"I think I just saw a big crack in the sky just now," David muttered aloud, uncertainty evident in his voice.
"The only crack you'll get is when I land a fist on your head if you don't get into the car right now, boy," Anna stated, scolding David as she got into the passenger seat herself.
I was already seated in the driver's seat, and after waiting for my kids to get into the back seat of the car, I drove out of the estate.
As I drove to the city mall, which was not exactly far from our house and just a 30-minute drive without traffic, my family and I chatted along the way. The peaceful banter made the evening more refreshing, but I couldn't help but notice that David was just out of it.
Though he entered the conversation every now and then, he remained silent most of the time, merely staring out of the car window at the sky.
If David were a quiet type like Mia, who was relatively reserved, I wouldn't have been so concerned. However, David was anything but quiet; he was usually a loud and playful brat.
Seeing him so quiet made me think something was wrong.
In the end, I couldn't stop myself from confronting him.
"Is something wrong with you, David?" I asked, my eyes fixed on his reflection in the rearview mirror mounted on the windshield.
Hearing my question, David shifted his attention from the view outside the car and turned to face my direction. I could only discern this from observing his actions in the rearview mirror.
David didn't immediately respond, and after briefly looking at me, he turned his gaze toward his mom, a look of hesitation crossing his face.
I couldn't help but grow increasingly concerned. What was going on with him? The worry seemed to be shared by Anna, as I caught her using the rearview mirror to steal glances at David, who was seated directly behind her.
"I really did see it," David finally spoke after a few seconds.
"See what?" I replied almost immediately, perplexed.
"I really did see a crack in the sky. I swear I did," David asserted.
I couldn't fathom what he was talking about. Was he still fixated on that notion of a crack in the sky? Was that the reason for his moodiness? It sounded absurd.
Who would believe that a crack could appear in the sky? The idea itself was preposterous.
This wasn't some kind of apocalyptic world, after all.
My irritation was growing as I realised that my son was becoming upset over something clearly impossible.
I felt a frustrated hiss almost escaping my lips.
No one in their right mind would believe that a crack had actually appeared in the sky.
Perhaps it was the video games and staying up all night that were affecting David. I contemplated the need to restrict him from these activities for a while, considering he had reached the point of uttering nonsense.
As I pondered these thoughts, I suddenly heard a cry from behind me.
"Daddy, look!!! There are cracks in the sky!!!" My daughter's voice echoed from behind me.
"Not you now, Mia," I muttered, already bracing myself for disappointment as I assumed she was joining her elder twin brother in his delusions. But, as if in defiance of my expectations, I subconsciously looked outside my window and was met with an astonishing sight – cracks in the sky.
The sky was indeed covered with cracks of various sizes, and my initial scepticism turned to shock.
"What's happening, babe?" my wife's worried voice reached my ears.
"I told you I saw cracks!" David's voice followed, and I could sense the fear in his tone.
It wasn't just him; the sight before my eyes was beginning to instil fear in me as well.
The cracks in the sky gave the unsettling illusion that reality itself was about to collapse.
It felt like my author's imagination coming to life, as though the sky were fragile glass about to shatter.
Suddenly, I felt my body heating up, a strange sensation coursing through me.
What's this hot sensation?
Before I could contemplate it further, Anna's voice reached my ear.
"Baby, it's hot in here," Anna said, her concern evident. Simultaneously, the voices of concern from my children confirmed that we were all experiencing the same thing.
With this realisation in mind, I made the decision to pull over on the highway.
I wasn't the only one taking this action; the cars beside me were doing the same. As they came to a halt, the passengers hurriedly exited their vehicles, frantically fanning themselves with their hands as if they were combating an intense heatwave.
This act only reinforced the idea that the strange sensation we were feeling wasn't confined to our car; it seemed to be widespread. Far ahead on the highway, I could see other cars stopping, and their occupants emerging with similar reactions.
My family followed suit as we got out of our car. Although the heat appeared to emanate from within us, it felt like staying in the vehicle only exacerbated the discomfort, even with the air conditioning on. However, stepping outside didn't bring immediate relief either.
As this surreal scene unfolded, the cracks in the sky remained, slowly closing.
The entire situation was utterly weird.
"What the hell is happening, Malachi?" Anna called out to me as she manoeuvred around the car to my side.
"I don't know, dear, but what I do know is that this is all messed up," I replied, and my wife clutched my arm with her hands, seeking comfort or reassurance.
I couldn't blame her; a sense of fear had taken hold of me as well, and I suspected that everyone else around us, all gazing at the closing cracks in the sky, shared a similar sentiment.
For a few more tense seconds, we endured the sweltering sensation within us. My family, along with the others who had left their cars on the highway, remained transfixed by the scene as the last, significant crack closed and vanished.
As soon as the crack sealed shut, a collective sigh of relief swept across the highway. It was a sustained, drawn-out exhalation shared by many. Anna and Mia joined in with the others, releasing audible sighs. However, David and I remained silent.
Had it not been for the fact that over a dozen people simultaneously sighed, just like my wife and daughter, and the eerie blue gas that seemed to be emanating from their bodies, I might have dismissed the situation as merely strange.
"W-What's happening to me, babe?" Anna suddenly said in a stammer, her voice filled with concern.
"D-Daddy," Mia added.
Seeing faint blue gas suddenly emanating from their bodies, my wife and daughter instinctively distanced themselves from David and me, addressing me with worry.
Yet, it wasn't just our family; I noticed multiple people around us were also emitting this peculiar blue gas. However, there were also individuals, like David and me, who appeared unaffected, but we seemed to be in the minority based on my observations.
"You both should calm down. Tell me what's happening to you at the moment? How does your body feel now?" I asked Anna and Mia, making a slow effort to approach them, despite the intense heat that was causing me to sweat profusely. My wife and daughter, however, maintained their distance as they responded.
"I don't know what's happening, but my body feels relieved, and I don't feel hot anymore," Anna stated, with Mia nodding in agreement.
If I took their words at face value, the reason they had sighed in relief after the cracks disappeared was because they felt relieved of the heat they had been experiencing earlier. This was likely the same for the other people on the highway who had sighed in relief.
However, I couldn't help but wonder why I was still feeling hot, and it seemed to be getting even more intense. Additionally, I wasn't emitting any strange blue gas from my body.
As I pondered these mysteries, Anna's voice reached my ears.
"How's your body feeling right now, Malachi?" Anna inquired, her gaze fixed on my hand, which I had unconsciously clenched over my chest.
My wife's concern was apparent, but I was finding it increasingly difficult to breathe.
The heat was becoming unbearable, and I felt as though I might faint at any moment.
My body had even started to tremble slightly.
Anna and Mia must have noticed my distress, judging by the worry etched across their faces, but they remained hesitant to come closer, perhaps out of fear of the blue gas coming out of their body.
I observed that the blue gas was slowly dissipating, becoming less visible as it dispersed into the air.
"My body really feels really hot," I replied to my wife and turned to look at my back, intending to ask David how he felt.
However, when I turned back, I saw David clutching his chest tightly just like me. He was sweating profusely, indicating that both of us were still experiencing the intense heat, unlike Anna, Mia, and the others.
A sense of dread began to creep over me. What was happening? Was this some kind of virus or bizarre phenomenon?
As I pondered these questions, loud thuds echoed in the surroundings, drawing my attention towards David. When I turned to look, I saw that he had collapsed to the ground.
Alarm coursed through me, and I instinctively tried to shout his name, but suddenly, the world around me seemed to spin, and in the next moment, my vision darkened, and I too lost consciousness.
******
Seeing her husband and son collapse to the ground, Anna rushed to their location with Mia, paying no more heed to the blue gas emitting from their bodies.
Anna knelt by Malachi's side, deeply concerned, and instructed Mia to check on her brother's condition.
"His body is so hot!" Anna exclaimed aloud in fright the moment she touched Malachi's skin, recoiling her hand because of the searing heat. It wasn't the feverish kind of warmth; it felt more like a burning sensation.
"Ouch!"
Mia's voice of pain reached Anna's ears, and she turned to her daughter with worry.
"What happened?" Anna asked, deeply concerned.
"David's body is too hot, Mom!" Mia replied immediately, her face etched with worry and fear.
Anna realised that her son and husband were likely going through the same ordeal.
Confused and unsure of what to do, Anna glanced around her surroundings.
Anna noticed that she and Mia had stopped emitting the blue gas, and it seemed to be the same for the others who had emitted it earlier.
Anna also noticed that her husband and son were not the only ones who had collapsed; others had fallen to the ground as well. Those who were beside the unconscious individuals appeared hesitant to touch them, as if they were experiencing the intense burning sensation Anna's family was.
Anna's anxiety deepened as she looked at the nearest people to her side, a family consisting of a father, mother, and a teenage daughter. The father in this group, like her husband, had fallen unconscious.
Just as Anna was about to return her focus to her family, she witnessed something that froze her in her tracks.
The skin of the unconscious father began to blacken before her eyes, and the sight horrified both the family and Anna.
Anna quickly glanced at her husband and son, but apart from their reddened skin, expressions of pain, and profuse sweating, there were no signs of their skin turning black.
Confused and alarmed, Anna turned back to the man on her other side, only to find that his skin had completely turned black. At this point, the man's wife and daughter had retreated to a distance of about two metres from him.
Then, Anna witnessed something unimaginable.
The man's body twitched, and in response, his wife and daughter cautiously approached him again.
However, the moment they came within touching distance, the man, whose skin had turned black, suddenly pounced on his wife, biting her neck and tearing a piece of flesh from her.
Anna, with a horrified expression, caught sight of the man's face, which was blackened, somewhat rotten, and had red eyes. It was at this moment that a person's scream pierced the air on the highway.
"Zombies!!!"