Last Words

by John Lane

With zombie apocalypse nonstop on mainstream news, Don, terminal manager for Moe’s Truck Stop, unplugged the television.

Greg Watson staggered inside, repeatedly mumbling, “I can’t do this anymore.”

Outside stood Greg’s reefer trailer—the constant shaking was a red flag. Inhuman moans reverberated throughout the parking lot.

When Don walked over, he noticed the trailer side’s convex impressions of human-sized hands.

He peeked through the small rectangular door. Four stiff and slow, pale figures in torn clothes kept walking into walls.

Back at Moe’s, Don handed the keys back to Greg. Don’s last words? “I can’t do this anymore, either.”

John Lane

John Lane’s fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Black Hare Press, Ghost Orchid Press, Rejected Manuscripts, Dark Dossier Magazine, Trembling with Fear, The Drabble and other venues.

John’s story, “Dimension Traveler,” tied for Rejected Manuscripts’ third most voted entry out of 130 stories in 2020.