Bump

She felt like living was poison. A hole tore open from the inside out, or so she thought. Gasping for what air she could muster, Macy leaned her body near the stale railings. It was loud and deafening, all the same. Reminded her of the meet she had on the field, racing against another varsity runner. She almost felt like fragile glass from all the proactive running, had to get to 1 mile, then 2, then 3...felt like the race haunting her again. Only this time, white noise was vaguely distant from where she hid, near the junkyard under the bridge. The cops were gonna find her sooner than later, so it was time to make a move. She took hold of the pistol stashed in her pocket, and zipped through the street, mindful of any cars that could flash the red and blue at any minute.

I wish I had a car.

Her degraded Converses were what she had, padding through the puddle after puddle. It hadn’t rained in a while. All stores and homes were vastly quiet on this vengeful night. All she had to do was remember the dugout, find the bottom latch, and hide. Hide for a while. Hide before the nightmare begins. She paced out of the strip mall, again, avoiding lights and people alike. There were only two patrollers out on the road, but, then again, there could more. Her thought is cut from the wind zooming past her shoulders, giving her chills. Out of nowhere, a hooded figure pops from the ground, crouching to stand up when they both collided. Damn! Her face landed on the pavement, soreness seeping all over her head from the cheek. She wanted to gather enough strength to move, but didn’t have enough time. If she stayed there, she’ll get caught, but slugging around will get her caught too. OH COME ON!!!! It was now or never. Disgusted, she got up and limped toward the back of the gas station, some shrubs clustered together. Could give her some leeway to gather some energy. Not much, but enough. She begins to think back about whether to shoot that homeless filth. Who knows, maybe the guy was an undercover cop, or would rat out to the cops about what he saw. Moving her leg expediently, she searched farther out for a Pizza Boy sign. It could lead her towards the abandoned home base. Just a little more. All of a sudden, light beamed onto her cheek, blinding her left eye. Now, it’s really time to run. She rushed towards the dinner, but was blasted with electricity all over. It was more than enough for her to be rendered paralyzed. Everything around her dissolved into a void, falling deeper and deeper into what she wanted to avoid.

______________________________________________________

“We don’t know if you’ll make it out alive.”

It was one of the first things she heard when she slowly gained consciousness. Began to feel like she was gaining back to her whole self until she felt the shackles on her wrist.

“You’ve been sleeping for about two hours.”

The voice felt cold, almost annoyed. As if being here was a grudge. In her vision, she sees a chrome tie, tucked within a suit jacket worn by what seems to be a middle-aged man. Ginger hair receding towards the back, the eyes were difficult to picture, almost hard to know if it was blue or brown.

“Macy...you answer these questions, and we’ll be on our way” he uttered.

On her feet and her arms, she tried to move from the cuffs, unable to slip loose. She begins to breathe uncontrollably.

“What have you done to me?”

 “That what I want to ask you. What were you doing outside at this time?”

Compelled by the shackles, she gave up, faced the cop. If only Dave gave her a heads up, she would’ve prepped ahead before it rang.

“What were you doing outside at this time?”

“I was...taking an early jog.” It was the easiest fib she could’ve told. If anyone takes runs in the morning, sun or not, it’s her.

“Ah....at 3 am?”

“I volunteer at a poultry plant. We had to prepare the shipment we got for the people to buy.”

The counselor nodded in amusement, almost playing along with the story.

“So, by meat, you don’t happen to mean the 200-pound flesh that’s lying in our coroner’s office, right?”

This guy’s enjoying this. But I can’t let them know. If they find out, it’ll be hell on earth.

“No...wait, what body?”

 “There was...a shooting. We had two suspects involved in a shoot-out. One gunned down a pretty big guy, if I say so myself...ran off without a trace.” He leaned a bit closer to show intent, written in his eyes.

“I need to know who’s involved.”

“I don’t know.”

 “Agh...bullshit.” It seemed easy for him to call it out in the open, especially with the files lined out.

“Uh...Macy Vinski? Is that it? I don’t know if I got the last name wrong, I’m just going with what I know, ok? You have quite the record. You’ve been in foster care for seven years, and just got off...last Saturday? Yeah?”

Now, he got up with the brief and walking around her, taking a victory lap just so she sees it.

“You were charged with a felony in a robbery. 3rd degree, but still. You had a run-in with one of our guys, a fender-bender,” he sneered, shaking his head in disappointment, “not what we want. Now this? What you’re shooting chickens for a living? Hehe, it seems like you really like us, or you just have bad luck.”

Making his round ending the lap, he sits back on his chair, eyeing at her for more answers.

“Now, I’m not playing any more games with you. Who was in that gang?”

“I’m not su-“

 “ANSWER ME DAMN IT!”

The room felt stoic for a minute, echoes of his voice quickly evaporated in the small room.

“If I tell you, everyone here will get hurt. I can’t put you through that.”

 “Aw...that tough for you.”

Motioning his hand backward, the door opened to reveal two other cops, both with highly muscular features visible on their arms. Both of them took her out of the room, both dealing with the kicking and screaming of the girl.

“YOU CAN’T DO THIS! YOU WON'T SURVIVE IT! THEY HAVE MORE GUNS AND BOMBS!”

 “Yeah, yeah, and my gun shoots out magical Yeezy's,” one jokingly responded, “Take her to the infirmary, sir?”

 “Yeah.”

 The two men walked towards the gate at the end of a hallway, when, all of a sudden, sirens began blurring through the speakers. It was almost like a tornado drill to Macy, like how she remembered it in her freshman year. How she would duck out of her class just for the hell of it. The gate was opened before she was pushed into the deeper hallway, when she saw the other end blasted into clouds of smoke.

“This is an emergency. Please take cover where you can,” barred through the speakers with the sirens. It was like pandemonium had come, just as she predicted. A menacing figure in red and green appeared from the smoke, holding what appears to be a sniper-like device. Two other figures appear with their weapons, looking for any cops to spray with bullets. In her mind, everybody was about to die.

The sounds both figures made were unreal. Their appearance was just like how they were merely hours ago. She could’ve forgotten their faces, but their outfits were unabridged. One had a red Pelican jersey, 11 imprinted on the back. The other had a green shirt with “Made in Sausalito California” etched in bold, all the while carrying guns around. Bullets began flying out of the interrogator’s room, hitting the red-worn sniper in the arm. Without a doubt, she darted up from the floor, and never looked back at the shots that were exchanged.

I need to find a door! A DO- no. Not a door.

She dashed across the cafeteria and scurried through the door. Bowls and hand-boards were visible as she turned to find a way out. Usually, food served would have to come from somewhere. As she was pondering, a note was heard outside the kitchen. It felt unsudden for a moment. The sound crept outside of the kitchen, but she wasn’t sure if it was bees or something else. Reminded her of the time she stepped into a hornet's nest. It looked like an empty donut hole laying there empty near some pines. Poor little Macy.

The outback door was facing behind her when she came to her senses. Once she found it, she rushed towards it and attempted to pull the lever, only to find a pad near the door. It was useless.

BOOM!!!!

She was knocked out unconscious. The last thing she remembered was two slim figures floating above the ground. Her mind wandered off into the time she sat on the bed, bandaged from her bruises. Tears were almost welled up, but the pain was still there. Not just that it hurts, but that it happened. And it will never go away. She remembered a nurse that entered the room, clipboard in her hand filled with a checklist.

“How are you feeling?” It took her a while to collect herself, but she nodded.

“When will it go away?”

“These were just bumps on your arm, but you need to make sure that you wash your hands. Cold water.”

“..ok.”

The lady laid her hand on her shoulder as both glared at each other.

“Everything is going to be ok. You got this.”

SHHHHHRINK



Two insect-like figures floating in front of her when she woke up, panicked at the sight of the creatures. The two she saw had the same outfits from the earlier encounter, a ripped green shirt, and a torn tank top, both draped in a black and yellow scheme. It even had the small splash of blood draped over the name, as the figures moved in closer to her. Their crimson eyes bulged in all of its gore. She tried to move away, only to be shafted in the neck by another large bug. Her heart began to beat profusely, as she gazes at them. WHY??? Why...me...

Her body collapsed to the ground, blood pouring slowly to the floor from her wound. The yellow-jacket figure floated above the body, using its eyes to see if the sight was as true as it is. It didn’t matter to these creatures; it was one less human to worry about. Their bodies began to contort until human-like projections formed from their appendages, and their faces began to compress like clay. With their eyes projected backward, their whole bodies began to take shape.

“Well, that’s done,” one said as the green-shirt figure struggled to line their needles into canines lines.

“Eight down...a whole population to go.”

 “Yeah...hey U’beel, how long until we dominate the whole city?”

He stared down at the woman, hoping to see something bloom from her neck. In seconds, dark mold surrounded her body until it nestled in like a cocoon.

“We’ll be right on schedule. Once the Mother sees our work, she’ll honor us as her guardians.”

The man walked towards the door and opens it to witness the whole scene: a line of cocoon-like structures began to crack, and emerge were these bug-like foreigners. Erupting as if it was their first time, some of them moved from their holding, wings flapping frantically, as they leave behind the bodies from before.

“Nothing will stop us now.”

______________________________________________________

The last thing that Macy thought before she suffocated towards her doom was her foster mother. She had the attitude of an elite wrestler. Whenever she was irritated at Macy, she took it out on her, even if it was for nothing. In her final memory, she recalled a time when she had an argument with another kid over a hot dog. She couldn’t recall if it was the only one left or if someone took hers. All that flashed before her was the parent beaming her voice towards her small anatomy. Her words loomed over her like needles, jabbing at her head until it fell to the floor, her eyes bawling in front of the violent light.