It turned out to be a very bad time to run out of petrol.
She had been on a lonely stretch of road and it had been getting dark. She had been visiting a friend and had stayed much longer than she’d planned. She cursed herself for not noticing the petrol gage. She was about to make a call for roadside assistance when the figure appeared. It seemed to be a man, dressed in dark clothes that were old and tattered. She froze as the stranger walked towards the car. He seemed to have difficulty walking. Was he hurt? She wondered what he was doing there, in the middle of nowhere. Should she be calling for an ambulance instead? Wanting to be polite, she wound down the window and asked if he was OK. He stopped for a moment. She called out again, with an attempt at laughter, saying she wasn’t much help because she had run out of petrol.
Hearing this, the man, or whatever it was, hurried to the side of the vehicle. This was the first time she got a proper look at him. His face was horribly distorted and there was blood around his mouth. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing; then, after a moment she giggled.
“Oh! I get it, man-eating zombie, right?”
The man looked surprised.
She frowned. “You’re a bit early, Halloween isn’t for several weeks, you know that, right?”
The thing mumbled, “Halloween?”
She nodded. “Yep. But, hey! A great disguise, had me going, I can tell you!”
“Disguise?”