Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition

The train barreled forward, the rails beneath it groaning as if they were barely holding together. The air inside was thick with the scent of rust, decay, and something older—something wrong.

Draven steadied himself against the rattling walls, his muscles tense. "We're not safe yet."

Mira exhaled sharply, still gripping the cursed book. The pages twitched as if alive, whispering in languages that made her skin crawl. "Where the hell is this thing taking us?"

Elias wiped the blood from his forehead. "We cut the engine loose. This train shouldn't be moving at all."

Zara peered out the shattered window. The wasteland had changed—the writhing undead were gone, replaced by a blur of shadow and shifting figures. Shapes not quite human, watching, waiting.

Then came the knock.

A slow, deliberate tapping against the metal door leading to the next car. One. Two. Three.

The group went silent.

Another knock. This time, from the opposite side of the car.

Elias' grip tightened on his knife. "Tell me that's just the wind."

The door creaked open—but there was no one there.

Mira's breath hitched. "No… there's something in here with us."

The air grew frigid. The flickering ceiling lights dimmed to a dull, sickly glow. The world outside the train vanished, swallowed by an endless void.

Then, the passenger appeared.

A figure sat in one of the seats, its body draped in rotting, moth-eaten fabric. Its face was featureless, save for a jagged hole where its mouth should be. It sat perfectly still, hands folded neatly in its lap.

But it was watching them.

Zara took a slow step back. "I don't like this."

The thing twitched. Its head tilted unnaturally far, as if listening.

Then it moved.

Not walking—gliding. One second it was seated. The next, it was closer.

Mira shuddered, clutching the book. "I think this is one of the souls that powers the train."

Draven stepped forward, his blade ready. "Then we get rid of it."

The moment he moved, the Eternal Passenger lunged.

A howl split the air, an earsplitting wail that sent every light shattering into darkness. The car twisted around them, stretching into impossible angles, a shifting maze of seats and doors.

Draven swung his blade—it passed right through the creature.

Elias cursed. "It's not fully here!"

Mira flipped through the book, desperate. The words bled across the pages, forming a single phrase in her mind. A banishment.

She whispered the incantation.

The Eternal Passenger screamed, its body unraveling into a mist of wailing faces. The train shook violently, metal groaning under an unseen force.

And then—silence.

The lights flickered back on. The train slowed.

Outside, a station loomed ahead, its sign barely legible.

LAST STOP.

Zara exhaled. "I don't like where this is going."