climb out of the tiny car.
‘I’m stuck!’ he says.

‘What!?’ Billie cries.

‘I can’t get out!’

The zombie is almost upon us.

‘Take the weapon!’ The Ape shoves the broom/knife towards Johnson and almost takes his eye out with it.

‘Careful!’ I call out.

‘Where is it?’ Johnson is trying to see past me and Billie, straining his neck in the tiny space.

‘Too late!’ Billie’s eyes have gone wide as saucers as a haze of white rushes towards the car, an angry vicious malnourished heap of hatred, bearing down on us.

‘I’ve got this,’ the Ape says again, clearly having decided that it’s now his brilliant catchphrase.

‘Stop saying that, you’ve
got
nothing! So far you’ve got absolutely zilch!’ Billie screams.

The Ape may not have much of a brain, but what little he does possess is used for violence and destruction. The feeling of sheer relief that I had in the supermarket comes back to me, making me
warm towards him all over again. He tries the engine again and this time it bursts into life and he grinds the car into reverse.

‘What the hell!’ Billie screams as we plough back towards, and not away from, the zombie.

‘Watch this!’ The Ape builds up as much speed as he can.

‘Wait! That’s not a zombie!’ Johnson calls out.

‘What?’ I say confused.

‘It’s a girl!’ Johnson shoots out a hand and wrenches the gear stick back into Park.

We look through the rear window as the car kangaroos to a neck-jarring halt. But Johnson’s not quick enough and the car knocks the emaciated girl coming towards us clean off her feet,
sending her tumbling backwards.

It takes at least a minute before the heavy dull echo of anorexic-on-car-metal fades into the night and another full minute or so before anyone says anything.

Billie speaks first. ‘Jesus.’

‘I know,’ I agree.

‘One of us needs to get out and take a look.’ Johnson looks at the Ape.

The Ape shrugs. ‘I’ve done my bit.’

‘What, knocking some innocent person over?’

‘You told me it was a zombie.’

‘I said it was a girl,’ Johnson counters.

‘
I
said it was a zombie,’ says Billie.

‘So you should get out,’ the Ape says to her.

‘I’m not getting out. It might still be a zombie.’

‘It was definitely a girl,’ Johnson says.

‘But it might be a zombie now – she might’ve turned,’ Billie argues and the Ape nods. It’s the first – and probably only – time they agree with each
other.

‘Did you have to go and say that?’ I shudder inwardly.

‘Why don’t they just eat each other?’ asks the Ape.

‘What are you talking about, you moron?’ Billie shouts. Her frustration at Ape’s idiotic comments has clearly reached breaking point.

‘Zombies. Why don’t they eat other zombies – that would solve a lot of their problems. If I was one I’d eat other zombies.’

I bang my hand on the low roof to get everyone’s attention. ‘There’s a girl out there and we need to check she’s OK!’

‘It might be playing dead. Waiting for one of us to do exactly that,’ Billie says. I can’t believe that she still believes it is a zombie.

‘They should eat each other, they really should.’ The Ape seems to be on another planet.

‘They don’t exist,’ I say. ‘They absolutely don’t.’

‘Rev’s right,’ Johnson says looking at the Ape. ‘You ran a girl down. We have to do something.’

‘Hang on.’ Billie is craning her neck to look out of the rear window.

‘What?’ I ask her.

‘It’s gone.’

I turn and look and Billie is right. The girl has disappeared. There is too much happening today for me to be able to take it all in. I feel numb now, numb and completely lost. Four hours into
what feels like the end of the world and all sense and logic is disappearing at an alarming rate.

‘Can’t we just drive off?’ Billie whispers.

‘That works for me,’ says the Ape, who delicately slips the car back into drive. But the minute he turns the ignition the engine dies again.

‘Great,’ moans Billie.

‘Let’s think about this,’ I say. ‘I mean, let’s be logical. Zombies don’t exist. So there’s a girl out there . . .’

‘And we know there was one other girl in detention.’ Johnson picks up my line of thought.

I peer out the window but can barely see anything. The darkness feels suffocating it’s so thick. I press up against the glass to get a better look.

Which is when Carrie’s face appears at the window and scares all forms of bejesus out of me.

‘I’m bloody brittle you know!’ she shouts at me before fainting.

The Ape is giving Carrie a piggyback into town because luckily, or not, depending on how you look at it, the car glanced off her rather than hitting her full on. Her fragile
body has been badly bruised though and she claims she can’t feel her legs. So Carrie is being carried and it all seems to make some sort of weird and strange sense. She hasn’t stopped
whining ever since the Ape hoisted her onto his large flabby back.

‘Five people left in the entire world and you try and kill one of them. Well thank you, you monstrously stupid morons.’

I wish the car hadn’t packed up on us because the burns on my legs are drying out my skin and making them feel like they’re cracking every time I take a step. But I don’t want
to tell anyone because they’ll think I’m just as big a whinger as Carrie is.