"Zombies!!!"
Like a distress signal, the moment the first person's scream resonated on the highway, it was followed by several others as chaos ensued.
"Help me!"
"Get off me, man!"
"Why are you biting me, Mommy?!"
Amidst the screams and desperate pleas of various people on the highway, Anna quickly scanned her surroundings and witnessed sheer mayhem.
Several individuals, their skin now as darkened as the man from earlier, were pouncing on unsuspecting victims and tearing into their flesh.
Anna also observed uninfected people hastily retreating to their cars to drive away, while others were thwarted by vehicles blocking the road, the frantic individuals on the loose, and those with blackened skin.
The highway was a scene of complete pandemonium.
Fortunately, Anna swiftly regained her composure and sprang into action.
"Mia, get your brother into the car!!!" Anna shouted to her daughter as she grabbed the collar of Malachi's clothing and started dragging him across the road.
Anna couldn't ignore the searing heat radiating from Malachi's body, and her own skin felt like it was burning upon direct contact. However, leaving her family behind was not an option for Anna.
From the limited information she had gathered from her surroundings, it was evident that the individuals ferociously attacking others were the ones who had collapsed due to the intense heat, much like her husband and son.
Based on this, there was a high probability that her husband would also wake up with darkened skin and become one of the aggressors, just as her son would to Mia.
Even though it hadn't happened yet, Anna wasn't prepared to abandon them.
From the looming chaos on the highway, Anna understood the potential risks.
Perhaps one of the blackened humans might attack her if spotted, or one of the recklessly driven cars might collide with her.
However, even with these hazards, and the tempting prospect of escaping with her daughter, as long as her son and husband hadn't succumbed to the mindless bloodlust, Anna was determined not to leave them behind.
Malachi's car was a Gladiator model, and it required considerable effort for Anna and Mia to manoeuvre Malachi and David into the back seat, enduring occasional burns from direct skin contact.
Perhaps it was a stroke of luck, but during this time, the chaos didn't directly reach them.
The mayhem was still sporadic on the highway, with only a few instances like the father from a distance earlier happening in their immediate vicinity.
As Anna started the car and anxiously waited for the engine to rev up, she took the driver's seat with Mia in the front passenger seat. Her sweaty hands clung to the steering wheel as the car's engine finally roared to life.
Anna wasn't known for her driving skills, and Malachi usually didn't trust her with this particular car, but such concerns were irrelevant now. Certainly not to Anna, and certainly not to Malachi, as he remained unconscious.
With the car's engine now running, Anna fixed her gaze on the road ahead. With a determined push on the gas pedal, she steered the car sharply and joined the other vehicles in their rush to exit the highway.
Fortunately, Anna and a few others weren't too far down the highway when the ominous cracks in the sky appeared.
As she navigated the car out of the highway, Anna couldn't resist turning to look out her window, only to witness a horrifying scene.
The father, who had earlier bitten his wife's neck, was now feasting on his daughter's intestines alongside a darkened, feminine figure.
What shocked Anna even more than the daughter's fate was the recognition of the feminine figure's clothes, which belonged to the woman whose husband had attacked her.
Zombies.
As Anna accelerated alongside other vehicles to exit the highway, the nightmarish images of people devouring body parts and the infected rising with blackened skin to attack others flashed past her window.
Mia, seated beside her, had broken down in tears, her palms covering her face as she refused to witness the carnage outside.
BOOM!!!!
Another car erupted in flames behind Anna, the result of yet another reckless collision.
Whether it was due to reckless driving or some sinister influence within the vehicle remained unclear.
The car that had caused the crash flipped onto the roadside and almost hit another car that narrowly avoided it through a sharp manoeuvre.
Anna did her best to tune out the cacophony and stay focused on the road.
Her original destination was home, but the chaos of wrecked cars, normal humans, and zombies in her path compelled her to alter her course.
At this point, Anna was driving with the sole aim of reaching any place that offered even a modicum of safety.
In the rearview mirror mounted on the windshield, Anna noticed that her husband and son's skin had not darkened, but they still appeared to be affected by the oppressive heat, their bodies glistening with sweat.
Anna felt both relieved and concerned by this observation.
As the number of cars on the road dwindled, the surroundings grew quieter, except for the noise of the vehicles.
Anna eased up on the gas pedal, her tense body relaxing slightly.
Mia's tears had slightly diminished, although she still refused to lift her head or remove her hands from her face to survey the surroundings.
Just when Anna believed that some semblance of normalcy might return, her attention was suddenly drawn to a descending aeroplane in the distance.
The aircraft wasn't heading directly towards her, but it was descending rapidly, and Anna instinctively knew it was about to crash. And crash it did.
BOOM!!!!
With an explosion louder than the ones from the earlier car crashes, a fireball mushroomed in the distance.
At that moment, a single thought echoed in Anna's mind.
It's the apocalypse.