(Back to the present)
The night deepened, the sky now shrouded in ominous gray clouds. Occasional flashes of lightning sliced through the darkness, followed by the distant rumble of thunder.
Alice's eyes darted constantly to the rearview mirror, an inexplicable unease gnawing at her.
The estate had long since shrunk into a distant speck behind her. The world around had grown eerily quiet; not even the birds made a sound. Even the faint gunshots she had heard earlier had completely vanished.
'The attackers have been dealt with already?' Alice wondered, her fingers trembling as she pressed the gas pedal a little harder.
'No, not that fast. It should have taken at least two or three more hours.'
That would have been enough time for her to get through this forest. But if things were alre
