by Joshua Hoyt
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Tom jerked awake when his seat belt tightened sharply across his lap. The car jumped. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw fear in Theo’s eyes. “Stay down,” Theo said.
Tom squirmed around and peeked over the back seat and out the rear window. A black car raced towards them. He put his head in his lap and tried to stay low. Loud bangs went off from outside the car and something that sounded like a hundred tiny rocks hit the car. The back window exploded. Tom screamed as tiny pieces of glass bit the back of his neck. He cried out, “Mamma, I want my mamma.”
“You’re ok. Stay down,” Theo yelled. Tom tried to get lower. He squeezed his eyes shut and hoped that he’d wake up soon. Another loud bang came from outside the car. Theo shrieked. Tom looked up and saw Theo slumped over the steering wheel. His black hair was matted and red. The car screeched. The seat belt knocked the wind out of him, and the world began to spin. Tom screamed as the side window exploded, and the door handle jabbed into his side. His head slammed into the door and everything went foggy.
Silence. Crunch of gravel.
Please don’t see me. A tingling in his gut.
A face appeared, looked straight at him then disappeared. A strange voice, “Everyone’s dead here.”
Why didn’t he see me? Then Tom slid into blackness.