Written by Irish.
If anything, Niall isn’t fearless at all. He’s easily frightened and he, sadly, has a weakly small body that can be pushed around without effort by somebody who isn’t even that strong. Niall is the type of person who’s innocent and clearly unaware of the things surrounding him, so he, having this character, can lead to too many troubles.
Niall keeps on running. He doesn’t even know whether he still knows where he is. Is he still in his hometown, or do those minutes of running caused him to be far away now? Niall doesn’t have a clue. He knows there’s something he must run away from; something he should avoid. But what? Zombies? Niall believes in them deep in his heart, but he’s aware that there’s a possibility that they can be unreal. For some reason, Niall can’t think. He can’t catch up for the reality. Is this real? Is this a dream? Is someone chasing him? Is he really running away from something?
When Niall feels he’s in the middle of nowhere, he begins to stop himself from running. He pants, bends down and holds his knees, and looks around. He’s in a dark place where trees and grasses are normally around—the woods. Niall goes here at least once a week. The woods is generally a beautiful place by day; this, however, turns mysteriously creepy by night. All Niall can see are the large trees and tall, green grasses. The sound of the owls’ obnoxious hoots enters Niall’s ears unpleasantly. Niall feels his skin being brushed by an uneasy feeling. He feels uncomfortable, exhausted, and scared and he wishes to see his parents. Where can they be? Who has taken them?
But Niall’s thoughts are interjected by a holler of an unseen vehicle. Niall’s senses tell him that it’s coming his way, but Niall doesn’t do anything. If it is meant to come towards him, then he’s ready to pray for an afterlife by now. He can’t move, for he’s too weary enough to go on. He can flinch, he can move a finger, but not a step can be taken by his foot, nor a run that can seemingly make him feel rescued. If it’s Niall’s time to die, then he lets himself die, because he can’t move on. He can’t save—
“What are you doing?!” a voice yells from a near distance.
Niall’s wonders have snapped out and he begins to dramatically feel his stomach starting to churn. He looks up, hands ungluing themselves from his knees, and stands erect. He sees an old truck right in front of him and he then ponders how it got there without him noticing. One of the windows of the truck is rolled down, making him see a man on the driver’s seat. The man doesn’t look like he’s three years older than Niall, but his distressed expression makes him seem like he’s older. His face definitely needs a shave, Niall quickly thinks.
“Well?” the man inquires impatiently. Niall soon sees the door beside the passenger’s seat bursting open. The man nods to him and clutches on the steering wheel of the vehicle. “Do you want to die or not? Get your arse over here!”
And Niall’s obedient enough to grant the man’s demand. At this point, trust isn’t his top reminder but help. Even if Niall says to himself that he wants to die or he can live himself dying (which doesn’t really make sense at all), he still wants to remain breathing, living, viewing the evilness of the earth. He still wants to receive the right answers; he still wants to see his family safely smiling like nothing will ever come their ways. So at this moment, Niall doesn’t care if the man that has demanded him to come inside his truck is a serial killer, as long as he gets to live longer, he can’t care less.
Niall stares at the man much longer. The man isn’t even looking at his way, but based on the coldness of his golden eyes, he’s betokening bravery. His eyes are on the road and his clutch on the steering wheel is harsh that Niall’s nearly afraid of the outcome of him joining in the truck. He knows to himself that if ever the man looks at him back, he’s ready to chop himself into pieces with a butcher knife. The man is not just fictionally terrifying, but realistically denoting the impression of eeriness.
