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speed as quickly as the 2-litre engine would allow. 
The sooner he found help, the better things would be.  Somewhere there
would be people dealing with the situation.  Somewhere there would be
answers and- 
    Nick stamped on the brake again.
    “Goddamn it!” he shouted, more out of fright than anger.
    It was Lara.
    She banged on the windscreen with her palms.  “Let me
in, please !”
    Nick shook his head.  He didn’t have time for this, nor
did he owe the woman anything after she had left him alone to fend off her
husband. 
    He brought the clutch up, ready to take off. 
    “ Please ,” she begged him.
    Nick sighed.  He flipped the toggle on the dashboard to
disengage the locks.  “Get in the back.  Quickly!”
    She nodded gratefully and made for the rear passenger door
but, before she managed to open it, someone grabbed her from behind and dragged
her back into the shadows.  Nick heard her screams, but he could not see
what was happening.  He waited a few seconds, unsure how to proceed,
before finally deciding that Lara was a lost cause and that he should just
drive off.
    But then the woman reappeared out of the shadows and leapt
for the car.  She yanked open the door and sprawled onto the back
seat.  She was bleeding badly, but it was impossible to tell from
where. 
    “Go,” she spluttered at him, pulling the door closed behind
her.  “G-g-get the fuck out of here.”
    “You don’t have to tell me twice.”  Nick gunned the
engine and took off as quickly as the car could accelerate.  He had to
steer erratically to avoid knocking over his various wandering neighbours,
including the disembowelled young boy, but he managed to make it to the end of
the road without running into any further trouble.  There was a war being
waged in his neighbourhood and he was retreating.  The screams filled the
air behind him.
    Steering the car onto the main road, leaving the chaotic
nightmare behind him, Nick let loose a sigh of relief.  It felt good to be
on the road and moving fast.
    I’m just dreading having to stop again.
    A few moments later, once his breathing was back under
control, he turned and checked on his passenger.  “Are you okay?” he asked
her.
    Lara nodded, but her skin had lost all colour.  Her
clothing was soaked with dark blood.  She was an absolute mess. 
Hardly surprising considering the shock she had been through and the attack she
had endured.
    She’s lucky to be alive.
    Nick focused on the road.  The sun had now risen fully
above the horizon and the shadows were shrinking away.  The world seemed
to be coming alive.
    But it had awoken in a panic. 
    Travelling in the opposite direction on the main road was a
police car.  It was going full pelt; its sirens blaring, its lights
flashing.  A fire truck headed along right behind it.
    “This is nuts,” Nick said.  “What in Christ’s name is
happening?  Did I miss a terrorist attack or something?”
    “M…my husband.  He just went crazy.”
    “It’s not just him, Lara.  Everyone is acting the
same.  I don’t know why.”
    “He…he’s never ever tried to hurt me before.”
    Nick sighed.  She wasn’t listening.  “Your husband
is sick.  He wasn’t in control of himself.”
    Other cars entered the main road from multiple side streets,
creating a steady stream of increasing traffic.  All of the drivers were
exceeding the speed limit, some outrageously so.  Nick had only been on
the road ten minutes when he witnesses a turquoise Vauxhall Astra hurtle into a
ditch at ninety miles an hour.  The vehicle crunched up like an
accordion.  The chances of surviving such an accident seemed pretty
unlikely and Nick wasn’t about to try and help someone so reckless.  He
drove on. 
    One thing had become very clear: what had happened in Nick’s
neighbourhood was not an isolated incident; people everywhere were
fleeing.  To where exactly, Nick did not know, but his own
destination was clearer.  He had to make it to the