The rear-seat warning started as Daniel pulled away from the gym. Three soft chimes, then a red figure on the dashboard. He glanced in the mirror. Empty seat. He was a college wrestler, still wearing his warm-up jacket after a late Halloween practice, and his bag was on the floor beside him. At the first red light, he turned and looked properly. Nothing on the rear seat. Nothing beneath it. He reached back and pressed the cushion once, then faced forward as the light changed. The chimes started again before he cleared the intersection.

He called Mae through the car speakers. She was at home, waiting to finish the horror movie they’d paused the night before. “Your car’s trying to join in,” she said when he explained the noise. Daniel laughed and lowered the radio. For the rest of the drive, every three chimes came with a small movement in the rear-view mirror, too slight to locate once he looked directly. The street behind him. A porch light. A reflection. At the last turn, the empty middle seat belt was drawn tight across the cushion. He hadn’t fastened it. He drove the final block without looking back.

The warning stopped when he switched off the engine inside the garage. Daniel waited until the overhead door had rolled all the way down, then got out and pulled his own door shut. Through the kitchen doorway, Mae lifted a bowl of popcorn. “Ready?” “Give me a second.” He locked the car with the remote. The lights flashed once, showing three empty places across the rear seat. He stepped into the kitchen and closed the connecting door. He had almost reached Mae when something clicked on the other side. A seat-belt buckle releasing. They both stopped. Then, inside the locked garage, the rear passenger door slammed shut.

Who waits up for you after a late session? Bring Zombie Infusion into your before-and-after training skin care, mixed as directed into your water-based skin spray or wash. Take care of the person they’re waiting for.

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