Spooked by the slams and bumps and yells coming from behind it, the horse raced faster. We’d passed the scattered businesses on the edge of whatever small town we’d entered and were now speeding through what looked like the center of town, buildings more plentiful and closer together. And though we were one street over from the main drag, cars were appearing, some parked, and a few abandoned here and there, pulled to the side of the road, or standing in the center of it, causing the horses to veer around them.

I looked over my shoulder to see that the one-eyed man had regained his balance and was gearing up to lunge at me, his partial blindness no deterrent for his rage. I looked around the buggy, ready to jump, reminding myself to roll when I hit the ground in order to minimize injury, but saw Emily push herself forward, a look of intense concentration on her face as she reached forward and grasped something on the back of the buggy. “Yes, holy shit! Emily! Climb up!”

Fingers dug into my shoulders, and I was pulled backward before hands wrapped around my throat, my air halting. I kicked backward, vision blurring as I brought my hands to the man strangling me, prying them off just enough to gasp in a breath before he tightened them again. Emily had found purchase with her feet and was now moving around the side of the buggy. For a moment, I floated, sure I was going to pass out, and in that dreamy moment, I was so fucking proud of her. I almost laughed. She was climbing next to the wheel, pressing her weight on the buggy, mindful not to drag it over. That’s it, Em. You’ve got this.

She looked over her shoulder at me just before she hopped up to the driver’s seat. “Tuck,” she yelled, as the horse pulling her buggy broke into a gallop, now neck and neck with the one I was on, down the center of the street that I blearily hoped to God wasn’t blocked by a stranded car that left no space to move around. “The light!”

Dark spots appeared before my eyes, my head pounding as I pulled the man’s hands, kicking backward but with dwindling strength. The light. The light. Then my eyes caught on something reflective on the side of the buggy. A red reflector light was attached. The sight of Emily in the driver’s seat of the buggy, now careening wildly, and the horses running at a full-out gallop, gave me the burst of strength I needed to let go of the man’s hands, grab for the light, and pull it toward me.

Thankfully it came off with a twist and then with the dark spots melting together before my eyes, I slammed it backward into the side of the man’s head.