Hour 5.

Kirana waited with bated breath until the clock turned to 1:00 and the lights went off again. This time, the monsters didn’t even wait a second. The old woman monster next to her already lunged at her. Kirana walked behind to the aisle, but the man opposite her was ready to attack.

The sounds of crackling bones and stretched skin all around her made Kirana grit her teeth. She could hear somewhat the screams of Mrs. Bunga and Mr. Nusa, but she could barely keep her own life. She decided… Staying here was danger, might as well go!

When the lamp was still on, as long as she stayed in her seat, the monsters couldn’t attack. But during this time, they were attacking her anyway! Five minutes, five minutes…

However, the monsters had gotten more and more ferocious. Kirana ran forward to the driver’s area. Earlier, while talking to the driver, she had observed the side door of the bus. It didn’t look very tough. Seemed as if she could even bulldoze it down with her body.

Kirana didn’t manage to avoid every attack. Her body was seriously injured. Her left arm was holding her stomach and the dead baby while the right hand tried to pry the bus door.

Behind her, the sound of crackling bones drew closer and closer.

She ran out of time.

The bus still ran without stop. From the front window, Kirana could see the endless street in front of her. The dim light from the streetlights allowed her to see the ghosts and horrific monsters drawing near her. In panic, she threw the baby to the crowd of monsters.

They all paused.

Using that time, Kirana quickly pried open the door with both hands. Her arms was also injured to protect her torso earlier, but with skills that she almost forgotten, she managed to pry the hinges and open the door.

The metal door was loose and fell outside the bus. With the speed of the bus, it quickly got out of sight. Glancing at the crowd of ghosts behind her, who already recovered from the ghost baby thrown at them, Kirana made a decision.

With the agility that she hadn’t lost in years, her hand reached the top of the bus. She jumped onto the top of the bus while some of the monsters, who was lunging at her, fell down onto the road.

They got quickly out of sight, like the metal door.

Kirana’s hanging heart fell down as she saw the bus lights downstairs turned on.

The monsters stopped chasing. Kirana held her breath and listened for a few minutes. There were crackling and footsteps, as if the monsters were going back to their own seats.

Before she could breathe a sigh of relief, there was a crowd of noises and scream from down there. “Help!” A male voice said from the place she climbed up earlier. It was that man in his fifties, Mr. Nusa. Kirana didn’t hesitate and quickly pulled the old man up.

“Huff… Huff… Thank… you…” Mr. Nusa said, laying on his back. He looked even more miserable than Kirana. There was a big gaping wound on his torso, ripping through his clothes, soaking them all with red blood.

Kirana averted her eyes.

Hour 6.

Balancing herself on top of a running bus wasn’t that hard for Kirana. Compared to facing tens of monsters, she preferred the threat of falling.

Her wounds were still open, but she had nothing to bandage it with, so she just let her blood drop. Mr. Nusa next to her didn’t speak. The only way she knew he was still alive was his labored breath.

When the lights down in the bus went off again, Kirana could hear the scream of Mrs. Bunga. She was the only human scream amidst the groan of ghosts. Kirana and Mr. Nusa exchanged a glance. She didn’t expect the middle-aged woman to survive until now.

Mr. Nusa started to move. “Mrs., the door is open, go to the front of the bus and go up!” He yelled loudly.

They didn’t know whether the woman heard them or not. There were scrambles of noises in the bus under them. Kirana kept her eyes on the side of the bus, where the door was.

But even after the lights came back on, no one was there.

Kirana’s body slumped back, at loss. It was a life, after all. If she couldn’t save it, then so be it, but still… She felt sad.

She let out a breath when Mr. Nusa’s hand clenched her arm. “Look!”

Kirana looked and found the plump woman trying to climb out. With the lights in the bus under, she could see claws trying to reach her. She quickly ignored her own wounds and went to help the woman up.

“Thank… you…” The woman said. She was the most miserable out of all of them, with only a breath left. Her face was completely ruined, with blood all over. Kirana saw that her left eye had a claw wound on it.

She winced inwardly.

They all kept silent as the bus kept going on and on. When Mrs. Bunga seemed to be half-recovered, Kirana asked, “How did you survive, Mrs.?”

“I… hide under the… seat,” Mrs. Bunga said, her breath slowed. “There were a few suitcases that hid me. I crawled underneath until I heard the door was open.”

“This girl… pried it open,” Mr. Nusa said, smiling thankfully at her. “I followed her when I saw that.”

Kirana only nodded and laid back down on the bus roof. “We just have an hour left,” she whispered.

Hour 7.

They passed by the lights off time peacefully.

However, near the end of hour 7, Kirana noticed that the road around them grew narrower and narrower. She sat up in vigilance. The darkness around them was closing in.

Mrs. Bunga had closed her eyes long ago, either slept or fainted. In any case, she was still breathing. Mr. Nusa, however, noticed her movement and looked around as well.

“What… what is happening…” He muttered with trembling voice.

Kirana’s eyes observed the road forward and felt that her breath had gotten more constricted. With her eyesight, she somehow could see… the end of the road…?

The bus sped off, and the end of the road got closer and closer.

Kirana shivered. “It’s a cliff!” The driver’s word was on her mind. The afterlife. The driver was bringing the whole bus to die!

Mr. Nusa realized that too. His pale face grew paler.

Kirana looked at the road and darkness all around it. Earlier, she decided to climb up instead of outside because the darkness seemed even more threatening that the monsters. She didn’t know what would be in the darkness. But that cliff… was even worse. The sense of danger she felt rivalled even her worst nightmares.

Kirana gritted her teeth. “Let’s jump off!”

Mr. Nusa looked at her, hesitating. Mrs. Bunga had gotten up in the commotion, too.

Kirana didn’t pay attention to them She looked at the road behind the bus, then at the cliff who was getting closer and closer. With her fists clenched, she jumped off the bus, rolled into a perfect pose.

“Hey, I still have the skills,” she muttered under her breath.

Behind her, Mrs. Bunga also jumped down. Kirana helped her up quickly as her wounds had worsened from the jump. Mr. Nusa was still hesitating. The bus got smaller and smaller in her eyes. Kirana’s heart hung as she saw the bus stopped halfway into the cliff, then started to spin forward.

She saw Mr. Nusa finally jumped down as well, as the bus fell into the cliff.

To… the afterlife.

Kirana shuddered and closed her eyes.