The Darkest Corners by Barry Hutchison

ones.’
    â€˜There,’ I said, pointing towards something that looked a little like an angry Ewok. Ameena hauled the wheel to the right. The Ewok blinked in the glare of the headlights, and then it vanished beneath the wheels with a meaty crunch .
    â€˜There!’ I pointed again, this time to another of the frog-like things. It burst with a pop beneath the front tyres. Ameena shuddered, the wheels slipped, but then we were out of the car park and skidding on to the main road.
    My head thumped against the side window and I quickly clipped on my seat belt. ‘Can you even drive?’ I asked, and my voice betrayed my terror.
    â€˜Yeah. That time when Mumbles was after us.’
    â€˜That was for, like, fifteen seconds!’
    â€˜Yeah, but it was a police car, so I reckon this is more or less the same.’
    She dodged round some burning debris, then powered through a group of dog-like creatures, scattering them. The 4x4 rounded another few corners, tore down one monster-infested straight, and then we were out of the village and heading for the town.
    We sat there, not speaking, just staring straight ahead through the windscreen. Neither one of us dared to look back. Ameena eventually broke the silence.
    â€˜He’s quite off-putting, isn’t he?’
    I nodded. The frog-thing was still clinging to the windscreen with its sucker-like fingertips. Its bulging eyes flicked back and forth between us.
    â€˜Yeah. He is a bit.’ I knocked on the glass. ‘Oi, mate. Hop it.’
    â€˜You sure you can’t just magic him away?’
    I shook my head. ‘I’m powerless now.’
    â€˜Yeah, but are you sure ? This isn’t—’
    â€˜I can’t do it, OK?’ I snapped, and that seemed to be the end of it.
    â€˜Oh, wait,’ Ameena said. She felt around the sides of the steering wheel, then flicked a lever. There was a clicking and a light on the dashboard began to flash. ‘No, that’s indicators,’ she muttered.
    She moved another lever. The windscreen wipers arced up, taking the frog-thing by surprise. It lifted its hands and leaned back. Ameena slammed on the brakes and the creature rolled off the bonnet. It turned in time to see the 4x4 take off towards it.
    It tried to jump out of the car’s path, but Ameena threw open her door. It connected with the monster mid-leap, sending it rolling messily across the road. She swerved the car. There was another pop , then she pulled back over to the left side of the road and drove on.
    â€˜You could’ve just left it,’ I said.
    â€˜Had a bad experience with one of those once,’ she replied, her eyes fixed on the road ahead. ‘Tried to kiss me.’
    â€˜Really?’
    â€˜Or maybe eat me. It’s hard to tell.’
    I looked round into the back seat, then down at the dashboard, searching for anything that might be useful. There was a police radio in the car, but it had been switched off. I flicked the switch to turn it on and the 4x4 was filled with screaming and sobbing and the crackle of radio static. A dozen signals all tried to push through at once.
    â€˜Help us. Too many of them. Too many to—’
    â€˜â€”happening? What the Hell’s happening? Someone—’
    â€˜â€”dead. All dead. Please help me! Something’s coming. God, someone help me—’
    I turned the radio off again and we continued down the road in silence for a long time.
    â€˜We could just keep driving, you know?’
    I turned to Ameena. ‘What?’
    â€˜Just follow the road, see where it takes us. We could make a go of it. Find somewhere we could, I don’t know, survive.’
    â€˜Survive?’ I said. ‘With all those things around?’
    â€˜People have. People do,’ she shrugged. ‘I did.’
    â€˜You had my dad to look after you,’ I said coldly.
    â€˜And now I’ve got you. And you’d have me.’
    I stared ahead.