The Last Embrace

Chapter 4

Daniel slowed slightly as they passed a familiar street.

“That’s the school,” Sylvia said quietly.

The gates stood open.

Desks were scattered across the yard.

Backpacks lay abandoned on the ground.

Sylvia’s voice broke.

“The children…”

Daniel forced himself to look away.

“Don’t.”

They couldn’t afford to think about that.

Not now.

Suddenly, a figure stepped into the road ahead.

Daniel hit the brakes.

The car skidded slightly before stopping.

A young girl stood there.

She couldn’t have been more than fifteen.

Her clothes were dirty.

Her face streaked with tears.

She raised both hands slowly.

“Please,” she said. “Don’t leave me.”

Sylvia immediately reached for the door.

“Daniel, we can’t just—”

“Wait,” he said sharply.

Something about the situation felt wrong.

The girl looked terrified.

But she stood perfectly still.

Too still.

“Please,” she repeated. “I’ve been alone for hours.”

Daniel studied her carefully.

“No one else is with you?”

She shook her head.

“No.”

Sylvia turned to him.

“She’s just a kid.”

Daniel hesitated.

Then slowly, he unlocked the door.

“Get in.”

The girl rushed to the car and climbed into the back seat.

“Thank you,” she said breathlessly. “Thank you so much.”

Sylvia turned to face her.

“It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

The girl nodded quickly.

“My name is Lila.”

“I’m Sylvia. This is Daniel.”

Lila looked down at her hands.

“They… they attacked my parents,” she said softly.

Sylvia reached back and squeezed her arm gently.

“I’m so sorry.”

Daniel started the car again.

But something about Lila’s story lingered in his mind.

Something unsettled him.

He glanced at her through the rearview mirror.

She sat quietly now.

Too quietly.

Her breathing had slowed.

Her expression had changed.

“Lila,” Daniel said.

She looked up.

“Yes?”

“Did they bite you?”

For a second, she didn’t answer.

Sylvia frowned.

“Daniel…”

Lila’s lips parted slightly.

Then she slowly pulled her sleeve up.

A deep, fresh bite mark covered her wrist.

Sylvia gasped.

“No…”

Lila’s eyes filled with tears.

“I didn’t want to be alone,” she whispered.

Silence filled the car.

Daniel’s heart sank.

Because he already knew what came next.

And this time…

There was no escape from it.

For a few seconds, no one spoke.

The only sound inside the car was the low hum of the engine and Sylvia’s uneven breathing.

Daniel kept his eyes on the road, but his mind had already stopped processing what he was seeing.

A bite.

Another one.

It always came back to that.

Sylvia turned slowly in her seat, staring at the girl in the back.

“Lila…” she said softly, as if saying the name gently could change reality. “How long ago?”

The girl hesitated.

Her fingers curled into the fabric of her sleeve.

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “Maybe… maybe thirty minutes.”

Daniel’s grip tightened on the steering wheel.

Thirty minutes.

He remembered the man from the road.

How quickly it had happened.

Too quickly.

Sylvia shook her head.

“No… no, maybe you’re different. Maybe it doesn’t—”

“Everyone turns,” Daniel said quietly.

The words came out flat.

Heavy.

Final.

Sylvia turned to him sharply.

“Daniel!”

But he didn’t look at her.

He couldn’t.

Because if he did, he might break.

In the back seat, Lila began to cry.

Soft at first.

Then harder.

“I didn’t want to tell you,” she said between sobs. “I just… I didn’t want to be alone.”

Sylvia’s eyes filled with tears instantly.

Her chest tightened painfully.

That sentence hit too close.

Too real.

She reached back again, her hand trembling slightly, and took the girl’s hand.

“You’re not alone,” she said. “We’re here.”

Daniel closed his eyes briefly.

Just for a second.

We can’t do this.

We can’t keep her.

We can’t save her.

The car rolled forward slowly as his foot eased off the accelerator.

He didn’t even realize he was slowing down until Sylvia noticed.

“Daniel,” she said quietly, “keep driving.”

But he didn’t respond immediately.

Ahead, the road stretched into more chaos.

More abandoned cars.

More movement in the distance.

More of those things.

He felt trapped.

Like every direction led to the same ending.

Behind him, Lila’s crying had softened into quiet whimpers.

“Am I going to die?” she asked.

The question hung in the air.

Sylvia’s grip tightened around her hand.

“No,” she said quickly. “No, don’t say that.”

But her voice trembled.

Because she didn’t believe it.

Not really.

Daniel exhaled slowly.

“You’re not dead yet,” he said. “So we keep moving.”

It wasn’t hope.

But it was something.

Lila wiped her eyes weakly.

“My parents…” she whispered. “They tried to lock me in my room.”

Sylvia swallowed hard.

“What happened?”

“They thought I’d be safe,” Lila said. “But… one of them changed first.”

Her voice cracked.

“I heard them fighting. Then screaming. Then… nothing.”

Silence filled the car again.

Daniel’s chest felt heavy.

He didn’t want to hear the rest.

But he couldn’t stop listening.

“They broke the door,” Lila continued. “I ran out the back. I didn’t even look back.”

Her breathing grew uneven.

“I didn’t know I was bitten until later.”

Sylvia’s eyes closed briefly.

A tear slipped down her cheek.

The image formed in her mind without permission—

A house.

A family.

A door breaking open.

And everything inside falling apart.

It felt too familiar.

Too close to what they had just left behind.

Daniel cleared his throat.

“We need to figure out what to do.”

Sylvia looked at him immediately.

“What do you mean?”

He finally glanced at her.

His expression was tight.

Controlled.

But beneath it, fear flickered.

“You know what I mean.”

Sylvia shook her head.

“No. We are not leaving her.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you’re thinking it.”

Daniel didn’t deny it.

Because he was.

Every second.

Every mile they drove.

She’s going to turn.

And when she does…

He glanced at the rearview mirror.

Lila sat there, small and fragile.

A child.

Not a threat.

Not yet.

His stomach twisted.

“I’m thinking we need to be ready,” he said.

Sylvia’s voice hardened.

“She’s not one of them.”

“Not yet,” Daniel replied quietly.

The words hit harder than he intended.

Sylvia pulled her hand back slightly, hurt flashing across her face.

“Daniel…”

But she didn’t finish.

Because at that moment, Lila’s breathing changed.

It became heavier.

Rougher.

Daniel noticed it instantly.

Sylvia did too.

“Lila?” she said.

The girl didn’t respond.

Her head tilted slightly to one side.

Just like the woman from earlier.

Sylvia’s heart began to race.

“No… no, not yet,” she whispered.

Lila’s fingers twitched.

Her body jerked once.

Then again.

Daniel’s pulse quickened.

“It’s happening,” he said.

“Drive!” Sylvia snapped. “Just drive!”

Daniel pressed the accelerator.

The car surged forward again.

Outside, the city blurred past them.

Burning buildings.

Screaming people.

Running figures.

But inside the car, everything narrowed down to one thing.

The girl in the back seat.

Lila let out a low sound.

Not quite a cry.

Not quite a voice.

Something in between.

Sylvia turned fully in her seat now.

“Stay with me,” she said desperately. “Lila, look at me.”

The girl’s eyes flickered.

For a moment—just a moment—she looked like herself again.

Terrified.

Lost.

“Please…” Lila whispered.

Then her body stiffened.

Her back arched suddenly.

Sylvia gasped.

“Daniel—!”

“I see it!”

The car swerved slightly as Daniel struggled to keep control.

Lila’s head snapped forward.

Her breathing stopped.

For one long, unbearable second—

Everything went still.

Then her eyes opened.

And they were no longer human.

Sylvia froze.

“No…”

Lila lunged.

Daniel reacted instantly.

He slammed the brakes.

The car screeched to a halt.

Lila crashed forward against the back of Sylvia’s seat, clawing desperately.

Sylvia screamed.

“Daniel!”

He unbuckled his seatbelt in one motion and twisted around.

“Get out!” he shouted.

“What?!”

“GET OUT OF THE CAR!”

Sylvia didn’t hesitate this time.

She flung the door open and stumbled out onto the road.

Daniel turned back just as Lila lunged again.

Her teeth snapped inches from his face.

Up close, he could see it clearly now.

The change.

The emptiness.

He reached back blindly and grabbed the first thing he could find.

A metal tire iron from the floor.

Lila lunged again.

Daniel swung.

The impact was sharp.

Sudden.

The girl collapsed back into the seat.

Silence.

Daniel’s chest heaved.

He didn’t move for a few seconds.

Didn’t breathe properly.

Then slowly, he lowered the tire iron.

His hands shook.

Outside, Sylvia stood frozen beside the car.

Tears streamed down her face.

Daniel stepped out slowly.

He closed the car door behind him.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then Sylvia’s voice broke.

“She was just a child…”

Daniel looked away.

“I know.”

His voice was barely above a whisper.

In the distance, the city continued to burn.

And for the first time since everything began—

The reality settled fully between them.

This wasn’t just chaos.

This wasn’t just panic.

This was the end of everything they knew.

And it was only just beginning.